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General Exalted Thread

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Bureaucracy charms don't normally get me psyched, but I kind of really dig Following the River's Course. About half of those were Essence 3 charms, but I'm having a little trouble gauging the power level... It'd be way easier if they'd spoiled some combat charms. :V
 
So is there any information on that shattered sea area of the 3rd edition map?

Or can I CHANGE GEOGRAPHY and flesh it out as I want?

Edit: Also, I'm making a list of tools that mortal armies in exalted have that ancient forces in our world didn't. Can people spot if I've missed any?

1: Talisman
2: Alchemical drugs
3: Fire dust
4: The blessings of spirits or divine favour
5: Essence martial arts
6: Dinosaurs and megafauna
 
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FBH said:
Edit: Also, I'm making a list of tools that mortal armies in exalted have that ancient forces in our world didn't. Can people spot if I've missed any?
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I mean, ancient forces in our world basically did have firedust (or a close equivalent that also did concussive damage), and depending on what you mean by "alchemical drugs" they had a certain level of access to those as well.

(Technically they also had talismans. They just didn't do anything.)
 
Aleph said:
I mean, ancient forces in our world basically did have firedust (or a close equivalent that also did concussive damage), and depending on what you mean by "alchemical drugs" they had a certain level of access to those as well.

(Technically they also had talismans. They just didn't do anything.)
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I feel like fire dust is a bit more effective than ancient alchemical bombs

I forgot flame throwers in general TBH, and essence weapons/power armour.

I don't think ancient armies had access to anything as effective as like, wind fire medicine or the like.
 
FBH said:
I feel like fire dust is a bit more effective than ancient alchemical bombs

I forgot flame throwers in general TBH, and essence weapons/power armour.

I don't think ancient armies had access to anything as effective as like, wind fire medicine or the like.
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Well yeah, but most mortal Creation armies don't have access to that sort of thing either.
 
@ManusDomine

I've been thinking about Dragonblooded lately, and one thing that stuck out to me is that I have no idea how useful the water anima effect is mechanically. What kind of penalties do actions take for being done underwater, or a ranged attack (as the most obvious example) going from above water to below water?
 
beowolf said:
@ManusDomine

I've been thinking about Dragonblooded lately, and one thing that stuck out to me is that I have no idea how useful the water anima effect is mechanically. What kind of penalties do actions take for being done underwater, or a ranged attack (as the most obvious example) going from above water to below water?
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Well for one, you'd be drowning. :V
 
FBH said:
I guess not.

I'm mostly wondering if you can think of any other stuff they might have though.

Edit: like, are their any other military thaumaturges or the like can do?
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In magic heavy armies, like the Realm, Lookshy, or Paragon? Sure.

As for what they can do...well, make alchemical bombs, make talismans, and apply blessings and enchantments and the like to weapons. The Scroll of Kings gives three examples of Procedures used by militaries, although they probably don't see wide use since they let you hit ghosts, deal aggravated to ghosts, and deal aggravated to demons respectively. While these might see more use in "present" Creation due to the Deathlords and the Reclamation and what not cause a sharp increase in the likelihood of having to fight entire armies of ghosts and demons, not too useful outside their niches. The thaumaturgical form of Elemental Benediction would be your closest bet for a non-Alchemy non-talisman buff, but I can't recall if you can use the ritual in batches like you can with the Procedures I mentioned above and the Sorcery version of Elemental Benediction.

ManusDomine said:
Well for one, you'd be drowning. :V
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No, you could totally be holding your breath while you fight! Monster Hunter wouldn't lie to me!
 
beowolf said:
@ManusDomine

I've been thinking about Dragonblooded lately, and one thing that stuck out to me is that I have no idea how useful the water anima effect is mechanically. What kind of penalties do actions take for being done underwater, or a ranged attack (as the most obvious example) going from above water to below water?
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As per Mother Sea Mastery in the Broken Winged Crane, terrestrial beings take a -2 penalty for actions underwater (which is presumably external, given it's based on your external environment). A -2 external penalty is pretty horrific - without something that negates it, you are going to lose against someone with the same skill level if they're at home in the water and you're not.
 
ManusDomine said:
And see, I totally agree, but this doesn't actually address anything I've said, neither does it make them a warrior-aristocracy; I'll call things 2eisms if they happen to be stupid and be from 2e, just like I call things 1eisms if they're stupid and from 1e. It's just that large parts of 2e are watered-down versions of 1e, sprinkled by bad writing and even worse editing and thought to what was the actual intent and purpose of such things, but just because I think X is stupid doesn't mean I can't find Y interesting; I can't assert that I hate all of 2e because Infernals are a thing from 2e and I fucking love Infernals, I'm just deeply skeptical of 2e Dragon-Blooded because a bright-eyed, 16-year-old @ManusDomine once paid 60 dollars in a store to buy himself a brand new and shiny Dragon-Blooded book only to discover it was literally the 1e book copypasted and worsened in every single way.
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Wait, hold up. $60? Are RPG books marked up insanely in Danish stores or something? Cuz I remember that being during the halcyon days of RPGs where you could get a fat splat for $30 or $40.
 
Jetstream said:
Wait, hold up. $60? Are RPG books marked up insanely in Danish stores or something? Cuz I remember that being during the halcyon days of RPGs where you could get a fat splat for $30 or $40.
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It had just been released back then, and there are like three quality RPG stores in all of Denmark, that are all the same store chain. They used to be able to basically control the prices for RPGs however they wanted; they uh, can't really do that anymore.
 
ManusDomine said:
It had just been released back then, and there are like three quality RPG stores in all of Denmark, that are all the same store chain. They used to be able to basically control the prices for RPGs however they wanted; they uh, can't really do that anymore.
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That's vicious, right there.

I mean, now in the days of PoD that's what they all cost, but still. Not cool, regular retail store.
 
EarthScorpion said:
As per Mother Sea Mastery in the Broken Winged Crane, terrestrial beings take a -2 penalty for actions underwater (which is presumably external, given it's based on your external environment). A -2 external penalty is pretty horrific - without something that negates it, you are going to lose against someone with the same skill level if they're at home in the water and you're not.
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Thank you very much for answering, and that does make the anima effect as useful as it's competitors. Would that also apply to ranged attacks against someone underwater if you aren't?
 
beowolf said:
Thank you very much for answering, and that does make the anima effect as useful as it's competitors. Would that also apply to ranged attacks against someone underwater if you aren't?
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I think that water would be good cover against ranged attacks. That way, a solar could totally jump into the ocean to stay safe whenever the Wyld Hunt brings enough archers.

Is there any way to help those doomed to eternal torture by the Ebon Dragon?

LIFE-DENYING HATE
Cost: 8m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple (Speed 4)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Sorcerous
Duration: One scene
Prerequisite Charms: Life-Blighting Emptiness Attack
The Ebon Dragon does not accept that life is hope. His
curses prove otherwise. The character must choose a living
being within sensory range that he inflicted damage upon
earlier in the scene. Until the scene ends, the target can't
heal damage by any means, including effects that convert
injuries to less serious types of damage (lethal to bashing, etc.).
Whenever a wound would heal and does not, black Essence
oozes like tar from it instead, making the curse Obvious. If
the Charm is dispelled, the vile secretions combust in a single
flare of green fire, inflicting one die of lethal damage that
ignores armor but also renders the target immune to further
activations of this Charm for the rest of the scene. Charms
that build on Life-Denying Hate as a prerequisite with similar
effects do not stack the damage burst for being dispelled.
Whenever a spirit cursed by this Charm dies, Soul-
Absorbing Barrage shunts the spirit into darkness beyond
existence unless it perishes exposed to sunlight. Within
this oubliette of perfect solitude, the spirit experiences the
passage of time and nothing else, forever. From time to time,
the Infernal dreams of the exiled spirit's pain, but the exile
is functionally annihilated from the perspective of Creation
and ceases to be a valid target for effects.
Essence 4+ Infernals may purchase this Charm a second
time, in which case the curse lasts until dispelled but remains
vulnerable to Emerald Circle Countermagic. A third and
final purchase at Essence 7+ upgrades the curse to require
Sapphire Circle Countermagic for removal.

This is a little too fucking grimdark for my tastes, when you factor in how many demons TED could have hit with it in the last 10,000 years in confinement.

Could it apply to more beings than spirits? It was called Soul-Absorbing Barrage at one point.

Does Ligier count as Sunlight?
 
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Dynamesmouse said:
Does Ligier count as Sunlight?
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Definitely not now. The reason sunlight does what it does is it carrying the Unconquered Sun's power and his condemnation of Creatures of Darkness, which the Ebon Dragon is the archetype of. Back before the Primordial War, when Theion was a thing, Ligier might have counted, because Theion both had several similar themes to U.S. that are now missing from Malfeas, and also because Theion was a king who had the Sun as a servant, so that might have enhanced the portion of his own being that the Sun was based on. That last sentence was all conjecture, though, and even if it was true, it wouldn't help the demons ever since they were imprisoned, which is probably when most uses of the charm on them occurred.
 
Alright I hope this is in some semblance of order.

@Carrnage - That does tend to be a problem- people seeing 'First Age' as a homogeneous blob. Ican't speak to your other question/point though.

@Sucal - I generally agree with you, but this lies outside my question and the 'answer' I came to with the previous definition.

However, I feel like I should really expand on a point. There can be magic and mythology in the idea of mass production and industrial process, just as much as there is in singular masterworks. I think the- dare I say toxic- mindset that 'Industrialization' or injecting pretensions of modern society and economic structure is the only viable one.

I don't think you personally are suggesting that, but it's a common problem that the only Right way to advance 'technology' in Creation is by replicating Real Earth History. I say pretensions deliberately, as to evoke that almost whiny, entitled tone that some people take with 'magitech' settings or such like Exalted. The scientific method works, sure- but it doesn't give you the right to be an asshat about it either.

@Sanctaphrax - You don't have to like my definition- I don't much like it either. I think it's useful insofar as giving us a starting point in which to ask further questions. Like- why can't I make a sentient wind chime with Craft Air that acts as a personal assistant? The only reason right now is 'Because sentient artifacts are Magitech'.

That's not a bad reason, but it could be improved.

Magitech = Stuff you can't make in the Second Age is a developmental definition, not a practical or useful one. You point out 'magic with the thematics and aesthetics of technology'- and I reply: "All forms of craft and construction are considered technology'. So you likely mean modern technology... but that's a problematic definition too because it leads to obnoxious things like Magical Computers* and such.

* I know such things already exist in varying degrees of Well Written and Not. Ideally a new definition of Magitech encourages more of the former.

@Sydonai - You could say the same about regular artifice, save that most 'non-magitech' creations are characterized as not requiring maintenance. Artifice at a setting level is 'Essence applied to Craft'. Of imbuing the feat of creation with Magic.

So I would ask you- what is the definition of Fantasy vs Science-Fantasy?

@Anasurimbor - That's heartening, but it's essentially the same defiinition I came up with already- and it doesn't actually address the core problem of conveying to players/storytellers "What is Magitech?" and offering direction on how to both homebrew it in their games, and craft it in-character; if such a thing is even possible!

I guess what I'm getting at here is that my definition is not for homebrew or a prompt- but instead one of design and development. What is the goal of Magitech, both as a gameplay element and a setting element, and build from there.
 
FBH said:
So is there any information on that shattered sea area of the 3rd edition map?

Or can I CHANGE GEOGRAPHY and flesh it out as I want?
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Are you talking about the Dreaming Sea in the East? Because there's quite a bit of info about it in the core. There's a nation of Dragonblooded Outcasts called Prasad there, made up of descendants of two Realm Great Houses whose main branch fell apart on the Blessed Isle while the remainder basically went native and practice basically the Hindu version of the Buddhist-inspired Immaculate Faith. There's also an assortment of city-states like Ysyr, Volivat, Palanquin, and Champoor, all of which exist in a tenuous balance of power as each nation tries to get a leg up over its rivals.
 
Deations said:
Are you talking about the Dreaming Sea in the East? Because there's quite a bit of info about it in the core. There's a nation of Dragonblooded Outcasts called Prasad there, made up of descendants of two Realm Great Houses whose main branch fell apart on the Blessed Isle while the remainder basically went native and practice basically the Hindu version of the Buddhist-inspired Immaculate Faith. There's also an assortment of city-states like Ysyr, Volivat, Palanquin, and Champoor, all of which exist in a tenuous balance of power as each nation tries to get a leg up over its rivals.
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No no, the bit off the inner sea.

Edit:
 
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