General Exalted Discussion V: Our Armies are Pants

[Qaera]

But where to begin? And from there, what next?

[TheCountAlucard]

Start with the Excellency, silly.

[Kyeudo]

But where to begin? And from there, what next?

Well, from what I understand of Devil-Tigers, they are your character idealized beyond humanity. Define your character, then strip away anything that doesn't seem to matter that much and blow the rest of him out of proportion.

[Qaera]

What are some Healing charms, any splat? My DT has a theme of healing, and I can't think of any off the top of my head beyond the Lunar ones (Halting the Scarlet Flow, etc).

[Turalisj]

Healing is far too small time for a neoprimordial. How about bringing things beyond their natural limits? This includes a person's natural healing.

[Qaera]

It's more about restoring balance to someone.

[TheCountAlucard]

Heya, Playgrounders, one of the players in my Infernals game has decided to start considering Heretical options. Here's the Charm he's come up with...

Spoiler

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Titan's Commanding Will
Cost: 10m, 1 wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-OK, Compulsion, Heretical, Social, Stackable, Touch
Duration: Infernal's Charisma in days
Prerequisite Charms: Crowned With Fury, Cowing the Lowly (from TDO's Isidoros Charmset)

A Green Sun Prince need only speak to assert his purpose over others; the wills of the commanded matter not to a warlock who has cultivated this Charm from Malfeas' undeniable declarations and Isidoros' mighty presence.

This Charm exerts unnatural mental influence to create a Compulsion effect. The warlock's player makes a social attack; if the result exceeds the targets MDV, the target receives a compulsion to follow one order given by the warlock. The order can be as complicated as the Infernal desires, and he does not need to explicitly speak his desires. The target must spend one Willpower to resist the order, but need pay this cost only once per day. The unnatural mental influence fades when the Charm expires.

If Titan's Commanding Will is used in a way that would allow the social attack to be enhanced with Crowned With Fury, the Willpower cost for resisting goes up by one; however, the target is now aware of the compulsion, and does not have to spend Willpower to recognize the influence.

If the Infernal chooses to be more subtle with his edict, however, he does not gain the benefit of the increased cost to resist Titan's Commanding Will, but the target must spend four Willpower to become aware of it or remember it later, all of which must be spent at once, after which the target is fully aware of the effect.

Either way, being aware of the influence is not considered "resisting" it, and the target does not gain Limit from doing so.

[Kyeudo]

What are some Healing charms, any splat? My DT has a theme of healing, and I can't think of any off the top of my head beyond the Lunar ones (Halting the Scarlet Flow, etc).

Solar Medicine or SWLIHN has the best healing Charms.

[Xefas]

Solar Medicine or SWLIHN has the best healing Charms.

Cecelyne also has one. But, yeah, Swilly has the best in the game by far.

[SurlySeraph]

What are some Healing charms, any splat? My DT has a theme of healing, and I can't think of any off the top of my head beyond the Lunar ones (Halting the Scarlet Flow, etc).

Dragon-Blooded: Wound-Closing Touch, Grievous Wound Alteration Energy
She Who Eats Wordcount: Wholeness Rightly Assumed
Cecelyne: Temple Self Apotheosis
Solar: Wound-Mending Care Technique, Anointment of Miraculous Health, Wound-Cleansing Meditation, etc.
Sidereal: Mending Warped Designs
Abyssal: Ha ha no.
Alchemical: Body-Reweaving Matrix, Omnitool Implant (with surgical submodule)
Martial Arts: Soothing Word of Wisdom, An Oath of Presence (Art of Victorious Concession Style); Wood Dragon Form

[Tavar]

Quick question; for flurrys(including), each attack is resolved completely before moving on to the next one, yes? So wound penalties from an earlier attack would effect DV's for the later one, right?

Also, say a standard mortal (1 -0, 2 -1) takes 3 levels of bashing damage. Do they take wound penalties equal to -1 or -2? Does it matter if they're an exalt(assume no relevant charms)?

[Xefas]

She Who Eats Wordcount: Wholeness Rightly Assumed
Cecelyne: Temple Self Apotheosis

Technically the Swillin ones are Pattern Reassertion Touch and Hollow Mind Possession, although you need Ego Infused Pattern Primacy and Wholeness Rightly Assumed to make Pattern Reassertion Touch function.

Lease the Flame may also count, depending on whether you subscribe to the "motes are basically our hit points" philosophy .

The Cecelyne one is Draught of Sweet Infinity.

Quick question; for flurrys(including), each attack is resolved completely before moving on to the next one, yes? So wound penalties from an earlier attack would effect DV's for the later one, right?

I believe so.

Also, say a standard mortal (1 -0, 2 -1) takes 3 levels of bashing damage. Do they take wound penalties equal to -1 or -2? Does it matter if they're an exalt(assume no relevant charms)?

The penalty is -1. You suffer the penalty for the line in which you have "X"s, not the next one down.

[golentan]

Hrrm... If you were the ST, what guidelines would you put in place for a player building a three dot ally god?

[vegetalss4]

Hrrm... If you were the ST, what guidelines would you put in place for a player building a three dot ally god?

If I was the ST I would ask what kind of god he would like as an ally, both domain/influence and personality, then I would build it myself with about essence 8 with some dots of cult a bit less essence if it has a unusually high amount of resources (the word not the background.)

[golentan]

Ah. Essence 8 seems high for a terrestrial deity, which this guy pretty much has to be in the backstory. I was more wondering if I could reasonably ask him to be essence 6/how many charms and backgrounds to give him.

Edit: I guess you gave your opinion on one of those.

[Tavar]

What kind of game is it? Solar? Celestial? Terrestrial? Mixed? Anything special about the game(starting with more experience than default, twists to the setting, etc).

[Turalisj]

That shouldn't really matter. A 3-dot ally is a 3-dot ally no matter what...

My Zenith in one game has a 2-dot Sidereal ally. Who is also his martial arts mentor (though, as he's focused on SHS, a mentor doesn't really matter)

[golentan]

Mixed celestial with mostly solar tier for the game, solar character, default errata'd chargen, tweaked timeline but otherwise standard exalted AFAIK. The story is the character was a god blood and exalted while snapping the neck of the immaculate who tried to put daddy down for not playing by the rules. Daddy, being power hungry, sees the benefits both in being elsewhere when the monks wonder why someone went missing trying to talk to him and in having a relatively loyal solar close at hand. The way they're written they'll probably eventually come to blows, also.

[Tavar]

Okay, on several charms in the Solar Hero style Martial art(errata'd), I see this descriptor: Enhancement. I get that these are more powers, but are their any limitations on how they are activated?

[Lix Lorn]

Actual Solars get them, other things don't.

[Tavar]

Mixed celestial with mostly solar tier for the game, solar character, default errata'd chargen, tweaked timeline but otherwise standard exalted AFAIK. The story is the character was a god blood and exalted while snapping the neck of the immaculate who tried to put daddy down for not playing by the rules..

Terrestrial deity, eh? Any particular themes the PC wants for them?

[golentan]

Lots of secrets and lots of hunger. God of things that live in places "we don't go there anymore since something ate gary." I was thinking he might be the god of some variety of darkspawn, or some nasty sea creature that haunts shipwrecks, or something else found with treasure/lost knowledge and an appetite that would make the sarlacc blush.

The god himself I'm thinking as an affably evil type. Friendly. Cheerful. Murder-y, but not too murder-y. Throws massive, hedonistic parties for those he finds favor with, but be careful you weren't invited as the main course if you've slipped up lately. Always willing to look the other way or tweak things for a bribe. You know, standard petty god stuff. *shrug*

[TheCountAlucard]

So, here I am, with another interesting little dilemma...

The more musically-inclined in my Infernals game intends on stealing the recently-captured royal warstrider, "Hateful Devourer of Love," from Lookshy. He's blissfully-unaware of the secret behind the soulsteel mecha, so he's quite excited at the prospect of taking it.

Do you think I should go with the "vial of contagion" option, or the "filled with hungry ghosts" option? I'm disliking the "cursed" option, of course.

Is the fact that it's a royal warstrider good enough on its own, or should I throw on some ancillary systems?

Speaking of which, at one point in the chapter it's referred to as a ROYAL warstrider, and at another point, it's referred to as a NOBLE warstrider. I blame White Wolf for that, but which should I go with?

Also, last, but certainly not least, what might make a good picture for it?

[Rikandur Azebol]

Give it everything ! Royal is better than Noble, of Khorne.

[Tavar]

Is the fact that it's a royal warstrider good enough on its own, or should I throw on some ancillary systems?

Speaking of which, at one point in the chapter it's referred to as a ROYAL warstrider, and at another point, it's referred to as a NOBLE warstrider. I blame White Wolf for that, but which should I go with?

Also, last, but certainly not least, what might make a good picture for it?

Unless you're using modified rules, a warstrider will make a character worse in combat, not better. Considering that it's an artifact that requires large amounts of maintenance and a dedicated hearthstone, well, that's not a good sign.

I'd go with royal, and use the fix mentioned in the first post.

As for the curse, since you're giving it to Solar PC's you need to make it especially powerful. How about... okay. The Lover managed to apply Infernal Hellstrider design principles to her own works. Hateful Devourer of Love isn't just a fancy name; Bound inside the soulsteel frame is either an appropriate Hekatonkhire or, and I think this one might even be better, the ghost of that third circle Deva that sided with the Exalts against her primordial. Perhaps the Lover can allow the being release at any time, letting a powerful entity free to wreak havoc. Or maybe it's designed to subvert all who attempt to use it.

[Qaera]

Hey. Guys. Hey- guys. Guys.
Check it out.

[Urpriest]

Hateful Devourer of Love, eh? So it's a mech that devours love...I think this calls for adapting some mechanics from Bliss Stage.

As a tentative suggestion, how about switching the Solar's usual means of reducing Limit for Exquisite Bride Obsession (or whatever it's called, the Ebon Dragon's "I'll catch you my pretty" charm).

[Kyeudo]

As for the curse, since you're giving it to Solar PC's you need to make it especially powerful. How about... okay. The Lover managed to apply Infernal Hellstrider design principles to her own works. Hateful Devourer of Love isn't just a fancy name; Bound inside the soulsteel frame is either an appropriate Hekatonkhire or, and I think this one might even be better, the ghost of that third circle Deva that sided with the Exalts against her primordial. Perhaps the Lover can allow the being release at any time, letting a powerful entity free to wreak havoc. Or maybe it's designed to subvert all who attempt to use it.

Um, the ghost of a Third Circle soul is a Hekatonkhire. Also, canonicly that particular Deva is still living on the moon.

[Tavar]

Um, the ghost of a Third Circle soul is a Hekatonkhire. Also, canonicly that particular Deva is still living on the moon.

No, I'm thinking of Inari Heart-of-Thorns, detailed in Lands of Creation, page 79. During the first age, she was in the underworld. And, it's noted that, while in life she was noted for her compassion, in death she had none.

[Xefas]

Also, canonicly that particular Deva is still living on the moon.

Will the stars aid in her escape? etc, etc?