pheonix89
Wants to be Seven Of Nine
- Location
- North American Plaguelands
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It's March 3rd, not April 1st.
General Exalted Thread
notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
Does this look like the face of someone who cares?
UrsaTempest
Don't Panic!
I spent too much time giggling reading that.
This is literally the best thing ever.
Sucal
The Devil’s Cut
- Location
- Bottom of the barrel
This hurts my brain, I need more whiskey.
azoicennead
Overly-Affectionate Zombie Squad
- Pronouns
- He/They
Michael Brazier said:
Has there ever been a tabletop game spared Monty Python references?Jenna Moran said:
AmineHsu
A worm, not a man, scorned and despised.
- Location
- NoVA
Definitely. I seriously doubt FATAL has Monty Python references.
Oh my gods.
I.
I.
*words*
EDIT: Missed this the first time.
I.
The poor horse!
I.
I.
*words*
EDIT: Missed this the first time.
I.
The poor horse!
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The Phoenixian
The Glacier Witch
- Location
- My own little world
Hidden Horse Style: Invented by horseman nomads, perfected by Dudley Do-right.
- Location
- Ottawa
Did anyone make a 2e-style attack step breakdown for 3e?
I vaguely remember someone saying the game uses 16-step attack resolution, but I don't remember who or where.
I vaguely remember someone saying the game uses 16-step attack resolution, but I don't remember who or where.
- Location
- Singapore
I've been going through my ideas of magical transhumanism, and so I got this thought: What's the rating of an artifact that lets you go without eating, drinking, or breathing?
Salty
Shadow Cabal Assumptor Supreme
- Location
- Sun, Moon, Talia
- Pronouns
- I/Me
Hm. Character-defining, but not party or nation-defining.
3. Maybe 2, depending on limitations.
- Location
- Singapore
Implant it within yourself, you don't ever need to eat, drink, breath, or go to the bathroom again.
Whatever it is, it will come with considerable downsides. You are wanting to combine two Essence 3 Abyssal Charms, one of them which has the flaw of "you can never eat again without throwing up, unless you're eating your victims".
This means it will be both pricey as an artefact and come with some nasty downsides to using it. There is no easy path to "magical transhumanism" in Exalted - and the things which you put as "transhumanism" always comes with costs. Like, say, "you cut out your lungs to replace them with prayer wheels which constantly sing out the praises of the Sun, and if you leave the realms where the Sun shines, you will die from asphyxiation".
- Location
- England
Couldn't you achieve that through the blessings of Cecelyne.
There are going to be downsides in terms of owing someone cynical, and being tied to places where there is no food , water or air,
e.g.
- all food turns to sand in your mouth, never allowing you to eat or taste anything but what has been gifted by Cecelyne.
- water passes through you immediately never allowing your body to hold another fluid, even medicines. Meaning you need her blessings to maintain your health
- every breath you take outside a place of desolation tearing at you throat, imposing a penalty to any attempt to speak with anyone else
Alexander Wales wrote in excellent story in which people could gain supernatural powers by obeying restrictive oaths and one character took an oath to never eat or drink after being given a suit of magic armor that allowed him to survive without food or water. The armor did not take away desire food or water or prevent the pain of thirst and hunger but it only ensured that the wearer would never die from deprivation.
I think that an artifact that works similar to this magic armor would be an interesting idea. From a mechanical perspective it would work by making the character undergo temperance or conviction roles to resist eating or drinking that steadily increase in difficulty over time. If you use the Evocation system than the base power of the artifact could be the ability to go without eating or drinking and have powerful evocations that get stronger the longer the wearer persists with food or water.
I think that's more because those Abyssal charms are underpowered. Alchemicals get the ability to survive indefinitely on a pound of organic matter a day (literally any organic matter) at Essence 2, and that auto-upgrades at E5 to 'never needs to eat ever.' They also get 'do not need to breathe' as a default benefit. The Solaroid environmental resistance charms are probably more powerful overall, but at least if you're using Autochthonian thematics it seems that you'd cost 'not breathing or eating' fairly cheaply.
The Abyssal ones just seem overcosted, since 'having air to breathe' and 'not needing food' are useful but not particularly likely to come up in most games as an important factor. (I would be tempted to give them to Abyssals by default to emphasize the fact that they're dead people.)
John Kessler: "Are you saying that back in the old days vampires had to buy special magic powers to not need to breathe or starve if they didn't eat normal human food? And people are talking like this is some fallen age where magic has faded from the world? What the hell."
Senex: "Would you accept 'figurative language' as the explanation?"
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I disagree there. Alchemicals are a special case because they're golems and with strong thematics around "you're not really human - you're a machine". Every other kind of Exalt starts as human and then their powers detach from the baseline.
And for every other splat, "I don't need to eat" and "I don't need to breathe" are fairly expensive effects. For example, the Abyssal stuff costs 7m, 1wp (ie, 11m) per day to sustain if you don't take it as the Taint option that comes with downsides. The Infernal "I don't need to breathe" options live in Cecelyne (where you turn into a creature which breathes prayers and asphixiates if you don't have a Cult in a place where there's no usable essence for you) or Adorjan (each person you murder gives you a period for which you don't need to breathe). The Solar stuff is a Mirror of the Abyssal stuff and similarly costed - and so on.
So when it comes down to it, considering the mote cost of these charms if you want an artefact to do these things it's going to come with similar drawbacks to gunzosha armour or the other mote-demanding artefacts to be used by mortals.
notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
I made a thing. Stats for Karapeshka for 3e. Tell me what you think. Haven't gotten around to adding combat stats yet, but they wouldn't be very good. Most Dawns would treat her as an insignifigant character in combat, thought she could keep up with some weak Twilights or something.
Essence: 6; Willpower: 7; Join Battle: 7 dice Personal Motes: 110 Health Levels: -0/-1x2/-2x3/-4x2/Incap.
Sample Intimacies
• Defining Principle: Spread beautiful Flattery
• Major Tie: Ululaya (Filial Love)
• Major Tie: Gervasin (Love)
Minor Principle: I love to carve, sculpt, and create armor
• Minor Tie: The touch of the humble (Fear)
Actions: Demonic Lore: 4 dice; Read Intentions: 6 dice; Senses: 6 dice; Social Influence: 12 dice (Flattery 13 Dice); Craft Armor: 14 dice; Linguistics: 8 dice
Appearance 1, Resolve 4, Guile 4
Merits:
Cult 2: Karapeshka has been given a large stable of prayer-slaves by her greater self, as a part of her duchy.
Social Charms:
Chorus of Pride (10m, Simple, Scenelong, Essence 3, Eclipse): Karapeshka speaks with one thousand voices, such that all can hear her flattery. Upon activating this charm, consider her appearance to be equal to her Essence for the purposes of Social Influence. In a situation in which her Appearance would normally be rolled, this charm does not come into effect.
Lull of Reason (5m, Supplemental, Instant, Essence 2): When Karapeshka speaks, the subject of her flattery forgets all thoughts but their own ego. Lull of Reason reduces the Resolve bonus from opposing intimacies by 2.
Invincible Ego Juggernaut (7m, Supplemental, Instant, Essence 3): The flattery of Karapeshka is capable of filling even the humblest monk with their own glory. When making an instill roll to for a Principle of hubris or pride, double eights. The cost of preventing an intimacy from forming in this way is increased to two willpower. If the target already has a Principle of hubris or pride, Karapeshka can raise it by one step without referring to another intimacy once.
Miscellaneous Charms
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Karapeshka fades away and vanishes on her next turn, drawn instantly to her summoner's side. This Charm is unavailable when she is unbound.
Materialize (55m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Karapeshka appears in a chorus of voices.
Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Karapeshka may discern the nature of anyone who has an intimacy related to hubris or their ego.
Slick Hubris (3m, Simple, Instant, Essence 3): Karapeshka gathers materials from those who listen to her. If a character has had a Principle of Pride raised or created by Karapeshka, she may activate this charm. This charm causes a slick icey sheen to form on their skin. After harvesting, a process that takes one hour for each level of intimacy, and is harmless, Karapeshka gains an amount of a unique magical material. A Minor Intimacy grants enough for light armor, Major for Medium, and Defining for Heavy. Artifact armor made from this material has the following property when attuned by the person with the original intimacy, in addition to whatever normal attunement bonus it has: If the wearer has a Principle of pride or hubris at Major, increase Soak and Hardness by 1. If the wearer has a Principle of pride or hubris at Defining, increase Soak and Hardness by 2. If the wearer has no such Principle, reduce the Soak and Hardness by 2. Again, these effects only take place for the person whom the material was harvested from. When whatever was produced from this material is shattered, the donor loses the relevant Intimacy and 3/4/5 points of willpower (from a minor/major/defining intimacy), which cannot be regained for one week. This charm can only be used on an individual once per year.
Blood-Ice Carver (20m, Supplemental, Instant, Essence 3): Karapeshka is a carver and sculptor by trade. Double eights for a single project, so long as it is carving or sculpting. If she is working with the material made from Slick Hubris, double sevens instead. When working with the material made from Slick Hubris, Karapeshka is considered to have a master's workshop, 'a bit,' 'some' and 'plenty' magical material from a minor, major, and defining intimacy, respectively, an ability related to the artifact at 5, and a Charm related to the artifact. Additionally, the roll interval is decreased by two steps and the difficulty is reduced by 2.
Sample Intimacies
• Defining Principle: Spread beautiful Flattery
• Major Tie: Ululaya (Filial Love)
• Major Tie: Gervasin (Love)
Minor Principle: I love to carve, sculpt, and create armor
• Minor Tie: The touch of the humble (Fear)
Actions: Demonic Lore: 4 dice; Read Intentions: 6 dice; Senses: 6 dice; Social Influence: 12 dice (Flattery 13 Dice); Craft Armor: 14 dice; Linguistics: 8 dice
Appearance 1, Resolve 4, Guile 4
Merits:
Cult 2: Karapeshka has been given a large stable of prayer-slaves by her greater self, as a part of her duchy.
Social Charms:
Chorus of Pride (10m, Simple, Scenelong, Essence 3, Eclipse): Karapeshka speaks with one thousand voices, such that all can hear her flattery. Upon activating this charm, consider her appearance to be equal to her Essence for the purposes of Social Influence. In a situation in which her Appearance would normally be rolled, this charm does not come into effect.
Lull of Reason (5m, Supplemental, Instant, Essence 2): When Karapeshka speaks, the subject of her flattery forgets all thoughts but their own ego. Lull of Reason reduces the Resolve bonus from opposing intimacies by 2.
Invincible Ego Juggernaut (7m, Supplemental, Instant, Essence 3): The flattery of Karapeshka is capable of filling even the humblest monk with their own glory. When making an instill roll to for a Principle of hubris or pride, double eights. The cost of preventing an intimacy from forming in this way is increased to two willpower. If the target already has a Principle of hubris or pride, Karapeshka can raise it by one step without referring to another intimacy once.
Miscellaneous Charms
Hurry Home (10m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Karapeshka fades away and vanishes on her next turn, drawn instantly to her summoner's side. This Charm is unavailable when she is unbound.
Materialize (55m, 1wp; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Karapeshka appears in a chorus of voices.
Measure the Wind (5m; Simple; Instant; Essence 1): Karapeshka may discern the nature of anyone who has an intimacy related to hubris or their ego.
Slick Hubris (3m, Simple, Instant, Essence 3): Karapeshka gathers materials from those who listen to her. If a character has had a Principle of Pride raised or created by Karapeshka, she may activate this charm. This charm causes a slick icey sheen to form on their skin. After harvesting, a process that takes one hour for each level of intimacy, and is harmless, Karapeshka gains an amount of a unique magical material. A Minor Intimacy grants enough for light armor, Major for Medium, and Defining for Heavy. Artifact armor made from this material has the following property when attuned by the person with the original intimacy, in addition to whatever normal attunement bonus it has: If the wearer has a Principle of pride or hubris at Major, increase Soak and Hardness by 1. If the wearer has a Principle of pride or hubris at Defining, increase Soak and Hardness by 2. If the wearer has no such Principle, reduce the Soak and Hardness by 2. Again, these effects only take place for the person whom the material was harvested from. When whatever was produced from this material is shattered, the donor loses the relevant Intimacy and 3/4/5 points of willpower (from a minor/major/defining intimacy), which cannot be regained for one week. This charm can only be used on an individual once per year.
Blood-Ice Carver (20m, Supplemental, Instant, Essence 3): Karapeshka is a carver and sculptor by trade. Double eights for a single project, so long as it is carving or sculpting. If she is working with the material made from Slick Hubris, double sevens instead. When working with the material made from Slick Hubris, Karapeshka is considered to have a master's workshop, 'a bit,' 'some' and 'plenty' magical material from a minor, major, and defining intimacy, respectively, an ability related to the artifact at 5, and a Charm related to the artifact. Additionally, the roll interval is decreased by two steps and the difficulty is reduced by 2.
frozenchicken
Does not have a custom title.
Can I ask you guys about Lunars for a moment? A friend is making a Lunar character and neither of us have used the splat before, but we have some pretty differing opinions on how the 'Gift' part of Deadly Beastman Transformation functions.
Lines like:
This doesn't seem right to me at all, though I concede I might be lacking data on the topic. Can anyone with a bit more experience confirm this, or know of a ruling that states exactly how Deadly Beastman should work?
Lines like:
I interpret the second chunk as meaning that a charm that already has a committed cost (Or Bruise Relief Method which has that Beastman-specific commit cost) stays committed. My friend interpreted this as Gift charms gaining the ability to be committed, which would mean something like Scarlet Flow providing permanent Lethal Healing per turn.
This doesn't seem right to me at all, though I concede I might be lacking data on the topic. Can anyone with a bit more experience confirm this, or know of a ruling that states exactly how Deadly Beastman should work?
Kylar
In Training Forever
- Location
- Canada
Your friend has the right of it- regen is a big part of what makes DBT builds work.
Gift charms are a pain in the ass.
Pretty much. That's why TAW totally stripped them out - so Lunars could have viable builds that weren't "turn into a werecreature". Essentially, the demands of Gift Charms are such that Lunars must necessarily be weaker when they are not in DBT - and that serves to make it mandatory for competitive Lunars, because the game also insists that Lunars not be better than Solars.
Its worth noting that the Alchemical Exalted only optionally having to eat does (or did) have commiserate mechanical drawbacks associated with it comparable to other bonuses of its kind, it was just left out of the 2e book rather than streamlined for whatever reason, governing baseline mote respiration and onboard healing. Although she cannot die from lack of eating, a penalty ticks up at -1 mote off her usual hourly respiration rate for each day after she begins suffering starvation, permitting her only the ability to heal as a mortal does until -4, after which she does not heal any wounds at all until she has eaten again, reverting right back into penalties and disabled self-repair for each lapsed day until she has spent her Stamina in days having regular meals again.
A little spreadsheet-tracky, sure, but its sort of a meaningful distinction to make. She might be a magically-ensouled machine, but the need for steady access to food is one of the specific points of infrastructure dependency in the design which prevents Champions from simply wandering out into the industrial hinterlands unsupported forever. However, purchasing that aforementioned Charm (Sustenance Replication Engine) to get around it simply is a means to reduce, but not entirely remove, the need for food. In 1e even the Essence 5 effect required spending 5 motes to simply not have to eat at all for a day, no matter the amount, but she would still need to have those motes to spend in the first place, not tied up in Charm or artifact commitments.
On that note, as an additional drawback that "Free Lunch" Charm in either edition still occupies an entire slot unto itself, which other Exalted do not have to address. This is explicitly Not cheap, owing to the rarity of slots and the inability to easily expand them at-will. Other Exalted never have to weigh the value of not-eating against carrying another combat option for her defense suite, while Alchemicals have to kit well in advance of the mission she will be undertaking. Sometimes its simply easier to carry an extra rucksack of stale bread and baked nutrient bars than compromise overall effectiveness, something which "learn as you go" Charms never require as similar judgement calls.
On the 'how hard is it to not need to eat' front, a good balancing point might be artifacts that simply make food. In E3 the traveller's staff is a two dot artifact that can feed several people each day. And the difference between 'has food each day' and 'doesn't need to eat food' is rather small, especially when the staff can also feed other people on top of you and provides shelter and firewood.