General Exalted Discussion Thread IX: Errata is Combo-Ok!

[Turalisj]

Archer- Most likely Dawn caste with a mix of Melee and Archery charms, with Elegant Dance of the Blade and Bow and Infinite Blade Works Thousand Arms Prana.

Berseker: Slayer, Infernal Monster Style, favoring Isidoros with Malfeas soak charms.

Can't say too much about the others. I really never got into F/S Night.

[Guancyto]

Also, Golden Destruction Cut for an infinite damage excaliblast, and Heavenly Guardian Defense for her scabbard.

Dark Saber is pretty straightforwardly an Abyssal, as well.

Honestly, with the exception of Caster (who doesn't fit, wtb sorcery errata) and Berserker (who also has Driven Beyond Death bought 13 times), they all fit as Solars. Even golden boy. Especially golden boy.

[Xefas]

So, The Playground has been tinkering with its Essence 9 charms (I assume, to prepare for its Playground Cosmic Principle next thread) and made us all ponies.

In its infinite benevolence, it has deigned to make me a Twilight Sparkle in the Playground. This is a curious choice, as Twilight is not the best pony, but is the gothiest, and therefore, most attractive.

The Playground truly works in mysterious ways. Perhaps I will meditate upon my designation and reach greater enlightenment.

[Turalisj]

I activated my perfect mental defense and am ignoring any references to ponies.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I get to exalt Lunars!

[Lord Raziere]

Jade Dragon: I feel sorry for the burden you have to carry out.

[golentan]

What stage is cuddles and makeouts? These are important things we must schedule time for.

Stage whenever-I-get-to-England-or-you-get-to-California.

Does anyone know of a functional metagaos charmset?

[Drascin]

Actually, I'd say Caster fits as a Sidereal. Acting through proxies, setting up battlefield advantages, cheating every rule like there's no tomorrow, getting totally pwn'd by a nonexalted kid when forced into direct confrontation...

Saber is Solar, yes. Gilgamesh is either Solar or has dabbled in Malfeas Charms more than is mentally healthy. Poor Kojiro is a Cataphractoi caught in the middle of all these crazy Exalts, just yearning for a good fight. Lancer is clearly a Lunar - for one, he's Cu Chulainn, who is so very Lunar (between the hound association, the fact that he actually had relentless Lunar Fury in legend, and such) and for another, his life sucks and he only succeeds when he dies, which is prime Lunar material.

[Andreaz]

and for another, his life sucks and he only succeeds when he dies, which is prime Lunar material.

That is not a good thing.

[Yuki Akuma]

I wonder if an Akuma of the Ebon Dragon could find a way to use his anti-mental influence charms to betray his own Urge.

It seems fitting that an Akuma of the Yozi who embodies betrayal could betray the Ebon Dragon.

[aetherialDawn]

I wonder if an Akuma of the Ebon Dragon could find a way to use his anti-mental influence charms to betray his own Urge.

It seems fitting that an Akuma of the Yozi who embodies betrayal could betray the Ebon Dragon.

Mechanically, there is design space for a charm that does that. Akuma, however, lack the initiative to wield such a charm properly; remember that Nemesis Self Imagined Anew doesn't work as well for them.

Lesson: Don't become Akuma, just screw up so that a demon gives you REAL demonic power.

[Guancyto]

Actually, I'd say Caster fits as a Sidereal. Acting through proxies, setting up battlefield advantages, cheating every rule like there's no tomorrow, getting totally pwn'd by a nonexalted kid when forced into direct confrontation...

Hmm, you may be right. The walkaway conclusion from that fight would be, "as a Sidereal, you seriously need to favor Martial Arts. No, really, you do. I'm looking at you, Ayesha."

[Mr.Bookworm]

Can someone give me a bit of help? I can't for the life of me figure out what the sky is supposed to be. The Daystar material seems to imply it just kind of fades out into the Wyld but could also just be referring to the Crusade flying in from all directions, among other things. It would make sense if it was a dome like in Yu-Shan (and Manual: Nocturnals), but I can't find anything that really points in one direction or the other.

It's a literal, physical object. Malfeas appears to be on the other side of it. No word on what the stars are, though. I'm kind of imagining upside-down lighthouse palaces, though.

Hmm, you may be right. The walkaway conclusion from that fight would be, "as a Sidereal, you seriously need to favor Martial Arts. No, really, you do. I'm looking at you, Ayesha."

Caster is pretty clearly a master of Throne Shadow style.

[golentan]

I wonder if an Akuma of the Ebon Dragon could find a way to use his anti-mental influence charms to betray his own Urge.

It seems fitting that an Akuma of the Yozi who embodies betrayal could betray the Ebon Dragon.

Victory in Defeat, from broken winged crane. The Infernal can not only explicitly betray his own urge, he regains willpower from doing so.

So yes. Yes they can.

[Yuki Akuma]

Victory in Defeat, from broken winged crane. The Infernal can not only explicitly betray his own urge, he regains willpower from doing so.

So yes. Yes they can.

Yes, but that requires someone else to force him to betray it - and its prerequisite is a charm to break mental influence, which he's going to activate as soon as it becomes advantageous to do so.

[Xefas]

No word on what the stars are, though. I'm kind of imagining upside-down lighthouse palaces, though.

Aren't they made of starmetal and plummet to the earth when a celestial god dies? I think that's in Manual: Sidereals? Not sure, though...

[golentan]

Yes, but that requires someone else to force him to betray it - and its prerequisite is a charm to break mental influence, which he's going to activate as soon as it becomes advantageous to do so.

It's weird, because from a fluff perspective he should Brooding Resentment it away when he gets the chance, but mechanically there's nothing that can force him to do so and so it is entirely up to the Player or ST whether to ever ditch the UMI based on the needs of the character in the plot or their own twisted whims.

But yes, it does require an outside force to provoke them to betraying everything they hold dear.

[X15lm204]

But to be a true Ebon Dragon loyalist, to be completely subsumed in his will and his nature - the desire to be free, and to betray him, would almost have to be imbedded in the very Urge itself, if the takeover is as complete as it seems.

If you really follow the Ebon Dragon - whether through worship as a cultist, though patronage as a Fiend or Ophidian, or through control as an Akuma - and you don't betray him, you're doing it wrong, after all.

[TheCountAlucard]

So, has anyone used the Maidens of Destiny toward anything cool?

Stuff From My Infernal Game

Spoiler

Show

I've been running "preludes," of sorts, with my Infernals players, to cover what the PCs have been doing in the downtime period. So far, I've had a moment in each prelude in which one of the PCs would encounter one of the Five Maidens, and also received an auspicious gift.

• Ormagoden traveled to the Blessed Isle to discover the legacy of his previous incarnation. In his travels, he met musician who traveled with him. When he discovered the history of his past life, she revealed herself as the Maiden of Serenity, told him that he could bring about peace, and gave him a memory crystal. Among other things, the crystal contained his past life's memory of a potent artifact lute, and how he descended into the Labyrinth with it.
• Among other things, Gene engaged in diplomacy with the Guild. When he finally settled some trade negotiations, the Guild merchants went on to do their business in Plenilune, but an elderly scholar remained behind, and told him that by travelling to Yu-Shan on Calibration, he could ensure that a great deal of knowledge would be preserved. She presented him with a starmetal key that whispers the location of the moving Yu-Shan gate.
• Suacu heard about the god-forged artifacts given at Kokage's Tournament in the Flaming Arena. Judging the tournament along with Kokage was a woman in an iron mask. When Suacu won the tournament, she personally revealed that a great battle loomed, and gave him a dire lance, along with a few other prizes.

I figure that Yuki's going to meet with the Maiden of Journeys (in the guise of a messenger), and Abbadon with the Maiden of Endings (who will present him with another way of finishing his artifact sword). However, I'm not sure what to give Yuki in this case.

For the most part, playing with the Maidens has been pretty fun; even the savviest player so far only suspected he was dealing with a Sidereal, so the players were more than a bit surprised at the revelations. I tried to foreshadow it a bit by having them take up roles related to their constellations; Venus was a musician, Jupiter was a scholar, and Mars had a spear. I also made a point of acting out their "Resisting Questions" specialty.

[Cirrylius]

Aren't they made of starmetal and plummet to the earth when a celestial god dies? I think that's in Manual: Sidereals? Not sure, though...

Correct, although I believe they fall to earth when ANY god dies.

[Weimann]

It appears the Scroll of Swallowed Darkness material has received a 2.5 transition.

Personally, I can't believe that they took the time with Sidereals before SoSD. Don't they understand how fundamental this is to the core system?

[Gensh]

It's a literal, physical object. Malfeas appears to be on the other side of it. No word on what the stars are, though. I'm kind of imagining upside-down lighthouse palaces, though.

Could I get a page number for that? I'd like to see how open for shenanigans the reading is.

So, has anyone used the Maidens of Destiny toward anything cool?

That sounds pretty cool. So far, my groups have tended toward a kick-in-the-door playstyle, so the big important characters I could use have been limited to demons and Deathlords, mostly.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Could I get a page number for that? I'd like to see how open for shenanigans the reading is.

I'm almost positive it's in the books somewhere, but I do know that the writers have said that the Dome of Heaven is a very real, very solid thing. You can certainly just change it, though, if you want to go with something else.

Malfeas being on the other side of it is open to interpretation, though. Sky Breaker Throw (an Ink Monkeys Solar Hero Charm) lets you, well:

If the Solar is particularly wroth however, he may fling his foe out into the stars, where his victim smashes through an unseen layer of Creation and comes screaming down over the brass skyline of Malfeas to leave a crater in the street.

[Rockphed]

I'm almost positive it's in the books somewhere, but I do know that the writers have said that the Dome of Heaven is a very real, very solid thing. You can certainly just change it, though, if you want to go with something else.

Malfeas being on the other side of it is open to interpretation, though. Sky Breaker Throw (an Ink Monkeys Solar Hero Charm) lets you, well:

Does it take the normal 5 days to traverse The Endless Desert in that case? What if the Solar used the charm while in Malfeas?

[Turalisj]

Does it take the normal 5 days to traverse The Endless Desert in that case? What if the Solar used the charm while in Malfeas?

You get incap'd for 5 days until 'you' catch up to time.

[HerrTenko]

Question Time!
What Martial Arts Styles would you consider accepting, and what styles do you think should be utterly ignored due to brokenness?
I'm talking all MA Styles, here, Ink Monkey, Scroll of the Monk and Imperfect Lotus included. I've heard a lot of bad things about SotM and it's PDF extension and I'm wondering if there's anything to save from them.

[Teln]

All the Sidereal styles need to be redone from scratch, with the exception of the one in Glories: Maidens--they are simply that broken. I'm still digesting 2.5, so that's all I can help you with.

[Xefas]

What Martial Arts Styles would you consider accepting, and what styles do you think should be utterly ignored due to brokenness?

The Immaculate Styles got hit by the 2.5 errata, so I would think it would be safe to assume they're functioning as intended. (So long as one is already operating under the assumption that anything in the Exalted system 'functions'.)

[a_humble_lich]

I think all the styles outside of the Scrolls of the Monk were hit by 2.5. At the very least I see errata for Solar Hero, Hungary Ghost, Violet Bier of Sorrows, Throne Shadow, and the Glories most high. As far as Scroll of the Monk goes, I don't think they are all unsalvageable, but none of them have been converted to 2.5 so they would all need retooling anyways. (Not that they aren't broken, but I think they can be salvaged) This might actually be the best thing to happen to SotM, it gives a ST an excuse to deny or rework any SotM styles in his/her game.

[Andreaz]

At the very least I see errata for Solar Hero, Hungary Ghost, Violet Bier of Sorrows, Throne Shadow, and the Glories most high.

Michael Kovats is out to get you.