Tradition says giving more rope would either fix it or TPK memorably. Do that!
General Exalted Thread
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Yeah, I need to really lock in my Paranoia stuff. I think it's healthier for the game though, being willing to get into trouble like this. It's one of those interesting points where like... There are off-camera concerns about making the engagement Fair and Challenging while also maintaining internal consistency.
And yeah, Pipera keeps getting super-scared. I think it's an important note to make that not all Exalts have the PC-valor, that you don't have to be brave in the face of combat to be an Exalt. Pipera's likely going to be the most useful calling for help, either Tatters or Piercing Sun. In hindsight, I probably should have arranged for either of them or other assets to be in place in case stuff went down- but then again I didn't anticipate the Hall of Ancestors being able to read Motives like that- or for Aleph to track my decisions so specifically.
Oh man I hope Pipera doesn't tear Inks a new one over this...
Like, to not too fine a point on it, Aleph had the room read Inks's Mind. That shit is rare in games! It doesn't happen because it's ridiculously hard to balance.
re: Armor, I at some point wanted to get DEA and Silken Armor, yes, but time and effort. Inks has Resistance Favored, too, so I have either 'buff crafted armor' or 'Iron Skinned Monk/Glorious Solar Plate' trees to explore. Just, XP budgets.
Anyway, yeah as of next session, the room is baring new details Aleph wants to develop or as I stunt in- A flawlessly polished 2-story tall golden chamber full of shouting iblan ancestor busts, with an arched ceiling held up by giant pillars. It's 30x60m in dimensions, with a yet to be determined number of spear-wielding, deafened guards, and 3 Iblan nobles.
Inks has Herself + Chronicle, a bunch of maybe-useful sorcery; Maji, a frightened not-fitey Pipera, and an increasingly fighty Vahti. One immediate thought that comes to mind is if Inks flares her anima, all that gold is going to reflect/shine/blind out everybody- and help her resist damage anyway with Twlight Anima.
And for all I know, these guards may just be 'escorting' Inks and co from the premises at spearpoint. Not likely but possible! House Iblan's entrenched enough that murdering 3 people and a tiger godson is a small price to pay for their vaunted 'Stability'. Would they be willing to pay the price of Rankar losing his exotic sorcerer though? Likely, but it wouldn't be cheap.
-Just speaking from the popcorn gallery, I'd note that being a little less squishy would probably free up your GM in what they can throw at you without worrying you'd go squish by mistake. Not the full paranoia package, but a little more personal care.
So it seems to me, anyway.
-Ori Discreet Essence Armor(2 dots, 7L/7B, 3 Hardness) or Transformative Armor (2dots, 6L/4B, no hardness) are the only appropriate armor items that come to mind for a socialite. Infinite Resplendence Amulet would cost 4 dots to get the moonsilver MM bonus that acts as armor.
Or like I said, find an ori version of those Lunar armor tattoos.
-Sucker bet on Pipera tearing Inks a new one.
And probably insisting that she get someone to manage her security arrangements on a permanent basis; either Vashti or someone else.
-Tatters is probably not going to be pleased at the fact that the Iblan apparently have ghosts bound into statuary as an alarm system, are they? Or am I misreading that?
Does seem like the sort of thing an Abyssal or a Deathlord, even a nemissary, might be interested in.
-Looking at your resources, I will note that as a flame duck, Vashti has:
Harrow The Mind: Illusions of dangerous people with weapons. Basically a genjutsu, and probably her most useful charm here.
Affinity Fire Control: +3 fire damage.
Sheathing The Material Form: +6B/3L in hand to hand combat.
They revealed a House secret in detail to Inks.
And they obviously planned for this, given the presence of the family priestess, who might have some chance of combating a sorceress powers. Which suggests they may well be moving on more than just Inks here.
Don't be surprised to find that they sent people to wreck her estate while the talks were ongoing.
They've had almost a season to plan after all.
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- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Ooff, yeah, good points. I really do want to get tankier, but it's so expensive. For the post-fite future, I'm gonna have to really invest in more bodyguards now. I have 10 charm xp and 3 mortal xp as of session 44, and not a lot of chance to train it. Oh no Sun is going to go White Chain on Inks's rear. This is bad, this is so very bad...
In terms of meta, yes being tougher would make it easier on Aleph, in some ways, but also more difficult. The longer Inks is... not pushing into high level combat wombat tier, the more time Aleph has to get experienced with the combat engine. Maybe she doesn't want that experience, but I'm game either way.
The thing about DEA is that it's Magitech, and that's one of those things we haven't really dug into as far as 'prevalence' in Sunlit Sands', similar with Transformative Armor. Artifacts in general we just haven't touched on much because Aleph wants to emphasize Thaum Crafting for 'smaller' magics and save Artifacts and Workings for bigger stuff. Orichalcum armor tattoos could work, but at the same time they'd likely commit out of Inks's mote pool and I like having it free. Then again, mote reactor, then again attunement is in this nebulous space in Sunlit Sands too...
Assuming we all survive this I'm like 99% sure Inks is gonna just tackle-glomp Pipera and apologize profusely.
My impression of the Ancestor Hallway is that it's an Artifact that might involve ghostly aspects, but is not itself made of Bound Ghosts- then again they could be ancestor worshiping altars with a specific function- i don't really know.
The thing about Vahti though, is that she's as Aleph would say, an ickle Flame Duck- she doesnt' have the same stat block as the one presented in RoGD1, which more describes one of the roving heroine types or a member of their elemental sorority. So when it comes time to fight, we'll have to ask what Vahti has.
And that's a super-good point re: Dealing with Inks and having 3 months to prepare. I really stepped in it this time!
Aleph
Princess of Stabbity
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Amusingly, Bana would actually really rather not be doing this, but she's just painted herself into a corner. Inks forced a meeting she didn't want, so she was hostile and unfriendly - though note that she truthfully denied having sent the thugs to attack Inks' manor and made no attempt to hide that she was trying to force her out of the city economically, so her displayed unfriendliness prior to everything going to hell wasn't of the lethal variety.
But due to her suspicion and uncompromising tone and refusal to bend, Inks decided she needed to destroy House Iblan, and the hall of ancestors picked it up, and Inks made no bones about having decided to bring them toppling down when Bana accused her. And that therefore puts Bana in a bind, because she's assuming that Inks can genuinely do so if she tries, and is therefore a real and immediate threat to the stability and existence of the House.
And her highest loyalty, as Inks noted with Knowing the Soul's Price, is the stability and security of Gem and House Iblan's place within it. So she either has to let an enemy capable of destroying her House and with every intention of doing so go free, or kill her now and deal with whatever consequences come from that. If she succeeds, House Iblan is too big and too important to be destroyed in retribution, but her life might be forfeit to appease the Despot, as well as potential sanctions. Either way it's a lose condition for her, since what she wants is just for Inks to go away (or never have come to Gem in the first place) and allow House Iblan to continue in its stately repose without change, thus she's going with what she sees as the lesser of two evils and only viable choice to protect her House.
She's an old, stubborn woman who refuses to change, and a combination of her oppressive conservativism and Inks' stubborn bulling through social niceties has forced her hand to this point.
But due to her suspicion and uncompromising tone and refusal to bend, Inks decided she needed to destroy House Iblan, and the hall of ancestors picked it up, and Inks made no bones about having decided to bring them toppling down when Bana accused her. And that therefore puts Bana in a bind, because she's assuming that Inks can genuinely do so if she tries, and is therefore a real and immediate threat to the stability and existence of the House.
And her highest loyalty, as Inks noted with Knowing the Soul's Price, is the stability and security of Gem and House Iblan's place within it. So she either has to let an enemy capable of destroying her House and with every intention of doing so go free, or kill her now and deal with whatever consequences come from that. If she succeeds, House Iblan is too big and too important to be destroyed in retribution, but her life might be forfeit to appease the Despot, as well as potential sanctions. Either way it's a lose condition for her, since what she wants is just for Inks to go away (or never have come to Gem in the first place) and allow House Iblan to continue in its stately repose without change, thus she's going with what she sees as the lesser of two evils and only viable choice to protect her House.
She's an old, stubborn woman who refuses to change, and a combination of her oppressive conservativism and Inks' stubborn bulling through social niceties has forced her hand to this point.
Frozen Beauties
Lesser Dead
Dead by Cold
On an isolated path under a moonlit snowscape, a hunter meets a beautiful young man. They speak; they fall in love. For five years they meet throughout the winter months. Then the hunter finds someone else. He does not come to the mountain, so the beautiful young man who never ages a day hunts him down. This time he has no warmth of passion to save him from the hungry dead, and the kiss freezes him solid. The beautiful young man returns to his mountain and the snow-hidden mound of bodies of those who could not sate his need for warmth.
Death is cold. Colder still are those restless dead who died all alone. As they die they think of the warmth they lack, and their spirits linger. These ghosts have the cold beauty of a winter landscape. Faintly luminescent flesh is bloodlessly pale; lips are icy blue; eyes and hair as black as the night sky or white as snow. Even those who were ugly in life sculpt the snow into masks that can fool the eye. Such a chilly beauty is their curse, for they long to be warm. Their touch drains heat from mortals and their breath is the howling winds from the North. Love can warm them too and a frozen beauty might live as a spouse with an unknowing mortal for many a year, but should love fade – as it often does when the truth emerges – then their spouse loses such protection.
Frozen beauties are material as long as snow rests on the ground. As a result, they tend to only haunt the North or the high places of Creation. Where they cannot find cold places they swiftly retreat to the Lands of the Dead. Their more abstract hunger for the warmth of passion leads them to seek to rise in power in the societies of the Dead, and many are tempted by the lure of sin-eating.
Necromancers summon frozen beauties when they must venture into cold places, for these ghosts are at home in freezing temperatures. Those who do not fear the cold also task them with serving as concubines, and given true love – or a ready supply of mortals to feed on – a frozen beauty will revel in such a task. Within the colder parts of Creation, such ghosts are not uncommonly encountered within an exorcist's duties, and in the north many shamanistic traditions are well practiced at leading such Dead to the warm waters of Lethe.
Ragara Luca, the White Blade
Frozen Beauty
Dead By Cold
Her hair is snow-white and her lips are blue; she wears a white Realm-style gown three hundred years out of date; in her hand she carries a blade made from transparent glass. She has no feet and drifts on the clouds that spill from under her gown. The mountains are her home, and she wanders the glaciers and the slopes.
She never let go of her sword. Even when the avalanche killed most of her caravan and broke her arm, she kept it and used it to pick her way through the snow. Even when she collapsed, still miles short of the waystation, she clung onto her blade. And when her spirit rose, she kept it with her, and slew one of the white ape-elementals who had brought down the mountainside.
During the coldest winters, she is seen haunting the paths that lead to the place where she died. She will warn those who venture along unsafe paths – but only if they welcome her into their camp. If offered warm tea and hot food she will gracefully accept (though she will neither eat nor drink) and offer her help in fighting off the vicious elementals that still hunt on the slopes, but if shunned or insulted she will still her tongue. And should the one who was rude to her be found in their tent, shrivelled and frozen with an icicle driven through their heart, it is just her justice.
Ragara Luca knows where the white apes come from. There is an ancient palace wrought from ice, built up in the clouds. There was once a sorcerer who called on mighty forces to build herself this retreat away from the world, but she cheated the spirits and her magic was turned on her loved ones. The spirits have taken her precious palace from her, and now they dwell up there, under their brutish king. Luca has no love for the anathema, but the spite of a ghost might be enough that she would rather see her murderers slain.
Lesser Dead
Dead by Cold
On an isolated path under a moonlit snowscape, a hunter meets a beautiful young man. They speak; they fall in love. For five years they meet throughout the winter months. Then the hunter finds someone else. He does not come to the mountain, so the beautiful young man who never ages a day hunts him down. This time he has no warmth of passion to save him from the hungry dead, and the kiss freezes him solid. The beautiful young man returns to his mountain and the snow-hidden mound of bodies of those who could not sate his need for warmth.
Death is cold. Colder still are those restless dead who died all alone. As they die they think of the warmth they lack, and their spirits linger. These ghosts have the cold beauty of a winter landscape. Faintly luminescent flesh is bloodlessly pale; lips are icy blue; eyes and hair as black as the night sky or white as snow. Even those who were ugly in life sculpt the snow into masks that can fool the eye. Such a chilly beauty is their curse, for they long to be warm. Their touch drains heat from mortals and their breath is the howling winds from the North. Love can warm them too and a frozen beauty might live as a spouse with an unknowing mortal for many a year, but should love fade – as it often does when the truth emerges – then their spouse loses such protection.
Frozen beauties are material as long as snow rests on the ground. As a result, they tend to only haunt the North or the high places of Creation. Where they cannot find cold places they swiftly retreat to the Lands of the Dead. Their more abstract hunger for the warmth of passion leads them to seek to rise in power in the societies of the Dead, and many are tempted by the lure of sin-eating.
Necromancers summon frozen beauties when they must venture into cold places, for these ghosts are at home in freezing temperatures. Those who do not fear the cold also task them with serving as concubines, and given true love – or a ready supply of mortals to feed on – a frozen beauty will revel in such a task. Within the colder parts of Creation, such ghosts are not uncommonly encountered within an exorcist's duties, and in the north many shamanistic traditions are well practiced at leading such Dead to the warm waters of Lethe.
Ragara Luca, the White Blade
Frozen Beauty
Dead By Cold
Her hair is snow-white and her lips are blue; she wears a white Realm-style gown three hundred years out of date; in her hand she carries a blade made from transparent glass. She has no feet and drifts on the clouds that spill from under her gown. The mountains are her home, and she wanders the glaciers and the slopes.
She never let go of her sword. Even when the avalanche killed most of her caravan and broke her arm, she kept it and used it to pick her way through the snow. Even when she collapsed, still miles short of the waystation, she clung onto her blade. And when her spirit rose, she kept it with her, and slew one of the white ape-elementals who had brought down the mountainside.
During the coldest winters, she is seen haunting the paths that lead to the place where she died. She will warn those who venture along unsafe paths – but only if they welcome her into their camp. If offered warm tea and hot food she will gracefully accept (though she will neither eat nor drink) and offer her help in fighting off the vicious elementals that still hunt on the slopes, but if shunned or insulted she will still her tongue. And should the one who was rude to her be found in their tent, shrivelled and frozen with an icicle driven through their heart, it is just her justice.
Ragara Luca knows where the white apes come from. There is an ancient palace wrought from ice, built up in the clouds. There was once a sorcerer who called on mighty forces to build herself this retreat away from the world, but she cheated the spirits and her magic was turned on her loved ones. The spirits have taken her precious palace from her, and now they dwell up there, under their brutish king. Luca has no love for the anathema, but the spite of a ghost might be enough that she would rather see her murderers slain.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
@Aleph also pointed out a critical consequence to using Speed the Wheels- forcing a meeting is not agnostic- that is to say it has connotations or creates biases, like Bana's 'I don't want to meet with you but you forced my hand'.
So this is cool, but it's also something we'd have to keep in mind for the Bitten/Shy effect- handled poorly, such interpretations can come off as punishing for using cool magic, meaning I won't use it more. Granted I have to survive the next session or two before I can really deal with that.... buh, all of the armor-forming Charms are at least 24xp away for me, as well, so I'm gonna have to lean hard on Twilight Anima to survive this.
As for House Iblan, there's this doublethink going on- because this is new territory for me, I as a player rarely have the opportunity or chance to do things like remove entire setting fixtures in pursuit of my goals- I'm usually much more reflexively diplomatic, wanting to avoid escalation for various reasons. I made a point to play against myself for a More Interesting Game.
So this is cool, but it's also something we'd have to keep in mind for the Bitten/Shy effect- handled poorly, such interpretations can come off as punishing for using cool magic, meaning I won't use it more. Granted I have to survive the next session or two before I can really deal with that.... buh, all of the armor-forming Charms are at least 24xp away for me, as well, so I'm gonna have to lean hard on Twilight Anima to survive this.
As for House Iblan, there's this doublethink going on- because this is new territory for me, I as a player rarely have the opportunity or chance to do things like remove entire setting fixtures in pursuit of my goals- I'm usually much more reflexively diplomatic, wanting to avoid escalation for various reasons. I made a point to play against myself for a More Interesting Game.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You can't just spoil my next Quest update like that you fuck
god
I love it
Briefly.
It's thematics are not significantly more technological than your bindi, or Silk Armor.
And the Jadeborn still engage in trade with the surface. Hell, I'm pretty sure it's within your own capabilities to make.
Whether it works for your game is up to you and Aleph.
And often Bad.
Of course, stability in this case means a social order where House Iblan are on top, and she is on top of Iblan, and her children and kin after her, so it's not like we're dealing with an altruist here.
Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
DEA is magitech. Transformative Armor is not.
2 dot Jadeborn artifact. No Repair rating. Made of textiles.Scroll of Fallen Races pg 26 said:
It's thematics are not significantly more technological than your bindi, or Silk Armor.
And the Jadeborn still engage in trade with the surface. Hell, I'm pretty sure it's within your own capabilities to make.
Whether it works for your game is up to you and Aleph.
Yeah. I'm sympathetic to her wishes for stability and order. Change can be scary.
And often Bad.
Of course, stability in this case means a social order where House Iblan are on top, and she is on top of Iblan, and her children and kin after her, so it's not like we're dealing with an altruist here.
Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
If Inks Survives, she'll welcome it!
SpiritualSlacker
Nurse God of Mischief
- Location
- Grandma's attic
SV, help me solve an argument: is Escanor from Seven Deadly Sins (aka Nanatsu no Taizai) a Solar or an Infernal?
Queshire
Wants a pink flamingo for their lawn.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
My vote is Solar. I could see getting stronger as the sun gets higher working as some custom charms and his personality problems honestly fits the bad sort of Solar.
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Infernal. The only Solar thing about him is the aesthetic of the power. The shift in powerlevel based on circumstance and the corresponding personality change that comes with it are pretty clearly Infernal characteristics, as are most of the specific techniques of Sunshine since they don't come from an Evocation-alike.
Sure, you could still model him as a Solar but he just fits more naturally as an Infernal.
Solar.
The sun-aspect, the armor, the attitude, even the amount of time spent hiding in a bar all scream the sort of idioscyncrasies more typical of Solars than Infernals. The Reclamation did not select for people content to bide their time in humble obscurity.
His body expansion and powerup is probably a custom implementation of 2.5E Ascendant Battle Visage.
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
Mu. The correct answer is to reject the dichotomy and realise that most characters can be most kinds of Exalt, depending on which aspects of them you focus on.
What kind of Exalt is Batman?
Well, a vigilante trained to the peak of human excellence who, with only skill and determination, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with heroes who can crush boulders with their bare hands, is excellent Solar fodder... But the image of Batman, that of the Dark Knight standing vigil in the shadows, wreathed in a cloak of billowing black, an unseen warrior of terrifying and uncompromising Justice, lends itself well to an Abyssal. The last scion of the Wayne Dynasty, the product of fierce and intense training backed by the money and influence of his inherited corporation, accompanied by loyal allies who bear his symbol, sounds more like a Terrestrial, while the champion of the common people whom he struggles to connect with, equipping himself with an array of gadgets before venturing out into the world, triumphing through the foresight of having the right technological tool for the right job, that almost sounds like an Alchemical.
These are all different ways of looking at the same character. The difference between them is not, really, one of characterisation - Batman is Batman is Batman.
What matters is that the story of Batman, that of a man who saw his parents die as a child and vowed to avenge their murder by fighting evildoers, is pretty bloody broad, really. Depending on which elements you focus on, you can derive pretty much any of the Exalted from that. Now, Batman is a fairly extreme example of this kind of thing - the guy's been in print for going on 80 years by now, of course he's broad. Still, the principle holds to a greater or lesser degree for other characters.
SpiritualSlacker
Nurse God of Mischief
- Location
- Grandma's attic
I mean. You're not wrong, but geez. What about my argument? Sure, I learned something new, but I kinda needed a win in my life.
You couldn't perhaps add something at the end about how Escanor is the exception or something? Please?
With a little effort, you could find justifications to make almost any heroic or villainous figure in story or history almost any kind of Exalt; and probably just as many justifications for why those same figures would not be those same kinds of Exalts, or even Exalts at all.
For example, you could point to Achilles and say he's obviously the Resistance Supernal Dawn, because he was invincible except for his heel. On the other hand, you could also say that Achilles clearly could not be any kind of Celestial Exalt, let alone a Solar, because despite his vaunt invincibility he required divine intervention on his behalf to keep a river god from killing him; an opponent that a Solar with around 20 years of experience would not lose against.
For example, you could point to Achilles and say he's obviously the Resistance Supernal Dawn, because he was invincible except for his heel. On the other hand, you could also say that Achilles clearly could not be any kind of Celestial Exalt, let alone a Solar, because despite his vaunt invincibility he required divine intervention on his behalf to keep a river god from killing him; an opponent that a Solar with around 20 years of experience would not lose against.
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A talk about Creation's language makes me draw the alphabet for them since I have always wonder what they supposed to look like.
Yeah skytongue is basically just copy-paste Norse runes, the North is my least favorite direction so everything I do for it, I do it with a Made-in-China mentality.
Yeah skytongue is basically just copy-paste Norse runes, the North is my least favorite direction so everything I do for it, I do it with a Made-in-China mentality.
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
I don't actually know who Escanor is
Walker of the Yellow Path
Ho There!
- Location
- The Land of Memes
He's a dude from the anime/manga series Seven Deadly Sins. Sin of Pride. His special ability is that his strength, magical power, and self confidence grows the higher the sun is in the sky, but weakens out of the sun light. So during the day he's a completely invulnerable sunfire shooting badass, while at night he's a wimpy coward.I don't actually know who Escanor is
SpiritualSlacker
Nurse God of Mischief
- Location
- Grandma's attic
Also, in my opinion the most important: while Night!Escanor is essentially just a dude, with wants, hopes, and fears (so many fears), Day!Escanor BASICALLY DOESN'T FEEL ANY OTHER EMOTION EXCEPT PITY FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS BECAUSE IT ISN'T HIM.
He doesn't hate his enemies. He doesn't love his friends. Unlike all the other super OP characters in the manga/anime, he might be "just" a "normal" homo sapiens, yet at the same time, he is the least human fully realized character there is. Even the talking pig mascot character is more human than him.
EDIT: I hope this isn't derailing the thread, btw. We're supposed to be talking Exalted, not SDS/NnT, but this is relevant, right?
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- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
I mean, my first thought for that would be a First Age Solar's son, beefed up through extensive experimentation to make him able to throw around power almost on par with a Dawn Caste Solar in exchange for having his mind and soul bound to the solar cycle. Even then, it's clearly a failed effort, because when he reaches the zenith of his power he also falls into a pseudo-Limit Break, and between dusk and dawn he's effectively helpless.