Worm, a fantastic web serial, is owned by Wildbow. This quest will spoil a great deal - if not all - of the story, so if you haven't finished it already... go read it now! (Unless you don't care about spoilers, that is.)
Exalted, a delightful RPG system, is owned by White Wolf and CCP Games. Support the game by picking up a few PDFs on Drive-Thru RPG, would ya?
NAME: Enduring Order Administrator ALIASES: Taylor Anne Hebert (Human-form Name), Weaver (Cape Name) EXALTATION: Alchemical CASTE: Soulsteel ICONIC ANIMA: A towering Design Weaver (mecha-spider) puppeteering over a darkened world, framed by an infinite-fractal web of blue and black lightning. MOTIVATION: Win the Endbringer War ESSENCE:●●●○○ ATTRIBUTES: (Points in Red are from Augmentation Charms) - CASTE:
Ally (Accord) ●○○○○ Ally (Dragon) ●●●○○ Ally (Parian) ●○○○○ Backing (PRT) ●●●○○ Connections (PRT) ●●○○○ Eidolon/Past Lives ●●●○○ Equipment (Bezalel's Insect Drones) ●○○○○ [x12] Equipment (Tranquilizer Wasps) ●○○○○ [x 50] Equipment (Weaver Spiders) ●○○○○ [x 100] Equipment (Shearing Ants) ●○○○○ [x 25] Equipment (Spy Flies) ●○○○○ [x 200] Equipment (Dragonsuit Mk. XXVII) ●●○○○ Equipment (First Armor) ●●●○○ Equipment (Orange Drones) ●●○○○ [Protected x 1][Total x 1] Equipment (WCM's Hover Throne) ●●●○○ Familiar (Iris of Innovation) N/A Mentor (Autochthon) ●●●●● Reputation (Beautiful) ●●●●● "If we're going to make this new Iliad movie, we need convince Weaver to play Helen of Troy. The studios won't settle for anyone else." Reputation (Fashion Mogul) ●●○○○ "Did you see those shots on Versace's website? I hear Weaver might even have her own clothing line soon!" Reputation (Master Chef) ●○○○○ "I saw some rumors that Weaver's a goddess at cooking, too. Didn't she cook on that road trip to Philly?" Reputation (Ward) ●●●●● "Recruitment for Wards are already up 30% this month, and every one of them mentioned Weaver inspired them to stand up for what's right!" Resources ●●○○○
PURCHASABLE BACKGROUNDS:
*Ally (Wyld) ●●○○○ *Equipment (Tranquilizer Wasps) ●○○○○ *Equipment (Weaver Spiders) ●○○○○ *Equipment (Shearing Ants) ●○○○○ *Equipment (Spy Flies) ●○○○○ *Reputation (Master Chef) ●●○○○ "Wasn't that the Ward a bunch of shows on the Cooking Channel were talking about the other day?"
INTIMACIES: RED Intimacies have not been fully-established yet, and are not used for bonuses/negatives.
GREY Intimacies yield the normal bonuses/negatives until fully eroded.
Sleep: Rested
Mental Integrity: Oh Maker What Is That Smell
Wounds: None
Ailments: None
CHARACTER SHEET: FIRST PRAYER OF PERFECTION
NAME: First Prayer of Perfection ALIASES: Sirkalla Abeni Afolayan (Human-form Name), Marrow (Old Cape Name), Vajra (New Cape Name), Abeni Afolayan (PRT-Given Name) EXALTATION: Alchemical CASTE: Adamant ICONIC ANIMA: A crystalline moon, hovering over a darkened horizon and surrounded by an ever-shifting grid of stars. MOTIVATION: Prove worthy of the new life you have been given. ESSENCE:●●●○○ ATTRIBUTES: (Points in Red are from Augmentation Charms) - CASTE:
INTIMACIES: RED Intimacies have not been fully-established yet, and are not used for bonuses/negatives.
GREY Intimacies yield the normal bonuses/negatives until fully eroded.
Innocents (Protective Empathy) ●●●
Enemies of Case 53s (Barely-Restrained Fury) ●●●
Bladedancer/Kali (Love) ●●●
Chevalier/Robert (Affection) ●●●
Enduring Order Administrator (Familial Devotion) ●●●
Loom/Eliza (Righteous Condemnation) ●●●
Philadelphia Protectorate (Loyalty) ●●●
PRT (Strained Loyalty) ●●● Jack Slash (Divine Wrath) ●○○
Own Hair (Constant Adoration) ●○○
Strider/Kyo (Respect) ●○○
Willow (Sympathetic Respect) ●○○
VIRTUES:
Valor ●●●○○
Conviction ●●●○○
Compassion ●●●○○
Temperance ●●●●○
CLARITY:
Temporary: ●●●●○ ○○○○○ (-1 to non-Intimidate social rolls)
Permanent: ○○○○○ ○○○○○
NAME: Iris of Innovation ALIASES: Eye of Autochthon, Second Fetich Soul of Autochthon, The Black Eye, Mrs. Bearing MOTIVATION: Prove to everyone that you are the ultimate creation of the Great Maker, Autochthon. ESSENCE: Lots ATTRIBUTES:
ABILITIES: Lots, though most are unusable by a featureless sphere. SPIRIT CHARMS: Powers that work on a scale of "larger than a castle" and go up from there. BACKGROUNDS:
Autochthon (Paternal Exasperation/Concern) ●●●●
The Core (Jealousy/Pity) ●●●●
Autochthonians (Approval) ●●●●
Enduring Order Administrator (Familial Exasperation) ●●●●
VIRTUES:
Compassion ●●○○○
Conviction ●●●●○
Temperance ●○○○○
Valor ●●●●●
WILLPOWER:
Temporary: ●●●●● ●●●●●
Permanent: ●●●●● ●●●●●
MOTE POOL:
Respiration: Whoops
Available: Nope
HEALTH:
Sleep: Inefficient
Mental Integrity: NULL
Wounds: Never
Ailments: Being A Sphere
HISTORY:
The Eye of Autochthon was renowned through Creation as the most powerful magic item known, for the Primordial Autochthon itself created it. Through the Eye, mortals could tap a tiny fraction of a power older than the world or gods or time itself - if they dared.
The Eye of Autochthon's natural form looks like an immense black pearl, so large that a hero might strain to wrap his arms around it. Its ebon luster draws the eye into limitless depths of dark radiance, a void that could birth worlds. While no force - human, natural or divine - could so much as scratch the Eye's surface, in Creation's First Age some unknown agency clamped the great globe into a tight-fitting nest of three gimbaled rings so that the Eye could turn freely in all directions. These rings are gone now, instead having been replaced by a mechanism-laden 'sheath' detailed to look like the world-body of Autochthon himself - including its ability to shift and reshape itself into a massive, mechanical eye.
No one since the First Age has owned the Eye long enough to fathom all it's mysteries. Before the fall of Creation, the sages of the Immaculate Order knew at least this much: the mere presence of the Eye quells all disturbances of land, sea, air and Essence for a league around it. The earth does not quake. Storms and waves calm. The Wyld itself subsides and stabilizes. Fair Folk wither and die in minutes if they enter the Eye's zone of power. The few trustworthy accounts of the Eye also tell of other powers that the Eye granted to owners who could weave the threads of Essence, with all sharing one common thread: while the power of the Eye is unmatched, so too are the disasters it leaves in its wake.
Six centuries ago, the sorcerer Bagrash Köl used the Eye to wrest a demense from the northern Wyld. He built a citadel so tall that its towers need gates to let the moon pass through, and enslaved thousands of peasants and barbarians to populate his kingdom. Five years later, dozens of terror-maddened men and women appeared in the northern Threshold kingdoms. They said that Bragrash Köl's kingdom had met a strange and nameless doom. Many sought the kingdom of Bagrash Köl in hopes of looting his treasures, but no one ever found his citadel - or if they did, they never returned.
Five centuries ago, the Grand Satrap Manosque Viridian found the Eye and sought to usurp the Empress. Through Lord Viridian's command of the Eye, the Manses of power that defend the Realm shut down, denying their use to the Empress and their legitimate owners. The legions of House Manosque were only three days' march from the Imperial capital when the day darkened to blackest night and - so the survivors said - Lord Viridian and half his army fell into the sky. The Empress subsequently killed every remaining member of House Manosque, even though they were of her own blood. She did not obtain the Eye, though.
Two centuries ago, the Eye turned up in the hands of the Southlands prophet Ikerre, who proclaimed a crusade against all the forces of chaos. Ikerre's cult of Autochthon decimated the Fair Folk of the south and cleansed two shadowlands. When the Imperial legions came to wrest the eye from Ikerre, however, they found the prophet and her caravan entirely turned to crystal - but not a trace of the Eye.
The reasons for the Eye's troubled past are explained by its most recent appearance on Earth-Bet: the Eye of Autochthon is, and always has been, sapient. Even more troubling, it has been revealed (by itself) to be the second Fetich Soul of Autochthon. Now possessing a method by which to communicate, it refers to itself as the Iris of Innovation - its previous name the result of a failed translation by the Solar who first discovered it.
QUEST EXPERIENCE LOGS
CURRENT UNSPENT EXPERIENCE: Assembly XP may be spent on any character.
Enduring Order Administrator: 1 XP
First Prayer of Perfection: 2 XP
Assembly: 16 XP
TOTAL SPENT EXPERIENCE:
Enduring Order Administrator: 364 XP
First Prayer of Perfection: 43 XP
EOA EXPERIENCE LOG:
- 3 XP - Willpower ●●●●● ●●●○○ (2.2)
- 3 XP - Compassion ●●●○○ (2.2)
- 4 XP - Presence ●●○○○ (2.2)
- 2 XP - Craft (Air) (2.2)
- 2 XP - Craft (Fire) (2.2)
- 4 XP - Lore ●●●●○ (2.2)
- 3 XP - Backing (PRT) ●○○○○ (2.3)
- 4 XP - Bureaucracy ●○○○○ (2.4)
- 3 XP - Backing (PRT) ●●○○○ (2.5)
- 4 XP - Occult ●●○○○ (2.6)
- 4 XP - Awareness ●●●●○ (3.1)
- 2 XP - Awareness (Swarms ●○○) (3.1)
- 4 XP - War ●●●●○ (3.1)
- 2 XP - War (Swarms ●○○) (3.1)
- 3 XP - Willpower ●●●●● ●●●●○ (3.1)
- 3 XP - Willpower ●●●●● ●●●●● (3.1) [NOW AT MAX]
- 17 XP - Familiar (Eye of Autochthon) ●●●●●(N/A) (3.3)
- 4 XP - Craft ●●●○○ (3.3)
- 2 XP - Craft (Water) ●●●○○ (3.3)
- 4 XP - Socialize ●○○○○ (3.4)
- 4 XP - Presence ●●●○○ (3.4)
- 4 XP - Linguistics (English) ●○○○○ (3.5)
- 3 XP - Temperance ●●○○○ (3.6)
- 3 XP - Connections (PRT) ●○○○○ (3.6)
- 2 XP - Craft (Swarms ●○○) (3.7)
- 2 XP - Awareness (Swarms ●●○) (3.7)
- 4 XP - War ●●●●● (4.1) [NOW AT MAX]
- 9 XP - Reputation (Ward) ●●●○○ (4.1)
- 4 XP - Awareness ●●●●● (4.1) [NOW AT MAX]
- 2 XP - Presence (Swarms ●○○) (4.1)
- 2 XP - Lore (Parahumans ●○○) (4.1)
- 2 XP - War (Swarms ●●○) (4.3)
- 2 XP - Lore (Parahumans ●●○) (4.3)
- 2 XP - Athletics (Power Armor ●○○) (4.3)
- 4 XP - Dodge ●○○○○ (4.4)
- 2 XP - Awareness (Swarms ●●●) (4.4) [NOW AT MAX]
- 4 XP - Athletics ●●●●○ (4.4)
- 4 XP - Occult ●●●○○ (4.4)
- 2 XP - War (Swarms ●●●) (4.4) [NOW AT MAX]
- 2 XP - Presence (Swarms ●●○) (4.5)
- 4 XP - Investigation ●●●●○ (4.5)
- 2 XP - War (Parahumans ●○○) (4.5)
- 2 XP - Lore (Endbringers ●○○) (4.5)
- 4 XP - Lore ●●●●● (4.5) [NOW AT MAX]
- 2 XP - Athletics (Power Armor ●●○) (4.5)
- 4 XP - Presence ●●●●○ (4.6)
- 2 XP - Investigation (Swarms ●○○) (4.6)
- 2 XP - Investigation (Swarms ●●○) (4.7)
- 4 XP - Reputation (Ward) ●●●●○ (5.1)
- 2 XP - Socialize (Swarms ●○○) (5.1)
- 3 XP - Resources ●○○○○ (5.1)
- 2 XP - Occult (Autochthon ●○○) (5.2)
- 2 XP - Survival (Swarms ●○○) (5.2)
- 3 XP - Connections (PRT) ●●○○○ (5.2)
- 4 XP - Integrity ●●●●○ (5.2)
- 2 XP - Investigation (Online Research ●○○) (5.3)
- 9 XP - Reputation (Beautiful) ●●●○○ (5.3)
- 4 XP - Socialize ●●○○○ (5.5)
- 3 XP - Backing (PRT) ●●●○○ (5.5)
- 4 XP - Bureaucracy ●●○○○ (5.6)
- 4 XP - Craft ●●●●○ (5.6)
- 4 XP - Medicine ●○○○○ (5.6)
- 4 XP - Performance ●○○○○ (5.7)
- 2 XP - Integrity (Mental Trauma ●○○) (5.7)
- 4 XP - Reputation (Ward) ●●●●● (6.2) [NOW AT MAX]
- 4 XP - Reputation (Beautiful) ●●●●○ (6.2)
- 4 XP - Dodge ●●○○○ (6.3)
- 4 XP - Presence ●●●●● (6.4) [NOW AT MAX]
- 6 XP - Ally (Dragon) ●●○○○ (6.5)
- 3 XP - Ally (Dragon) ●●●○○ (6.6)
- 2 XP - Investigation (Reading People ●○○) (6.6)
- 2 XP - Occult (Souls ●○○) (6.6)
- 3 BP - Intelligence ●●●●○ (6.6) [LEFTOVER FROM CHARACTER CREATION]
- 3 XP - Ally (Parian) ●○○○○ (6.7)
- 4 XP - Investigation ●●●●● (6.7)
- 3 XP - Resources ●●○○○ (6.7)
- 4 XP - Bureaucracy ●●●○○ (7.1)
- 4 XP - Performance ●●○○○ (7.1)
- 3 XP - Ally (Accord) ●○○○○ (7.1)
- 4 XP - Linguistics (Computer) ●●○○○ (7.1)
- 4 XP - Stealth ●○○○○ (7.1)
- 4 XP - Occult ●●●●○ (7.2)
- 4 XP - Socialize ●●●○○ (7.2)
- 2 XP - Linguistics (Specialty: American English) (7.2)
- 2 XP - Craft (Replication ●○○) (7.3)
- 2 XP - Lore (Autochthonia ●○○) (7.3)
- 2 XP - Investigation (Online Research ●●○) (7.3)
- 4 XP - Craft ●●●●● (7.4)
- 2 XP - Investigation (Swarms ●●●) (7.4)
- 6 XP - Reputation (Fashion Mogul) ●●○○○ (7.4)
- 4 XP - Reputation (Beautiful) ●●●●● (7.4)
- 2 XP - Medicine (Diagnostics ●○○) (7.4)
- 2 XP - Bureaucracy (Materiel Invoices ●○○) (7.4)
- 2 XP - Craft (Swarms ●●○) (7.4)
- 2 XP - Dodge (Overwhelming Opponents ●○○) (7.4)
- 2 XP - Performance (Teaching ●○○) (7.5)
- 3 XP - Reputation (Master Chef) ●○○○○ (7.5)
- 6 XP - Artifact (Dragonsuit) ●●○○○ (7.7)
- 2 XP - Lore (Artificial Intelligence ●○○) (7.7)
- 4 XP - Dodge ●●●○○ (8.1)
- 4 XP - Medicine ●●○○○ (8.1)
- 2 XP - War (Parahumans ●●○) (8.1)
- 2 XP - Presence (Swarms ●●●) (8.1)
- 3 XP - Equipment (Bezalel's Insect Drones) ●○○○○ (8.1)
- 2 XP - Craft (Drones ●○○) (8.1)
- 2 XP - Archery/Firearms (Sniping ●○○) (8.1)
- 6 XP - Equipment (Orange Drones) ●●○○○ (8.2)
- 6 XP - Dexterity ●●●○○ (8.2)
- 4 XP - Athletics ●●●●● (8.2)
FPoP EXPERIENCE LOG:
- 4 XP - Linguistics (English) ●●○○○ (7.1)
- 16 XP - Stealth ●●●●○ (7.1)
- 13 XP - Resources ●●●●○ (7.5)
- 2 XP - Craft (Shards ●○○) (7.7)
- 4 XP - Occult ●○○○○ (7.7)
- 4 XP - Craft ●○○○○ (8.1)
Traits of 1-5 are 'Mortal' in capability.
- Trait 0 - Completely Awful/Unskilled, makes common and easily avoidable mistakes. Mortals suffer the Unskilled Penalty (-2 dice)
- Trait 1 - Novice/Below Average. Knows the most basic of basics.
- Trait 2 - Human Average. The gifted amateur or the niche talent resides here.
- Trait 3 - Professional. You use this skill in your career or daily life.
- Trait 4 - Reputable. You are the master in which others flock to for apprenticeships. Traditions are established under your tutelage and prowess. You are known within your field.
- Trait 5 - Peak Human Capacity/Skill. You are known in your field as one of the best there is at what you do. You are known outside of your field as the one of the best.
Scale: In Creation (where Exalted powers originated), trait ratings at 4 are rare, while ratings of 5 are almost unheard of and meant to be exceptions. As a Fictional Earth example: Helen of Troy was Appearance 5, and there was only one of woman as beautiful as she known throughout the whole region.
Cities in Creation are 10,000 people, maybe upwards of 20,000+ with exceptions like Nexus and the Imperial City being 100,000 or more.
Earth-Bet, however, is vastly more connected due to the Internet, International Television, Magazines, etc.; while Traits at 4/5 aren't more common, they're just more exposed by media and reputation.
Allies are your character's close friends and trusted companions. Unlike followers, allies are never extras. Most are either Exalted (of any type), small gods, Fair Folk or other magical beings that are typically at least as powerful as one of the Terrestrial Exalted. Alternatively, they might be exotic beings such as intelligent animals, or exceptionally skilled and powerful mortals such as the masterful thaumaturges, wealthy nobles, crime lords, or Guild factors. Characters don't have to buy the Allies Background to represent the rest of their circle - allies are always Storyteller characters. Also, allies are independent people with their own lives and goals. If your character asks for aid but does not provide any in return, her allies will soon desert her. Allies do what they can to help your character, but they won't risk their lives for any but the most important causes - possibly, not even then. Allies asking for help can make for fun roleplaying.
Trait Effects:
Each dot in this background typically represents one ally approximately equal in power to a starting character. More powerful allies require higher ratings. Depending upon both her score in this Background and the power of the allies, your character can have between one and five allies.
There is no limit to the number of points of Allies purchasable, so multiple Allies with levels of three or higher can be possessed. Additionally, the rating of an Ally is not necessarily their true power rating, but rather how much power they are willing to lend to your cause - earning more favor with an Ally can result in being able to increase their rating as they grow more willing to put their weight behind you.
BACKGROUND: BACKING
Your character is an important member of an organization, such as a government, an army, the Guild, or a powerful organized crime syndicate such as the Lintha Family. The higher your character's Backing, the higher her rank is in this organization. At your Storyteller's discretion, you may take Backing multiple times for rank in different organizations. However, if your character has a high Backing, she is likely to be responsible for decisions involving great numbers of people and resources. And if she neglects her duties she can expect demotion - or worse.
Trait Effects:
●○○○○ - Your character is a lower officer or a minor functionary.
●●○○○ - Your character is a mid-level officer, the head of a small department or some similarly intermediate position.
●●●○○ - Your character is moderately powerful and has many people working under her.
●●●●○ - Your character is extremely powerful and typically is only one or two rungs down from the people in charge of her organization.
●●●●● - Your character is one of the leaders of her organization, a general or admiral, a Guild Factor, one of the Lintha Family's fathers or mothers, et cetera.
Backing is taken for each specific organization. For example, since Taylor is a Junior Ward she qualifies for Backing (PRT) 2. Should she eventually reach full Ward status, she could get to rank 3. Protectorate membership allows for rank 4, with rank 5 only for regional Protectorate leaders (what Armsmaster and Miss Militia are right now).
BACKGROUND: CONNECTIONS
Both the Realm and Lookshy are complex societies, with well-developed webs of institutions, cliques, foundations and social clubs. The ability to use those webs for one's personal benefit is a powerful one. Characters with connections can guide society in the direction they wish it to move and grow, protecting their assets or gaining special favors. Such ability also requires a serious investment of time and resources, though. Therefore, Dragon-Blooded must focus their attentions on certain areas of influence in order to fully manipulate any of the Realm's labyrinthine social structures. Each area of influence (detailed below) is essentially a separate Background. A character can develop Connections (Military) 4, Connections (Gens Maheka) 2, Connections (Scavenger Lands Outlaws) 2 and Connections (Intelligence) 2, or Connections (House of Bells) 5, Connections (Military) 3 and Connections (Intelligence) 2, for example. Connections are direction (North, South, East, West, Blessed Isle) specific, as few have webs of influence far-reaching enough to cover all of Creation. Like many social Backgrounds, connections are a two-way street. Characters with ties to the House of Bells, for example, might be asked to provide detailed accounts of unique battles or to sit a term as guest lecturers on some topic in which they are well versed. Failing to reciprocate when asked for favors or information can result in this Background degrading or being lost altogether.
Note that this Background serves the same function as both the Contacts and Influence Backgrounds in the main Exalted rulebook.
Trait Effects:
○○○○○ (None) - You lack any ties to the group in question.
●○○○○ - You possess at least one major contact (and a handful of minor ones) in the group and are moderately influential on the local level.
●●○○○ - Two major contacts and several minor ones within your area of influence, giving you a great deal of pull in your city.
●●●○○ - Three major contacts and a large number of minor ones, making you a person of importance within your region.
●●●●○ - Five major contacts and a horde of lesser ones. You are one of the most influential people in the region.
●●●●● - You know all of the major power players in your area of influence, and more importantly, they not only know who you are, but listen to you as well.
As further detailed in the Dragon-Blooded manual, Connections is purchased for a specific 'Area of Influence', which are usually discreet organizations but can also be general groups or fields. Example Connections are the PRT, Academics, Finance, Medical, Media, Gesellschaft, Supervillains, Rogues, Superheroes, etc.
BACKGROUND: EIDOLON
For some Alchemicals, memory-echoes of more than simply past heroism endure into their present incarnation. They remember quiet moments spent with friends and lovers, the tedium of daily labor or other defining moments of their previous lives as heroic mortals. Moreover, such Alchemicals can learn to immerse themselves in these memories, reliving the experience of wearing mortal skin and living a mortal life. An Alchemical with this Background draws on her brightest and strongest memories from her past lives to simulate the effects of a meaningful scene of human contact (see "Losing Clarity," p. 110), with the same mechanical benefits, a number of times per story equal to her rating in this Background.
Trait Effects:
○○○○○ (None) - Either your character retains no special connection to her previous lives, or she has embraced the machine wholeheartedly.
●○○○○ - If she strains, your character can remember the faces of a few past lovers.
●●○○○ - With a bit of effort, your character can match names to the faces of some of her friends and children from previous incarnations.
●●●○○ - Incidents in daily Autochthonian life often remind your character of quiet moments in her former lives.
●●●●○ - When she sleeps, your character relives memories from centuries ago as often as any other sort of dream, and usually with great vividness.
●●●●● - Your character has almost complete recall of several of her most notable incarnations and remembers significant emotional moments from most others.
Autochthon has improved upon the technique he used to forge soulgems for his first eight champions, allowing for Alchemicals from Earth-Bet to have perfect memory of their lives with only three points in the Eidolon background. More points of the background may be purchased later, allowing for more uses in a week to stave off Clarity, but no further memory improvements will be gained.
BACKGROUND: FAMILIAR
The only fully organic creatures in Autochthonia are humans, rats, and roaches. This lack of biological diversity does not prevent the Alchemical Exalted from obtaining loyal pets and companions, however. The Divine Ministers and their subgods frequently reward service to the greater harmony of Autochthonia with access to this Background. A Champion with such authorization may use a formal prayer-requisition to ask for a familiar to be issued to him, and given time, the mechanical wilderness of the Reaches responds. An Alchemical may have only one familiar at a time. If his current familiar is slain, or if he formally releases it from his service, then he may requisition a replacement after 25 hours have passed. Familiars may be requisitioned from anywhere in Autochthonia or Creation, though it takes appreciably longer for a summoned companion to reach a character in Creation.
The Alchemical's player is able to define the parameters of his character's familiar, up to the limitations of his rating in the Background. The Exalt may share one of his familiar's senses whenever it is within (the Alchemical's Essence x 10) yards. The familiar has an unerring instinct that tells it which direction its master is relative to itself at all times, and it is perfectly loyal to the Exalt, following his every command to the best of its abilities.
Trait Effects:
○○○○○ (None) - Either your character has no desire for companionship or he has performed no feats to impress the spirits of Autochthonia.
●○○○○ - Your character may requisition a minor mechanical servant, the artificial equivalent of a bird or squirrel. This servant can perform one useful function and possesses Intelligence no greater than ●. It is most likely incapable of any form of communication other than clicks and beeps (treat as a tribal dialect). Such a familiar arrives within an hour of being requisitioned.
●●○○○ - Your character's summoned construct is either smarter (Intelligence ●●) and capable of rudimentary communication in Autochthonic, or it's larger and more dangerous, roughly equivalent to a guard dog. Intelligent servants have two unique, useful functions, while combat servants possess one. The familiar arrives within three hours.
●●●○○ - Your character may requisition a companion up to his own size. Smaller, more intelligent familiars may have Intelligence as high as ●●●, with up to three useful abilities. Larger constructs possess one useful ability but might be either large enough to act as steeds or as fierce in combat as a great cat. The familiar appears within a day of the Exalt's summons.
●●●●○ - All constructs at this level possess at least Intelligence ●● and may begin mixing functions. Steeds may be as combat-capable as a simhata, for example, or might possess Intelligence ●●● and be capable of telepathic communication with the Exalt within sense-sharing range. Dedicated utility familiars are likely to possess a wide array of useful skills, while dedicated travel companions possess at least one exotic mode of travel. (Flight, amphibious mobility and wall-running are common examples.) Combat familiars are clockwork nightmares of armor and articulated blades. A servant of this quality must be custom-built for the Exalt and requires a week to arrive.
●●●●● - Your character may requisition a unique Essence 3 mechanical god, complete with an array of custom abilities and Charms. Complete rules for building such a being from the ground up may be found in The Books of Sorcery, Vol. IV—The Roll of Glorious Divinity I. Such a wonder of divine artifice takes up to a month to appear.
The Iris of Innovation, as a Familiar of N/A rank, comes with its own set of rules.
- Iris in Elsewhere: Normal respiration
- Iris (Focused Form), within SoPA* range: Respiration reduced by 1, to 3/hour. Stunts regain normal amounts of essence.
- Iris (Focused Form), outside SoPA range: Respiration reduced by 2, to 2/hour. Stunts regain half their normal amounts of essence.
- Iris (True Form), within SoPA range: Respiration stopped, essence drained by 1/minute starting from Peripheral essence. If no essence can be drained, Willpower is instead drained by 1/minute. Stunts only regain Willpower.
- Iris (True Form), outside SoPA range: Respiration stopped, essence drained by 5/minute starting from Peripheral essence, and Willpower is also drained by 1/minute. Stunts no longer regain essence or Willpower.
NOTE: If no essence or Willpower can be drained, the Familiar bond temporarily breaks and Iris becomes inert. The Familiar bond can be re-established by moving Iris into range of SoPA and allowing him to instantly drain at least 10 motes of essence or 1 Willpower.
*SoPA = Shard of Perfect Administration charm
BACKGROUND: INFLUENCE
In time, almost every Exalt becomes famous. The Background reflects your character's pull and status in society and her political power. This status could derive from political office, being an entertainer, a religious figure, or openly living as one of the Chosen. Regardless of reasons, people pay attention to her words and deeds. Influence can be used to garner favors from others, to promote a personal agenda in public, or just to bask in the glow of fame. This Background doesn't cover formal rank in any organization - that's Backing.
Trait Effects:
●○○○○ - You have some local fame in your town or in one district of a metropolis.
●●○○○ - Your character is well-known in her home city-state or satrapy.
●●●○○ - Your character's fame and power have spread even to neighboring states. The Dragon-Blooded know of her.
●●●●○ - Your character's words carry great weight throughout much of an entire quarter of Creation, and she might rule a town or small city. The Wyld Hunt will soon arrive to destroy her.
●●●●● - Your character rules an entire nation or has great pull in several. The Realm will soon gather armies to annihilate her.
This background is effectively "Fame", and conveys a more broad sense of power and authority than is given by a position in any specific organization. Alexandria, for instance, has Influence 5 not just because she's in the Protectorate but because of her power and deeds.
BACKGROUND: MENTOR
Although most Chosen meet their new life without a guide, your character found one. This mentor is a patron, a teacher, a defender, and a friend. Yet although she always acts in what she sees as your character's best interests, your mentor expects your character to obey her (or at least to listen to her). Your character is your mentor's student, ward, or apprentice, not her equal. However, this relationship need not be without conflict, and it can be the subject of much in-depth roleplaying.
A mentor can be one of the Exalted, an important prince or Guild Factor, or even a god or one of the Fair Folk. In addition to providing advice and assistance, your mentor may also teach Abilities, Charms, and possible even sorcery. Occasionally, she might also save your character from some dire fate. Characters who require such aid too often annoy their mentors and will be discipline for overly-reckless behavior.
Trait Effects:
●○○○○ - Your character's mentor is just a bit more worldly and wise than your character.
●●○○○ - Your character's mentor is a figure of some note or an exceedingly important individual who has little time for your character.
●●●○○ - Your character's mentor is wise, influential, and is considerably more powerful than your character.
●●●●○ - Your character's mentor is an exceedingly important individual whose words and deeds can shape the course of nations.
●●●●● - Your character's mentor is exceedingly powerful, and he takes a great interest in your character's welfare. However, he expects both obeisance and greatness from your character, and he likely has powerful enemies who might attack you to get to him.
Autochthon, the Primordial Great Maker, has chosen you to be the first of his new Champions in this strange new universe. He is extremely limited in how he can aid you directly due to Plot-related issues, but the attention and aid of a Primordial is certain to aid you in reshaping this universe to rescue him from mortality. He may also have enemies of his own...
BACKGROUND: REPUTATION
Dragon-Blooded society is tightly knit, even incestuous—especially among the Dynasty—with news and gossip traveling at lightning speed. As a result, a character's notable exploits that she doesn't take pains to conceal will soon become well known by both her peers and the Dynasty, if not the Realm as a whole. This reputation can be positive or negative (or even both at once), and it affects the way others view your character. In situations the Storyteller deems it appropriate, a character may add her Reputation rating to her dice pool when making social rolls. In situations where the reputation is a liability, the character subtracts an equal number of dice.
It is important for the player and the Storyteller to work together to create as much detail as possible for the character's Reputation, as these details influence how and when the Background comes into play. If a character has a reputation for bedding every Dragon-Blood in the city, that reputation might help get him invited to important social gatherings, but it's not going to help him during negotiations to buy a sailing ship. A general with a reputation for offering fair treatment to foes who surrender without a fight will find it easier to negotiate the surrender of opposing forces, especially if she also has a reputation for merciless brutality against any who dare stand against her. A reputation need not necessarily be true. A coward might luck into becoming known as a war hero, while a shady swindler could have the reputation as the most honest merchant in the city.
Trait Effects:
○○○○○ (None) - You have yet to make a name for yourself.
●○○○○ - You're well known in your set. (City)
●●○○○ - Your name is bandied about in your part of the Dynasty. (State)
●●●○○ - Everyone in the Dynasty knows well your legend. (Region)
●●●●○ - Tales of your exploits have spread across the Realm. (Country)
●●●●● - Your legend has preceded you even to the far corners of the Threshold. (World)
Due to the Internet/social media, popular TV, magazines, and newspapers, the world of Earth-Bet is even more connected than the Dynasty-controlled Realm. Reputation is taken individually for something noteworthy about yourself, such as being a Ward, your peak-of-human-capability Beauty, or (should it ever be discovered) your existence as an Alchemical Exalt...
BACKGROUND: RESOURCES
Resources are valuable goods whose disposition your character controls. These assets may be actual cash, but as this Background increases, they're more likely to be investments, property, or earning capital of some sort — land, industrial assets, stocks and bonds, commercial inventories, criminal infrastructure, contraband, even taxes or tithes. Remember that vampires don't need to arrange for any food except blood and their actual needs (as opposed to wants) for shelter are very easily accommodated. Resources for vampires go mostly to pay for luxuries and the associated expenses of developing and maintaining Status, Influence, and other Backgrounds. A character with no dots in Resources may have enough clothing and supplies to get by, or she may be destitute and squatting in a refrigerator box under an overpass.
You receive a basic allowance each month based on your rating, so be certain to detail exactly where this money comes from, be it a job, trust fund or dividends. (Storytellers, decide for your locality and any relevant time period what an appropriate amount of cash this monthly allowance is.) After all, a Kindred's fortune may well run out over the course of the chronicle, depending on how well he maintains it. You can also sell your less liquid resources if you need the cash, but this can take weeks or even months, depending on what exactly you're trying to sell. Art buyers don't just pop out of the woodwork, after all.
Players may purchase Resources for their characters with pooled Background points.
Trait Effects:
●○○○○ - Sufficient. You can maintain a typical residence in the style of the working class with stability, even if spending sprees come seldom.
●●○○○ - Moderate. You can display yourself as a member in good standing of the middle class, with the occasional gift and indulgence seemly for a person of even higher station. You can maintain a servant or hire specific help as necessary. A fraction of your resources are available in cash, readily portable property (like jewelry or furniture), and other valuables (such as a car or modest home) that let you maintain a standard of living at the one-dot level wherever you happen to be, for up to six months.
●●●○○ - Comfortable. You are a prominent and established member of your community, with land and an owned dwelling, and you have a reputation that lets you draw on credit at very generous terms. You likely have more tied up in equity and property than you do in ready cash. You can maintain a one-dot quality of existence wherever you are without difficulty, for as long as you choose.
●●●●○ - Wealthy. You rarely touch cash, as most of your assets exist in tangible forms that are themselves more valuable and stable than paper money. You hold more wealth than many of your local peers (if they can be called such a thing). When earning your Resources doesn't enjoy your usual degree of attention, you can maintain a three-dot existence for up to a year, and a two-dot existence indefinitely.
●●●●● - Extremely Wealthy. You are the model to which others strive to achieve, at least in the popular mind. Television shows, magazine spreads, and gossip websites speculate about your clothing, the appointments of your numerous homes, and the luxury of your modes of transportation. You have vast and widely distributed assets, perhaps tied to the fates of nations, each with huge staffs and connections to every level of society through a region. You travel with a minimum of three-dot comforts, more with a little effort. Corporations and governments sometimes come to you to buy into stocks or bond programs.
Taylor isn't a Vampire, so that clearly doesn't apply, and we don't have Pooled Backgrounds (a Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition mechanic). For our purposes, the PRT-provided salary, living spaces, and Tinker resources are covered by the Backing background, so Resources covers any financials and materials outside of what the PRT provides... which means this represents assets/funds the PRT does not control or oversee.
CLARITY MECHANICS/EXPLANATION:
While the designs for the Chosen of Autochthon were drawn up before any other Exalted, no Alchemicals were actually created until after the Great Maker exiled himself from Creation. As such, the Great Curse of the Neverborn never fell on them. Instead, the Alchemical Exalted must deal with a trait known as Clarity. Not a curse as such, Clarity is an intrinsic design element of Alchemicals. Formed of a human soul and an artificial body, each Alchemical is held in suspended tension between his intrinsic humanity and the cold logic of the machine. Clarity is the measure of this balance.
Clarity is a draining of human imperfection and the ascension of precise, calculating logic. It is not sociopathy. Regardless of his Clarity, an Alchemical retains his essential Motivation and those Intimacies that manage to survive the streamlining of his priorities that results from an increase of Clarity. The logic so cherished by high-Clarity Alchemicals is a means, not an end in and of itself.
A Clarified Exalt intent on improving working conditions for the Populat in his nation will continue to pursue that goal. He simply begins regarding those on whose behalf he labors as bundles of safety/morale statistics to be improved, rather than people. A high-Clarity military commander will spend the lives of his soldiers without hesitation, but only after carefully calculating cost against benefit. Squandering valuable resources is senseless. A Clarified medic allocates supplies in such a way as to save the greatest possible number of lives. Upon deeming a patient beyond aid, he calmly administers euthanasia so that body and soulgem may be recycled and reallocates resources to those patients who can be cured. His bedside manner suffers, but the goal of treating the sick remains.
Where reward is productive, a clarified Alchemical applies it. If punishment best brings the Exalt closer to his goals, he dispenses it dispassionately. Should violence prove necessary, the Alchemical resorts to it without hesitation, but only to the degree circumstances require. Sadism, carnage and excess of any sort are wasteful and inefficient. Clarity abhors inefficiency.
GAINING CLARITY
There are two kinds of Clarity: permanent and temporary points. Permanent points of Clarity cannot be removed as long as the conditions that produced them remain in place. Temporary Clarity fluctuates according to behavior and situation. Characters may gain Clarity in the following ways: • Transhuman Essence: Alchemicals gain one point of permanent Clarity for each dot of Essence they possess over five. • Suppressing Virtues: Whenever an Alchemical spends a point of Willpower to suppress a Virtue he possesses at 3+, he gains a point of temporary Clarity. Alchemicals may automatically fail any Virtue roll without paying Willpower by accepting two points of Clarity instead. • Forsaking Humanity: Alchemicals gain a point of temporary Clarity after spending a full week without meaningful, nonviolent human contact of any kind. Other Alchemical Exalted do not count as humans for this purpose. • Charms: Charms with the Exemplar keyword bestow permanent Clarity while they are installed. Some Charms grant temporary Clarity when they are invoked, as well. See Chapter Five for more details.
LOSING CLARITY
Unlike Limit, Clarity does not "break" at 10 points. Gains in excess of this total are simply ignored. As mentioned, permanent Clarity can be lost only by removing the situation that produced it (usually by removing an Exemplar Charm). Temporary Clarity, however, can be removed in two ways. • Human Contact: At the end of a scene in which the Alchemical meaningfully interacts with normal humans, roll Compassion (applying penalties according to current Clarity). Add one bonus die to this roll if the Alchemical bears an emotional Intimacy toward any of the humans with whom she interacted. If the roll is successful, the Exalt loses one point of temporary Clarity. On a botch, the Alchemical's alienation deepens, and she gains a point of temporary Clarity. Only one point of Clarity may be lost in this manner each day. • Embracing Virtue: Whenever the Alchemical spends a point of Willpower to channel a Virtue, he loses a point of temporary Clarity.
EFFECTS OF CLARITY
Rising Clarity erodes an Alchemical's ability to empathize with humans, even as it attunes her to the alien logical processes of her Primordial patron and his component souls. This is a gradual process with several recognizable stages, each with its associated benefits and drawbacks.
0–2: The Alchemical's thought processes and behavior seem as ordinary and human as her traits would indicate.
3–4: The Exalt grows notably colder, though not inhumanly so. She seems faintly impatient with and disdainful toward mortal failings. In general, she has less time for people. All social rolls not pertaining to intimidation suffer a -1 internal penalty, unless the Alchemical is interacting with an Autochthonian spirit, automaton or Alchemical of equal or greater Clarity. In those instances, the Exalt enjoys a +1 situational bonus die. Compassion rolls suffer a -1 internal penalty. The senselessness of broad emotional commitments becomes obvious at this level of Clarity, restricting the Alchemical's available range of Intimacies. She may not retain emotional Intimacies toward broad social groups (as opposed to narrow ones—the Delzahn, children or the inhabitants of a certain city would be purged, while the National Tripartite Assembly of Yugash, the Council of Entities or the character's assembly would not). Intimacies toward groups that directly support her Motivation or are of regular material benefit or hindrance to the Alchemical remain unaffected.
5–7: The Alchemical's movements and speech become clipped and laconic for greater efficiency. She no longer pities mortals for their imperfections, correctly recognizing pity as a waste of cognitive function. In short, she is notably inhuman. Emotional needs are taken into account only for motivational purposes. Mistakes meet with prompt chastisement and punishment if possible, or the prompt filing of disciplinary reports with the defective mortal's superiors otherwise. The thrum and boom of distant gears sometimes impresses itself on the Alchemical in her dreams. All bonuses and penalties from the previous stage double at this level. The Alchemical may no longer sustain emotional Intimacies to broad social groups at all. Such Intimacies may remain only if they are valued for strategic import alone. Antagonistic Intimacies at this level of Clarity may be sustained only if the subject of the Intimacy is a serious, ongoing threat to the Alchemical or her goals. Emotional Intimacies of friendship may be retained only if this friendship is of material benefit to the Alchemical.
8–9: The Exalt has progressed beyond humanity, able to look back on it as a necessary but regrettably imperfect phase of her evolution. When absolutely necessary, she can present a façade of polite courtesy to facilitate expedient interaction with less enlightened minds. Her dreams are full of the crystalline hum of the Machine God's logic processes, and this stream of autonomic data sometimes impresses itself on her waking mind. Internal penalties and bonuses rise to three dice, and the Exalt gains a situational bonus die to all Mental Attribute or Temperance rolls involving memory, analytical deduction or dispassionate self-control. The Alchemical may now retain emotional Intimacies of friendship only if such ties directly support her Motivation. Intimacies based on love disappear at this range of Clarity unless the relationship is of material benefit to the Alchemical.
10: The Alchemical's voice carries occasional undertones of multilayered harmony, indicating her perfect synchronization with the Design of Autochthon. Her eyes are glassy, amorally regarding the world as an array of pure variables swirling around the goals she has set for herself. Humans receive no more consideration or priority in such calculations than any other piece of data. Social penalties and bonuses rise to four dice, while mental bonuses rise to three dice. All Compassion rolls made for the Exalt automatically fail. The Alchemical may sustain no emotional Intimacies at all. Groups, objects, nations and individuals are valued only for their utility in fulfilling the Exalt's Motivation. Grand Autocrat Kerok of Yugash might be retained as an Intimacy, for example, but only because he is an unusually effective leader and policy maker, and extraordinary measures should thus be taken to see that he is preserved.
The primordial Autochthon's first attempt at converting an Entity's shard into an essence-based mechanical spirit, the former Administrator shard was an overwhelming success in almost all of the right ways. As the shard itself counted as the 'tool' of another master, Autochthon - in his dream-fugue - was stymied by his own theme of Innovation and Creation; only through completely re- and over-designing the shard into an entirely new being could the weakened primordial apply his remaining might to the task.
The resulting charm is wholly unique, unreproducible, and likely cannot be uninstalled without mentally crippling its wielder. While the charm is active by default, it requires an expenditure of [(1+Clarity)/2, round up] points of Willpower to deactivate. Furthermore, every 24 hours (or the first time it is enabled in a 24-hour period) the charm generates a point of temporary Clarity. At Clarity 5, the charm's mental influence over the wielder grows, instilling an additional -1 internal penalty to all social rolls that do not involve administration, but yields a +1 to all Mental Attribute or Conviction rolls that do. These penalties/bonuses double at Clarity 8 and triple at Clarity 10. Finally, should the charm be disabled for an extended period of time, a Temperance check will randomly occur every [Willpower - Clarity] hours to keep it off - this check can be ignored by spending a point of Willpower.
The primary effects of the charm, however, are considered worth the trouble: Perfect control over, and understanding of, all non-sapient insectoid and invertebrate creatures within a radius of [Essence x 300] feet. The number of subjects within range of the charm does not decrease its effectiveness, as the wielder gains sufficient multi-tasking abilities to handle every subject of the charm as if each subject's body were the wielder's own.
Should there be sufficient subjects condensed in an area, 'swarm' attacks (Speed 6, damage varies) may be used through a [Wits + War] roll - these attacks do not incur a Flurry penalty. In addition, ranged attacks against targets sufficiently surrounded by charm subjects automatically gain a full Aim bonus without the need of a separate, prior action.
(Similar to this armor, but more 'regal' and with longer silken-armor skirt. Sadly, no cape.)
TAYLOR'S FIRST ARMOR STAT SHEET:
Armor vs Normal Attacks: 10 (+1 w/ AMU) Armor vs Energy Attacks: 17 (+1 w/ AMU, +5 w/ HES) Mobility: -1 Strength Min: 1 Battery: 150 Hours (Recharge/Repair 25 hours takes one FULL hour of Technomorphic Integration Engine) Other Bonuses: Flight (AGM), +2 Dodge DV (AES), +2 to rolls for interfacing with technology (DCS), +2 Awareness (TPMG), Perfect lie detection against visibly-human targets (TPMG), +2 dice to attacks and defenses in one-on-one combat against opponents without exotic powers (TPMG)
Advanced Materials Upgrade v11.13a
Through use of Tinker-designed materials, layers of advanced polymers and fibers are applied on top of the existing armor to enhance Armor by +2 . Electromagnetic seals to reinforce the armor's joints can be activated upon command (reflexive, enable/disable once per tick) at the cost of one hour of battery life per minute, but yield another +1 to Armor while enabled.
Anti-Gravity Manipulators v2.03c
Two modes, reflexively toggled: Tactical Flight (15yards/second normal, 25yards/tick dash), Transit Flight (30yards/tick normal [60mph], 40yards/tick dash [80mph]). Transit Flight requires a Dex+Athletics roll for quick changes in direction. Every hour (round up) spent flying in Tactical Flight counts as two hours for purposes of Recharge/Repair time, where Transit Flight counts as three hours.
Assisted Evasion System v1.22a
Various tiny antigravity modules dot the armour. When enabled (reflexive, enable/disable once per tick), the system reads the bodily movements of the wearer and exaggerates them by briefly firing the appropriate antigravity modules. This results in a 'jinking' movement that increases Dodge DV by +2, but drains an hour of battery power per minute active.
Distributed Computer System v5.54d
A suite of signal monitoring and transmission systems spread out across the entire suit collect and process data to feed into the suit's distributed operating system. Through this system, the wearer is able to detect and interface with all forms of broadcast communications, as well interface with physical ports through use of extending plugs, granting the user +2 on rolls involving wireless communications and computer systems. Nearby suits equipped with both Distributed Computer System and Tactical Prediction Model Generator may coordinate against a single target to gain attack and defense bonuses as if the combat was still one-on-one.
Hazardous Environment System v6.44h
A series of insulating materials, reflective surfaces, and coolant systems designed to protect the wearer against exposure to environmental hazards. The suit gains +7 Armor against all energy-based damage, such as extreme heat, cold, electricity, and radiation. Additionally, the suit can reflexively vent its coolant to give an additional +5 armor against a single energy-based damage roll; this also hits everyone within 5 yards of the wearer with boiling hot coolant (2L) and reduces the armor bonus to +4 until the coolant systems are repaired.
Tactical Prediction Model Generator v.08b
+2 Awareness, +3 successes for detecting lie attempts (against visibly-human targets), +2 dice to all attacks and defenses in one-on-one combat against opponents without exotic powers.
WCM's HOVER THRONE
WCM'S HOVER THRONE (EQUIPMENT ●●●○○)
(Like this, but with thicker arms, taller back, wood-colored, and with white cushions.)
A collaborative Toybox commission by the villainess WCM that cost her several millions of dollars, it nonetheless served her well for four years as a mobile command center for the various supervillian and mercenary groups she teamed up with to run heists and other jobs. Maintenance and recharging the power plant made it harder costlier to use over time, however, to the point where she recently commissioned a more reliable set of power armor from Toybox to use instead - a commission that will likely go unfilled after her death in Brockton Bay at the hands of Behemoth.
The throne itself looks more like something you'd see on the front deck of a mansion in the deep-south United States, and in a way it is; the chair was originally part of an entire furniture set from WCM's family mansion in Georgia, but when her family fell on hard times and was forced to sell she managed to keep her favorite chair for personal use. When WCM first struck it big as a supervillain, she shipped the chair to Toybox and had them build her a 'throne' inside of it.
At first glance, the Hover Throne appears to be a high-backed wicker recliner with comfortable white padding along the seat and back, but careful inspection reveals that the chair's 'hollow' parts are instead brimming with Tinkertech gadgetry. The left armrest folds up to reveal projectors for three hard-light keyboards and nine monitors - the keyboards went mostly unused by WCM due to her technopath-like power, but were installed as a backup should she ever run into a power-negator. The cluster of computers and servers in the Hover Throne are high-end Tinkertech, complete with several high-band antennas to hook into radio and wireless signals, and retractable cords with universal adapters - the combination allowing for physical and wireless connections to nearly any computer system. Mechanically, this provides a +2 bonus to Lore rolls with the relevant downloaded libraries, +2 bonus to Investigation rolls with an Internet connection, and a +2 bonus to War rolls for the purpose of battlefield coordination if a team's communications are linked to the device.
Beyond its computing and tactical capabilities as a command center, the right armrest contains a dispenser for a programmable replicator, which feeds from a two-foot-cube tank accessible from the back of the chair. New items can be programmed into the replicator by placing it in the fuel tank, though WCM herself only had several types of tea (sweet and normal), a version of her heirloom tea set, and pastries programmed into the device.
Though the Hover Throne has no direct offensive capabilities built-in, a bubble-like shield can be charged up and erected around the chair. The hazy blue forcefield can reflect errant small arms fire with ease, but sustained, direct assaults can drain the shield quickly. Recharging the shield's capacitor takes 60 seconds if the Hover Throne is in flight, or 30 seconds if it is resting.
The Hover Throne, as the name implies, is capable of independent flight and hovering. It is not especially maneuverable in tight spaces, but can navigate building interiors if the driver is careful enough. It's usual maximum speed is 15 miles per hour (7 yards per tick), while an 'extended flight' mode can be engaged to propel it at 30 miles per hour (15 yards per tick) though this mode imparts a -2 external penalty to combat maneuvers.
As a collaborative Tinker effort, it is considerably more prone to failure, however, and the antimatter reactor that powers it requires fuel only provided by Toybox - both factors that made WCM eventually recently deem it too costly to use due to her dwindling funds. Repairs cost anywhere from a month's expenditure of Resources 2 to Resources 5, and a full refueling costs a month's expenditure of Resources 5.
WCM'S HOVER THRONE STAT SHEET:
Speed: 15/30mph Maneuverability: +1R (Technology/Lore 2, Drive/Ride 1) (Uses Wits+Drive/Ride) Endurance: 1ft-diameter antimatter power plant that degrades to uselessness after 150 hours of use. Maintenance required after 30 hours of use, with every 1 hour after that disabling a random feature of the Hover Throne. Crew: 1/1 Cargo: Built-in extended-space compartment on right side of chair, 3ft wide / 3ft tall / 6ft deep, with a maximum load of one ton. Shield: 6L/6B, can withstand 10 health levels of damage before recharging Armor: 6L/6B Health Levels: Undamaged x 5/ Minor Damage x10 / Critical Damage x3 / Inoperative x 2 / Destroyed Weapons: None normally. Other Notes: Moving at double-speed drains the power plant at a rate of 1 hour/minute. Restoring the shield consumes 5 hours of charge.
LOCATIONS
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
Relevant Philadelphia Information:
- Civilian Population: 900,000
- Parahuman Population (Officially): 10 Protectorate, 5 Wards, 91 Supervillains, 65 Unaffiliated Heroes, 9 Rogues
- Parahuman Population (Effective): 10 Protectorate, 5 Wards, 102 Supervillains, 67 Unaffiliated Heroes, 9 Rogues
- PRT Offices: PRT Headquarters/Downtown, PRT North, PRT Northeast, Protectorate Island
- Philadelphia's PRT usually counts Camden's non-PRT parahuman population in its numbers, as it does most of the work there. Cherry Hill and the other Camden County cities pitch in when available (which isn't often).
CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY
Relevant Camden Information:
- Civilian Population: 52,000
- PRT Offices: Camden PRT Headquarters
- Parahuman Population (Officially): 3 Protectorate, 0 Wards, 11 Supervillains, 2 Unaffiliated Heroes, 0 Rogues
- Many of Philadelphia's Gangs claim territory in Camden, but the parahumans don't live there.
- Somehow worse than Brockton Bay: over 40% of the population is under the poverty line, gangs rule the streets, and the most of the city is condemned.
A lot has happened since we last saw the world through Taylor's eyes, and there's even more to do now. However, after having successfully added to our Assembly with First Prayer of Perfection, the Cradle is open and waiting for a new forehead to ruin! With only four slots left (Orichaculm, Moonsilver, Starmetal, Jade) our choices become slightly more limited; as the number of available slots dwindles, so too does our margin for error when it comes to selecting 'heroic souls' for Exaltation, as well as the time we have left to choose.
And as time is (still) not on our side, it falls upon us to start making choices for whom to faceplant into the Cradle next. We have a few potential candidates already, as well as some that might be willing should they find themselves in dire need of a functional body. Since only one Assembly member can be 'gestating' in the Cradle at a time, choosing someone right now might mean that the Cradle isn't available for Emergency Trepanation (we'd have to wait until next Monday). On the other hand, we risk of passing up the opportunity to Exalt someone before they suddenly find themselves... ineligible.
How should we proceed with our Prime Directive, now that the Slaughterhouse 9 on our doorstep and our friends in danger? Do we hold, or do we act? And if we should hold, what would force our hand?
Autochthon Wants YOU!: Part Deux (Choose one, ONE Stunt allowed!)
[ ] Holding Out For A Hero: Time is critical right now and you need everyone you have. (Stunt details what situation might cause Taylor to offer Exaltation, emergency or otherwise, to someone.)
[ ] BRB, Exalting: Propose Exaltation to someone right now, as some people might be more willing than before to take the opportunity. (Stunt details whom we are choosing, argument we use.)
NOTE: The lists below are just who would say 'yes', and do not take into account whom would actually Exalt at all, whom would be good choices for the Assembly, or the ramifications that might arise if they are chosen right now. They are also listed alphabetically, not by any other metric.
Here are the people Taylor is confident would immediately say 'yes' to Exaltation:
- Aisha Laborn/Who
- Chris Matthews/Kid Win
- Colin Wallis/Armsmaster
- Loom
- Missy Byron/Vista
Here are the people that Taylor suspects would be swayed right now to say 'yes' to Exaltation with a proper argument:
- Accord
- Kali Haryana/Bladedancer
- Sakura & Saki Kurosawa/Uzu & Tatsu
- Weld
Here are the people that Taylor suspects would be swayed say 'yes' to Exaltation should they be in critical/unrecoverable condition:
- Bobby Erwin/Transfusion
- Dean Stansfield/Gallant
- Dennis Lewis/Clockblocker
- Glenn Chambers
- Gloria Sato
- Hannah Smith/Miss Militia
- Kinzey Robinson/Geode
- Martin Uriel
- Myrddin
- Robert Hoover/Chevalier
Please remember to format Free Actions properly: (Only ONE Free Action allowed, and only for FPoP!)
*Free Actions should be phrased as stand-alone Stunts, so they must be 60 words or less (not counting "Free Action"), be descriptive about what you're hoping to accomplish, and set the scene.
[X] Free Action: [Insert Stunt-like action that could be performed during other votes. Marrow doesn't have SoPA!]
XP Expenditures should now be formatted as such:
[X] NAME - ? XP - Item ●●●○○
[X] NAME - ? XP - Item (Specialization ●●○)
Spending more XP than a character has in their own bank will automatically draw from the Assembly bank, and Named XP must be spent before Assembly XP can be used.
Woo, breathe in that new thread smell. Exalting more people? Exciting! So waiting to see if we can swoop in and save someone might give us someone we would otherwise not be able to get but its a risky gamble. On the other hand we could pick now from at least a few of our top choices for sure. Hard call to make! We will probably need to think on this.
I honestly can't see a case for Exalting Dean right now; he's not in the best of headspaces, and he actually is old enough to make legally-binding decisions on his own.
Give him time.
Of the Tier 1 list, the only one I'd be confident with is Missy; we have yet to talk to Colin since BB, Chris doesn't quite have the drive, Aisha is healed, and Loom is a hard No because we don't know her enough to trust her.
But to be honest, it might be best to hold off.
I'll wait for others to weigh in; meantime, sleepybye.
Right now my shortlist is Colin (O), Aisha (M), Missy (J), and Lisa (St). But Lisa isn't willing, Missy isn't currently available, Aisha is too useful right now for Weaver/Vajra/Who three-way tag-team murderninja action (NOT A EUPHEMISM), and my inner Accord demands our Assembly have an equal gender balance.
Colin isn't nearly as immediately useful, especially with the local tinker labs destroyed. I'm leaning towards him, though the timing doesn't matter as much.
I think Kali or Missy are good choices right now. Grue would murder us to death if we took Aisha away from him right now. Though if we want something resembling gender balance then we can only take one more girl. Eek.
Here are the people who will require extensive brainwashing convincing before they will even think about joining your fucking apocalypse cult:
Lisa WIlbourn/Inquisition.
PR will be a tricky thing after this whole debacle. How much the public would let us get away with will likely be determined by how well the fight against the nine goes and our role in it. Exalting someone like Accord would be tricky to pull off without massive PR repercussions, but conversely converting Who would be super easy. The whole country just watched her almost die because of her powers and in both previous Exaltations the parahuman power was altered in such a way that it could be turned off and left off. One would be perceived as empowering a danger to public safety while the other could be spun like a form of medical treatment.
Here are the people who will require extensive brainwashing before they will even think about joining your fucking apocalypse cult:
Lisa WIlbourn/Inquisition.
PR will be a tricky thing after this whole debacle. How much the public would let us get away with will likely be determined by how well the fight against the nine goes and our role in it. Exalting someone like Accord would be tricky to pull off without massive PR repercussions, but conversely converting Who would be super easy. The whole country just watched her almost die because of her powers and in both previous Exaltations the parahuman power was altered in such a way that it could be turned off and left off. One would be perceived as empowering a danger to public safety while the other could be spun like a form of medical treatment.
Think about how Grue will feel if we take away his little sister right now though. He would not be happy with us and it could turn him into our enemy. His opinion of us also has weight with the other members of the group, so if he becomes our enemy then our chances of working with the Wyld Hunt are slim to none.
@Gromweld
A few questions:
How much leeway do we have in stunting S9 hostages for Exaltation?
Condition at the time of recovery, mechanism of rescue?
Could Amelia reliably replace lost body parts without the originals or would the gap in replacing biomass pose a problem? Aisha got her limbs reattached, but we did have the crushed originals to repair with a bit of supplements, but what if she didn't?
Current idea is to play up how screwed up Missy was by the S9, trade off physical wounds for permissibility, and if I can somehow fit it into the wordcount, try to keep her mostly sane.
Orichalcum!Armsmaster is my choice for immediate Exaltation. It'd be handy to Exalt him right now because he's not currently relevant to our situation in Philly and it would be nice to have a bullshit magic computer specialist to help unchain Dragon and defeat any fail safes. Otherwise, let's wait.
[X] Holding Out For A Hero: Time is critical right now and you need everyone you have. (Stunt details what situation might cause Taylor to offer Exaltation, emergency or otherwise, to someone.)
-[X] Stunt: Penetrating to the heart of the Nine's macabre labyrinth, Taylor gazes in horror at the 'machine' in it's core. Missy, the living centerpiece of a mock cathedral, built into a crossbeam, internal organs and spine replaced with intricate mechanisms. Her eyes remain resolute, even as she blinks back relieved tears. "Missy, I...have an offer. Blink once if you accept."
[X] Free Action: Cerulean lightning slashes through the air and strikes the ground, leaving heavy crates of medical supplies and communicators where they are most needed, Vajra moving with impossible efficiency. The city divided into an optimal grid, simultaneously reaching the worst affected areas, restoring communications and locating the origin point. For all his faults, Accord's plans are faultless.
[X] EOA - 3 XP - Artifact (Bezalel's Insect Drones) ●○○○○
[X] EOA - 4 XP - Dodge ●●●○○
[X] EOA - 2 XP - Craft (Drones ●○○)
[X] EOA - 4 XP - Medicine ●●○○○
[X] EOA - 2 XP - War (Parahumans ●●○)
[X] EOA - 2 XP - Presence (Swarms ●●●)
[X] FPoP - 4 XP - Craft ●○○○○
Total XP Cost: 21, will add Resistance(we're running without sleep it helps), Sniping(we'd probably find a use) and Athletics(we'd probably have SOME use, even if it's not a top priority) if the XP somehow manifests
As for exaltation, this is probably the single best opportunity to avoid major legal sanctions in exalting Missy, we have certainty that she'd agree even if she wasn't conscious(heck, we even have a stunt to make sure she's lucid enough to nod), and given sufficiently extensive injuries, Amelia may not be able to repair.
This votes gives us potentially a crazy amount of power, so we need to consider it carefully. Let's not immediately start bandwagoning one choice or another.
It also provides a great chance for some less certain candidates to "prove" themselves. This includes some of the less experienced Wards, and also some of the Philadelphia characters that we haven't really seen in action.
as the number of available slots dwindles, so too does our margin for error when it comes to selecting 'heroic souls' for Exaltation, as well as the time we have left to choose.
I wanted to emphasize this a little, because I think it hasn't been discussed very much. Some candidates will almost certainly Exalt properly if they are our final choice. Like Armsmaster. Others will likely not. For instance, Vista is probably a stronger candidate than Who, and if we want Geode it'd be safer to grab her now.
Seriously, Geode is way better than she originally appeared. She would make a great party face and we get along with her pretty well. Taylor's initial evaluation was perhaps not entirely accurate.
REMINDER: IN-DEPTH CHARACTER LIST DOC NEEDS UPDATING!
- 1 XP available if we update it to everything pre-8.1
- 1 XP available if we get it cleaned-up and make it easier to read!
Stranger Danger! STRANGER DANGER! Not quite sure how Vajra was hiding in plain sight, as she doesn't have Optical Shroud - were you inferring her Stealth skills were up to the challenge? Still, I agree that it's a pretty wicked combo and the thought of systematically trolling Jack by taking away members of the S9 is appealing. +1 XP! (Already added this to the Index, too!)
Should we choose Aisha for 'right now', then there's at least one easy solution before yinz start thinking of Stunts: during the time her power was flickering and mind-whammying everyone Taylor agreed to Exalt her if she could prove that she had the will to push through the pain. We'd then pick up right where that Chapter left off, but from Taylor's POV.
They were in the character sheets when you posted this, but I've since gone back and added them to the actual end-of-chapter run-down as well. Also tweaked the Dragon intimacy.
Think about how Grue will feel if we take away his little sister right now though. He would not be happy with us and it could turn him into our enemy. His opinion of us also has weight with the other members of the group, so if he becomes our enemy then our chances of working with the Wyld Hunt are slim to none.
I was sorely tempted to end the update with Aisha turning her power back on and Brian forgetting she was even there, or that any of that happened. Ultimately, Aisha would be safer as Bullshit Magical Communist Robot... though Lisa might have thoughts otherwise. Also, our goal is bigger than the Wyld Hunt, so Assembly matters take priority!
A few questions:
How much leeway do we have in stunting S9 hostages for Exaltation?
Condition at the time of recovery, mechanism of rescue?
Could Amelia reliably replace lost body parts without the originals or would the gap in replacing biomass pose a problem? Aisha got her limbs reattached, but we did have the crushed originals to repair with a bit of supplements, but what if she didn't?
There's a decent amount of wiggle-room. Consider: Bonesaw, Mannequin, BezBot, and Bakuda implanting bombs and control chips into heads. Exalting would bypass that.
I wanted to emphasize this a little, because I think it hasn't been discussed very much. Some candidates will almost certainly Exalt properly if they are our final choice. Like Armsmaster. Others will likely not. For instance, Vista is probably a stronger candidate than Who, and if we want Geode it'd be safer to grab her now.
Worth noting was that last part you quoted - that we'll have less TIME to choose, as well. That's all I'll say on the matter for now, but it's something to keep in mind as well.
Seriously, Geode is way better than she originally appeared. She would make a great party face and we get along with her pretty well. Taylor's initial evaluation was perhaps not entirely accurate.
Votes still under construction, but have a look at a free action:
[ ] Free Action: Cerulean lightning slashes through the air and strikes the ground, leaving heavy crates of medical supplies and communicators where they are most needed, Vajra moving with impossible efficiency. The city divided into an optimal grid, simultaneously reaching the worst affected areas, restoring communications and locating the origin point. For all his faults, Accord's plans are faultless.
That should boost Autochton's standing due to totemic anima and Autochton Delivers.
I was sorely tempted to end the update with Aisha turning her power back on and Brian forgetting she was even there, or that any of that happened. Ultimately, Aisha would be safer as Bullshit Magical Communist Robot... though Lisa might have thoughts otherwise. Also, our goal is bigger than the Wyld Hunt, so Assembly matters take priority!
Oh, you wily Gromweld. Trying to trick me with your words! Besides if we get Aisha right now then I think its pretty likely that we will never get Lisa under any circumstance. And I do want Lisa! Well either her or Dragon, but no one else seems to want to try for Dragon so that probably isn't happening.
Oh, you wily Gromweld. Trying to trick me with your words! Besides if we get Aisha right now then I think its pretty likely that we will never get Lisa under any circumstance. And I do want Lisa! Well either her or Dragon, but no one else seems to want to try for Dragon so that probably isn't happening.
Right now my shortlist is Colin (O), Aisha (M), Missy (J), and Lisa (St). But Lisa isn't willing, Missy isn't currently available, Aisha is too useful right now for Weaver/Vajra/Who three-way tag-team murderninja action (NOT A EUPHEMISM), and my inner Accord demands our Assembly have an equal gender balance.
Colin isn't nearly as immediately useful, especially with the local tinker labs destroyed. I'm leaning towards him, though the timing doesn't matter as much.
