That would be relevant if we had chosen to wait a day and gather information, maybe.Speckled Burd said:
[Exalted/SMT] Shard of a Broken Sun
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
Speckled Burd
Medicus Magica
- Location
- Kansas
No, if they weren't going to use the Exaltation's power, they wouldn't be a candidate to exalt.pressea said:
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Doesn't matter, the Exaltation won't affix to someone who won't use it, it's a hard-coded limit.pressea said:
In short, only a Heroic Soul can bond with an Exaltation.
The story explicitly says the exaltation can't see their future.
It can't tell if they're going to use it.
So apparently we need to know if we're using 2e or 2.5e rules and whether or not the character Exalting will even use our power? Please?Baughn said:
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
It has some information, just not as much as it'd like. OOC, I'm not going to hand you a character who'd be impossible to play, but I am going to hand you one who will find this whole mess quite horrifying and disturbing.pressea said:
2.5e rules, as best I can arrange.ShadowAngelBeta said:
Speckled Burd
Medicus Magica
- Location
- Kansas
Except they can, because an if an Exaltation that came upon a mortal that wasn't going to use it in the war against the primordials would be an Exaltation that was wasted.pressea said:
And that would be against the entire tone of the Exalted setting.
It's almost like you want to play a game where you want to be trying to control a character that refuses to do what you need them to do. Why would you think that's fun?
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Yes, yes it would.Speckled Burd said:
By the way, you're not in the exalted setting. There were mechanics underlying the exaltations' ability to always pick a good vic.. er, host, and most of those mechanics are no longer in play. The exaltation is quite capable on its own, but it's no longer absolute.
Seriously, though. I'm not going to make things that difficult on you.
Now, I have quite a bit of research to do, so don't be too surprised if I can't get around to posting the first story segment today.
Speckled Burd
Medicus Magica
- Location
- Kansas
My other point is that it would be absolutely no fun at all to not be able to have some measure of control over our character.Baughn said:
well, it's standard on megaten to have the whole world turned to shit anyway, it wouldn't be a megaten otherwise
still, can't imagine the obsession with hardmode when it's already a fucking megaten, i'd rather get any semblance of advantage we can get before the encounter gets flat out unforgiving.
still, can't imagine the obsession with hardmode when it's already a fucking megaten, i'd rather get any semblance of advantage we can get before the encounter gets flat out unforgiving.
"innocent extras" dies by the millions if not billions in an SMT game
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Billions is accurate.
SMT 1 has the entire world blown up in thermonuclear war pretty early on, and most of the survivors are fucking drowned in a biblical Flood.
SMT 3 begins with "Everyone not in the hospital at the time of the Conceptual is killed".
SMT Starts at the "World Level" and usually ends with tangling with cosmic level entities. Persona tops out at what amounts to being country level, and when a Real powerhouse shows up, it's pretty much "All of your PCs are ignominiously killed, except for the Power of Plot.
Nyx? Fighting her Avatar for a while takes all of your party's strength, and when she manifests directly? It's pretty much a "Wipes out your whole party just with her presence" moment.
Izanami? "Yeah, I'm done fucking around, all of you go die now"
Persona 2 IS also had Nyarlahotep as the Big Bad IIRC.
SMT 1 has the entire world blown up in thermonuclear war pretty early on, and most of the survivors are fucking drowned in a biblical Flood.
SMT 3 begins with "Everyone not in the hospital at the time of the Conceptual is killed".
SMT Starts at the "World Level" and usually ends with tangling with cosmic level entities. Persona tops out at what amounts to being country level, and when a Real powerhouse shows up, it's pretty much "All of your PCs are ignominiously killed, except for the Power of Plot.
Nyx? Fighting her Avatar for a while takes all of your party's strength, and when she manifests directly? It's pretty much a "Wipes out your whole party just with her presence" moment.
Izanami? "Yeah, I'm done fucking around, all of you go die now"
Persona 2 IS also had Nyarlahotep as the Big Bad IIRC.
the way i see it, the stronger the protagonist candidate to pick on in the beginning, the more likely it is for her to have enough power to choose a neutral ending that wouldn't rely on YHVH or Lucifer's aid, and that usually allows for a reset button, hence saving more people in the long run.
Of course, not saying that a weaker protagonist couldn't do that, but it'd be a lot harder to earn our place as a power without relying on law or chaos.
Of course, not saying that a weaker protagonist couldn't do that, but it'd be a lot harder to earn our place as a power without relying on law or chaos.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
...phew, manga skimming complete. That's one side done; fortunately for the other one, I just need to check the very beginning.
So, anyway. Remember the 'world egg' pulsing and cracking? Important hints there, you should take advantage of your special viewpoint, though you might not understand the implications until later.
So, anyway. Remember the 'world egg' pulsing and cracking? Important hints there, you should take advantage of your special viewpoint, though you might not understand the implications until later.
As for the Advantage against Evil Creatures (Or was it Dark Creatures) can't Solars themselves designate those Creatures, not just the Unconquered Sun?
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Yes, but not until they're near the pinnacle of non-elder power, or have access to a specific Incredibly powerful weapon called the Aidenweiss.ShadowAngelBeta said:
We need a charm for that that should be out of reach of our host for a few years.ShadowAngelBeta said:
Alectai said:
Ah. Like I said earlier, passingly familiar with both settings but not that well. Thank you.Scya said:
Friday's Sunrise 1
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Friday's Sunrise
[X] A young girl of no special virtue, the extra, whose life never mattered.
- Out of compassion, save the one who cannot save herself.
[X] Dawn, the spear of god.
You drift towards the smallest of the lot.
None of your choices were perfect, but by many standards this one is the worst. Not strong, not skilled, not wise, any of the others would more easily take to your help. You were created in the image of the Unconquered Sun, however, and efficiency is not an overriding goal.
The skein of fate is opaque, but not wholly impenetrable; though your range is measured only in days, within those limits you can tell when someone is fated to die. A great cataclysm is coming, which the others will at least temporarily survive. This one, this young girl, is fated to die.
Any of the others could save themselves. You will save the one who can't.
There is a bit of a problem, though. Up close, you realise the soul structure of your chosen host isn't entirely standard, even for this alien world; in point of fact, she appears to have four souls. Pattern-matching to the enemies you were created to fight almost triggers a hard override, but the match is too poor to force your hand, so instead you draw closer in order to study the phenomenon, and the personality of your host.
The girl spends most of her time in a structure of stone and metal, sitting in a room with many others her age and a single adult human. It is inconvenient that you cannot understand their language, but that will change; for now, this is what you have learned:
Your host-to-be is a student, most likely a mediocre one. She does not pay attention in class. That she is nevertheless allowed to spend her days here you chalk up as evidence of the richness of her people, which outdoes anything you remember from Creation. Even the school itself shows their affluence, being shaped like a castle with many unnecessary elaborations. You briefly consider that it might have started as an actual castle, but the design is unsuitable for that, having far too many weak points.
She does not have any special athletic ability. The school teaches running, leaping and dodging a soft ball (you silently approve, having seen too many promising candidates killed during practice), but except for the dodge-game she does not outdo the rest of the class by any great amount, and the class as a whole has poor physical abilities by your standards.
She has a strong heart, however, as you discover when she stands up to one of her teachers on her classmates' behalf. A strong spirit, that very slightly warps the world she walks through. Even without you, she will one day awaken to her essence - well, she would if she could live that long. And most of all, potential.
Potential in itself isn't something you normally look for, but in a case like this it can provide the casting vote. There is no doubt that she'll take well to an exaltation.
As for the matter of her soul…
You had trouble deciding, but after sufficient study it appears she has only one. At least, she is human enough to remain a valid target, though her soul has almost been split in four. One for her true body, and one each for a… miniature ghost-clone, near as you can tell, each of which has a somewhat different personality from the original. You spend a lot of time making sure, but she is definitely not a primordial or demon, and while these projections may become weak points they are not grounds for invalidation. Destroying one might change her personality, but not in a fundamental manner. Unfortunately, this means you will be unable to preemptively absorb them.
That problem settled, you nestle in and start creating your own connections to her soul, searching for suitable points of congruence to let you understand the workings of her mind. The official exaltation will happen during a suitably dramatic scene.
Entering contingency mode Z2. Loading adaptive exaltation routines.
=======
[Annoyance. Guilt. Righteousness.]
It's a little bit like tuning a radio. A pink-haired, very complex radio, but nothing you can't handle. Case in point, your word choice just now.
[Why does he get to give me detention after what he did?]
Listening to the thoughts of your hosts isn't simply a hobby, it's your job. The line between the two of you is quickly growing blurry, but you hold yourself back for now.
"Geez. Because of that, I couldn't get to the Guardians' tea party in time." Amu pouted, upset both by the way she blew up at Nikaidou and by the outcome. It wasn't fair! Yes, he was her teacher, but he'd also kidnapped Su and and tried to cook her! She'd earned a bit of leeway from fixing his own egg and getting him to stop being evil, hadn't she? Couldn't he let her get away with shouting at him… in the middle of the teacher's lounge, with other people around?
Apparently not. Apparently rules were rules. She was quickly coming to learn that "fair" wasn't the way of the world.
Ran tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry, there's still tomorrow!"
"Huh? Y..yeah, I guess so. At least I'm ahead on my homework now, I can spend the entire afternoon there…" With Tadase-kun, she hoped.
"You put the lock on your chain belt today," Su commented, floating in front of her.
"Yeah, sometimes a change is nice." It wasn't for any deep reason, she'd just wanted to try it out. The way it was jerking back and forth as she ran out the gates of Seiyo Elementary, she didn't think it'd stay there.
She adjusted her pace, aiming for maximum endurance. If she could keep this up, she might be able to get home soon enough Mommy wouldn't think anything odd had happened, and Nikaidou-sensei hadn't given her a note. In a pinch she could ask Ran to help, but then she'd inevitably end up going to bed early.
Down the left-hand street, cut across the corner, wave to the grandma who sometimes gave her fruit. Keep running, or else get caught at the next intersection - she didn't really need to run all the way, but running always felt good. Slow down in the crowd, or she'd bounce off someone and fall.
Hear raised voices up ahead…
She tentatively edged through the crowd, scared but hoping there'd be some way she could help. Once she reached the commotion, she realised that was unlikely. There was a small group of delinquents surrounding two much older girls and holding them still despite their shouts and attempts to get away, that was what she'd heard. People kept walking past them. Why weren't any of them doing anything?
What should she do? If she asked Ran for help she'd get a lot stronger, but not enough to beat three teenaged boys, and it'd also be obvious something weird was going on. Run for help? No, but the two girls were already shouting for help, and no-one was helping. If there'd been a policeman around, surely he'd already be here. She couldn't do nothing, could she? But the boys were really scary…
She trembled, unable to make a decision and unable to look away.
=======
You consider your options. You're not sure you've completely deciphered how her soul works, but this is almost an ideal situation for exaltation. A direct insult to her main virtue, low actual danger, plenty of witnesses to the glory… You also can't help but consider that her fate terminates in a single day (or possibly two days, it's strangely split), and while there will surely be better opportunities for exaltation when that happens, there's no guarantee you'll have time to do a good job.
On the other hand, there's a young man approaching the scoundrels from the far side with purpose in his eyes. Perhaps you should wait a bit and see what his intentions are? Far be it from you to deny a hero his chance at glory.
Something in the way Amu's soul is structured is attracting you, and not metaphorically speaking; you've had to spend a bit of effort keeping yourself from getting sucked in. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but normally you wouldn't be performing an exaltation; if anything untoward is going to happen, that's the only time it might.
[ ] Time to exalt. Even an incomplete exaltation will be more than sufficient, you can figure out the details later.
[ ] Actually, best to wait and see.
[X] A young girl of no special virtue, the extra, whose life never mattered.
- Out of compassion, save the one who cannot save herself.
[X] Dawn, the spear of god.
You drift towards the smallest of the lot.
None of your choices were perfect, but by many standards this one is the worst. Not strong, not skilled, not wise, any of the others would more easily take to your help. You were created in the image of the Unconquered Sun, however, and efficiency is not an overriding goal.
The skein of fate is opaque, but not wholly impenetrable; though your range is measured only in days, within those limits you can tell when someone is fated to die. A great cataclysm is coming, which the others will at least temporarily survive. This one, this young girl, is fated to die.
Any of the others could save themselves. You will save the one who can't.
There is a bit of a problem, though. Up close, you realise the soul structure of your chosen host isn't entirely standard, even for this alien world; in point of fact, she appears to have four souls. Pattern-matching to the enemies you were created to fight almost triggers a hard override, but the match is too poor to force your hand, so instead you draw closer in order to study the phenomenon, and the personality of your host.
The girl spends most of her time in a structure of stone and metal, sitting in a room with many others her age and a single adult human. It is inconvenient that you cannot understand their language, but that will change; for now, this is what you have learned:
Your host-to-be is a student, most likely a mediocre one. She does not pay attention in class. That she is nevertheless allowed to spend her days here you chalk up as evidence of the richness of her people, which outdoes anything you remember from Creation. Even the school itself shows their affluence, being shaped like a castle with many unnecessary elaborations. You briefly consider that it might have started as an actual castle, but the design is unsuitable for that, having far too many weak points.
She does not have any special athletic ability. The school teaches running, leaping and dodging a soft ball (you silently approve, having seen too many promising candidates killed during practice), but except for the dodge-game she does not outdo the rest of the class by any great amount, and the class as a whole has poor physical abilities by your standards.
She has a strong heart, however, as you discover when she stands up to one of her teachers on her classmates' behalf. A strong spirit, that very slightly warps the world she walks through. Even without you, she will one day awaken to her essence - well, she would if she could live that long. And most of all, potential.
Potential in itself isn't something you normally look for, but in a case like this it can provide the casting vote. There is no doubt that she'll take well to an exaltation.
As for the matter of her soul…
You had trouble deciding, but after sufficient study it appears she has only one. At least, she is human enough to remain a valid target, though her soul has almost been split in four. One for her true body, and one each for a… miniature ghost-clone, near as you can tell, each of which has a somewhat different personality from the original. You spend a lot of time making sure, but she is definitely not a primordial or demon, and while these projections may become weak points they are not grounds for invalidation. Destroying one might change her personality, but not in a fundamental manner. Unfortunately, this means you will be unable to preemptively absorb them.
That problem settled, you nestle in and start creating your own connections to her soul, searching for suitable points of congruence to let you understand the workings of her mind. The official exaltation will happen during a suitably dramatic scene.
Entering contingency mode Z2. Loading adaptive exaltation routines.
=======
[Annoyance. Guilt. Righteousness.]
It's a little bit like tuning a radio. A pink-haired, very complex radio, but nothing you can't handle. Case in point, your word choice just now.
[Why does he get to give me detention after what he did?]
Listening to the thoughts of your hosts isn't simply a hobby, it's your job. The line between the two of you is quickly growing blurry, but you hold yourself back for now.
"Geez. Because of that, I couldn't get to the Guardians' tea party in time." Amu pouted, upset both by the way she blew up at Nikaidou and by the outcome. It wasn't fair! Yes, he was her teacher, but he'd also kidnapped Su and and tried to cook her! She'd earned a bit of leeway from fixing his own egg and getting him to stop being evil, hadn't she? Couldn't he let her get away with shouting at him… in the middle of the teacher's lounge, with other people around?
Apparently not. Apparently rules were rules. She was quickly coming to learn that "fair" wasn't the way of the world.
Ran tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry, there's still tomorrow!"
"Huh? Y..yeah, I guess so. At least I'm ahead on my homework now, I can spend the entire afternoon there…" With Tadase-kun, she hoped.
"You put the lock on your chain belt today," Su commented, floating in front of her.
"Yeah, sometimes a change is nice." It wasn't for any deep reason, she'd just wanted to try it out. The way it was jerking back and forth as she ran out the gates of Seiyo Elementary, she didn't think it'd stay there.
She adjusted her pace, aiming for maximum endurance. If she could keep this up, she might be able to get home soon enough Mommy wouldn't think anything odd had happened, and Nikaidou-sensei hadn't given her a note. In a pinch she could ask Ran to help, but then she'd inevitably end up going to bed early.
Down the left-hand street, cut across the corner, wave to the grandma who sometimes gave her fruit. Keep running, or else get caught at the next intersection - she didn't really need to run all the way, but running always felt good. Slow down in the crowd, or she'd bounce off someone and fall.
Hear raised voices up ahead…
She tentatively edged through the crowd, scared but hoping there'd be some way she could help. Once she reached the commotion, she realised that was unlikely. There was a small group of delinquents surrounding two much older girls and holding them still despite their shouts and attempts to get away, that was what she'd heard. People kept walking past them. Why weren't any of them doing anything?
What should she do? If she asked Ran for help she'd get a lot stronger, but not enough to beat three teenaged boys, and it'd also be obvious something weird was going on. Run for help? No, but the two girls were already shouting for help, and no-one was helping. If there'd been a policeman around, surely he'd already be here. She couldn't do nothing, could she? But the boys were really scary…
She trembled, unable to make a decision and unable to look away.
=======
You consider your options. You're not sure you've completely deciphered how her soul works, but this is almost an ideal situation for exaltation. A direct insult to her main virtue, low actual danger, plenty of witnesses to the glory… You also can't help but consider that her fate terminates in a single day (or possibly two days, it's strangely split), and while there will surely be better opportunities for exaltation when that happens, there's no guarantee you'll have time to do a good job.
On the other hand, there's a young man approaching the scoundrels from the far side with purpose in his eyes. Perhaps you should wait a bit and see what his intentions are? Far be it from you to deny a hero his chance at glory.
Something in the way Amu's soul is structured is attracting you, and not metaphorically speaking; you've had to spend a bit of effort keeping yourself from getting sucked in. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but normally you wouldn't be performing an exaltation; if anything untoward is going to happen, that's the only time it might.
[ ] Time to exalt. Even an incomplete exaltation will be more than sufficient, you can figure out the details later.
[ ] Actually, best to wait and see.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Devil Survivor then?
... Oh shit, doesn't Devil Survivor two open up with "Most of the world aside from Japan has vanished?"
Then again, Elementary School Student.
Then Again Again, the name of this update follows the DeSu 2 naming scheme.
I must do further research it seems.
... Oh shit, doesn't Devil Survivor two open up with "Most of the world aside from Japan has vanished?"
Then again, Elementary School Student.
Then Again Again, the name of this update follows the DeSu 2 naming scheme.
I must do further research it seems.
KnightDisciple
Love God. Do Right. Fear No Man.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
[X] Actually, best to wait and see.
Shugo Friggin Chara... Oh, God. That's f*cking hilarious. 
There's a fanfic that threw her into a DMC crossover as well, turned into a massivexover though, and well... traumatizing, not nearly as much as it could have been but...
I just realized if we get sucked into her soul could we turn into a Chara. I'm going to f*ckin ROFL! if that happens.
There's a fanfic that threw her into a DMC crossover as well, turned into a massivexover though, and well... traumatizing, not nearly as much as it could have been but...I just realized if we get sucked into her soul could we turn into a Chara. I'm going to f*ckin ROFL! if that happens.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
CONFIRMED FOR DEVIL SURVIVOR 2 (Plus one more crossover, apparently Shugo Chara? Which is... A thing? Maybe? I have no fucking idea how that stacks up to Megaten because I haven't watched it)
Unsure, Bookish Girl was Io Nitta , Motherly Girl was Otome Yanagiya , Passionate Girl was probably either Hinako Kujou or Airi Ban
Unsure, Bookish Girl was Io Nitta , Motherly Girl was Otome Yanagiya , Passionate Girl was probably either Hinako Kujou or Airi Ban