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Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

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uju32 said:
Even better.
If he gets stuff out of Gorfel and Harry comes up with evidence corroborating it independently...

He's pretty competent. Dude mindwhammied Molly, which is hardly easy, and dominated a spirit of rage for combat regen.
He's just not good enough to be operating in Chicago, which has been the death of multiple seriousface bad guys over the last five years, and it shows.

He is at least as powerful as apprentice Molly in canon, but he's as specialized as she was, and doesnt have the grunt you'd expect from a White Council-class wizard of several decades experience who came prepared for conflict. And his tactical sense was terrible for someone who allegedly had combat experience from WW2 alongside Kemmler.

So many ways he could have pulled that off with minimal risk.

We were seated on the sidewalk.
He could have pulled up beside us and opened fire with assault rifles and magic, then looted. He could have simply rammed the table with the van and run everyone over, then looted the place.

He could have attacked Marcone's people on the road before the exchange was made and stolen the bones.
Or held off, waited till after the exchange, let Michael leave, tracked the monks to their hotel room using his raven thing, then dropped grenades in the room and followed with shotguns.

He just fumbled this. Lucky for us.
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Call it divine providence.
He did act in the exact moment a Knight could do sömething about it.

Edit: Also we could have parried a ramming car. Propably.
 
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uju32 said:
He's pretty competent. Dude mindwhammied Molly, which is hardly easy, and dominated a spirit of rage for combat regen.
He's just not good enough to be operating in Chicago, which has been the death of multiple seriousface bad guys over the last five years, and it shows.

He is at least as powerful as apprentice Molly in canon, but he's as specialized as she was, and doesnt have the grunt you'd expect from a White Council-class wizard of several decades experience who came prepared for conflict. And his tactical sense was terrible for someone who allegedly had combat experience from WW2 alongside Kemmler.
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He might be competent in wielding his magic, but I'm still convinced he's nothing more than a minor practitioner who has had a lot of time to hone his limited abilities for maximum effect.

Manipulating rage spirits to attack his enemies, give his minions enough physical oomph to be a threat against some supernatural creatures, and enhance himself is a clever use of a single, relatively niche ability most wizards could do if they were so inclined but probably wouldn't, because they have better options in their toolkit. That's most of what he can accomplish, however, so he's worked to get the most out of it. The crow minion could even be explained by a dominated rage spirit being able to hijack the bird's simple mind.

The mindfuckery-based invisibility effect he used to attempt an escape was strong, but also limited. Veils don't take a lot of power (from Harry's skewed POV, at least), being more about skill and subtlety, and most beings, especially mortals, are vulnerable to them. While what he used worked, it probably couldn't affect many people at once, might not affect certain types of beings at all, and anyone actively protecting themselves from hostile mind magic would no-sell it entirely.

In other words, for a BBEG wizard, Gorfel is a quality minion, one with enough power and skill to be useful for certain tasks, but nowhere near what would be needed to actually earn their respect or a seat at the BBEG table with the rest of the real practitioners. As you said, he's likely middle-management, at best.
 
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Arc 1 Post 22: A Helping Hand
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    • A Helping Hand​

    9th of July 2006 A.D.

    Ebeneezer McCoy had been Harry's teacher and he had as far as you have been able to see of the two of them a good teacher, he was awesome against those Red Court vampires as well. You want to trust him, you did trust him already by showing off your very-much-not-a-Jedi green fire sword and explaining you broke the Laws before becoming... this. But do you trust him as much as you do Harry? Not really, you have to admit. He wan't there in Arctis Tor and he had not offered a soulgaze and took the risk of one, maybe your standards are too high, but like dad said you cannot unsay a secret.

    "I... er... think it's best to keep this between us for now." The word are barely out of your mouth and already you feel guilty for putting your own safety ahead of fighting the bad guys. Not to mention: "I just keep giving you work don't I?" you ask Harry sheepishly.

    He shakes his head and manages s tired smile. "Don't worry about it, I'm just starting to learn how Murphy must feel about me." The way he says her name sounds like more than professional courtesy. Jealousy isn't an attractive feeling Molly, you remind yourself forcefully. They are obviously not together anyway, but they are close enough that the detective helped save your clueless, careless ass from evil fairies and you should respect that.

    "Well if you need any help don't hesitate to ask OK?" you reply instead. "I can't just use one of the names to ask more questions, but if you get something more solid I can take a look at I can keep going. Oh and if you need some backup to fight Nazis I'm your girl."

    Dad clears his throat to remind you that you are grounded probably, which you studiously ignore. He can come along too, you're sure it will be fun and if Harry should call when he us out... well you are really hard to keep locked up.

    As Mouse goes into the bedroom to give the monks the all clear dad asks Harry if he can handle Gorfel. "Oh yeah, any hint of someone messing with important bones in Chicago is enough that I can call it in with the rest of the Wardens. They're easier to get a hold of than Ebeneezer was or they should be..."

    You grimace at the reminder that there is a war going on... on top of everything else. "We should probably get going dad, the er... brothers," you are not sure if that is the proper name for Nepalese Lamas, but they do not seem to mind, so you carry on. "Still need to get to the airport and then mom will be worried..."

    "The bones shall fly back to Nepal on wings of iron and thence my brothers too shall go, but my path is still in this city," Brother Divsimar speaks up unexpectedly. "Much did the thieves take from us and of that much was scattered by the wings of war and taken by the victors into their own lands. I will do more good here keeping up the search I now see..."

    "Now?" your dad asks, and there is a weight of things not said in the word.

    He sighs. "I did not wish to say this yet, but I forgot how clearly the eyes of one who walks in light might be. I have never seen one wielding such impure in power and pure in purpose as your daughter. It is not contradiction..." for the first time since you met him he struggles for the word. "Paradox yes, but what seems paradox to those under the veil of illusion is merely a deeper truth shining through."

    "You want to make sure I'm not a trans-continental danger?" You really, really wish you could assure him that you are not, but when it comes just to power.

    "I wish to offer what aid I may along your path young one, for it seems to me that you are more mortal than shen, though with a mighty power in your hands." He shakes his head. "I did not wish to make the offer so bluntly and so soon for wisdom is sought and not pressed upon another, but secret kept in the face of a question would have done even more harm."

    That is better than what you had thought... though admittedly he does not deny seeing you as a danger. He might even see you as a means to get the rest of the bones without having to pay off gangsters. Do I even mind? you ask yourself. You had wanted yo learn magic from Harry, but mom is likely to freak up less with Brother Divsimar and you could even say it's just martial arts, technically it would even be true.

    "Thank you for your kind offer, I shall consider it," you reply carefully Probably going to have to wait to get un-grounded at least before broaching the topic.

    ***​

    "Darn," you sigh looking down at the mess of fabric and improvised dyes. Your attempts to fix your dress, even with all the tools of the Wicked City and all the insights of power are... good enough to walk outside in, but alas nowhere near good enough to pass mom muster. Well you did try as much as humanely possible.

    And beyond, Usum assures you.

    Lost 2 Essence

    The same black sedan takes you to the airport and you wave the two young monks and their holy package off. You hope they have papers for it somehow or security is going to look at them real funny.

    Snagging a ice cream from one of the shops on the way out you turn to your dad turn to your dad. "So about this whole magical world..."

    "What do you want to know Molly?" He had gotten himself the biggest sized coffee to last him through the talk
    Choose three

    [] Magic and what he has seen of it

    [] The Church and and those in the know within it

    [] How he became a knight

    [] The Winter Court and Queen Mab, you think you have made an enemy

    [] The local supernatural scene

    [] The broader supernatural scene and how diplomacy between the factions works

    [] The Denarians, you know a bit, but something tells you you are going to need a lot more understanding of them soon

    [] You take a deep breath... Why is mom afraid of magic ? Tell him what you guessed

    [] Write in

    OOC: I have to run now. Rolls after I get back.
     
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    • [X] The local supernatural scene
    [x] You take a deep breath... Why is mom afraid of magic ? Tell him what you guessed
    [x] The broader supernatural scene and how diplomacy between the factions works
     
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    [X] The local supernatural scene
    [X] The broader supernatural scene and how diplomacy between the factions works

    Molly knows very little about what's out there, and as a player, I know very little about which parts DP is focusing on (or might even have changed). And there are some voters who haven't read the books. So I want to hear about the context this quest takes place in, and what to expect from some of the random encounters we're sure to run into.
     
    Also @Dragonparadox I wanted to ask, can we purchase thematic Solar/Abyssal charms that can be converted to a Malfeas Charm?

    I came across the Solar Charm, Iron Kettle Body.

    This would make By Pain reforged useful in the modern setting as most enemies we face do lethal damage and the high end do Agg damage.

    This would also make By Agony Empowered actually worth the 5 Dot cost because it guarantees that the charm works along side By Pain Reforged. Here is the refluffed version. No system changes.
    INVULNERABLE WOUNDING FUTILITY (•••)
    The foolish, the desperate and the mad sometimes beat their fists against the impregnable walls of Lanka as though they might crack anything but their own hopes.
    System: Reflexively spend 1 Essence. For the rest of the scene, all aggravated damage the Infernal suffers becomes lethal damage instead; all lethal damage becomes bashing damage; and when she suffers bashing damage, she halves it (round down) after soak.
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    Yzarc said:
    Also @paradoxdragon I wanted to ask, can we purchase thematic Solar/Abyssal charms that can be converted to a Malfeas Charm?

    I came across the Solar Charm, Iron Kettle Body.

    This would make By Pain reforged useful in the modern setting as most enemies we face do lethal damage and the high end do Agg damage.

    This would also make By Agony Empowered actually worth the 5 Dot cost because it guarantees that the charm works along side By Pain Reforged.
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    No cross-charms yet since I am not sure how they balance. I'll look at it more once I'm back home.
     
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    [X] How he became a knight

    [X] The local supernatural scene

    [X] The broader supernatural scene and how diplomacy between the factions works

     
    These are the two which seem most immediately relevant, IMO. Not sure which is more useful at the moment, though. I'm leaning toward the local supernatural scene, just because it's where we live and there is a lot of stuff going on in Chicago at any given time.

    [X] The local supernatural scene

    [X] The Winter Court and Queen Mab, you think you have made an enemy

    [X] The broader supernatural scene and how diplomacy between the factions works
    Yzarc said:
    @paradoxdragon
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    Wrong Dragon. :p
     
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    [x] Magic and what he has seen of it
    [x] You take a deep breath... Why is mom afraid of magic ? Tell him what you guessed
    [x] The broader supernatural scene and how diplomacy between the factions works

    Social advantages for later, a chance for molly to learn in character about the dangers of leaving hair or blood samples around if she hasn't already, and we already asked Harry about the local supernatural scene
     
    [X] The Denarians, you know a bit, but something tells you you are going to need a lot more understanding of them soon
    [x] You take a deep breath... Why is mom afraid of magic ? Tell him what you guessed
    [x] The broader supernatural scene and how diplomacy between the factions works
     
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    Does Molly know enough to not directly say Mab's name at this point? Cause we really shouldn't have a conversation where we risk saying more than twice until Molly knows she can hear that if she wants to.
    Yzarc said:
    This would also make By Agony Empowered actually worth the 5 Dot cost
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    Would it really be worth it in the case that DP allows us to convert certain charms?

    Paying a three dot surcharge just to get the five dot ability we want seems expensive, especially since we'd need to pay additional essence just to get it to work in the first place.
     
    BronzeTongue said:
    Would it really be worth it in the case that DP allows us to convert certain charms?

    Paying a three dot surcharge just to get the five dot ability we want seems expensive, especially since we'd need to pay additional essence just to get it to work in the first place.
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    Yes. There are a number of reasons for this.

    THE CHARM STANDS BY ITSELF

    By itself, the charm reduces the degree of damage. From agg to lethal and from Lethal to Bashing. That pays for itself as in a modern setting, especially in the Desdean verse, most of our enemies use lethal damage and the high end enemies use Agg Damage.

    BY PAIN REFORGED MADE USEFUL IN A MODERN SETTING OTHER THEN THE -1 PENALTY

    What this means is that the second part of "By Pain reforged" namely, the "Do not be knocked out if your health lvl is filled with bashing damage" is not rendered irrelevant. It is not actually useful in a setting where everyone has guns/claws etc and all do lethal damage.

    As we have seen, all of Molly's enemies have done one flavor of Lethal damage or another. No one has taken a bat to her head and most enemies worth a damn do lethal damage as it is mechanically advantageous to do so. So if an enemy shows up that does blunt damage, it would generally nor be a threat.

    BY AGONY EMPOWERED IS NOT MADE IRRELEVANT

    The Second part is that By "Agony Empowered" is not made irrelevant as any attempt to use Agg damage instead becomes lethal, meaning High End enemies who do Agg damage no longer ignore the charm and it too is not reduced to a dead weight waste of xp.

    The idea behind the charm was to give additional Hlvls by allowing us to function while taking Lethal Damage and converting it to Agg damage.

    The Problem with the charm is that in 2E You did not roll over from Lethal to Agg but you do here, so it was not adapted properly and is VASTLY overpriced for what it does. By reducing damage by one degree, the charm actually works in it's intended function, which is to say, allow the infernal to continue fighting while rolling over the Damage Hlvls.

    So, yeah, it would not be a waste of xp as it makes both Charms actually work as intended.
     
    Yzarc said:
    So, yeah, it would not be a waste of xp as it makes both Charms actually work as intended.
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    So far it's seemed like the general rule was that charms that need other charms to actually work are bad and exp inefficient.

    If we end up being allowed to convert or design charms in the future wouldn't it make more sense to come to a reasonable compromise on the actual effect we want instead of hacking it together out of two other charms?

    Especially since there's a point to be made about how an effect like this could break the system in unpleasant ways.
     
    BronzeTongue said:
    So far it's seemed like the general rule was that charms that need other charms to actually work are bad and exp inefficient.
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    The problem is in the conversion. The Charms in 2E worked like this. You Purchase By Pain Reforged and only then you could Purchase By Agony Empowered. This was under the premise that you Could not roll over lethal to Agg. So the first allowed you to roll over Blunt damage and the second allowed you to do so for Lethal damage.

    Secondly, my main point is that if we are allowed to get that charm, we would not need to fix the other charms. That is my point.
     
    BronzeTongue said:
    So far it's seemed like the general rule was that charms that need other charms to actually work are bad and exp inefficient.

    If we end up being allowed to convert or design charms in the future wouldn't it make more sense to come to a reasonable compromise on the actual effect we want instead of hacking it together out of two other charms?

    Especially since there's a point to be made about how an effect like this could break the system in unpleasant ways.
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    That seems not correct.

    There were always synergies that made charms together better than their individual components.
    It's not nearly as pronounced in ExWoD as in regular Exalted, but still there.

    For example Scar-Writ Saga Shield is barely useful with our 3 or 4 Soak-dice, but great with 8 dice if we also have Viridian Legend Exoskeleton.

    Or Running to Forver, which allows you to spend Essence to run as a reflexive action, rather than a regular one, greatly enhanced several other Skinned Alive Charms that require you to run around to profit from them (Who Strikes the Wind and Faster than Sight for example), because you can use all of of them now without the multi-action penalty.
     
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    [x] The Winter Court and Queen Mab, you think you have made an enemy
    [x] The local supernatural scene
    [x] The broader supernatural scene and how diplomacy between the factions works


    We should work on problems we can solve. Getting winter off the enemy list is something we can do.
     
    If Infernal Charms are supposed to be aspects of a character's personality warped through the lens of hell/Primordials, then here's my thoughts on some charms and how to tie them to Molly

    3 XP:

    Mocking Murmur's Retort(1 Dot Favored) - She's probably done this before loads of times, just without supernatural backing due to being a rebellious teenager

    4 XP:
    Rendered Villain Dispersal(1 Dot Unfavored) - Her magical inclinations before Exaltation

    Charred Sinner Renewal(1 Dot Unfavored) - Its a metaphor for Molly's relationship with her Mother

    Source Code Compliance Protocol(1 Dot Unfavored) - Reflective of Molly's inability to reach an amiable understanding with her mother/find the correct words I think

    Mercy in Servitude(1 Dot Unfavored) - She'd want to help people

    6 XP:

    A Cold and Lonely World(2 Dot Favored) - Her legal standing is a fiction granted by Ebenezar's favor magically speaking. She's had run ins with mundane law before this quest happened. What if she needed to keep a person out of the way for a while? Tangentially this may also have counter thaumaturgical applications

    Viridian Legend Exoskeleton(2 Dot Favored) - Her admired dad is literally a knight in armor

    Erupting Fury Rebuke/Kneel or Be Knelt(2 Dot favored for both) - A reflection of Molly's Frustrations in her relationship with Charity

    8 XP:

    Mind Hand Manipulation(2 Dot Unfavored) - She's willpwer 9, Intelligence/Occult Specced, and used to be capable of mortal magic

    Hellscry Chakra(2 Dot Unfavored) Ties into Molly's Urge/Desire to fight creatures of darkness

    Raw Edged Paranoia Principle(2 Dot Unfavored) - She got taken once

    Maggot Mana Plague(2 Dot Unfavored) - She'd want to help people

    9 XP:

    Magnanimous Warning Glyph(3 Dot Favored) - Molly wouldn't want to kill people if she didn't have to right?

    False Springs Beckon(3 Dot Favored) - Molly is interested in helping people however she can

    Night Swallows Secrets(3 Dot Favored) - Her legal standing is a fiction granted by Ebenezar's favor magically speaking. She's had run ins with mundane law before this quest happened.

    12 XP:
    Essence Dissecting Stare(3 Dot Unfavored) - Ties into Molly's Urge

    Unbound Freedom Infiltration(3 Dot Unfavored) - Thematic for the same reason as cracked cell circumvention

    Who Strikes the Wind(3 Dot Unfavored) - It seems like the perfect most in keeping with Molly's current approach to combat. Alternatively Counter Conceptual Imposition

    Seething Veins Prana(3 dot Unfavored) - She's done CQC and reckless combat but has people who are very concerned about her taking hits, so she's angry at them for making her have to deal with that.

    Soul-Sieve Transmutation(3 Dot Unfavored) - Seems in keeping with Molly's current approach to battle

    Endless Torment Emanation(3 Dot Unfavored) - She tends not to look kindly on authorities

    Soul-Sieve Transmutation(3 Dot Unfavored) - Seems in keeping with Molly's current approach to battle



    15 XP:

    Black Mirror Incarnation(5 Dot Favored) - Again, her first spell before her power got burned out by the exaltation was a veil.

    The City Still Stands(5 Dot Favored) - This is basically in theme for any protagonist

    16 XP:

    Spattering Grease Reprisal(4 Dot Unfavored) - She's done CQC and reckless combat but has people who are very concerned about her taking hits, so she's angry at them for making her have to deal with that.

    Factual Determination Analysis(4 Dot Unfavored) - Ties into Molly's Urge

    Counter Conceptual Imposition(4 Dot Unfavored) - Ties into Molly's Urge/Views on Knowledge

    Baptismal Agony Blessing(4 Dot Unfavored) - Lingering effects of Mollys Christian Upbringing and the questionable dynamic she has with Charity


    20 XP:

    Ego-Infused Pattern Primacy(5 Dot Unfavored) - Molly is Willpower 9 and has/had enough of a rebellious streak to make this plausible

    Verdant Emptiness Endowment(5 Dot UnFavored) - She'd want to help people and could just waste the favor on petty stuff/not give them more than 2 wishes

    Edit: Reconsidered/THought Digesting the Great Beast was too much of a stretch
     
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    [X] The local supernatural scene
    [X] You take a deep breath... Why is mom afraid of magic ? Tell him what you guessed
    [X] The broader supernatural scene and how diplomacy between the factions works
     
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