RATIONALE
This attempts to address most issues we ran across, with an eye towards the future.
LYDIA
Lydia had two problems we saw: a vulnerability to Shaping effects, and issues with dealing enough damage quickly.
Warding of Divine Ancestry is her shaping defense, and Arms of Iron both buffs her hand to hand damage, and it damages anyone that she grapples, or who tries to grapple her. Which is something Outsiders like to do.
LASH
Lash will have has the Denarians, and Lasciel in particular out for her.
While she has enough Awareness to hopefully detect the Denarians themselves and can boost it, she has no Alertness to detect their mortal minions. So she needs as much Alertness as she can get.
Lore of Awakening 1+2 gives her the ability to find people (Awakening 1) and to purge poisons(Awakening 2), and sets her up to buy Awakening 3(Healing) next turn.
The ability to purge poisons for free would have been useful
Celestial Attunement allows her to track magically important dates, times and star conjunctions.
Like was important at Vegas for knowing when Sandra wanted to pull her ritual.
VAMPIRE THE DARK AGES (REVISED) p274
Celestial Attunement (1pt. Merit)
You have an innate link to the passage of time and the movement of celestial bodies. You can estimate the time until sunrise or sunset within a minute or two, and you can follow the phases of the moon in your head. Those with some training in astrology and this Merit can even foretell certain astrological conjunctions without access to charts. You can accomplish any of these feats with only a minimum of concentration. Plus, she was headmates with a Starborn; it seems appropriate.
Green Thumb is a flavor Merit that is appropriate for her Lores, and can be upgraded in the future(I asked) to Touch of Life(3 dots) or Spark of Life(5 dots), either of which have synergy with Lore of Flesh. Changeling's Eyes is a Flaw for flavor that makes her eyes distinctive to those few people who know what a Shadow/Demon is, which given as she's unique, is very few people.
MOLLY
Inner Devils Unchained because if we're deploying minions in the field, we owe them better.
Plus, its in part helps with our promise to Olivia last year.
And I think @Yzarc has been asking for this for a couple arcs now.
Black Mirror Incarnation allows her to change her appearance, and to hide her doom aura when she isnt glowing.
So she can actually come to new places without announcing her presence. Which would have prevented anyone knowing Molly was in Vegas until she announched herself. Also, @Goldfish asked for it.
Dresden has 3-4HLs of Aggravated damage that will keep him bedridden for at least a week. Correction: 2 weeks
Lash cant heal Agg. Molly needs Alchemy 4 to fix that.
And to fix Rosie's Derangement. AND it also helps with her future crafting.
Also, its an IC decision.
Running To Forever stops Molly feeling tired when she's moving.
And it makes sprinting reflexive, so Molly can move at full speed during a fight without taking penalties.
Also, @BronzeTongue asked for it.
Countermagic[Human] because enemy magic is a demonstrated issue, and one of the people on Molly's near-future List, is Simon Peabody, who is a senior White Council wizard.
Multiple people have mentioned Awareness as something to not forget.
So Im buying both Awareness 1 and Alertness 2.
I could move Alertness 2 to Awareness 2, but I think we are better served by a spread there.
The biggest issue with Lydia is that she isn't using her charms. She has a number of charms we bought that aren't getting used, such as command the dead, carriage of the ankou. Even her familiar falls into the same issue at last partially. Thus, it needs to be resolved.
With Lore of Awakening 3 Lash starts being able to heal aggravated damage, which means Molly doesn't need to.
Running to Forever... Was Molly ever feeling tired during the course of the quest? Malcoffee deals with most issues.
Buying Lore of Awakening 3 for Lash is rather critical in getting her effective as a healer of the group. The synergies with Lore of Flesh come there (she starts being able to boost someone to all 10s, then heal bashing damage immediately, for example).
Ok, let me propose two alternatives:
[X] Plan Feeding and Healing v2
-[X] Molly, 41 XP
--[X] Splintered Gale Incarnation, 20 XP
--[X] Alchemy 4, 6 XP
--[X] Inner Devils Unchained, 12 XP
--[X] Awareness 1, 3 XP
-[X] Lydia, 15 XP + 12 XP = 27 XP
--[X] Warding of Divine Ancestry, 15 XP
--[X] Companions of the Hunter, 12 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 15 XP + 7 XP = 22 XP
--[X] Lore of Awakening 3 dots, 22 XP
[X] Plan Feeding and Healing + Defence v. Yog
-[X] Molly, 41 XP
--[X] Counter-Conceptual Interposition, 16 XP
--[X] Alchemy 4, 6 XP
--[X] Inner Devils Unchained, 12 XP
--[X] Awareness 2, 5 XP
--[X] Alertness 2, 2 XP
--[X] Prince of Ruin Attitude, 4 XP
-[X] Lydia, 15 XP + 12 XP = 27 XP
--[X] Warding of Divine Ancestry, 15 XP
--[X] Companions of the Hunter, 12 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 15 XP + 7 XP = 22 XP
--[X] Lore of Awakening 3 dots, 22 XP
I have one primary argument for Lydia: dinosaur riding. Iron-skinned demon cyborg dinosaur riding. Tell me that's not appealing.
I can live without Splintered Gale Incarnation for now, but I really want it sooner, rather than later. For me, Lore of Awakening 3 for Lash, Alchemy 3 (not 4, buy I'll take 4), and Warding of Divine Ancestry are critical. Companions of the Hunter are not super critical, but I feel strongly that it'll make Lydia far more effective.
Tiffany being able to heal Dresden Immediately is important, I feel. It makes the calculus of war different.
EDIT: Also, a question.
@DragonParadox would Lash be able to use Cleanse to heal half-reds?
