grommile
nasty-minded old cynic
- Location
- NERV-Mercia
- Pronouns
- Traditional/Animate
Not... really? I mean, people recognize and remember them, so they clearly can't be Sids
General Exalted Thread
Bursting Eagerness Soul
Threadwalking Rating Machine
- Location
- Wisconsin
THAT MADE SENSE AT THE TIME DAMMIT
(Also, that was deva apotheosis, which is totally completely different I swear)
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notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
Alright thinking about mechanics for Craft for an Exalted/Worm cross (in my defense, the fad's kind of died). My thought is to divide Craft into a number of additional categories. They mostly abuse the Artifact mechanics as a framework.
1. Technology: Normal craft actions can make it. It can be better than anything on the market, but it's not going to do anything weird like project force-fields or anything.
2. Advanced Technology: Technology that's entirely theoretical or impractical right now. It requires a series of Lore rolls (requiring a relevant specialty), with difficulty and target number based on how difficult the project is and how 'out there' it is. Generally very difficult, similar to making an artifact. Then you have to make a series of Craft rolls similar to making an artifact to actually design the item. Then you can make it as if it's technology forevermore. The benefit is that this is entirely valid technological advancement, meaning that others can benefit from it.
3. Tinker-tech: Make a difficult Craft roll to figure out how a given piece of tinker-tech works. Then you can make a series of difficult rolls to figure out how to reproduce it, similar to making an artifact. With CNNT, the rolls become much easier, at the cost of preventing others from replicating your work. Afterwards, you can recreate, and even perform limited modifications on, the tech. True reverse engineering works as making Advanced Technology.
4. Artifacts: As Sanctaphrax's rewrite. However, Artifact Technology, Advanced Technology, and Tinker-tech can be made as normal Artifacts assuming that they can be made normally. IE, no making an artifact personal force-field generator when you can't make a non-artifact version.
1. Technology: Normal craft actions can make it. It can be better than anything on the market, but it's not going to do anything weird like project force-fields or anything.
2. Advanced Technology: Technology that's entirely theoretical or impractical right now. It requires a series of Lore rolls (requiring a relevant specialty), with difficulty and target number based on how difficult the project is and how 'out there' it is. Generally very difficult, similar to making an artifact. Then you have to make a series of Craft rolls similar to making an artifact to actually design the item. Then you can make it as if it's technology forevermore. The benefit is that this is entirely valid technological advancement, meaning that others can benefit from it.
3. Tinker-tech: Make a difficult Craft roll to figure out how a given piece of tinker-tech works. Then you can make a series of difficult rolls to figure out how to reproduce it, similar to making an artifact. With CNNT, the rolls become much easier, at the cost of preventing others from replicating your work. Afterwards, you can recreate, and even perform limited modifications on, the tech. True reverse engineering works as making Advanced Technology.
4. Artifacts: As Sanctaphrax's rewrite. However, Artifact Technology, Advanced Technology, and Tinker-tech can be made as normal Artifacts assuming that they can be made normally. IE, no making an artifact personal force-field generator when you can't make a non-artifact version.
Well, I mean, Keris is allying herself with Asarin, but in her defence she's doing it because she likes her - and because a Third Circle in her corner who owes her everything is basically a trump card for an Infernal.
She doesn't care about Elloge's mental health. She just wants her ally to benefit - and she'll make sure she gets payment in full for that.
(Any great plan to "redeem the Yozis" is also going to run into Infernals like that, who could care less for "redeeming" them when they could instead get new Unquestionable who are their friends and owe them big time and so can provide them with cover for "doing what I wanted to do anyway" on the Reclamation's time)
- Location
- NOVA
I'm still running numbers on how much to give each background, but here's where the initial system is.
Narrative Backgrounds:
It's always better to have people backing you up, no matter what it is you're doing, and within Creation there exist a large number of individuals and organizations that a character could call on for aid. These individual and groups are represented by the Backgrounds on a character sheet. They're time honored allies that can be called on time and time again because the character is someone who they trust and are willing to help when the chips are down.
This system is designed to increase the usefulness of the many different social backgrounds. The main point of comparison is the Artifact, an item that will always be around and likely will be used to great effect every story, if not every chapter. It's also meant to be used alongside the regular rules for backgrounds whenever possible because many of them still have important, passive uses. Though, some have been combined due to redundancy.
The main component of the narrative to be used is the twist. It's the unexpected swerve in the plot, resolving some problems and creating new ones, and now will be in the hands of the players themselves.
Twists:
Twists can be sorted into five different types: mortal, enlightened, terrestrial, celestial, and adamant.
They're named for the primary character scales because with each step the scale of the twist increases and allows the player calling for it a more decisive change. A twist should allow a player to defeat or bypass a threat of its own scale and negatively impact one that's a tier higher.
For instance, calling on the Mortal Twist of your army would allow a character to defeat another army of mortals, but against a demonic horde they would only be able to delay them. An Enlightened Twist would be required to fight back the forces of hell.
Examples:
Mortal - find out where the last merchant caravan to pass through is headed, delay an army from the underworld, arrange a meeting with local smugglers, carry the circle to an enemy island through stormy seas
Enlightened - prepare a sleeping draught that can knock out any mortal, negotiate a favorable ransom of captives from a minor Fae nobel, find the identity of a Second Circle demon
Terrestrial - repair a damaged city's walls within a week's time, oust a local god from the court, putting down a rampaging elemental, lend a minor Artifact, impress Dynastic guests with a feast, deliver important cargo through a divine storm
Celestial - sabotage a Wyld Hunt's airship in the middle of a major battle, insert a kill team into a Great House, cure a magical plague, open a gate to Yu-Shan
Adamant - discover the location of a peach of immortality, cleans a shadowland, cause a rival kingdom to fall into anarchy in an afternoon, force a confrontation with the elder Sidereal spying on the circle
Domains:
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a general purpose twist. Each background can only provide twists for certain domains of narrative effects. You wouldn't call upon a band of diplomats to build an airship.
These domains are combinations of the different Abilities into task based groupings.
- Combat: skill at personal combat, associated with Archery, Melee, Martial Arts, and Thrown.
- Warfare: skill at completing military objectives, associated with War, Survival, and Bureaucracy.
- Logistics: moving people or items, associated with Survival, Ride, and Sail.
- Artistry: creating great works of art, associated with Performance, Craft, and Linguistics.
- Artifice: the design and construction of artifacts, associated with Craft and Occult.
- Infrastructure: the design of large projects, associated with Craft, Lore, and Bureaucracy.
- Philosophy: academic study and knowledge, associated with Lore, Medicine, and Occult.
- Sorcery: the ability to cast thaunmaturgy or sorcery of the appropriate tier, associated with Occult
- Infiltration: entering protected areas and retrieving something, Athletics, Stealth, and Larceny.
- Intelligence: gathering information about the actions/motives of others: Investigation, Awareness, Socialize.
- Ceremony: interacting with spirits: Performance, Occult, Bureaucracy.
- Wayfaring: tracking in or investigating remote areas: Survival, Resistance, Awareness.
- Intrigue: social maneuvering or manipulation: Investigation, Integrity, Socialize.
- Diplomacy: making a deal with to another individual: Bureaucracy, Socialize, Linguistics.
- Strategic: operations on the scale of a city or more.
- Foreign(specialization): this tag allows operation in other realms than the background's native one(Creation, Yu-Shan, Malfeas, the Wyld, the Underworld)
Each of a background's domains matter when describing the person or group.
- Artifice+Infrastructure+Strategic could be a manse building company or a Solar craftsman.
- Combat+Warfare+Sorcery would be a combat-sorcerer who could turn the tide of a battle by themselves.
- Combat+Warfare+Strategic would be a warlord whose army can not only turn the tide, but also hold territory that's too large for an individual to control.
- Infiltration+Intelligence+Intrigue could describe a spy or courtier.
- Infiltration+Intelligence+Combat could describe an assassin.
- Logistics+Intelligence could be the captain of a ship.
- Logistics+Intelligence+Strategic would be a fleet of ships.
- Diplomacy+Ceremony+Foreign(Underworld) could be the head of a powerful ancestor cult who has connections within the Underworld itself, as well as Creation
The big questions I'm running into right now are.
Is this too many domains? And if so, which ones should be merged? I also know that several should be renamed to avoid confusion.
How many chapters per story does a normal game have? I'm used to four through seven and have rough numbers based on that, but might be way off.
AOE attacks can be modled similar to environmental hazzards. I think grenades are specifically in scroll of kings.
- Location
- my house
Thanks.
- Location
- my house
Two new charms would anyone mind critiquing.
Serf Sacrificing Salvo
Cost 3m; Mins: Essense 3; Type: Instant
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fealty Acknowledging Audience
Malfeas' subjects have no purpose save furthering his goals. If they must die to do this then so be it. This charm allows the Infernal to cause one person marked with Fealty Acknowledging Audience to explode with green fire, acting in all ways as a grenade (Scroll of Kings page 134). The target deals 9L in damage to all targets within 1 yard, including the target, and 3L to all within 2 yards. The target has an accuracy of + 0. Upon using this charm, the brand placed by Fealty Acknowledging Audience is removed, and must be replaced on the target before this charm may be used on them again. Any charms which effect Green Sun Nimbus Flare treat Serf Sacrificing Salvo as Green Sun Nimbus Flare for the purpose of those effects.
Assuming Direct Control
Cost 10m 1wp; Mins: Essense 3; Type: Instant
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Sorcerous
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Fealty Acknowledging Audience
Malfeas is surrounded on all sides by idiots , and cannot always risk leaving tasks in their incapable hands. Sometimes a more personal touch is required. This charm allows the Infernal to take control of a person branded by Fealty Acknowledging Audience, controlling its actions as he does his own body. During this time, the Infernal becomes paralyzed, aware of his surroundings but unable to move. While under the Infernal's control, the target performs all actions using his own attribute score but the Infernal's ability scores. The Infernal may use charms using the target's body, but the target takes 1L of damage for every hour spent at a 1 dot anima flare, and can not go higher. If the Infernal flares his anima in the targets body, he must flare it in his own as well. The Infernal may spend an additional 5 motes when activating this charm to have the target manifest any mutations he has. Motes spent when activating this charm are committed, and cannot be regained as long as this charm is in use. Charms spent using the targets body drain motes from the Infernal as if he used them himself.
I'm particularly worried about Assuming the Direct Control, it might be overpowered, and I'm worried it encourages the player to sit in a cave all day controlling puppets instead of risking himself.
Also for the first one, I just have trouble with exalted combat in general.
Serf Sacrificing Salvo
Cost 3m; Mins: Essense 3; Type: Instant
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Fealty Acknowledging Audience
Malfeas' subjects have no purpose save furthering his goals. If they must die to do this then so be it. This charm allows the Infernal to cause one person marked with Fealty Acknowledging Audience to explode with green fire, acting in all ways as a grenade (Scroll of Kings page 134). The target deals 9L in damage to all targets within 1 yard, including the target, and 3L to all within 2 yards. The target has an accuracy of + 0. Upon using this charm, the brand placed by Fealty Acknowledging Audience is removed, and must be replaced on the target before this charm may be used on them again. Any charms which effect Green Sun Nimbus Flare treat Serf Sacrificing Salvo as Green Sun Nimbus Flare for the purpose of those effects.
Assuming Direct Control
Cost 10m 1wp; Mins: Essense 3; Type: Instant
Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Sorcerous
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Fealty Acknowledging Audience
Malfeas is surrounded on all sides by idiots , and cannot always risk leaving tasks in their incapable hands. Sometimes a more personal touch is required. This charm allows the Infernal to take control of a person branded by Fealty Acknowledging Audience, controlling its actions as he does his own body. During this time, the Infernal becomes paralyzed, aware of his surroundings but unable to move. While under the Infernal's control, the target performs all actions using his own attribute score but the Infernal's ability scores. The Infernal may use charms using the target's body, but the target takes 1L of damage for every hour spent at a 1 dot anima flare, and can not go higher. If the Infernal flares his anima in the targets body, he must flare it in his own as well. The Infernal may spend an additional 5 motes when activating this charm to have the target manifest any mutations he has. Motes spent when activating this charm are committed, and cannot be regained as long as this charm is in use. Charms spent using the targets body drain motes from the Infernal as if he used them himself.
I'm particularly worried about Assuming the Direct Control, it might be overpowered, and I'm worried it encourages the player to sit in a cave all day controlling puppets instead of risking himself.
Also for the first one, I just have trouble with exalted combat in general.
- Location
- Singapore
Eh, just make it so that the majesty of malfeas cannot be held in a mortal body. So, you basically can't use a mortal puppet for too long. Or it'll spontaneously combust.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Maybe instead of combustion, full Green Sun Wasting detonation?
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It doesn't actually solve the problem; the Infernal will just use disposable people. Besides, combustion is at worst utility neutral and more likely to be utility positive because they A) Explode in enemy territory, killing people B) Can't be captured and interrogated
It's a cool idea and all but it doesn't work well.
- Location
- Singapore
Maybe just make a limit on how many times you can use per day/ season/ month/ year?
azoicennead
Overly-Affectionate Zombie Squad
- Pronouns
- He/They
Don't allow charms, except maybe Excellencies. That seriously limits what they can do through disposable NPCs, even if you allow Excellencies.
It might also be worth limiting Abilities to the lower of the Infernal and the target.
- Location
- Singapore
Ok, looking at the rewrite....
Why does Sanctaphrax say that even 2 dot artifacts are overkill? I thought that those were pretty limited?
Why does Sanctaphrax say that even 2 dot artifacts are overkill? I thought that those were pretty limited?
The simplest way to solve it is this:
-If you die in a host body, you die in real life.
If you want to be somewhat less punishing, you can have it merely render the Infernal comatose, or Incapacitated with Aggravated damage or something.
I wouldn't put "pulling a Harbinger" in Malfeas anyway. I'd put it in SWLIHN. She's the one with the sci-fi, alien, psychic aesthetics and the "total control" thematics.
And to match what Harbinger did, you don't get to use any Charms when doing it. You just get to use your own Abilities and Mental/non-Appearance-Social attributes. It's a Charm for discardable proxies and sending mooks into Solar tombs so they trigger traps.
And to match what Harbinger did, you don't get to use any Charms when doing it. You just get to use your own Abilities and Mental/non-Appearance-Social attributes. It's a Charm for discardable proxies and sending mooks into Solar tombs so they trigger traps.
Harbinger actually powered up the guys who he was using pretty significantly though. They gained new attacks and stuff. I guess you could simulate that by going 'you can use whatever charms you've learned, but you're capped by either your Essence or your host body's Essence for the prereqs, and both you and the host need to pay for the charm.'
So if you want to actually make use of most of your charmset, you're expending much rarer proxies who are significantly more difficult to groom. Otherwise you're limited to like, a pretty tiny amount of motes and the use of your Excellencies and that's about it?
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Even Excellencies are a powerful force multiplier. Sending inhumanly persuasive courtiers to areas you'd be unable to go is useful as hell. It would cut down on travel times a lot.
As a price, maybe the it requires a commitment of permanent Willpower and the death of the host body burns out that dot? I think that'd be sufficient to make players leery enough of using it that it becomes a serious commitment.
- Location
- Singapore
Agreed.
Heck, spend about 5 motes or so, and you're probably gonna be capable of feats that put you in the top 1% of mortals.
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
Another option is to go full-on Harbinger and also have it be that your meat puppets are obviously fucking possessed: their pupils twist into shining Pyrian hedrons, their shed blood hardens into lumps of reddish crystal almost instantly, and the inhumanly pure schema of the Pyre on Which Thoughts are Burned scourges their voice of all earthly imperfection, so that they sound like Legion with Autotune. If you use ADC, you need to have your implements go around in veiled palanquins, or wear all-concealing robes that hide the marks of a Green Sun Prince's influence from the uninitiated.
When you channel Excellencies through them, the warlock's inhuman Essence wracks their puppet's form, twisting their bodies with wounds & detrimental formations that express symbols of the Yozis (i.e., you have to pay a surcharge in either health levels of negative mutations); if pushed too far, body and soul are overwhelmed and crushed under the weight of the Infernal's borrowed power, leaving nothing behind but a brazen shrine to the Yozis formed from the servant's transfigured spirit & flesh*.
Furthermore, assume that you can't really do anything else while possessing someone; your real body is comatose inside a minimally-protective cocoon of Pyrian crystal for the duration, so if somebody tracks down your true location then things could go very badly for you. (In the interests of fairness, you'd also likely rule that ADC only works as long as both subjects remain in the same plane of existence, so a PC can't direct puppets in Creation from the safety of her palace in Hell.)
* Which also means that after the satrap's guards defeat the Infernal's ADC emissary, they have to deal with the fact that the body has transformed into a blasphemous five-foot slab of Malfean brass with prayers to the Yozis written on it in Pyrian flame, which has now anchored itself into the floor of the satrap's audience room.
- Location
- Virginia
Also Sovereign did it before Harbinger for the ME1 boss fight so he should be the one getting credit
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
Well no, that's the upgrade to ADC where you manifest By Rage Recast through your puppet to give them a package of combat mutations, at the cost of them dying at the end of the scene and taking some of your Willpower with them. (Presumably in the sense that you have your temporary Willpower cap reduced by, let's say, the puppet's Essence score, for some period of time?)Also Sovereign did it before Harbinger for the ME1 boss fight so he should be the one getting credit
- Location
- Ottawa
They're limited by Artifact standards, but they're still miraculous wonders that no mortal can ever hope to create. They still require wondrous materials and they can still last forever.
Few problems demand an eternal wonder.
If you want examples of what I mean, look at the various problem-solving Craft Charms I wrote. If you want to assassinate a mortal using a robot snake, well, you don't need to make an everlasting miracle of artifice for that.
Seems reasonable enough. If I were you, though, I'd use almost exactly the same rules for Tinker-tech as for Artifacts. If you already have rules for superhuman beings creating unique wonders, you might as well use them.
I dunno about this. Having a mechanic for making interesting problems vanish offscreen seems like a bad idea.
Artifice overlaps pretty heavily with Artistry and Infrastructure. I'd merge Artistry, Artifice, and the actual-construction part of Infrastructure.
Logistics overlaps heavily with Infrastructure and Strategic. I'd merge Logistics and Strategic, and say that Infrastructure often requires two twists; one to organize stuff, one to build it.
Intrigue, Infiltration, and Intelligence all seem pretty similar. I'd merge them. Let Diplomacy pick up the bits that don't fit.
Yes, but you cannot be permitted to act at an Exalt level without putting one's self at risk. There are therefore only two simple options - for you to take the damage inflicted in your host (which encourages you to find weak bodies because they have less health and you will therefore only be crippled, not slain), or that you are merely a mind in the body and thus you only get to use their native powers while possessing them (plus possibly Excellencies for your Mental and non-Appearance Social Attributes).
The former works because it removes the safety factor and means that you can't use it multiple times in quick succession or you will just die (and that you risk death if you don't have more health than your possessed); the latter works because you're only effectively a specimen of whatever you're possessing, using your mind.
Both of them are mechanically simple and easy to resolve, and so preferable to something that requires you to write a 1k word Charm.