Why should one insect be worth more than another? Malfeas doesn't really feel like the type to have trusted lieutenants beyond his souls, and those are pretty different.
General Exalted Thread
Bursting Eagerness Soul
Threadwalking Rating Machine
- Location
- Wisconsin
SWLiHN certainly seems to consider herself the next closest thing. What if he sacrificed her to get everyone else to listen to him? /deliberatelymissingthepoint
Then you're establishing that they are insects, and what worth is an insect that cannot fulfill your will?
Perhaps either as an alternative use or one up the charm tree then? Either that or give it to lunars because they have a reason to have sharks with artifact weapons on their heads
- Location
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Wait, I don't get it. There needs to be a reason to have sharks with artifact weapons on their heads?
Romantic_Kaiju
Romantic Kaiju
- Location
- National Battlefield
Anyone know where this Quote Comes from?
I know its part of larger quote, I just can't find it, and I think there's more to it.
I know its part of larger quote, I just can't find it, and I think there's more to it.
Why wouldn't you want a shark with a laser attached to its head?
You could put a trap door over its pool and make your enemies fall in, and it would be hilarious.
...Or they could knock you into the pool which would make it ironic and hilarious.
As part of my general design school for Yozi Charms, just as that charm lets you give enemies Intimacies of Terrified Awe towards you and then kill them and buff your army, the one for training people by killing high ranking people should;
a) only trigger on the death of a powerful enemy - one who's a threat or at least someone notably superior to the people you're training
b) something that allows you to get permanent Training, to encourage players to crush anyone who could be a threat to your throne.
c) still require you to crush the enemy in front of the people who you're training, to encourage showboating.
Hence, this should be a Training Charm that trains witnesses who see you crush someone more powerful than the observers. It can be used for when you crush someone's champion, you can use it when you crush your powerful lieutenant for failing you or suspected treachery - basically, it should be set up to encourage you to kill powerful people and make sure everyone sees it (which synergises with Malfeas' 'sadism' excellency keyword to make you tend to look like more than a villain).
Hello, hello, who wants to read about a solaroid being attacked by five mortals with sledgehammers? You do. Yes you do.
(Warning, nasu crossover, beware)
(also you might need to read the whole story up to that point if you haven't already)
(Warning, nasu crossover, beware)
(also you might need to read the whole story up to that point if you haven't already)
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
battlegrouuuuups
I don't get it
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
In Ex3, when you have three or more of a type of weak opponent, you collapse them into a single 'battle group' which uses their generic stats + bonuses based on size, training and supernatural might.
So for better or for worse you don't get this situation where five mortals with sledgehammers can murder a Solar because of ambush rules. Five mortals with sledgehammers is a fairly weak battle group unless they are all highly trained, or have a commander coordinating them.
Ah. I have remained clean of reading any 3E crunch material. No one I know wants to play 3E, I already confuse too many things between 1E and 2E as it is, and most importantly . . .
You know how Exalted 3E's combat is more or less directly ripping off of Final Fantasy Dissidia's mechanics?
I own FF Dissidia (for those unfamiliar, it is a Final Fantasy fighting game that tries to make fully 3d combat play out like the fights in FFVIII: Advent Children).
Spoiler: it's shit.
Too much (gasp) LETHALITY. 90% of the fights are a curbstomp in one direction or another. It's not fun when I win. It's not fun when I lose. And very, very few of the battles I've gotten to are actually remotely long or interesting or fun. Every time I am reminded that Exalted 3E used THAT of all things, I kind of shudder. And I won't be finding a trusted set of people to try it out with any time soon.
You know how Exalted 3E's combat is more or less directly ripping off of Final Fantasy Dissidia's mechanics?
I own FF Dissidia (for those unfamiliar, it is a Final Fantasy fighting game that tries to make fully 3d combat play out like the fights in FFVIII: Advent Children).
Spoiler: it's shit.
Too much (gasp) LETHALITY. 90% of the fights are a curbstomp in one direction or another. It's not fun when I win. It's not fun when I lose. And very, very few of the battles I've gotten to are actually remotely long or interesting or fun. Every time I am reminded that Exalted 3E used THAT of all things, I kind of shudder. And I won't be finding a trusted set of people to try it out with any time soon.
FaeGlade Plural
Semper Legens
- Location
- Land of Bureaucracy
- Pronouns
- Plural/They
That's now what my experience playing 3E has been like though. Granted, it wasn't that combat-heavy, but the fights we've had were rather swingy instead of one-direction curb-stomps (between roughly equal opponents, obviously Exalted will always include curb-stomps against weak opponents).
I mean, sure, you can get someone building up to super-high Initiative and then launch an extremely deadly attack. But that can either only happen if the character has sufficiently good offense to hit most of the time, and enough defense to avoid getting hit most of the time. Which is a curb-stomp in any system.
And even then it's less effective than a good combination of keeping enemies at low initiative, crashing them for an initiative boost, and then using a decisive without getting crashed yourself (because if an enemy you have crashed crashes you, they get a ton of initiative).
And you only have a limited time to wail on a crashed enemy too, after three rounds they go back to not being crashed. Which is great if you're winning handily (another opportunity to get 5 extra Initiative from crashing them), but it's not if your enemy is an actual threat. Because then, every withering attack against a crashed enemy is basically a wasted attack (lowering their initiative further doesn't matter as much).
Or in other words:
It's complicated, you yourself said you haven't read the rules, using the same idea doesn't mean it works the same.
I mean, sure, you can get someone building up to super-high Initiative and then launch an extremely deadly attack. But that can either only happen if the character has sufficiently good offense to hit most of the time, and enough defense to avoid getting hit most of the time. Which is a curb-stomp in any system.
And even then it's less effective than a good combination of keeping enemies at low initiative, crashing them for an initiative boost, and then using a decisive without getting crashed yourself (because if an enemy you have crashed crashes you, they get a ton of initiative).
And you only have a limited time to wail on a crashed enemy too, after three rounds they go back to not being crashed. Which is great if you're winning handily (another opportunity to get 5 extra Initiative from crashing them), but it's not if your enemy is an actual threat. Because then, every withering attack against a crashed enemy is basically a wasted attack (lowering their initiative further doesn't matter as much).
Or in other words:
It's complicated, you yourself said you haven't read the rules, using the same idea doesn't mean it works the same.
TheLastOne
Person of impeccable tastes (for destruction)
Nah - you certainly could go over the top, but anything that actively encourages you not to recreate this -
is doing it wrong.
Quantumboost
Now with 50% more dots in Dimensional Science
- Location
- Ensemble Space
Nah, he totally can, he just needs to port over some of SWLiHN's set to his own themes. Yozis/Primordials do that all the time.
Bursting Eagerness Soul
Threadwalking Rating Machine
- Location
- Wisconsin
Exactly. It would probably build off of his "weaponised solipsism" tree. He just commands the world to move, and it does.
If I were doing it with Malfeas' Charmset, it wouldn't be telekinesis.
It'd be coming off Crowned by Fury, allowing Malfeas to command the very flesh of his servants. "DO NOT BREATHE," he says, and their throat obeys and they start suffocating.
(Naturally this'd require a tonne of careful balancing. With the Enlightenment system, it'd only affect people with Enlightenment 2 or less or creatures of Malfeas' Mythos. Intimacies of Terrified Awe and brands of servitude serve to lower the effective Enlightenment of the person for the purposes of resisting this)
My perspective is that the Malfeas charm that allows the infernal to simply kill mortals by burning them alive serves the same thematic role as the telekinetic choke hold used by Darth Vader to execute subordinates. It is a stylish and iconic way of disposing of expendable minions.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh god what have I done.
Mourning Queen's Regalia
In the young days of Creation, before the birth of the Old Realm, there was a prince on an island, blessed by the sun and loved by his people. Among them he took a consort, a woman of cunning insight and great martial skill, whom he loved with all his heart even as age took first her beauty, then her strength. But alas, she was a mortal woman; and although the prince prepared for her many elixirs of long life and a tiara that slowed the course of her days, soon her health too went away, and she could no longer rise from her bed and speak in more than a whisper.
The prince was so struck by despair at the thought that his beloved might die, that he could do nothing but weep by her bedside. For thirty days and thirty nights he wept, and without his guidance his land went awry; spirits came from the wild to torment men, the shades of the dead would haunt their graveyards, pirates would raid the coasts. Desperate, the people came to the prince to beg him to help them; but he sent back all messengers with the same words - "if mortal lives are so short as my beloved's, what difference is it that you die now, or later? "
Finally an advisor of the Prince came to him, and suggested that he use his peerless smithing skill to forge a contraption of steel and magic that may sustain his queen's life, one much like the tiara he had forged brought up to greater proportions than ever before. When the prince ruefully answered that no stone or metal, however rare and magical, could hold the power to stave off death for so long, the advisor brought him to his window, and she showed him the people arrayed before his palace, all kneeling and praying for their prince to return to them; and she whispered in his ear that a life was worth another life, a great life was worth many common lives, and the people loved him so that they would sacrifice their very souls for his happiness.
And so the prince opened the door of his palace, and he asked that all willing to give their life for their lord come within; and a fearful throng, made up of the reckless youth, of the resigned old, of the desperate poor, joined him into the shadow of his forge, and never came back. From their souls he forged an articulated sarcophagus, a black armor in the effigy of his beloved, its helm forged to resemble her face; and he forged a sword and a shield. He took his consort's frail, dying body, and sealed it within the armor; and by spilling his blood on it, he awakened its power.
Now the prince's consort was held on the brink of life, the power of surrendered souls fueling her body; she was returned to might and power unlike any she'd had before, that of a hero of legend. And although the prince could no longer feel her skin under his fingers or her soft breath on his neck, he knew she lived, and he could see her face in her helm; and he was content. But this miracle was not eternal; more souls were needed to fuel the armor's power, and the prince was too kind to sacrifice more of her people. And so he declared war against all neighbors, and went into battle with his consort at his side; and where he surveyed the battle, inspired his troops to greatness and coordinated their march, she would wade into the fray, cutting men like wheat, and the souls she took would sustain her life; and through conquest they earned wealth and prestige, and were feared all through the land.
But although these were the wild days of a young Creation, it was not always to remain so. Others had been chosen by the gods and had forged their kingdoms and brought law to the wild; and many of them united together. In the end the prince found that his empire stood against mighty ramparts of silver and gold, yet could not bring himself to end the war. And so it was that one day his armies came back not only defeated, but bearing his pale, lifeless body on a great litter; and only his consort remained as sole heir.
All who knew about her outside her lands knew her as a soul-eating monster, and her own grief and hatred towards those who had taken her prince from her kept her from reaching out; and so she ruled a sullen, warlike queen, with far too many opponents. One by one every scrap of her empire was taken from her, until only her island remained; and her hunger for soul consumed her to the point that she knew she would soon turn her blade against her own people. Knowing this would be the final betrayal of everything her prince had stood for, she could not bear it; and in a fit of terrible anger she cast her own people out of her land, screaming and swinging her blade, roaming in the streets of her capital city night after night with a wake of blood and shadow to strike their hearts with terror; until the thousands that had once lived on her island took every ship they could and sailed away.
Then the Mourning Queen sat alone on her empty throne, in her empty palace on an empty island; and there she waited for her power to run out. And when the years caught up with her, she welcomed them as old friends; and soon there was nothing in all the land but empty streets, empty stones, and a lone suit of black armor, a sword and a shield.
The Mourning Queen's Regalia
Although each item of the Regalia may be used independently, the three are strongest when used as one, even though to use such power one must bind great amounts of their Essence into them. As long as the Regalia's owner is attuned to all three Artifacts at the same time, he enjoys the benefits of each Artifacts optional attunement benefit without having to pay their additional cost.
The Regalia is a rare set of powerful Artifacts that may be wielded by a mortal. Although the ritual to do so is complex and lost to time, it may be divined from study of the Artifacts or legends about the Mourning Queen. A mortal that attunes the Artifact gains an Essence pool of 30 motes; she need not pay the commitment of the Artifacts, but may only use this Essence to fuel their Evocations. Such power is only available to a mortal who is using all three Artifacts simultaneously - and it is perhaps misleading to call them 'mortal' hereafter, for the Regalia staves off natural death as long as they can feed it enough souls.
The Smiling Widow (Soulsteel Articulated Plate, Artifact 5)
The Smiling Widow is a suit of exquisitely crafted soulsteel plates arranged in a complex pattern that completely covers the body, showing not an inch of skin. Its surface is matte black, with large diamond-shaped scales with sharp angles giving it a foreboding appearance, which is attenuated by a tabard and overskirt of black steelsilk lace. Its helm is shaped so as to resemble a kindly woman's visage, and braids of steelsilk imitate long flowing hair. There is a circular hole in its helmet where a caste mark would be, which acts as a hearthstone socket, as well as one other sockets on each shoulder.
Evocations of the Smiling Widow
The Smiling Widow may be attuned by the Solar and Abyssal Exalted, as well as mortals who undergo a special ritual, and ghosts. Whenever its wearer is hit by a decisive attack, she gains one Initiative per 1 rolled on the damage roll, to a maximum of her Essence. For an additional commitment of four motes, the armor also grants her an additional -0 and -4 health level.
LOCKED BATTLE'S HEART
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: None
The Mourning Queen was a warrior, and the armor that sealed her life was a tool of war. It is a thing of violence that feeds on the violence of battle to sustain its wielder, and its power surges with her battlecry.
This Evocation may be used to enhance a Join Battle roll. For every success on the user's roll, she gathers one point of 'soul charge,' which last for the rest of the scene. At any point during that scene, the user may spend a point of soul charge to add one to her soak against a withering attack, up to (Essence) soak at a time.
BARE BRANCH UNBREAKING
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Special
Prerequisites: Locked Battle's Heart
The Smiling Widow reserves its true strength for the harshest of times, revealing its power when all hope seems lost. This Evocation may be activated upon the user being crashed. It provides no immediate benefit; however, if the user comes out of Initiative Crash without having suffered any wounds from a decisive attack, she immediately gains a number of soul charges equal to the number of opponents who attacked her while she was in Crash (note that this is the number of separate opponents, not the number of attacks; battle groups count as their Size in opponents). Furthermore, she also regains one health level lost to previous attacks or effects.
BRIGHT-BLAZING DEATH
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Locked Battle's Heart
As wounds accrue on its wearer's body, the Smiling Widow shows its cruel kindness; black steelsilk lace binds her wounds, and steel spine dig into her flesh to channel wrathful Essence through the medium of pain.
This Evocation allows the user to supplement an attack by spending one point of soul charge in addition to its cost; this allows her to ignore wound penalties on that attack roll, and to add her wound penalty to that attack's damage roll if the attack is withering.
TREAD DOWN FATE
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Locked Battle's Heart
The Smiling Widow smiles in the face of death, but her smile is a mirthless one; she knows she has nothing more to lose, and so nothing more to fear. Sustaining her body with the energies of battle, the wearer can withstand any force.
This Evocation's core effect may be used when the wearer is struck by a decisive attack which successfully damages her. She may opt to take a crippling injury of any appropriate value; however, instead of actually suffering such injury, she reflexively consumes an amount of soul charge up to the value of the injury if possible, reducing the effective injury by that amount. If this is enough to entirely cancel the injury, she suffers no deleterious effect and the injury does not count towards her once per story limit. As her arm is broken, soulsteel spines force the bones to hold together; as her eye is gouged out, a blue flame alights in her helm, and she keeps fighting as if nothing had happened.
The Weeping Daughter (Soulsteel and Green Jade Daiklave, Artifact 5)
The Weeping Daughter is a narrow straight sword with a deep black blade infused with green veins, a small square guard on which is depicted a crying woman's face, and a dark green tassel hanging from its pommel. When it tastes the blood of an enemy, it can be heard sobbing, and faces can be glimpsed in the flat of its blade. When the sword is left at rest, water pools very slowly at its tip and drops to the ground one drop at a time. It pommel can be removed and replaced with a hearthstone.
Evocations of the Weeping Daughter
The Weeping Daughter may be attuned by the Solar and Abyssal Exalted, as well as mortals who undergo a special ritual, and ghosts. It adds one automatic withering damage against enemies suffering from a wound penalty. For an additional commitment of four motes, whenever the user increases the wound penalty of an opponent with a successful decisive attack, she adds the value of this wound penalty to her base Initiative when reseting after the attack.
HUNGER WITHOUT HOPE
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None
The Weeping Daughter seeks solace in other souls, consoling herself by ripping pieces of joy from them. This Evocation enhances a decisive attack; if it successfully damages an opponent, it devours motes of Essence equal to their wound penalty and converts it into one point of 'soul charge' for the user, which is used by other Evocations of this weapon and accompanying Artifacts.
DEATH FOR DOWER
Cost: 1 soul charge; Mins: Essence 1;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Hunger Without Hope
When the Weeping Daughter takes a taste of her opponent's soul, she always comes back for more, harder and stronger. This Charm enhances an attack roll, adding a number of dice equal to the wound penalty of the target, and consumes one soul charge as its cost. This effect cannot be stacked.
BATTLE-DREAM WALTZ
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Death For Dower
As more souls pass through the Daughter's blade, her power intensifies, and her tears run red. Blood drips from its edge without having struck, and her swirls and thrusts draw elegants arcs of blood through the air which sublimate into Essence.
This Evocation may be activated when an effect causes the user to have more soul charges than her Essence. She may refine Weeping Daughter's nature into a more perfect killing weapon, sacrificing defensive caution for graceful killing power. The Parry bonus of the sword decreases by 1, buts its Accuracy bonus increases by one, and it gains one automatic success on all withering damage rolls and one bonus die on all decisive damage rolls.
RED-WAXING PETAL RAIN
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3;
Type: Simple
Keywords: Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Battle-Dream Waltz
Two steps, three strokes, blood splattered on white lilies. Having emptied his sword's Essence, the Daughter's wielder catches its hunger at its peak and unfolds it into a terrifying symphony of strokes that seem to draw blood right from her enemies' wounds into the blade.
This Evocation may only be used when the wielder has no soul charge. She may make a withering attack against each enemy within short range whose wound penalty is -1 or higher. Each attack only grant Initiative equal to half the amount of damage inflicted on its target (round up). Afterwards, the user gains one point of soul charge for each opponent she successfully damaged.
ALL-MAY-DIE REMEMBRANCE
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3;
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Red-Waxing Petal Rain
Exalted animas are power manifest, the sign of their birthright, their souls too great for a mortal body. Perhaps it is the Mourning Queen's final insult as a mortal defeated by god-kings that her sword's greatest power swallows such light and turns it against its very source.
This Evocation has two steps. First, the user rolls ([Charisma or Appearance]+Presence) against the Resolve of any opponent within medium range whose anima is brighter than dim. If successful, the target's anima immediately recedes by one level. If the target is suffering from a wound penalty of -2 or higher, he instead loses all anima levels. For each anima level so consumed, the user gains one point of soul charge.
The second step is a decisive attack against an enemy within short range who lost anima as a result of this attack. For every point of soul charge consumed, the attack gains one, die up to ([Essence x 2]) or 10, whichever is higher; and converts one die of raw damage to an automatic success. If the enemy survives this attack, his anima immediately flares to iconic as the stolen energy surcharges his Essence - but his wound penalty also increases by 2 as his body is torn apart by it.
The Silent Mother (Soulsteel and Orichalcum Shield, Artifact 4)
A massive disc of metal a full yard in diameter,, the Silent Mother supports a shell of soulsteel with a thing core slab of white jade, and is etched with orichalcum to highlight its relief. Its surface is divided into twelve sections depicting the life and deeds of a mortal heroine of the First Age of Creation, with as its centerpiece a veiled figure sitting under a pillar. When it is used in battle, the figures seem to move with a life of their own, acting through the parts depicted on the shield.
Evocations of the Silent Mother
The Silent Mother may be attuned by the Solar and Abyssal Exalted, as well as mortals who undergo a special ritual, and ghosts. As long as its user is wielding both it and another Artifact weapon in their other hand, they are considered to be dual-wielding for the purposes of clash attacks. For an additional commitment of three motes, whenever the user successfully parries a decisive attack, they immediately gain the Initiative lost by the enemy in the attempt.
SINKING SILENCE WARD
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 1;
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: None
When the Silent Mother catches a blow, her heavy metal surface does not resound; rather the force of the blow seemed swallowed by her, so that as the battle grows she seems to create silence where she walks. When the user successfully parries an attack, or takes a Full Defense action, she gains one point of 'soul charge.' This effect may occur no more than once per round. One soul Charge may be spent to add +1 to her Parry, but this effect cannot be stacked.
LAST ECLIPSE BULWARK
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Sinking Silence Ward
The Silent Mother is an effigy of grieving, sucking in all light and joy and warmth. This Evocation may be used to enhance any attempt to Parry an attack based on energy, Essence or fire, whether it be a firewand's blast, the Flight of the Brilliant Raptor, or even Blazing Solar Bolt. If the the attack is withering, a successful parry merely grants the user one Initiative and one soul charge on top of that gained from Sinking Silence Ward. If the attack was decisive, however, a successful parry causes the attacker to reset to base Initiative as if it has succeeded.
THE REST IS SILENCE
Cost: 1 soul charge; Mins: Essence 3;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Last Eclipse Bulwark
The Silent Mother is perhaps the most unassuming part of the Mourning Queen's Regalia, a tool for defense rather than a sword-reaping soul or an armor of immortality. But it is she who holds the souls captured by the Daughter, she whose dark pattern binds the lost and fallen to be devoured by the Widow. The fragments of souls produced by the Regalia serve for the Mother to bind actual souls.
This Evocation may be activated whenever a significant opponent is slain or a battle group loses Size within medium range of the user. The complex design on the shield seems to disappear for a moment, the circle of soulsteel briefly turning into a disc of pure darkness - and the howling souls of the dead are swallowed within. The user immediately gains motes equal to the deceased's permanent Essence, or the Size of the battle group previous to dissolution. If the victim died at the wielder's own hand after a decisive attack, add one to her Initiative when she resets to base.
Mourning Queen's Regalia
In the young days of Creation, before the birth of the Old Realm, there was a prince on an island, blessed by the sun and loved by his people. Among them he took a consort, a woman of cunning insight and great martial skill, whom he loved with all his heart even as age took first her beauty, then her strength. But alas, she was a mortal woman; and although the prince prepared for her many elixirs of long life and a tiara that slowed the course of her days, soon her health too went away, and she could no longer rise from her bed and speak in more than a whisper.
The prince was so struck by despair at the thought that his beloved might die, that he could do nothing but weep by her bedside. For thirty days and thirty nights he wept, and without his guidance his land went awry; spirits came from the wild to torment men, the shades of the dead would haunt their graveyards, pirates would raid the coasts. Desperate, the people came to the prince to beg him to help them; but he sent back all messengers with the same words - "if mortal lives are so short as my beloved's, what difference is it that you die now, or later? "
Finally an advisor of the Prince came to him, and suggested that he use his peerless smithing skill to forge a contraption of steel and magic that may sustain his queen's life, one much like the tiara he had forged brought up to greater proportions than ever before. When the prince ruefully answered that no stone or metal, however rare and magical, could hold the power to stave off death for so long, the advisor brought him to his window, and she showed him the people arrayed before his palace, all kneeling and praying for their prince to return to them; and she whispered in his ear that a life was worth another life, a great life was worth many common lives, and the people loved him so that they would sacrifice their very souls for his happiness.
And so the prince opened the door of his palace, and he asked that all willing to give their life for their lord come within; and a fearful throng, made up of the reckless youth, of the resigned old, of the desperate poor, joined him into the shadow of his forge, and never came back. From their souls he forged an articulated sarcophagus, a black armor in the effigy of his beloved, its helm forged to resemble her face; and he forged a sword and a shield. He took his consort's frail, dying body, and sealed it within the armor; and by spilling his blood on it, he awakened its power.
Now the prince's consort was held on the brink of life, the power of surrendered souls fueling her body; she was returned to might and power unlike any she'd had before, that of a hero of legend. And although the prince could no longer feel her skin under his fingers or her soft breath on his neck, he knew she lived, and he could see her face in her helm; and he was content. But this miracle was not eternal; more souls were needed to fuel the armor's power, and the prince was too kind to sacrifice more of her people. And so he declared war against all neighbors, and went into battle with his consort at his side; and where he surveyed the battle, inspired his troops to greatness and coordinated their march, she would wade into the fray, cutting men like wheat, and the souls she took would sustain her life; and through conquest they earned wealth and prestige, and were feared all through the land.
But although these were the wild days of a young Creation, it was not always to remain so. Others had been chosen by the gods and had forged their kingdoms and brought law to the wild; and many of them united together. In the end the prince found that his empire stood against mighty ramparts of silver and gold, yet could not bring himself to end the war. And so it was that one day his armies came back not only defeated, but bearing his pale, lifeless body on a great litter; and only his consort remained as sole heir.
All who knew about her outside her lands knew her as a soul-eating monster, and her own grief and hatred towards those who had taken her prince from her kept her from reaching out; and so she ruled a sullen, warlike queen, with far too many opponents. One by one every scrap of her empire was taken from her, until only her island remained; and her hunger for soul consumed her to the point that she knew she would soon turn her blade against her own people. Knowing this would be the final betrayal of everything her prince had stood for, she could not bear it; and in a fit of terrible anger she cast her own people out of her land, screaming and swinging her blade, roaming in the streets of her capital city night after night with a wake of blood and shadow to strike their hearts with terror; until the thousands that had once lived on her island took every ship they could and sailed away.
Then the Mourning Queen sat alone on her empty throne, in her empty palace on an empty island; and there she waited for her power to run out. And when the years caught up with her, she welcomed them as old friends; and soon there was nothing in all the land but empty streets, empty stones, and a lone suit of black armor, a sword and a shield.
The Mourning Queen's Regalia
Although each item of the Regalia may be used independently, the three are strongest when used as one, even though to use such power one must bind great amounts of their Essence into them. As long as the Regalia's owner is attuned to all three Artifacts at the same time, he enjoys the benefits of each Artifacts optional attunement benefit without having to pay their additional cost.
The Regalia is a rare set of powerful Artifacts that may be wielded by a mortal. Although the ritual to do so is complex and lost to time, it may be divined from study of the Artifacts or legends about the Mourning Queen. A mortal that attunes the Artifact gains an Essence pool of 30 motes; she need not pay the commitment of the Artifacts, but may only use this Essence to fuel their Evocations. Such power is only available to a mortal who is using all three Artifacts simultaneously - and it is perhaps misleading to call them 'mortal' hereafter, for the Regalia staves off natural death as long as they can feed it enough souls.
The Smiling Widow (Soulsteel Articulated Plate, Artifact 5)
The Smiling Widow is a suit of exquisitely crafted soulsteel plates arranged in a complex pattern that completely covers the body, showing not an inch of skin. Its surface is matte black, with large diamond-shaped scales with sharp angles giving it a foreboding appearance, which is attenuated by a tabard and overskirt of black steelsilk lace. Its helm is shaped so as to resemble a kindly woman's visage, and braids of steelsilk imitate long flowing hair. There is a circular hole in its helmet where a caste mark would be, which acts as a hearthstone socket, as well as one other sockets on each shoulder.
Evocations of the Smiling Widow
The Smiling Widow may be attuned by the Solar and Abyssal Exalted, as well as mortals who undergo a special ritual, and ghosts. Whenever its wearer is hit by a decisive attack, she gains one Initiative per 1 rolled on the damage roll, to a maximum of her Essence. For an additional commitment of four motes, the armor also grants her an additional -0 and -4 health level.
LOCKED BATTLE'S HEART
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: None
The Mourning Queen was a warrior, and the armor that sealed her life was a tool of war. It is a thing of violence that feeds on the violence of battle to sustain its wielder, and its power surges with her battlecry.
This Evocation may be used to enhance a Join Battle roll. For every success on the user's roll, she gathers one point of 'soul charge,' which last for the rest of the scene. At any point during that scene, the user may spend a point of soul charge to add one to her soak against a withering attack, up to (Essence) soak at a time.
BARE BRANCH UNBREAKING
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Special
Prerequisites: Locked Battle's Heart
The Smiling Widow reserves its true strength for the harshest of times, revealing its power when all hope seems lost. This Evocation may be activated upon the user being crashed. It provides no immediate benefit; however, if the user comes out of Initiative Crash without having suffered any wounds from a decisive attack, she immediately gains a number of soul charges equal to the number of opponents who attacked her while she was in Crash (note that this is the number of separate opponents, not the number of attacks; battle groups count as their Size in opponents). Furthermore, she also regains one health level lost to previous attacks or effects.
BRIGHT-BLAZING DEATH
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Locked Battle's Heart
As wounds accrue on its wearer's body, the Smiling Widow shows its cruel kindness; black steelsilk lace binds her wounds, and steel spine dig into her flesh to channel wrathful Essence through the medium of pain.
This Evocation allows the user to supplement an attack by spending one point of soul charge in addition to its cost; this allows her to ignore wound penalties on that attack roll, and to add her wound penalty to that attack's damage roll if the attack is withering.
TREAD DOWN FATE
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Locked Battle's Heart
The Smiling Widow smiles in the face of death, but her smile is a mirthless one; she knows she has nothing more to lose, and so nothing more to fear. Sustaining her body with the energies of battle, the wearer can withstand any force.
This Evocation's core effect may be used when the wearer is struck by a decisive attack which successfully damages her. She may opt to take a crippling injury of any appropriate value; however, instead of actually suffering such injury, she reflexively consumes an amount of soul charge up to the value of the injury if possible, reducing the effective injury by that amount. If this is enough to entirely cancel the injury, she suffers no deleterious effect and the injury does not count towards her once per story limit. As her arm is broken, soulsteel spines force the bones to hold together; as her eye is gouged out, a blue flame alights in her helm, and she keeps fighting as if nothing had happened.
The Weeping Daughter (Soulsteel and Green Jade Daiklave, Artifact 5)
The Weeping Daughter is a narrow straight sword with a deep black blade infused with green veins, a small square guard on which is depicted a crying woman's face, and a dark green tassel hanging from its pommel. When it tastes the blood of an enemy, it can be heard sobbing, and faces can be glimpsed in the flat of its blade. When the sword is left at rest, water pools very slowly at its tip and drops to the ground one drop at a time. It pommel can be removed and replaced with a hearthstone.
Evocations of the Weeping Daughter
The Weeping Daughter may be attuned by the Solar and Abyssal Exalted, as well as mortals who undergo a special ritual, and ghosts. It adds one automatic withering damage against enemies suffering from a wound penalty. For an additional commitment of four motes, whenever the user increases the wound penalty of an opponent with a successful decisive attack, she adds the value of this wound penalty to her base Initiative when reseting after the attack.
HUNGER WITHOUT HOPE
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 1;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None
The Weeping Daughter seeks solace in other souls, consoling herself by ripping pieces of joy from them. This Evocation enhances a decisive attack; if it successfully damages an opponent, it devours motes of Essence equal to their wound penalty and converts it into one point of 'soul charge' for the user, which is used by other Evocations of this weapon and accompanying Artifacts.
DEATH FOR DOWER
Cost: 1 soul charge; Mins: Essence 1;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Uniform
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Hunger Without Hope
When the Weeping Daughter takes a taste of her opponent's soul, she always comes back for more, harder and stronger. This Charm enhances an attack roll, adding a number of dice equal to the wound penalty of the target, and consumes one soul charge as its cost. This effect cannot be stacked.
BATTLE-DREAM WALTZ
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Death For Dower
As more souls pass through the Daughter's blade, her power intensifies, and her tears run red. Blood drips from its edge without having struck, and her swirls and thrusts draw elegants arcs of blood through the air which sublimate into Essence.
This Evocation may be activated when an effect causes the user to have more soul charges than her Essence. She may refine Weeping Daughter's nature into a more perfect killing weapon, sacrificing defensive caution for graceful killing power. The Parry bonus of the sword decreases by 1, buts its Accuracy bonus increases by one, and it gains one automatic success on all withering damage rolls and one bonus die on all decisive damage rolls.
RED-WAXING PETAL RAIN
Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3;
Type: Simple
Keywords: Withering-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Battle-Dream Waltz
Two steps, three strokes, blood splattered on white lilies. Having emptied his sword's Essence, the Daughter's wielder catches its hunger at its peak and unfolds it into a terrifying symphony of strokes that seem to draw blood right from her enemies' wounds into the blade.
This Evocation may only be used when the wielder has no soul charge. She may make a withering attack against each enemy within short range whose wound penalty is -1 or higher. Each attack only grant Initiative equal to half the amount of damage inflicted on its target (round up). Afterwards, the user gains one point of soul charge for each opponent she successfully damaged.
ALL-MAY-DIE REMEMBRANCE
Cost: 8m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3;
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Red-Waxing Petal Rain
Exalted animas are power manifest, the sign of their birthright, their souls too great for a mortal body. Perhaps it is the Mourning Queen's final insult as a mortal defeated by god-kings that her sword's greatest power swallows such light and turns it against its very source.
This Evocation has two steps. First, the user rolls ([Charisma or Appearance]+Presence) against the Resolve of any opponent within medium range whose anima is brighter than dim. If successful, the target's anima immediately recedes by one level. If the target is suffering from a wound penalty of -2 or higher, he instead loses all anima levels. For each anima level so consumed, the user gains one point of soul charge.
The second step is a decisive attack against an enemy within short range who lost anima as a result of this attack. For every point of soul charge consumed, the attack gains one, die up to ([Essence x 2]) or 10, whichever is higher; and converts one die of raw damage to an automatic success. If the enemy survives this attack, his anima immediately flares to iconic as the stolen energy surcharges his Essence - but his wound penalty also increases by 2 as his body is torn apart by it.
The Silent Mother (Soulsteel and Orichalcum Shield, Artifact 4)
A massive disc of metal a full yard in diameter,, the Silent Mother supports a shell of soulsteel with a thing core slab of white jade, and is etched with orichalcum to highlight its relief. Its surface is divided into twelve sections depicting the life and deeds of a mortal heroine of the First Age of Creation, with as its centerpiece a veiled figure sitting under a pillar. When it is used in battle, the figures seem to move with a life of their own, acting through the parts depicted on the shield.
Evocations of the Silent Mother
The Silent Mother may be attuned by the Solar and Abyssal Exalted, as well as mortals who undergo a special ritual, and ghosts. As long as its user is wielding both it and another Artifact weapon in their other hand, they are considered to be dual-wielding for the purposes of clash attacks. For an additional commitment of three motes, whenever the user successfully parries a decisive attack, they immediately gain the Initiative lost by the enemy in the attempt.
SINKING SILENCE WARD
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 1;
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: None
When the Silent Mother catches a blow, her heavy metal surface does not resound; rather the force of the blow seemed swallowed by her, so that as the battle grows she seems to create silence where she walks. When the user successfully parries an attack, or takes a Full Defense action, she gains one point of 'soul charge.' This effect may occur no more than once per round. One soul Charge may be spent to add +1 to her Parry, but this effect cannot be stacked.
LAST ECLIPSE BULWARK
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dual
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Sinking Silence Ward
The Silent Mother is an effigy of grieving, sucking in all light and joy and warmth. This Evocation may be used to enhance any attempt to Parry an attack based on energy, Essence or fire, whether it be a firewand's blast, the Flight of the Brilliant Raptor, or even Blazing Solar Bolt. If the the attack is withering, a successful parry merely grants the user one Initiative and one soul charge on top of that gained from Sinking Silence Ward. If the attack was decisive, however, a successful parry causes the attacker to reset to base Initiative as if it has succeeded.
THE REST IS SILENCE
Cost: 1 soul charge; Mins: Essence 3;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Last Eclipse Bulwark
The Silent Mother is perhaps the most unassuming part of the Mourning Queen's Regalia, a tool for defense rather than a sword-reaping soul or an armor of immortality. But it is she who holds the souls captured by the Daughter, she whose dark pattern binds the lost and fallen to be devoured by the Widow. The fragments of souls produced by the Regalia serve for the Mother to bind actual souls.
This Evocation may be activated whenever a significant opponent is slain or a battle group loses Size within medium range of the user. The complex design on the shield seems to disappear for a moment, the circle of soulsteel briefly turning into a disc of pure darkness - and the howling souls of the dead are swallowed within. The user immediately gains motes equal to the deceased's permanent Essence, or the Size of the battle group previous to dissolution. If the victim died at the wielder's own hand after a decisive attack, add one to her Initiative when she resets to base.
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FaeGlade Plural
Semper Legens
- Location
- Land of Bureaucracy
- Pronouns
- Plural/They
So, a recent discussion about the value of agriculture gave me the idea of a Solar who builds an empire by just training farmers to work more effectively (well, and build the infrastructure and administration etc. as well).
Now, training people is a thing Solars can do, but I wanted specific charms for this task.
Instinctive Survival Exercise
Cost: 5m Mins: Survival 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Duration: One Day
Prerequisite Charms: Food-Gathering Exercise, Hardship-Surviving Mendicant Spirit
The Lawgivers prowess at survival also includes the knowledge that humanity survives in communities. Connecting to those around her, the Solar invokes humanities primal instinct to survive together. This charm can be activated when the Solar uses Food-Fathering Exercise and wants to benefit a large group of people (roughly comparable to a battle group with a size of the Solars Essence +1). When using this Charm, these people benefit from the Solars guidance and prowess. For each extra success the Solar rolls on Food-Gathering Exercise, those she guides gain one bonus dice to their own survival-tests to forage or find shelter (to a maximum of the Solars Essence). Having this charm active also reduces the cost to activate Hardship-Surviving Mendicant Spirit to 3 motes. When the Solar activates that charm, the people she guides can also apply the bonus dice from this charm on tests to survive harsh weather or dangerous terrain (but not against environmental hazards) and to resist infection by disease (but not on subsequent rolls if they do get infected).
The effects of this charm do not allow the people who benefit from it to find food in areas without any or to ignore penalties from inappropriate clothing, like this charms prerequisites do. Such supernatural prowess is reserved to the Lawgiver and can not be shared.
This charm can be applied to multiple groups for an additional 3 motes each.
At Essence 3, the Solar can make the duration of this charm indefinite.
Land-Conquering Wisdom Bestowal
Cost: 10m, 1wp Mins: Survival 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Instinctive Survival Exercise
At the dawn of the world, mankind had to learn how to find a place in the world. Only when they rose above foraging and hunting could humanity begin to rise above their meager beginnings without the aid of the gods. The Solars prowess allows those guided by her to achieve this journey within but a few weeks. Those trained by her will have the wisdom to not just live off the land, but to make it serve their own needs.
This charm allows the Solar to train a group of people (of the same size as those she can affect with Instinctive Survival Exercise) to be better at any form of agriculture, whether it be the growing of rice, the cultivation of fruit-bearing trees, the building of fisheries or even herding. After a month of training, the Solar releases commitment to the charm and those she trained have learned to work together for maximum efficiency. As long as they work as part of a group trained by this charm, individuals with such training know how to work twice at effective at any agricultural job and can either double their harvest, accomplish the same work in half the time, or a combination thereof. This also makes it less likely that a misharvest will occur or that food will be improperly stored and spoil, halving the chance for both.
Naturally, the Solars prowess allows her to utilize the wisdom she teaches herself. The Solar always gains the benefits of this charm, but multiplies the effects of her own agricultural work by her Essence.
At Essence 3, the Solar can supervise a group she has trained with this charm directly. This triples the effectiveness of the group instead of doubling it, and is sufficient to increase the resource value of any agricultural business she oversees for at least three weeks per year by one point.
Now, training people is a thing Solars can do, but I wanted specific charms for this task.
Instinctive Survival Exercise
Cost: 5m Mins: Survival 3, Essence 1
Type: Reflexive
Duration: One Day
Prerequisite Charms: Food-Gathering Exercise, Hardship-Surviving Mendicant Spirit
The Lawgivers prowess at survival also includes the knowledge that humanity survives in communities. Connecting to those around her, the Solar invokes humanities primal instinct to survive together. This charm can be activated when the Solar uses Food-Fathering Exercise and wants to benefit a large group of people (roughly comparable to a battle group with a size of the Solars Essence +1). When using this Charm, these people benefit from the Solars guidance and prowess. For each extra success the Solar rolls on Food-Gathering Exercise, those she guides gain one bonus dice to their own survival-tests to forage or find shelter (to a maximum of the Solars Essence). Having this charm active also reduces the cost to activate Hardship-Surviving Mendicant Spirit to 3 motes. When the Solar activates that charm, the people she guides can also apply the bonus dice from this charm on tests to survive harsh weather or dangerous terrain (but not against environmental hazards) and to resist infection by disease (but not on subsequent rolls if they do get infected).
The effects of this charm do not allow the people who benefit from it to find food in areas without any or to ignore penalties from inappropriate clothing, like this charms prerequisites do. Such supernatural prowess is reserved to the Lawgiver and can not be shared.
This charm can be applied to multiple groups for an additional 3 motes each.
At Essence 3, the Solar can make the duration of this charm indefinite.
Land-Conquering Wisdom Bestowal
Cost: 10m, 1wp Mins: Survival 4, Essence 2
Type: Simple
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Instinctive Survival Exercise
At the dawn of the world, mankind had to learn how to find a place in the world. Only when they rose above foraging and hunting could humanity begin to rise above their meager beginnings without the aid of the gods. The Solars prowess allows those guided by her to achieve this journey within but a few weeks. Those trained by her will have the wisdom to not just live off the land, but to make it serve their own needs.
This charm allows the Solar to train a group of people (of the same size as those she can affect with Instinctive Survival Exercise) to be better at any form of agriculture, whether it be the growing of rice, the cultivation of fruit-bearing trees, the building of fisheries or even herding. After a month of training, the Solar releases commitment to the charm and those she trained have learned to work together for maximum efficiency. As long as they work as part of a group trained by this charm, individuals with such training know how to work twice at effective at any agricultural job and can either double their harvest, accomplish the same work in half the time, or a combination thereof. This also makes it less likely that a misharvest will occur or that food will be improperly stored and spoil, halving the chance for both.
Naturally, the Solars prowess allows her to utilize the wisdom she teaches herself. The Solar always gains the benefits of this charm, but multiplies the effects of her own agricultural work by her Essence.
At Essence 3, the Solar can supervise a group she has trained with this charm directly. This triples the effectiveness of the group instead of doubling it, and is sufficient to increase the resource value of any agricultural business she oversees for at least three weeks per year by one point.
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- Location
- Gladstone, OR
So @Omicron , I want to say that the fluff of your creation is great! Like, highlights of 1st edition great.
Mechanically though, even setting aside my lack of experience with 3e, I have to say the idea of Soul-Charge is crazy.
I highly recommend, through whatever means you have, to rethink that mechanic and use some other already-existing trait in it's place, because you now have Motes, WP, Initiative, Wound Penalizes, Decisive/Withering, and a whole host of other modifiers to deal with all at once.
Mechanically though, even setting aside my lack of experience with 3e, I have to say the idea of Soul-Charge is crazy.
I highly recommend, through whatever means you have, to rethink that mechanic and use some other already-existing trait in it's place, because you now have Motes, WP, Initiative, Wound Penalizes, Decisive/Withering, and a whole host of other modifiers to deal with all at once.
FaeGlade Plural
Semper Legens
- Location
- Land of Bureaucracy
- Pronouns
- Plural/They
Well, a lot of artifacts have extra resources to track. So does White Reaper Style with it's halos.
The difference?
All of those spend all their resources at once. Any White Reaper charm that interacts with Halos spends them all.
Okay, wait, no, Black Wind also traces resources that can be spent point-by-point. But that doesn't mean you should do it like that.
So my suggestion: If you want soul-points, just make it so that you gather them, maybe get a small passive bonus, and expend all of them for a charm.
But as an alternative: Willpower works well here.
Metaphorically, Willpower is close to something that "keeps you alive", so it fits the original purpose of the artifact. Also, Raksha eat souls by draining peoples willpower, so the metaphysics fit.
While attuned to the artifact (or maybe only when you're attuned to two or three), you can't regain Willpower by normal ways. You can regain willpower by stunting attacks, by charms, and by landing a killing blow while attuned to an artifact. But not by sleeping or non-attack stunts. Make a lot of the charms that normally expend soul points cost willpower too, but put some willpower-gain in there too (not at a 1:1 ratio obviously).
And as a final goodie: unattuning the artifacts takes a willpower roll with a decent difficulty (say, 4 or 5). And you can only attempt it every so often. Exalts can do it for free during a limit break because they're special, but a mortal...well, good luck. This artifact doesn't let go easily, you cling to it like you cling to your mortal coil.
The difference?
All of those spend all their resources at once. Any White Reaper charm that interacts with Halos spends them all.
Okay, wait, no, Black Wind also traces resources that can be spent point-by-point. But that doesn't mean you should do it like that.
So my suggestion: If you want soul-points, just make it so that you gather them, maybe get a small passive bonus, and expend all of them for a charm.
But as an alternative: Willpower works well here.
Metaphorically, Willpower is close to something that "keeps you alive", so it fits the original purpose of the artifact. Also, Raksha eat souls by draining peoples willpower, so the metaphysics fit.
While attuned to the artifact (or maybe only when you're attuned to two or three), you can't regain Willpower by normal ways. You can regain willpower by stunting attacks, by charms, and by landing a killing blow while attuned to an artifact. But not by sleeping or non-attack stunts. Make a lot of the charms that normally expend soul points cost willpower too, but put some willpower-gain in there too (not at a 1:1 ratio obviously).
And as a final goodie: unattuning the artifacts takes a willpower roll with a decent difficulty (say, 4 or 5). And you can only attempt it every so often. Exalts can do it for free during a limit break because they're special, but a mortal...well, good luck. This artifact doesn't let go easily, you cling to it like you cling to your mortal coil.
Bursting Eagerness Soul
Threadwalking Rating Machine
- Location
- Wisconsin
Seconded. I really wish that I had something stronger than a like to give.