Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

Merits are valid, though only up five point ones and I reserve the right to veto anything too broken. I know WoD well enough to suspect there is something more broken than the Book of Secrets out there. :V
So, Because I think I Can is banned (that's 6 dots), but is Self-Confident allowed (Book of Secrets, mental merit, 5 dots)?
Self-Confident (5 pt. Merit)
Mages are confident; you're even more so. When spending
Willpower to gain an automatic success, you don't even need
to lose that point of Willpower unless:
1) The Willpower-gained success is the only success you
get for that action; or…
2) the difficulty for that action is 5 or less. This Merit
kicks in only in challenging circumstances, and tasks with a
difficulty of 5 or lower are just too easy to demand help from
your character's self-confidence.
The difference with Because I think I can is that the latter also prevents botching.
 
Merits are valid, though only up five point ones and I reserve the right to veto anything too broken. I know WoD well enough to suspect there is something more broken than the Book of Secrets out there. :V
5 points?
Yeah, Spark of Life is a gimme, for the narrative effects and the mechanical ones.
Question is probably where to put the remaining 1 pt into. I'll look around.
If merits are allowed, Lydia has to buy this:
Because I Think I Can (6pt. Merit)
When you declare you are using a point of Willpower and
roll for successes, your self-confidence may allow you to gain
the benefit of that expenditure without losing the Willpower
point. You do not lose the point of Willpower unless you fail
your roll. This also prevents you from botching. This Merit
may only be used when the difficulty of your roll is 6 or higher

This has narrative basis with max WP, and this basically gives her +1 free success on her everything. And prevents her from botching, ever. Yes, Spark of Life is great, but this is just perfect for her
6 pt Merit. Too high.
Of course I dont think its appropriate for Lydia narratively anyway; she doesnt really do that level of self-confidence.
 
So, Because I think I Can is banned (that's 6 dots), but is Self-Confident allowed (Book of Secrets, mental merit, 5 dots)?

The difference with Because I think I can is that the latter also prevents botching.

Sure that works and it fits with her character. I mean she did see a new kind of demon and thought 'sure I can get powers from this'. :V

Edit: anyway good night guys, see you tomorrow with fey politics and Outsider battles.
 
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6 pt Merit. Too high.
Of course I dont think its appropriate for Lydia narratively anyway; she doesnt really do that level of self-confidence.
See my reply to DragonParadox on the previous page. There's a 5 dot version of this merit that doesn't prevent botching. It would still be very worthwhile to Lydia. It synergies pretty damn well with exalted having divine abilities.

Sure that works and it fits with her character. I mean she did see a new kind of demon and thought 'sure I can get powers from this'. :V
Just to make sure (I might be misremembering / misunderstanding) - Lydia natively doesn't botch on her divine attribute rolls, do I understand that correctly? Or am I wrong?
 
Ok, so, 3 points of Faith. That's a lot.

Let's see:

[X] Plan Graceful confidence
-[X] A point of Faith can be converted into 10 freebie points. These points can be used to buy or improve traits such as Attributes, Abilities or Willpower. They cannot be used for improving Backgrounds.
--[X] Willpower: 4 points
--[X] Self-Confident merit: 5 points
--[X] Regal Bearing: 1 dot
-[X] Supernatural Awareness: Roll Perception+Awareness (Dif 7) to notice the spiritual feeling of a place (Places of loss, pain, etc.) and to notice nearby magical effects, demonic power etc. Just assume they always have a slightly weaker version of the Sight active.
-[X] One point of Faith bestows one of the enhancements of the demon's apocalyptic form. To benefit from the enhancement, the mortal must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6). Success allows the mortal to use the enhancement for a scene. The demon can bestow more than one enhancement, but he must spend a point of Faith on each. Lash can impart one of their high-Torment special abilities if desired at the cost of a temporary Torment point.
--[X] Low Torment: Marble Flesh, +4 Soak Dice Against all damage


Ok, so, reasoning:
1) Lydia is not Molly. She should not be made into Molly's copy. That's not how circles work. Circles should be synergetic, rather than redundant. That means that the girls could and should specialize in different areas.
2) 4 WP is a given. Lydia's excellencies work off WP points, and at WP10, her excellency is arguably superior to ours.
3) We should be purchasing things we cannot grant her otherwise, or that are hard to grant her otherwise. It's easy to give her permanent immunity to Mind Control and Possession via splendors. I have designed her a splendor armor that provides shaping, and possession protections. She already has native mind control protection. Yes, it can be mote tapped, but I think it's good enough. Especially coupled with Willpower 10 to roll basic resistance
4) Based on point 3, soak is very high on my priority list. The armor was ruled to provide 3 soak at most. 4 soak for a scene, couple with addition 3 soak from splendor armor, coupled with 2 soak dice from stamina is 9 soak, and that's a lot. Definitely needed for survival.
5) Supernatural Awareness is a very nice thing, and both Lydia and Molly aren't very good at awareness. It's also something quite unique. So, on the buy list it goes. It works well if we spec Lydia into an investigator at some point.
5) Again, based on point 3, merits become a very desirable buy. We can only buy merits up to 5 point rating. We have 6 points to spend total, which can be distributed between various merits. Ideally, we would have things that are synrgetic with other things. This is why I chose what I chose:
5.1) Self-Condifent. For any roll at DC6 or higher, that uses her divine abilities, Lydia gets to add 1 success. For free. Every time. That's... close to broken, I would say. She can also almost always add this free success to other rolls (depends on how confident we feel). This has great synergy with her excellency. It's adjacent to it, and boosts it greatly. Essentially, her excellency transforms into "add 10 dice, and 1 free success"
5.2) Acute senses are:
Your physical senses are unusually sharp, capturing nuances
that few people ever notice. In game terms, your character
reduces the difficulty of her Perception-based rolls by -2. At
the 1-point level, a single sense (vision, hearing, touch, taste,
smell) is more acute than usual; at the 3-point level, all five
physical senses are equally sharp.
@DragonParadox does this work on sight-based Sight? I.e. on the Perception + Awareness rolls used in Supernatural Awareness? Not all of them, but those with sight-based ques? Even if not, this works for Lydia, I think, but I might look for some other 1 dot merit.

The overall effect is that Lydia's excellency gets a boost where it's solidly better than ours, she gets free successes across the board, and gets quite tanky.

EDIT: Changed Acute senses to hearing, since she already has acute senses: vision.

EDIT2: it was confirmed that Acute Senses don't affect Supernatural awareness.

EDIT3: Changed Acute senses to Regal bearing here too, because tally doesn't work well.
 
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See my reply to DragonParadox on the previous page. There's a 5 dot version of this merit that doesn't prevent botching. It would still be very worthwhile to Lydia. It synergies pretty damn well with exalted having divine abilities.
Honestly not really feeling it.
I dont think that Merit works narratively for any of our associates thus far.
None of them has been portrayed like that.

I might give it to an NPC; probably would put it in an NPC Fomor stat block
Or maybe even Daniel if he manages to ace the training program he's supposed to be doing.
But it doesnt seem a good fit for Lydia.

Just my two cents.
Just to make sure (I might be misremembering / misunderstanding) - Lydia natively doesn't botch on her divine attribute rolls, do I understand that correctly? Or am I wrong?
She doesnt.
 
@DragonParadox does this work on sight-based Sight? I.e. on the Perception + Awareness rolls used in Supernatural Awareness? Not all of them, but those with sight-based ques? Even if not, this works for Lydia, I think, but I might look for some other 1 dot merit.

The overall effect is that Lydia's excellency gets a boost where it's solidly better than ours, she gets free successes across the board, and gets quite tanky.

No, that makes you better at using mundane senses, the Sight is not really based on any mundane sense, it just registers that way as a metaphor, but if you were to say blind Harry and he were to open the Sight he would get a reading that is based on hearing or smell. He would not be able to understand it as well, but he would get it.

@DragonParadox are we supplying Lydia with Malcoffee?

Not at the moment no.
 
Not at the moment no.
Would it take us anything in game terms to do so?

I am considering this merit:
Light Sleeper (1 pt. Merit)
Four hours of sleep a night works just fine for you. And
unlike most folks, you can wake up out of an apparently
dead slumber more or less ready for action. You can, of
course, enjoy longer periods of sleep too. But when deadlines,
intruders, and end-of-the-world emergencies shake
you out of bed, you get by with cat-naps and the occasional
light snooze.
Reduces the need for sleep in two. Should give Lydia more action points of her own, but we can do that with Malcoffee.

Honestly not really feeling it.
I dont think that Merit works narratively for any of our associates thus far.
None of them has been portrayed like that.

I might give it to an NPC; probably would put it in an NPC Fomor stat block
Or maybe even Daniel if he manages to ace the training program he's supposed to be doing.
But it doesnt seem a good fit for Lydia.
I disagree - Lydia is quite self-condifent. And it's great mechanically. The effortless grace of a divine scion fits her well.
Lydia already has Acute Senses 1, presumably for vision.
Yours needs to be hearing or smell or something else.
Changed to hearing for now. Probably change it to something else in the morning.
 
[X] Yog

Honestly not really feeling it.
I dont think that Merit works narratively for any of our associates thus far.
None of them has been portrayed like that.

I might give it to an NPC; probably would put it in an NPC Fomor stat block
Or maybe even Daniel if he manages to ace the training program he's supposed to be doing.
But it doesnt seem a good fit for Lydia.

Just my two cents.
About if it fit Lydia or not:

Sure that works and it fits with her character. I mean she did see a new kind of demon and thought 'sure I can get powers from this'. :V

And I agree with him.
 
VOTE
[X]Plan Deaths Daughter: 3 Faith points
-[X] 1 Faith: Marble Flesh, +4 Soak Dice Against all damage
-[X] 1 Faith: Supernatural Awareness: Roll Perception+Awareness (Dif 7) to notice the spiritual feeling of a place (Places of loss, pain, etc.) and to notice nearby magical effects, demonic power etc. Just assume they always have a slightly weaker version of the Sight active.
-[X] 1 Faith: 10 freebie points. Can be used to buy or improve traits such as Attributes, Abilities or Willpower.
--[X] +4 Willpower: 4 freebie point
--[X] +Spark of Life: 5 freebie points
--[X] +Ability Aptitude: Occult : 1 freebie points



RATIONALE
Marble Skin is +4 Soak at will, which applies to all damage. Thats a gimme.

Lydia's Excellency is based on her Willpower, so increasing it from 6 to 10 gives her +4 dice on all Excellency rolls.
Additionally, her use of Shih Arts is also based on Willpower, so that helps as well.

Supernatural Awareness is essentially discount Sight, but it has a range of miles.
And it has no activation requirement.
Also a gimme.

Spark of Life heals all bashing damage in an hour, and heals lethal damage as bashing damage, reduces the severity of Agg Damage, and reduces the DC to heal or treat other people by -2DC. And she can share her healing rate with anyone she is making physical contact with.

All of which appears thematic for someone with a special relationship with death.


Lightning Calculator reduces DCs for all math and calculation based rolls.
That includes everything from coding to financial investing to ritual magic that involves geometry, which includes shit like Summoning/Binding/Warding.

Thematic for the 15 year old who has Academics 3 already, and might provide future narrative justification for buying Resources 5.


Dropped for Ability Aptitude Occult, which gives us -2DC to Occult rolls.


Spark of Life: 5 points
Blessed with great vitality, you heal injuries with heroic speed and ease. Your own injuries from lethal damage heal as if they were bashing damage (see the Healing Damage chart in Mage 20, p. 406), and aggravated damage heals as if it were one level higher than it is. (Wounded-level damage, for instance, would heal at the Injured-level rate.) Bashing damage, regardless of its extent, heals within an hour.

If you're trying to heal someone else, you subtract -2 from the difficul- ty of the roll, even if that roll involves casting a Life Sphere healing Effect. (The usual +3 maximum modifier and minimum difficulty of 3 still apply – see Mage 20, p. 503.) As long as you remain in physical touch with the injured party, that character uses your healing rate as her own.
Your touch also soothes minor pains – muscle spasms, headaches, and so forth – within a minute or two.

Beyond its healing powers, this rush of life-energy simply feels good, too. Your aura shines with bright vitality, and your Reso-
nance reflects your strong connection to the primal life-force. On the inevitable downside, vampires find your blood delicious – twice as potent as normal human vitae (worth double the usual blood points, for players of Vampire: The Masquerade) – and
unspeakably refreshing.

Ability Aptitude: Occult: 1 point
Ability Aptitude (1-pt. Merit)
For every human ability, there are those who have a natural flair for it. Within your character's specific Aptitude, reduce all difficulties by two. A natural linguist picks up languages easily, speaking without any trace of accent, and a crack driver can perform phenomenal car tricks with ease.

This Aptitude functions for one Ability, but it can be taken multiple times for a character who's a natural with, say, computers and technology.

Special or combat Abilities, such as Do, should never have an Ability Aptitude associated with them.

Lightning Calculator: 1 point
Lightning Calculator (1 pt. Merit)
Your head is a calculator of impressive capability. With a few moments of thought, you can perform intricate mathematical feats – a useful talent for Hermetic wizards, Syndicate operatives, Enlightened engineers, and other mages who employ math and geometry in their work.

System-wise, this Merit allows you to reduce the difficulties of math- and calculation-based rolls by -2. Simple calculations take no time at all, while sophisticated problems may demand a turn or more. Obviously, your character needs access to the proper data before she can work out calculations... and garbage in, garbage out, so make sure your data is accurate!

For potential applications of math in magick, see the instrument entries for Circles and Geometric Designs, Formulae and Math, Money and Wealth, and Numbers and Numerology in Mage 20, pp. 590-596, as well as the practices of Hypereconomics (pg. 573), High Ritual Magick and Hypertech (pp. 578-579), and Reality Hacking (pp. 581- 582). Remember that Merits cannot reduce the difficulty of a magick-casting roll below the minimum difficulty, or by more than -3. That said, fast and accurate calculations make useful aids when you're using Mundane Skills and Magickal Effects, as described in the entry of that name (Mage 20, pp. 532-534). Depending upon the feat in question, this could employ a roll of Intelligence + Academics to work out most calculations, Perception + Academics to discern odds or geometrical dimensions, and Wits + Academics to belt out rapid guesstimates with only the roughest of data.
 
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Between your own skills and the elves you use for crafting assist (in mortal magic at least) no, you are good to keep expanding production of Malcoffee up say 5 people without AP cost.
No need to change my vote then, I like what I have.

Lydia gets super-excellency, a lot of soak, and supernatural perception. Good enough for me. Narratively she boosts her own self-confidence. She has faith in herself, with Lash working as a catalyst to turn said faith into power (and skimming off the top as a service fee).

This is a very broad upgrade that doesn't shoehorn Lydia into anything.
 
Lightning Calculator reduces DCs for all math and calculation based rolls.
That includes everything from coding to financial investing to ritual magic that involves geometry, which includes shit like Summoning/Binding/Warding.
If voters prefer that to Acute hearing, I'm open to switching in the morning (I'm off to sleep). The only important difference in our votes is Self-Confident vs. Spark of Life merit.

Although, one of these might be more useful:
Good Listener (1pt. Merit)
Pooka excel at the ability to get others to open up to them;
however, you are a master confidant. A word here, a gesture
there, you crack people open like oysters and harvest their
secrets like pearls. Your ability to listen makes others tell you
their feelings, concerns, and hidden dreams. They don't know
why they're telling you, but they usually feel better afterwards.
All rolls related to obtaining information from others are at a
–2 difficulty.
I Know You (1pt. Merit)
You have one of those faces, or a way of acting, that makes
others just assume you are someone they already know. Perhaps
you resemble someone from their childhood, or their favorite
television show. When introducing yourself at social gatherings,
you always succeed in grabbing someone's attention. You
cannot be immediately dismissed without at least a few curious
questions first.
Natural Leader (1pt. Merit)
You're gifted with a certain magnetism to which others
naturally defer. Difficulties of all attempts to rally people with
your words are reduced by two. You must have a Charisma rating
of 3 or greater to purchase this Merit.
 
Reduces the need for sleep in two. Should give Lydia more action points of her own, but we can do that with Malcoffee.
Seldom Sleeps is a 2 dot Werewolf merit that allows you to essentially get by with an hour of sleep every 3 days
Whether due to a strong constitution, a frenetic nature, or even a hint of ancestral magic in your blood, you require significantly less sleep than the average Garou. While rest is still required after exertion, sleep is seldom necessary.

One hour a night is fine, and even an hour every three days won't make you more than a little blearyeyed. You are not immune to sleep-causing supernatural effects, and you must still rest (no combat and no efforts requiring rolls) after using taxing rituals or Gifts.

You are not always perky, bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed, but you suffer no penalties or ill effects from remaining awake for extended periods.
I just dont find it a priority for Lydia when Molly is available to brew malcoffee if necessary.
Or IC for her at all.
She's not Molly.
Although, one of these might be more useful:
Natural Leader is the only one there I might have gone for, for someone who deals with lots of ghosts
But she doesnt have Charisma 3.
 
Lydia has made a pact with Lash. Her Faith Potential is very high: Four (4) and Lash is only keeping a single faith point for her regeneration and using the other Three (3) for investments:
Holy shit Lydia. I get wanting to grow faster, but that's crazy. If lash goes full evil she wouldn't be stupid enough to strike when Lydia could retaliate.

She's also particularly vulnerable to the remote willpower drain mechanic used to fuel temp faith surges because her excellency operates based on her current temporary willpower. Lash could drain her dry and all of a sudden Lydia is nearly mortal again.

There's also the fluff aspect, which honestly just rubs me the wrong way. Giving your faith to the demon is literally putting your faith in them. Lash is neat but not worship her neat, even in the little god sense.
 
VOTE
[X]Plan Deaths Favored Daughter
-[X] 1 Faith: Marble Flesh, +4 Soak Dice Against all damage
-[X] 1 Faith: Supernatural Awareness: Roll Perception+Awareness (Dif 7) to notice the spiritual feeling of a place (Places of loss, pain, etc.) and to notice nearby magical effects, demonic power etc. Just assume they always have a slightly weaker version of the Sight active.
-[X] 1 Faith: 10 freebie points. Can be used to buy or improve traits such as Attributes, Abilities or Willpower.
--[X] +4 Willpower: 4 freebie point
--[X] +Spark of Life: 5 freebie points
--[X] +Lightning Calculator: 1 freebie points



RATIONALE
Marble Skin is +4 Soak at will, which applies to all damage. Thats a gimme.

Lydia's Excellency is based on her Willpower, so increasing it from 6 to 10 gives her +4 dice on all Excellency rolls.
Additionally, her use of Shih Arts is also based on Willpower, so that helps as well.

Supernatural Awareness is essentially discount Sight, but it has a range of miles.
And it has no activation requirement.
Also a gimme.

Spark of Life heals all bashing damage in an hour, and heals lethal damage as bashing damage, reduces the severity of Agg Damage, and reduces the DC to heal or treat other people by -2DC. And she can share her healing rate with anyone she is making physical contact with.

All of which appears thematic for someone with a special relationship with death.


Lightning Calculator reduces DCs for all math and calculation based rolls.
That includes everything from coding to financial investing to ritual magic that involves geometry, which includes shit like Summoning/Binding/Warding.

Thematic for the 15 year old who has Academics 3 already, and might provide future narrative justification for buying Resources 5.



Spark of Life: 5 points
Blessed with great vitality, you heal injuries with heroic speed and ease. Your own injuries from lethal damage heal as if they were bashing damage (see the Healing Damage chart in Mage 20, p. 406), and aggravated damage heals as if it were one level higher than it is. (Wounded-level damage, for instance, would heal at the Injured-level rate.) Bashing damage, regardless of its extent, heals within an hour.

If you're trying to heal someone else, you subtract -2 from the difficul- ty of the roll, even if that roll involves casting a Life Sphere healing Effect. (The usual +3 maximum modifier and minimum difficulty of 3 still apply – see Mage 20, p. 503.) As long as you remain in physical touch with the injured party, that character uses your healing rate as her own.
Your touch also soothes minor pains – muscle spasms, headaches, and so forth – within a minute or two.

Beyond its healing powers, this rush of life-energy simply feels good, too. Your aura shines with bright vitality, and your Reso-
nance reflects your strong connection to the primal life-force. On the inevitable downside, vampires find your blood delicious – twice as potent as normal human vitae (worth double the usual blood points, for players of Vampire: The Masquerade) – and
unspeakably refreshing.

Lightning Calculator: 1 point
Lightning Calculator (1 pt. Merit)
Your head is a calculator of impressive capability. With a few moments of thought, you can perform intricate mathematical feats – a useful talent for Hermetic wizards, Syndicate operatives, Enlightened engineers, and other mages who employ math and geometry in their work.

System-wise, this Merit allows you to reduce the difficulties of math- and calculation-based rolls by -2. Simple calculations take no time at all, while sophisticated problems may demand a turn or more. Obviously, your character needs access to the proper data before she can work out calculations... and garbage in, garbage out, so make sure your data is accurate!

For potential applications of math in magick, see the instrument entries for Circles and Geometric Designs, Formulae and Math, Money and Wealth, and Numbers and Numerology in Mage 20, pp. 590-596, as well as the practices of Hypereconomics (pg. 573), High Ritual Magick and Hypertech (pp. 578-579), and Reality Hacking (pp. 581- 582). Remember that Merits cannot reduce the difficulty of a magick-casting roll below the minimum difficulty, or by more than -3. That said, fast and accurate calculations make useful aids when you're using Mundane Skills and Magickal Effects, as described in the entry of that name (Mage 20, pp. 532-534). Depending upon the feat in question, this could employ a roll of Intelligence + Academics to work out most calculations, Perception + Academics to discern odds or geometrical dimensions, and Wits + Academics to belt out rapid guesstimates with only the roughest of data.
I really like Spark of Life, but I'm not seeing the worth in Lightning Calculator. Sure, it can be useful, but it seems like a niche buy IMO, and not something Lydia would waste the results of a bargain for supernatural power on.
 
[x]Yog

Also soak is just one of those things that you can never actual have too much of.
Holy shit Lydia. I get wanting to grow faster, but that's crazy. If lash goes full evil she wouldn't be stupid enough to strike when Lydia could retaliate.



She's also particularly vulnerable to the remote willpower drain mechanic used to fuel temp faith surges because her excellency operates based on her current temporary willpower. Lash could drain her dry and all of a sudden Lydia is nearly mortal again.



There's also the fluff aspect, which honestly just rubs me the wrong way. Giving your faith to the demon is literally putting your faith in them. Lash is neat but not worship her neat, even in the little god sense.
Depends on which of the many definitions of faith you are using. You are putting yourself into her power because you have faith that she will not abuse it.
 
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I really like Spark of Life, but I'm not seeing the worth in Lightning Calculator. Sure, it can be useful, but it seems like a niche buy IMO, and not something Lydia would waste the results of a bargain for supernatural power on.
Good wards generally require a good grasp of geometry. Also binding spirits and ghosts in a pentagram.
Also computers. Breaking codes.
Stock trading (narrative justification for Resources 5)

Its a 1 point, so Im not bound to it.
But it seems thematic for the girl who has the equivalent of a Masters(Academics 3) at 15.
Holy shit Lydia. I get wanting to grow faster, but that's crazy. If lash goes full evil she wouldn't be stupid enough to strike when Lydia could retaliate.

She's also particularly vulnerable to the remote willpower drain mechanic used to fuel temp faith surges because her excellency operates based on her current temporary willpower. Lash could drain her dry and all of a sudden Lydia is nearly mortal again.

There's also the fluff aspect, which honestly just rubs me the wrong way. Giving your faith to the demon is literally putting your faith in them. Lash is neat but not worship her neat, even in the little god sense.
Yes, Molly needs to organize a sitdown talk with Lydia.
That said, I can see why she did it.

As for the fluff?
Remember, Faith is not Worship.
Dresden has faith in magic.
 
Im going to make a single argument.

Yog's Self-Confident does not keep Lydia alive or help her recover from injury.
My Spark of Life does, with the added bonus that it allows her to help other people get better.
 
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