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General Exalted Thread

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Question. Hacking. Modern exalted.

What level of artifact that lets a computer connect remotely to another network?

As in, connect to an isolated network?
 
Prent said:
What level of artifact do you think would allow that?
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To be honest? 2.

It... doesn't add new powers. It is something that bypasses a difficulty.

In NS, one of the things we learnt was to make sure that our computers do not gain access to outside networks for fear of viruses. A hacker has got to do a lot of work to actually remotely access our computers.

This artifact bypasses that.
 
Elero said:
Welp. Welcome to 'let's break the action economy 101'. Now, you might think it just lets you replace one kind of action with another, it's not like you gain a new action. But the important thing with Devastation actions is that they can only be aimed at Battlegroups and insignificant opponents. In other words, Devastation actions are just there so you don't have to worry too much about mooks. Letting you take Command Actions with that changes it completely. Imagine you are a Solar with heavy War investment and you brought along your size 4 tiger warrior BG and boosted them to size 5 (because why wouldn't you?). You can easily give an allied battlegroup enough of a dice bonus to their attack that they can reliably hit even Exalted that are boosting their parry. On top of that, the BGs attack hits multiple opponents. Effectively, this lets you attack each opponent once per round for free, as a permanent effect, as long as you remembered to bring a BG along with your BG-boosting Warstrider.

Also, why are all the Charms Essence 2? I'd make the charm tree a lot less flat.
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You're right that the effect is very strong, but it's not inherently a problem since about half the Warstriders in Arms do this 'you can use this power in place of your Devastating action' thing. This power is in the top tiers of those abilities, but it can be balanced around.
 
Accelerator said:
To be honest? 2.

It... doesn't add new powers. It is something that bypasses a difficulty.

In NS, one of the things we learnt was to make sure that our computers do not gain access to outside networks for fear of viruses. A hacker has got to do a lot of work to actually remotely access our computers.

This artifact bypasses that.
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And thus you have answered your own question.
 
Accelerator said:
To be honest? 2.

It... doesn't add new powers. It is something that bypasses a difficulty.

In NS, one of the things we learnt was to make sure that our computers do not gain access to outside networks for fear of viruses. A hacker has got to do a lot of work to actually remotely access our computers.

This artifact bypasses that.
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That's not a difficulty. That's something that renders a roll inapplicable. So you are adding a new ability, and a pretty strong one.
 
rogthnor said:
Yeah this is basically my issue, and honestly I don't even know why gods have charms since they aren't allowed to do anything. I understand that in thwir corruption they leverage their charms in order to gain power, but why do they have those charms in the first place if all they are supposed to do is report things.
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The reason the river-god can control the river's waters with Charms is so that, if a glitch happens and the river starts running backwards, the river-god can use his Charms to make the river flow in the proper direction until Heaven processes their incident report and sends someone to perform more permanent repairs.

Under normal circumstances, they're just supposed to keep records of events in their domain, which are regularly submitted to She Who Lives in Her Name for use in identifying problem points in Creation's underlying structures and other administrative projects. Their Charms are only meant to be used if abnormal circumstances happen, so they can act as first responders to whatever Loom error has befallen their assigned portion of Creation and maintain some semblance of order until more qualified gods or devas can be dispatched to the area.

Mortals, being weak, offer prayer to the gods of the lands they dwell in whenever abnormalities occur (since such things either frighten them or cause them more tangible forms of harm), which gives those gods the fuel they need to fulfill this "first responder" role.

Then history happened.
 
SerGregness said:
You're right that the effect is very strong, but it's not inherently a problem since about half the Warstriders in Arms do this 'you can use this power in place of your Devastating action' thing. This power is in the top tiers of those abilities, but it can be balanced around.
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Would you say it is presently balanced adequately?
 
Aranfan said:
Would you say it is presently balanced adequately?
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If it's in the top tiers of those abilities, you could also push it further down the chain of Evocations or whatnot. Like, okay, a question.

Where you imagining these ten charms as being a chain to a capstone?

Or instead 2-3 different chains to 2-3 different, lesser capstones?

Or, thirdly, a sort of pyramid-chain?
 
The Laurent said:
If it's in the top tiers of those abilities, you could also push it further down the chain of Evocations or whatnot. Like, okay, a question.

Where you imagining these ten charms as being a chain to a capstone?

Or instead 2-3 different chains to 2-3 different, lesser capstones?

Or, thirdly, a sort of pyramid-chain?
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Like:

[]
|\
[][]
| /
[]
|\
[][]
| |
[][]
| /
[]
|
[]

Where each bracket is an evocation.

Edit: maybe some war charm discount branching off the main tree.
 
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Aranfan said:
Would you say it is presently balanced adequately?
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I might make it cost 3 or 4m as opposed to being free. 3m is what Solar Counterattack and One Weapon Two Blows cost, and seems like an okay baseline for 'conditional action economy break', and Zelator in Arms has an evocation that lets you flurry attacks and shape sorcery for 4m. Command actions in place of your devastating action seems better on its own than either of those, but Warstriders are also supposed to be potent so it seems like a good place to start.
 
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rogthnor said:
So I just read through GoD and I don't really get gods from a world building standpoint. What's the point of them if all they are supposed to do is watch and report on things?
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The point was to minimize conflict between the Gods and the Exalted, so that's the role gods were assigned under the Creation-Ruling Mandate. Gods detect problems, which they report to the Exalted, who fix them. Think of it like a labor contract that requires all the tricky bits to be handled by the more specialized Exalted Union.

Originally, the gods were essentially groundskeepers that kept everything how it was 'supposed' to be. Remove a god, and their domain will continue existing, but it will tend to grow wild and unkempt, like an unmaintained estate.
 
The Upright Soldier
White Jade Warstrider

After the fall of the First Deliberative, many factions and Solar Warlords vied for control of creation. One of those was a Chosen of the Sun named Ten Million Stars. Talented in War, his strategems saw victory over army, behemoth, and warstrider alike.

At a parley diner he got into an argument with his host, over the value of having an army at all. His host claimed that a warstrider alone was worth any number of mortal men. Ten Million Stars, having taken down warstriders with mere mortals before, took the opposite position.

The parley ended in disaster as tempers flared and unwise words were said in anger.

Yet the argument had sparked an ember of inspiration in Ten Million Stars, and he built The Upright Soldier to prove that any creature or war machine is stronger when properly supported than when left to fight alone.

Fittingly, he and Soldier were only defeated four centuries later when he was cut off while covering his army's retreat.

Even after his death, The Upright Soldier found itself doing better in the presence of allied armies than alone on the field of honor. Such as the tale of Shogunate officer Shu Len who lost to Ling Chu in a warstrider duel only to crush him in battle two months later.

The Upright Soldier is not a warrior warstrider it seems, but a team player, and other soldiers fight all the harder in it's presence. In appearance, The Upright Soldier is a gigantic man of white jade and marble with a soldier's physique, carrying a shield and spear, and clad in Lamellar armor.

The Upright Soldier still stands, having died on it's feet fighting the Balorian crusade. A backwater threshold town has sprung up around it, believing it to be a statue of some great warrior.


Attunement: 15m
Soak: 15; Hardness: 10
Damage track: −0x5/−1x5/−2x10/−4x10
Speed bonus: +2
Hearthstone slot(s): 3
Era: Falling Stars Interregnum

Standard Armaments:

Shield (Medium Weapon)
Spear (Medium Weapon)


Evocations of The Upright Soldier:

The Upright Soldier counts as exceptional equipment for Command Actions, giving them the usual non-charm bonus die.

Example of the Upright Soldier
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: None

When fighting alongside The Upright Soldier, allied battle groups gains a level of Drill. Poor troops become average, average formations become elite. Elite Troops instead gain +1 Might.


Special Activation rules: So long as the Pilot is not Dissonant with Jade, she awakens Example of the Upright Soldier at no cost upon attunement with The Upright Soldier


Shields Overlap
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Resonant
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Example of the Upright Soldier

The Upright Soldier and any Allied Battle Groups in close range of each other may reflexively take Defend Other Actions to protect each other. This does not count as their combat action for their turn.

Resonant: Whenever an attack is successfully defended against because of this Evocation, the attacker loses 1i.


A Hundred Spears At Dawn
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: ??
Duration: One Round
Prerequisites: Example of the Upright Soldier

For the rest of the round, The Upright Soldier gains Double 10s on Decisive damage rolls. Additionally, allied battle groups gain Double 10s on their own damage rolls.


The Chain of Command
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Shields Overlap, A Hundred Spears At Dawn

The Pilot may spend 3 motes to use The Upright Soldier's devastating action to take command actions.


Glory to the Regiment
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: The Chain of Command

Whenever an allied battle group crashes an opponent or causes an enemy battle group to lose a point of size, the pilot gains a point of temporary willpower. This cannot take them above their permanent rating.


Steady March
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords:
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisites: Hold Fast Men!

The example of the Upright Soldier fortifies the men and quickens their step. Infantry gain the benefit of the Upright Soldier's speed bonus. Their greater strategic speed may be tracked directly, or abstracted as providing 2 non-charm dice to the Strategic Warfare roll to establish a stratagem.


Power of Teamwork
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Glory of the Regiment

The Upright Soldier supports it's allies, and is supported in turn. When fighting alongside an allied battle group, the pilot may pay 1 motes to add the [Size] rating of the largest such group to her [Melee or Martial Arts] rolls. Alternatively, they may add [Size/2] to their Defense.


--

I've moved some stuff around. I need another 2 E4 evocations, one that builds off of Steady March, and one that recombines the tree. Then an E5 capstone.
 
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Idea for capstone:

Not Today!
Cost:???; Mins: Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: ???
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite: TBD

The Pilot rolls Charisma+War against a difficulty of 6, as he roars defiance through The Upright Soldier's speaker system. If successful, a pulse of healing magic emanates from the Upright Soldier. Soldiers who were cut down but not killed outright stand up, their wounds healed. Soldiers whose nerve broke, return to the ranks. One allied battlegroup regains all points of size it has lost in the battle to this point, although it's magnitude track does not refill completely, being 3 short of fully healed to represent those men who already died or were too far away to return, as such they cannot be restored by a rally for numbers action.

This evocation may only be used once per story. It may not be reset by the Dawn's Anima Power.


Thoughts?
 
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Aranfan said:
I've moved some stuff around. I need another 2 E4 evocations, one that builds off of Steady March, and one that recombines the tree. Then an E5 capstone.
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Okay, here's a question. First, is a Warstrider something you might also ride around in before a battle? Or is it a battle-only thing?

Second, how does the system for strategic movement outside of battles work? Is it strong enough to hang something off of?

******

Because the key is clearly not doubling the advantage or anything, but instead doing something different.

Edit:

Question three: Magically, how do Evocations work? That is, are they openly magical, or are they meant to follow a sort of 'logic' because I DID have an idea, actually!

...but it might not fit into the narrative.
 
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The Laurent said:
Second, how does the system for strategic movement outside of battles work? Is it strong enough to hang something off of?
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It most certainly ain't. I actually had an idea about buffing morale.

Cost: ???; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: The Chain of Command

The sight of The Upright Soldier fighting besides them steadies the nerves of his fellow soldiers. Whenever an allied battlegroup that can see The Upright Soldier makes a rout check, they get automatic successes equal to the Pilot's (Essence) rating.

Dissonant: Instead of automatic successes, the battle group gains (Pilot's Essence Rating) dice to their roll.

And then Steady March would build off of that.


What was your idea though?
 
Aranfan said:
It most certainly ain't. I actually had an idea about buffing morale.

Cost: ???; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: The Chain of Command

The sight of The Upright Soldier fighting besides them steadies the nerves of his fellow soldiers. Whenever an allied battlegroup that can see The Upright Soldier makes a rout check, they get automatic successes equal to the Pilot's (Essence) rating.

Dissonant: Instead of automatic successes, the battle group gains (Pilot's Essence Rating) dice to their roll.

And then Steady March would build off of that.


What was your idea though?
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Well, other than an improved strategic March, you could also, though this might be too actively magical, "Steal" a March. That's to say, like, a modification of Steady March wherein the enemy of the battlegroup takes a -1 to speed as they're Out-Marched or something like that? It's not meant to be a, "And then humans were horses" sort of thing, but I think it might work.

So could the one you suggested.
 
How about a charm that lets allied battlegroups ignore Legendary Size, so that other warstriders don't hard-counter them? Or a charm that lets allied battlegroups act on your tick instead of their own?

Aranfan said:
Idea for capstone:

Not Today!
Cost:???; Mins: Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: ???
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite: TBD

The Pilot rolls Charisma+War against a difficulty of 6, as he roars defiance through The Upright Soldier's speaker system. If successful, a pulse of healing magic emanates from the Upright Soldier. Soldiers who were cut down but not killed outright stand up, their wounds healed. Soldiers whose nerve broke, return to the ranks. One allied battlegroup regains all points of size it has lost in the battle to this point, although it's magnitude track does not refill completely, being 3 short of fully healed to represent those men who already died or were too far away to return, as such they cannot be restored by a rally for numbers action.

This evocation may only be used once per story. It may not be reset by the Dawn's Anima Power.


Thoughts?
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Feels a bit off. Everything up to this point has been about making soldiers better at soldiering, this is just straight-up healing magic. How about a reflexive rally for numbers which, if the battle group has lost size this scene, can go beyond its normal maximum? No explicit limit on how often it can be used, just the usual rule that battle groups can only benefit from one rally for numbers per scene unless their size is reduced. Probably add reflexive rallies as an alternate mode of the same charm.
 
Vanigo said:
How about a charm that lets allied battlegroups ignore Legendary Size, so that other warstriders don't hard-counter them?
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This is brilliant and this is the new capstone. I just need to figure out if it's a once per story with a duration of 1 scene, or if it's Permanent. And what it's reset condition would be if it's a scenelong charm.
 
Aranfan said:
This is brilliant and this is the new capstone. I just need to figure out if it's a once per story with a duration of 1 scene, or if it's Permanent. And what it's reset condition would be if it's a scenelong charm.
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Again, coming from a, "Not knowing Exalted" position, what are examples of how reset conditions work?

******

I think that if it was going thematic, a good one would be, "Whenever a Warstrider flees from the battlegroup."

Like, the idea is, "Hah, you stupid loser who said that infantry aren't a threat, how do you like it now, running with your tail between your legs from the might of my army!"
 
I don't think the Shaping Keyword exists in universe, but I do think that the ability of sufficiently powerful magical beings to change things and people through their magic would be known throughout creation.
 
Here it is, with all 10 evocations. Please critique it. It's getting close to the final draft.

--
The Upright Soldier
White Jade Warstrider

After the fall of the First Deliberative, many factions and Solar Warlords vied for control of creation. One of those was a Chosen of the Sun named Ten Million Stars. Talented in War, his strategems saw victory over army, behemoth, and warstrider alike.

At a parley diner he got into an argument with his host, over the value of having an army at all. His host claimed that a warstrider alone was worth any number of mortal men. Ten Million Stars, having taken down warstriders with mere mortals before, took the opposite position.

The parley ended in disaster as tempers flared and unwise words were said in anger.

Yet the argument had sparked an ember of inspiration in Ten Million Stars, and he built The Upright Soldier to prove that any creature or war machine is stronger when properly supported than when left to fight alone.

Fittingly, he and Soldier were only defeated four centuries later when he was cut off while covering his army's retreat.

Even after his death, The Upright Soldier found itself doing better in the presence of allied armies than alone on the field of honor. Such as the tale of Shogunate officer Shu Len who lost to Ling Chu in a warstrider duel only to crush him in battle two months later.

The Upright Soldier is not a warrior warstrider it seems, but a team player, and other soldiers fight all the harder in it's presence. In appearance, The Upright Soldier is a gigantic man of white jade and marble with a soldier's physique, carrying a shield and spear, and clad in Lamellar armor.

The Upright Soldier still stands, having died on it's feet fighting the Balorian crusade. A backwater threshold town has sprung up around it, believing it to be a statue of some great warrior.


Attunement: 15m
Soak: 15; Hardness: 10
Damage track: −0x5/−1x5/−2x10/−4x10
Speed bonus: +2
Hearthstone slot(s): 3
Era: Falling Stars Interregnum

Standard Armaments:

Shield (Medium Weapon)
Spear (Medium Weapon)


Evocations of The Upright Soldier:

The Upright Soldier's great size and integrated speak system means it counts as exceptional equipment for Command Actions, giving them the usual non-charm bonus die.

Example of the Upright Soldier
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: None

When fighting alongside The Upright Soldier, allied battle groups gains a level of Drill. Poor troops become average, average formations become elite. Elite Troops instead gain +1 Might.


Special Activation rules: So long as the Pilot is not Dissonant with Jade, she awakens Example of the Upright Soldier at no cost upon attunement with The Upright Soldier


Shields Overlap
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Resonant
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Example of the Upright Soldier

The Upright Soldier and any Allied Battle Groups in close range of each other may reflexively take Defend Other Actions to protect each other. This does not count as their combat action for their turn.

Resonant: Whenever an attack is successfully defended against because of this Evocation, the attacker loses 1i.


A Hundred Spears At Dawn
Cost: 3m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: ??
Duration: One Round
Prerequisites: Example of the Upright Soldier

For the rest of the round, The Upright Soldier gains Double 10s on Decisive damage rolls. Additionally, allied battle groups gain Double 10s on their own damage rolls.


The Chain of Command
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Shields Overlap, A Hundred Spears At Dawn

The Pilot may spend 3 motes to use The Upright Soldier's devastating action to take command actions.


Glory to the Regiment
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: The Chain of Command

Whenever an allied battle group crashes an opponent or causes an enemy battle group to lose a point of size, the pilot gains a point of temporary willpower. This cannot take them above their permanent rating.


Hold Fast Men!
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: The Chain of Command

The sight of The Upright Soldier fighting besides them steadies the nerves of his fellow soldiers. Whenever an allied battlegroup that can see The Upright Soldier makes a rout check, they get automatic successes equal to the Pilot's (Essence) rating.

Dissonant: Instead of automatic successes, the battle group gains (Pilot's Essence Rating) dice to their roll.


Steady March
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisites: Hold Fast Men!

The example of the Upright Soldier fortifies the men and quickens their step. Infantry gain the benefit of the Upright Soldier's speed bonus. Their greater strategic speed may be tracked directly, or abstracted as providing 2 non-charm successes to the Strategic Warfare roll to establish a stratagem.


Power of Teamwork
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Glory of the Regiment

The Upright Soldier supports it's allies, and is supported in turn. When fighting alongside an allied battle group, the pilot may pay 1 motes to add the [Size] rating of the largest such group to her [Melee or Martial Arts] rolls. Alternatively, they may add [Size/2] to their Defense.


The Thousand Correct Actions
Cost: 10m; Mins: Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dissonant, Resonant
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Power of Teamwork, Steady March

The world is filled with monsters and beasts that tower above mortal men. Any man would be hard pressed indeed to fight such creatures alone. Yet soldiers are not alone. The Upright Soldier is not a warstrider, or a specific person, it is an ideal. When acting in harmony, even the mightiest will fall to the blades of the legion!

Until the end of the scene, allied battle groups ignore the effects of any Legendary Size merits their foes may have. This evocation may only be used once per story unless reset by seeing an allied battlegroup defeat an enemy of Legendary Size, either by incapacitating it or forcing it to flee, without the benefit of this Evocation. This evocation cannot be reset by the Dawn anima power.

Dissonant: This evocation costs an additional willpower.

Resonant: This evocation costs 2m less


Not Today!
Cost: 15m; Mins: Essence 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite: The Thousand Correct Actions

The Pilot rolls Charisma+War against a difficulty of 6, as he roars defiance through The Upright Soldier's speaker system. If successful, a pulse of healing magic emanates from the Upright Soldier. Soldiers who were cut down but not killed outright stand up, their wounds healed. Soldiers whose nerve broke, return to the ranks. One allied battlegroup regains all points of size it has lost in the battle to this point, although it's magnitude track does not refill completely, being 3 short of fully healed to represent those men who already died or were too far away to return, as such they cannot be restored by a rally for numbers action.

This evocation may only be used once per story. It may not be reset by the Dawn's Anima Power.

Dissonant: Characters dissonant with Jade can't awaken this evocation.
 
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