- Location
- Singapore
What are the shinma?
General Exalted Thread
Carrnage
Human
- Location
- New Zealand
The important question is, What aren't the Shinma.
- Location
- Singapore
So the Shinma are defined by what they aren't?
Utterly unimportant to 99.99% of the game and only of interest to high level metaphysics arguments and fat-chewing, so best ignored for most purposes.
Carrnage
Human
- Location
- New Zealand
Everything is defined by what the shinma aren't.
Aaron Peori
Rest in Peace
There is, in fact, canon in setting confusion as to whether or not they exist in any meaningful way other than as poetic metaphors the raksha tell themselves to let them sleep at night.
Raksha: "Can't sleep, Luna will eat me. Can't sleep, Luna will eat me."
Other Raksha: "Nah, remember, she's big and scary and powerful and a shapeshifter so she can be anyone, but she's not a shinma. She doesn't metaphysically matter."
Raksha: "... thanks, bro. That makes everything easier." *dozes off*
Other Raksha: *pulls off Raksha mask, licks lips, pulls out knife and fork*
Luna: "Now, where did I leave the ketchup?"
Jon Chung
=][=
A set theory joke.
frozenchicken
Does not have a custom title.
I really like this setting element as well.
Mainly because it gives my Infernal an excuse to rail against the Gods. All villains need some sort of excuse, even if it ends up being a poor one. I think the Infernals and Abyssals are all jealous of how good the Sidereal excuse is.
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- Location
- Singapore
Has anyone created homebrewed Craft charms for modern/ sci fi settings?
Also, has anyone felt.... dissatisfaction at how the Dragonblooded charms were laid out?
Also, has anyone felt.... dissatisfaction at how the Dragonblooded charms were laid out?
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meianmaru
The Devourer of Fiction
I've been thinking about the Infernals and their Shintai Charms. They are great for "unveiling your true form" and all that, but what about the "this isn't even my final form" mechanical support? I guess you could change Shintai's mid-battle by just first taking one monstrous form by activating one Shintai Charm, then another more powerful higher essence one later on to change to whatever that gives. But if you have the more higher powered one (at least in some sense), why not use it in the first place? Unless more property damage or lighting a beacon of "extremely powerful being here" even higher are priorities you are worried about, in which case you are less likely to do it even if you might really need it.
So if someone (be they a player or a GM) wants to first activate the Devil Tyrant Shintai in the beginning of the fight, then if the plucky band of meddling Immaculate DBs prove to be too hard to handle with just that, switch to the Demon Emperor Shintai, would it make any sense to do that? Or does it make too much mechanical optimization sense, for at least players, to just skip the first step nearly always if they can, just to be sure?
If I had to try to work out solution to this hypothetical problem, I would make a homebrew E5 Charm that is specific for each Yozi (like the (Yozi) World Shaping Cosmogony), but mechanically the same, and with a prerequisite of at least two Form type Shintai Charms from that same Yozi. After its purchased, it would remove the cost of previous Shintai Charm when swifting to a higher Essence Shintai Charm for the same Yozi from the mote/wp/hl/whatever cost, or alternatively give something like 5m 1wp discount if the previous effect would be too powerful.
So if someone (be they a player or a GM) wants to first activate the Devil Tyrant Shintai in the beginning of the fight, then if the plucky band of meddling Immaculate DBs prove to be too hard to handle with just that, switch to the Demon Emperor Shintai, would it make any sense to do that? Or does it make too much mechanical optimization sense, for at least players, to just skip the first step nearly always if they can, just to be sure?
If I had to try to work out solution to this hypothetical problem, I would make a homebrew E5 Charm that is specific for each Yozi (like the (Yozi) World Shaping Cosmogony), but mechanically the same, and with a prerequisite of at least two Form type Shintai Charms from that same Yozi. After its purchased, it would remove the cost of previous Shintai Charm when swifting to a higher Essence Shintai Charm for the same Yozi from the mote/wp/hl/whatever cost, or alternatively give something like 5m 1wp discount if the previous effect would be too powerful.
Walker of the Yellow Path
Ho There!
- Location
- The Land of Memes
By Rage Recast lets you sort of do this.
1st stage is human form when enemies attack you. Anima banner flares, signalling the second stage, and you gain combat mutations from By Rage Recast. And then if you're about to die, you use Driven Beyond Death to activate Devil Tyrant Avatar Shintai and become a giant rage demon monster as your final form.
So, for this, if I was going to implement this I'd look towards expansion charms of lower Essence Shintai, rather than expanding high essence ones.
Devil Tyrant Avatar Shintai is the best example of this. If you were looking up for a full version of that, I'd make two thematically appropriate later Shintai for it, one at E4 and one at E5. They'd be upgrade charms, allowing you to spend a certain number of motes (possibly linked to taking damage, too) to activate the enhanced version. So the E4 one means you go from "monster form" to "really big monster form". And naturally, we can only assume that the E5 upgrade crosses the bishonen line and thus you end up a super-sexy monster-guy-or-girl.
So it unlocks whatever Shintai is linked to the "Brass Dancer" Jouten?
Salty
Shadow Cabal Assumptor Supreme
- Location
- Sun, Moon, Talia
- Pronouns
- I/Me
More to the point, while Exalted definitely borrows tropes and aesthetics from anime and JRPGs, it is not one itself.
The closest the game has ever gotten to "this is really my final form" is the Black Sun from Glories. Do you really want more Black Suns?
The closest the game has ever gotten to "this is really my final form" is the Black Sun from Glories. Do you really want more Black Suns?
The Phoenixian
The Glacier Witch
- Location
- My own little world
I don't know about that. The previously mentioned By Rage Recast > By Agony Empowered > The King Still Stands > Driven Beyond Death charm chain basically rings of "Hello, I'll be your final boss today."
Well, there is BOSS, but the same logic reall6 applies.
Walker of the Yellow Path
Ho There!
- Location
- The Land of Memes
Question about Driven Beyond Death. I can't find anywhere in the text where it says it actually heals the Infernal in Question.
So if the Infernal gets hit once, and it gets past Hardness, High Soak, and Driven Beyond Death's post soak damage nullifier, the attack basically one hit kills him, right?
So if the Infernal gets hit once, and it gets past Hardness, High Soak, and Driven Beyond Death's post soak damage nullifier, the attack basically one hit kills him, right?
meianmaru
The Devourer of Fiction
Hmm. Yeah, that might work better, as even the same Yozi seem to have quite large differences between their Shintai Charms, so the thematics of changing between them might be not as consistent as I would like. And now that I think about it, keeping these upgrades contained always to a one line of upwards progression with affodarable mote cost with specific unlock conditions (not necessarily losing health levels always) built in seems like better approach anyway. Sweepingly applied general-type Charm(s) like I was suggesting in my earlier post could potentially cause some unintentional issues. Or maybe not, but there is always the chance you miss something that can be exploited in a way you didn't intended in these kinds of things.
Salty
Shadow Cabal Assumptor Supreme
- Location
- Sun, Moon, Talia
- Pronouns
- I/Me
That's what perfects are for.
Aaron Peori
Rest in Peace
The problem with giving Infernal a "this is my final form!" Charm is that... well, its mechanically a horrible idea.
Okay, so first you have to chew through the targets normal health levels and motes for a peer level combatant and then they get to change into an even better form with more health levels and motes to chew through?
How can this be remotely fair.
Like, imagine the following Solar Charm:
Try Again, Sucker Prana
Cost: (whatever) Type: Reflexive Mins: Larceny 5, Essence 5
Keywords: combo-Ok
Prereqs: Flawlessly Impentrable Disguise
When you are reduced to Incapacitated by damage you may activate this Charm. It turns out all along the target of all those attacks was a disguise you were wearing. Now you return to full health levels and motes, but you anima banner flares to iconic and can not be repressed for the remainder of the scene.
Like, that's obviously broken. Why does it become better when you add monster aesthetic to it?
Okay, so first you have to chew through the targets normal health levels and motes for a peer level combatant and then they get to change into an even better form with more health levels and motes to chew through?
How can this be remotely fair.
Like, imagine the following Solar Charm:
Try Again, Sucker Prana
Cost: (whatever) Type: Reflexive Mins: Larceny 5, Essence 5
Keywords: combo-Ok
Prereqs: Flawlessly Impentrable Disguise
When you are reduced to Incapacitated by damage you may activate this Charm. It turns out all along the target of all those attacks was a disguise you were wearing. Now you return to full health levels and motes, but you anima banner flares to iconic and can not be repressed for the remainder of the scene.
Like, that's obviously broken. Why does it become better when you add monster aesthetic to it?
notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
Pretty much the only way I'd be able to justify it would be if the splat as a whole is balanced with 'has a final form' in mind. Maybe, on the other hand, if you balanced it against other combat-healing charms...
Maybe if it's a "If I can't win then nobody can!" charm meant as a final "FUCK YOU!" and it can only be used as a reaction to receiving a fatal blow, with the user still dying when it's over?
Or if it costs a Dot of Essence to use, or otherwise lowers stats or costs experience?
Something with permanent consequences, that unarguably lessened the Infernal in exchange for temporarily grasping power beyond their reach.
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It's generally really hard to balance a short term boost with long term penalties like that. Especially combat relavent ones.
The solution if you want something like this might be a similar mechanic to the Infernal Infiniye ability mastery. Have actions spent while in the 'lower' forms or something allow you to discount the transformation. Maybe attach the long term downside, but don't have it auto heal or anything( penalty negation at the most). So it's more of if the fight lasts long enough they might pull it out, and while it gives an advantage it isn't unbeatable. Depending on the mechanics of the shintai.