Once we have the crafting charm we can do something about that. We've mostly been focusing on the big projects, but 1-2 dot prodigies for convenience stuff would be nice. We need to mind the attunement limit, but we can pay to remove the need for that per the base rules.
Armored clothing that doesn't impede the exalt wearing it is a 2 dot prodigy, so it can be made without sacrifice or special worksite. We could make that slotless, but I think a better upgrade for the 3 dot cost is making it something like glamored armor.
To be honest?
I think that Holden's entire crafting system is an overcomplicated mess that violates some of the themes of the setting worse than the Mage The Ascension system it wants to replace.
That said, under the rules, it appears we can make Lydia something concealable that will give her at least Kevlar-tier armor(Armor 3) with no penalties. And I can find M20 armor to benchmark in some of my books.
While we might be able to get away with the bare minimum, I have rather more extensive plans, and armor at least can benefit from extra dice.
No it cant. Not for Exalted Craft.
There are hard limits to how good you can make armor even with an exorbitant dice pool.
Especially with the new Holden rules you appear to be trying to adopt, which appear to my eyes to be over-complicated fiddly trash that Im trying really hard not to engage with. Under those rules, making a prodigy is a YES/NO roll.
Crafting the Vessel: The Exalt must, either working alone, together with a group of other Exalts
with Prodigy-creating Charms, or assisted with minor un-Exalted support, physically construct
the Prodigy. This takes however long creating a mundane, un-enchanted version of the object
would, assuming the work is performed at a masterwork level. This process can be sped up with
Charms like Craftsman Needs No Tools, as normal. At the end of the construction process, the
primary architect makes an (Appropriate Attribute) + Craft roll against a difficulty two points
higher than would be usual for the project. Success means the vessel has been correctly
constructed and, if nothing else, the Exalt has an excellent example of a working mirror, bicycle,
spear, or whatever else it is she's made.
1 extra dice of Crafting is not going to make a difference in the actual Crafting.
Not when you are already throwing an Excellency at it.
I'm not proposing high tier stuff. I am proposing high quality stuff. If we, for example, requisition magical materials from the courts, I would rather use them to the utmost potential (also probably do a master class / demonstration to master craftsmen in order to establish our place among them not just as a religious figure).
If you actually check the rules you are trying to adopt, you'll find that extra successes dont appear to matter with the Prodigy system.
While we might want to bank XP for later, I feel that a combination of Command the Dead and Carraige of the Ankou very strongly buffs Lydia's combat ability. With CCoP we could make her a very formidable car-looking transport that would be useful in combat and all manner of situations. Since Command the Dead works on wood, we could also make her a life-like wooden mannequin as a driver and guilt-free bullet sponge if needed. Basically, this grants her mobility in nearly all situations, and allows her to cast Summon Bigger Fish as needed. A potent combination that makes her more independent.
-Point of correction
That doesnt work. Lydia's drones use zombie stats; they are not smart enough to play driver.
-I can see the argument. But I dont agree.
All of this shit is secondary to making sure she
doesnt die and isnt incapacitated by the first shaping effect she eats.
This is especially an issue for Lydia, who has been possessed before, and whose father was bound in a magic ritual that was employing pretty blatant shaping effects.
There is a reason why Shaping Defense is so important for Exalts.
Especially when we number Outsiders and Fallen and evil wizards among our enemies, people with the metaphysical heft to do shit like potentially turn you into a frog or use an entropy curse to give you a heart attack or simply will you dead.
I will point out: We literally dropped everything to buy
EIPP for Molly.
Thats how important we thought it was, and Molly has better innate countermagick than Lydia does.
[X] Yog
Every point of craft is on average, a full additional success, which means more chances of finishing or overflowing to the next project. And WOD systems use craft minimums, you cannot make something without having the raw stats in the first place.
This is not true.
ExWoD does not use Craft minimums anywhere I can see.
Not sure how much the shaping defense will even help her. Her charms are reflavored dragonblooded charms, and their shaping defense is pretty awful.
Quite a lot.
Increasing the DCs against such an attack reduces the number of successes she has to cancel out in order to withstand such an attack.
Do remember, Lydia's native countermagick is trash by Exalted standards; its a Wits 4 + Occult 1 roll, for a total of 5, and neither Occult nor Wits is Key for her. For comparison, Molly is throwing Wits 3 + Occult 5 for a total of 8, and because Occult is Key, Molly cant botch while Lydia can.
Lydia needs the help very badly playing at these levels.
We literally dropped everything to buy
Ego-Infused Pattern Primacy for Molly as soon as we saw shaping damage deployed IC.
I would argue that we really need to display that same urgency here with Lydia.
Buying one more ox Body won't stop us from going into shintai at first opportunity
-Yes it would.
In providing an extra buffer of health, it increases how much damage we can sustain before going into supermode.
-Shintai is not free, citizen.
Every subsequent time you use it in a story, it increases in cost and difficulty to activate.
I quote:
The first time in a story the Infernal wishes totrigger the transformation, she must spend a turn inconcentration, 2 Essence, and 2 Willpower. Her anima expands to enfolds her in a terrible, pulsating cocoonwhich quickly shatters, revealing the Exalt in all herinhuman glory.
Subsequent attempts to don the Shintai form require a successful Essence roll in addition to the normal Essence and Willpower cost, beginning at difficulty 6 and increasing by +1 with each subsequent attempt, to a maximum of difficulty 9. If the difficulty is already 9, then every attempt to don the form past that point increases the Essence and Willpower cost of the transformation by 1 point each. The roll requirement vanishes and the Essence and Willpower costs reset at the beginning of each new story, or after the Infernal refrains from donning her demonic form for 28 days.
We need to roll Essence(3 dice at Essence 3) to activate shintai after the first time, and the DC keeps increasing.
And note that it says attempt, not use; if you try to activate shintai and fail, the next attempt is more difficult anyway.
The better we are at keeping it in reserve, the less likely we are to get caught out by a feint, or different attacks.
