Are there any cool artifacts that aren't weapons or armor in the 2e or 1e books?
Wonders of the Lost Age had a great little chapter section on Utility artifacts like Fire Pearls (used as small makeshift lighters, or piercing ammunition for chemical bazookas), Windslave discs (panels of blue jade which can render heavy loads and cargo lighter, with increased weight limits as they get bigger), Thousand Comforts Lounge (luxury furniture which can shift shape and materials, such as a wooden stool to a metal throne), Sympathetic Elemental Scanners (summon an elemental and coax it into a relaxed state of dreaming elemental energies, and read its eddies for upcoming weather or geological events aligned to its element anywhere in Creation, like storms or earthquakes).

1e has the universal favorite in the Winterbreath Jar, which keeps anything inside it cold, while the Book of Bone and Ebony had some interesting things with Blood Apples (glass fruit which grows only during Calibration in the Underworld/shadowlands, when eaten allowing the user to physically 'die' and rise from her body as a ghost for 12 hours), Bloody Ice Combs (a disposable hairpin which conjures up a supernatural blizzard of snow and frozen blood for five minutes, up to a mile from where it was thrown into the ground and shattered), Drums of the Living Heart (skin-bound drums anointed with a targets blood, and beats in time with her heart to monitor vitals/wellbeing), Stones of Ten Thousand Tears (permanently remove chosen memories from a living person so they can be relived by the dead, typically as a trauma therapy tool), and Thirst-Quenching Pitchers (funnel blood into the jug, it becomes any beverage the holder has tasted before, though poisons don't count).

That's all I got off the top of my head.
 
I rather liked Essence Flare pillars from 2nd edition. Basically they were four jade pillars (I think they were white jade). If you put them into a square of 100 yards or so, anybody with active essence who walks into it automatically flares their Anima. It was basically an 'An Exalt is coming' alarm. Night Casts could get around it but they had to spend extra essence to do so. Sure an Exalt could probably climb a wall rather than walking through your gate, but setting it up in the gatehouse is probably going to alert you to any Exalt who just meanders through your front door. Of course, people are going to get jumpy when the lady in front of you suddenly bursts into flame...
 
I rather liked Essence Flare pillars from 2nd edition. Basically they were four jade pillars (I think they were white jade). If you put them into a square of 100 yards or so, anybody with active essence who walks into it automatically flares their Anima. It was basically an 'An Exalt is coming' alarm. Night Casts could get around it but they had to spend extra essence to do so. Sure an Exalt could probably climb a wall rather than walking through your gate, but setting it up in the gatehouse is probably going to alert you to any Exalt who just meanders through your front door. Of course, people are going to get jumpy when the lady in front of you suddenly bursts into flame...
Correction: they flare your anima by making you spend enough Essence to do so.

They're awful, awful artifacts, even though the warning signal is somewhat interesting of a use.
 
Yeah, definitely missing the forest for the trees.

There's a consistent issue with Sidereals where, since your charmset is very tightly linked to your splat fluff in this game and their original set was written such that it only really works in a Sidereal-PCs-only game, they occupy this state of uncertainty in which not all of the crap in their toolkit actually exists when dealing with the setting as a whole, but nobody can agree on what bits actually exist (even though the most egregious bits are generally solidly agreed on, like my Creation-Slaying Kick).

Which makes it difficult to discuss them, because, for example, it's hard to go "Sidereals can do this", referring to any given capability in their charmset, while you can pretty easily talk about how Solars can disguise themselves perfectly or Infernals can turn into Imhotep's sandstorm form or whatever. Those capabilities don't cause any problems, while Sidereal capabilities have this tendency to step on others' toes in a highly irritating way (as undetectable, untraceable orbital effects from heaven).

Are there any cool artifacts that aren't weapons or armor in the 2e or 1e books?

Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light. Keeps you clean. All the time. So useful.
 
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Are there any cool artifacts that aren't weapons or armor in the 2e or 1e books?
Drawing from both 1E and 2E?
Dragonfly's Ranging Eye, for seeing things from up to a mile away, depending on the rating. Through walls and other obstructions, and even Essence sight, are options.

Bracers of Universal Crafting and Arms of Multiple Manipulation, which give [Essence]autosux for things that require fine manipulation, from cooking to surgery to picking locks.
Omnimodal Wardrobe Unit and Infinite Resplendence Amulet, for quickchange clothes.
Wings of the Raptor and Transcendent Phoenix Pinions, for flight and BURNING WINGS!

Cloak of Vanishing Escape, which allows escape teleports up to [Essence]miles away; perfect for those patented getaways when cornered.
Death Shield Ring, which allows you to survive one fatal event/attack by absorbing it and expending itself; one use only.
The Golden Viper, which is a six foot long snake automaton which is an assassin but way more valuable as an inhumanly knowledgeable adviser with centuries of experience of humanity, and cynicism to match.
Put those three together, and you have a perfect panoply for a recurring villain.

Then there are the cyberpunk-level artifacts, like implantable Essence Scrying Visor to give people Essence sight, or Light Amplification Visor for nightvision and heat vision.
Clockwork Prosthesis for limb and nervous system replacement.
Chaomorphic Symbiont for implantable mutations.

Someone once said that Autochtonia should have been written to gear most of it's esthetics and conflicts towards a Shadowrun model of lots of espionage, and limited conflicts featuring small teams; I suspect they might have had a point.
 
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Then there are the cyberpunk-level artifacts, like implantable Essence Scrying Visor to give people Essence sight, or Light Amplification Visor for nightvision and heat vision.
Clockwork Prosthesis for limb and nervous system replacement.
Chaomorphic Symbiont for implantable mutations.
What books would I find these in?
 
I quite like the Revelation Blindfold from Glories of the Most High. You attune it, put it on, and are blind until you've worn it for 11-Essence days. Then you get your sight back, have it augmented with All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight, and can use Measure the Wind.

The fearlessness-granting battle flag from the same book is pretty cool too, even if it's too weapon-y for the request. I especially like the bit where a mortal who prays to Mars successfully can use it without attunement - it seems like a great story hook.

Wonders of the Lost Age has the Hearthstone Compass, which points to the nearest manse or to the manse of an attached hearthstone. Simple, useful, and great for enabling a treasure-hunting game.
 
There's a consistent issue with Sidereals where, since your charmset is very tightly linked to your splat fluff in this game and their original set was written such that it only really works in a Sidereal-PCs-only game, they occupy this state of uncertainty in which not all of the crap in their toolkit actually exists when dealing with the setting as a whole, but nobody can agree on what bits actually exist (even though the most egregious bits are generally solidly agreed on, like my Creation-Slaying Kick).

Which makes it difficult to discuss them, because, for example, it's hard to go "Sidereals can do this", referring to any given capability in their charmset, while you can pretty easily talk about how Solars can disguise themselves perfectly or Infernals can turn into Imhotep's sandstorm form or whatever. Those capabilities don't cause any problems, while Sidereal capabilities have this tendency to step on others' toes in a highly irritating way (as undetectable, untraceable orbital effects from heaven).

I wasn't saying that it's dumb to discuss how their charms make the idea of getting them all in a room to ambush kill them stupid. I mean that the whole notion of doing it in the first place is stupid, so having a discussion that focuses on why it's mechanically unfeasible when the whole thing is undesirable and dumb in the first place feels like it's missing the point, that the idea is bad in the first place.

Like, you could talk about how the Bull of the North could mechanically murder the PC's enemy satrap's entire Circle of Dragon-Blooded if his army rolled into town, but that is kind of missing that having him show up and do that out of nowhere is stupid to begin with.

Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light. Keeps you clean. All the time. So useful.

This is my favorite, my Twilight has one that she received as a gift. Everyone else is sweaty and miserable from travelling, and she is flawless. Fun stuff!
 
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What books would I find these in?
Essence-Scrying Visor is Scroll of Fallen Races: Mountain Folk pg 25.
Light Amplification Visor is in Manual of Exalted Power Alchemicals.
Prosthesis of Clockwork Elegance is in Wonders of a Lost Age.
Chaomorphic Symbiont(Symbiote?) is in Dreams of the First Age: Lords of Creation.

That might have been me, which is a good reminder that I still have a lot of Alchemical fluff I need to get around to posting at some point.
*checks* Yup, it was.
There was another bit by ES(I think) where he posited the existence of a bonafide mercenary/shadowrunner class to fill in for duties where an Exalt could not be spared, or when the sudden absence of an Exalt would draw notice from other nation's intelligence services.

For example, the periodic intrusion of a single/small group of gezlaks in mining areas at a time when all the Exalts are otherwise occupied might be met by a couple of talons of Enlightened soldiers using Five Dragon Style, aegis inset amulets, medium armor and carrying fuel bolt launchers with socketed bayonets along with a couple vials of godstrike oil.
Nothing above Artifact 2 in those loadouts.

Or you might send a similar group in civilian clothes to infiltrate one of the smaller towns/cities of a rival state; population centers that are not Matropoli/Patropoli, and thus where the agents don't have to deal with hostile Chosen.
Or you could simply have one such group backing up a single Exalt with War charms.

Note that this does not actually stop the nations from having standing military forces, or militia.
It just provides another layer of response short of total war, while being more expendable(and cheaper to replace) than Alchemicals.
And gives Estasia something else to export other than soldiers.
 
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Collar of Dawn's Cleansing Light. Keeps you clean. All the time. So useful.
Artifact 1.
1m attunement.
+2 to Stamina+Resistance against poison or disease.
Negates all social penalties from dirtiness, from blood splashes due to having slaughtered a group of assassins, to funk from living under a garbage heap.

This thing gets flak, but it's nowhere near as bad as consensus makes it.
Especially in comparison to other Artifact 1s and 2s.
 
They have a literally omni-applicable perfect defense, and a retcon-self-out-of-the-scene Charm. There is not actually a way you can prevent the Sidereal Exalted from retreating from a fight they don't want to have, except by convincing them to commit to it in the first place (or they fail the Duck Fate activation roll, but that's a long bet).
AK, must be activated in 3 turns. Duck Fate the immediate application of that thing.

Have a spell that holds or demands participation for four terms (thanks to Sid charmset and others this is no longer nonapplicable) It doesn't even have to be superfancy just have it insta grapple everything in sight so the characters "can't move or rendered inactive" for four or so turns or spell that renders you out of fate which negates the most hax of Sid tricks. Hell make it so anyone that doesn't drink this antidote spends essence and it kills them.

Again totally plausible scenario. They got to a room and got locked in by spell, which is critically provided by the ultimate spell crafters one which is a folded space expert, and got killed. If you prefer assume they call get tossed into mirror prisons instead so their network rescues them or something.
The short version, no Sidereal fuckery from heaven in this game. some campaigns lockout types, its a thing. And by that point the politically focused Eclipse well wisher is useless too.
 
That's actually entirely surprising, considering the historical results of various attempts by would-be absolute monarchs to wipe out or dissolve uncooperative advisory bodies. In fact, that's one of the major things that started the English Civil War - Charles' attempt to arrest five members of Parliament.

Such an action would, in a setting where the Empress lacks Solar-level Charms... wait, no, fuck that. Even if she was a Solar, that would be a day of infamy that would utterly poison all institutional legitimacy she has, and basically burn all her social capital. She literally murdered members of the Deliberative who hadn't voted to block her stuff. Such an action is the action of a hard-pressed absolute tyrant who's trying to maintain control - and failing, thus resorting to massive over-reactions in the name of trying to avoid compromise.

"Murdering the entire Lower Deliberative and most of the Greater Deliberative" indicates that she's basically entirely ruling from base military force, and lacks legitimacy in the eyes of the Great Houses - and can't be trusted to bargain in good faith.

The author of that section seems to think it makes the Empress look powerful, but it actually makes the Houses look utterly pathetic and unworthy of the Terrestrial title, and it makes the Empress look so weak that she believes such actions are needed. It's "the Realm Civil War actually started in the 600s" Shard background, clearly.
Just like Stalin
 
If you ever want to totally neutralise the Sidereals, I think the best way to accomplish it somewhat canon-compatible would be to try and somehow sever or close the connection between Yu-Shuan and Creation. Try to replicate something like the Seal locking away Autochthon, or rewire all heavenly gates to lead to some old thing made by the Primordals out in the Deep Wyld, or replace Yu-Shuan with Zen-Mu so all gates leading to one lead to the other, or give the gods a reason to lock the gates of Heaven, requiring Sids to sneak their way past the best security Heaven can muster.

Just wait until the Sids have a meeting so most of them are in Heaven and suddenly, they're all locked in and away. The few Sids in creation meanwhile are stranded. Can they get out eventually? Probably, but hopefully you've bought enough time for whatever evil plot you've planned.
 
AK, must be activated in 3 turns. Duck Fate the immediate application of that thing.

Have a spell that holds or demands participation for four terms (thanks to Sid charmset and others this is no longer nonapplicable) It doesn't even have to be superfancy just have it insta grapple everything in sight so the characters "can't move or rendered inactive" for four or so turns or spell that renders you out of fate which negates the most hax of Sid tricks. Hell make it so anyone that doesn't drink this antidote spends essence and it kills them.

Again totally plausible scenario. They got to a room and got locked in by spell, which is critically provided by the ultimate spell crafters one which is a folded space expert, and got killed. If you prefer assume they call get tossed into mirror prisons instead so their network rescues them or something.
The short version, no Sidereal fuckery from heaven in this game. some campaigns lockout types, its a thing. And by that point the politically focused Eclipse well wisher is useless too.

You and literally the entire world have different definitions of plausible.
 
AK, must be activated in 3 turns. Duck Fate the immediate application of that thing.

Have a spell that holds or demands participation for four terms (thanks to Sid charmset and others this is no longer nonapplicable) It doesn't even have to be superfancy just have it insta grapple everything in sight so the characters "can't move or rendered inactive" for four or so turns or spell that renders you out of fate which negates the most hax of Sid tricks. Hell make it so anyone that doesn't drink this antidote spends essence and it kills them.

Again totally plausible scenario. They got to a room and got locked in by spell, which is critically provided by the ultimate spell crafters one which is a folded space expert, and got killed. If you prefer assume they call get tossed into mirror prisons instead so their network rescues them or something.
The short version, no Sidereal fuckery from heaven in this game. some campaigns lockout types, its a thing. And by that point the politically focused Eclipse well wisher is useless too.

If you think those mechanics you discuss are applicable, you essentially cannot contribute to discussion of mechanics due to lack of aptitude. You are suggesting that a valid spell is a perfect auto-grappler. Which doesn't work even on top of everything else that's wrong with a spell that does that, because of - oh, look, Duck Fate.

Your scenarios are not plausible as they require you to invent mechanics that you are trying to specifically devise to thwart Sidereals and which don't work due to Duck Fate.

Sidereals have a Charmset essentially designed to stop the contrived, badly written bullshit of the Lotus Massacre. The fact that they tried to force it through just shows that the writers of RotSE were hacks.


There is a good case to be made from the evidence that Stalin was assassinated by Beria because Beria was afraid of being purged. Ooops. That's sort of the exact opposite of what you wanted to say.

Moreover, Stalin's purges were veiled in the legitimacy of law - hence the use of show trials - and are not comparable to the set-up of the Realm. Indeed, the way Stalin purged elements of the Politburo in the 30s is instructive in how it differs from the "lol I'mma gonna execute them all for saying 'No' to me" of the Empress. Stalin specifically targeted rivals, making sure - via torture and the like - to extract confessions for "anti-socialist" activities from them.

At no point did Stalin just have the entire Politburo or Central Committee killed. Because if he had, he would have been killing allies and would have lost all institutional legitimacy.

And no doubt the Empress did try to dispose of some rivals through extracted confessions, assassinations or the like. But whoopsy, Dragonblooded are Exalts and they're much harder to smother in the night or break through torture.
 
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If you think those mechanics you discuss are applicable, you essentially cannot contribute to discussion of mechanics due to lack of aptitude. You are suggesting that a valid spell is a perfect auto-grappler. Which doesn't work even on top of everything else that's wrong with a spell that does that, because of - oh, look, Duck Fate.

Your scenarios are not plausible as they require you to invent mechanics that you are trying to specifically devise to thwart Sidereals and which don't work due to Duck Fate.

Sidereals have a Charmset essentially designed to stop the contrived, badly written bullshit of the Lotus Massacre. The fact that they tried to force it through just shows that the writers of RotSE were hacks.



There is a good case to be made from the evidence that Stalin was assassinated by Beria because Beria was afraid of being purged. Ooops. That's sort of the exact opposite of what you wanted to say.

Moreover, Stalin's purges were veiled in the legitimacy of law - hence the use of show trials - and are not comparable to the set-up of the Realm. Indeed, the way Stalin purged elements of the Politburo in the 30s is instructive in how it differs from the "lol I'mma gonna execute them all for saying 'No' to me" of the Empress. Stalin specifically targeted rivals, making sure - via torture and the like - to extract confessions for "anti-socialist" activities from them.

At no point did Stalin just have the entire Politburo or Central Committee killed. Because if he had, he would have been killing allies and would have lost all institutional legitimacy.

And no doubt the Empress did try to dispose of some rivals through extracted confessions, assassinations or the like. But whoopsy, Dragonblooded are Exalts and they're much harder to smother in the night or break through torture.

Honestly though, the bigger sin (I mean, from someone who doesn't care that much about mechanics in this case) is it sounds boring as shit. I mean, "And then a special magic spell killed all of the X so that we don't have to deal with them in my scenario" doesn't exactly sound like the height of storytelling.
 
Honestly though, the bigger sin (I mean, from someone who doesn't care that much about mechanics in this case) is it sounds boring as shit. I mean, "And then a special magic spell killed all of the X so that we don't have to deal with them in my scenario" doesn't exactly sound like the height of storytelling.

Oh yes, it's as boring and dumb as shit. It's people going "tee hee, look how clever we were, we're making an ironic echo to the Usurpation" - forgetting that the Usurpation was essentially the entire plot, and if you were running a game set in the era it'd probably be the final session for the Sidereal players, win or lose. An Infernals game where the massive climax is "What we gotta do is, we kill the Batman Sidereals" is totally valid.

This is just a shitty thing stuck into the game because they wanted the Sidereals out the way in a very badly written campaign book.

But you can only say "it's stupid and bad writing because it's boring" for so long, and so people tend to find it more fun to point out the ways that, even within the constraints set by the scenario, it isn't going to work. Like the "oh shit, the Sidereals just Duck Fated the effect and all teleported out, either using Avoidance Kata or the Greater Sign of Mercury carrying the ones who don't know Avoidance Kata". Or "So, yeah, Ays Syn can just Duck Fate the Yozi orders from One Hand Fury".
 
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There is a clause in One Hand Fury, the pinnacle Charm in Infernal Monster style, that let's the Yozi's puppet you for one scene.

Puppeting people is a Total Control effect. Duck Fate perfectly negates all attacks, including Social Attacks.
To be fair, perfecting the control effect means they can just try against next time they act, so you'd need to perfect each time any of the Yozi gets a turn. There's no cost associated with making the attempt, so nothing stopping them from spamming it until you can't afford to Dodge Fate it anymore.
 
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