- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Fuck I was almost asking for that one.
The horribleness of it literally stung me.
General Exalted Thread
Fuck I was almost asking for that one.
The horribleness of it literally stung me.
Leaving aside the Wasp puns... 
@EarthScorpion- under this system, could you give us an example of an Appearance-Type Style? Or at least an indicator of how you determine what a character is attracted to- is it Intimacies, home culture, or.,,
@EarthScorpion- under this system, could you give us an example of an Appearance-Type Style? Or at least an indicator of how you determine what a character is attracted to- is it Intimacies, home culture, or.,,
Leaving aside the Wasp puns...
@EarthScorpion- under this system, could you give us an example of an Appearance-Type Style? Or at least an indicator of how you determine what a character is attracted to- is it Intimacies, home culture, or.,,
Okay, so, remember here - the default assumption is that players can basically make sure their Styles are usually applicable, as long as they stunt them right. So as long as the character is acting in-theme for their Style, they have the dice. With Sweeping Valleys Style, wearing a low-cut dress and using your attributes socially to draw attention means you get the dice from it.
The general rules on Stunting, however, mean you can't contradict things established in a scene. So if a character's Principles go against the stunt, the defender can go "No, sorry, you don't get the dice for Sweeping Valleys Style even though you're wearing a low cut dress, because my character is flamboyantly gay". This means the character has displayed that Principle in the scene and other characters can roll to notice it, going "Hey, wow, he really is just looking at her face, and not at her neckline that reaches the navel. I think he's probably gay".
(As part of the 'implicit Principles of a normal human being' we can assume that human characters by default are attracted to the humanoid form. So seduction attempts by a giant crystal and gold wasp aren't applicable to the vast majority of humans and probably have to be explicitly justified on the character sheet, like "Wasps Are So Sexy". On the other hand, seduction attempts by, say, a neomah or a god are going to be by-default applicable - barring things like an Immaculate monk's vow of chastity and hatred of demons)
So, we can take a look at Keris' one:
Article: Exotic Beauty Style (Presence)
The lure of the exotic is a powerful one, and even those who have never left their hometown may be stirred when adventure and far-away places come second-hand to their door. Those who make use of this style - whether honestly or by calculated design - rarely do so near their birthplaces. They invariably hail from far-off countries, and stay only a short time in any one place before moving on. The thrill of their company comes from their exciting tales from overseas, the customs and cultures that few have heard of, and the shocking way they stand out in dress and appearance from the norm.
1: +1 to first impressions when arriving wreathed in style and foreign opulence.
2: +1 to the introduction of fads and customs from overseas - whether real or fake.
3: Treat Principles cultivated during your stay as 1 dot higher after announcing your imminent departure.
As long as she doesn't look like she belongs, this is probably applicable - especially if she's also wearing foreign styles and has an accent. These kinds of things are all props which enable the use of the Style, by making it in-theme.
However, An Teng is notably racist and looks down on foreigners, especially ones who aren't from the Realm. So if she goes to a conservative little Tengese village, she might run into someone who has a Principle of "Foreigners (Xenophobia)", and they can use that to invalidate her stunt where she sweeps in bedecked in gold and with tyrant lizard feathers from the North in her hair. And so she doesn't get the three dice from Exotic Beauty Style.
I mean, Keris is still pretty social so she's probably still going to beat some racist xenophobic Tengese peasant - and might even notice that he doesn't trust foreigners and spend a few scenes eroding that Principle if he's someone important she needs on side, with the end result that he can't use it as he now accepts that there are some good foreigners who are generous and helped cure his daughter of sweating fever.
This is, incidentally, one advantage to mixing and matching Styles rather than just relying on one thing. If your stunt combines multiple Styles - like, say, being an Exotic Beauty who then flares her anima to full terrifying power and demands obedience going full Galadriel in a love-me-and-fear-me way with Prince-of-Hell Style - then invalidating one source of stunt dice doesn't prevent the other one. You can use multiple Styles together - you can just only get +3 main dice and one bonus dice at any one time.
And just as another example, the stunt can matter. Consider "Shirtless Hunk Style" being used by a male character against another male character who's straight. Using Shirtless Hunk Style with a stunt about how he's really sexy and the target is attracted to him will run into his sexual alignment Principle. However, if the Shirtless Hunk instead makes the stunt about how he's a cool bro who other men want to be like, sexuality isn't a defence because the stunt is aimed towards the idea that other men want abs like that.
(Shirtless Hunk Style is often practiced by Fire Aspects and Solars whose internal essence flows means they don't get cold in normal climates, and in the case of the Fire Aspect they often look pre-oiled-up)
ES Homebrew: Face-of-Pasiap Style
Article: Face-of-Pasiap Style (Presence, Expression)
"These are the markers of beauty for those blessed by the Earth Dragon: a triangular face with a stubborn jawline that reminds us of the beauty of Mt Meru, a statuesque build that is solid and not excessively slender, and skin that is cool to the touch. The hair should be naturally straight - waviness indicates too much sympathy with water or wood. The eyes may either resemble precious gems, or be the colour of stone. In both sexes, the shoulders should be broad as to carry their responsibilities; in a woman, so should the hips. The nature of such a child well-suits command, so teach them to be as unyielding as granite when all else is uncertain and lesser men will obey them without doubt."
1: +1 to social rolls against characters native to cultures whose aesthetic values were set by the Realm.
2: +1 to appearing calm and unflappable during times of crisis
3: When giving orders to characters loyal to the Face-of-Pasiap, treat the loyalty Principle as being one level higher.
Note that it's not exactly an "appearance" Style, though your looks are a major bit of it. Look at the bonuses: they're "the Realm has been culturally imperialistic and told you that people who look like this are attractive", "they raised me to not show my feelings because I'm expected to be calm at all times" and "because of how I look and how I was trained, I'm very good at giving orders to people who are already loyal to me". Characters who have the looks, but don't have the training can only get one dot in this Style. And that's true for a lot of "appearance" Styles - they're still Styles which are trained things, so you need to know how to use your looks too.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I accidentally read that as 'Face of Parsnips' at first.
It gave me an interesting mental image.
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Lies and slander! Man, just stand on a really high balcony and look at Malfeas shake that colossal cityscape Enlightenment N/A ass. Mmm. Glorious.
Sigh. Despite being a street rat who had very little contact with culturally-set views of attractiveness, Keris is remarkably weak to Styles which hinge on Realm views of aesthetic beauty. Damn past lives.
- Location
- United States
Ugh I know I read this information somewhere but I can't find it. Does anybody know in the fandom of exalted who was the developer/writer considered the one with the blatant solar, what's the term?, fixation? To the point where all other writing from lore and mechanics were just basically. Bow down to your bright golden overlords?
- Location
- Spain
Morke?
Honestly I like the idea that Chejop Kejak, when you're not talking to him about business, is a kindly and doting grandfather figure to the Sidereals he's mentored and the people he actually cares for, which is a surprisingly large group.
It's just that he's so obsessed with justifying his past decisions-and so desperate to save Creation whatever the cost-that if business gets in the way he'd sacrifice any of them in a heartbeat. Oh he'd feel sad about it, but he'd still do it without a second thought.
- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I agree with this.
Because I already have several factions for my puppykicking needs, and the Bronze Faction were basically the Technocracy already so why not go the full step and humanize them a bit more?
- Location
- Spain
The Bronze faction has always been the Technocracy. Except, you know, an incompetent version.
- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
>Incompetent
>Ended the First Age
>Manipulates the entire world from the shadows
>Broke the Mask
Fascinating, tell me more
The world is getting better under the Technocracy. It ain't under the Siddes
- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I guess, under that definition you're right yes.
They're very good at getting stuff done though.
I would argue that measuring their effectiveness based on two threats they had no capability to detect or act against is a slightly uncharitable reading.
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
Well, the first one began the downward spiral they were trying to avert, the second has been of questionable effectiveness, considering their chosen puppet nation has been in an uproar for decades, and the third involved them defacing the fabric of the heavens in a clumsy attempt to cover up the first action.
Not exactly sterling success.
- Location
- Spain
First. They could have detected and acted against such things. They stop threats to creation all the time.
And second, being unable to do your job is the very definition of incompetence.
NonSequtur
a body
By this measure I suspect literally everybody is incompetent.
Walker of the Yellow Path
Ho There!
- Location
- The Land of Memes
Part of the problem with comparing the Technocracy with the Sidereals is that the Technocracy is made of definitively the strongest character type in their setting, with no upper cap on how many their are, besides the fact that their main powerhouses are a small fraction of the worlds population.
Whilst the Sidereals are one of the most powerful, they're not THE most powerful character types, and their are at most 100 of them, and usually less at any one time.
The Technocracy can grow and become more powerful than it is by recruiting more Mages, but the Sidereals have to wait for one of their members to die (a bad thing for them) to get a new face. And while they can bring Solars, Lunars and other Exalts into the fold, history, culture, and other things make that risky, because those other Exalts will often resent the Sidereals work (Past Life memories and Other Exalts going 'The Sids did X') , not see the broad positive things they're doing. On the other hand, the Technocracy can point at all the conveniences of the modern world, say "we did this, but we have a lot more work to do to make it perfectly", and their potential recruits won't exactly have a bad view of them.
Whilst the Sidereals are one of the most powerful, they're not THE most powerful character types, and their are at most 100 of them, and usually less at any one time.
The Technocracy can grow and become more powerful than it is by recruiting more Mages, but the Sidereals have to wait for one of their members to die (a bad thing for them) to get a new face. And while they can bring Solars, Lunars and other Exalts into the fold, history, culture, and other things make that risky, because those other Exalts will often resent the Sidereals work (Past Life memories and Other Exalts going 'The Sids did X') , not see the broad positive things they're doing. On the other hand, the Technocracy can point at all the conveniences of the modern world, say "we did this, but we have a lot more work to do to make it perfectly", and their potential recruits won't exactly have a bad view of them.
The sidereals knew exactly what they were doing when they chose the Vision of Bronze over the Vision of Gold. Bronze laid out explicitly that Creation would survive for at least another Age, but would be lessened by that. That is exactly what has happened. The Vision of Bronze held true.
The Vision of Gold, by contrast, was just as explicit that if it worked, they'd win forever, but a slip would doom everything.
The Vision of Gold, by contrast, was just as explicit that if it worked, they'd win forever, but a slip would doom everything.
Darmani
Cast in the name of Pod, Ye Go Ninty
- Location
- Lansing
Uhm we agree then. I just assume what with the Sidereals never leaving things to chance... look if a principal is sleeping with a grad student he mentored do we just assume he roofied OR its perfectly fine relationship?But why?
Why would he do all of this?
Like seriously, why would I Chejop Kejak, who has played politics that would put the Scarlet Court to shame, since before the birth of the Shogunate, who has a kill-count that would make most Abyssals call me a merciless butcher, who has such a profound knowledge of martial arts that I may well define the face of the martial arts world whenever I actually visibly perform a kata, go to such an effort for a single woman I want to fuck.
I mean, I could have sex with maybe Anys Syn who I can actually kinda connect to and who is almost my equal in the fighting arts, or some other Sidereal, but no I just gotta tap that Gold Faction booty for some reason.
Why?
Occam's Razor dictates that this is pretty retarded, it's too complicated and has waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many moving points to seem sensible. Amusingly I actually prefer @Aaron Peori's "if Tammiz Ushun's reincarnation agrees with me, I'll have been right all along" vision, because even though I disagree with the underlying principle, at least he still fucking acts like a human being instead of a "sidereals are evil bastards" wind-up doll.
Aaron Peori's vision gets the fact that he's not a nice person, but it also gets that it can't make him too much of a not-nice-person, because if it does that, you lose what makes the character interesting and might as well call him Jafar anyways.
- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I don't care because if I attempt to apply modern sensibilities to any characters from Antiquity they'll look like assholes.
I usually do my best not to judge them and just take them at face value without applying any judgement at all.
NonSequtur
a body
It could be either or neither.