Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I dunno I think a hybrid system would be weird personally.
What planning? Many of us have spent most of our time arguing that we should be trying to take control of our build rather than just relying on chance hand outs. We might have argued about builds a lot, but we haven't really gotten to do anything about it because people can't bring themselves to drop arts that don't fit us well.
I mean, I like getting big numbers and will be sad to see them go, but I don't think we've done a good job at making our build our own.
Frankly, Ling Qi's build has largely been formed by you rather than us and may be considered an interesting case study in quest psychology. I love our current moon bard, but if it weren't for you we'd probably be playing a wind focused archer with ranged support or something.
- Location
- Malaysia
[X] Accelerate
[X] Ask Cai to commission you a Domain Weapon with the Void Shard
I feel like the vote for weapon specifics is going nowhere. I think it might be best if Yrsillar reads over the suggestions so far, come up with a few proposed weapon designs with stats and we vote among them. I guess that would be more work for him but I think he needs to consider the costing of different abilities anyway to keep things balanced.
[X] Ask Cai to commission you a Domain Weapon with the Void Shard
I feel like the vote for weapon specifics is going nowhere. I think it might be best if Yrsillar reads over the suggestions so far, come up with a few proposed weapon designs with stats and we vote among them. I guess that would be more work for him but I think he needs to consider the costing of different abilities anyway to keep things balanced.
Balance wise I would assume that it will lower basic damage of weapon and rise overall damage output.
Something like 8/8 in 2 turn vs 10 in 1 turn for no modifer.
Black Noise
Curious
- Location
- About 1AU from Sol
Well now, with what yrs said is possible for a Cai talisman, I'd say we forego semi-perfect damage (leaving a proper high-speed hp finisher to FSS or some future art), and focus on a weapon that does as much Qi damage as possible. Something like:
- very high AP
- qi refund on hit* (based on amount of qi damage dealt)
- damage reverb**
- <blank/special>***
* qi refund and not enhanced qi damage because we're a support, and we're spending qi to benefit our allies as well as us. In a big fight having as much incoming regeneration as possible will make our contribution that much stronger. The tradeoff is single-target power, but that's not really our role.
** damage reverb rather than bonus regular damage, because bonus damage scales better at low dice gaps, while reverb scales better at high dice gaps, which are more likely with our debuff stack.
*** blank to increase the power of the others. The other high synergy option is bonus regular damage. Interesting possible special effects would be a dispel, on-hit debuff that increases qi cost of enemy techs, and something that buffs us on a successful hit.
- very high AP
- qi refund on hit* (based on amount of qi damage dealt)
- damage reverb**
- <blank/special>***
* qi refund and not enhanced qi damage because we're a support, and we're spending qi to benefit our allies as well as us. In a big fight having as much incoming regeneration as possible will make our contribution that much stronger. The tradeoff is single-target power, but that's not really our role.
** damage reverb rather than bonus regular damage, because bonus damage scales better at low dice gaps, while reverb scales better at high dice gaps, which are more likely with our debuff stack.
*** blank to increase the power of the others. The other high synergy option is bonus regular damage. Interesting possible special effects would be a dispel, on-hit debuff that increases qi cost of enemy techs, and something that buffs us on a successful hit.
- Location
- Malaysia
@yrsillar
Since minions are a go, I think we should ask for an official ruling on how minions interact with qi costs for techniques. That is, paying to exclude allies from the negative effects of Forgotten Vale Melody and Abyssal Exhalation. We presume that Zhengui, as a bound companion, would be excluded for free. AE automatically excludes the worms it creates. But would we need to pay to exclude the worms from the negative effects of FVM? How about the formation-created minions?
Since minions are a go, I think we should ask for an official ruling on how minions interact with qi costs for techniques. That is, paying to exclude allies from the negative effects of Forgotten Vale Melody and Abyssal Exhalation. We presume that Zhengui, as a bound companion, would be excluded for free. AE automatically excludes the worms it creates. But would we need to pay to exclude the worms from the negative effects of FVM? How about the formation-created minions?
This is true.
EDIT:
A lot of arguments have been had over combat efficiency though, we just haven't had a winner yet.
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Just for reference, is there anyone here who would be put out by the combat mechanics being shifted from the current mechanical format to Narrative Execution?
Yes.
Our build arguments are already filled with baseless assumptions and lies, but at least we have some real numbers to give us a grounding. If our arguments were based on nothing but personal opinion and assumptions they would become even more circular and frustrating. Especially with the stakes being so high at the end of the year, people would get very intense but with no reality check.
I'm a bit worried about how that's going to work when we do switch but at least the beginning of next year should be lower pressure. I keep meaning to suggest the Amber Diceless RPG as a potential reference, since it's designed to allow a party of superhumans with bizzare and wildly different powers to attempt to murder each other with all the inventiveness that players can bring, without bogging the game down in math or rules lawyering. If the rules can handle the madness of a Throne War they can handle anything
. There's a couple of major variants expanding the base stats that I think could work well.EDIT: Because I'm a fan and these are hilarious, I present, "The Knights of the Dinner Table play Amber", examples written for the campaign that led me to discover the ADRPG.
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Well, I'd be sad since I like seeing our numbers. And yrsillar would have to work out another way of making it feel like our arts are getting stronger when we level them.
The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
[X] Status Quo
I like the little character bits, and this is nowhere near bad enough for me to complain given how glacial the pacing of the average xianxia webnovel seems.
[X] Ask Cai to commission you a Domain Weapon with the Void Shard
I like the little character bits, and this is nowhere near bad enough for me to complain given how glacial the pacing of the average xianxia webnovel seems.
[X] Ask Cai to commission you a Domain Weapon with the Void Shard
Yes, I think that seeing the arts have a direct contribution to our combat potential is important. If the narrative system had a "light" mechanical backing that provided this, would that assuage your worries?
DeAnno
Sometimes words have two meanings
One concern I've had is that Arts have an identity and a progression heavily shaped by both passives and Qi costs. I don't really know much about the narrative ideas being thrown around, but if the lighter mechanics don't support those in the same way (focusing instead mostly just on what moves do and look like) I think that's a pretty significant change in what's going on, and the value and synergy of certain arts is going to swing pretty wildly. For example Phantasmagoria has gotten a lot of attention from us due to the large defense pool passive, if that got abstracted away into nothing that's a big deal for the Art as a whole.
I think that we may have veered a bit into Exalted territory with large dice pools and complicated scaling, but that doesn't mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater, which is always a concern when a system is facing a large stripping down.
I'd have to argue that the less like an average xianxia webnovel a story is, the better. I stopped reading A Will Eternal for a few weeks, and came back and realized that in 20+ chapters, the plot progression could be summarized in less than a paragraph. I mean it's fun reading Bai Xiaochun trying to soak up praise while failing spectacularly to seem humble, but it gets old pretty quickly.
And I'd consider AWE a far above average xianxia webnovel, in that it's actually readable.
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
I consider the average Xianxia Web novel to be Martial God Asura, or as I prefer to refer to it in it's transliteration: A Fucking Rapefest DumpsterFire.
I've never touched that one because of it's reputation here and because a certain *ahem* type of xianxia reader really seems to like it.
But how is it from a strict writing/translation quality standpoint?
Never really gave much of a crap about the specific numbers, but for the Domain weapon, all the listed builds just feel to me to be a terrible waste of a 4th Grade material for something that's just great for the current combat paradigm.
Would vastly prefer a GM provided list of complete and coherent domain weapon themes(not unlike Art selection) that could be converted to what it SHOULD be.
Rather than making something focused around the mechanical benefits of a system soon to be dropped, which would be the most vulnerable to a conversion.
Black Steel Bear, so...Darkness Metal? Second Grade from the sound of it.
Still, watching a car sized creature eating is not going to be for the faint of heart.
Well, they can still be calcinated for lime and bone ash.
...also given Zhengui's durability, Ling Qi could probably airdrop him for massive crushing damage with the size shifting.
On the other hand, given the Gu family overclocking style, she might not need that. Since a higher baseline means she could potentially use raw overclocked power to punch up once she's crossed the Cultivation gap.
Not unlike golfing really.
Also the Bai Ancestor was a fisherman, so it would not do to suggest it's a 'commoner' thing.
Lu - Deer
Spiffy antlers.
We're probably missing a great deal of its deeper context since we didn't get a whole lot of description
Seems odd at Green to be the latter.
I suppose it's being valued in 4th stage stones, which are as much more valuable to Green Stones as Green are to Yellow.
Something to do with the spirits governing Life and Death?
Or something else?
Yet another thing 'everyone' knows.
If even the Bais think its too spoopy, I'm inclined to listen though.
Probably pretty valuable as a trade good for a new fief TBH. Second grade spiritual crops means income in terms of Yellow Stones, which is a pretty big boost for someone without mines to exploit.
Still, she'd probably known this already, at least, intellectually, since no ambassador in an empire as feudal as ours are, is going to be outside the power struggles.
For many ladder climbers an ambassadorial position is a stepping stone to an actual governing title, since ambassadors have the opportunity to access the greater depths of favors, and connections needed to be a ruler.
Not one for designated heirs since its too risky of course, but someone who ISN'T, would find it one of the few paths to power.
And that sounded a lot like signaling her allegiances, which dictates a certain degree of mutual expectations.
That is pretty badass and cheap for what it can do.
I think our current options would be...
-Falling Star Art - Can it use archery? FSA would be pretty nasty to face from two angles
-Argent Current - Pressure Crack team technique becomes alarmingly effective with two sources. Probably want to watch out for other minionmancers packing it, it's one way to crack the Thousand Ring
-Thousand Ring Fortress
-Argent Storm
-Sable Crescent Step
Either that or she considers herself vassalized and thus no more transactions are needed since she's too far in debt to do otherwise.
Suyin: *O.O*
Would vastly prefer a GM provided list of complete and coherent domain weapon themes(not unlike Art selection) that could be converted to what it SHOULD be.
Rather than making something focused around the mechanical benefits of a system soon to be dropped, which would be the most vulnerable to a conversion.
Surprise Xuanwu is definitely an awesome thing.
Black Steel Bear, so...Darkness Metal? Second Grade from the sound of it.
They DID eat the porch. And Grass/Fire type has thematically no trouble eating rock, even.
Still, watching a car sized creature eating is not going to be for the faint of heart.
Ling Qi, you're spoiling them. Letting Gui eat valuable crafting mats!
Well, they can still be calcinated for lime and bone ash.
Cui: *Preens internally*
Incidentally if this is as fast as it sounds, and if Zhengui can become small enough to be hand portable, then the Stealth Rock strategy legitimately becomes utterly terrifying. Large boulders are much more easily avoided than small rocks.
...also given Zhengui's durability, Ling Qi could probably airdrop him for massive crushing damage with the size shifting.
Looks like Xiulan may breakthrough in time for the tournament. But she's probably not going to have more than one or two Green arts.
On the other hand, given the Gu family overclocking style, she might not need that. Since a higher baseline means she could potentially use raw overclocked power to punch up once she's crossed the Cultivation gap.
Eh, this is simple. Fishing(individually at least) is an exercise in patience, so its a noble activity mainly because you demonstrate the ability to spend a lot of time doing nothing as prestige, which ALSO gives you a lot of time in privacy to talk to your peers.
Not unlike golfing really.
Also the Bai Ancestor was a fisherman, so it would not do to suggest it's a 'commoner' thing.
Horrors! We've become predictable!
Wei - Noble
Lu - Deer
Spiffy antlers.
Fourth grade, Darkness element, Sharp, Qi hungry.
We're probably missing a great deal of its deeper context since we didn't get a whole lot of description
Interesting, Ling Qi's "death" is a skeleton(which is normal), but Meizhen reflects as eyes in the Abyss. Which sounds like someone already called dibs on her soul? Or she's sufficiently beyond human that she's not going to die normally?
Seems odd at Green to be the latter.
...that, is a lot of moolah.
I suppose it's being valued in 4th stage stones, which are as much more valuable to Green Stones as Green are to Yellow.
Interesting. And odd.
Something to do with the spirits governing Life and Death?
Or something else?
Yet another thing 'everyone' knows.
If even the Bais think its too spoopy, I'm inclined to listen though.
'Merely' Second Grade seeds.
Probably pretty valuable as a trade good for a new fief TBH. Second grade spiritual crops means income in terms of Yellow Stones, which is a pretty big boost for someone without mines to exploit.
...probably should have realized. Ling Qi took her own cultivation after Meizhen, which is to say doing it any time she's not explicitly doing something else that can't be shaped into a cultivation action.
Still, she'd probably known this already, at least, intellectually, since no ambassador in an empire as feudal as ours are, is going to be outside the power struggles.
For many ladder climbers an ambassadorial position is a stepping stone to an actual governing title, since ambassadors have the opportunity to access the greater depths of favors, and connections needed to be a ruler.
Not one for designated heirs since its too risky of course, but someone who ISN'T, would find it one of the few paths to power.
Strategic bombing with Ling Qi-ness!
Reputation: "Steals everything not nailed down, then steals the nails"
Ah, probably supplies spirit spider silk to the Cai clan weavers.
And that sounded a lot like signaling her allegiances, which dictates a certain degree of mutual expectations.
The scouts can fly now, and they have our Stealth(+ significantly smaller size). We're going to want a fleet of these for the tournament, to perform scouting and recon the larger arenas.
O.O
That is pretty badass and cheap for what it can do.
I think our current options would be...
-Falling Star Art - Can it use archery? FSA would be pretty nasty to face from two angles
-Argent Current - Pressure Crack team technique becomes alarmingly effective with two sources. Probably want to watch out for other minionmancers packing it, it's one way to crack the Thousand Ring
-Thousand Ring Fortress
-Argent Storm
-Sable Crescent Step
We got through!
Either that or she considers herself vassalized and thus no more transactions are needed since she's too far in debt to do otherwise.
Ling Qi: "You're going to become a fat shut in at this rate."
Suyin: *O.O*
Considering how many things we are seeing unlock additional functions or strength as we hit new realms I would not be surprised if she gets additional benefits off her tribulation from reaching green.
Grosstoad
Birdbrain - Dick - Rules-Lawyer - Creeper
Since Umbral Shard's fluff is that it is basically Darkness Qi's hunger, why not have it basically eats (dispels) buffs on opponents?
I think there is a similar talisman/ability with that property before? Opponent loses lowest buff or something?
Losing buffs is not exactly damaging, but it means the target have to consider spending more Qi to regenerate the buff or change strategy and allocate the Qi elsewhere. That's a kind of an indirect damage.
By the way, the Mirror is purely Death Qi? Suyin was implied to have a Qi that is distasteful, I wonder if it is Death Qi...
I think there is a similar talisman/ability with that property before? Opponent loses lowest buff or something?
Losing buffs is not exactly damaging, but it means the target have to consider spending more Qi to regenerate the buff or change strategy and allocate the Qi elsewhere. That's a kind of an indirect damage.
By the way, the Mirror is purely Death Qi? Suyin was implied to have a Qi that is distasteful, I wonder if it is Death Qi...
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
I think Suyin is more likely to have a splash of something like Poison or Disease, but Death is a possibility.
It's worth asking her, as her teacher might be able to make us a competitive offer if we include things like assistance next year.
It's worth asking her, as her teacher might be able to make us a competitive offer if we include things like assistance next year.