After the results of rolling for my first two builds, I decided to dispense with Quests and pick my poison directly!
The Helmsman
Passage: Your Choice (Warhammer 40k) +0
Patronage: The Seraph +1 HF, The Forester (Spiritual Power), The Mandarin (Heir) -1, The Heir (War & Politics) -3
Provision: A Debt +2
Panoply: Special Dispensation -1 HF
In the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium there is only war. Thankfully the Helmsman's very good at war, and this setting has no shortage of foes to wage it on. Enemies within and without, an Astral plane filled with ravening horrors and sadists, and beyond the dubious safety of the Milky Way it's just Hive Fleets and Orks as far as the eye can see. To put it mildly, there's a lot of work to be done. It's a real fixer-upper of a universe.
An unmitigated Heroic disposition in conjunction with the Forester's Spiritual Power provides ample motivation, as well as the ability to handle the stresses of the coming campaigns. Placed in a universe of monsters, with a TSH-variant that reduces difficulty of progression rather than improving results, the Helmsman's about as suited to the Praxis as it's possible for a version of me to be.
Aurora Halo's avoided because of complications taking the path of transgression when collaborating with the Imperium, but I'm still unsure about choosing the Praxis over a custom 5-Gift Heroic power. Dispensation doesn't specify preexisting prowess, leaving the Helmsman only his skill to start with. 40k being itself, very little bad luck's required to land in an untenable position. Having cleared that hurdle, an unmitigated Heroic conscience may not sign off on a protracted training arc, and then there's Debt waiting in the wings.
Risks aside, the Helmsman's goals are straightforward: acquire as much political power as possible to maximize the impact of his supernal strategies and Forester's effectiveness bonus. Place a steadying hand on the Imperial tiller, reverse the trend of defeats and pyrrhic victories. Breathe life back into this stagnant husk of an empire. Doing maximum good doesn't entail getting in the trenches with a lasgun, fortunately for his odds of survival.
The Heir's skill selection is brutal, though. Bureaucracy would do worlds of good in terms of reform. Entire planets get cut off from supply lines and plummet into anarchy, regressing technologically and culturally; Logistics could fix that. Energy has psyker synergies. Medicine could improve on gene-seeds and has the holy grail of healing the Emperor. But War was the inspiration for the Helmsman in the first place, and since 40k's a mess that has cultists like feral dogs have fleas Politics is necessary to secure influence.
Hopefully the Praxis can patch this build's lacking defense and provide more leadership bonuses. Can you induct people into the Noble Praxis with the Royal version? There are entire civilizations with access to the former, and the Imperium has many desperate heroes willing to sacrifice their lives and souls on the altar of its survival. If the Helmsman has to save the galaxy singlehandedly, he's doomed to failure. Only by harnessing the heroism that already exists and forging humanity into an
indivisible whole can he hope to prevail.
Sink and Swim
Passage: Your Choice (Exalted, Age of Glory, HI) +0
Patronage: The Seraph +1 HF, The Forester (Mental & Spiritual Power) -1, The Mandarin (Forester) -1
Provision: Fisherman's Association Membership +1, A Debt +2, Victorious Ticket -3, Obols of Paradise (Water-Aspected Dragon-Blood) -1
Panoply: Shimmer of Possibility -1 HF
Diving straight into the deep end of the pool, this build adopts the eponymous approach to learning. Being on the front lines in the Age of Glory is guaranteed to be brutal, but with a time loop what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. I'll tear the Ticket after purchasing a Terrestrial Exaltation. Part of me wants to spend ten-thousand years trying to attract a Celestial one by doing what comes naturally with unmitigated Heroism during the Primordial War, but that's probably my inner Ilbgar talking. So I'm sticking with the one-Obol option; if it's not enough to make me Dragon-Blooded in this era I can switch Mandarin off of Forester, wasteful though that is.
How my conception of Heroism deals with ongoing atrocities in a time-loop'll be interesting, but the 'eh, they'll live in my perfect run' approach is unlikely to fly, so Spiritual Power's necessary to avoid burnout. On the plus side, with the added opportunities and learning bonus from Mental I'll grow rapidly. High interpretation Exalts have ridiculous potential, even the Terrestrials. Transcendent Gaian Harmony makes my starting Aspect mostly cosmetic, but Water is a good fit and thematically appropriate for a fisherman. I intend to put that bait and tackle to good use!
Ten thousand loops is a lot of training time and Shimmer progress can be retained between loops with the right form. I'd like wait for a good moment and preexisting powers before doing my Mother of Learning impression, but realistically I'll have to start a sub-loop after a successful stretch where I survive for a few years. Fortunately Essence seems like it should transfer without issues. Aurora Halo adepts can operate multiple bodies, which is where Sink and Swim gets really broken: can you say teamwork Charms? No single raindrop is as potent as the deluge in its entirety. I won't be a lone Exalt, but the proverbial Ten-Thousand Dragons acting as one.
With time, all things are possible. Perfect memory means mastery of every skill, knowledge of the location and nature of every Primordial's Fetich Soul. I'll jailbreak my Exaltation, master the Aurora Halo, then speedrun the Primordial War and exit the loop prepared to pay my debt. The creature that emerges on the far side may have more in common with the Yozis than his peers, their memories of mortality but a scant handful of years removed compared to the ocean of experience the leviathan possesses. But while this build's final form may be monstrous, Sink and Swim's commitment to Heroism is unwavering. With first-hand knowledge of the horrors perpetrated by the Primordials comes an enduring desire not to repeat their mistakes.
Other ideas: If Finitude Lacing doesn't break the Ticket in Exalted (time travel & resurrection being notoriously impossible), there's an alternate build that can reach eight Gifts without Overlord by dropping Forester, Mandarin, Seraph, and Shimmer. In exchange for amputating all that Patronage, I can take the Duchess' favor and get the Ticket in conjuction with a guaranteed Celestial Exaltation, making Letrizia useful at last! Alternatively, choose the Usurpation to tack Seraph and Shimmer back on to experience ten thousand renditions of the apocalyptic conflict that nearly broke Creation and almost certainly get optimized by Odyssial along the way. I'll call that Plan PTSD.
1139 words.
