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Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

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Artemis1992 said:
I have a possible solution for our issues with ranged weapons.

Right now we are kinda vulnerable and have no easy way to strike back.
But we could just disable anyone's ability to use ranged weapons:

So what if the the enemy has a good rifle and sits on a nearby building?
We deny them sight and can walk up to the panicking foe at our leisure.
We force the battlefield into the shape we desire and very few foes can actually do anything about that.
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You know this is just a thought, but if you roll this with excellency even at your current level it is technically possible to make it run the day through, literally allow a vampire or other creature of Darkness free reign to do as they will from sunup to sundown.. as long as they stay near the infernal at least.

Also horrific masquerade breach that can be seen for miles in the open as a bank of wrong-murk-black-evil-fog. But that's just details.:V
 
LightLan said:
A good charm..

Except it'd break the masquerade wide open.

The sun suddenly going dark ought to be noticeable.
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Smog.

No, seriously.
Blame it on a strange weather-phenomenon, like a sudden and very heavy mist. The sun does not literally go dark, it just seems very dim in the affected area, so talk about something messing with the local lights, call a gas-leak, chemical accident or whatever.
If people don't want to belive in the supernatural, they will make up their own explanation.
 
Artemis1992 said:
Smog.

No, seriously.
Blame it on a strange weather-phenomenon, like a sudden and very heavy mist. The sun does not literally go dark, it just seems very dim in the affected area, so talk about something messing with the local lights, call a gas-leak, chemical accident or whatever.
If people don't want to belive in the supernatural, they will make up their own explanation.
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That will probably work after the fact, but for anyone who can see and feel the effects... well if that is smog it is the kind they make in Mordor.
 
or we can just get some movement techs like gravity-rebuking grace and wind-born stride instead of a masquerade breaker.

stride is the pure speed one and has the side benefit of guaranteeing we go first by doubling our initiative roll. its signature effect is also pretty sick.
 
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Welp, it's late, I'm bored and the vote looks settled. Vote closed.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 1, 2022 at 3:41 PM, finished with 68 posts and 21 votes.
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Artemis1992 said:
I have a possible solution for our issues with ranged weapons.

Right now we are kinda vulnerable and have no easy way to strike back.
But we could just disable anyone's ability to use ranged weapons:

So what if the the enemy has a good rifle and sits on a nearby building?
We deny them sight and can walk up to the panicking foe at our leisure.
We force the battlefield into the shape we desire and very few foes can actually do anything about that.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That's a nice Charm. Breaking LOS and fucking with visibility is a classic in any system because it's so damned effective in most circumstances.

Problematic to use in some places, but that's not an insurmountable issue.
LightLan said:
A good charm..

Except it'd break the masquerade wide open.

The sun suddenly going dark ought to be noticeable.
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If we pick up the darkness Charm I want to think about Bloodless Murk Evasion too.

Its a pretty good perfect that doesn't work in sunlight or against holy things.

Normally the sunlight one is a big problem, but this other Charm is explicitly to defeat sunlight.

I don't know if its better than Who Strikes The Wind, but it could be.
 
Winning Vote
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 1, 2022 at 3:41 PM, finished with 68 posts and 21 votes.
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Arc 1 Post 24: Dreams of the Future, Fears of the Present
  • Threadmarks
    • Dreams of the Future, Fears of the Present ​

    9th of July 2006 A.D.

    "No, that's creepy," you send back as you toss out the cup in view of some curious tourists. Between dad's cloak and the fact that you left the armor showing a little through your new and 'improved' dress they probably think you are talking about LARP-ing or something.

    "I did not mean to offend your principles, glorious font of wisdom," comes the ever swift reply. You would suspect him of sarcasm if he weren't literally part of your soul.

    Still as you feel the pieces fall in place, understanding old and new melded into new perspective you allow: "It is circumstantially creepy not conceptually," You probably look deep in thought about what you just learned, which you are, it's just that one half of the inner dialogue is a demon. "I am not opposed to making a hat out of the dragon that tried to eat my mom, this would just be a really bad moment to bring it up."

    Gain 2 Essence

    Usum's agreement is a swift shadow on your mind like the wing of a bird in flight, then: "A hat would be a waste of such materials, armor you can conjure and a weapon I am. What of a means of conveyance?"

    "Dragon-bike?" you probe.

    "Dragon-bike," the ancient demon agrees at least in principle.

    What your dad would say if he knew you were mentally doodling what to make out of Siriothrax all the way home you do not know for sure and you are not about to ask him.

    ***​

    Daniel, Matthew and Leech are all crowded in the living room right next to mom when you arrive looking, well not your Sunday best, but not like someone who was shot in the chest multiple times so you count that a win.

    "How'd it go?" Daniel asks as soon as you are in the door.

    "Pretty good," you answer trying to keep the tiredness and the pain out of your voice. "Fought a Nazi Werewolf Sorcerer, possibly a necromancer as well though he didn't have zombies, he had beserkers, figured out I can parry bullets that was awesome."

    "No way," Mathew says. "That's like..."

    Before you can find out what anime character your little brother was about to compare you to mom gives you a sharp look. "Molly!"

    "Mom, this isn't stuff I heard dad talk about listening at doors, it is things I did. What am I supposed to do not talk about a whole part of my life to anyone but you or dad?" you ask resonantly... with maybe a little boost of insight behind it. Your parents, especially mother had always said you had to be able to count on one another and part of that was being able to talk freely.

    Lost 1 Essence

    "I expect you not to trivialize a fight, even one taken for the best of reasons, the danger or the harm of it," mom answers even a she is going over your appearance like a hawk, not that she needs to be very perceptive to notice the giant bruise on your face.

    Your only answer is a deep and long suffering sigh, though in your defense you hold back the eye-roll. As far as you are concerned you already paid the price to be as glib as you like by getting shot talking rings around an evil sorcerer and generally unveiling an dark cabal of warlocks.

    Still you wonder... should you say something to mom about the stuff dad told you.. or maybe you could spend some time with one or more of your siblings once mom is asleep to finish your story of the day.

    What do you do?

    [] Talk to Charity about what you just learned of her history
    -[] Write in

    [] Continue the account of the day for one or more of your siblings
    -[] Write in which ones and how

    [] Write in

    OOC: Charity Carpenter once more beating Excellencies with raw willpower. I'm not even surprised at this point.
     
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    • Dragon-bike might be cool, but how about Dragon-cloak? Or Dragon-coat?

    We could take inspiration from Michael's cloak and/or Harry's coat. A Dragonhide and scale coat or cloak that serves as armor and can turn into a pair of wings for flight purposes would be neat, assuming that's even possible via Crafting.
     
    DarknessSmiles said:
    or we can just get some movement techs like gravity-rebuking grace and wind-born stride instead of a masquerade breaker.

    stride is the pure speed one and has the side benefit of guaranteeing we go first by doubling our initiative roll. its signature effect is also pretty sick.
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    Those are good charms that we should get, but they're aren't a substitute for ranged combat.

    Just look at the situation we were in; even with those charms the sniper could have plausibly gotten another shot off before we reached him.

    Now that these guys know more about us I wouldn't be surprised if they try this again but use more than one gunmen to do it. A sniper plus a band of shotgun wielding berserkers would be unpleasant to deal with when we need to defend a relatively slow moving target.

    This isn't going to be the only time we need to deal with a scenario where we can't just meep-meep away and actually accomplish what we're trying to do.

    Ranged weapons don't completely solve that problem, but at the very least we can use them to force people to move instead shooting at us.
     
    [X] Talk to Charity about what you just learned of her history
    -[X] Be open: "I guessed the surface of the reasons for your reactions to me doing magic and..." *gesture to self* "all this, and I asked dad about it. He told me a how he met you, from his perspective. It was really bad and I'm glad you're ok now and... thank you. For everything. For protecting me, for being my mom." *smiles, trying not to tear up* "You breaking down those doors with a warhammer is the most badass thing I've ever seen. I love you". *gib hug*


    ---
    The awful thing in this write in is that Molly (the teenager) sees, and tries to communicate; "I know you will do everything to help me, I love you."

    Charity (the mother) will see her failure to rescue her daughter.

    Edit: @DragonParadox my write in here is an attempt to communicate to you my intention wtr the general vibe. If the character Molly tries to express this sentiment with different words, or if Charity interrupts and the conversation goes in an unexpected tangent; well, that's just human interaction.

    edit: "gib" is not a typo.
     
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    DragonParadox said:
    I was just reading Hunter Hunted II which is the book with some of the most up to date hedge magic and I realized that it is actually a very good way to model Dresden Files Minor talents, well that and psychics. Things only break down when you are dealing with sorcerer and up, especially of course full wizard. Still it is kind of funny how some of the really advanced path abilities look like in light of an exalted taking them. This is max healing abilities:

    In addition, the Hedge Magician can overcome the effects of supernatural trauma upon the body. With the expenditure of a Willpower point and a successful Manipulation + Medicine roll (difficulty 8) by her player, a practitioner can instantly heal aggravated damage on a subject. Each success gained on the activation roll heals one level of aggravated damage.

    The cost for healing such damage similarly comes at a price, however. For every level of aggravated damage healed, the Hedge Magician suffers a level of painful sympathetic bashing damage. The sympathetic damage cannot be healed via applications of this Path (whether by the Hedge Magician suffering the sympathetic damage or another healer).

    Healer Exalt: Oh no bashing damage, my one weakness. I'm going to have to sit down and heal for *cheks* up to an hour if I go down to crippled.:V
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    That works.
    Model wizards as Mages with Arete, and minor Talents(and everyone else) as people using Paths and Rituals.

    Give Infernal!Molly the Divination Path as a QM-fiat, IC plot hook generator which is thematic with Crown of Eyes.
    Artemis1992 said:
    There are two different kinds, permanent Willpower score and regular Willpower points.
    The first has to be re-bought with XP, the latter heals from good sleep or acting with your nature.
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    Xexilf said:
    Generally you regain willpower by sleeping or doing stuff in line with your motivation. You have multiple per day at the least, so its a resource to spend relatively freely.
    There are some tings that permanently reduce the stat but thats generally the kind of thing that would have notable XP costs in DnD or really nasty high level attacks. Its not something that happens casually.
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    Molly's Urge/Nature is secrets.

    Buy a high end computer setup for 2006, put a demon inside it, some enchantments, activate the appropriate stealth charms, and play superhacker whenever you need to recover Essence and Willpower.Lots of people and places with secrets they want to keep hidden, mundane and otherwise. And the Red Court infestation of Latin America means there's a lot of places with relevant secrets.

    It would even be in character for someone who picked the Crown of Eyes to be nosy.

    DragonParadox said:
    I mean there is a high level Bali discipline in Dark Ages that straight up kills the character to summon the Plot Device Devil, it literally has no stats and just gets to wreck whatever it wants for a few hours. I think it is assumed that players are not going to play the Bali since even as vampires go those guys are bad, they are the vampires other vampires went on a crusade against to stop because they like having a world to... unlive on.

    Of course if someone summons the Plot Device Devil on you guys... I'm going to stat him because the Exalted to nor recognize arbitrary limits like 'you cannot kill a prince of Hell'.
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    Killing him probably just counts as banishing him back to Hell. Which is Hard for a 3CD-equivalent.

    Thing is, plot device Archangel breaking out of Hell is very much triggering a plot-device Archangel response from Heaven.
    This is the sort of thing where Molly's dad's namesake rolls into town with his entire posse and a couple of archangel besties.
    I just dont expect the Morningnstar to do that sort of thing. He knows how that ends.

    Sending an expendable mook on the other hand....
    Artemis1992 said:
    Edit: Also a PC propably wouldn't cast Spew Wide the Pit because it auto-kills the caster.
    They do have stats for the lesser version of that effect though:
    The Herald of Hell is already something I would not want to fight until we have at least Essence 3 and a lot more combat-relevant Charms. For the actual plot-device Devil I want either a small Circle of Exalts or our father's plot-device sword fighting besides us.
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    The Herald of Hell looks like a bracing little fight. Essentially looks like Dresden's demon fight in Storm Front.
    Given preptime, its eminently doable for Molly at E2/E3 given some more charms and a bit of Alchemy.
    I suspect that a statted up naagloshii would be significantly nastier.

    Artemis1992 said:
    I have a possible solution for our issues with ranged weapons.

    Right now we are kinda vulnerable and have no easy way to strike back.
    But we could just disable anyone's ability to use ranged weapons:

    So what if the the enemy has a good rifle and sits on a nearby building?
    We deny them sight and can walk up to the panicking foe at our leisure.
    We force the battlefield into the shape we desire and very few foes can actually do anything about that.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Masquerade breach of course.
    But it also makes the surroundings comfortable for a lot of nasties. Red and Black Court vampires, of course, but also a lot of NeverNever predators like hobgoblins, redcaps and malks. Probably not the best of choices.

    If we havent picked up eyebeams or something similar, the two alternatives for dealing with ranged opposition are either Boiling Oil Mastery for difficulty reduction and to walk on water + Wind-Born Stride for speed, or Mind-Hand Manipulation for flight and telekinesis.

    With MHM you can throw stuff at them, yank the weapon out of the enemy's hands, toss them off the roof.
    Or pull a Vader and force-choke them at range if they're squishy mortals.
     
    So, I had a potential idea for a Charity write-in, but it is absolutely brutal in a way I'm not sure about, since it kind of relies on comparing Charity to her parents, which… yeah. Don't mind if people don't take it, but I wanted to throw the comparisons my mind is making out there for others to chew on, so:

    -[] "So I talked to Dad a little, and the knowledge of magic that came with my powers tells me that magic is typically hereditary, and specifically from the mother's side. So that means there's a good chance that either your mother or someone in her family had magic themselves. How did her not talking to you about magic and trying to force you to be normal work out for you?"
    —[] "I love you, Mom, and I know you love me, too, but just trying to ignore magic when it's a part of our very blood, and now an integral part of my own soul, is just going to hurt our family more. And I think we've all been hurt enough by well-meaning ignorance and lies of omission, don't you?"

    Huh, actually the end part makes it come out softer than I thought. Still not sure about using it unedited, but a lot more confident about it as a write-in after writing the whole thing out. Thoughts?
     
    DragonParadox said:
    What do you do?
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    Charity OP. Please nerf.

    VOTE
    [X] Continue the account of the day for one or more of your siblings
    -[X] Which ones and how: Daniel, Mathew and Leech.


    REASON
    Honestly, I want her to spend some time with her siblings.
    Prior to Proven Guilty she'd moved out of the house for several months, and its important for our nascent Princess of Hell to hold her family ties, since she doesnt have many close friends.

    Daniel, Mathew and Leech are the older kids, the ones who know Michael travels for work that involves swording Bad Guys, and who remember the fetches invading the house last week. According to the series timeline, right now Daniel is 16, Mathew is 13/14, Leech is 11. The next kid, Amanda, is 9, and the other two are younger.

    Leech seems like a decent cutoff.

    At that age, they are old enough to know to keep secrets.And Charity didnt actually forbid us from talking to them. Plus, they are old enough to need some frame of reference for when Molly does strange, magic-related things. Like walking around in handforged chainmail or soaking in a tub of bleach.


    Also, the dice have made it clear that engaging Charity right now is ill-advised.
    Mechanically, we're at half our Essence pool or less, we have a -1 Wound Penalty to our dice pools, and the woman is evidently rocking divine buffs to social combat against her children.

    We need sleep and healing before we do this again.

    Fluffwise, we need time to assimilate what Michael told us before we can revisit this topic without coming off as weaponizing something we were told in confidence.
    So wait.
     
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