I believe @Pale Wolf is writing an Infernal fic over in User Fiction that's located in Creation.
And Mizuki_Stone over on SB has a mixed party fic called Damned If I Do.
Most Solar fics I've seen are crossovers though.
General Exalted Thread
And Mizuki_Stone over on SB has a mixed party fic called Damned If I Do.
Most Solar fics I've seen are crossovers though.
Kylar
In Training Forever
- Location
- Canada
I meant more in the 'the instant you arrive your ship starts dissolving' or 'all the air is poison' sense of 'directly inhospitable'.
When the bar is set at 'the instant you arrive your ship starts falling apart', it's a very low bar to clear.
(Mind, it's pretty telling environmental protection charms go from 'eh, nice to have' in Creation to 'you need this' inside any of the Primodials.)
- Location
- my house
Piggybacking this, any good Exalted give in general? Preferably Infernals
Anything by EarthScorpion is a good place to start.
Awww I was hoping for the Mailer Daemon
You promised us the Mailer Daemon and haven't delivered yet
greensun
You shall all burn beneath my light!!!
What...?Awww I was hoping for the Mailer Daemon
You promised us the Mailer Daemon and haven't delivered yet
When you send an e-mail to someone but it doesn't go through you get informed that the "Mailer Daemon" failed.
In this case the word "Daemon" refers to a computer program that functions without input from the user.
It was a discussion between me, @EarthScorpion, and someone else about demons and Szoreny demons. Someone suggested that Amazon Prime should be one of Szoreny's third circle souls. This led me to joke "would Amazon Prime have Mailer Demons?" and things should have ballooned from there.
- Location
- Ottawa
Finally got off my lazy butt and finished this.
Feedback would be appreciated.
Paradox
Paradox is a representation of errors in Fate, contradictions of fact, and general unreality. It's measured in points. Like Limit, it builds up harmlessly until it reaches 10 or more. At that point it resets to 0, leaving its carrier with permanent changes of some kind. The first change is usually mostly cosmetic, the second is significant, and the third is catastrophic. Paradox changes are unpredictable and subject to the ST's whims.
Paradox-induced changes can occasionally be effectively retroactive, rewriting the world to make it consistent with the change. The rewriting is never perfect, however. The bodies and memories of Exalts cannot be rewritten this way.
During Calibration, each carrier's Paradox is reset to 0.
Anyone and anything can acquire Paradox, but only Sidereals do so on a regular basis. Other Exalts can easily go their whole lives without acquiring any Paradox at all, as long as they avoid Oramus and don't go too deep into the Wyld. Mortals, animals, plants, and inanimate things are somewhat more vulnerable; they can be arbitrarily assigned Paradox whenever the Loom of Fate glitches or is damaged. Many of the more pointless-seeming missions that Sidereals undertake are intended to keep destiny on track and prevent the accumulation of Paradox among innocent bystanders and random objects.
First change examples:
-A human's destiny to drown is replaced with a destiny to be suffocated under a pile of dead cats.
-A human changes eye colours.
-A human acquires a new sense of self-importance.
-A human remembers meeting someone who never existed.
-A dog changes breeds.
-An apple tree begins to give blue fruit.
-A chair becomes translucent.
-A history book suddenly includes a new event that never happened.
-An area becomes oddly pleasant for Raksha.
-The animals of an area acquire odd spiral shapes on their skin/fur/scales.
Second change examples:
-A human acquires Arcane Fate.
-A human grows a third arm.
-A human starts believing that they are the Scarlet Empress.
-A human remembers participating in a battle they were not at, has scars from it, and is remembered by others as having participated.
-A dog becomes a cat.
-An apple tree catches fire and burns forever.
-The effect of gravity is reversed upon a chair.
-A history book is rewritten to reflect a timeline that almost happened, but didn't.
-An area is Wyld-tainted.
-An area is filled with the taste of lemons. Even the air becomes sour.
Third change examples:
-A human becomes entirely unstuck from Fate, and acquires strange powers.
-A human becomes ten thousand arms.
-A human becomes the Scarlet Empress, minus the magic, and others feel compelled to treat them as if they were the Empress.
-A human acquires an entirely new life and history.
-A dog becomes a man-eating behemoth.
-An apple tree starts unproducing fruit, summoning thousands of apples from across Creation each day and un-growing them to nothing.
-A chair becomes multi-locational. Someone sitting in it is simultaneously in more than once place.
-A history book becomes a gate to a dream-world in which history happened differently.
-An area is subsumed into the Wyld.
-An area is filled with nightmarish creatures.
Sidereals and Paradox
Sidereals, although uniquely likely to inflict Paradox on themselves, are also uniquely able to manage it. A Sidereal who reaches 10 or more Paradox chooses a Maiden and vents the Paradox through the domain of that Maiden. They roll dice equal to their Paradox, suffering consequences in accordance with the number of successes and the domain chosen. Then their Paradox resets to 0.
Sidereals may choose to suffer the effects of Paradox before it reaches 10 points, either on their own behalf or on the behalf of another carrier. This involves a full day of strange observances and prayers to one of the Maidens, before rolling dice equal to the Paradox of the target and suffering consequences as normal. This resets Paradox to 0, of course. Most Sidereals do this regularly, as dispersing a small amount of Paradox twice is much safer than dispersing twice as much Paradox once.
Every Sidereal intuitively understands the results of each Paradox-dispersal they perform or witness, and many of them are tempted to save those doomed by Endings, refuse to fight those that Battles turns them against, or simply ignore the quests of Journeys. Doing so is rarely wise, as Paradox cheated always returns in a more terrible form.
Paradox dispersal usually changes the world, but results with 6+ successes can pull the Sidereal into the Loom itself. Eight successes on Journeys Paradox might send a Sidereal on a quest to save a world that doesn't actually exist, while 11 successes on Battles Paradox might place a Sidereal in a featureless white room with a terrible foe. In any case, the Sidereal cannot return to reality until they have overcome or endured whatever Paradox had in store for them.
Journeys
Paradox dispersed through Journeys becomes a quest. The Sidereal is given a task that they must fulfill; sometimes a simple one, sometimes a terribly difficult one.
The quest is...
1 success: A quick errand, easily finished in a few minutes.
2-3 successes: A minor task, not necessarily easy but safe and doable within a day.
4-5 successes: A moderately difficult or dangerous task, doable within a session.
6-7 successes: A true quest, worthy of a story in itself.
8-9 successes: A quest that will span multiple stories and put the Sidereal at real risk.
10+ successes: Something that the Sidereal will likely die trying to do.
Serenity
Paradox dispersed through Serenity takes the form of misfortune and strangeness. The Sidereal's life becomes substantially stranger and less pleasant for a time.
The curse is...
1 success: A single incident, merely unpleasant.
2-3 successes: A single incident, rather strange and very inconvenient.
4-5 successes: A string of bad omens, minor inconveniences, and unfortunate coincidences that make it hard to do anything useful for a day.
6-7 successes: A week or so of moderately dangerous misfortune and dream logic.
8-9 successes: A downright hellish month.
10+ successes: Until Calibration, or perhaps the Calibration after next, the world is as bizarre and hostile as the Deep Wyld.
Battles
Paradox dispersed through Battles becomes an enemy. Either another character is compelled to challenge the Sidereal, or a new being who opposes the Sidereal is born.
The enemy is...
1 success: Someone vastly weaker than the Sidereal, who merely takes a passing dislike to them.
2-3 successes: Someone significantly weaker than the Sidereal, who opposes them but has no real grudge.
4-5 successes: A rival slightly weaker than the Sidereal, who means them or their goals moderate harm.
6-7 successes: An equal who seeks to harm the Sidereal or their goals severely.
8-9 successes: Someone slightly stronger than the Sidereal who wants them dead or ruined.
10+ successes: An inescapable enemy who is stronger than the Sidereal, will stop only when the Sidereal is dead or worse, and must be faced alone.
Secrets
Paradox dispersed through Secrets changes the Sidereal's past. More or less, anyway. The past actually remains unchanged, but reality is sloppily rewritten in accordance with some sort of what-if. Mental magic can preserve memories, but keeping your own memories when dispersing Paradox this way is considered cheating Paradox.
The change is...
1 success: A trivial detail, barely worth mentioning.
2-3 successes: A significant detail, which matters to the Sidereal for personal reasons only.
4-5 successes: Something on the level of a Minor Intimacy and its associated backstory.
6-7 successes: Something on the level of a Major Intimacy and its associated backstory.
8-9 successes: Something on the level of a Defining Intimacy and its associated backstory.
10+ successes: The Sidereal is retroactively replaced with a new Sidereal.
Endings
Paradox dispersed through Endings destroys. Chance and circumstance conspire to end something the Sidereal values, from a favourite shirt to the Sidereal themself. The destructive power of Paradox can be thwarted, but doing so just causes it to return more fiercely.
The thing destroyed is...
1 success: Some trinket of no real value.
2-3 successes: Something meaningful, but easily replaceable.
4-5 successes: Something which is irreplaceable or almost so, but smaller than a human life.
6-7 successes: A person, small institution, or object that the Sidereal considers precious and cannot replace.
8-9 successes: Something that will cause the Sidereal true despair when it disappears.
10+ successes: The Sidereal's life, or something the Sidereal considers equally important.
Feedback would be appreciated.
Paradox
Paradox is a representation of errors in Fate, contradictions of fact, and general unreality. It's measured in points. Like Limit, it builds up harmlessly until it reaches 10 or more. At that point it resets to 0, leaving its carrier with permanent changes of some kind. The first change is usually mostly cosmetic, the second is significant, and the third is catastrophic. Paradox changes are unpredictable and subject to the ST's whims.
Paradox-induced changes can occasionally be effectively retroactive, rewriting the world to make it consistent with the change. The rewriting is never perfect, however. The bodies and memories of Exalts cannot be rewritten this way.
During Calibration, each carrier's Paradox is reset to 0.
Anyone and anything can acquire Paradox, but only Sidereals do so on a regular basis. Other Exalts can easily go their whole lives without acquiring any Paradox at all, as long as they avoid Oramus and don't go too deep into the Wyld. Mortals, animals, plants, and inanimate things are somewhat more vulnerable; they can be arbitrarily assigned Paradox whenever the Loom of Fate glitches or is damaged. Many of the more pointless-seeming missions that Sidereals undertake are intended to keep destiny on track and prevent the accumulation of Paradox among innocent bystanders and random objects.
First change examples:
-A human's destiny to drown is replaced with a destiny to be suffocated under a pile of dead cats.
-A human changes eye colours.
-A human acquires a new sense of self-importance.
-A human remembers meeting someone who never existed.
-A dog changes breeds.
-An apple tree begins to give blue fruit.
-A chair becomes translucent.
-A history book suddenly includes a new event that never happened.
-An area becomes oddly pleasant for Raksha.
-The animals of an area acquire odd spiral shapes on their skin/fur/scales.
Second change examples:
-A human acquires Arcane Fate.
-A human grows a third arm.
-A human starts believing that they are the Scarlet Empress.
-A human remembers participating in a battle they were not at, has scars from it, and is remembered by others as having participated.
-A dog becomes a cat.
-An apple tree catches fire and burns forever.
-The effect of gravity is reversed upon a chair.
-A history book is rewritten to reflect a timeline that almost happened, but didn't.
-An area is Wyld-tainted.
-An area is filled with the taste of lemons. Even the air becomes sour.
Third change examples:
-A human becomes entirely unstuck from Fate, and acquires strange powers.
-A human becomes ten thousand arms.
-A human becomes the Scarlet Empress, minus the magic, and others feel compelled to treat them as if they were the Empress.
-A human acquires an entirely new life and history.
-A dog becomes a man-eating behemoth.
-An apple tree starts unproducing fruit, summoning thousands of apples from across Creation each day and un-growing them to nothing.
-A chair becomes multi-locational. Someone sitting in it is simultaneously in more than once place.
-A history book becomes a gate to a dream-world in which history happened differently.
-An area is subsumed into the Wyld.
-An area is filled with nightmarish creatures.
Sidereals and Paradox
Sidereals, although uniquely likely to inflict Paradox on themselves, are also uniquely able to manage it. A Sidereal who reaches 10 or more Paradox chooses a Maiden and vents the Paradox through the domain of that Maiden. They roll dice equal to their Paradox, suffering consequences in accordance with the number of successes and the domain chosen. Then their Paradox resets to 0.
Sidereals may choose to suffer the effects of Paradox before it reaches 10 points, either on their own behalf or on the behalf of another carrier. This involves a full day of strange observances and prayers to one of the Maidens, before rolling dice equal to the Paradox of the target and suffering consequences as normal. This resets Paradox to 0, of course. Most Sidereals do this regularly, as dispersing a small amount of Paradox twice is much safer than dispersing twice as much Paradox once.
Every Sidereal intuitively understands the results of each Paradox-dispersal they perform or witness, and many of them are tempted to save those doomed by Endings, refuse to fight those that Battles turns them against, or simply ignore the quests of Journeys. Doing so is rarely wise, as Paradox cheated always returns in a more terrible form.
Paradox dispersal usually changes the world, but results with 6+ successes can pull the Sidereal into the Loom itself. Eight successes on Journeys Paradox might send a Sidereal on a quest to save a world that doesn't actually exist, while 11 successes on Battles Paradox might place a Sidereal in a featureless white room with a terrible foe. In any case, the Sidereal cannot return to reality until they have overcome or endured whatever Paradox had in store for them.
Journeys
Paradox dispersed through Journeys becomes a quest. The Sidereal is given a task that they must fulfill; sometimes a simple one, sometimes a terribly difficult one.
The quest is...
1 success: A quick errand, easily finished in a few minutes.
2-3 successes: A minor task, not necessarily easy but safe and doable within a day.
4-5 successes: A moderately difficult or dangerous task, doable within a session.
6-7 successes: A true quest, worthy of a story in itself.
8-9 successes: A quest that will span multiple stories and put the Sidereal at real risk.
10+ successes: Something that the Sidereal will likely die trying to do.
Serenity
Paradox dispersed through Serenity takes the form of misfortune and strangeness. The Sidereal's life becomes substantially stranger and less pleasant for a time.
The curse is...
1 success: A single incident, merely unpleasant.
2-3 successes: A single incident, rather strange and very inconvenient.
4-5 successes: A string of bad omens, minor inconveniences, and unfortunate coincidences that make it hard to do anything useful for a day.
6-7 successes: A week or so of moderately dangerous misfortune and dream logic.
8-9 successes: A downright hellish month.
10+ successes: Until Calibration, or perhaps the Calibration after next, the world is as bizarre and hostile as the Deep Wyld.
Battles
Paradox dispersed through Battles becomes an enemy. Either another character is compelled to challenge the Sidereal, or a new being who opposes the Sidereal is born.
The enemy is...
1 success: Someone vastly weaker than the Sidereal, who merely takes a passing dislike to them.
2-3 successes: Someone significantly weaker than the Sidereal, who opposes them but has no real grudge.
4-5 successes: A rival slightly weaker than the Sidereal, who means them or their goals moderate harm.
6-7 successes: An equal who seeks to harm the Sidereal or their goals severely.
8-9 successes: Someone slightly stronger than the Sidereal who wants them dead or ruined.
10+ successes: An inescapable enemy who is stronger than the Sidereal, will stop only when the Sidereal is dead or worse, and must be faced alone.
Secrets
Paradox dispersed through Secrets changes the Sidereal's past. More or less, anyway. The past actually remains unchanged, but reality is sloppily rewritten in accordance with some sort of what-if. Mental magic can preserve memories, but keeping your own memories when dispersing Paradox this way is considered cheating Paradox.
The change is...
1 success: A trivial detail, barely worth mentioning.
2-3 successes: A significant detail, which matters to the Sidereal for personal reasons only.
4-5 successes: Something on the level of a Minor Intimacy and its associated backstory.
6-7 successes: Something on the level of a Major Intimacy and its associated backstory.
8-9 successes: Something on the level of a Defining Intimacy and its associated backstory.
10+ successes: The Sidereal is retroactively replaced with a new Sidereal.
Endings
Paradox dispersed through Endings destroys. Chance and circumstance conspire to end something the Sidereal values, from a favourite shirt to the Sidereal themself. The destructive power of Paradox can be thwarted, but doing so just causes it to return more fiercely.
The thing destroyed is...
1 success: Some trinket of no real value.
2-3 successes: Something meaningful, but easily replaceable.
4-5 successes: Something which is irreplaceable or almost so, but smaller than a human life.
6-7 successes: A person, small institution, or object that the Sidereal considers precious and cannot replace.
8-9 successes: Something that will cause the Sidereal true despair when it disappears.
10+ successes: The Sidereal's life, or something the Sidereal considers equally important.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Helo @Sanctaphrax
I'm not seeing anything wrong with the execution, though I think some of the fate errors... causality glitches I feel are the hallmark of such things- one of the sidereal comic chapter starters for example points out a man getting up from a great fall, and seeing his own corpse on the ground. I think more stuff like that should exist, as opposed to 'mortal suddenly has more arms'. Right- that's what was throwing me. A lot of the examples just seem like arbitrary wierdness, not 'quirk of fate'. Did they die here or there, now or then; were they born a guy or a gal, where they rich or poor, etc. Not all of those binary switches, but that sort of thing?
I suppose if there is anything worth mentioning... well two things- maybe you did this in another post, but how do you gain paradox as a Sidereal? Same way as before, or a new way you haven't written?
Secondly, if you look at it as a continuum of carrot - neutral -stick, this is hewing mostly on the 'Neutral-Stick' side. It's a cost or burden that has to be managed, an imposition. Now that's not to say it should be a carrot or a stick, just observing such. This seems like a subsystem for generating 'one off' plots for Sidereals or similarly themed games, which is totally fine, but it sort of sidesteps what I feel is the intended goal of 'Paradox as written is unfun and punishing'.
Having examined the 'sidereals paradox' block more- this also feels like... Tangential gameplay? It takes you out of the central game in favor of a sidequest?
Those are my thoughts at the moment.
I'm not seeing anything wrong with the execution, though I think some of the fate errors... causality glitches I feel are the hallmark of such things- one of the sidereal comic chapter starters for example points out a man getting up from a great fall, and seeing his own corpse on the ground. I think more stuff like that should exist, as opposed to 'mortal suddenly has more arms'. Right- that's what was throwing me. A lot of the examples just seem like arbitrary wierdness, not 'quirk of fate'. Did they die here or there, now or then; were they born a guy or a gal, where they rich or poor, etc. Not all of those binary switches, but that sort of thing?
I suppose if there is anything worth mentioning... well two things- maybe you did this in another post, but how do you gain paradox as a Sidereal? Same way as before, or a new way you haven't written?
Secondly, if you look at it as a continuum of carrot - neutral -stick, this is hewing mostly on the 'Neutral-Stick' side. It's a cost or burden that has to be managed, an imposition. Now that's not to say it should be a carrot or a stick, just observing such. This seems like a subsystem for generating 'one off' plots for Sidereals or similarly themed games, which is totally fine, but it sort of sidesteps what I feel is the intended goal of 'Paradox as written is unfun and punishing'.
Having examined the 'sidereals paradox' block more- this also feels like... Tangential gameplay? It takes you out of the central game in favor of a sidequest?
Those are my thoughts at the moment.
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
Prompted by this:
I'd personally be tempted to try and add a carrot by having Sidereal Charms or other features of the Sidereal toolbox be fueled/empowered/etc. by Paradox - you can't burn off Paradox by using them, but the more Paradox you have, the better it works, as your disconnect from the Loom lets you cheat the rules and limitations you're normally bound by. It's grimy, unpleasant, dangerous stuff, but it's also a potent tool that all too many Sidereals choose to make use of in the Second Age.
A bit like Alchemical Voidtech, but without the blatant evil and more of a focus on the Sidereal-as-bureaucrat theme: by using Paradox-empowered gimcrackery instead of proper Loom-compliant techniques, you're effectively moving from processing paperwork to forging it. You've broken The Rules, and if your seniors find out they'll probably either blackmail you or tell you that you're a loose cannon and throw you off the case until you get your act together.
Use Paradox Charms/thaumaturgy/etc as a furtherance of how Sidereals in the modern era can be lured into prizing results over proper procedure and choosing quick solutions that can cause terrible consequences years or decades down the line.
I'm a little concerned by some of the high-success results. Yes, I know, they're basically never going to happen, but they also don't seem to be all that Primordial War-Okay. If the Loom was capable of forcing a total identity rewrite or death on an Exalt - even through the means of "do this or something worse happens", even if only under incredibly extreme circumstances - the Exalts couldn't have won that war.
The concept is cool, though (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Mage fan
).
The concept is cool, though (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Mage fan
).
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
From what I remember, Autochthon and the Maidens had the Loom entirely locked down between the six of them, and the Sidereal method of purging Paradox probably didn't matter much until the First Age began - after all, the Incarnate Rebellion would have seen Paradox being deliberately managed by the five Incarnae who command the Loom itself, with any issues that cropped up among their chosen being dealt with as quickly and expediently as possible to maximize their ability to contribute to the existential war that was raging.I'm a little concerned by some of the high-success results. Yes, I know, they're basically never going to happen, but they also don't seem to be all that Primordial War-Okay. If the Loom was capable of forcing a total identity rewrite or death on an Exalt - even through the means of "do this or something worse happens", even if only under incredibly extreme circumstances - the Exalts couldn't have won that war.
The concept is cool, though (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Mage fan
Likewise, I'd assume that extreme Paradox backlash like that would count as a Shaping effect, and thus be possible for most Exalts to resist with Shaping defenses - the Sidereals are deliberately waiving that protection in order to clean out their systems.
A few questions;
Is that just in straight lines or is the agility necessary to make sharp turns retained?
Is that just overland speed or can he also jump that quickly?
Can his mind keep up with his body?
Is it just speed or does that also translate to strength like it logically should?
Is it just a passive quality he has or is he actively using magic to do that?
That depends on how you're using it. The example you gave, Negi, had his reaction times sped up proportionally, and if that's included, it's utterly broken, because it's effectively a free pseudo-perfect dodge. If it's not, it's effectively negated by the infinite range abilities all the splats have.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Was it free? I thought it took effort and energy to do?
...Well, I suppose it's more accurate to call it scene-long. But between being able to pay the energy for them in advance, and being able to stockpile as many as he wants, it's effectively free.
*gestures over in Adorjan's direction*
Adorjan sets the precedent that such super-speed is mechanically a flurry which obeys normal Rate-balance limits. And also that much of her combat stuff is themed around "yo, you go really fast so you can X".
So, yeah, useful - but not gamebreaking. Beyond a certain point, extra speed just becomes fluff for your additional attacks.
- Location
- The end of all things
It would be very useful, but not utterly overpowering. The best mechanical reference is probably the Starmetal Wrackstaff Gnoman (Arms of the Chosen), which grants the wielder power over time, allowing for a variety of super speed / timestop attacks and gambits.
- Location
- Ottawa
You have a point. I was going for a breakdown of reality in general, but the fate-ier results are generally better. Getting Arcane Fate or becoming the Scarlet Empress (except not) is a lot more thematic than getting another arm...then again, I had some idea of having Wyld mutation be Paradox-based. Feels awkward to have multiple separate systems for reality breaking down.
Same as before, mostly. Breaking character under a Resplendent Destiny and using certain astrological powers would be the main causes. I also mentioned in my post on Destinies that breaking them can give you Paradox.
I also suggested that you could get Paradox from Oramus or the Wyld. Truth is, I'm not totally sold on that aspect; maybe a separate system would be worth the hassle.
Yes, it's absolutely a stick. It's the price you pay for using certain abilities, and the stick that's used to threaten you away from messing up the Loom.
My goal was to keep the punishing part of Paradox, while removing the unfun part.
Generally speaking, the Paradox results should be piled on top of the central game. Makes for more chaos and more confusion.
A month of horrible luck while you do paperwork is not nearly as interesting as a month of horrible luck while you fight the Mask of Winters. Having a monstrous Glitch-Beast hunt you down while you make sure two young people fall in love as they are destined to is more fun than being trapped in a white room with the Glitch-Beast.
I did leave the white room option open, at least for the Paradox results big enough that it makes sense. Maybe I should edit to make clear that it's meant to be an exception.
If you haven't read Glories of the Most High, you should. Astrological Charms are exactly that.
Some more basic astrological powers also incur Paradox, as detailed in the Sidereal manual. They don't have the same rule-breaking flavour though.
They're not controlled or controllable. Paradox is unpredictable even to the Maidens.
Moreover, this is a Sidereal-only system. Sidereals get Paradox from their own powers; since they've woven themselves into the Loom, they unravel when the Loom does. Being rewritten is the cost of your own hubris.
Forcing Paradox onto someone might not be impossible, but it should be more difficult than normal violence.
This is basically the Sidereal equivalent to Limit, since the Great Curse for Sidereals should have no mechanics.
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- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Alright, so here we are for Session 26- @Aleph deserves hugest props for fighting through numerous technical issues, so she knuckled down and fought through the frustration to run a very good session for me today.
Session 26 logs
Post-game, we had an enlightening conversation.
Session 26 logs
So we pick up the 'morning after' last session (though to be fair we never specified how many days passed since); in any case, I as a player and Inks's characterization firmly supports the idea of waking up alongside a hot partner or few. Like I've said before, Exalts don't dream about threesomes.
Now, starting out, I admit I had an entirely different idea for how this session would be paced- from prior discussions, I thougth we were going to kick into a higher gear and advance quickly into a 'outside of Gem' travel/action setpiece. Instead Aleph drilled down into the meatier parts of Gem's economic and political actors for a proper 'Preparing to the Expedition' session.
To put more simply, I expected all of these preparations to be abstracted into that first int+bur roll- instead Aleph turned it into a diagnoistic that required me to make several decisions and then dedicate further scenes to resolving or advancing those.
To recap- the basic idea is that Rankar is trying to consolidate his power because Inks is, intentionally or not, a concern if not a threat to his position as the Despot. He wanted to put her firmly on a trajectory that says 'Is not after my seat, is not going to harm Gem'- and I like to think that he respects her enough to not try and crassly declare that she belongs to him or holds an undying loyalty towards him. (Thinking about it, he probably has a fantasy or two about her though).
An important note here that's going to come up later is clarity of intention or motive- and communicating that to the player. The despot has an immediate and comprehensible goal- there might be layers to it or it might be completely as-presented, but either way it's digestible to me as a player. This is an important distinction, because if the player can't understand it, they can't act on it.
Now like I said, I expected this whole sequence to be abstracted into a scene-break or montage, with the 'quality' based on my successes. I suppose if I have any misgiving, is that it wasn't clear how my successes actually resulted in the 'awesomeness' of my results. Like, I got a lot options, but none of them really jumped out as me as 'you earned this because you rolled well'. Not every roll has to do that, but it still could have been clearer.
Anyway- after a bit of clarification I establish that my original intention was accepted and that Inks is primarily gathering extra investors to reach the Coxati nation-state. Now the Coxati are not a unified polity, they're feudal lords who only unify in context of foreign relations, otherwise they're well, feudal domains with independent dealings.
Logistically, this sequence is important because it helps underscore some of Creations' implicit agreements with reality- it's cheaper to carry information or small light goods like gems or contracts then bulk goods like grain or livestock.
From here we move to some more Specific plot-hooking; A lot of what Aleph presented today were things that had always been present in Gem, but due to my drive to BUILD, tended to fall by the wayside in the face of those long downtime stretches. Elemi Piercing Sun being one of them. A dragonblooded, founder of the Rangers, talented sorcerer and so on, he is a known entity and one of those sterling examples of 'An Exalt is a nation unto themselves'.
During my stunt, Aleph and I had a brief convo about Speed the Wheels and how it works- strictly speaking, there's no Begin Project action to actually examine, so we have to wing it a lot, most players I've seen myself included, use it to accelerate meetings or whatnot, as that's what the fluff allows.
What we determined, was that the Charm only makes the event happen sooner, not the exact resolution of the event- that's why Inks's desire to meet Piercing Sun was instead stopped by Sagacious Wing. I had to deal with her before talking to her father.
It was also an interesting characterization challenge, because Inks's go-to 'Flirty hot girl' approach to problems actually would not have helped. I lucked out by bringing Maji along, earning points with Wing and Sun's militant characterization.
On the note of stunting, I exercised a rare amount of latitude here by setting the scene as I did, because I did not want to presume overmuch on Aleph's view of the Rangers, but at the same time, I tried to draw logical conclusions. They are a militia force, but one of richly individualistic warriors, as far as I can tell. So their gear is personal, embelished, and the main sink of their wealth into that. I honestly can't remember if I was correct, but Aleph did not correct me so...
Now, due in part to how we had a week and a half break from the game, and Aleph is juggling another heavily houseruled game herself, it's fair to understand why she goofed on the 'Socialize' ability. It's one of 2e's poorly utilized elements at a base system level. In practice, Socialize is rarely rolled, used more as a 'throttle' ability. In Mass Social combat, your other abilities are capped by Socialize-
So for example, if Inks was talking with the Desport's Court, as in, the magnitude X unit led by Rankar, she would have an effective Presence of one dot, as she's Socialize 1. The only reason she doesn't come off like an intemperate boor of a human being is that she's extremely pretty and generally forthwright about her deeds and goals. But in practice, Socialize 1 is 'barely decent company'. Aleph and I generally hew to the 'dice pool' approach to things, so in practice her actual socialize pool is 3-6+, depending on if her Style applies. I may have to rewrite it though, as it's not really doing Inks much good at the moment.
Anyway, after proving herself to Sagacious Wing, I am introduced to the first time to Elemi Piercing Sun- and boy is it an impression. All told it's surprisingly low key for an Exalt, the room was more of a larger-than-life impression than Sun was; but that almost is appropriate, as those are his trophies of a prior, healthier age.
Now, the Rangers of Gem inherited Sun's bias- their patriotic fervor is intense, and the founder himself is outright jingoistic- it's harder to in my mind sell racism in Creation as a vice, but warhawk nationaism and superiority is far more readable.
Thankfully, I managed to convince Elemi to support Inks and her endeavor- though I forgot to actualy ask if this had a concrete element like a Resources rating or Backing.
You'll not here after this scene that we moved on, and Aleph prodded me a second time to run down my contact that I had made several months ago in-game and out, Brushed Sand Salib, Gem's ambadassador to Coxati. Aleph had a great time characterizing him- and I should not forget how she handled Maji and Pipera in the previous scene, which I tried to carry forward here.
But anyway, Sand served as exposition, primarily, and this ties back into what I mentioined about clarity and conveyance. Aleph is used to much richer plots and narratives than I am, as I generally am focused on elements I can manipulate with game mechanics. The sudden recontextualizatio of the Coxati as having just finished a war, of their recent succession upheaval, all of these other factors are tough to internalize, even moreso when sessions are dense with detail and have 1-2 week gaps between them.
Thankfully as far as detail goes, it's not insurmountable, but it's definitely a considereation one must keep in mind as a player or storyteller. It is entirely possible to throw too much information at a player, which either panics them, or catches them with decision paralysis.
Now that's not to say the information wasn't interesting, but it's not the same thing as saying it's playable.
And, lastly, poor Salib. In hindsight Inks's flirtation was too cruel, but I think it'd be better if she were constantly flirty than being faultlessly circumspect.
Moving on to Ajjim and Pesala, I mostly wanted to move a characterization plot forward. I still felt bad about how Pesala was reacting to Inks's abduction, so I thought a shared mutual Adventure would be a treat and psychological touchstone for her to hold onto. Ajjim however quietly declined (as far as I know).
I still however, plan on seccuring a mentor for Pesala, and Vahti, as I very much like the idea of a buxom elemental bodyguard.
The last two 'events' or 'scenes' of the session were the preparations for the actual expedition- and again I thought that this was going to be the first thing that happened, but instead we did it here. Once Aleph told me I had a week to spare, I stunted some training time to learn Wholeness Restoring Meditation. I was actually quite pleased by Aleph calling me out on how much time Inks was spending, so the sta+res roll to stay awake was fun- it felt fair.
The actual caravan expedition was neatly resolved- but of note is SIMHATA MOUNT. I have never seen one in-game before!
The last and important scene is actually treating Piercing Sun. I'll let the scenes speak for themselves, but Solar Medicine is amazing. I'm not sure if we should have allowed Inks to bypass surgery like she did though, but the text of wholeness-restoring implies it, so I'm game either way.
Now, starting out, I admit I had an entirely different idea for how this session would be paced- from prior discussions, I thougth we were going to kick into a higher gear and advance quickly into a 'outside of Gem' travel/action setpiece. Instead Aleph drilled down into the meatier parts of Gem's economic and political actors for a proper 'Preparing to the Expedition' session.
To put more simply, I expected all of these preparations to be abstracted into that first int+bur roll- instead Aleph turned it into a diagnoistic that required me to make several decisions and then dedicate further scenes to resolving or advancing those.
To recap- the basic idea is that Rankar is trying to consolidate his power because Inks is, intentionally or not, a concern if not a threat to his position as the Despot. He wanted to put her firmly on a trajectory that says 'Is not after my seat, is not going to harm Gem'- and I like to think that he respects her enough to not try and crassly declare that she belongs to him or holds an undying loyalty towards him. (Thinking about it, he probably has a fantasy or two about her though).
An important note here that's going to come up later is clarity of intention or motive- and communicating that to the player. The despot has an immediate and comprehensible goal- there might be layers to it or it might be completely as-presented, but either way it's digestible to me as a player. This is an important distinction, because if the player can't understand it, they can't act on it.
Now like I said, I expected this whole sequence to be abstracted into a scene-break or montage, with the 'quality' based on my successes. I suppose if I have any misgiving, is that it wasn't clear how my successes actually resulted in the 'awesomeness' of my results. Like, I got a lot options, but none of them really jumped out as me as 'you earned this because you rolled well'. Not every roll has to do that, but it still could have been clearer.
Anyway- after a bit of clarification I establish that my original intention was accepted and that Inks is primarily gathering extra investors to reach the Coxati nation-state. Now the Coxati are not a unified polity, they're feudal lords who only unify in context of foreign relations, otherwise they're well, feudal domains with independent dealings.
Logistically, this sequence is important because it helps underscore some of Creations' implicit agreements with reality- it's cheaper to carry information or small light goods like gems or contracts then bulk goods like grain or livestock.
From here we move to some more Specific plot-hooking; A lot of what Aleph presented today were things that had always been present in Gem, but due to my drive to BUILD, tended to fall by the wayside in the face of those long downtime stretches. Elemi Piercing Sun being one of them. A dragonblooded, founder of the Rangers, talented sorcerer and so on, he is a known entity and one of those sterling examples of 'An Exalt is a nation unto themselves'.
During my stunt, Aleph and I had a brief convo about Speed the Wheels and how it works- strictly speaking, there's no Begin Project action to actually examine, so we have to wing it a lot, most players I've seen myself included, use it to accelerate meetings or whatnot, as that's what the fluff allows.
What we determined, was that the Charm only makes the event happen sooner, not the exact resolution of the event- that's why Inks's desire to meet Piercing Sun was instead stopped by Sagacious Wing. I had to deal with her before talking to her father.
It was also an interesting characterization challenge, because Inks's go-to 'Flirty hot girl' approach to problems actually would not have helped. I lucked out by bringing Maji along, earning points with Wing and Sun's militant characterization.
On the note of stunting, I exercised a rare amount of latitude here by setting the scene as I did, because I did not want to presume overmuch on Aleph's view of the Rangers, but at the same time, I tried to draw logical conclusions. They are a militia force, but one of richly individualistic warriors, as far as I can tell. So their gear is personal, embelished, and the main sink of their wealth into that. I honestly can't remember if I was correct, but Aleph did not correct me so...
Now, due in part to how we had a week and a half break from the game, and Aleph is juggling another heavily houseruled game herself, it's fair to understand why she goofed on the 'Socialize' ability. It's one of 2e's poorly utilized elements at a base system level. In practice, Socialize is rarely rolled, used more as a 'throttle' ability. In Mass Social combat, your other abilities are capped by Socialize-
So for example, if Inks was talking with the Desport's Court, as in, the magnitude X unit led by Rankar, she would have an effective Presence of one dot, as she's Socialize 1. The only reason she doesn't come off like an intemperate boor of a human being is that she's extremely pretty and generally forthwright about her deeds and goals. But in practice, Socialize 1 is 'barely decent company'. Aleph and I generally hew to the 'dice pool' approach to things, so in practice her actual socialize pool is 3-6+, depending on if her Style applies. I may have to rewrite it though, as it's not really doing Inks much good at the moment.
Anyway, after proving herself to Sagacious Wing, I am introduced to the first time to Elemi Piercing Sun- and boy is it an impression. All told it's surprisingly low key for an Exalt, the room was more of a larger-than-life impression than Sun was; but that almost is appropriate, as those are his trophies of a prior, healthier age.
Now, the Rangers of Gem inherited Sun's bias- their patriotic fervor is intense, and the founder himself is outright jingoistic- it's harder to in my mind sell racism in Creation as a vice, but warhawk nationaism and superiority is far more readable.
Thankfully, I managed to convince Elemi to support Inks and her endeavor- though I forgot to actualy ask if this had a concrete element like a Resources rating or Backing.
You'll not here after this scene that we moved on, and Aleph prodded me a second time to run down my contact that I had made several months ago in-game and out, Brushed Sand Salib, Gem's ambadassador to Coxati. Aleph had a great time characterizing him- and I should not forget how she handled Maji and Pipera in the previous scene, which I tried to carry forward here.
But anyway, Sand served as exposition, primarily, and this ties back into what I mentioined about clarity and conveyance. Aleph is used to much richer plots and narratives than I am, as I generally am focused on elements I can manipulate with game mechanics. The sudden recontextualizatio of the Coxati as having just finished a war, of their recent succession upheaval, all of these other factors are tough to internalize, even moreso when sessions are dense with detail and have 1-2 week gaps between them.
Thankfully as far as detail goes, it's not insurmountable, but it's definitely a considereation one must keep in mind as a player or storyteller. It is entirely possible to throw too much information at a player, which either panics them, or catches them with decision paralysis.
Now that's not to say the information wasn't interesting, but it's not the same thing as saying it's playable.
And, lastly, poor Salib. In hindsight Inks's flirtation was too cruel, but I think it'd be better if she were constantly flirty than being faultlessly circumspect.
Moving on to Ajjim and Pesala, I mostly wanted to move a characterization plot forward. I still felt bad about how Pesala was reacting to Inks's abduction, so I thought a shared mutual Adventure would be a treat and psychological touchstone for her to hold onto. Ajjim however quietly declined (as far as I know).
I still however, plan on seccuring a mentor for Pesala, and Vahti, as I very much like the idea of a buxom elemental bodyguard.
The last two 'events' or 'scenes' of the session were the preparations for the actual expedition- and again I thought that this was going to be the first thing that happened, but instead we did it here. Once Aleph told me I had a week to spare, I stunted some training time to learn Wholeness Restoring Meditation. I was actually quite pleased by Aleph calling me out on how much time Inks was spending, so the sta+res roll to stay awake was fun- it felt fair.
The actual caravan expedition was neatly resolved- but of note is SIMHATA MOUNT. I have never seen one in-game before!
The last and important scene is actually treating Piercing Sun. I'll let the scenes speak for themselves, but Solar Medicine is amazing. I'm not sure if we should have allowed Inks to bypass surgery like she did though, but the text of wholeness-restoring implies it, so I'm game either way.
Post-game, we had an enlightening conversation.
Yeah, in Kerisgame, the Politics Ability (which is part of the collapsed 15 Abilities) is more akin to a blend of Politics and Socialise from nWoD, rather than the Exalted Socialise. With most of the social combat system cut out and everything basically working around laying compels on people's Principles or reinforcing or trying to weaken their existing principles by playing against one another, the mechanical role of canon Socialise (not that there's much to go off) is basically gone. So it's more of a mix of a knowledge skill for "how social structures work" combined with the "awareness" skill for reading people and organisations.
Likewise, heh, I am afraid that, yes, @Aleph is rather used to a baseline of complex political situations. Her main area of operations is Saata, which is a complex weave of political factions and pirate lords, and in the current arc I just dumped her in Taira which is full on Thirty Years War with no obvious "good guys" where there's a multi-sided civil war and a total breakdown of civil society. It rather adjusts the baseline of "what's a normal political set-up to design for your game".
... come to think of it, the other places she's spent time around are Nexus, Matasque and Malfeas, and of them only Matasque is a normal, non-chaotic state. Nexus is a libertarian madhouse ruled by customary law and precedent and arbitrary dictats, while Malfeas is a literal hellhole and @Aleph basically spends a lot of her time there trying to balance the competing wants of the Third Circles who are all offering patronage in return for service.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
That makes sense- @EarthScorpion , the actual thrust of my comment on the session, and now your post, is how to tutorialize that sort of thinking and game-planning. This is as much a topic for @Aleph to weigh in on as well when she can. Not just tutorialize, actually, but render as digestible game-content. How do you define the lines of abstraction, and where do they fall? Does the feudal nature of the Coxati culture impose an external penalty? On what range of actions or objectives? Is it mechanized another way, how?
Like one of the obvious issues is the sudden increase in named actors- maybe not Characters, but a 'court' is an actor under the same general model Exalted presents- it's why even in mass social situations, you still use Presence when it's solo character vs 1 group, or group vs group- as that ability is single target. Keeping them straight and their relationships is a logistical challenge, so how is the line drawn between what the player has to remember, and what the Storyteller remembers, and what the storyteller remembers for the player?
Further still, if this is a complex situation, how can it be broken down into less complex, more digestible pieces? Can it be done intuitively, organically, or do the requirements of the medium demand a vulgar abstraction? I admit I'm not really speaking in specific terms, mostly because I don't want to presume, but these are important questions regardless.
Like one of the obvious issues is the sudden increase in named actors- maybe not Characters, but a 'court' is an actor under the same general model Exalted presents- it's why even in mass social situations, you still use Presence when it's solo character vs 1 group, or group vs group- as that ability is single target. Keeping them straight and their relationships is a logistical challenge, so how is the line drawn between what the player has to remember, and what the Storyteller remembers, and what the storyteller remembers for the player?
Further still, if this is a complex situation, how can it be broken down into less complex, more digestible pieces? Can it be done intuitively, organically, or do the requirements of the medium demand a vulgar abstraction? I admit I'm not really speaking in specific terms, mostly because I don't want to presume, but these are important questions regardless.
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
So - and I'll give my thoughts about the rest of the session (and the one previous) later, but to focus on the Coxati for now - one of the things I have in fact been trying to tutorialise is that looking at the Coxati as a unified group is the wrong way of going about it. There is no overarching king they all obey; it's closer to a group of politically distinct sub-nations that share a common culture and ethnicity (with the only exception being that they set agreed-on caps on prices for foreign trade to prevent undercutting so that they can all charge as a block and keep their prices high - not that sneaky under-the-table undercutting doesn't still happen if they think they can get away with it).
The various named lords and the way they all have a few obvious qualities and things they trade in attached, the references to unrest and the mention of a recent war between two of the clans - all these are indicating that they're a squabbling group of independent states whose alliances and feuds shift fairly frequently, and that the idea is for Inks to look over what each lord can offer in trade, decide which ones she wants to deal with and then do some screentime setpiece negotiation and diplomacy with their courts. Not dissimilar, if I am going to be perfectly honest, to @EarthScorpion's portrayal of the Unquestionable (and Keris's souls).
And that means that yes, @Shyft gets to deal with obstacles like "okay, I want a better livestock deal so we're not just relying on Lord Pangasutri, but the next-best lord for livestock is Xandia, and neither of them will be happy I'm dealing with the other". Which Inks can decide how to resolve, be it by having presenting herself really well as a neutral party, brokering an accord between them to dispel any lingering grudges, giving gifts to convince them to overlook the other's association with her or whatever. The way to break it down is basically just to look at the lords individually and break down a few simple bulletpoints of what they're like, what they overproduce and what they want.
The various named lords and the way they all have a few obvious qualities and things they trade in attached, the references to unrest and the mention of a recent war between two of the clans - all these are indicating that they're a squabbling group of independent states whose alliances and feuds shift fairly frequently, and that the idea is for Inks to look over what each lord can offer in trade, decide which ones she wants to deal with and then do some screentime setpiece negotiation and diplomacy with their courts. Not dissimilar, if I am going to be perfectly honest, to @EarthScorpion's portrayal of the Unquestionable (and Keris's souls).
And that means that yes, @Shyft gets to deal with obstacles like "okay, I want a better livestock deal so we're not just relying on Lord Pangasutri, but the next-best lord for livestock is Xandia, and neither of them will be happy I'm dealing with the other". Which Inks can decide how to resolve, be it by having presenting herself really well as a neutral party, brokering an accord between them to dispel any lingering grudges, giving gifts to convince them to overlook the other's association with her or whatever. The way to break it down is basically just to look at the lords individually and break down a few simple bulletpoints of what they're like, what they overproduce and what they want.