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Ascensions and Transgressions: the Tales of Keris Dulmeadokht (Exalted game)

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Aleph said:
He, actually. Orobeneta is a boy.
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Ach, I even figured that out when he said 'girls are weird', but when I first saw the description for them and made the connection of 'flowers, books and being adorably cute around Keris" I lept to 'all females' and never bothered to correct that behaviour.
Yes, I know they also can shoot flames and regularly eat meat raw, razza frazzin murble gurmble
 
Aleph said:
Actually, sziromkeruby can't digest raw meat. They're very conscientious about always cooking and seasoning it first. :p
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You can't fool me, sziromkeruby are obviously strict vegans*!
*By 'can't fool me', I mean that I make so many mistakes that making me change my assumption of something is like removing a nail from a bed of nails.​
 
Is it weird that I find the Trees one of the most interesting parts of whole thing? I never seen anything quite like it before and it so delightfully alien.

I also love how the Key Seals are essentially bulimic selkies.
 
I love the featherlice. Something about them gives me the mental image of Pehkijira making them in a sudden burst of cunning.

*Scene opens with a giant serpent grooming for the thousandth time before realizing,* Wait a moment I don't have to do things myself, I'm a god! *Commands the ice and dust to live and Preen Him*

There's just something cute about the thought of "snek has an idea", even if the snake in question is the approximate shape and size of a short rail train and more often spoken of in portents and ancient warnings than viral videos.

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Honestly, the impression I get from a lot of the entries is the idea that everyone* thought "Well, if people-tools need to have certain rights then I'll just make animal-tools for the other jobs." And not just the automata and wildlings; The hummer bird in particular seems like a demonic cassette player.

*Well, except Calesco, who seems to have become an animal rights activist.

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Also something that struck me as a possible error.

Chell entry, start of paragraph three:
Anyway, everyone uses chell, even some citizens use chell for things.
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Is this meant to be "even some nobles use chell"? The placement didn't feel like usual way "citizen" is meant within Krisity.
 
Undead-Spaceman said:
Is it weird that I find the Trees one of the most interesting parts of whole thing? I never seen anything quite like it before and it so delightfully alien.
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Ah, but did you get the hilarious hidden meaning to them? :D
Undead-Spaceman said:
I also love how the Key Seals are essentially bulimic selkies.
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Yes. I'm so sorry about the name. It was @EarthScorpion's idea. Blame him.
The Phoenixian said:
I love the featherlice. Something about them gives me the mental image of Pehkijira making them in a sudden burst of cunning.

*Scene opens with a giant serpent grooming for the thousandth time before realizing,* Wait a moment I don't have to do things myself, I'm a god! *Commands the ice and dust to live and Preen Him*

There's just something cute about the thought of "snek has an idea", even if the snake in question is the approximate shape and size of a short rail train and more often spoken of in portents and ancient warnings than viral videos.
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king snek is much cunning
many amaze idea
very thinking
so excite
wow
The Phoenixian said:
Well, except Calesco, who seems to have become an animal rights activist.
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Do note that she's still fine with people hunting moths. She just didn't like sziromkeruby people setting them on fire to watch them burn.
The Phoenixian said:
Also something that struck me as a possible error.

Chell entry, start of paragraph three:

Is this meant to be "even some nobles use chell"? The placement didn't feel like usual way "citizen" is meant within Krisity.
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No, that's meant to be that way. Citizens are the base class; he's saying that even wild keruby who live in a backwards corner of the Swamp have chell-servants; they're ubiquitous and easy to get your hands on (whereas Haneyl's mudvine men are HER THINGS and every batch of 77 is accounted for and she doesn't let any get stolen away to be used for menial labour [1]).

[1] I mean, unless Echo turns up and stabs a few to death. Which Haneyl can't actually stop her from doing, to her great frustration. Luckily, since they're automata, they just stand there and let Echo stab them without even fighting back. Which is boring, so she gets tired of it pretty quickly and goes off to do something else.
 
horngeek said:
I've said this before but fuuuuuuuuck yoooooooou eko :mad:
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Echo has many, many skills.

Being supernaturally annoying is apparently one of them. I mean, look how the szelkeruby turned out - and they're demons perfectly optimised for being her henchwomen and friends. They're blood-drinking, sugar-fiend, hyper-active terrible-cupids. So of course, because those szelkeruby friends are people she actually loves spending time around and who match her perfectly, she populates her landscape with fun things for them to do.

And so she puts that aggravatingly high intelligence into designing the perfect source of both sugar and blood for them; something that will breed in vast numbers and won't be eaten by anything apart from szelkeruby, so they can have all the sugar they want. And... basically designs a cane toad from first principles.

... goddamnit Echo.
 
not sure what the yawners' purpose would be, but giant-land-whale is best whale.

Maybe King Snek made them to eat for him so he doesn't have to move as much, and thats what is at the end of their tails? :3
 
Aleph said:
Do note that she's still fine with people hunting moths. She just didn't like sziromkeruby people setting them on fire to watch them burn.
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It's not just sziromkeruby! Szelkeruby also do it!

... it is Calesco's eternal curse that her quiet, dark and peaceful land is trapped between the Swamp and the Ruin, and that means a lot of szelkeruby and sziromkeruby show up looking for entertainment and/or things to eat.
 
EarthScorpion said:
To expand on the logic behind these alterations, as it stands animas are terrible for being power auras. What an anima tells you is that your opponent is tiring, running out of motes and having to move into their peripheral motes, and that now you've got them on the ropes since they can't run from you.

This hack is intended for two things. Firstly, it disassociates essence and wp regen from the metagame considerations of stunting. You stunt because you want dice (ps you always want dice) and because your stunts justify why you can apply your Styles (ps you always want to apply your styles, unless you deliberately want to stop people recognising your Style). Instead, it associates it with the risk-reward mechanics of anima levels. An Exalt who refuses to go to Level 1 is getting no combat-time regen. This is a big deal. They only have their essence pool, which is all Personal now, to take them through a fight if they want to be sneaky and leave witnesses alive. Why, yes, it goes encourage you to flare to Level 1 if you know you don't plan to leave witnesses. It means that stealth Exalts have to consider what they're doing and husband their resources much more.

And secondly, it changes the meaning of an anima banner showing up. It's not that the Exalt is getting desperate, or at least not directly. It means they have gotten serious - possibly because you just pushed them hard, but the anima banner showing up means that they've suddenly become a much larger threat. And even a level 1 anima banner, the caste mark showing up, means the Exalt has just turned up the mote reactor attached to their souls and their metaphysical stamina has just become effectively unlimited. An anima banner means that the Exalt has just gone super-saiyan and entered total bullshit mode, especially if they're at level 2 or higher because a few other things in Creation can get Level 1 animas, but Level 2 animas (which come with a willpower drip) are basically an Exalt exclusive.
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EarthScorpion said:
To expand on the logic behind these alterations, as it stands animas are terrible for being power auras. What an anima tells you is that your opponent is tiring, running out of motes and having to move into their peripheral motes, and that now you've got them on the ropes since they can't run from you.

This hack is intended for two things. Firstly, it disassociates essence and wp regen from the metagame considerations of stunting. You stunt because you want dice (ps you always want dice) and because your stunts justify why you can apply your Styles (ps you always want to apply your styles, unless you deliberately want to stop people recognising your Style). Instead, it associates it with the risk-reward mechanics of anima levels. An Exalt who refuses to go to Level 1 is getting no combat-time regen. This is a big deal. They only have their essence pool, which is all Personal now, to take them through a fight if they want to be sneaky and leave witnesses alive. Why, yes, it goes encourage you to flare to Level 1 if you know you don't plan to leave witnesses. It means that stealth Exalts have to consider what they're doing and husband their resources much more.

And secondly, it changes the meaning of an anima banner showing up. It's not that the Exalt is getting desperate, or at least not directly. It means they have gotten serious - possibly because you just pushed them hard, but the anima banner showing up means that they've suddenly become a much larger threat. And even a level 1 anima banner, the caste mark showing up, means the Exalt has just turned up the mote reactor attached to their souls and their metaphysical stamina has just become effectively unlimited. An anima banner means that the Exalt has just gone super-saiyan and entered total bullshit mode, especially if they're at level 2 or higher because a few other things in Creation can get Level 1 animas, but Level 2 animas (which come with a willpower drip) are basically an Exalt exclusive.
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How does the no motes from stunting rule interact with the Malfean infernal charms that grants twice the motes per stunt? Do they just get double the amount from anima flares?
 
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From One, Many - Chapter 6
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    • rogthnor said:
    How does the no motes from stunting rule interact with the Malfean infernal charms that grants twice the motes per stunt? Do they just get double the amount from anima flares?
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    Mythos Exultants apply automatically, so that just doubles your anima flare feed, yes. That, incidentally, is why Keris auto-heals 1bhl, 1lhl and 2lhl per action when her anima is flaring - she has the Kimbery Mythos Exultant, and so basically heals in nWerewolf fashion. Other Mythos Exultants will apply similarly - Testolagh may well have Malfeas's, and I suspect Sasi has Cecelyne's.

    ...

    And speaking of Testolagh and Sasi, remember that Talk the three of them have been not having for almost a year now? Well, Kerisgame is back with another instalment, so here they go!

    Extras:
    EarthScorpion: Okay, so, what do you want to get done this session?
    Aleph: Probably just this conversation, since this is a big character thing that we've been leading up to for... quite a while. Hmm. Do you have any idea where this is going to go? That is, where it's going to end up?
    EarthScorpion: Eeeeeeeeeh. I mean, I sort of know what everyone wants out of it, but some of that isn't directly gameable, per se. I mean, it's Sasi-Testolagh stuff. And there does seem to be a fair amount of instability there, where things could go wrong in various ways.
    Aleph: Yeah, thought so. Welp! Let's see what happens!
    Aleph: Heh. The fun thing is... Keris could TLA Testolagh at any point. But she has to actually have a reason to do it. He'd need to earn the seed of her love the normal way before she went all in like that.

    ...

    Aleph: Wait, are Sasi's eyes grey or iridescent?
    EarthScorpion: Grey with an iridescent sheen, as per what the mana locusts do to you. Since she keeps LSD up most of the time, she hides it.
    Aleph: Ah, gotcha.

    ...

    Aleph: Uh
    Aleph: it occurs to me
    Aleph: that soon after Calesco's "birth", she took a message to Sasi of her own accord
    Aleph: and Keris's compassionate side is definitely interested in what Testolagh is saying, and wants to hear more and discuss it with him
    Aleph: and Keris hasn't actually forbidden her from going
    Aleph: So Testolagh may show up going "okay, we need to talk" sooner than Keris expects. : P
    EarthScorpion: Well, it depends. If puberty sneaks up on Calesco, certainly.
    EarthScorpion: (next time on the Keris Telenovella)
    Aleph: Testolagh: "So I was ambushed in my dreams by a twelve-year old who talked to me about moral philosophy for several hours and then told me to shut my eyes while she looked at my heart."
    Keris: *morbid interest* "Did you?"
    Testolagh: "She implied that you hadn't, so yes."​
    EarthScorpion: Poor Testolagh. High Compassion, high Conviction, high Temperance, high Valour.
    Aleph: Ouch
    EarthScorpion: He'd be so much happier as a Solar. As soon as he realises that the Oramus oath stuff is a possibility, he may even branch out from Malfeas.
    Aleph: Vali: "... I think I like him, too."
    Haneyl: "You and Cally agreeing on a person? There's a first."​
    EarthScorpion: Haneyl: "His fire is pretty, too! Mama! Learn more fire things so my fire can be better than his!"
    EarthScorpion: And oh, Calesco. She has an... interesting relationship with Temperance.

    ...

    EarthScorpion: Heh. So I tried sketching a sziromkerub today.
    EarthScorpion: I realised that... uh, their heads are basically floral Halloween lanterns.
    Aleph: : D

    ...

    [after the split session resumed]
    EarthScorpion: So, where were we? Keris had had the talk (not the Talk, she already knows about that) with Sasi and Testolagh, and basically the two of them got played by Sasi who really wants to keep both her toyboy and her mistress. : p
    Aleph: And then they turned round and started scheming against her... uh... scheming, and Calesco decided she likes Testolagh and probably went off to visit his dreams of her own accord, since Keris has formed a two-dot of, hmm, "Cautious Respect" for him.
    Aleph: Oh yes, one thing Keris definitely did want to do pre-Calibration was to ask Sasi to poke at her trinket and see if she could find a way to record memories on it. Or at least film things.

    ...

    Aleph: zanaraaaaaa
    EarthScorpion: Hee. Zanara doesn't have much time for how silly Calesco can be. If she was less silly, she could spend more time on art.
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  • Threadmarks
    • EarthScorpion: Haneyl: "His fire is pretty, too! Mama! Learn more fire things so my fire can be better than his!"
    EarthScorpion: And oh, Calesco. She has an... interesting relationship with Temperance.

    @EarthScorpion you tease
     
    Aleph said:
    Mythos Exultants apply automatically, so that just doubles your anima flare feed, yes. That, incidentally, is why Keris auto-heals 1bhl, 1lhl and 2lhl per action when her anima is flaring - she has the Kimbery Mythos Exultant, and so basically heals in nWerewolf fashion. Other Mythos Exultants will apply similarly - Testolagh may well have Malfeas's, and I suspect Sasi has Cecelyne's.
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    What Happens when you have multiple Mythos Exultants?

    Do you just get the effect of the one that matches your actions/stunts the most?
     
    Malfeas' one... needs adjustment, yes. I just haven't got around to it yet because Keris doesn't have it. The mote-regen is a problem here because motes are your real healthbar, and there's simply no room to play around with it.

    Honestly, I like Mythos Exultant as a concept, but the entire category has problems as a General Charm, especially since the more Yozis you add, the more problematic finding a new special thing is. I may have to de-General Charm it, and then just add specific versions back in for some of the Yozis (like, for example, the Virtue regen ones are fine, but Adorjan's is eeeeeeeeh, TED's is eeeeeeeeh, and Malfeas' is "Nope, imba").

    Hell, I might just strip them out and then give every Yozi their own version of my Oramus one as the Mythos Exultant - the one which lets you in-character stunt things into existence, so you can be all Yozi world-warping. Then if Kimbery, say, has an excellency-locked Charm that lets her regen health from stunts, that's only something which balance-wise needs to be considered for her excellency.
     
    EarthScorpion said:
    Malfeas' one... needs adjustment, yes. I just haven't got around to it yet because Keris doesn't have it. The mote-regen is a problem here because motes are your real healthbar, and there's simply no room to play around with it.

    Honestly, I like Mythos Exultant as a concept, but the entire category has problems as a General Charm, especially since the more Yozis you add, the more problematic finding a new special thing is. I may have to de-General Charm it, and then just add specific versions back in for some of the Yozis (like, for example, the Virtue regen ones are fine, but Adorjan's is eeeeeeeeh, TED's is eeeeeeeeh, and Malfeas' is "Nope, imba").

    Hell, I might just strip them out and then give every Yozi their own version of my Oramus one as the Mythos Exultant - the one which lets you in-character stunt things into existence, so you can be all Yozi world-warping. Then if Kimbery, say, has an excellency-locked Charm that lets her regen health from stunts, that's only something which balance-wise needs to be considered for her excellency.
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    I would argue against stripping them out entirely. While I understand that they are unbalanced, they are also really flavorful. Malfeas' excellency doubling mote regen is a great way of showing that he is all about having MOAR POWAH! When faced with a problem he just hammers at it until he goes away.
     
    rogthnor said:
    I would argue against stripping them out entirely. While I understand that they are unbalanced, they are also really flavorful. Malfeas' excellency doubling mote regen is a great way of showing that he is all about having MOAR POWAH! When faced with a problem he just hammers at it until he goes away.
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    No. You're not allowed to make things unbalanced just to make them "really flavourful".

    If they can't be fixed, they must be purged. if they take too much effort to fix, purging time. And so on.
     
    Problem: Malfeas Mythos Exultant is a broken mess.

    Solution: Strip out Malfeas Mythos Exultant and replace it with something that is not a broken mess.

    Result: Malfeas Mythos Exultant is no longer a broken mess.

    New Problem: Mythos Exultant is a really iffy general Charm concept in general.

    Solution: Cut out and replace with something that is not iffy.

    Result: Fixed.

    It seems like you'll have to get out the scissors @EarthScorpion. :V
     
    rogthnor said:
    I would argue against stripping them out entirely. While I understand that they are unbalanced, they are also really flavorful. Malfeas' excellency doubling mote regen is a great way of showing that he is all about having MOAR POWAH! When faced with a problem he just hammers at it until he goes away.
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    No, it isn't. In fact, that's a terrible way to show that approach, because in addition to fucking up the balance by making Malfean Infernals way harder to kill than anyone else, the best way to show that the Malfean approach is pouring more power on is to actually add more power (without doing something stupid like "give you higher useful regen than anyone else in the game").

    To which end I'm just going to point out that adding the effect of Green Sun Nimbus Flare onto things (but doing +1L - +3L or something) isn't a terribly imbalanced thing.
     
    azoicennead said:
    No, it isn't. In fact, that's a terrible way to show that approach, because in addition to fucking up the balance by making Malfean Infernals way harder to kill than anyone else, the best way to show that the Malfean approach is pouring more power on is to actually add more power (without doing something stupid like "give you higher useful regen than anyone else in the game").

    To which end I'm just going to point out that adding the effect of Green Sun Nimbus Flare onto things (but doing +1L - +3L or something) isn't a terribly imbalanced thing.
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    I may have been unclear.

    I agree, that Malfeas Mythos Exultant is broken and needs to be fixed.

    However, I also think that [Yozi] Mythos Exultant is a really good way of showing fundamental ways in which the Yozi approaches problems. Using Malfeas as an example I stated that his mythos exultant shows that he always has power to spare. His approach to problem solving is not to be be clever or approach it at an oblique angle, but to just keep adding power until the problem is solved. He can do this because he has energy to spare.

    For this reason I was advising against replacing all [Yozi] Mythos Exultant with Oramus Mythos Exultant. While OME works for Oramus, if every Yozi had that as their Exultant we would lose some of their coolest charms. Instead I believe they should each keep their own unique YME but we should get rid of the idea that it must be some form of recharge mechanism.

    As an aside, I don't think just adding fire damage in place of mote regen would work, as it would limit MME to strictly combat applications. Instead maybe make it so that the extra motes awarded by MME must be spent on that action. This way Malfean Infernals are still throwing extra power around, but it can't be used to regenerate spent energy faster. As an added feature, it encourages them to go for the overkill approach, since the extra motes are going to disappear after the action anyway.

    I don't really have a good head for homebrew though so it might be unbalanced.
     
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