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Exalted Questions Thread

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In An-Teng, what kind of omen would a shooting star on the night of a birth be interpreted as? Good? Ominous?
 
QafianSage said:
In An-Teng, what kind of omen would a shooting star on the night of a birth be interpreted as? Good? Ominous?
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I know fuckall about An-Teng, but to take a guess?

First, unless it's a local ruler's child being born, not many people would associate the shooting star with them - they'd just ascribe to whatever event that night was closest to being significant. Hence, unless something legitimately noteworthy happened in concurrence with the star, the result would be every half-baked astrologer and armchair thaumaturge in the city putting forth their own pet theory on what sort of omen it was and what it pertains to. The truth likely wouldn't be possible to determine without the benefit of years or decades of hindsight.

Second, what exactly is a 'shooting star' in Creation, where the night sky is essentially a computer readout of Heaven's current political landscape mixed with automated alerts about local Loom phenomena? We know that comets are the equivalent of a warning or error message, indicating that something has gone wrong in the region beneath its position. Meanwhile, the 'stars' themselves are actually orbs of enchanted starmetal which each correspond to a specific god currently serving in the Celestial Court; when a god dies or is dismissed from her position, her star comes loose from the Dome of the Sky and falls to the ground.

Hence, the most literal adaptation would be that a 'shooting star' is the latter event, and thus means that one of the gods of Heaven has fallen from grace. In that case, you'd probably see a period of unrest (because the average man on the street has a vague grasp that falling star = not good, but won't be able to work out much more than that) while the populace waits for the astrologers to finish consulting their star charts and work out precisely which divinity just bit it. From there, you either have a general sense of relief (if the fallen god wasn't significant to the city, and/or was a dick) or panic (if a god who's particularly revered in the area just died).
 
QafianSage said:
In An-Teng, what kind of omen would a shooting star on the night of a birth be interpreted as? Good? Ominous?
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I don't recall seeing any references to how a comet would feature in Tengese superstition in Blood and Salt, so I would recommend looking up the superstitions of the sort of culture An-Teng is built off of.

Which I think is places like Vietnam, but don't quote me on that.
 
I've made a thread, called ointments and potions in 2e/ 3e.

I got inspiration from this:

've been reading harry potter. Lots of ideas. How about liquid luck? How about potions that grant you resistance to fire for a day? What about ointments that instantly cure boils and cuts? What about potions that can make your hair grow longer, or you taller?

Maybe basically the artifact zero version of hair dyes? All temporary, and all unnoticeable compared to exalted. But still useful for mortals.
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So what is the maximum power a potion can have in 2e/ 3e? Grant supernatural merits and powers?
 
Depends on how they're brewed. If the potion is a high-level Artifact, the sky's the limit.

Relevant homebrew:



I said:
There are no temporary or single-use Artifacts. However, there are Artifacts which serve only to create temporary or single-use magical items. For example, the recipe for a magical injury-healing soup could be an Artifact. The rating of such an Artifact depends on the power of the item created, how easily it can be used to create that item, and how often it can create that item. It's possible for this type of Artifact to take the form of pure information, which can easily be copied into any number of books. Information Artifacts are obviously more useful than physical objects, and as such they have higher ratings than similar non-information Artifacts.

...

Twilight Chemistry
Cost: 10m; Mins: Craft 5, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Keywords: Agnostic, Stackable
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Flawless Handiwork Method, a specialty in alchemy

This Charm is a two-hour-long action in which the Solar brews a magical chemical from ingredients found in any respectable alchemical laboratory. With multiple activations of this Charm, the Solar may create multiple chemicals or multiple doses of the same chemical at the same time. Chemicals produced this way last for (Essence) weeks or until used.

Upon learning this Charm, the Solar gains access to three formulas. They may purchase more for 3xp apiece, selecting from the list below or inventing their own.

Sovereign Glue: A nearly perfect adhesive. It's waterproof, heatproof, lasts forever, can stick anything to anything, and requires a Strength 10+ difficulty 15 feat of strength to pull apart.

Alkahest: A universal solvent, capable of eating through any nonmagical material except glass. The amount produced is enough to destroy a finger-sized amount of matter. Being exposed to it is an environmental hazard with damage 5L, difficulty to resist 5. It may be delivered to an enemy with a difficulty 2 gambit. However, unless stored in packaging that takes a miscellaneous action to open, the vial will break and expose its carrier to its effects whenever that carrier takes falling damage or more than six dice of bashing damage.

The Spit Of Hesiesh: A potent incendiary that ignites when exposed to air. It burns for only a few seconds, but gives off as much heat as a bonfire. If used in combat, it has the same statistics as Alkahest.

The Philosopher's Stone: A grey rocky substance that, when rubbed into base metal, transforms it to gold. One dose can produce about an ounce of gold.

Adorjan's Blood: A foul-tasting liquid that fills its drinker with a strange mixture of rage and glee. A character who drinks a full dose has a Major Principle of "violence is wonderful", feels no fear whatsoever, reduces their wound penalties and defenses by 1, and adds 1 to their withering accuracy and damage. A dose may also be diluted, giving a Minor Principle to up to twenty people. A battle group can't hold together under the effects of a diluted dose unless it has Elite Drill, in which case it gains Perfect Morale at the cost of Poor Drill. It's pretty difficult to dose an unwilling target with Adorjan's Blood, but if it happens resisting a full dose is difficulty 3 and resisting a diluted dose is difficulty 1 using (Stamina + Resistance or Integrity).

Powdered Death: A tasteless and odorless poison with the following traits: damage 3L/hour, duration 5 hours, penalty -1, vector ingestion. Add 2 to the duration against a mortal. It's surprisingly painless to die this way.

Knife-Ice: A weapon poison that makes the affected area feel very very cold. It has the following traits: damage 3i/round (B in Crash), duration 6 rounds, penalty -3, vector damage.

Solar Ink: An ink/paint/dye (it works as any of those) that glows in the colour or colours of the maker's choice. It adheres to any material and, once used, will never fade or leak from the page. One dose is a full liter of fluid.

Liquid Peace: A silver liquid that causes pain to be felt as a pleasant numbness. It doesn't remove wound penalties, though: the numbness is fairly debilitating. Liquid Peace lasts for about a day for someone who weighs 150 pounds, and can be quite addictive.

The Kiss Of Venus: A genuine aphrodisiac. Anyone who takes a doze gains a Minor Intimacy of lust towards everyone. It lasts for about four hours, assuming a 150-pound subject, and can be resisted with a difficulty 2 (Stamina + Resistance or Integrity) if the person taking it isn't willing to experience its effects.
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Maybe, maybe not.

Regardless of whether the potion's an artifact, the maximum depends on exactly what it is. Maybe there's a drink somewhere that'll turn you into a Primordial: maybe deep in the depths of Metagaos, the heart's blood of the Yozi forms a pool and anyone who consumes the liquid in that pool will become the new Metagaos. Maybe that's happened before; maybe the current Metagaos was once a Lunar Exalt of the First Age.
 
A question. Would it break the game/ setting, if there was a way for mortal sorcerers to obtain occult excellencies?
 
Sanctaphrax said:
Regardless of whether the potion's an artifact, the maximum depends on exactly what it is. Maybe there's a drink somewhere that'll turn you into a Primordial: maybe deep in the depths of Metagaos, the heart's blood of the Yozi forms a pool and anyone who consumes the liquid in that pool will become the new Metagaos. Maybe that's happened before; maybe the current Metagaos was once a Lunar Exalt of the First Age.
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Heh, so the entire point of Metagaos is a glorified Squig-eating contest?
 
Accelerator said:
A question. Would it break the game/ setting, if there was a way for mortal sorcerers to obtain occult excellencies?
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I don't think so? After all, the Excellencies still have to be fueled by the user's own Essence, so they can't exactly make casual use of them, and the only way to deepen their mote reserves would be through specialized devices that essentially function as batteries that store spiritual energy for later use - which aren't exactly easy to make or get hold of, and produce the outcome of mortal thaumaturges who grasp an Excellency and want to use it a lot having to then go make plot happen as they search for a way to get/make enough Essence-batteries for their purposes.
 
GardenerBriareus said:
I don't think so? After all, the Excellencies still have to be fueled by the user's own Essence, so they can't exactly make casual use of them, and the only way to deepen their mote reserves would be through specialized devices that essentially function as batteries that store spiritual energy for later use - which aren't exactly easy to make or get hold of, and produce the outcome of mortal thaumaturges who grasp an Excellency and want to use it a lot having to then go make plot happen as they search for a way to get/make enough Essence-batteries for their purposes.
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Because, man, I find this spell. And I found it neat.

Song of the Loa (Terrestrial): 15 Motes. The user opens the way for a willing spirit to bond with a willing host for up to twenty-four hours. While the host remains physically in charge, the spirit may lend the host its abilities (although it's quite free to lie about what a particular power does) – but is in no way obliged to do so and may depart at any time. Most spirits will want something in exchange for the use of their powers. Ghosts, for example, are notorious for wanting to taste the pleasures of life, while little gods usually want worship and offerings. If it should become relevant – such as an Eclipse caste studying a Spirit Charm – one day spent with a charm available due to the use of Song of the Loa counts as a week of study towards learning it later on.
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I mean, like, people calling in spirits, demons, and gods, into their body, and fighting? That fits exalted.
 
Accelerator said:
Because, man, I find this spell. And I found it neat.



I mean, like, people calling in spirits, demons, and gods, into their body, and fighting? That fits exalted.
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I'd say that the Charm-learning part of it should probably be restricted to Excellencies, except for cases where the mortal being "ridden" is god-blooded or elemental-blooded (in which case I'd say it's justified for him to learn other Spirit Charms from the process, as long as they fit within his existing conceptual bailiwick) or later becomes a god/elemental (as the experience gives them a head-start on their new "career" - although they likely still have to pick Charms that have a connection to their domain/element.)
 
Hmmm... ok then. So a way for mortals to get excellencies.... makes workings more often.

Anyway, an idea. I've been looking at becoming the land friend:

Becoming the Land's Friend
Cost: 14m, 1wp; Circle: Emerald;Type: Simple

Keywords: Counter-Resist, Emotion, Limited ([Willpower] targets), Shaping

Duration: Until the character sleeps

With a swirl of warm mist, the sorcerer draws elemental Essence from her environment. Her skin takes on the coloring of her surroundings, her hair like leaves or sand. The sorcerer gains the following traits:
  • She moves unhindered through all natural obstructions, from dense foliage to craggy mountainous paths; she takes no environmental penalties from natural sources, nor are her actions limited by her Athletics when dealing with unstable footing from natural effects (see Exalted, p. 155). Indeed, she adds (Essence) to her movement speed and all dice pools to move through natural terrain. All natural environments are considered Open Terrain.
  • Natural environmental hazards are less harmful to the sorcerer. She automatically succeeds all (Stamina + Resistance) rolls against their Trauma.
  • The sorcerer is immune to all natural Poison and Sickness effects unless directly inflicted upon the sorcerer by some character's action.
  • Mundane tracking automatically fails to follow the sorcerer through natural terrain. Even supernatural methods of tracking suffer a -(Essence) external penalty to follow the sorcerer through such conditions. She also gains camouflage while in natural terrain, gaining (Essence) bonus dice on Stealth rolls to hide in such locations.
  • The sorcerer can always find enough food for herself and adequate shelter without needing to make a Survival roll.
  • All wild natural animals (and equivalently intelligent plants) regard the sorcerer favorably; all gain an unnatural Emotion of a positive Intimacy toward the sorcerer upon perceiving her, which vanishes when she is no longer sensed. Resisting this costs the animal (Essence) Willpower (a cost the vast majority will not pay). This empathic bond works both ways, however. The sorcerer is imposed with an unnatural Emotion of her own, which gives her a positive Intimacy toward wild natural animals and plants. Her Virtues also shifts slightly, regarding wild natural animals and plants with the same regard as humans. Resisting this mental influence only costs one Willpower for the duration of the spell, although this will remove the animal's and plant's Emotion effect as well. Gathering fruits, nuts, or pruning dead branches is not considered harmful acts.

Note that this spell, while potent, does not grant the sorcerer the ability to survive in environments she otherwise would be unable be unable to, such as underwater or in lava.

The sorcerer can extend the effects of this spell to her comrades by casting this spell with long ticks, spending an extra five motes per person. To benefit from this spell's effects, her companions must stay within (Willpower) yards of her. If they move beyond this range, the spell's hold on them is broken, and cannot be regained without recasting the spell.
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What about, say, urban environments? Like in autobot?
 
Accelerator said:
Hmmm... ok then. So a way for mortals to get excellencies.... makes workings more often.

Anyway, an idea. I've been looking at becoming the land friend:



What about, say, urban environments? Like in autobot?
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The weakest being with an Excellency in Exalted Third Edition is the Nephwrack. Do not give mortals excellencies unless you're homebrewing for Second Edition.

(And even the Nephwrack, as a mighty spirit, has a pretty awful Excellency)
 
Accelerator said:
Wait. Demons don't have excellencies?
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First Circle Demons have no Excellency, correct, although they do have high base stats, health levels, and decent damage-enhancing Charms, or weirdo powers to fit them doing what they do. Second Circle Demons have Solarish Excellencies with a wide range of how they work. Mara and Alvueia have a Charm to double 7s in their areas of focus. Octavian has a flat-out Solar Excellency he can apply to anything he wants. Ahlat also effectively has a Solar Excellency.

The Nephwrack can double 9s or add a single +1 to it's defense for two points of initiative as an Essence 5 spirit. Only the Lesser Elemental Dragons, Second Circle Demons, and the one Essence 7 god we have an example of through Ahlat have Excellencies without being Exalted. The power to say "I just Do Better" by pouring Essence on the roll is an extremely rare power in Exalted Third Edition.
 
Accelerator said:
Any reason why they removed the excelleny?
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Lowering the expected dice curve overall was the main reason, because the system melted under the ridiculous extremes of 2e. The other side was making real magic both rarer and stronger. Powerful damage enhancement, high dice pools, and additional health levels are what you are more likely to find in powerful spirits throughout Creation, as well as methods of attack mortals simply don't have, such as summoning a hurricane or blighting the fields, or just throwing a bolt of lightning at range with great accuracy.

Even a very weak god can be something no mortal would wish to fight without magical backup, no Excellency required.
 
Ok. That's... fascinating.

So anyway, the urban version spell. Should I make it so that you never get lost in the city? Able to so super parkour? Walk through buildings?
 
Becoming The Land's friend is a powerful spell, when city-dwelling sorcerers go out into the wild. But what about the opposite? This is for the sorcerers that learnt in the midst of Creation's forests and sands, entering these strange stone forests called 'cities'.

Transforming into the City's Companion
Cost: 14sm, 1wp Circle: Emerald
Duration: Until the character sleeps

With a swirl of power and chanting the song of cities, the sorcerer pulls in the Essence emanating from civlisation. Her skin becomes silvered, her hair smoked. The sorcerer gains the following traits:
  • As long as the sorcerer is in the city, her movement rates are doubled, and she moves unhindered. No matter the surface or situation, her movement is always swift and precise. No environmental penalties for unsteady footing or on slippery oil patches.
  • Mundane tracking fails to track the sorcerer through urban terrain. Even supernatural methods of tracking suffer a (Essence + 2) external penalty to follow the sorcerer under such conditions
  • The sorcerer does not need to eat nor rest
  • The sorcerer knows, where, in the city, what she needs to find. If she needs to find food, she will find a shopping mall, a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen, or a place where they dump scraps. If she needs to find information, she will know the location of the local library or university, and etc.
  • The sorcerer has her heart to the pulse of the city, no matter what. No matter her appearance, whether wearing a kilt of leaves or hides of animal skin, she will be treated as if she was just another city folk. Also, she fits in, knowing what the customs and rituals of civilisation require. Place a bunch of coins in that old man's hat, for that is the toll the Elm street gang extracts. Don't do that, and you will get beaten. The crossing between the boulveyards and the slaughterhouses is a place of great contest between two rival gangs. Do not enter. There is to be no people walking the streets after midnight. etc.
So what do you think?
 
Accelerator said:
Becoming The Land's friend is a powerful spell, when city-dwelling sorcerers go out into the wild. But what about the opposite? This is for the sorcerers that learnt in the midst of Creation's forests and sands, entering these strange stone forests called 'cities'.

Transforming into the City's Companion
Cost: 14sm, 1wp Circle: Emerald
Duration: Until the character sleeps

With a swirl of power and chanting the song of cities, the sorcerer pulls in the Essence emanating from civlisation. Her skin becomes silvered, her hair smoked. The sorcerer gains the following traits:
  • As long as the sorcerer is in the city, her movement rates are doubled, and she moves unhindered. No matter the surface or situation, her movement is always swift and precise. No environmental penalties for unsteady footing or on slippery oil patches.
  • Mundane tracking fails to track the sorcerer through urban terrain. Even supernatural methods of tracking suffer a (Essence + 2) external penalty to follow the sorcerer under such conditions
  • The sorcerer does not need to eat nor rest
  • The sorcerer knows, where, in the city, what she needs to find. If she needs to find food, she will find a shopping mall, a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen, or a place where they dump scraps. If she needs to find information, she will know the location of the local library or university, and etc.
  • The sorcerer has her heart to the pulse of the city, no matter what. No matter her appearance, whether wearing a kilt of leaves or hides of animal skin, she will be treated as if she was just another city folk. Also, she fits in, knowing what the customs and rituals of civilisation require. Place a bunch of coins in that old man's hat, for that is the toll the Elm street gang extracts. Don't do that, and you will get beaten. The crossing between the boulveyards and the slaughterhouses is a place of great contest between two rival gangs. Do not enter. There is to be no people walking the streets after midnight. etc.
So what do you think?
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You just posted this half an hour ago. Why are you reposting it?
 
Accelerator said:
Becoming The Land's friend is a powerful spell, when city-dwelling sorcerers go out into the wild. But what about the opposite? This is for the sorcerers that learnt in the midst of Creation's forests and sands, entering these strange stone forests called 'cities'.

Transforming into the City's Companion
Cost: 14sm, 1wp Circle: Emerald
Duration: Until the character sleeps

With a swirl of power and chanting the song of cities, the sorcerer pulls in the Essence emanating from civlisation. Her skin becomes silvered, her hair smoked. The sorcerer gains the following traits:
  • As long as the sorcerer is in the city, her movement rates are doubled, and she moves unhindered. No matter the surface or situation, her movement is always swift and precise. No environmental penalties for unsteady footing or on slippery oil patches.
  • Mundane tracking fails to track the sorcerer through urban terrain. Even supernatural methods of tracking suffer a (Essence + 2) external penalty to follow the sorcerer under such conditions
  • The sorcerer does not need to eat nor rest
  • The sorcerer knows, where, in the city, what she needs to find. If she needs to find food, she will find a shopping mall, a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen, or a place where they dump scraps. If she needs to find information, she will know the location of the local library or university, and etc.
  • The sorcerer has her heart to the pulse of the city, no matter what. No matter her appearance, whether wearing a kilt of leaves or hides of animal skin, she will be treated as if she was just another city folk. Also, she fits in, knowing what the customs and rituals of civilisation require. Place a bunch of coins in that old man's hat, for that is the toll the Elm street gang extracts. Don't do that, and you will get beaten. The crossing between the boulveyards and the slaughterhouses is a place of great contest between two rival gangs. Do not enter. There is to be no people walking the streets after midnight. etc.
So what do you think?
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This is an Athletics Charm, two Survival Charms, two Investigation Charms, and a Sidereal Astrology Charm all rolled into one, by the way. This isn't a spell, this is the power I would give to an Essence 6 City God of Great Forks or something.
 
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