Ok if this was normal magic I would say hell no... but these are exalted charms so I'm going to say yes on anything organic including oil and coal as long as she can conceptualize it as such. Generally 'creatures' made this way will be stupider and harder to control in exchange for you know being able to animate a blob of flaming oil
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Ok if this was normal magic I would say hell no... but these are exalted charms so I'm going to say yes on anything organic including oil and coal as long as she can conceptualize it as such. Generally 'creatures' made this way will be stupider and harder to control in exchange for you know being able to animate a blob of flaming oil
BTW, given you already mentioned before that Wan Kuei exist in this - are Dragonblooded in this, too, hidden in some remote corner in the middle of nowhere?
Oh hell yeah!
Just to make sure, you do realize that this gives Lydia the ability to wake up the Dread Gazebo?
Also, shame that her house isn't built on top of a Dragon's Nest. She could animate it for the whole "Disney Princess" shtick. Maybe she'll move later, when we find a suitable spot?
In any case, wooden soldiers. All the wooden soldiers. Possibly wooden power armor too.
It's impossible to turn a person into a Ferectoi. You're either born as one because a Breeder bane stole or was given your human parent's sperm or egg and gave birth to you, or you're not one.
When Pentex cares they can engineer fomori, but they still have their share of taints in return for power, Pentex just knows how to manage those taints.
There are charms that can transform a willing Exalt into a god or elemental. Like Sidereal Greater astrology.
Last edited:
So far Molly has no idea IC. You guys could look.
Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
Making some changes to my old plan. Especially after seeing the arguments on how Ox body is kinda meh on Lydia.
[X] Plan Preparing for Social with Mab
-[X] Molly: 22xp
—[X] All Things Betray: 8xp
—[X] Qiao 1: Steel Skin 3xp
—[X] Empathy 4: 3xp
—[X] Naked Wicked Souls: 3xp
—[X] Awareness 2, 5 XP
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
I know people are going to have problems with this but the current buys for Lydia, i.e. ox body is not that good. Familiar is ok but she can already pull a doolittle. Besides which, preparing for Mab should be a priority, so Awareness 2 to match the Perception 2. 4 dice with difficulty reduction of -3. We can purchase a Excellency and raise perception to 3 next turn but this brings us to decent.
We also raise Empathy to 4, bringing it on par with Intimidation and Etiquette.
This also leaves 1xp balance.
Naked Wicked Souls rolls Perception + Empathy against a difficulty of the target's (Wits + Subterfuge) . All Perception rolls have a -3 difficulty and we roll 6 dice, 12 with excellency. Sux means we know what deed in all of his history the target is most ashamed of. With three or more successes, we also learns some specific details of the sin (names, dates, things she might have seen had she been present to witness the act). With five or more successes we learn details the target themselves doesn't know, such as longterm consequences of his sin which would further compound their guilt.
Simply put, this combo makes us a social monster and something we will need to be if we want to contend with Mab.
Old plan modified.
[X] Plan Distributed Exp
-[X] Molly: 19xp
—[X] Rendered Villain Dispersal 4xp
—[X] Wind Borne Stride 8xp
—[X] Qiao 1: Steel Skin 3xp
—[X] Running to Forever 4xp
-[X] Lydia 3 xp
—[X] Background: Familiar 1: Raven 3xp
[X] Plan Preparing for Social with Mab
-[X] Molly: 22xp
—[X] All Things Betray: 8xp
—[X] Qiao 1: Steel Skin 3xp
—[X] Empathy 4: 3xp
—[X] Naked Wicked Souls: 3xp
—[X] Awareness 2, 5 XP
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
I know people are going to have problems with this but the current buys for Lydia, i.e. ox body is not that good. Familiar is ok but she can already pull a doolittle. Besides which, preparing for Mab should be a priority, so Awareness 2 to match the Perception 2. 4 dice with difficulty reduction of -3. We can purchase a Excellency and raise perception to 3 next turn but this brings us to decent.
We also raise Empathy to 4, bringing it on par with Intimidation and Etiquette.
This also leaves 1xp balance.
Naked Wicked Souls rolls Perception + Empathy against a difficulty of the target's (Wits + Subterfuge) . All Perception rolls have a -3 difficulty and we roll 6 dice, 12 with excellency. Sux means we know what deed in all of his history the target is most ashamed of. With three or more successes, we also learns some specific details of the sin (names, dates, things she might have seen had she been present to witness the act). With five or more successes we learn details the target themselves doesn't know, such as longterm consequences of his sin which would further compound their guilt.
Simply put, this combo makes us a social monster and something we will need to be if we want to contend with Mab.
Old plan modified.
[X] Plan Distributed Exp
-[X] Molly: 19xp
—[X] Rendered Villain Dispersal 4xp
—[X] Wind Borne Stride 8xp
—[X] Qiao 1: Steel Skin 3xp
—[X] Running to Forever 4xp
-[X] Lydia 3 xp
—[X] Background: Familiar 1: Raven 3xp
Last edited:
TBH if people want to invest in Lydia, Willpower is good for her excellency. At 5 dots of WP, a dot would cost, what, 5 xp?
A house is not made up only of organic matter and in any case there is a mass limit on what she can animate.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
The problem with Naked Wicked Souls is that it costs an essance to use which means that it has to compete with just using another social exalancy which makes it a far more marginal charm.
I was wrong on my math (one XP too many for Empathy 4). Correcting. This gives us enough XP for awareness 2.
[X] Agree to meet with the Librarian
-[X]Ask Michael along
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
[X] Plan Know thy Enemy, member of the coven
-[X] Molly, 16 XP
--[X] Empathy 4, 3 XP
--[X] Awareness 2, 5 XP
--[X]All Things Betray: 8xp
-[X]Lydia:7xp
--[X] Willpower 6, 5 XP
--[X] Occult 2, 2 XP
Naked Wicked Souls next turn, maybe. Lydia needs her love too.
EDIT:
[X] Agree to meet with the Librarian
-[X]Ask Michael along
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
[X] Plan Know thy Enemy, member of the coven
-[X] Molly, 16 XP
--[X] Empathy 4, 3 XP
--[X] Awareness 2, 5 XP
--[X]All Things Betray: 8xp
-[X]Lydia:7xp
--[X] Willpower 6, 5 XP
--[X] Occult 2, 2 XP
Naked Wicked Souls next turn, maybe. Lydia needs her love too.
EDIT:
OK. I see you are not denying the possiblity of Dread Gazebo.
- Location
- Canada
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
[X] Plan Distributed Exp
-[X] Molly: 19xp
—[X] Rendered Villain Dispersal 4xp
—[X] Wind Borne Stride 8xp
—[X] Qiao 1: Steel Skin 3xp
—[X] Running to Forever 4xp
-[X] Lydia 3 xp
—[X] Background: Familiar 1: Raven 3xp
-[X] Molly: 19xp
—[X] Rendered Villain Dispersal 4xp
—[X] Wind Borne Stride 8xp
—[X] Qiao 1: Steel Skin 3xp
—[X] Running to Forever 4xp
-[X] Lydia 3 xp
—[X] Background: Familiar 1: Raven 3xp
Yeah, sure, technically. They aren't like, the peak of of possible, tho. The target to shoot for is Kami, which should be doable if we produce a Hell-realm that isn't very Hell-ish.
Having caught up with the discussion? And in light of the QM's comments?
I am updating part of the vote with @Yzarc's XP formula.
It seems reasonable, should scale and it doesnt require an extra workload from the QM, which is always good for quest longevity.
VOTE
[X] Agree to meet with the Librarian
-[X]Ask Michael along
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
[X]Plan Wintersteel Raven
-[X]Molly: 16xp
--[X]Qiao 1: Steel Skin: 3xp
--[X]Empathy 4: 3xp
--[X]All Things Betray: 8xp
--[X]Touch of Frost: 2xp
-[X]Lydia:6xp
--[X]Ox-Body 1: 3xp
--[X]Background Familiar 1: Raven: 3xp
I have altered my original vote to fit, but I'm just repeating this here, just in case anyone wanted to check.
NOTE:
Thats the ONLY change that I've made is to the Lydia XP vote.
The rest of the plan is unchanged. EDIT Occult 2 has now been removed from the XP vote.
Comments and replies in a bit.
I am updating part of the vote with @Yzarc's XP formula.
It seems reasonable, should scale and it doesnt require an extra workload from the QM, which is always good for quest longevity.
VOTE
[X] Agree to meet with the Librarian
-[X]Ask Michael along
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
[X]Plan Wintersteel Raven
-[X]Molly: 16xp
--[X]Qiao 1: Steel Skin: 3xp
--[X]Empathy 4: 3xp
--[X]All Things Betray: 8xp
--[X]Touch of Frost: 2xp
-[X]Lydia:6xp
--[X]Ox-Body 1: 3xp
--[X]Background Familiar 1: Raven: 3xp
I have altered my original vote to fit, but I'm just repeating this here, just in case anyone wanted to check.
NOTE:
Thats the ONLY change that I've made is to the Lydia XP vote.
The rest of the plan is unchanged. EDIT Occult 2 has now been removed from the XP vote.
Comments and replies in a bit.
Last edited:
Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
This is wrong. Lydia does not favor Occult. It is 2xp not 1xp.
[X] Agree to meet with the Librarian
-[X]Ask Michael along
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
[X] Plan Know thy Enemy, member of the coven
-[X] Molly, 16 XP
--[X] Empathy 4, 3 XP
--[X] Awareness 2, 5 XP
--[X]All Things Betray: 8xp
-[X]Lydia:7xp
--[X] Willpower 6, 5 XP
--[X] Occult 2, 2 XP
-[X]Ask Michael along
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
[X] Plan Know thy Enemy, member of the coven
-[X] Molly, 16 XP
--[X] Empathy 4, 3 XP
--[X] Awareness 2, 5 XP
--[X]All Things Betray: 8xp
-[X]Lydia:7xp
--[X] Willpower 6, 5 XP
--[X] Occult 2, 2 XP
True Metal Power
Lisa: The Hintful
- Location
- Russia
[X] Agree to meet with the Librarian
-[X]Ask Michael along
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
[X] Plan Know thy Enemy, member of the coven
Why people want to buy a familiar for Lydia?
Also, IIRC, Usum is unusually respectful. I think it means that she really is an Exalted.
-[X]Ask Michael along
[X] Lydia XP: All companions get 1/4 of the total XP spent on Molly, rounded down. Molly can spend XP on companions but not the other way round. The 1/4 does NOT reduce what Molly earns.
[X] Plan Know thy Enemy, member of the coven
Why people want to buy a familiar for Lydia?
Also, IIRC, Usum is unusually respectful. I think it means that she really is an Exalted.
Thank you very much for the citations.
Yeah, no. I call bullshit.
The Gatekeeper's job at the Outer Gates is to detect Outsiders trying to infiltrate in the bodies of others, and he explicitly tells Dresden that its a skill that can be learned and potentially bestowed.
The Gatekeeper lowered his hood.
He had short hair that was still thick and gleamed silver, but his features were weathered, as if from long years under harsh sunlight. His skin was paler now, but there was still something of the desert on his skin. His face was long, his brows still dark and full. He had a double scar on his left eyebrow and cheek, two long lines that went straight down, a lot like mine, only deeper and thicker and all the way to his jawline, and they were much softer with long years of healing. Maybe he hadn't been as good at flinching as I was, because he'd lost the eye beneath the scar. One of his eyes was nearly black, it was so dark. The other had been replaced with . . .
I looked around me. Yes, definitely. The other eye had been replaced with the crystalline material that was identical to that which had been used to create the gates and the walls around them.
"Steel," I said.
"Pardon?" he asked.
"Your, uh, other eye. It was steel before."
"I'm sure it looked like steel," he said. "The disguise is necessary when I'm not here."
"Your job is so secret, your false eye gets a disguise?" I asked. "Guess I see why you miss Council meetings."
He inclined his head and ruffled his fingers through mussed, tousled hood-hair. "It can be quiet for years here, sometimes. And others . . ." He spread his hands. "But they need a good eye here to be sure that the things that must remain outside do not slip in unnoticed."
"Inside the wounded," I guessed. "Or returning troops. Or medics."
"You've become aware of the adversary," he said, his tone one of firm approval. "Excellent. I was certain your particular pursuits would get you killed long before you got a chance to learn."
"How can I help?" I asked him.
He leaned his head back and then a slow smile reasserted itself on his face. "I know something of the responsibilities you've chosen to take up," he said, "to say nothing of the problems you've created for yourself that you haven't found out about yet. And still, in the face of learning that our world spins out its days under siege, you offer to help me? I think you and I could be friends."
"Wait," I said. "What problems? I haven't been trying to create problems."
"Oh," he said, waving a hand. "You've danced about in the shadows at the edge of life now, young man. That's no small thing, to go into those shadows and come back again—you've no idea the kind of attention you've attracted."
"Oh," I said. "Good. Because the pace was starting to slow down so much that I was getting bored."
At that, Rashid tilted his head back and laughed. "Would you be offended if I called you Harry?"
"No. Because it's my name."
"Exactly," he said. "Harry, I know you have questions. I can field a very few before I go."
I nodded, thinking. "Okay," I said. "First, how do you know if the adversary has . . . infested someone?"
"Experience," he said. "Decades of it. The Sight can help, but . . ." Rashid hesitated. I recognized it instantly, the hiccup in one's thoughts when one stumbled over a truly hideous memory gained with the Sight, like I'd had with—
Ugh.
—the naagloshii.
"I don't recommend making a regular practice of it," he continued. "It's an art, not a skill, and it takes time. Time, or a bit of questionable attention from the Fates and a ridiculously enormous tool." He tapped a finger against his false eye.
I blinked, even though he didn't, and looked up at the massive gates stretching overhead. "Hell's bells. The gates . . . they're . . . some kind of spiritual CAT scanner?"
"Among many other things," he said. "But it's one of their functions, yes. Mostly it means that the adversary cannot use such tactics effectively here. As long as the Gatekeeper is vigilant, it rarely tries." The horns sounded again, and the muscles in his jaw tensed. "Next question."
I hate trying to be smart under time pressure. "This," I said, pointing up at the gates. "What the hell? How long has this attack been going on?"
"Always," he said. "There are always Outsiders trying to tear their way in. There are always forces in place to stop them. In our age, it is the task of Winter to defend these boundaries, with the help of certain others to support them. Think of them as . . . an immune system for the mortal world."
I felt my eyes get wide. "An immune system . . . What happens if it . . . you know, if it breaks down for a bit?"
"Pardon?" the Gatekeeper asked.
"Uh, it gets a glitch. Like, if somebody new took over or something and things had to reorganize around here . . ."
"Most years, it would pose no major difficulty," he said.
"What about this year?"
"This year," he said, "it could be problematic."
"Problematic."
"Rather severely so." Rashid studied my face and then started to nod. "I see. There are things happening back in Winter. That's why Mother Summer brought you here. To show you what was at stake."
I swallowed and nodded. "No pressure or anything."
He had short hair that was still thick and gleamed silver, but his features were weathered, as if from long years under harsh sunlight. His skin was paler now, but there was still something of the desert on his skin. His face was long, his brows still dark and full. He had a double scar on his left eyebrow and cheek, two long lines that went straight down, a lot like mine, only deeper and thicker and all the way to his jawline, and they were much softer with long years of healing. Maybe he hadn't been as good at flinching as I was, because he'd lost the eye beneath the scar. One of his eyes was nearly black, it was so dark. The other had been replaced with . . .
I looked around me. Yes, definitely. The other eye had been replaced with the crystalline material that was identical to that which had been used to create the gates and the walls around them.
"Steel," I said.
"Pardon?" he asked.
"Your, uh, other eye. It was steel before."
"I'm sure it looked like steel," he said. "The disguise is necessary when I'm not here."
"Your job is so secret, your false eye gets a disguise?" I asked. "Guess I see why you miss Council meetings."
He inclined his head and ruffled his fingers through mussed, tousled hood-hair. "It can be quiet for years here, sometimes. And others . . ." He spread his hands. "But they need a good eye here to be sure that the things that must remain outside do not slip in unnoticed."
"Inside the wounded," I guessed. "Or returning troops. Or medics."
"You've become aware of the adversary," he said, his tone one of firm approval. "Excellent. I was certain your particular pursuits would get you killed long before you got a chance to learn."
"How can I help?" I asked him.
He leaned his head back and then a slow smile reasserted itself on his face. "I know something of the responsibilities you've chosen to take up," he said, "to say nothing of the problems you've created for yourself that you haven't found out about yet. And still, in the face of learning that our world spins out its days under siege, you offer to help me? I think you and I could be friends."
"Wait," I said. "What problems? I haven't been trying to create problems."
"Oh," he said, waving a hand. "You've danced about in the shadows at the edge of life now, young man. That's no small thing, to go into those shadows and come back again—you've no idea the kind of attention you've attracted."
"Oh," I said. "Good. Because the pace was starting to slow down so much that I was getting bored."
At that, Rashid tilted his head back and laughed. "Would you be offended if I called you Harry?"
"No. Because it's my name."
"Exactly," he said. "Harry, I know you have questions. I can field a very few before I go."
I nodded, thinking. "Okay," I said. "First, how do you know if the adversary has . . . infested someone?"
"Experience," he said. "Decades of it. The Sight can help, but . . ." Rashid hesitated. I recognized it instantly, the hiccup in one's thoughts when one stumbled over a truly hideous memory gained with the Sight, like I'd had with—
Ugh.
—the naagloshii.
"I don't recommend making a regular practice of it," he continued. "It's an art, not a skill, and it takes time. Time, or a bit of questionable attention from the Fates and a ridiculously enormous tool." He tapped a finger against his false eye.
I blinked, even though he didn't, and looked up at the massive gates stretching overhead. "Hell's bells. The gates . . . they're . . . some kind of spiritual CAT scanner?"
"Among many other things," he said. "But it's one of their functions, yes. Mostly it means that the adversary cannot use such tactics effectively here. As long as the Gatekeeper is vigilant, it rarely tries." The horns sounded again, and the muscles in his jaw tensed. "Next question."
I hate trying to be smart under time pressure. "This," I said, pointing up at the gates. "What the hell? How long has this attack been going on?"
"Always," he said. "There are always Outsiders trying to tear their way in. There are always forces in place to stop them. In our age, it is the task of Winter to defend these boundaries, with the help of certain others to support them. Think of them as . . . an immune system for the mortal world."
I felt my eyes get wide. "An immune system . . . What happens if it . . . you know, if it breaks down for a bit?"
"Pardon?" the Gatekeeper asked.
"Uh, it gets a glitch. Like, if somebody new took over or something and things had to reorganize around here . . ."
"Most years, it would pose no major difficulty," he said.
"What about this year?"
"This year," he said, "it could be problematic."
"Problematic."
"Rather severely so." Rashid studied my face and then started to nod. "I see. There are things happening back in Winter. That's why Mother Summer brought you here. To show you what was at stake."
I swallowed and nodded. "No pressure or anything."
If a Senior Council wizard, regardless of how potent, is capable of it?
The idea that the Archangel Uriel cant just doesnt pass the smell test. The question is whether he's allowed to do anything about it, where the answer appears to be no. At least not unless they overstep some unknown boundaries.
1)She has good socials, which we can boost to legendary when she spends Essence.
She has good research skills when she has free time to look for stuff in modern society because of the cyberdevils.
Good tracking and cyberespionage because of HMP. She has a one-use information superweapon.
However, her ability to notice stuff in person, is severely lacking.
And thats where All Things Betray is the killer app. It brings even DC9 rolls down to DC6, and brings DC6 rolls down to DC3.
2)Because Molly is not going to jump into a combat situation on the other side of the country, or the world, without backup.
Not at Essence 2 and 3 months old.
We've had Crown of Eyes since the beginning, we didnt dive headfirst into the Vampire War or start hunting Nicodemus.
If we're going anywhere far away, at the very least we're bringing Lydia with us.
Thats kinda the point of having a party.
And that would mean Ways.
At least until we have multiple dots in Conveyance Path and either a sportswagon or just teleportation.
No it most definitely is not.
While all these charm are essential for engaging Mab and coming out of it without losing our hat, they remain viable in the Dresdenverse where everyone, even mortal enemies, talk to each other.
Let me count the named heavy hitters in this crossover I can recall:
Odin. The Erl King. The Archive. Winter Lady Maeve. Summer Lady Lily. The Leanansidhe. Eldest Gruff. Gwyn ap Nudd.
Lara Raith. John Marcone. Arianna Ortega. Mavra. Drakul. King Corb. Ethniu.
The thirty Fallen of the Order of the Blackened Denarius and their hosts.
The Yama Kings and their Ministers.
The three Walkers.
Those are just the heavy hitters with a power base.
Not including the the wandering swordsmen wannabes like Shagnasty, Puck and the grendelkin, bigfoot supremacists like Blood On His Soul, and random demigods like Bassarid and the Hecatean Hags, the naga and the qarin.
We are going to spend a whole lot more time talking than we do fighting, and a lot of our work going forward is recruitment and engaging other people. Indeed, Dresden spends a lot more of his time talking than blowing shit up, even given his marked lack of diplomatic niceties.
Being able to effectively engage, and get more out of non-combat encounters than the opposition is a major edge that will always remain viable. And for that, I think my current plan does a lot better than yours.
1)Early installment weirdness is what I chalk that up to.
The raksha didnt pull that off, and it was vastly more powerful, and with a portfolio that was immediately relevant to the point of mind fuckery, than a mid-tier Nazi sorcerer.
2) When we were bringing Gorfels to Dresden's apartment. When we went underground after Cindy, and later Lydia.
When we were approaching Dresden's apartment with Cindy and expected opposition.
When we were just waiting for the Jade Dogs to show up
There have been multiple situations in our two or three month career where we would have had it up if we could.
Yeah.
We left XP on the table there by going for the quick option instead of engaging him.
Done.
Your Solaroid cannot be everywhere at once.
And even in fights where the Solaroid is present, action economy is a thing. A Solaroid can only do one thing per turn withiut multiple action charms. Having other Exalted-tier party members to handle other stuff matters.
Consider what the fight against Kattrin would have been like without any of our party members.
And two of those werent even Exalted-tier physical combatants.
Furthermore, party members contribute in different ways.
Dresden and Michael are both factors despite neither being Solar-tier combatants.
Not necessarily.
There are workarounds in the book itself, and in the Thousand Hells sourcebook.
Not as good as Molly's is not the same thing as not useful.
Lydia has 7 HLs right now. An Ox Body would increase it by roughly 30%, to 9HLs.
Thats significant for her survivability, and Molly not having to worry about keeping her alive in a fight.
Especially since Molly is learning Alchemy, and wound penalty negation for a scene is a 1-dot potion.
Willpower is important, both in general and because it governs her Excellencies.
However in my opinion, the second priority, after improving your supply of magic juice, is improving your ability to not die.
Last turn, we spent XP to get Lydia to Essence 2, which increased her Essence pool from 5 to 6.
This turn, improve her HP bar and get her a familiar. Next turn, WP and a Jade Talisman.
Thats my opinion for what its worth.
Also worth noting that if you pick the appropriate familiar charm, your familiars can benefit from your defensive charms.
Such as Ox-Body.
^^^
Yeah.
Literally right there in the ExWoD book, starting around pg 315, there's Infernal Investitures as a model for powering-up Exalts; Holden essentially ripped it wholesale from the 1000 Hells sourcebook for Kindred of the East.
Lydia IS the daughter of a recovering death god.
Finding elements of her father's mantle, or others, that give her non-native powerups are entirely plausible and thematic.
Or just her father feeding her more power when she's older and he thinks she can handle it.
Im certainly expecting to see Denarians and agents of the Yama Kings modelled with Infernal Investitures and Soul-Treatments.
1)Themes and storytelling.
Characterizing the girl who lives alone on her father's house/estate as an animal person seems to be appropriate given what we know of her upbringing. And it works with her father's association with some animals.
2) Familiars get their own charms. A Familiar 4 gets 1. A Familar 5 gets a total of 3(1 at 4 dots, and 2 more at 5 dots).
And they get to benefit from a Lydia charm that gives them additional XP and traits.
Which helps cover for some of Lydia's deficiencies vis a vis Molly.
For example, grab the right familiar charm, and Lydia can gattai with a familiar for a scene, with the familiar giving her access to one of it's Aspects for the duration. Meld with a bird and borrow its wings or claws or sight, for example.
Last edited:
A small note Michael can be a Solar Tier combatant when he fights beings that powerful, that is one of the things the sword does. He did kill a capital D Dragon.
Not all Outsiders are created equal, though. Gatekeeper can't see Nemesis passing through the Outer Gates because it is already on the inside, and it is pretty special.
It's far better to spend an action point to get her a five point familiar, I feel. Our money levels should easily allow us to travel to Japan / China (Japan is easier - no need for a visa) and there we could do a quest to get a golden crow. Or look for some other magical crow in USA, either a native american one, or someone from settlers.
I agree that getting her a familiar is a good idea. Getting her one via spending XP is not. Go find Mouse's litter mate (or some other temple dog - I am fairly sure one can be found willing to enter Lydia's service). Or a golden crow. Or some manner of Rat King.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
So, there are four viable XP expenditure plans floating around, but apparently the current lead plan won't work because @uju32 hasn't fixed the XP being spent on Lydia's Occult boost.
Any chance we can consolidate some of these? Approval voting is all well and good, but when the votes are so close it seems like actually picking a plan to focus on would be better, IMO.
Any chance we can consolidate some of these? Approval voting is all well and good, but when the votes are so close it seems like actually picking a plan to focus on would be better, IMO.
@LightLan , @True Metal Power , please note that I updated the plan after discovering issues with its math. Please note the updated plan version above. The difference is that it drops Lydia's Occult to 2, and increase our Awareness to 2.
- Location
- Earth
We both vote for the plan name, not sure why it hasn't updated?
Has someone else, who perhaps overwrote their vote, the old plan still posted somewhere?