Escathon doesn't change our base shintai and can only be used once per story any way. Is there something interesting about the other three that I didn't notice the only one that's even mildly interesting from the others is become a cloud the others most interesting features are their large stat blocks and you might as well just be a bear with a different kind of paint for how much that matters or do you mean the aesthetic we chose for the shintai?
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Being able to do a round trip in half the time would have made a material difference if we'd had to schlep on foot to get to Undertown and behind the wards of Last Station, which was the closest place for magical supplies.
If we hadnt brought Sophia, we'd have had to make that trek or risk aggroing Alfred.
Furthermore, in combat, being able to dictate engagement speed helps when your enemy is largely melee.
And its worth remembering that the Walker we killed at the Raith party in Arc 8 was 6x faster than we were in speed.
"SO yOu ARe here! Welcome! A WelCOME i BID to A PrINCE OF the eARTH!" The voice did not even sound a little like Lord Skavis or indeed like anything that would be called forth by the vibration of human vocal cords.
Somewhere in the back of your mind that feels familiar, no doubt sometime far, distant that will matter. For now there is only the sword and you give yourself to it, pressing the attack high and low, left and right, faint that builds up to faint that flows into true strike barely deep enough to scorch infested flesh only to draw again into the rhythm of faint meant to compensate for a foe sixfold faster than you.
It almost isn't enough
The flames lick at its... his sleave, catching and burning. "Almost isn't truly is!" The taunt feels well worn upon the tongue, like something you had shouted from the battlements of some ancient alien war.
Lord Skavis takes 2 Aggravated Damage -> Now at 5/7Wounded Negated for the duration of the scene
Out of the corner of your eyes you see one of the guards, another woman moving at about half their lord's speed try to carve her way through your armor with a sort of crescent moon axe that certainly could not have been smuggled in, dream-spun, the first strike pries one of the slabs of your armor aside in a task more akin to mining than battle, the second glances off the bronze underneath, the third scores blood, a line across your upper back.
Somewhere in the back of your mind that feels familiar, no doubt sometime far, distant that will matter. For now there is only the sword and you give yourself to it, pressing the attack high and low, left and right, faint that builds up to faint that flows into true strike barely deep enough to scorch infested flesh only to draw again into the rhythm of faint meant to compensate for a foe sixfold faster than you.
It almost isn't enough
The flames lick at its... his sleave, catching and burning. "Almost isn't truly is!" The taunt feels well worn upon the tongue, like something you had shouted from the battlements of some ancient alien war.
Lord Skavis takes 2 Aggravated Damage -> Now at 5/7
Out of the corner of your eyes you see one of the guards, another woman moving at about half their lord's speed try to carve her way through your armor with a sort of crescent moon axe that certainly could not have been smuggled in, dream-spun, the first strike pries one of the slabs of your armor aside in a task more akin to mining than battle, the second glances off the bronze underneath, the third scores blood, a line across your upper back.
Even the Duke's guards then were 3x faster than we were at the time.
The raksha magical resource. Not the Exalted magical resource. Not what the Exalted used to make magical items.
Go look at any of the tables of Ex2 Artifacts; none were made of gossamer, or required gossamer, and we literally had artifacts made out of Essence silk and verdigris and shadow and weird Infernal shit like living demons.
Its literally possible to mine it from mortal dreams. We could probably make a Splendor to mine it.
You are not making a good case for it being an applicable reagent based on its Exalted 2E history.
EDIT
I dont have any problem with it being a reagent, mind. But thats just an arbitrary ruling.
Not because its some OMG superspecial ubermaterial whose thematic meaning means that its worth more than the metaphysical weight of Methuselah-class vampires and Incarna-class spirits.
Exalted ambrosia might be, but I dont think the world's physics allows that to exist any more.
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1) I'm not saying he's not dangerous, just that he's in a lighter weight class than a lord of hell. There's also the matter of specialty and focus. He's trying to avoid detection, his prep is going into that sort of thing. He clearly has escape plans and combat power, but he's basically an information and shadow games build. A huge part of the fight with guys like that is over information; the goal is that by the time you've actually figured out what's going on they've already won. Molly has a huge advantage because she basically negates the premise of that tactic.
He can't overmatch everyone in everything and if he somehow did he wouldn't be acting as he is.
We've had the investments discussion before. I still maintain that it's clearly pricy for the Outside and that stealth is a problem for them when dealing with pure mortals. Sneaking in a super god power boost to everyone they subvert isn't viable for them.
2) We have allies who can fill that need, and if we'd used alchemy as it's meant to be used we could have hit him with some magic cleaner based stuff. Which we can also do for this situation.
3) She's a researcher, not a cybersecurity specialist beyond what all Sutra can do. The FCF are not supposed to be inherently worse at magic, just different. This is a narrow enough field to be viable for them.
4) People under the auspices of counterspell: Human can get big numbers, but I maintain that we can prep enough that in combination with everything else we can oppose them without the weight of an exalt being the floor.
Stuff like 7 wits, 6 occult, ability aptitude counterspell, conditional magic: Better dispelling in exchange for only being able to dispell, and stuff like that.
5) Screwing with what would be an Arete roll is supposed to be hard, which is what resisting this would be.
6) Stompy monsters aren't necessarily a threat to him personally and he doesn't know what we know. He can't prepare for everyone and his preferred weapon is to deny information so he's not a target in the first place. I don't think he'll go down easy, but specifically determine the technicalities of our magical ability and devising something only an exalt with our statline can stop with one specific skill to pull out of his pocket on demand would surprise me.
I'm not particularly committed to it, but the immediate value of the App dot is higher because it's at a break point. The difference between 2 and 3 is pretty significant for that particular stat. It also means that the drug fueled growth puts us at 4 prior to the next buy point, so we get the benefits of a 2 dot increase for parts of the arc.
I could change it, but with the prices being what they are I don't think it makes a huge difference.
EU gives us a second signature charm which is available in regular Shintai. That's the biggest mechanical advantage of the whole thing really.
Did someone have something in mind for Signature charm? I had a plan with eschathon in it but it's really expensive and it's really situational and I really dislike spending XP for functionally no reason.
My assumption is that we'd vote for that separately like we did for the base signature since combining it made the vote a nightmare of nearly identical plans.
The second signature is significant enough that I'd say it's only as situational as regular shintai is.
I think the most popular option right now for the second pick would be this:
Since we have the base charm. There are plenty of other good picks though assuming we don't homebrew something which the book leaves open for charms that don't include something already.
[X] Plan Unbound Empress
Shadow Spite Curse is what I would want for Eschaton Shintai.
[X] Plan Sorcery Maxing
-[X] Molly, 29 XP spent
--[X] Alchemy 5 12 XP
--[X] Mana Manipulation 3 13 XP
--[X] Intelligence 5 1 XP
--[X] Wits 4 1 XP
--[X] Perception 4 1 XP
--[X] Manipulation 4 1 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP, 1 banked
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Ancient Magic
-[X] Molly, 29 XP spent
--[X] Pentacle And Scepter 16 XP
--[X] The Trees Many Branches 10 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP, 1 banked
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Minion Maxing
-[X] Molly, 29 XP spent
--[X] False Springs Beckon 9 XP
--[X] Mana Maggot Plague 8 XP
--[X] Cleansed Maggot Formula 4 XP
--[X] Fathomless Poison Haven 8 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP,
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Clone Maxing
-[X] Molly, 29 XP spent
--[X] Law 3 7 XP
--[X] Charisma 4 1 XP
--[X] Appearance 3 1 XP
--[X] Manipulation 4 1 XP
--[X] Intelligence 5 1XP
--[X] Perception 4 1XP
--[X] Wits 4 1 XP
--[X] Leadership 5 7 XP
--[X] Politics 3 7 XP
--[X] Academics 2 2 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP, 1 banked
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Monster Mash
-[X] Molly, 29 XP
--[X] Unbound Eschaton Shintai, 20 XP
--[X] Ox-Body 6 XP
--[X] Alchemy Recipe ● Greater Aspirin 1XP
--[X] Hear Prayer 2 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan God Queens Favor
-[X] Molly, 29 XP
--[X] Hear Prayers 2 XP
--[X] Prayer Appraisal 4 XP
--[X] Fulfill Prayer 6 XP
--[X] Endless Torment Emanation 12 XP
--[X] Charisma 4 1 XP
--[X] Appearance 3 1 XP
--[X] Manipulation 4 1 XP
--[X] Intelligence 5 1XP
--[X] Perception 4 1XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Murder Maxing
-[X] Molly, 27 XP spent 2 Banked
--[X] Who Strikes The Wind 12 XP
--[X] Ablation Of Brass and Fire 12 XP
--[X] Ox-Body 3 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP, 1 banked
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Attributes and Abilities
-[X] Molly, 28 XP spent 1 banked
--[X] Charisma 4 1 XP
--[X] Appearance 3 1 XP
--[X] Manipulation 4 1 XP
--[X] Intelligence 5 1XP
--[X] Perception 4 1XP
--[X] Wits 4 1 XP
--[X] Craft 5 4 XP
--[X] Intimidation 5 4 XP
--[X] Leadership 5 7 XP
--[X] Subterfuge 5 7 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2 1 XP
Slight edits and additional votes sorry for clogging the thread
-[X] Molly, 29 XP spent
--[X] Alchemy 5 12 XP
--[X] Mana Manipulation 3 13 XP
--[X] Intelligence 5 1 XP
--[X] Wits 4 1 XP
--[X] Perception 4 1 XP
--[X] Manipulation 4 1 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP, 1 banked
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Ancient Magic
-[X] Molly, 29 XP spent
--[X] Pentacle And Scepter 16 XP
--[X] The Trees Many Branches 10 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP, 1 banked
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Minion Maxing
-[X] Molly, 29 XP spent
--[X] False Springs Beckon 9 XP
--[X] Mana Maggot Plague 8 XP
--[X] Cleansed Maggot Formula 4 XP
--[X] Fathomless Poison Haven 8 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP,
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Clone Maxing
-[X] Molly, 29 XP spent
--[X] Law 3 7 XP
--[X] Charisma 4 1 XP
--[X] Appearance 3 1 XP
--[X] Manipulation 4 1 XP
--[X] Intelligence 5 1XP
--[X] Perception 4 1XP
--[X] Wits 4 1 XP
--[X] Leadership 5 7 XP
--[X] Politics 3 7 XP
--[X] Academics 2 2 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP, 1 banked
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Monster Mash
-[X] Molly, 29 XP
--[X] Unbound Eschaton Shintai, 20 XP
--[X] Ox-Body 6 XP
--[X] Alchemy Recipe ● Greater Aspirin 1XP
--[X] Hear Prayer 2 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan God Queens Favor
-[X] Molly, 29 XP
--[X] Hear Prayers 2 XP
--[X] Prayer Appraisal 4 XP
--[X] Fulfill Prayer 6 XP
--[X] Endless Torment Emanation 12 XP
--[X] Charisma 4 1 XP
--[X] Appearance 3 1 XP
--[X] Manipulation 4 1 XP
--[X] Intelligence 5 1XP
--[X] Perception 4 1XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Murder Maxing
-[X] Molly, 27 XP spent 2 Banked
--[X] Who Strikes The Wind 12 XP
--[X] Ablation Of Brass and Fire 12 XP
--[X] Ox-Body 3 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3, 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4, 1 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP, 1 banked
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2, 1 XP
[X] Plan Attributes and Abilities
-[X] Molly, 28 XP spent 1 banked
--[X] Charisma 4 1 XP
--[X] Appearance 3 1 XP
--[X] Manipulation 4 1 XP
--[X] Intelligence 5 1XP
--[X] Perception 4 1XP
--[X] Wits 4 1 XP
--[X] Craft 5 4 XP
--[X] Intimidation 5 4 XP
--[X] Leadership 5 7 XP
--[X] Subterfuge 5 7 XP
-[X] Lydia, 7 XP
--[X] Ox Body, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 3 1 XP
-[X] Tiffany, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Human, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Perception 4 XP
-[X] Olivia, 7 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Vampire, 3 XP
--[X] Counterspell: Spirit, 3 XP
--[X] Manipulation 2 1 XP
Slight edits and additional votes sorry for clogging the thread
I'm tempted to homebrew something for a FCF charm. Like FPoR inflicting an essence level dice penalty on anyone who uses skills outside of the shift Molly is in at the time. Maybe give EMH a thing for making essence level shadow clones of opponents (probably with a contested roll of some kind determining how accurate the fake is) so that we could pull the classic evil twin game on people.
Probably a little late to balance that properly though.
1) A lighter weight class than a Lord of Hell in his domain leaves a concerning amount of room for even an E4 Celestial Exalt.
Duke Skavis might have not been paranoid, but preparation is the watchword of every long-lived wizard.
Its Word of Butcher that every wizard on the Senior Council has a trump card or two they keep hidden, and they started that back when they were not elder wizards.
Investments being pricy doesnt mean they wont do it.
If Vittorio Malvora could afford an Outsider possession or investment that allowed him to paralyze an entire war party of high end Whampires and two White Council wizards, an expert wizard certainly can afford to make a better offer if he so chose.
====
2) Our allies are all worse at this than Molly is.
Nor will they always be with her when she needs it; none of them were available when Molly had Iku Turso dispelling her armor charms, remember?
====
3) Fair enough. I doubt it, but fair enough.
====
4) Do you remember the Raith party fight?
Where Madrigal Raith, a Whampire of no arcane capability, pulled out an amulet that, if we hadnt counterspelled correctly, would have imposed -2 successes on all our rolls permanently until we could eventually find a wizard to break it?
Thats the sort of buff/debuff that I can expect a wizard like Peabody to be rolling in with preptime. At a minimum.
The Wardens have their silver swords of automatic magic dispelling; thats the sort of thing a skilled wizard can pull with preptime.
====
5) Like I said above, all he'd have to do is have an item or an Investment or a Rote that, say, gives him bonus automatic successes against counterspelling. Or which reduces his DCs for casting. Or both. Thats well within the capabilities of an adult wizard with access to Entropy or Prime Spheres, IIRC.
Also, Arcana dont have Arete. They arent wizards.
Which is part of why they are likely to have that much harder a time at counterspelling a knowledgeable or powerful opponent.
====
6) We dont know what he knows either, and in this setting, he has a Nephandi Gilledian running overwatch for him.
Ashraaf is an unknown to us, and we dont know how much firepower he can, or is willing to throw around.
I dont expect him to be able to facetank us, but I find it entirely plausible that he'll throw hostile summons and innocent thralls at us like ablative armor. Just like how in canon, he used one mistwraith to lock down the entire Senior Council.
Or how Justin DuMorne sent a Great Walker after Harry
And our victory condition is in part, avoiding wizard casualties and collateral damage.
That makes a much more complicated tactical picture than just trying to kill an opp.
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@DragonParadox will Pentacle and Scepter have any changes in the quest as compared to RaW? It's kinda lackluster for the fluff and cost.
I really like the charm as a concept and frankly Ancient Sorcery has been a key part of Molly's trajectory as a character so it seems appropriate for her to have it, but the effect makes it feel wasteful.
I really like the charm as a concept and frankly Ancient Sorcery has been a key part of Molly's trajectory as a character so it seems appropriate for her to have it, but the effect makes it feel wasteful.
Definitely late. Hopefully once we get to E5, my New Testament charms will get approved for purchasing and we'll be able to get more signature charms.
I remember it being said that it also will affect Path magic at least. Probably all magic actions, including counter-spelling?
My pick, as I've said previously, would be Splintered Gale.
Because it gives us an additional 4-5 miniboss clones as backup for the scene.
Which translates to 4-5x extra actions every turn.
I THINK the QM has previously said something about it applying to Path sorcery.
But I cant swear to it, though.
That would be something, but for a 4 dot charm I'd hope for a little more. Maybe if it had a stronger effect on "lesser" magic? It just feels weird for meditating on the secret roots of reality to have less of an effect than a 1 dot prodigy bashed together on our basement.
It affects all magical actions, including path magic and abilities like the Sight.
A theoretical way to extend the effect would be to allow excellencies to be applied to Ancient Sorcery, but that's way too broken.
It stacks with the one dot prodigy, they do not stack with each other.
Excellencies due to their time limits can be used with ancient sorcery. You wouldn't want to use it explicitly for ancient sorcery because that increases the cost of every Spell essentially by one and some of them already cost three or four but that's essentially what Pentacle and Scepter is for.
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1) You were explicitly comparing the two, and even that lower weight class isn't so far out of reach that mortal effort couldn't oppose them.
Having trump cards isn't the same as being unbeatable or only beatable in one way.
2) That thing with Iku couldn't be stopped by counterspelling. Otherwise you invited infinite recurring counterspells. Our allies won't always be around, but we have a number of different options to address this sort of thing if we need to.
4) Yes, which is why I campaigned for a shaping defense. The added value of counterspelling is the ability to oppose things that are still allowed to be targeted by counter magic and aren't target at us. In particular ones that we can't interfere with by attacking the caster or hitting with magic cleaner mist. This is a narrower application than you're presenting it to be.
For the counter spellers themselves you're presenting the case where we could resist those effects with counter magic but they could not despite being built for it. Which is questionable.
5) The whole reason this is a straight arete roll for mages fighting each other is that the storyteller is supposed to smite you from on high if you ask for a rote to counterspell. Making something to boost your Arete rolls is intentionally difficult and results in minor changes. Even as small a change as 2-3 dice is enough to make a middling wizard hit like they're the next best thing to magic god.
People complain about the sort of counterspelling that Arcana use because it's by RaW dramatically easier to do things with than mages get.
6) It's unlikely he knows we know about him and he's a spy games character. He's incredibly scary, but we skip the part of the game he's built for. He's the kind of guy who you don't get to fight until you've essentially already beat him.
So, let me try to make a stab at Unbound Eschaton Shintai. I'll be leaning heavily into "the empress to come" theme, and I'll be assuming that we are taking Shadow Spite Curse as the signature charm.
The Form of Promised Victory, the Paradox made Manifest, She who Makes Herself.
The Empress to Come
In a moment of her greatest need, the Empress-to-Come reaches beyond the means available to her, refusing utterly to let Fate, Reality and Chance to oppose her. Her hands, or perhaps just their shadows, form themselves into a gesture that looks at once dismissive and profound, and that some of those learned in the mystic arts might recognize as Dharmachakra Pravartana Mudrā. Her lips, or perhaps the winds of her soul, utter a heartfelt prayer, a call for help. Not to an ancient, long-forgotten legacy that forged her exaltation, not to a distant and rules-bound god, but to herself that is Becoming, the Promise of impossible Victory and the Glory of the Next Age.
She calls - and she receives an answer. With a sound like distant thunder, like a proclamation from the highest throne, like a whisper of the deepest mystery, reality breaks, rushing from outwards in, as the future dares the present to reject it. The basalt and brass armored form of the Empress disappears from all Sights for an infinitesimal moment, obscured by the Probability Storm. When that moment passes, she is revealed again - changed.
Where before a human armored in metal and stone stood, a terryfying war helm obscuring their face, now stands what can only be called an Eye of the Hurricane. She, and that is undeniable a she, is at once a beautiful dancer, and a shining star, a cutout in the fabric of Creatio presenting a glimpse into the world of Sanctuary, and an epitome of mechanical engineering given form. She looks exactly the same, no matter the angle she is seen from, always facingthe observer, and yet each time she is seen, she is different - different probable futures reflecting from the eye of beholder. She has arms, but their but their numbers are between two and infinity - each movement leaving behind a shadowy trail that may coalesce into additional arms. She shines, and her color might be green - but it isn't green of any type anyone has seen for more than Age, or perhaps ever - the color sitting at the center of the observable spectrum, no matter how far said spectrum extends in either direction. She moves, but whether she walks, or flies, or makes the soil of Creation flow under her feet changes from one moment and observer to another.
Aspects:
Flexible
Hardened Devil Body
Extra Limbs
Signature Charm: Shadow Spite Curse
I went full in on the eldrich and on the "future to come". Walking "Though Shalt Not Swim Against the Currents of Time" violation, in a sense. Manifestation of Glory - there's no need for Sight to see her.
The Form of Promised Victory, the Paradox made Manifest, She who Makes Herself.
The Empress to Come
In a moment of her greatest need, the Empress-to-Come reaches beyond the means available to her, refusing utterly to let Fate, Reality and Chance to oppose her. Her hands, or perhaps just their shadows, form themselves into a gesture that looks at once dismissive and profound, and that some of those learned in the mystic arts might recognize as Dharmachakra Pravartana Mudrā. Her lips, or perhaps the winds of her soul, utter a heartfelt prayer, a call for help. Not to an ancient, long-forgotten legacy that forged her exaltation, not to a distant and rules-bound god, but to herself that is Becoming, the Promise of impossible Victory and the Glory of the Next Age.
She calls - and she receives an answer. With a sound like distant thunder, like a proclamation from the highest throne, like a whisper of the deepest mystery, reality breaks, rushing from outwards in, as the future dares the present to reject it. The basalt and brass armored form of the Empress disappears from all Sights for an infinitesimal moment, obscured by the Probability Storm. When that moment passes, she is revealed again - changed.
Where before a human armored in metal and stone stood, a terryfying war helm obscuring their face, now stands what can only be called an Eye of the Hurricane. She, and that is undeniable a she, is at once a beautiful dancer, and a shining star, a cutout in the fabric of Creatio presenting a glimpse into the world of Sanctuary, and an epitome of mechanical engineering given form. She looks exactly the same, no matter the angle she is seen from, always facingthe observer, and yet each time she is seen, she is different - different probable futures reflecting from the eye of beholder. She has arms, but their but their numbers are between two and infinity - each movement leaving behind a shadowy trail that may coalesce into additional arms. She shines, and her color might be green - but it isn't green of any type anyone has seen for more than Age, or perhaps ever - the color sitting at the center of the observable spectrum, no matter how far said spectrum extends in either direction. She moves, but whether she walks, or flies, or makes the soil of Creation flow under her feet changes from one moment and observer to another.
Aspects:
Flexible
Hardened Devil Body
Extra Limbs
Signature Charm: Shadow Spite Curse
I went full in on the eldrich and on the "future to come". Walking "Though Shalt Not Swim Against the Currents of Time" violation, in a sense. Manifestation of Glory - there's no need for Sight to see her.
1)I was using it as an example of many. I mentioned Mikaboshi; I also mentioned Iku Turso AND the Will of Kakuri.
2) It could have been prevented by counterspelling, actually.
Now that we have a Shaping defense, it shouldnt be necessary.
However, Arcana dont get shaping defenses.
5) No, thats not true.
I dont remember the exact ruleset, but you can stack successes for that, just like you can with stuff like Better Body.
It plays the same role as, say, Primium countermagick on an ATLAS Unit or in a cyborg body.
6) That we know about him BEING Nephandi? Or a traitor? No. But I dont expect that matters.
This was the guy who first set up Luccio to date Dresden so he could keep tabs on him.
Then, during the manhunt for Morgan in Turn Coat, sent Luccio to Chicago to check on Harry in particular, just in case, despite Harry and Morgan notoriously not getting along.
You frankly underestimate his paranoia.
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