Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

Looking at a dice pool calculator, assuming excellency and specialty dice with a stunt at dc 9 we have a greater than 99% chance of at least one success. Seems more reliable than rolling for multiple successes and potentially coming in a few shy of the requirement.
 
Looking at a dice pool calculator, assuming excellency and specialty dice with a stunt at dc 9 we have a greater than 99% chance of at least one success. Seems more reliable than rolling for multiple successes and potentially coming in a few shy of the requirement.
There's 6 grenades.
Six disparate points of attack scattering across the room that have to be intercepted.
Hence you need 6 successes to stop them all.

Using a cultist as a shock barrier on one grenade isnt going to have any useful material impact, narratively or mechanically.
You might even have to suffer higher DC penalties to do so.
 
Looking at it even without craft excellency we're at 94%. Tempted by that for essence reasons, but given the consequences I'm not sure it's a good idea.

[X] Plan Clockwork Orange
-[X] Willpower TTC, essence MHM and craft excellency
-[X] Attempt to harvest the mechanical components of the grenades before they explode to make a mechanical desk toy and save primary attack action for the follow up
-[X] [Stunt] Landing on the other side Molly pushed, her will lashing out to rip order from the chaos. In a flash of poisonous green bizarre mechanical tendrils seemed to unfold from empty space; the fingers of an alien giant reaching in to briefly touch reality.
—[X] Each grenade was neatly sliced just below the firing pin, then pitted like a cherry. Snapping together in front of Molly something like an alien useless box formed; a switch that did nothing but flip itself off formed from firing pins, would be shrapnel, and strips of casing.
—[X] "No" Molly says, for all the world sounding like she's disciplining a dog for peeing on the carpet.
 
There's 6 grenades.
Six disparate points of attack scattering across the room that have to be intercepted.
Hence you need 6 successes to stop them all.

Using a cultist as a shock barrier on one grenade isnt going to have any useful material impact, narratively or mechanically.
You might even have to suffer higher DC penalties to do so.
DP just said 1 success = all grenades:
It would require one success with more of them being put towards making a better gadget out of them, but if you do not make that one success you get nothing. It is much easier to get some of the grenades from simple MHM/crush.
The trade off is that if we get anything less than complete success for crush we still get some of the grenades, where the craft trick does nothing for anyone if we fail.

But we're talking a less than .9% chance of total failure here.
 
DP just said 1 success = all grenades:

The trade off is that if we get anything less than complete success for crush we still get some of the grenades, where the craft trick does nothing for anyone if we fail.

But we're talking a less than .9% chance of total failure here.

It is a little worse than that, if you fail the things will blow up as you are trying to figure them out so Molly will take more damage than if she did nothing.
 
Vote is tied. One thing I will say about Plan Clockwork Orange which has not come up before is that it uses more resources.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jan 30, 2024 at 9:05 AM, finished with 67 posts and 9 votes.

  • [X]Plan Ready In Eight Directions
    -[X]Reflexive: Activate shield + Demon Aspects + anima banner to activate surprise negator: Free with Essence use
    -[X]Reflexive: Viridian Legend Exoskeleton + Melee Excellency + Mind-Hand Manipulation + All Things Betray: 3m,1wp
    -[X] Action 1: Attack with MHM to smash/contain grenades
    -[X] Action 2: Defend with Dark Sun
    [X] Plan Clockwork Orange
    -[X] Willpower TTC, essence MHM and craft excellency
    -[X] Attempt to harvest the mechanical components of the grenades before they explode to make a mechanical desk toy and save primary attack action for the follow up
    -[X] [Stunt] Landing on the other side Molly pushed, her will lashing out to rip order from the chaos. In a flash of poisonous green bizarre mechanical tendrils seemed to unfold from empty space; the fingers of an alien giant reaching in to briefly touch reality.
    —[X] Each grenade was neatly sliced just below the firing pin, then pitted like a cherry. Snapping together in front of Molly something like an alien useless box formed; a switch that did nothing but flip itself off formed from firing pins, would be shrapnel, and strips of casing.
    —[X] "No" Molly says, for all the world sounding like she's disciplining a dog for peeing on the carpet.
    [X] Plan disturbing (lack of) faith
    -[X] Use Mind Hand Manipulation to crush as many of the grenades as you can before they go off (DEX+Melee to get as many as you can in time One base +1 for each success)
    --[X] Activate Melee and Occult (for MHM activation) Excellencies
    --[X] Activate All Things Betray with willpower
    -[X] After grenades are neutralized, start restraining cultists with MHM, starting with Jaida
    [X] Bronzetongue
 
DP just said 1 success = all grenades:
I missed that.
Thanks for pointing it out.
The trade off is that if we get anything less than complete success for crush we still get some of the grenades, where the craft trick does nothing for anyone if we fail.

But we're talking a less than .9% chance of total failure here.
That looks...I dunno.
Narratively you are trying to defuse six active explosive devices in combat time.
I dont see how you're not going to be suffering escalating dice penalties for that in addition to the DC increasing.

And we are dealing with a cumulative 72 Damage attack (M20 p455. Fragmentation Grenade, 12 dice damage).
I hope the QM rolls it as 6x 12 damage attacks instead of 1x 72 damage attack, but thats still enough to kill most mortals in this room. And cripple us.


Then there's the other issues.
Craft Excellency which does not contribute to Molly's defence, so if the blatantly signposted second or third attack happens, Molly doesnt get the benefit of an Excellency-boosted parry.

And you did not activate any of her soak charms either, despite us still walking around with the lesson of the Egyptian robot stabbing the fuck out of our ribs.
Or a Perception booster in a situation where we are getting ambushes.


Essentially, you're burning a lot more resources in an attempt to get similar results.
It is a little worse than that, if you fail the things will blow up as you are trying to figure them out so Molly will take more damage than if she did nothing.
Wait.
*checks M20 again*
@DragonParadox

QUESTION
Do those look like explosive grenades? Or GAS grenades?
Can Molly tell?
 
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Vote closed, lets see how this goes.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jan 30, 2024 at 9:21 AM, finished with 72 posts and 11 votes.

  • [X] Plan Clockwork Orange
    -[X] Willpower TTC, essence MHM and craft excellency
    -[X] Attempt to harvest the mechanical components of the grenades before they explode to make a mechanical desk toy and save primary attack action for the follow up
    -[X] [Stunt] Landing on the other side Molly pushed, her will lashing out to rip order from the chaos. In a flash of poisonous green bizarre mechanical tendrils seemed to unfold from empty space; the fingers of an alien giant reaching in to briefly touch reality.
    —[X] Each grenade was neatly sliced just below the firing pin, then pitted like a cherry. Snapping together in front of Molly something like an alien useless box formed; a switch that did nothing but flip itself off formed from firing pins, would be shrapnel, and strips of casing.
    —[X] "No" Molly says, for all the world sounding like she's disciplining a dog for peeing on the carpet.
    [X]Plan Ready In Eight Directions
    -[X]Reflexive: Activate shield + Demon Aspects + anima banner to activate surprise negator: Free with Essence use
    -[X]Reflexive: Viridian Legend Exoskeleton + Melee Excellency + Mind-Hand Manipulation + All Things Betray: 3m,1wp
    -[X] Action 1: Attack with MHM to smash/contain grenades
    -[X] Action 2: Defend with Dark Sun
    [X] Plan disturbing (lack of) faith
    -[X] Use Mind Hand Manipulation to crush as many of the grenades as you can before they go off (DEX+Melee to get as many as you can in time One base +1 for each success)
    --[X] Activate Melee and Occult (for MHM activation) Excellencies
    --[X] Activate All Things Betray with willpower
    -[X] After grenades are neutralized, start restraining cultists with MHM, starting with Jaida
 
Rolls Perception+Technology.
They look like high explosives, the VX is not here
Phew.
That would have been an unpleasant surprise.
Vote is tied. One thing I will say about Plan Clockwork Orange which has not come up before is that it uses more resources.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jan 30, 2024 at 9:05 AM, finished with 67 posts and 9 votes.

  • [X]Plan Ready In Eight Directions
    -[X]Reflexive: Activate shield + Demon Aspects + anima banner to activate surprise negator: Free with Essence use
    -[X]Reflexive: Viridian Legend Exoskeleton + Melee Excellency + Mind-Hand Manipulation + All Things Betray: 3m,1wp
    -[X] Action 1: Attack with MHM to smash/contain grenades
    -[X] Action 2: Defend with Dark Sun
    [X] Plan Clockwork Orange
    -[X] Willpower TTC, essence MHM and craft excellency
    -[X] Attempt to harvest the mechanical components of the grenades before they explode to make a mechanical desk toy and save primary attack action for the follow up
    -[X] [Stunt] Landing on the other side Molly pushed, her will lashing out to rip order from the chaos. In a flash of poisonous green bizarre mechanical tendrils seemed to unfold from empty space; the fingers of an alien giant reaching in to briefly touch reality.
    —[X] Each grenade was neatly sliced just below the firing pin, then pitted like a cherry. Snapping together in front of Molly something like an alien useless box formed; a switch that did nothing but flip itself off formed from firing pins, would be shrapnel, and strips of casing.
    —[X] "No" Molly says, for all the world sounding like she's disciplining a dog for peeing on the carpet.
    [X] Plan disturbing (lack of) faith
    -[X] Use Mind Hand Manipulation to crush as many of the grenades as you can before they go off (DEX+Melee to get as many as you can in time One base +1 for each success)
    --[X] Activate Melee and Occult (for MHM activation) Excellencies
    --[X] Activate All Things Betray with willpower
    -[X] After grenades are neutralized, start restraining cultists with MHM, starting with Jaida
    [X] Bronzetongue
Kinda worse than that.
It hasnt even spent any Essence on soak or Perception.

And worse for the plan itself, MHM does not appear to benefit from Craft Excellency.
Just Occult, Brawl or Melee.
So its rolling 9 dice, not 19. At DC9.

Bad plan.

EDIT
And the voting has closed. Oh dear.
 
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I missed that.
Thanks for pointing it out.

That looks...I dunno.
Narratively you are trying to defuse six active explosive devices in combat time.
I dont see how you're not going to be suffering escalating dice penalties for that in addition to the DC increasing.

And we are dealing with a cumulative 72 Damage attack (M20 p455. Fragmentation Grenade, 12 dice damage).
I hope the QM rolls it as 6x 12 damage attacks instead of 1x 72 damage attack, but thats still enough to kill most mortals in this room. And cripple us.


Then there's the other issues.
Craft Excellency which does not contribute to Molly's defence, so if the blatantly signposted second or third attack happens, Molly doesnt get the benefit of an Excellency-boosted parry.

And you did not activate any of her soak charms either, despite us still walking around with the lesson of the Egyptian robot stabbing the fuck out of our ribs.
Or a Perception booster in a situation where we are getting ambushes.


Essentially, you're burning a lot more resources in an attempt to get similar results.

Wait.
*checks M20 again*
@DragonParadox

QUESTION
Do those look like explosive grenades? Or GAS grenades?
Can Molly tell?
I can see how it might look like multiple actions but if it was multiple actions that means every crafting action where you have to go to grab a tool is also multi-action and that's kind of strange. These things have no means to resist nor fight back and are inanimate objects that are sitting on the floor.
 
I can see how it might look like multiple actions but if it was multiple actions that means every crafting action where you have to go to grab a tool is also multi-action and that's kind of strange. These things have no means to resist nor fight back and are inanimate objects that are sitting on the floor.
Normal crafting actions do not take place in combat time.
When Molly Attacks, Defends and Runs in one combat turn, she takes escalating multi-action penalties to her dice pool and DC.
 
Normal crafting actions do not take place in combat time.
When Molly Attacks, Defends and Runs in one combat turn, she takes escalating multi-action penalties to her dice pool and DC.
They actually can and do both in Mage the Ascension and exalted versus World Of Darkness explicitly in the case of Craftsman needs no tools and Tool transcendent constructs. See Trinkets section of craft rules.
: A Trinket is a single-use Gadget, generally constructed shortly in advance of anticipating a need for it or even on-the-spot with the assistance of Charms such as Craftsman Needs No Tools.
 
Phew.
That would have been an unpleasant surprise.

Kinda worse than that.
It hasnt even spent any Essence on soak or Perception.

And worse for the plan itself, MHM does not appear to benefit from Craft Excellency.
Just Occult, Brawl or Melee.
So its rolling 9 dice, not 19. At DC9.

Bad plan.

EDIT
And the voting has closed. Oh dear.
That isn't how ability excellencies work. Any action using an ability is affected by that Excellency period. Mind hand manipulation would benefit from the activation of a occult Excellency for the activation of the charm. This crafting action using the Mind hands would also benefit from a craft Excellency that's how excellencies work and I think you know that.
 
They actually can and do both in Mage the Ascension and exalted versus World Of Darkness explicitly in the case of Craftsman needs no tools and Tool transcendent constructs. See Trinkets section of craft rules.
No thats not actually true in ExWoD.
Take a look at the rules chapter again.
That isn't how ability excellencies work. Any action using an ability is affected by that Excellency period. Mind hand manipulation would benefit from the activation of a occult Excellency for the activation of the charm. This crafting action using the Mind hands would also benefit from a craft Excellency that's how excellencies work and I think you know that.
You are mistaken.
From the front page:
Mind-Hand Manipulation said:
The Infernal combines conviction and Essence to bend the world around her to her implacable will. A faint shimmer in the air marks the use of this power as she lifts and moves objects telekinetically.
System: After a moment spent in concentration, the Infernal spends 1 Essence and rolls her Intelligence + Occult against difficulty 6. This Charm remains active for the rest of the scene, and allows her to telekinetically lift and move objects within her line of sight. If she tries to wrest an object away from another character, or perform fine manipulations, her successes form her dice pool to do so. Otherwise, her successes on the activation roll determine her strength in lifting and moving objects:
[SNIP]
With 3+ successes, the Infernal can "fly" by moving herself around telekinetically. She may also grapple or strike her opponents using telekinesis, using a dice pool of Intelligence + (lower of Occult and Brawl or Melee). These attacks inflict bashing damage, and the Infernal's Temporary Willpower acts as her effective Strength value.
I remember this in particular because we had to get the QM to house-rule that we could use Melee Excellencies in place of Brawl Excellencies for MHM.
Normally its just Occult or Brawl, and we have Brawl 0.
 
No thats not actually true in ExWoD.
Take a look at the rules chapter again.

You are mistaken.
From the front page:

I remember this in particular because we had to get the QM to house-rule that we could use Melee Excellencies in place of Brawl Excellencies for MHM.
Normally its just Occult or Brawl, and we have Brawl 0.
The trinket section literally says you can make devices on the spot using the crafting charm. Also that isn't what you were arguing you said mind hand manipulation doesn't benefit from a craft Excellency on a crafting action which isn't true. That'd be like saying it doesn't benefit from occult or brawl excellencies on activation or on attacks.
 
The trinket section literally says you can make devices on the spot using the crafting charm. Also that isn't what you were arguing you said mind hand manipulation doesn't benefit from a craft Excellency on a crafting action which isn't true. That'd be like saying it doesn't benefit from occult or brawl excellencies on activation or on attacks.
1)There are no Crafting charms in M20 because there are no Exalts
2) You do not make Trinkets in 3 seconds, which is what a combat turn is.
3) Holden's Exalted Crafting system in play here explicitly does not allow you to make Trinkets
Also that isn't what you were arguing you said mind hand manipulation doesn't benefit from a craft Excellency on a crafting action which isn't true. That'd be like saying it doesn't benefit from occult or brawl excellencies on activation or on attacks.
It does not.
The plain language of the charm is there. I quoted it so there would be no mistake about what the rules actually are.
 
1)There are no Crafting charms in M20 because there are no Exalts
2) You do not make Trinkets in 3 seconds, which is what a combat turn is.
3) Holden's Exalted Crafting system in play here explicitly does not allow you to make Trinkets

It does not.
The plain language of the charm is there. I quoted it so there would be no mistake about what the rules actually are.
If you go under the repair and crafting section in M20 you can perform crafting/repairing within combat time the accumulative successes are not in your favor but it is possible nonetheless.

Trinkets are Gadgets in the Holden crafting system I know it's the same name as the Mage trinkets but it's a different thing that is my fault I forgot that they have the same name but it's under the gadget section it's the first thing you can make they are one-off items.

That isn't how abilities work. If you were using the craft ability and you have a craft Excellency you can use the Excellency no matter what the tool you're using to perform the craft action is.
 
If you go under the repair and crafting section in M20 you can perform crafting/repairing within combat time the accumulative successes are not in your favor but it is possible nonetheless.
Citation needed.
Im looking at it now and what I find appears to say the opposite.
Modern mages love to tinker. If your character repairs or modifies a vehicle or other mechanical contraption, assume that the task involves an extended roll with the appropriate Attribute + Ability. (Again, see Art and Science on the Dramatic Feats chart.) Suitable Traits include Computer, Crafts (with the appropriate specialty), Hypertech, Science (again, with a given specialty), and Technology. Each roll reflects an hour or two of work, with several sample tasks on the chart nearby to give you guidelines for the successes involved in each task.

To determine difficulties and successes, check the Modification and Repair chart, which can be used for both vehicle work andother mechanical repairs. A well-stocked workshop can lower the difficulty by -1 to -3, but improvised repairs without proper toolsincrease it by +1 to +3. Given time and materials, a good mechanic can fix or modify almost anything. Use rolls and charts only whenyou're racing against the clock, working with limited resources, or trying to do something that's theoretically impossible.

It's easier to work with what you already have than to create something that hadn't been there before. Modifying your oldSaturn, for instance, involves less effort than building a whole new car from scratch. It's also easier to improve on junk than it is to upgrade a high quality-machine; the better the original craftsmanship, the bigger the challenge you face.
Innovation is the hallmark of brilliant technomancers everywhere. Although it's not something that comes up often in the heat of battle, any self-respecting machine-mage has a project or three scattered across her workshop. For times when you want to introduce a new gadget or vehicle to the chronicle, put the following guidelines to good use.

Before you can build some great new thing, you'll need to hash out the principles, work through the bugs, and tinker with prototypes until you reach a semi-workable design. In story terms, this sort of thing can take months or years of brainstorming, research, and frustration.
Game-wise, the Research and Design entries in the Arts and Sciences category of the Dramatic Feats chart reflect the brainstorming process. The Invention listing covers the process of putting the pieces together into something that works, and the Invention chart nearby features guidelines for the difficulties and successes involved in the process, as well as the successes necessary to complete each step of that process.
None of these are combat-time shit.

Trinkets are Gadgets in the Holden crafting system I know it's the same name as the Mage trinkets but it's a different thing that is my fault I forgot that they have the same name but it's under the gadget section it's the first thing you can make they are one-off items.
No they arent.
Similar but different. Holden didnt simply just change the names.
Im not a fan of the Holden system for a reason.

That isn't how abilities work. If you were using the craft ability and you have a craft Excellency you can use the Excellency no matter what the tool you're using to perform the craft action is.
I have provided the rules as stated. From the front page, even.
They do not appear to agree with you.
 
I know that the place that people sleep in the first book didn't count as a threshold simply cause it was desolate and sort of used as a communal place to do dark rituals and so didn't have a threshold even though people slept there. I know Dresdens isn't all too powerful though it's more than workable because one he doesn't have family, two it's rented, and good times help the power of a threshold.
 
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