Remove ads

[Exalted, ?] Most High

Reader mode
Savonarola said:
We know how to keep him in check, though. Just... don't intentionally let him out, and we're good.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It just turns the entire prologue into a plot device - hit this button to win. And if we never press the button nothing occurs, so some of the earlier choices become moot, no benefits to personal ties (which we took a ton of) and memories at all, cheapening the reincarnation we ended up choosing.
 
Odyssial is basically just a plot device in the event of Totality, yeah. And not even a fresh, new, interesting plot device, but rather an old, tired, worn out plot device.
 
Xsi said:
It just turns the entire prologue into a plot device - hit this button to win. And if we never press the button nothing occurs, so some of the earlier choices become moot, no benefits to personal ties (which we took a ton of) and memories at all, cheapening the reincarnation we ended up choosing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That's not the case, though. Odyssial will access his old resources on the handful of occasions he surfaces on his own, so the plot hooks do not actually go to waste.
 
Last edited:
The way I see it, Essentially As Planned produces an Ulyssian/Odyssial that will hit the ground running. Uly/Ody will probably start plotting how to use his new knowledge within seconds of Exalting, and I imagine we'll be wanting to get in touch with Fairest/Lea fairly quickly.

Identity Crisis Uly will be confused, he'll need help. He'll have to rely on his friends not just for their power, but to help him frame himself again. To see Sesus Ulyssian through their eyes. He'll need Zao to give him the time to grow into his power.

Pick the thematic you prefer.
 
Savonarola said:
That's not the case, though Odyssial will access his old resources on the handful of occasions he surfaces on his own, so the plot hooks do not actually go to waste.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

If we take WOG into account, he's unlikely to come out more than once or twice during the quest. I'm going to sort of assume (bad on me, yes) that this awakening will be one of them. He has no access to his resources here, or any real way to get moving towards them. He'll "wake up" surrounded by enemies and it won't likely go well for anyone not named Odyssial at the academy, at which point he's got maybe a while, maybe not (could be tired by Ulyssian's body? I don't know), and Ulyssian reasserts control, and freaks the hell out.

One of the two times the genie can safely be used, and no advancing on the resources.
 
Guile said:
The way I see it, Essentially As Planned produces an Ulyssian/Odyssial that will hit the ground running. Uly/Ody will probably start plotting how to use his new knowledge within seconds of Exalting.

Identity Crisis Uly will be confused, he'll need help. He'll have to rely on his friends not just for their power, but to help him frame himself again. To see Sesus Ulyssian through their eyes. He'll need Zao to give him the time to grow into his power.

Pick the thematic you prefer.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I see you follow the path of Rihaku.
 
Don't you all want to see the carnage Odyssial tolls out, the untold number of mortals sanity breaking, the endless oceans of blood, and the corpses of his enemies stacked higher than the eye can see.

It shall be Glorious!!!



Now join my choice and let's have an endless waltz of slaughter as far as our eyes perceive.
 
vel10 said:
Odyssial is basically just a plot device in the event of Totality, yeah. And not even a fresh, new, interesting plot device, but rather an old, tired, worn out plot device.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Virtually every story is filled with tropes. Tropes are not bad, or good. They just are. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but in this case I'd disagree. The vast majority of stereotypical dark sides act in downright silly ways that don't stand up to serious examination, and are almost always an actual separate consciousness or sub-consciousness ("dark side," Vader killing Anakin, Kyuubi and Naruto, etc). If one looks hard enough, one can draw similarities between almost any media. But I don't think it's a particularly fruitful exercise. Far more productive and enjoyable for everyone, is to keep an open mind and enter without judgement.

That goes for all sides of this debate. Don't sabotage your own potential enjoyment by per-emptively poisoning your own selves against a given experience.
 
Rihaku said:
Virtually every story is filled with tropes. Tropes are not bad, or good. They just are. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but in this case I'd disagree. The vast majority of stereotypical dark sides act in downright silly ways that don't stand up to serious examination, and are almost always an actual separate consciousness or sub-consciousness ("dark side," Vader killing Anakin, Kyuubi and Naruto, etc). If one looks hard enough, one can draw similarities between almost any media. But I don't think it's a particularly fruitful exercise. Far more productive and enjoyable for everyone, is to keep an open mind and enter without judgement.

That goes for all sides of this debate. Don't sabotage your own potential enjoyment by per-emptively poisoning your own selves against a given experience.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I'm not saying it can't be done well, just that I've seen it done both well and badly, and I'd really rather not see it again, yeah? Even good tropes get old, and this is a trope I've seen a lot. Even if it's well done, it's not something I'm interested in seeing yet again.

I've almost never seen an actual fusion done, on the other hand.
 
Last edited:
Way I see it, this way we get all the best attributes of Ulyssian, and then on occasion we get to see all the best attributes of Odyssial. Don't you guys want to see him break a full Legion of the Realm, or duel with a Deathlord?
 
Savonarola said:
This dispute's easy enough to clear up. @Rihaku, is Odyssial going to manifest right this second, when Ulyssian's desires are currently surging at their strongest?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Even if its not, he's only coming out in the most extreme circumstances, not the places where he can make progress on his goals. More likely the "oh man, this idiot in my body is going to get us killed" kind.
 
[X] Essentially As Planned

This is, essentially, the outcome I wanted all along. That if Reincarnation was going to take place, it would go all just as planned.

I'm not interested in struggling against an "enemy within" scenario; both because that's a pain in the ass to deal with, and because it gives an adversarial element to the Ulyssian-Odyssial relation. That's not what I wanted, and probably not what a lot of people wanted, given all the concerns over "overwriting" Ulyssian that were voiced before the Reincarnation.

I'm not interested in the story that goes along with a "enemy within/superpowered evil mode". So, I vote for a harmonious reincarnation.
 
Usernames said:
No. I want Odyssial and Ulyssian ALL the time.

Not just for a scene or two. Fuck that bullshit.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Well, you can't have that. Only one body, mate. You water 'em both down, or you can give each their time in the sun. Essentially As Planned doesn't have much more than a thimble's worth of Odyssial's badassery.
 
Last edited:
Rihaku, the new post hasn't been threadmarked.

Totality:
+ Odyssial as Trump Card/win button.
+ 150 000XP
- Trump Card used too much ends quest.
+/- Ulyssian as Ulyssian with exaltation with no memory of Odyssial stuff unless using trump.

Identity Crisis:
- Can switch between Ulys and Odys but costs XP
- Identity crisis - memory isn't as good as Totality's. Harder to retrieve stuff.
+/- Ulyssian and Odyssial can merge to become perfect UlysOdys.

Planned:
+ Perfect UlysOdys
+ Can capitalize on relevant memory perfectly.
+ 1 year exp as Solar
+/- Much weaker than Totality's trump card. Stronger than Ulyssian not using Trump.
- 350,000 XP

>.>
Objectively/mechanically...Planned is probably the better choice. Even taking into account the exp. Seriously...that extra year as Solar will probably offset that 350 000XP cost.

[X] Essentially As Planned
 
Guile said:
The way I see it, Essentially As Planned produces an Ulyssian/Odyssial that will hit the ground running. Uly/Ody will probably start plotting how to use his new knowledge within seconds of Exalting, and I imagine we'll be wanting to get in touch with Fairest/Lea fairly quickly.

Identity Crisis Uly will be confused, he'll need help. He'll have to rely on his friends not just for their power, but to help him frame himself again. To see Sesus Ulyssian through their eyes. He'll need Zao to give him the time to grow into his power.

Pick the thematic you prefer.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Both As Planned and Crisis Ody / Uly will undergo an adjustment period. They're probably unlikely to immediately go see Lea, as she is halfway across the world and travel is extremely dangerous. It would be a full-on Journey to the West (only you'd be going East) scenario, which would be a big commitment until you are more powerful and have access to quicker means of transit. Also, since he would still have Ulyssian's full complement of feelings towards Moon, Hero, Nilul, etc, he probably wouldn't want to leave them behind if he could help it, at least not for that duration of time.

Of course, there is the problem that Hero is a devout Immaculate, Moon is near-death, his anima seems to burn Nilul, and he just Exalted in a stadium full of Dragon-Blooded, but these are all solvable problems. Honestly, Hero is probably the most intractable one, as he's unlikely to renounce the Immaculate perspective even if Zao tells him it's literally bullshit.
 
[X] Essentially As Planned

Savonarola said:
Well, you can't have that. Only one body, mate. You water 'em both down, or you can give each their time in the sun. Essentially As Planned doesn't have much more than a thimble's worth of Odyssial's badassery.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Well, Totality mentions, "Odyssial had calibrated his mechanisms of reincarnation carefully, a herculean task to arrange even for one soul. He had wanted to ease his incarnation in, to make the transition as smooth as possible so that he would not lose the lessons of either mortal life in the undertow of Exalted longevity." So presumably we will be gaining access to more of Odyssial's memories as we grow in power.

Edit:
Something to remember:
After 7 years Odyssial could kill multiple Second Circles before a First could notice his presence. This time we'll already know the optimised approach, and thus grow faster.
 
Last edited:
Rihaku said:
Both As Planned and Crisis Ody / Uly will undergo an adjustment period. They're probably unlikely to immediately go see Lea, as she is halfway across the world and travel is extremely dangerous. It would be a full-on Journey to the West (only you'd be going East) scenario, which would be a big commitment until you are more powerful and have access to quicker means of transit. Also, since he would still have Ulyssian's full complement of feelings towards Moon, Hero, Nilul, etc, he probably wouldn't want to leave them behind if he could help it, at least not for that duration of time.

Of course, there is the problem that Hero is a devout Immaculate, Moon is near-death, his anima seems to burn Nilul, and he just Exalted in a stadium full of Dragon-Blooded, but these are all solvable problems. Honestly, Hero is probably the most intractable one, as he's unlikely to renounce the Immaculate perspective even if Zao tells him it's literally bullshit.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Uly: "No no no, Hero, I was the good Solar."
 
I'm going to go against the grain here and vote for [x] Identity Crisis.

This option basically have most of the advantages and none of the down sides. There's none of the adversarial element of Totality while keeping most of what's important, his memories and personality.

Compared to Essentially as Planned, Identity Crisis retains most of the banked XP while still leaving Ulyssian still in charge. Plus, Ulyssisan can have Moon while Ody can have Lea. There's absolutely no conflict here. Everyone gets there ship.
 
Last edited:
CharlBaal said:
@Rihaku with Everything as Planned and the merger of Odyssial and Ulyssian, will that mean their ability dots will be merged together to the normal human limit of 5?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Hunter! Odyssial and Mortal!Ulyssian, yeah. The perfect fusion doesn't have much more than Hunter!Odyssial's memories at the start. It's literally just a few snippets more than what you guys have seen.
 
Massive experience cost, relatively minimal memory benefits, dilution of Ulyssian, and we don't ever get to see the Strategos in the fullness of his glory? No thanks.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top