And once again we highlight the lack of a "you monster" button.
Alchemical Solutions [Worm/Exalted] Thread 23: We Wonder Where Who Wanders When Watchers Wane
- Thread starter Gromweld
- Start date
And once again we highlight the lack of a "you monster" button.
Saintly Adolf Hitler, Good Guy Nikos Vasil, White Hat Nilbog, Hugs-Bestest-Bakes-Brownies Butcher....
No. You may, however, sing it.
...now I wish to sig things. How might one go about doing so?
I would use such a button. I do not swear to use such responsibly.
This button too.
- Location
- West Michigan
Go to the top right of the page where it shows your username and avatar. Pick Signature from the list (left side, second from the top) and set it up just like if you're making a post.
- Location
- West Michigan
Getting sigged is an honor. I'm not stopping you.
-It's nice to see Taylor through the eyes of others.
One of the issues with a largely first person narrative is that we seldom get to see how her peers regard the teenage magical girl death metal cyborg.
First look we're getting from a non-hostile girl, I think.
-Prayer's burgeoning status as the straight woman is something of a welcome surprise.
-Interesting that Ms Militia is in no way discomfited by Alchemicals.
Given that her shard needs to be actively scanning everything in order to store weapon types, I'm guessing that function is in no way connected to her physical self. So she is spared the inconvenience of Thinker headaches.
Hmm.
I wonder if there's something here, especially
Or is she just surprised/troubled by Saki being back to her App 2 form?
Is Hannah a little intimidated by the eight foot tall armored behemoth?
Or is it her shard being intimidated?
I wonder how Miss M got a reputation for being calm and collected if her weapon keeps giving away her subconscious attitudes.
Especially during interviews.
:lol
Phrasing, Saki.
She's undoubtedly chortling behind the full face helmet protection of her armor.
And someone's going to call her out on it sooner or later; either Bladedancer, who knows her that well, or Taylor, who has literal X-ray vision.
rofl:There's no way she hasn't been waiting for an opportunity to use that line.
She's going to keep gently trolling her, isn't she?
Interesting look at the Twins interpersonal dynamics here.
And it provides pointers on how the twins differ, and prefer to work.
What goes around comes around Clockie.
You get to blame Chris for the surveillance cams, Saki gets to blame you non-specifically.
Still feeling her way into that Intelligence 4, I see.
Huh.
And given her raw stats the only person with a hope of telling is Taylor.
Or maybe a social Thinker.
Good OOC reason to raise Taylor's Perception to 7 next time in the vats.
I'm guessing Taylor is surprised about Saki going back to her pre-Exaltation look.
Good to see Saki isn't particularly put off by Taylor going death metal.
I do hope that she means savior colloqially; it would get awkward really fast if she called her that in publick.
Okay, this is a great line.
Both in what it says about Taylor, and what it says about Saki.
Admittedly, if MSD is such an obvious tell of her mental state, Taylor has good reason to reacquire IAT.
*checks Intimacy*
*They Followed Me Into Hell(used to be Concerned Guardianship)*
Mama Bear Hebert was about to choke a bitch there, wasn't she?
I suspect it might not take very much to get Taylor flying down to personally browbeat the Director on Saki's behalf.
*raises eyebrow*
When did Taylor start accepting ma'am as normal?
A lot seems to have changed in a week.
By the way, a little surprised that Prayer is the only cape here.
A deliberate attempt to keep the testing quiet?
New York is the biggest dept in the country after all; there's always going to be some cape about the labs.
And how long before one of the multiple NY teams tries to poach Saki?
They did try the last time the Philly Wards were in town, but that was a more or less pro forma attempt by a civilian PRT member.
They may be more serious this time.
This could be Martial Arts, true.
Or it could be Investigation(Body Language 1).
Control freak tendencies, yeah.
Or it could just be Taylor's lingering annoyance that Saki was put into quarantine and not even allowed to meditate.
But the way in which Saki mollified them with a smile and a shrug?
That's Emotive Esthetics of The Body Electric.
So basically this:
Just more hexagons than scales, and more iron-grey than blue.
IT'S SPREADING.
At this rate, Saki, you're going to get a Shaker rating for accidental innuendo.
Valor 2.
Imagine Aisha in that situation.
-Saki's PDV, without the soulsteel tigerclaws of TBP, is (Dex2 + MA5)/2 ~PDV4.
With a 2-die stunt, it's PDV6.
-Even if Prayer wasn't going all out, for Kali to pull that off while operating on an oWoD reality engine?
She'd have to be rocking DEX 5, MA/Melee 5, and a full Specialty 3.
Blades is an effing freak of nature.
-Y'know, it's been foreshadowed for a while that Prayer is as much a fitness/physical exertion freak as Bladedancer is.
She used to assist Blades in training the Wards, and she was her regular training partner.
And there had to be a certain commonality of interests to lay the foundation for any sort of relationship.
I wonder why we never put it together.
I find it hilarious that the second strongest person on our team is a medium-sized Asian-American girl.
People count as improvised weapons, right?
-Running a treadmill at a sprint isn't that fast? It didn't take long for Exaltation to skew Saki's sense of normalcy
Dashing is Dex+6 yards/second; that means she was running 80 yards every ten seconds.
13.2 km in 30 mins.
She'd run a marathon in a little over 90 minutes, and still remain fresh.
*werk werk sound*
Might actually be funnier to leave her at Dodge 1.
Or alternatively, get her a specialty that only really kicks in during serious times, not in practice.
1)Read the fluff. You can raise or decrease App with HSA.
The Exalt cannot modify his new body's final height or weight by more than 10 percent of its unmodified measurements. Virtually any body that a human being could have is fair game for the Charm, even body types that are crippled, deformed, unhealthy or otherwise damaged. Disguising oneself as a character with a lower or higher Appearance rating does not adjust the operation or effectiveness of Charms based on that Attribute, though it affects reactions normally (such as social combat modifiers). Use of this Charm's prerequisite is still necessary to avoid having visibly implanted Charms spoil the disguise. Generally speaking, the changes wrought by the Charm result in a difficulty 1 for the disguise roll or 2 if attempting to copy a specific person.
Which means that by RAW, at App 6 she automatically succeeds at Difficulty 2 disguise rolls, even with Larceny 0.
2) Your HSA-adjusted App score does not count for installing submods or other charms.
The base HSA charm requires App 3 to install, but most of the submods are App 4+, including one that is App 7.
So 4th App Augs remain relevant.
Is it mind rape that parents spend years instilling a modicum of self-control in their children? Or that depressives get Prozac to treat their mood disorders?
We give people with ADHD Ritalin to effectively raise their Temperance, with their consent or that of their guardians. We give behavioral therapy and drugs to veterans with PTSD.
By law, California, Florida and Georgia all mandate chemical castration for child molesters after their second offence, whether they agree or not.
Behavioral/personality modification is not a controversial concept.
The only difference is that social charms allow us to do these things near instantly, instead of over a period of time.
Scify
It always starts with a lighthouse.
To be fair, that last one is far more controversial than the other two.
Certainly.
But it's legal to do this in the United States, just as it's legal to involuntarily commit adults to psychiatric care in all fifty states.
It's not something to be done lightly or trivially, but the idea that POS and it's derivatives bring something new to the table besides speed and ease of use is just wrong.
That's exactly why.
See Canon Taylor's emotional offloading into her swarm. Miss Militia can get a rep for being calm and collected because her emotional cues are offloaded to her shard and she can thus be cool beans.
If Alexandria pressured Hannah during recruitment like she did Taylor, and didn't see the gun morphing she'd make the exact same mistake.
The average person doesn't make the connection, because generally something stressing her would also justify her having a bigger weapon ready.
And it also points out that...maybe Autochton didn't mix them up. Saki is the one who acts behind the scenes, which, based on Taylor and Sirkalla's scans, is what Earth Bet needs. Some Tough Love to fix the world.
Sakura is the public face, the one who inspires and takes responsibility. Who better to move the Nations towards unity in preparation for the Transition?
Note that Saki has superhuman awareness of social cues. It'd take an analytic Thinker like Lisa spending time around Taylor to pick it up.
Prior to their intense headache.
Probably comes with her assistance in law enforcement. In private, she'd probably like it less formal...but chain of command in the streets is pretty vital in the present situation
Possibly a deliberate attempt to minimize exposure to Saki due to her observed passive Master abilities, until they can be sure she has it under control.
Notice who have met her so far since the initial meeting(where it was identified that she's the PR):
-Miss Militia - Resistant to mental influence due to power quirks.
-Doctors cleared for Master interaction.
-Taylor
-Sirkalla
They're minimizing potentially compromised people.
It's the Emotive Aesthetics running wild! She's making everyone lewd!
*Moral Panic Aaaaa*
...Yes, per the World Breaker Grip charm from Infernal Monster Style.People count as improvised weapons, right?
Huh, can't believe I missed that. Still don't think it'd be able to go up to App 7 though - literally supernaturally beyond human good looks doesn't sound like something you'd be able to do as a disguise as a human.
Using it for 2 Charm slots and 1 personal mote for (essentially) one sub mod...yeah, great use of limited resources. Everyone else has come through with App 5 - I somehow doubt that trend will stop anytime soon, and thus using it to boost mins as an alternative to boosting the stats isn't even a viable argument for it.No One said:
Interestingly enough, I'd think she'd be more vulnerable to Exalted Social attacks, no? Since she'd essentially be forced to relive it in perfect detail again and again.
I don't actually see any reason for her to be resistant to master effects anyway (some Strangers...actually, no, but based on fanon (and possibly canon for this quest), yes)
Her mind is partially offloaded to her shard. She just shrugged off Canary.
It would not stop the Exalted model, yes.
*checks*
I don't agree.
Unobstructed Blow/Horrific Wreath/Crimson Palm Counterstrike are marked as Throne Shadow Style charms, not extensions.
We know this because the Scroll of Errata actually has Throne Shadow Style Extension Charms, and they are clearly marked as such: Flow Breaking Strike, The Lotus Blossoms and Showing The Secret Hand.
Furthermore, those three charms were not previously VBoS extension charms; they were VBoS charms, period.
Don't believe me?
Open up MoEP: Sidereals and look at the original VBoS charm tree.
Unobstructed Blow had Death-Parrying Stroke as it's prereq, and was itself a prereq for Conclusion-Pursuing Approach.Original VBoS said:
Horrific Wreath had Violet Bier of Sorrows Form as it's prereq, and was the prereq for Metal Storm.
Crimson Palm Counterstrike had Violet Bier of Sorrows Form as it's prereq, and was the prereq for Life Severing Blow.
The errata went to the trouble of ripping them out of the VBoS tree, rearranging that tree, and then rewriting all three charms.
If they were supposed to be extensions, it would have been noted.
EDIT
Note the difference:
UNOBSTRUCTED BLOW
Cost: 5m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Death-Parrying Stroke
The Sidereal loops an elastic strand of his foe's fate
around the Sidereal's own wrist, pulls the strand back
taut and launches his attack as the strand snaps back into
place. Doing so makes the attack unblockable. It can still
be dodged, but if the attack hits, the victim's armor offers
no protection—neither soak nor Hardness—against the
attack's damage.
HORRIFIC WREATH
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Holy, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Violet Bier of Sorrows Form
Violet energy surrounds the character's hands, feet or
weapon for a moment. Creatures of darkness (see Exalted,
p. 192) suffer aggravated damage from Martial Arts attacks
supplemented by this Charm.
CRIMSON PALM COUNTERSTRIKE
Cost: 5m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2;
Type: Refl exive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Violet Bier of Sorrows Form
Reading his opponent's movements in the weave
of fate, the Sidereal interrupts his attack with
a nigh-preemptive counterattack. If he's a
skilled enough combatant, the Sidereal
not only can weave over his opponent's
attack but can supplant it with an attack
of his own. When the Sidereal's foe
attacks, the Sidereal may refl exively
defend himself with this Charm, his
player rolling his own (Dexterity +
Martial Arts) pool in a contest against
the attacker's attack roll. After taking
successes out of the attacker's roll based
on the Sidereal's normal Parry Defense
Value, the Sidereal's successes on this roll
then cancel out leftover successes from the
attack roll one for one. If the Sidereal's Parry
Defense Value and (Dexterity + Martial Arts)
result cancels out all of the attacker's successes
and still has successes left over, those extra suc-
cesses are applied against the original attacker as
a counterattack.
The Sidereal cannot use this Charm against a
counterattack, and he must be physically able to at-
tack his foe.
Cost: 5m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Death-Parrying Stroke
The Sidereal loops an elastic strand of his foe's fate
around the Sidereal's own wrist, pulls the strand back
taut and launches his attack as the strand snaps back into
place. Doing so makes the attack unblockable. It can still
be dodged, but if the attack hits, the victim's armor offers
no protection—neither soak nor Hardness—against the
attack's damage.
HORRIFIC WREATH
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Holy, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Violet Bier of Sorrows Form
Violet energy surrounds the character's hands, feet or
weapon for a moment. Creatures of darkness (see Exalted,
p. 192) suffer aggravated damage from Martial Arts attacks
supplemented by this Charm.
CRIMSON PALM COUNTERSTRIKE
Cost: 5m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2;
Type: Refl exive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Violet Bier of Sorrows Form
Reading his opponent's movements in the weave
of fate, the Sidereal interrupts his attack with
a nigh-preemptive counterattack. If he's a
skilled enough combatant, the Sidereal
not only can weave over his opponent's
attack but can supplant it with an attack
of his own. When the Sidereal's foe
attacks, the Sidereal may refl exively
defend himself with this Charm, his
player rolling his own (Dexterity +
Martial Arts) pool in a contest against
the attacker's attack roll. After taking
successes out of the attacker's roll based
on the Sidereal's normal Parry Defense
Value, the Sidereal's successes on this roll
then cancel out leftover successes from the
attack roll one for one. If the Sidereal's Parry
Defense Value and (Dexterity + Martial Arts)
result cancels out all of the attacker's successes
and still has successes left over, those extra suc-
cesses are applied against the original attacker as
a counterattack.
The Sidereal cannot use this Charm against a
counterattack, and he must be physically able to at-
tack his foe.
Unobstructed Blow
( p . 182)
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Lotus Eye Tactics
Replace the text of this Charm with the following:
Choosing the arc of her blow, the Sidereal writes it into forth-
coming fate. An unarmed attack supplemented by this Charm
gains the Piercing tag and halves any DV applied against it. A
second purchase of this Charm requires Martial Arts 5+, Es-
sence 4+. For a seven-mote surcharge, this Charm also renders
the supplemented attack both unblockable and undodgeable.
Horrific Wreath
( p . 182)
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Holy, Obvious
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Throne Shadow Form
Replace the text of this Charm with the following:
A hideous red glare surrounds the Sidereal's hands as she
strikes at the foes of Creation, mirroring their wickedness in her
Essence. All of the Sidereal's unarmed attacks gain the magical
material bonuses of starmetal while this Charm is active. She
may use them to deal lethal damage, and they deal aggravated
damage to creatures of darkness.
Crimson Palm Counterstrike
( p . 183)
Cost: 6m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3;
Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Clear Eyes Defense
Replace the text of this Charm with the following:
Coming to understand the movements of her enemy, the Si-
dereal interrupts them an instant before they happen. When-
ever the Sidereal applies his unarmed Parry DV against an at-
tack made in close combat range, he may activate this Charm.
She makes an unarmed Martial Arts attack roll in Step 6, sub-
tracting her rolled successes from those of the attack roll which
provoked her counter, parrying it completely if the successes
are reduced below her Parry DV. She then applies this roll as
an unarmed counterattack in Step 9, doing damage normally
if it hits.
( p . 182)
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2;
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Lotus Eye Tactics
Replace the text of this Charm with the following:
Choosing the arc of her blow, the Sidereal writes it into forth-
coming fate. An unarmed attack supplemented by this Charm
gains the Piercing tag and halves any DV applied against it. A
second purchase of this Charm requires Martial Arts 5+, Es-
sence 4+. For a seven-mote surcharge, this Charm also renders
the supplemented attack both unblockable and undodgeable.
Horrific Wreath
( p . 182)
Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Holy, Obvious
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Throne Shadow Form
Replace the text of this Charm with the following:
A hideous red glare surrounds the Sidereal's hands as she
strikes at the foes of Creation, mirroring their wickedness in her
Essence. All of the Sidereal's unarmed attacks gain the magical
material bonuses of starmetal while this Charm is active. She
may use them to deal lethal damage, and they deal aggravated
damage to creatures of darkness.
Crimson Palm Counterstrike
( p . 183)
Cost: 6m; Mins: Martial Arts 5, Essence 3;
Type: Reflexive (Step 2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Clear Eyes Defense
Replace the text of this Charm with the following:
Coming to understand the movements of her enemy, the Si-
dereal interrupts them an instant before they happen. When-
ever the Sidereal applies his unarmed Parry DV against an at-
tack made in close combat range, he may activate this Charm.
She makes an unarmed Martial Arts attack roll in Step 6, sub-
tracting her rolled successes from those of the attack roll which
provoked her counter, parrying it completely if the successes
are reduced below her Parry DV. She then applies this roll as
an unarmed counterattack in Step 9, doing damage normally
if it hits.
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I don't agree.
The fluff says humanoid, not human.
How do you impersonate an App 7 spirit if you cannot match it's looks? Or an App 7 Exalt? Or a person with a benediction from a spirit?
Not just for impersonation, but so you can always maximize your MDV bonus against an opponent.
There is a reason why it costs 2m to install and has a prereq.
Autobot has effectively given everyone free dots of Appearance; in a normal game you'd have to buy them, at the cost of either not buying charms or combat attributes.
Alchemicals have 4th Augs so they can swap roles within five hours.
And frankly, you underestimate just how effective that App7 submod is; the ability to reflexively change your appearance for 2m is a Big, Big Deal.
Especially for an infiltrator.
You'd walk into a revolving door looking like a man and out of it like a woman, and you wouldn't deplete either your Essence or your WP.
I've already addressed this in my reply to No One here. If the old White Wolf forums weren't lost I'd look up the discussion that was had when the Sidereal errata was originally released. Unfortunately, a copy of the official Wiki is the best I can do.
Huh. I didn't remember that.
Except the Charm says human:
Human beings cannot have App 7.
In Autochthon/for a dedicated, sure. But you were suggesting it for our other Alchemicals - who aren't going to be dedicated, who will almost certainly have App 5. And thus 4th App Augs are functionally useless if it can raise to App 7 (really, probably not really worth it when we've got dedicated socials, but anyway). (Edit: Also, if it could raise to App 7, what's stopping it there? I mean, the 4th Augs are a limitation of Alchemical Augs, where as this' a disguise, and thus I don't see why it should have the same limitations. Thus App 10 Saki? Really?)
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I believe that you are arguing in good faith.
But you will note that even your charmtree lacks those three ex-VBoS charms, despite having all three Extensions from Dreams and even an Ink Monkeys charm.
And this is what you get on the talk page for Unobstructed Blow
Charms talk:Unobstructed Blow - exalted official wiki - mirror from archive.org
The wiki wasn't entirely up to date with 2.5E before it went down.
So if you can find me a citation that contradicts what is in the book, sure.
If not, I will continue to go by the book, since it is not obviously stupid.
Human in Exalted is a pretty large range, and a lot of funky looking people.
It includes godbloods, faeblood, mutants and more. There are people who have been blessed by spirits/gods.
In Autochtonia, there are people who walk around possessed by spirits that give them access to powers. Still human, even if they did give up their free will.
Correction:
Humans cannot have App 7 normally. Not the same thing.
Scroll of Heroes has the Legendary Attribute merit, which allows humans to raise the cap of a single attribute above 5.
1) The App7 submod is the difference between spending 6m, 1 wp to change your appearance, and spending 2m.
If you are in a situation where you have to swap appearances rapidly, that is a very big deal, given that most Alchemicals only have ~50m at E4.
It probably isn't worth the installation space for Vista.
For Aisha, who is looking at something closer to the Mystique package? Yes, depending on her loadout.
2)Yes, App 10 is possible.
With the 3rd or 5th App Aug, you can get up to App 16, if you spec for it.
It's just largely unnecessary, because there is a cap on it's mechanical effects in the game, that means you only get a max MDV 3 bonus, unless you install a capbreaking charm(Thousandfold Courtesan Calculations, I'm looking at you).
But yes, it means that when negotiating with an App 7 spirit, you transform yourself to App 7(or maybe higher, depending on your cap), and take no penalties while engaged in social combat.
When infiltrating mutants or tunnel-dwellers, you switch to match, up or down as is necessary.
Like I said, there is a reason why that charm costs 2m of Personal Essence to install instead of the 1m most other charms cost.
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- Location
- U.S.
Perfect Symmetry too, which is probably even better.
We saw it from Khepri's PoV, using Canary to motivate all of humanity to bully Scion together. Miss Militia overrode the control to just shoot the audio device.
To be fair, it's almost exactly the same as Alexandria's Thinker secondary ability, and she's noted to resist Simurgh too.
Evil Atlas
Inspector of Details
- Location
- Denial
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The way I read it, Canary's song was just a morale booster, with no direct control involved. Chevalier and Miss Militia believed that the song could be used as a vector for control of some sort, and so they destroyed their audio devices before any real control could be asserted, meaning that they didn't actually need Master resistance at any point. No idea if there's something at some other point in the story that shows Miss Militia having Master resistance, though.
Also, wasn't Alexandria's resistance more a result of her locked physiology than anything else? Or did we never find out?
Ah yep, that sounds right. Something to counteract the 'AAAH, I CAN'T CONTROL MY BODY AND WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!' so people stopped dying of heart attacks
.And no, I don't remember anything that shows MM having Master (or, for that matter, Stranger in situ) resistance in story. Hence my comment.
Given how her power works, if it's acting on you it's acting on your mind though. Khepri acts on your body instead.
Evil Atlas
Inspector of Details
- Location
- Denial
- Pronouns
- He/Him
True, but what I meant was that as far as I could tell it was just a "song of courage" or similar, with no actual "orders" involved. With no orders, there was no component telling those under its effects that they couldn't try to stop the song.