Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

Personally, in any case I would go for very gradual improvements of that nature. Not Dex 2/Str 1/Sta 2 to Dex 5/Str 5/Sta 5 in one day, or even over several days.
Allow for time to adjust.
 
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I guess my issue with that is because training charms are weird. They are magic but they aren't magic at the same time if that makes sense the speed at which the acquisition of attribute and ability is magical. But the methodology that you acquire those abilities and attributes is not cuz it's experience literally 30 then 20 you learned how to do that thing it was just supernaturally effective So when you say unpleasant consequences or side effects that to me seems to go against that thought.

Because that's how Molly learns things that's how Harry and Lydia as well as Tiffany Learn things so it becomes a weird dichotomy where it's bad for a baby to learn things in a same way as a player character I guess. But that feels lopsided and not great.

Though to be honest I just want to give her the stats so she can be aware of danger and can run long enough that the Cyber devil in her phone or monitoring device can call us and we have a chance to get to her without her being caught and that requires dexterity and stamina as well as alertness.
The mechanism of delivery is irrelevant to the concerns I brought up, and no level of alertness touches on the mental aspects of deciding what to do about what you notice.

It's going to be 7 months before Amanda is capable of conceptualizing that there's difference between familiar people who aren't her primary caregivers and strangers. Hell, it's going to be 18 months before the loose collection of soft plates around her brain harden into a proper skull. The idea that she's going to have the presence of mind to even try defending herself is laughable.

I don't think it's particularly strange that the context of a character impact how things affect them. It isn't weird for a baby to get exp under the same system as everyone else, they just normally can't get huge amounts in a short period of time or reasonably justify spending it on most things. Bend the system and you get weird results.
 
The mechanism of delivery is irrelevant to the concerns I brought up, and no level of alertness touches on the mental aspects of deciding what to do about what you notice.

It's going to be 7 months before Amanda is capable of conceptualizing that there's difference between familiar people who aren't her primary caregivers and strangers. Hell, it's going to be 18 months before the loose collection of soft plates around her brain harden into a proper skull. The idea that she's going to have the presence of mind to even try defending herself is laughable.

I don't think it's particularly strange that the context of a character impact how things affect them. It isn't weird for a baby to get exp under the same system as everyone else, they just normally can't get huge amounts in a short period of time or reasonably justify spending it on most things. Bend the system and you get weird results.

Okay here's maybe where there might be a disconnect in thought processes. I just don't really get where the long-term security or Comfort people have with this is coming from. Our enemy ratings are Nemesis someone who is trying to destroy the entire planet and possibly the universe flat out. That has it out for us personally. Our second most powerful enemy is the fuckin Fallen Angels man. A group of remorseless honorless murderers countless times over with Nicodemus Archleone being personally responsible for the death of millions of children and just people in general.

It might seem like paranoia but generally having enemies that are completely honorless and completely ruthless doesn't really Inspire confidence that they wouldn't try to strike at a new mother and her defenseless infant for some reason I don't believe in the honor of fuckin Mr Black Death himself.

Nicodemus was willing to betray/screw Mab like flat out. Over what amounts to it a pretty small but important scheme I will admit it was important but it was not worth making An enemy of all of Winter over. Just the leader of the blackened Wings is someone who would burn National fucking relations just to get at minor goals we have an enemy rating a fucking three with him and his Cadre of Fallen maniacs.

Now to be honest I'm speaking about Amanda these ways before we even have the charm is kind of backwards. Because the last permission goes to her mom and she's the first one we need to train with it. Then the order of cauldron if we get it at all. I'm just going to disagree that it has developmental effects because it is Magic but it isn't it's weird and we will have to leave it there because I don't think it works that way you think it works that way and there's really only one way to get adjudication on that.
 
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@Yog
I was looking at your cultivator splendor trying to think of why it's not fine. Then I came to the realization that you're specific build is kind of exactly damnation in Scarlett but technically worse with extra steps that prevent usage. Because you can take damnation in Scarlet with a three-point splendor and you can take it the exact same way except you get a being that can use celerity potence and fortitude and disciplines with no Clan curse at the end with no willpower rolls involved.
Though the Arcana build isn't overtly Supernatural it does speak to the potential though if I might recommend some merits in place of having the awareness and alertness turned all the way up to five.

Dragons Never Die (1 pt. Merit)
You enjoy the same stunting benefits as the Exalted.

On top of having a really cool name really fits the theme you're going for. What's a Xianxia without a sick ass but completely undoable move that you can now do because you have this Merit.

God-Body (3 pt. Merit)
You're tougher than other people, thanks to your
powerful bloodlines. You can soak lethal damage at
difficulty 7.

Again goes completely with what you're trying to do and helps soak damage it's really just evident why it's really good both of these are from page 314 of ExvsWod

Longevity (1 pt. Merit)
You're not going to be around as long as your Exalted relatives, but the blood of the Dragons has blessed you with unusual longevity. Barring misfortune or murder, you can confidently expect to celebrate at least your 120th birthday, maybe even your 150th, before old age carries you off.

This one is more so we can possibly use it on regular people if that makes sense. Like maybe a line about how the fruits if not infused with the chosen Might grant longevity but imbued with a bit of their Essence grants immortality or something like that.
 
[X] Go inside, try to arrange a greeting with the boss, given the kind of power all of you radiate there's no doubt you will be directed to someone supernatural

Claiming power over the local ghosts before talking to the boss seems a bit rude.
These are his Ghosts after all, most likely.
You don't have a hideout full of ghosts by accident.
To me it seems like a power move.

[X] Attempt to greet and speak to the dead, Lydia should have some power over them

Between ghosts and cyber devils our team generally should have good background knowledge. Of course that is ignoring the crown of eyes.
 
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It might seem like paranoia but generally having enemies that are completely honorless and completely ruthless doesn't really Inspire confidence that they wouldn't try to strike at a new mother and her defenseless infant for some reason I don't believe in the honor of fuckin Mr Black Death himself.
It's because you're arguing with a straw man.

Nobody is denying we have dangerous enemies, the contention I have is that there's precisely nothing we can ethically do to a literal baby that will make them able to stand up to or meaningfully impact the plans of the Denarians if her immediate caretakers can't notice and act themselves.

Unless we apply mental buffs which we currently lack access to and which would be among the most potentially harmful changes to make it'll be three months minimum before she'll figure out object permanence, then another three before she's capable of understanding that people who aren't her primary caregivers are more than a homogeneous mass.

That's probably going to be six arcs for us and she'll still be nowhere near able to really understand what's going on even if we make her more capable of tracking details.

Even with the a full set of physical increases the quest would need to reach five times its current length before she's mentally developed enough to be worth calling bad at making decisions.

The idea that this will somehow make her safer from hostile actors is pure fantasy.
 
It's because you're arguing with a straw man.

Nobody is denying we have dangerous enemies, the contention I have is that there's precisely nothing we can ethically do to a literal baby that will make them able to stand up to or meaningfully impact the plans of the Denarians if her immediate caretakers can't notice and act themselves.

Unless we apply mental buffs which we currently lack access to and which would be among the most potentially harmful changes to make it'll be three months minimum before she'll figure out object permanence, then another three before she's capable of understanding that people who aren't her primary caregivers are more than a homogeneous mass.

That's probably going to be six arcs for us and she'll still be nowhere near able to really understand what's going on even if we make her more capable of tracking details.

Even with the a full set of physical increases the quest would need to reach five times its current length before she's mentally developed enough to be worth calling bad at making decisions.

The idea that this will somehow make her safer from hostile actors is pure fantasy.

Those those points you bring up about object permanence they're true. To be frank I really don't want to try and train this child in pure physical stats at this point or much of anything past alertness at this point I really just want to train her mom and the Order of cauldron but we have been having this conversation about Amanda this whole time so that's the one I've been focusing on. That's why I mentioned at the end of that very post that you quoted that it's put in the cart before the horse we don't even have the charm. We haven't even talked to Rosie about it yet there's just a lot of stuff that needs to go on before this is even relevant heck Rosie still lives with her parents this is like really ahead of ourselves here. And like I said at the end of that post you believe that it's damaging to development I don't and it's really no way to adjudicate that between the two of us Dragon Paradox May weigh in but that's really pushing it we don't even have the charm yet.

Though to be honest I still keep the Viewpoint that Mr omnicide and the destroy reality crew are significant enemies that are not at all above striking a mother and a child in any sense. Hence why I was completely on board with making a lowercase G God for her birth because to be frank someone who could just call us at light speed while sacrificing themselves acting as a meat Shield so they can get distance was pretty much all I had wanted.
 
It's still a skill though, I can see the argument but don't see a reason to rush for it when it could reasonably have side effects.
Sorry, but here I disagree. It's a foundational talent, and everything can have side-effects. The reason to rush is to provide the best possible dice pools during developmental stage that is almost certainly dependent on the ability.
It could allow for some pretty amazing things, but I still can't get over the idea that choosing something that significant for someone else shouldn't be done casually and could reasonably have unpleasant consequences for them.
That's just parenting though? That's ultimately Rosie's choice. Just like choosing what other things to teach Amanda.
Like an atypical development profile making it hard to interact with more normal people. There are some key stages to social development that'd be brutal to go through if your abilities make it hard to understand your peers.
That's true, but a possible positive solution for this is to enhance other babies, not stop ourselves from enhancing this one. Wasn't there a toddler among one of mortal Jade Dogs?
No, that's not the alternative. We can carefully provide baby scale energy fields to gum on that increase with her ability to handle them.

Her "welcome to existence" present from us should be ongoing old realm lessons and paying lash to give her peak human stamina. That's as close to guaranteeing a healthy childhood as we can give her right now, barring the obvious like access to medical care which I assume we'll offer to help with anyway.

That plus the difficulty adjusters and exp cost reduction of any supernatural power she wants to develop are excellent zeroth birthday gifts.

If we're serious about this the responsible thing to do in my view would be to give her a little boost on her birthdays or at significant milestones mixed with little bits of appropriate assistance.

An extra dot of dex and strength when she starts walking, regular occult training in the form of word games in old realm when she starts talking, let her start sitting in on our projects when she's in the 7-10 range. Start more exploratory tutoring around the same time.

Fiddle with the spacing on the dot ups to get her at peak human by 15-18, then offer her the training charm and more dedicated studies in whatever her field of interest is at that point.
While I can see the reasoning, it still reads as selectively trying to keep Amanda within confines of "normal humanity", and very selectively too, because stamina 5 in a toddler would also result in a non-human developmental profile. Like, there's a reasonable chance that her attention span is limited by her stamina. Her sleep cycles almost certainly are.

And the idea that making her bilingual, where one of her native language is Primordial Speech which was used to, in part, make Creation, wouldn't affect how she develops - it would affect how she thinks very strongly, likely more strongly, than dex or str buffs.

As I see, the resistance is to "active" skills, things that affect what Amanda is able to do (like swording, or magicing, or manual dexterity). My counter-argument is that all changes result in such, so I don't think it's logical to separate those. The difference is how hard Amanda would be to handle for her mother and likely nannies. That's certainly something that needs to be taken into account.
Honestly, you had me more sold on the Occult 5 than you did on the others.
Honestly, I still would prefer Occult 5, if only as "this is how the world works" education, where when normal children learn "cow says moo", Amanda will learn "these are the fundamental laws that govern Creation, and by these name you can conjure Powers that Be... and also cow says moo".

@Yog
I was looking at your cultivator splendor trying to think of why it's not fine.
Which one? The tree or the dragon?
Because you can take damnation in Scarlet with a three-point splendor and you can take it the exact same way except you get a being that can use celerity potence and fortitude and disciplines with no Clan curse at the end with no willpower rolls involved.
While "no clan curse" is true, the list of downsides to being a vampire is still immense, while what I am proposing is carefully designed to be a strict update. It doesn't even confer "Creature of Darkness" tag.
Though the Arcana build isn't overtly Supernatural it does speak to the potential though if I might recommend some merits in place of having the awareness and alertness turned all the way up to five.
Arcana rules specify that no more than 7 points can be spent on merits. We were generously allowed to buy flaws to push it up to 14 merits and 7 flaws (so the balance is still 7), but I very much don't want to buy flaws for the build, as the point is to be a strict upgrade. We cannot just load the build full of merits.
Dragons Never Die (1 pt. Merit)
You enjoy the same stunting benefits as the Exalted.

On top of having a really cool name really fits the theme you're going for. What's a Xianxia without a sick ass but completely undoable move that you can now do because you have this Merit.

God-Body (3 pt. Merit)
You're tougher than other people, thanks to your
powerful bloodlines. You can soak lethal damage at
difficulty 7.

Again goes completely with what you're trying to do and helps soak damage it's really just evident why it's really good both of these are from page 314 of ExvsWod

Longevity (1 pt. Merit)
You're not going to be around as long as your Exalted relatives, but the blood of the Dragons has blessed you with unusual longevity. Barring misfortune or murder, you can confidently expect to celebrate at least your 120th birthday, maybe even your 150th, before old age carries you off.

This one is more so we can possibly use it on regular people if that makes sense. Like maybe a line about how the fruits if not infused with the chosen Might grant longevity but imbued with a bit of their Essence grants immortality or something like that.
If allowed to be taken, dragonblooded merits would make a lot of sense for the second version of the immortality granter (the dragon, which makes knock-off dragonblooded). Spar of Life, which is 5 points, can probably be traded for Dragons Never Die and some manner of 4 point merit (I'll have to think of which one is better). Thanks for the suggestion.
Its much easier with high dex and strenght
To be frank, that's an issue for Amanda's handlers, and I still think that getting her a nanny attendant spirit at some point is a good idea. It's not a downside for Amanda herself.
 
Which one? The tree or the dragon?

While "no clan curse" is true, the list of downsides to being a vampire is still immense, while what I am proposing is carefully designed to be a strict update. It doesn't even confer "Creature of Darkness" tag.

Arcana rules specify that no more than 7 points can be spent on merits. We were generously allowed to buy flaws to push it up to 14 merits and 7 flaws (so the balance is still 7), but I very much don't want to buy flaws for the build, as the point is to be a strict upgrade. We cannot just load the build full of merits.

If allowed to be taken, dragonblooded merits would make a lot of sense for the second version of the immortality granter (the dragon, which makes knock-off dragonblooded). Spar of Life, which is 5 points, can probably be traded for Dragons Never Die and some manner of 4 point merit (I'll have to think of which one is better). Thanks for the suggestion.

To be frank, that's an issue for Amanda's handlers, and I still think that getting her a nanny attendant spirit at some point is a good idea. It's not a downside for Amanda herself.
I was talking about the tree. The reason I specifically mentioned damnation in Scarlet as well as the disciplines is because that a three dot splendor lets you create a being that is capable of dozens of disciplines of magical skills flat out without needing to buy merits yes they have to buy them at cost but they can just buy them or train them rather than having to seek out instructors or otherwise barter or grovel for them.

While your upgrade and it is an upgrade has essentially uncapped attributes give or take four or so dots and some tuned up senses. To be frank it's your usage of the unaging Merit that drew my attention to the similarity I'm saying the willpower check is kind of an unnecessary gate because essentially you create a being that is human Plus that can train to be more than human which is really cool but considerably weaker than damnation in Scarlet for the same price. Though I did not know about the merits and flaws thing I should really look over those rules again.

Though the Dragon providing immortality and the tree providing longevity is an interesting idea and I actually kind of like it more. Because I imagine that shih don't want to carry on their fight for eternity, the order of cauldron don't want to just be around forever either it's really kind of a long commitment.

Though in the cultivator tree I get that you want to be a strict upgrade but it might be more flavorful and kind of true to the inspiration to add the one dot flaw of glow of divinity that shows their Source in this case divinely crafted Wood as well as allows you to replace unaging with God body and keep the spark of life. Being able to soak lethal damage and heal lethal damage as if it was bashing means great things for whoever takes it.
 
OK, looks like we are going to try to converse with the dead.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jan 4, 2024 at 3:28 AM, finished with 92 posts and 10 votes.
 
To be frank, that's an issue for Amanda's handlers, and I still think that getting her a nanny attendant spirit at some point is a good idea. It's not a downside for Amanda herself.
Its a child. You are basically proposing raising her like Chinese emperor or something. That is not healthy way to grow up.
 
I was talking about the tree. The reason I specifically mentioned damnation in Scarlet as well as the disciplines is because that a three dot splendor lets you create a being that is capable of dozens of disciplines of magical skills flat out without needing to buy merits yes they have to buy them at cost but they can just buy them or train them rather than having to seek out instructors or otherwise barter or grovel for them.
Damnation is Scarlet is a curse. Yes, it gives power, but it turns you into a vampire. No going out under the sun. The hunger for blood. No children. The hunger for blood. The beast within. And did I mention the hunger for blood?

It might be a viable alternative for rhampires we recruit, but for mortals it's a curse, and I am against it.
While your upgrade and it is an upgrade has essentially uncapped attributes give or take four or so dots and some tuned up senses. To be frank it's your usage of the unaging Merit that drew my attention to the similarity I'm saying the willpower check is kind of an unnecessary gate because essentially you create a being that is human Plus that can train to be more than human which is really cool but considerably weaker than damnation in Scarlet for the same price. Though I did not know about the merits and flaws thing I should really look over those rules again.
The willpower check is basically flavor, really.
Though the Dragon providing immortality and the tree providing longevity is an interesting idea and I actually kind of like it more. Because I imagine that shih don't want to carry on their fight for eternity, the order of cauldron don't want to just be around forever either it's really kind of a long commitment.
Eh, the core idea is immortality, because every bad guy basically has unlimited time, and good guys mostly don't. It's a way to level the playing field. Also, it doesn't include an obligation to fight eternally. It just gives you eternal life.
Its a child. You are basically proposing raising her like Chinese emperor or something. That is not healthy way to grow up.
I will give you "not normal", but I object vehemently to "unhealthy" characterization.
 
You know when the monthly vote comes up for what we should spend our constrained AP on, I'm going to find it very very hard to vote for anything that has: stop Nemesis, continue building Chicago God, build relations in college, deal with White Council spies, establish Paranet, look into the space rock thing Lily mentioned, deal with whatever current crisis just popped up, with- baby training, toddler training, child training sitting right next to it.

My immediate thought is going to be, one of these things is not like the others, why aren't we delegating this shit and how much AP are we going to burn on this instead of handling something more wide reaching and time sensitive. Seriously how much AP are you guys willing to burn on Amanda per year when we have other stuff fighting for our AP?
 
Name one person that has been raised by attendents and followers and has grown up to be empathetic and functioning member of society.
Bill Gates? Probably at least some people on this or this list. The amount of people who are raised primarily by hired help is in tens of millions at least. This is some strong class warfare you are establishing here.
 
Bill Gates? Probably at least some people on this or this list. The amount of people who are raised primarily by hired help is in tens of millions at least. This is some strong class warfare you are establishing here.
bill gates wasn't a billonere as a child. also philanthropy doesnt mean good empthetic person, it just mean that the loss of that money doesnt impact their life.
 
Arc 11 Post 48: When Stories Come to Life
When Stories Come to Life

12th of January 2007 A.D.

"People on our side of town generally don't like it when I show up in front of their employees to ask how they're doing," Harry says and you have to admit he has a point. If a looming fellow in a trench coat with the line of a gun faintly visible in one pocket showed up in a resort one was using for camouflage having their problem handled and out of sight of the guests would be a priority, but between your presence and Tiffany's much more straightforward tendency to twist the heads of most men and some women after her Harry's probably not the stand out character so instead you decide to take advantage of the crowd on the other side of the veil

"It's your show if you want it Lydia," you you say with a tip of the head towards your friend.

So you do, playing the part of tourists gawking at the wonders of the strip you get on a gondola passing the man with the pole first forty dollars for the ride and then another two hundred to put on the headphones around his neck and then you just wait quietly as the boat passes under arches spun with lights or threaded with greenery even one that's got an aquarium at the top. Either the gondolier does not notice the cold spots forming around Lydia as she speaks softly to seemingly empty air or he's used to it.

"Shadows passed but not forgotten
This night rise and speak your piece
Needing neither pass nor pardon
In shared counsel be at peace."


The answering voices slip between the gurgle of the water against the boat, punctuated with the odd whistling cry of the nightjar falling again into the distant sounds of traffic, always rushing, always close. Though Lydia exerts no power upon them the departed have a great deal to say to her about these canals 'the Ferryman's waters,', about themselves and how they had come here, seeking sanctuary from the predators that prowl also on the other side of the veil. They speak of the recent deaths: Sergeant Stella Andrews, he'd seen too much and so the men in stripped suits forced to take one last drink whiskey and broken glass, a lost dreamer burned in his sanctum the fumes of his pyre slowly seeping though a thousand grates, 'someone must be cooking pork' said passersby who caught a whiff. You hear of a promising young student at the university, Patricia Ruiz-Borges, killed not with blades but needles the better to burry her reputation too. Finally, hesitantly they speak of the one you had come seeking, 'the hollow man', the risen-thing, there's spite and fear in the voices of the dead. It had paid for not just secrets but sanctuary, though not with its own coin, it was growing impatient and churning and freezing the ether with its anger.

"It is afraid," the voice, unlike all the others is not a whisper.

Looking down you see a girl in a white dress floating down the canals, her dark hair splayed around her, she almost seems solid enough to touch among all the other spirits, pale as sea-foam. Only her face is in shadow. You don't want to see her face.


Lydia Loses 1 Essence -> Now at 5/7 (Intelligence Excellency)

"Want me to tell you what it's afraid of?" she's talking to Lydia, a wet raged giggle trapped at the back of her throat. "It's real funny."

The gondolier isn't looking bored anymore, you can hear his teeth clattering and he's clutching onto that pole for dear life as Harry reaches into his coat, but Lydia puts a hand up to stop him.

"I bet it's even funnier if you say it quietly," she says with a small smile, like she's in on the joke already.

The specter whose nature you are more and more certain by the moment, thinking back to the story Carlos had told you, giggles like shards of broken glass and then she drops her voice to a stage whisper, fading a little from sight. "It's scared of being buried alive, but it's already been buried and it's not alive." La Llorona pouts. "Wish I could drown it, but it doesn't breathe. Tried to drown the other one but the Ferryman stopped me, said he wasn't mine. Don't care, Ken left a lot of women weeping in his wake..."

By now all the other whispers had fallen silent, all the other ghosts fled, but Lydia still has questions to ask: "Where are they now?"

"Down Bellow. Want me to take you there? That'll show the Ferryman, that'll show him good..." she glances at Harry. "I'll even take him and not give him any kisses, cross my heart and hope to die."

For his part Harry looks like he's considering the virtues of copious amounts of magical fire, but you know with the clarity that essence calls that she's telling the truth. La Llorona knows of some secret way to get to whatever pocket of the spirit world Mayeda is in and she's even willing to take you there if you'd jump in the canal.

Lost 1 Essence (Empathy Excellency) -> Now at 11/15

What do you do?

[] Take a chance to break Mayeda out while you can, there's no way of knowing how long his current captor will keep him alive

[] Try to talk to this 'Ferryman' about his guest and his guest's prisoner

[] Write in


OOC: For anyone wondering I only spent a point on Occult Excelency for Lydia since she's quite good at ghost socials normally and her essence pool is limited. On the other hand her normal Int+Occult pool is only 5 and she needed to know what the ghost was to commune with it properly.
 
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I'm not sure right now, but I am somewhat drawn to the image of us just calmly stepping off the side of the gondola as we take her hand.
 
bill gates wasn't a billonere as a child. also philanthropy doesnt mean good empthetic person, it just mean that the loss of that money doesnt impact their life.
You weren't asking about billionaires. You were asking about people being raised with help from hired help.

[X] Take a chance to break Mayeda out while you can, there's no way of knowing how long his current captor will keep him alive
 
We would be angering a serious power in their own domain, if we try to kill a guest.

I'm game, but so far Molly has avoided offending neutral parties.

Edit: This is probably a minor- to mid-sized god and it enforces neutrality here.
 
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