General Exalted Thread
- Location
- Singapore
Oh God. I'm thinking about exalted too much.
I just spied on some news on trump. And then his damnable lack of bravery and charisma. Then I thought 'Wow. Sounds like a 1 dot of social ane charisma problem. He's got 3 weeks. Send in a spindex and a knight of fortune, and he'll be fine'.
I just spied on some news on trump. And then his damnable lack of bravery and charisma. Then I thought 'Wow. Sounds like a 1 dot of social ane charisma problem. He's got 3 weeks. Send in a spindex and a knight of fortune, and he'll be fine'.
Please keep IRL politics out of this.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
hey so i wrote stuff for @ManusDomini's Lookshy so there was supposed to be a link to his Lookshy write-up but he never threadmarked it??? so idk figure it out nerds i don't have time for the search function
Shaping Ritual: The One City
The path to Lookshian Sorcery is one of tradition and exacting standards. Personalized tutorship and public exams, study of the classics and personal confirmation of piety, mathematics and geomancy as well as literature and history, are all part of the cursus. But that is not the key to sorcery: that is only how one is judged worthy. To ascend to the path, one must hold all these learned truths in mind, and walk the streets of Lookshy. Winding steps criss-crossing through a maze of streets, hands brushing the marble of ancient buildings, ears open to the whispers of the crowd and the rumble of underground water, eyes on the sky and on the earth, one is immersed wholly into the City, until the City becomes them.
It whispers in their dreams, it is said. A thousand years of years of magic are woven in the street-cords of Lookshy, each brick one word of a spell. One only has to listen. One only has to show them.
Special Merits
Official Sanction (***) The sorcerers of the City operate on behalf of all of its people. Their hand is not solely their own, but the hand of the people. Once per story, provided the character can establish contact with Lookshy or a local Speaker, she may exchange that Merit for an equal or lesser rating in the Artifact, Hearthstone, Command or Ally Backgrounds.
Pages Carved Into Streets (**) The exacting standards of Lookshy's sorcerers rise to mystical knowledge as one is awakened to sorcery; the city itself becomes a library. The character may use her Occult rating instead of her Lore rating when establishing facts regarding Lookshy, Deleshen, and all areas that were once part of their empire, as well as the history of the Shogunate.
Doorways Unseen (***) One who has become one with the City has become one with all cities, and knows their whispers and their secret paths. Once per story, when the character is not present in a given scene but has been established as being within the same city where that scene is occuring, she may choose to enter the scene in a dramatic fashion and with basic understanding of what happened while she was not there, regardless of distance, timing, and other contrivances.
Shaping Ritual: The One City
The path to Lookshian Sorcery is one of tradition and exacting standards. Personalized tutorship and public exams, study of the classics and personal confirmation of piety, mathematics and geomancy as well as literature and history, are all part of the cursus. But that is not the key to sorcery: that is only how one is judged worthy. To ascend to the path, one must hold all these learned truths in mind, and walk the streets of Lookshy. Winding steps criss-crossing through a maze of streets, hands brushing the marble of ancient buildings, ears open to the whispers of the crowd and the rumble of underground water, eyes on the sky and on the earth, one is immersed wholly into the City, until the City becomes them.
It whispers in their dreams, it is said. A thousand years of years of magic are woven in the street-cords of Lookshy, each brick one word of a spell. One only has to listen. One only has to show them.
- The sorceress draws power from the history of the City. One per scene, when she stunts the first shape sorcery action of a spell by declaiming a story of Lookshy's past relevant to that spell or the particular situation she is in, she gains (stunt rating + 2) sorcerous motes towards completing the spell. Enhancing her control spell doesn't count towards that once-per-scene limit.
- Opening her arms and flaring her anima, the sorceress may display phantom visions of the City's glory, crushing its enemies under the weight of history. Once per story, she may take a special instill action, rolling (Charisma or Appearance + Occult). This action may not be part of a flurry, but is considered a shape sorcery action. Each character whose Resolve is beaten deveolps or strengthens an Intimacy of fear, awe, reverence or similar towards Lookshy, unless they spend one Willpower to resist it. The sorceress gains once sorcerous mote per non-trivial character affected, plus one mote for each one who rejected Lookshy's glory with Willpower. These motes last until the end of the scene. If the sorceress uses this shaping ritual while inside Lookshy itself, she adds her Essence in non-Charm successes to the roll.
- What is a City but its people? Nothing, but it is all of its people; their union; their strength; their common will. The people of Lookshy are the only truly free people in Creation, and they can offer that spark of freedom to one who speaks for them all. Once per scene, the sorceress may call out to her allies as part of a shape sorcery action, requesting their aid and giving a cursory indication of what kind of magic she intends to use. Each non-trivial character may reflexively transfer one mote of Essence to her, which becomes a sorcerous mote, or two if the sorceress is casting her control spell. Battle groups which are not composed of slaves may collectively create a number of sorcerous motes equal to their (Size+Might), adding +2 if the sorceress is casting her control spell. These sorcerous motes must all go towards casting the spell currently being shaped, and any excess is wasted. Should more than half of the caster's allies deny her motion for help, her shape sorcery action incurs an automatic botch.
Special Merits
Official Sanction (***) The sorcerers of the City operate on behalf of all of its people. Their hand is not solely their own, but the hand of the people. Once per story, provided the character can establish contact with Lookshy or a local Speaker, she may exchange that Merit for an equal or lesser rating in the Artifact, Hearthstone, Command or Ally Backgrounds.
Pages Carved Into Streets (**) The exacting standards of Lookshy's sorcerers rise to mystical knowledge as one is awakened to sorcery; the city itself becomes a library. The character may use her Occult rating instead of her Lore rating when establishing facts regarding Lookshy, Deleshen, and all areas that were once part of their empire, as well as the history of the Shogunate.
Doorways Unseen (***) One who has become one with the City has become one with all cities, and knows their whispers and their secret paths. Once per story, when the character is not present in a given scene but has been established as being within the same city where that scene is occuring, she may choose to enter the scene in a dramatic fashion and with basic understanding of what happened while she was not there, regardless of distance, timing, and other contrivances.
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- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It's in my homebrew hub as things are supposed to lol.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
sounds fake, who has those
- Location
- my house
New Demon
Urom, The Wyrm Star
Demon of the Third Circle
2nd Soul of Denok, the Heretic Sky
Malfean/Ceceylnian Essence
There is a city in Hell. A within the greater city of malfeas, but not of it. A towering kingdom of Iron and Glass. Silver facades forming the walls of an artificial canyon. Their mirrored surfaces reflecting not you as you are, but as you could be. Skin like metal. Hands like hammers or claws or swords. Winged like a great bat or with body patterned after a fish. A thousand forms for a thousand functions. And always, always the fire of fanaticism in your eyes.
Towers arc overhead, the fingers of a great grasping hand. Steel welded to steel. Mirrored skin stretched tight over iron ribs. Their bodies swarming with workers like flies around a corpse. Spears aimed at the vault of heaven. Growing taller with every year.
Above it all looms a tower - not finished, never finished. A cyclopean monolith of cruel black iron, topped by a chamber of purest crystal. From this room a terrible light shines down upon the city below, split, focused and magnified by the the clockwork machinery inside. This light, and indeed the city itself, is the Demon Prince Urom.
In his natural state, Urom is like unto the stars of the firmament, though tainted as only a creature of hell can be. Formless and bodiless, a being of pure light untouched and untainted by the material world. Everything touched by his light is warped to suite his blasphemous design, flesh and stone alike twisting to a form more pleasing to his eye. Only those of exceptional magical skill can resist this effect, and force Urom to acknowledge them as creatures separate from himself.
Despite his control over the flesh of others, Urom lacks such control over himself. Should he wish to interact with the world in a more physical manner, or move from his place atop the tower, he is forced to garb himself in the form of a great wyrm, with the head of a crocodile, the horns of an antelope, the legs of cat and scales of a pangolin. Its body is of black iron, and his baleful light can be seen shining from within every gap in its body.
Urom has a great hatred for his brother Baroak, envying him his gift of flight while Urom is forced to crawl upon the ground.
Of all the Demon Princes of hell, none know the science of optics better than Urom, and he is often summoned by sorcerers for help with such projects. If commissioned to do so Urom can easily make glasses which allow the sorcerer to see the immaterial, translate other languages, or even view the past, as well as many other uses. For this he charges a great price, for he is found of jade and other precious materials. Should one wish for a larger project such as an observatory able to scry on distant enemies or which tracks the sorcerer's fate by the movement of the stars he will demand an equally large price typically negotiated on a per project basis. In general slaves are always a good, if uninspired choice, as well as celestial metals such as orichulum.
Sorcerer's may also invoke Urom build a great city or change the geomancy of the surrounding area. His light reshapes the world even as he sees it, and so he can be called upon to raise mountains, shift rivers or raise cities at a whim. He is also adept at the creation of cults and other large organizations, his light mutating the mind as easily as it does the body. Given a ready source of slaves, or willing participants if the sorcerer can find them, he can easily create armies of monsters or cults fanatically loyal to the Sorcerer. While Urom can fight he is a poor choice for it, and there are many third circles better suited for it. Similarly, while his light grants near total knowledge of the surrounding area, it also changes it utterly and so is not useful for scouting the terrain. For any of these services Urom will ask for one week free in creation so he may study the vault of during which he may study the vault of heaven in peace, so that he may advance his craft. He has not been known to cause mischief during this period, but like with all demons care must be taken to ensure he does not abuse this privilege.
Urom can enter creation whenever a Prince or King destroys a city so utterly that life cannot flourish there for 50 years, its cities torn down brick by brick, its people scattered or enslaved, and its fields salted. At such a time Urom falls like a star from heaven, poisoning the land even as he rebuilds it. Those who remain must swear service to him in order to survive his deathly light, and soon the kingdom emerges from the ashes of its defeat, in a new, more blasphemous form.
Urom, The Wyrm Star
Demon of the Third Circle
2nd Soul of Denok, the Heretic Sky
Malfean/Ceceylnian Essence
There is a city in Hell. A within the greater city of malfeas, but not of it. A towering kingdom of Iron and Glass. Silver facades forming the walls of an artificial canyon. Their mirrored surfaces reflecting not you as you are, but as you could be. Skin like metal. Hands like hammers or claws or swords. Winged like a great bat or with body patterned after a fish. A thousand forms for a thousand functions. And always, always the fire of fanaticism in your eyes.
Towers arc overhead, the fingers of a great grasping hand. Steel welded to steel. Mirrored skin stretched tight over iron ribs. Their bodies swarming with workers like flies around a corpse. Spears aimed at the vault of heaven. Growing taller with every year.
Above it all looms a tower - not finished, never finished. A cyclopean monolith of cruel black iron, topped by a chamber of purest crystal. From this room a terrible light shines down upon the city below, split, focused and magnified by the the clockwork machinery inside. This light, and indeed the city itself, is the Demon Prince Urom.
In his natural state, Urom is like unto the stars of the firmament, though tainted as only a creature of hell can be. Formless and bodiless, a being of pure light untouched and untainted by the material world. Everything touched by his light is warped to suite his blasphemous design, flesh and stone alike twisting to a form more pleasing to his eye. Only those of exceptional magical skill can resist this effect, and force Urom to acknowledge them as creatures separate from himself.
Despite his control over the flesh of others, Urom lacks such control over himself. Should he wish to interact with the world in a more physical manner, or move from his place atop the tower, he is forced to garb himself in the form of a great wyrm, with the head of a crocodile, the horns of an antelope, the legs of cat and scales of a pangolin. Its body is of black iron, and his baleful light can be seen shining from within every gap in its body.
Urom has a great hatred for his brother Baroak, envying him his gift of flight while Urom is forced to crawl upon the ground.
Of all the Demon Princes of hell, none know the science of optics better than Urom, and he is often summoned by sorcerers for help with such projects. If commissioned to do so Urom can easily make glasses which allow the sorcerer to see the immaterial, translate other languages, or even view the past, as well as many other uses. For this he charges a great price, for he is found of jade and other precious materials. Should one wish for a larger project such as an observatory able to scry on distant enemies or which tracks the sorcerer's fate by the movement of the stars he will demand an equally large price typically negotiated on a per project basis. In general slaves are always a good, if uninspired choice, as well as celestial metals such as orichulum.
Sorcerer's may also invoke Urom build a great city or change the geomancy of the surrounding area. His light reshapes the world even as he sees it, and so he can be called upon to raise mountains, shift rivers or raise cities at a whim. He is also adept at the creation of cults and other large organizations, his light mutating the mind as easily as it does the body. Given a ready source of slaves, or willing participants if the sorcerer can find them, he can easily create armies of monsters or cults fanatically loyal to the Sorcerer. While Urom can fight he is a poor choice for it, and there are many third circles better suited for it. Similarly, while his light grants near total knowledge of the surrounding area, it also changes it utterly and so is not useful for scouting the terrain. For any of these services Urom will ask for one week free in creation so he may study the vault of during which he may study the vault of heaven in peace, so that he may advance his craft. He has not been known to cause mischief during this period, but like with all demons care must be taken to ensure he does not abuse this privilege.
Urom can enter creation whenever a Prince or King destroys a city so utterly that life cannot flourish there for 50 years, its cities torn down brick by brick, its people scattered or enslaved, and its fields salted. At such a time Urom falls like a star from heaven, poisoning the land even as he rebuilds it. Those who remain must swear service to him in order to survive his deathly light, and soon the kingdom emerges from the ashes of its defeat, in a new, more blasphemous form.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
So I've mentioned this a couple places already- this is not at all a fully realized subsystem, hack, or anything, but an observation:
Sorcery, and a lot of Charms or other 'Things' in Exalted have what I'd call 'Omen Effects'. Callouts and boilerplate that let observers, witnesses and investigators take action or make rolls to discern what's going on.
So, instead of forcing every single spell to have that extra wordcount of 'You roll [X] to discern This Spell', you instead say that spells have a number of omen manifestations as part of their casting. At the 'front' of the sorcery chapter, you make it clear that if a Spell has an Omen aspect, it is a valid target for information-gathering rolls, with appropriate descriptions of applicability.
I think this'd be a net improvement to Sorcery, but it's napkin-draft level of polish, I admit.
Sorcery, and a lot of Charms or other 'Things' in Exalted have what I'd call 'Omen Effects'. Callouts and boilerplate that let observers, witnesses and investigators take action or make rolls to discern what's going on.
So, instead of forcing every single spell to have that extra wordcount of 'You roll [X] to discern This Spell', you instead say that spells have a number of omen manifestations as part of their casting. At the 'front' of the sorcery chapter, you make it clear that if a Spell has an Omen aspect, it is a valid target for information-gathering rolls, with appropriate descriptions of applicability.
I think this'd be a net improvement to Sorcery, but it's napkin-draft level of polish, I admit.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
This of course opens wonderful possibilities for Occult Charms that affect Omens, either deciphering them or manipulating them - as weapons, tools of misdirection, etc.
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Alright! Here we are once more with Sunlit Sands. We come on to Session 49, reaching one of the climatic points of the emergent House Iblan Arc! Big props to @Aleph as usual!
Session 49 Logs
Earlier in the week, I had an awesome, terrible brainwave just now regarding this Iblan Arc:
At the core, Inks got on this whole thing with the intention of securing open supply lines of gold and expertiese for her other projects like retaking El Galabi.
Unfortunately, due to the entrenched nature of House Iblan and Inks's own position, she has Escalated to their nigh inevitable dissolution. This amuses me on a fundamental level. Because one of Exalted's problems is consistently players Escalating to fighting... not the deconstruction of socioeconomic and cultural institutions.
Which means that in the future, the Other Great Houses of Gem are going to be looking at this like
"Shit man, she just wanted some gold and when they said no, she ruined them!"
That aside, let's move on to the actual postmortem!
With that, Session 49 of Sunlit Sands concludes. Next session, we hope to tackle the strategic scale fallout of House Iblan's possible destruction!
Session 49 Logs
Earlier in the week, I had an awesome, terrible brainwave just now regarding this Iblan Arc:
At the core, Inks got on this whole thing with the intention of securing open supply lines of gold and expertiese for her other projects like retaking El Galabi.
Unfortunately, due to the entrenched nature of House Iblan and Inks's own position, she has Escalated to their nigh inevitable dissolution. This amuses me on a fundamental level. Because one of Exalted's problems is consistently players Escalating to fighting... not the deconstruction of socioeconomic and cultural institutions.
Which means that in the future, the Other Great Houses of Gem are going to be looking at this like
"Shit man, she just wanted some gold and when they said no, she ruined them!"
That aside, let's move on to the actual postmortem!
Last Session, Inks had been ensnared by her own curious nature, choosing to explore an Illusion instead of resisting it outright. That decision's paying off in the negatives now, putting her on the back foot.
So Inks doesn't know where the Raksha is, doesn't know where Nabijah or Vahti is, and so on. I will state right now that I as a player chose to treat this sequence as more of a 'run and move' action scene than a more staid, tense investigation. I was pleased to see Aleph meet me halfway without even needing much coordination.
That mentality informs a lot of my early-session decisions as well.
First step- diagnostics- look for things to do. You'll note Aleph had Inks roll compassion about the sunburnt slave, but I was caught in a rock/hard place there. All of Inks's treatment options require close contact, which her anima prevents. I didn't want to sunburn the girl more, after all. In lieu of obligating an immediate Action, I think Aleph kept the unsuppressed roll in mind for the future.
But with a quick per+invest via Crafty Observation Method, I was able to generate a lead/direction, which meant I didn't have to spend more time searching room by room.
Now last session, the manor was established as being an E shape, so we're on the left side of the inner 'tooth-wing'. Nabijah and co would've been on the right, and we met in the middle if all went well. Things did not go well.
At that moment, I was confident that Nabijah could handle herself, but Vahti for all her guts and charm was still very young and inexperienced. I do want her to be a strong utility NPC, but at the moment she's a bit more like a student or dependent.
Aleph's first obstacle outside of the Illusions, were the mobile plants. Fortunately for me, even with Inks's nerd dicepools, they were on the weak side of useless. I think when we got into the 'next room' with the stairs and the door, the plan was for Inks to decide to go one way and find the Deyha, or go the other way and fight Vahti. I chose Vahti.
Now mechanically, it was interesting that Aleph used DV here for defense agaisnt the vines- when one could have easily modeled it with an Environmental Hazard. It's not a positive or negative- a storyteller should be willing to use the best mechanic for the job, not the one the rules say Only Fits.
Also note that we are using Blockade Movement rules, and by extension Defend Other- one of the few unambigiously accepted late-2e mechanics.
As far as obstacles go, especially physical ones, Inks has three answers, all of which end in awesome: Chronicle, Maji and Sorcery. Of those three, Maji was the best suited- as Aleph herself acknowledges in-log.
Remember how I said 'run and move session?' This is what I mean- the energy, the desire to keep things going at a high clip- not necessarily covering a lot of words or blow by blow actions, but that alacrity.
So we head up the staircase, and I think we both kind of failed a bit to really jazz this sequence up- but at the same time, it was perfectly suitable for what we were willing to do.
For one- I did not really know the Shape of the stairway, my mental image was that of a compact spiral, but on second thought, it might've been a much larger, wider affair like the Spencer Mansion's main room. So worth noting for the future.
Secondly, Height Bonuses. A stairway might at best be a +/- 2 points to defense, but for mortals, especially against Exalted, that's a huge deal. It wasn't a huge deal though as far as the actual session went- we weren't sweating those details even after I pointed it out, and they were likely Extras anyway.
The more interesting thing, was that they were A: uncoordinated as all getout, B: reacting counter to fear effects- the more scared they were, the more fite- that's not an absolute certainty. I didn't have the time or inclination to diagnose their specific problem.
Now, I think that Join Battle here may not have been necessary. Join Battle is best served when order of actions is critical to the resolution process- but if you're just trying to model 'Who goes first' or similar, a one-off roll is usually just as good.
That being said, I am incredibly proud of Aleph for using the mechanic and trying to keep in practice.
Maji takes the lead, and while unstated, knocks down one dude, and then Tatters demonstrates her own magic- note that we have no idea if she's Actually an Abyssal or not. I mean it's all but certain, but nobody's said that word On Camera yet. So until then, Tatters is whatever Aleph wants her to be.
What she presently is, is a badass exorcist. Who may in fact be a hot babe if not for y'know, the deathly pallor and giant arrow stuck in her chest.
The really nice thing though about this brief combat, was the fact that it was brief, adn the fact that I had the presence of mind to remember my objective was not combat in and of itself, but to actually advance past it. So once both foes were down, we just blew past them into the master bedroom.
That's when shit got Fae.
The following sequence, I had a lot of fun with, but I will state that it relied a lot on roleplay and some of Aleph's stylistic choices that I sometimes struggled with. Reading into the implication of statements, recognizing patterns and so on. I'm very happy when I can discern things before needing rolls, but I as a player am usually more comfortable with the plaintext results a roll generates.
One thing I did notice, more and more, was that this raksha was deliberately a twisted mirror to Inks herself. The hedonism, confidence (nudity), the very way he ensnared people were all clearly calculated to be an ominious demonstration of how Inks could look to other people, or how bad she could get.
Now, I want to stress that we're not using Graceful Wicked Masques except in the broadest of strokes. So this raksha here, I have no idea how he plays mechanically. Aleph has to teach me everything from first principles. And due to the shorter sessions of Sunlit Sands (Aleph can't stay up late like she does on weekends), I don't have the time to brainstorm or ruminate on her posts as I might want to.
That being said, the scene moved at a really solid clip, and aside from one lull (I was typing and thinking a stunt out), there weren't really any structural issues. I was able to generate information and enact a plan, even if that plan was as simple as "I am more confident than you and I will win, you will lose no matter what you do. This is why."
Thinking about it, I should also stress that this is the... second hostage situation I have ever encountered in a game of Exalted. A proper one, not a 'oh there's a superweapon going to go off'. Hostages that are On Camera and In Peril. The first one was years ago where I was solo-fighting an abyssal pirate while he was torturing a no-legged sailor. My character had a hole punched in her gut and had to retreat.
But anyway- the elements of the scene- Raksha; Vahti holding herself at knifepoint; slaves, staff and guards doing the same. Mae, the sunburnt slave from earlier, also doing so. This is where Aleph called back to my compassion check, and made me roll a new one.
You'll notice a pattern emerge as well, with what the fae keeps asking, and I make several rolls to shake the details loose before committing to my plan. One of my earlier ideas was to vamp it up, play on the sexiness angle and then call Chronicle back for an intimidation attempt, but I decided against it.
Leveraging Knowing the Soul's Price, I got a read on what this fae wanted- "To possess and devour a Solar-tier Exalt."
I really had no idea how to game that, because I wasn't sure how 'possess' would work or how I'd play out the inevitable breaking of that. It... didn't sound playable, at first glance. Like, I wasn't interested in exploring it as an option or making a character moment out of it, because I didn't know how it'd work- And I don't say this expecting Aleph to caveat everything she does with a full mechanical overview- that'd be absurd.
My point is that... I can't say it wouldn't be fun, but I didn't know enough to justify the potential fun vs the potential threat.
Eventually though, after a couple more diagnostic rolls, Inks clearly built up a picture of the raksha as being her, of practicing the same basic attitude she does of being Helpful and Friendly, creating that willingness to repair her favor later. The fae just took that to a logical, illusiory and servitude conclusion.
But more importantly, Inks could tell now that vahti was not actually in danger, not truly. The other people were, and they had to be taken care of somehow- or neutralized.
It's worth noting that Inks is Conviction 5, Compassion 3. Functionally they are prompted with equal frequency- so Inks always has to evaluate the wellness of people around her with her willingness to commit to goals no matter the cost. This is far more interesting than a straight conviction personality or a bleeding heart compassionate martyr.
With that in mind, Inks gonna Inks. I'll let the stunt speak for itself, but I tell you now- it was so difficulty to resist quoting Tony Stark's speech to Loki. Inks is very much influenced by the modern conception of Tony Stark (Not Iron Man, Stark).
And then the highlight of the session was Inks getting one over on a goddamned Raksha. Felt good.
After that, I think Inks ended up accidentally seducing him.
With the raksha taken care of- and now named Oasis - the last bit of the session was cleanup and logistics. And the proper 'payoff' for Vahti was Inks and her having there little reassuring embrace. I was really pleased by that bit, and felt for Vahti.
Unfortunately some of the slaves were dream eaten, and Inks did not manage to find Iblan Ayla or much else of note in the manor. Having sent word ahead to Rankar to meet her with anti-fae measures, we produced the terrible threat to Gem with no small amount of fanfare.
Also Piercing Sun just had to get a dig in, the asshole.
So Inks doesn't know where the Raksha is, doesn't know where Nabijah or Vahti is, and so on. I will state right now that I as a player chose to treat this sequence as more of a 'run and move' action scene than a more staid, tense investigation. I was pleased to see Aleph meet me halfway without even needing much coordination.
That mentality informs a lot of my early-session decisions as well.
First step- diagnostics- look for things to do. You'll note Aleph had Inks roll compassion about the sunburnt slave, but I was caught in a rock/hard place there. All of Inks's treatment options require close contact, which her anima prevents. I didn't want to sunburn the girl more, after all. In lieu of obligating an immediate Action, I think Aleph kept the unsuppressed roll in mind for the future.
But with a quick per+invest via Crafty Observation Method, I was able to generate a lead/direction, which meant I didn't have to spend more time searching room by room.
Now last session, the manor was established as being an E shape, so we're on the left side of the inner 'tooth-wing'. Nabijah and co would've been on the right, and we met in the middle if all went well. Things did not go well.
At that moment, I was confident that Nabijah could handle herself, but Vahti for all her guts and charm was still very young and inexperienced. I do want her to be a strong utility NPC, but at the moment she's a bit more like a student or dependent.
Aleph's first obstacle outside of the Illusions, were the mobile plants. Fortunately for me, even with Inks's nerd dicepools, they were on the weak side of useless. I think when we got into the 'next room' with the stairs and the door, the plan was for Inks to decide to go one way and find the Deyha, or go the other way and fight Vahti. I chose Vahti.
Now mechanically, it was interesting that Aleph used DV here for defense agaisnt the vines- when one could have easily modeled it with an Environmental Hazard. It's not a positive or negative- a storyteller should be willing to use the best mechanic for the job, not the one the rules say Only Fits.
Also note that we are using Blockade Movement rules, and by extension Defend Other- one of the few unambigiously accepted late-2e mechanics.
As far as obstacles go, especially physical ones, Inks has three answers, all of which end in awesome: Chronicle, Maji and Sorcery. Of those three, Maji was the best suited- as Aleph herself acknowledges in-log.
Remember how I said 'run and move session?' This is what I mean- the energy, the desire to keep things going at a high clip- not necessarily covering a lot of words or blow by blow actions, but that alacrity.
So we head up the staircase, and I think we both kind of failed a bit to really jazz this sequence up- but at the same time, it was perfectly suitable for what we were willing to do.
For one- I did not really know the Shape of the stairway, my mental image was that of a compact spiral, but on second thought, it might've been a much larger, wider affair like the Spencer Mansion's main room. So worth noting for the future.
Secondly, Height Bonuses. A stairway might at best be a +/- 2 points to defense, but for mortals, especially against Exalted, that's a huge deal. It wasn't a huge deal though as far as the actual session went- we weren't sweating those details even after I pointed it out, and they were likely Extras anyway.
The more interesting thing, was that they were A: uncoordinated as all getout, B: reacting counter to fear effects- the more scared they were, the more fite- that's not an absolute certainty. I didn't have the time or inclination to diagnose their specific problem.
Now, I think that Join Battle here may not have been necessary. Join Battle is best served when order of actions is critical to the resolution process- but if you're just trying to model 'Who goes first' or similar, a one-off roll is usually just as good.
That being said, I am incredibly proud of Aleph for using the mechanic and trying to keep in practice.
Maji takes the lead, and while unstated, knocks down one dude, and then Tatters demonstrates her own magic- note that we have no idea if she's Actually an Abyssal or not. I mean it's all but certain, but nobody's said that word On Camera yet. So until then, Tatters is whatever Aleph wants her to be.
What she presently is, is a badass exorcist. Who may in fact be a hot babe if not for y'know, the deathly pallor and giant arrow stuck in her chest.
The really nice thing though about this brief combat, was the fact that it was brief, adn the fact that I had the presence of mind to remember my objective was not combat in and of itself, but to actually advance past it. So once both foes were down, we just blew past them into the master bedroom.
That's when shit got Fae.
The following sequence, I had a lot of fun with, but I will state that it relied a lot on roleplay and some of Aleph's stylistic choices that I sometimes struggled with. Reading into the implication of statements, recognizing patterns and so on. I'm very happy when I can discern things before needing rolls, but I as a player am usually more comfortable with the plaintext results a roll generates.
One thing I did notice, more and more, was that this raksha was deliberately a twisted mirror to Inks herself. The hedonism, confidence (nudity), the very way he ensnared people were all clearly calculated to be an ominious demonstration of how Inks could look to other people, or how bad she could get.
Now, I want to stress that we're not using Graceful Wicked Masques except in the broadest of strokes. So this raksha here, I have no idea how he plays mechanically. Aleph has to teach me everything from first principles. And due to the shorter sessions of Sunlit Sands (Aleph can't stay up late like she does on weekends), I don't have the time to brainstorm or ruminate on her posts as I might want to.
That being said, the scene moved at a really solid clip, and aside from one lull (I was typing and thinking a stunt out), there weren't really any structural issues. I was able to generate information and enact a plan, even if that plan was as simple as "I am more confident than you and I will win, you will lose no matter what you do. This is why."
Thinking about it, I should also stress that this is the... second hostage situation I have ever encountered in a game of Exalted. A proper one, not a 'oh there's a superweapon going to go off'. Hostages that are On Camera and In Peril. The first one was years ago where I was solo-fighting an abyssal pirate while he was torturing a no-legged sailor. My character had a hole punched in her gut and had to retreat.
But anyway- the elements of the scene- Raksha; Vahti holding herself at knifepoint; slaves, staff and guards doing the same. Mae, the sunburnt slave from earlier, also doing so. This is where Aleph called back to my compassion check, and made me roll a new one.
You'll notice a pattern emerge as well, with what the fae keeps asking, and I make several rolls to shake the details loose before committing to my plan. One of my earlier ideas was to vamp it up, play on the sexiness angle and then call Chronicle back for an intimidation attempt, but I decided against it.
Leveraging Knowing the Soul's Price, I got a read on what this fae wanted- "To possess and devour a Solar-tier Exalt."
I really had no idea how to game that, because I wasn't sure how 'possess' would work or how I'd play out the inevitable breaking of that. It... didn't sound playable, at first glance. Like, I wasn't interested in exploring it as an option or making a character moment out of it, because I didn't know how it'd work- And I don't say this expecting Aleph to caveat everything she does with a full mechanical overview- that'd be absurd.
My point is that... I can't say it wouldn't be fun, but I didn't know enough to justify the potential fun vs the potential threat.
Eventually though, after a couple more diagnostic rolls, Inks clearly built up a picture of the raksha as being her, of practicing the same basic attitude she does of being Helpful and Friendly, creating that willingness to repair her favor later. The fae just took that to a logical, illusiory and servitude conclusion.
But more importantly, Inks could tell now that vahti was not actually in danger, not truly. The other people were, and they had to be taken care of somehow- or neutralized.
It's worth noting that Inks is Conviction 5, Compassion 3. Functionally they are prompted with equal frequency- so Inks always has to evaluate the wellness of people around her with her willingness to commit to goals no matter the cost. This is far more interesting than a straight conviction personality or a bleeding heart compassionate martyr.
With that in mind, Inks gonna Inks. I'll let the stunt speak for itself, but I tell you now- it was so difficulty to resist quoting Tony Stark's speech to Loki. Inks is very much influenced by the modern conception of Tony Stark (Not Iron Man, Stark).
And then the highlight of the session was Inks getting one over on a goddamned Raksha. Felt good.
After that, I think Inks ended up accidentally seducing him.
With the raksha taken care of- and now named Oasis - the last bit of the session was cleanup and logistics. And the proper 'payoff' for Vahti was Inks and her having there little reassuring embrace. I was really pleased by that bit, and felt for Vahti.
Unfortunately some of the slaves were dream eaten, and Inks did not manage to find Iblan Ayla or much else of note in the manor. Having sent word ahead to Rankar to meet her with anti-fae measures, we produced the terrible threat to Gem with no small amount of fanfare.
Also Piercing Sun just had to get a dig in, the asshole.
With that, Session 49 of Sunlit Sands concludes. Next session, we hope to tackle the strategic scale fallout of House Iblan's possible destruction!
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Mwaa haa.
So yes, to expand. There are several breeds of "native thing" to the Wyld in Inksgame - different NPC splats, one might say, that are all on-par with other things that share the "spirit" tag. Lush Oasis is a fae; probably the most common type. Boiled down, it's a living story - something from Creation that's become tainted enough by Wyld-contamination to stop working by the rules of Fate and start working on an internal narrative instead, whose Name summarises that narrative. Our raksha friend is Lush Oasis Lures Men Into Servitude With Sweet Fragrance. It's the story of how men find a sweet-smelling oasis in the desert that must be growing from water, and their thirst drives them to do anything it tells them to for the promise of a drink - but of course it's all a mirage and they only become parched slaves for their desperation.
So. In general, when acting to further this story or roping people into it, Lush Oasis strengthens himself. This doesn't have to be with a literal oasis and actual water, the plot is what's important even if you change the framing around a bit. Acting out his story is to Lush Oasis what doing their job is to gods; it's how he naturally regains motes and holds off calcification by asserting his narrative over the demands of Fate that he shut up and follow the rules. He has three Panoply abilities themed around the story which build off each other; each enhancing the next. These are, in ascending order of power:
- Growing, sensing through and controlling Wyld-plants (desert roses being his particular signature).
- Casting Illusions through the fragrance his plants produce to make people believe things that aren't true.
- Using the Ben Franklin Effect to stack control effects on people who serve him - first Compulsions, then Servitude, and finally a Total Control effect.
Not all fae will have such strong synergy between their powers, and the fact that Lush Oasis does is part of why he's a fairly powerful chaos-thing (Enlightenment 5, in case you were wondering). Or perhaps the other way around; he has such strong synergy between his Panoply powers because he's a potent fae. The difference may be inconsequential.
I made him partly as a social challenge for Inks, yes, with the deliberate hope that I could get @Shyft to accept the Illusion and thus pull a sneakycruel reveal on him like @EarthScorpion so often does to me, but I never really thought he would last through a sustained encounter because his combat power is, bluntly, shit. If things had gone a bit differently he might have had reason to use some of the thralls he'd dreameaten who'd become story parts themselves - one of the things a fae can do to a dreameaten person (or even a non-dreameaten one, though that takes longer and can be resisted) is make them a lesser story chaos-thing themselves. The equivalent of a hobgoblin, probably; a chaos-tainted empty person whose only personality or nature is their narrative role of "a guard" or "a concubine". The captain who still chases King Scorpion? Probably something like that.
(If their narrative role gets complex enough, they can develop a feeding maw - that's one of the ways you get new fae.)
But as it was, he decided to see who this odd lady breaking into the villa was before sending in the guards, and then Inks hit him in the libido and he decided he wanted her. So after a few testing attacks to be sure that force wasn't going to work to bring her to heel without damaging her, he gave up on that and went with the hostage route. This was what I really wanted out of the session, and I deliberately didn't plan a "proper" or "intended" way out of it - I wanted to juxtapose Inks' Compassion with her much stronger Conviction and see what she'd do when she was the stronger combatant in the conflict, but the situation made combat non-viable. That this also had the handy effect of disabling Compassion 5 Tatters from just brutalising the raksha to death and removing any need for Inks to be there was a helpful side-effect.
Piercing Sun is great and I will never apologise for his malicious bastardhood. :3 In honesty, though, I do like how it's a notable part of his character that he keeps testing Inks; pushing her, prodding to see when (or if) she'll break. He tries to intimidate her not because he necessarily wants her to fail, but because if she is someone he can force to give up by being mean or scaring her, she's not a worthy heir to Gem's defence and will break against her firs really serious opposition.
He will never, ever be nice to her, because that - as he sees it - is not what she needs from him. She has her little flame duck for that. He's there to be a horrible old bastard to her and keep her to her nerve.
Walker of the Yellow Path
Ho There!
- Location
- The Land of Memes
Would this be effects like saying Death of Obsidian Butterflies causes said butterflies to begin swarming around you as you gather the essence for it?
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Maybe-probably. The spell that inspired it was 'The Crumbling Walls'. Bolded text for emphasis. So instead of that being a thing that gets constantly included in the charm text, you say 'This spell's omens include-' and maybe a difficulty to discern.
Article: THE CRUMBLING WALLS
Cost: 25m
Target: City walls
The sorcerer calls down the power of Saturn, who holds dominion over endings and borders, to annihilate the defensive walls separating a city from the lands
beyond it.
To cast this spell, the sorcerer must gather four chosen companions and make five circuits around the targeted city while singing a hymn to the end of
conflict. The sorcerer and her companions must make as many circuits of the city in one day as she is capable and must manage at least one circuit per day. During the casting, the sorcerer and her companions are prohibited from defending themselves against attack, though they may have bodyguards accompany them or use armor or magic to enhance their ability to avoid harm.
After each completed circuit, a shadowy image of the Maiden of Endings appears at the city's edge. Any savant who can see the image knows it bodes ill, and success on a roll of (Intelligence + Occult) reveals the
spell's purpose.
Once the sorcerer has completed the casting, all five images, now evenly spaced around the border, raise their arms together and make the sign of Saturn against the city's walls. At this instant, the defensive
fortifications collapse into rubble and ruin over the course of a minute (60 ticks or one long tick). The spell inflicts no damage on anything within the city's borders or beyond it, but anyone standing at the walls when they fall suffers environmental damage (3B/action, Trauma 1) until they extricate themselves.
This description assumes strong stone walls, such as may include guard towers. At the Storyteller's discretion, flimsier walls might crumble sooner and inflict less damage.
- Location
- Ottawa
I'd be inclined to make it a keyword.
Omen 2 - Shadowy images of Saturn
would mean that the spell creates shadowy images of Saturn, and it's difficulty 2 to figure out what those mean.
Saves a few words, and more importantly encourages writers to come up with more omens.
Omen 2 - Shadowy images of Saturn
would mean that the spell creates shadowy images of Saturn, and it's difficulty 2 to figure out what those mean.
Saves a few words, and more importantly encourages writers to come up with more omens.
This was fun. Intimidating it into surrender was Impressive.
Does she now have obligations to the fae thing?
How is she going to balance that against the understandable urge of Rankar and Elemi and every living victim, including her current retainers, to simply murder the thing out of hand? How will she even feed it? Will anyone, or anything, come looking for it?
Something of that magical loadout fits the profile of someone's intelligence operative. Certainly getting an ear, or a set of claws into a senior member of House Iblan is a reasonable first step for anyone with designs on the city of Gem. Might be worth looking into.
And the consequences of the humbling of the Iblan are going to reverberate, not least for Inks herself.
Before Inks was something of a somewhat unsavory curiosity because of her association with demons, but not much more powerful than a up and coming trading house. For her and THE Great House of Gem to go head to head, and Iblan to lose abruptly in an afternoon, escalates Inks' perceived political and intelligence threat level drastically.
Inks is going to have much more scrutiny on her actions. No more quiet trading trips into the mountains.
Although, looking at her record from the PoV of an outsider, she's now gone ahead and broken to her will first a hostile sorcerer, and now a Great House.
If you add the fact that she IS raising double digit numbers of demonblooded children, has recruited an elemental, a DB and whatever Tatters is into her retinue, and healed up Elemi Piercing Sun, one would think she's preparing for a war sometime in the next generation. Even the baths, when looked at in that light, are a source of potable water that can't be interdicted.
When she goes after El-Galabi, she begins to look even more like a budding warlord. People, like Rankar, will be understandably nervous. Better watch for poisoners. And whatever hecatohkhire sleeps in Iblan territory.
Thanks for sharing.
Lovely work.
I've been very entertained by the progression of this campaign, combat light as it is. Of your NPCs, I probably enjoy Pipera the most, but even the hyenagirls are distinctive personalities in their own right. And I do need to make a shoutout to the goddess of the baths, who made a very strong impression in very little time.
Looking forward to seeing Inks' old suitor showing up and seeing the changes.
Thanks for sharing.
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- Location
- Gladstone, OR
- Re: Obligations- I'm pretty sure I had it swear an asymmetrical oath of loyalty- "Serve you until my teeth close around your soul." So I imagine it's going to TRY to get it's hooks into Inks, but it doesn't have any Yet.
- I don't actually know what's going to happen to Oasis- I have a few ideas, and execution is definitely on the table. I know that a Raksha made with GWN could be disgustingly useful, but also-game breaking. Since I don't know what Oasis can do for Inks's goals, I don't know if it's valuable enough to keep around and 'manage'. Like, if he can shape up exotic components (unlikely), then he might be worth keeping. Now of course, if Inks were the kind of person who did like dream-eaten slaves, she'd keep him around for likely the same reasons Ayla did.
- Re: Intelligence operative- that's very true, but I have no idea how coherent or organize Raksha are under @Aleph 's updated model. GWM at least recognizes that Raksha all identify with eachother as 'Raksha' insofar as 'We're not of Creation and therefore we like screwing with that a bit more than each other.' It's worth noting that one of the best thematic elements imo of 1 and 2e Raksha, was that Creation has literally become the center of their world. The very act of trying to get away from it count as acknowledgement, ensnaring them in it's metaphysical orbit. I have no idea of Aleph's kept that for her fae splats.
- yeah, I am definitely interested in seeing what happens to House Iblan as well. I'm worried too, because I didn't actually want to escalate this dramatically. I was unprepared, without sufficient allies or backing to support me before going in for the actual 'kill' so to speak. This entire sequence was largely flying by the seat of Inks's pants, so to speak. Pipera and Vahti both paid for it.
- Your following point is I think one of the central elements of the Exalted Experience - "The upstart wins harder than expected." Due in large part to how rare Exalts actually are, Solars even moreso.
- And yeah, definitely more scrutiny. Inks may be poorly suited to stealth like a spy, thief or infiltrator, but I'm sure she'd be willing and able to improve her skills with hiding political and economic moves. I'm not sure how many people know of Hinna's loss- she's Dead, after all, but you are otherwise correct.
- Thanks for reminding me about her orphanage, I gotta get Bidiha and Simya over there, helping ease up the demon-blooded traits a bit. There is also a no-zero chance Vahti will become the lead of a Flame-Duck sorority. As said elsewhere-
- Vahti: "We are elite and talented bodyguards and bedwarmers!"
- Pipera: "ugggghhhh."
- In a lot of ways, the developing cast of NPCs is a natural progression of Exalted, but also some of the stylistic DNA of Kerisgame- unlike Keris, Inks does not have a growing list of souls that are specialized and meaningful statements on her character- but she still needs to have people around her to bounce off of, especially in a solo game. Pipera is the Pepper to Inks's Tony- Vahti doesn't have an equivalent (yet if ever), Maji is of course a reference to Aladdin and similar...
- It's a good analysis of Inks's assets! It hadn't occurred to me re: her baths being hard to interdict. Rankar forbade the baths contributing to the water supply or for Inks to sell water, but she could sell admission to the baths themselves. But at the end of the day, he only gave her an order, not a magical binding geas or similar. It's worth noting that I wanted to make a lot more of these things, bigger ones too, but I'm kinda unfocused when it comes to plotting without a bit span of strategic time to engage with.
- I do make a point to acknowledge that Inks has a stomach bottle bug inside her for the sake of poisoning attempts as well.
I've been searching for a Gunstar Autochthonia piece of fiction I saw posted somewhere on SV a few years back, and I have been searching with no success yet.
It was basically about the Unconquered Sun going to talk with good ol' Empyreal Tyrant Theion one last time before what would (in the non-Gunstar continuity) become the Primordial War. In it, we see how Theion deftly does away his son's participation in this nonsensical "rebellion" idea down with words alone. I believe the story concludes simply with a line very similar to the official Shards line stating that "the Unconquered Sun knelt before his titanic father, pledging fealty to the Universe Emperor."
Sadly, I have not been able to find it despite scouring all the posts I have rated on SV. I was genuinely surprised that I hadn't given it a rating when I read it before.
Does anyone remember reading a story fitting this description? (I have googled more variations of search terms like "UCS kneels," "tyrant sun," and "gunstar UCS surrender" than I dare post here...)
It was basically about the Unconquered Sun going to talk with good ol' Empyreal Tyrant Theion one last time before what would (in the non-Gunstar continuity) become the Primordial War. In it, we see how Theion deftly does away his son's participation in this nonsensical "rebellion" idea down with words alone. I believe the story concludes simply with a line very similar to the official Shards line stating that "the Unconquered Sun knelt before his titanic father, pledging fealty to the Universe Emperor."
Sadly, I have not been able to find it despite scouring all the posts I have rated on SV. I was genuinely surprised that I hadn't given it a rating when I read it before.
Does anyone remember reading a story fitting this description? (I have googled more variations of search terms like "UCS kneels," "tyrant sun," and "gunstar UCS surrender" than I dare post here...)
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Whew. I'm doing this one now instead of waiting because I'm super exicted- it's a MILESTONE baby! Session 50!
Biggest props, as usual to @Aleph ! She brought out another stellar session, one of the most richly detailed ones in recent memory.
It's not the conclusion to the Iblan Arc, but it was definitely a really good escalation. The stakes are getting higher, so without further ado- the logs!
Session 50 Logs
The final note is that with the milestone of Session 50, I will start a dedicated thread for Sunlit Sands in User Fiction, and begin the process of formatting the game for presentation on an external site like Ao3 or similar. I have no ETA on this actual development, and when I do finally get it started, all further game updates will be hosted there.
Biggest props, as usual to @Aleph ! She brought out another stellar session, one of the most richly detailed ones in recent memory.
It's not the conclusion to the Iblan Arc, but it was definitely a really good escalation. The stakes are getting higher, so without further ado- the logs!
Session 50 Logs
The opener of the session starts us out on a high note- pagentry like this, setting details and more, make or break Exalted, especially in text games. Establishing not just the room you're in, the environment, but your starting locations or optional position, anything like that is very important!
And then you can get into the characterful details, like the lounge Aleph provided for Inks. Good move there.
If I had any issue with this opening scene, it was that we took a while to write our posts to each other. I was pleased with myself about Inks's wardrobe 'choice' as well.
The scene itself covers the argument between the three main actors- Rankar, Inks and Celi as devil's advocate. Rankar's in a tense position, and in a lot of ways I can't help but admire the use of him as a device- he is a Demonstration of what is in store for Inks if she ever ascends to a similar position of authority if not responsibility.
As far as a challenge goes- this scene leaned on my ability to convey a reasoned argument that was both in-character and within my skill as a writer. The nice thing about a game of course is that Inks can be far better at something than I can, so what I want to do can sometimes be more important than my inelegant flailing at how to do it, so long as the dice go my way.
In hindsight I should've been calling out my Motivation more for stunt bonuses, oh well.
---
The next scene was a very nice departure into a more abstract 'narration' style than the talking head dialogue we tend to adopt by default. It was a challenge but also a rewarding diversion, trying to describe Inks more as someone who watches her or is watched, instead of a snark-generating engine. It reminds me of the really good parts of the Hinna arc as well.
And I get my first +3 stunt of the day.
I want to underscore here that Rankar, and by extension Aleph is extremely clever here. He's figuring out how to get what he wants and needs (a decisive, bold punishment that will quell other rebellions) and to give Inks what she's asked for. Note however that Rankar made no statement or even implied he feels anything about Inks's proposal. It's tacit approval, but not eager or engaged willingness.
Remember also that Inks has said, to Rankar's face, that she wants the throne, but that so far, unlike other people in Gem, she's not in any particular rush to remove him, either.
---
After a brief lull for food, we resume the session. Aleph I felt struck a good balance of conveyign the 'size' of House Iblan with it it being made of 1 seasonal action divided into 3 month long 'periods'. We had a bit of a discussion as you can see on the exact mechanization.
Now one of the hurdles of Exalted in general, especially one that's increasingly more homebrew focused, is that we're running into arbitration issues. I can't tell if Aleph ever confirmed if Speed the Wheels does/does not work on this situation, but honestly I wasn't particularly upset about it.
I think in hindsight, what I would want to see more of at a mechanical level for these 'wide angle' actions, is attention paid to modifiers and penalties. Later on you'll see me say something to that effect as well, but it came at the wrong time.
This was also one of my more recent attempts to start 'doubling' on training time with strategic time, using these actions to learn 3 new Charms- Majestic Radiant Presence, Irresistable Questioning Technique, and Sagacious Reading of Intent. This is a HUGE jump in social competence and personal defense, well worth the 28xp.
So the three sub-actions are basically divided up into Stunt, ST response, Inks Response, and that was a good format especially for these broad strokes events. Each in and of themselves are all likely Scenes or Several Scenes in their own right, or could have been played as such, but we didn't need to.
Along the way I also tried a new formatting idea of adding my (Charms) during the stunt instead of doing it all in the OOC summary. I'd love to hear what Aleph thinks about it when she has the time.
As far as the content of my stunt, I was most proud of invoking Tatters as Stealth Investigator Buddy!
A callout for Aleph was the great setting detail of how Gem mints coins that spread far and wide as legal tender- something that I think a lot of people forget in that Creation does not have a monoculture, even if there are common grounds like whatever incarnation or interpretation of the Guild you prefer.
Like the earlier analysis of the Iblan nobles, we're re-introduced to their number and their impact on the world. And another noteworty thing here- Aleph is making sure to get her value out of the cast of NPCs she's created. I know that I have suffered greatly as a storyteller, sometimes scrapping entire backend plots when the PCs have blown through my plans- normally I save the statlines for re-use, but Aleph's managed to save entire characters and backgrounds and plot hooks.
Iblan Omar, an old man with a chip on his shoulder and a domain to rule over, his was the easiest opening move, and why I took Aleph's suggestion to spend that time training those Charms. Unfortunately for Inks's goals, Omar was just as he appeared- a petty despot wannabe who takes his frustrations out on undeserving underlings.
Remmeber- the point of all these audits is to Find or 'Find' evidence that Rankar can use to justify his displeasure.
---
The Reaction scene emerged from this one, and I was for one happy to get back to familiar ground- I need to spend more time describing the townhouse as well, and/or upgrading it as one of Inks's pet projects...
Anyway, Inks has opinions about men like Omar and how they do things.
But, surprise of surprises, Suleiman returns! Handsome desert merchant lord and sand-sailor extrodinaire! The last time we saw him, he was already feeling a little awed at Inks's nature- I just remembered that as I was writing this postmortem.
Suleiman is a vital touchstone, I think- a mortal, who's opinion matters to Inks, but also has ideals she doesn't agree with and hasn't compromised for. In a very real sense, Inks's legendary rise is owed to Suleiman, and even if Inks won't be his wife, she is going to make sure he knows how much she appreciates him.
It's also telling that Suleiman's struck numb, speechless almost by the scale Inks acts at. Note that he's a heroic mortal likely, or just shy of one. He's the kind of person who in my reading would Exalt. But, unlike Inks (which is a roleplaying gaffe I admit), he has a much better grasp of threat than Inks does, so when he heard House Iblan had it out for her... Well, his reaction here speaks for me.
And, consistently, when Suleiman is on camera, Inks slows down and thinks about her answers. And then he called her Inks- you know it's serious folks!
But, the line here 'beautiful and glorious, to be sure, but unreachable, and so bright as to be painful to look at directly.' is likely going to come up more and more in some ways or others. There's a very real chance Suleiman might burn out, urged on by his love or left behind by Inks's own onward momentum.
---
Now we examine the Treasury- and on a whim I decided not to invoke Tatters again. I think in hindsight I should've asked who led what and better prepared myself for the stunt, but I was starting to get a headache and I didn't want to delay much longer.
Like with the Mint, Aleph stepped up her game with meaningful and useful information and setpiecing of the Treasury, even if I was only privy to it via a cutscene, almost. Useful for future scenes set here or similar, definitely. And inevitably, we had our Scrooge McDuck gag about wealth and vaults. The bit about the coin sorting grates was fantastic.
Flickering Gold also has one of the highest pools of the Iblans, and rolled far better than Inks did. So we might never know exactly what he has hidden here. I forgot to prod Aleph about any bonuses from Pipera, as well, but I lost by 4 successes- highly unlikely anything Pipera would've done would've helped.
I think the best part here was even though I failed the contested roll, it was still a successful scene- I learned more instead of being stuck with a null result.
---
The interveing scene is interesting, because now we're getting more of Celi's characterization revealed. Note that Celi has been around for dozens of sessions now, and it's sorely tempting to keep NPCs nearby as ST mouthpieces and the like. Because Celi's been a 'less is more' presence, I'm a lot more attentive when she speaks up.
Since it was getting close to the end of the session, a long one in fact, I was not running at full steam and neither was Aleph- even so we were committed to doing a good job. It helped that I had pre-written my stunt of the smelter-complex as well, so I was actually more than able to follow Celi's scene a bit more freely than I might've otherwise.
Aleph does a good job here giving Inks a callout roll that I pass, revealing more information about how Rankar thinks and Celi thinks, as well as giving us an opportunity to explore more strategic scale content- Geomancy!
Now I love me some geomancy, I fell in love with the idea of manses way back at the start of 2e, not as hearthstone generators, but as Magical Palaces that Do Stuff. As strategic locales and lynchpins, things you go to war over.
The important part here though, is that Aleph is starting to lean more on Inks's Conviction now. She's willing to let me work within it- survey versus abandoning El Galabi, but the intent of Conviction is that when confronted with two or more goals, you either have to work extremely hard to Do Everything, or focus on The Most Important Thing.
I've suppressed virtues about 3 times or so in this game. Maybe 4. I better figure out Inks's Limit Break before then...
Anyway- the important thing here is that Inks's goal going into House Iblan was to secure gold, to help make anti-dead stuff to defeat the ghosts of El Galabi and elsewhere around Gem. That it might incidentally make Inks filthy, filthy rich and powerful in and of itself is just Icing.
So Inks has made a minor commitment to surve a fire demense outside of Gem for Celi, and possibly build a Manse.
---
The Smelter Yards I think were my best stunt of the day, by dint of going absolutely over the top extra. I only regret that I basically used it on the least necessary opponent of the sequence.
The important thing, dare I say the masterstroke of the session, was how Aleph used Jad Raheem. The true drama of Exalted, especially of Solars, was not in the nuts and bolts mechanical resolutions, but in the decisions Jad Raheem is about as perfect a patsy as one could name, and in hindsight might've been the sneakier, Kerisian-way into House Iblan, but Inks gotta Inks, so I talked with Bana and got attacked for it.
And this comes back to Aleph using/re-using previously developed NPCs instead of handwaving away the fallout of such a massive political and economic upheaval as the audit and fate of House Iblan.
So I'm left with the challenge of how to eat my cake and have it too- or if I can't, to decide if I want to eat the cake or have the cake, but not both.
A lot of this depends on how and when Inks can talk to Rankar in the presentation of her findings, and how he and his advisors would appreciate manipulation. The obvious plan is to bring Rankar in on the 'deception', that is to say, Inks proposes that she turns Jad Raheem, to bind him to her and by extension to 'Rankar' implicitly. Of course, the other point is that Inks would have to explain how certain she can be of her control, and telling Rankar "I can make people serve me as long as I give them what they want- and I can find out what they want by talking to them'.
Well. Rankar likes to leer at Inks, but he's a petty, paranoid despot, and he'd take this sort of revelation heavily.
With that said, this closes the 50th session of Sunlit sands, and the postmortem. I hope you all enjoyed it!
And then you can get into the characterful details, like the lounge Aleph provided for Inks. Good move there.
If I had any issue with this opening scene, it was that we took a while to write our posts to each other. I was pleased with myself about Inks's wardrobe 'choice' as well.
The scene itself covers the argument between the three main actors- Rankar, Inks and Celi as devil's advocate. Rankar's in a tense position, and in a lot of ways I can't help but admire the use of him as a device- he is a Demonstration of what is in store for Inks if she ever ascends to a similar position of authority if not responsibility.
As far as a challenge goes- this scene leaned on my ability to convey a reasoned argument that was both in-character and within my skill as a writer. The nice thing about a game of course is that Inks can be far better at something than I can, so what I want to do can sometimes be more important than my inelegant flailing at how to do it, so long as the dice go my way.
In hindsight I should've been calling out my Motivation more for stunt bonuses, oh well.
---
The next scene was a very nice departure into a more abstract 'narration' style than the talking head dialogue we tend to adopt by default. It was a challenge but also a rewarding diversion, trying to describe Inks more as someone who watches her or is watched, instead of a snark-generating engine. It reminds me of the really good parts of the Hinna arc as well.
And I get my first +3 stunt of the day.
I want to underscore here that Rankar, and by extension Aleph is extremely clever here. He's figuring out how to get what he wants and needs (a decisive, bold punishment that will quell other rebellions) and to give Inks what she's asked for. Note however that Rankar made no statement or even implied he feels anything about Inks's proposal. It's tacit approval, but not eager or engaged willingness.
Remember also that Inks has said, to Rankar's face, that she wants the throne, but that so far, unlike other people in Gem, she's not in any particular rush to remove him, either.
---
After a brief lull for food, we resume the session. Aleph I felt struck a good balance of conveyign the 'size' of House Iblan with it it being made of 1 seasonal action divided into 3 month long 'periods'. We had a bit of a discussion as you can see on the exact mechanization.
Now one of the hurdles of Exalted in general, especially one that's increasingly more homebrew focused, is that we're running into arbitration issues. I can't tell if Aleph ever confirmed if Speed the Wheels does/does not work on this situation, but honestly I wasn't particularly upset about it.
I think in hindsight, what I would want to see more of at a mechanical level for these 'wide angle' actions, is attention paid to modifiers and penalties. Later on you'll see me say something to that effect as well, but it came at the wrong time.
This was also one of my more recent attempts to start 'doubling' on training time with strategic time, using these actions to learn 3 new Charms- Majestic Radiant Presence, Irresistable Questioning Technique, and Sagacious Reading of Intent. This is a HUGE jump in social competence and personal defense, well worth the 28xp.
So the three sub-actions are basically divided up into Stunt, ST response, Inks Response, and that was a good format especially for these broad strokes events. Each in and of themselves are all likely Scenes or Several Scenes in their own right, or could have been played as such, but we didn't need to.
Along the way I also tried a new formatting idea of adding my (Charms) during the stunt instead of doing it all in the OOC summary. I'd love to hear what Aleph thinks about it when she has the time.
As far as the content of my stunt, I was most proud of invoking Tatters as Stealth Investigator Buddy!
A callout for Aleph was the great setting detail of how Gem mints coins that spread far and wide as legal tender- something that I think a lot of people forget in that Creation does not have a monoculture, even if there are common grounds like whatever incarnation or interpretation of the Guild you prefer.
Like the earlier analysis of the Iblan nobles, we're re-introduced to their number and their impact on the world. And another noteworty thing here- Aleph is making sure to get her value out of the cast of NPCs she's created. I know that I have suffered greatly as a storyteller, sometimes scrapping entire backend plots when the PCs have blown through my plans- normally I save the statlines for re-use, but Aleph's managed to save entire characters and backgrounds and plot hooks.
Iblan Omar, an old man with a chip on his shoulder and a domain to rule over, his was the easiest opening move, and why I took Aleph's suggestion to spend that time training those Charms. Unfortunately for Inks's goals, Omar was just as he appeared- a petty despot wannabe who takes his frustrations out on undeserving underlings.
Remmeber- the point of all these audits is to Find or 'Find' evidence that Rankar can use to justify his displeasure.
---
The Reaction scene emerged from this one, and I was for one happy to get back to familiar ground- I need to spend more time describing the townhouse as well, and/or upgrading it as one of Inks's pet projects...
Anyway, Inks has opinions about men like Omar and how they do things.
But, surprise of surprises, Suleiman returns! Handsome desert merchant lord and sand-sailor extrodinaire! The last time we saw him, he was already feeling a little awed at Inks's nature- I just remembered that as I was writing this postmortem.
Suleiman is a vital touchstone, I think- a mortal, who's opinion matters to Inks, but also has ideals she doesn't agree with and hasn't compromised for. In a very real sense, Inks's legendary rise is owed to Suleiman, and even if Inks won't be his wife, she is going to make sure he knows how much she appreciates him.
It's also telling that Suleiman's struck numb, speechless almost by the scale Inks acts at. Note that he's a heroic mortal likely, or just shy of one. He's the kind of person who in my reading would Exalt. But, unlike Inks (which is a roleplaying gaffe I admit), he has a much better grasp of threat than Inks does, so when he heard House Iblan had it out for her... Well, his reaction here speaks for me.
And, consistently, when Suleiman is on camera, Inks slows down and thinks about her answers. And then he called her Inks- you know it's serious folks!
But, the line here 'beautiful and glorious, to be sure, but unreachable, and so bright as to be painful to look at directly.' is likely going to come up more and more in some ways or others. There's a very real chance Suleiman might burn out, urged on by his love or left behind by Inks's own onward momentum.
---
Now we examine the Treasury- and on a whim I decided not to invoke Tatters again. I think in hindsight I should've asked who led what and better prepared myself for the stunt, but I was starting to get a headache and I didn't want to delay much longer.
Like with the Mint, Aleph stepped up her game with meaningful and useful information and setpiecing of the Treasury, even if I was only privy to it via a cutscene, almost. Useful for future scenes set here or similar, definitely. And inevitably, we had our Scrooge McDuck gag about wealth and vaults. The bit about the coin sorting grates was fantastic.
Flickering Gold also has one of the highest pools of the Iblans, and rolled far better than Inks did. So we might never know exactly what he has hidden here. I forgot to prod Aleph about any bonuses from Pipera, as well, but I lost by 4 successes- highly unlikely anything Pipera would've done would've helped.
I think the best part here was even though I failed the contested roll, it was still a successful scene- I learned more instead of being stuck with a null result.
---
The interveing scene is interesting, because now we're getting more of Celi's characterization revealed. Note that Celi has been around for dozens of sessions now, and it's sorely tempting to keep NPCs nearby as ST mouthpieces and the like. Because Celi's been a 'less is more' presence, I'm a lot more attentive when she speaks up.
Since it was getting close to the end of the session, a long one in fact, I was not running at full steam and neither was Aleph- even so we were committed to doing a good job. It helped that I had pre-written my stunt of the smelter-complex as well, so I was actually more than able to follow Celi's scene a bit more freely than I might've otherwise.
Aleph does a good job here giving Inks a callout roll that I pass, revealing more information about how Rankar thinks and Celi thinks, as well as giving us an opportunity to explore more strategic scale content- Geomancy!
Now I love me some geomancy, I fell in love with the idea of manses way back at the start of 2e, not as hearthstone generators, but as Magical Palaces that Do Stuff. As strategic locales and lynchpins, things you go to war over.
The important part here though, is that Aleph is starting to lean more on Inks's Conviction now. She's willing to let me work within it- survey versus abandoning El Galabi, but the intent of Conviction is that when confronted with two or more goals, you either have to work extremely hard to Do Everything, or focus on The Most Important Thing.
I've suppressed virtues about 3 times or so in this game. Maybe 4. I better figure out Inks's Limit Break before then...
Anyway- the important thing here is that Inks's goal going into House Iblan was to secure gold, to help make anti-dead stuff to defeat the ghosts of El Galabi and elsewhere around Gem. That it might incidentally make Inks filthy, filthy rich and powerful in and of itself is just Icing.
So Inks has made a minor commitment to surve a fire demense outside of Gem for Celi, and possibly build a Manse.
---
The Smelter Yards I think were my best stunt of the day, by dint of going absolutely over the top extra. I only regret that I basically used it on the least necessary opponent of the sequence.
The important thing, dare I say the masterstroke of the session, was how Aleph used Jad Raheem. The true drama of Exalted, especially of Solars, was not in the nuts and bolts mechanical resolutions, but in the decisions Jad Raheem is about as perfect a patsy as one could name, and in hindsight might've been the sneakier, Kerisian-way into House Iblan, but Inks gotta Inks, so I talked with Bana and got attacked for it.
And this comes back to Aleph using/re-using previously developed NPCs instead of handwaving away the fallout of such a massive political and economic upheaval as the audit and fate of House Iblan.
So I'm left with the challenge of how to eat my cake and have it too- or if I can't, to decide if I want to eat the cake or have the cake, but not both.
A lot of this depends on how and when Inks can talk to Rankar in the presentation of her findings, and how he and his advisors would appreciate manipulation. The obvious plan is to bring Rankar in on the 'deception', that is to say, Inks proposes that she turns Jad Raheem, to bind him to her and by extension to 'Rankar' implicitly. Of course, the other point is that Inks would have to explain how certain she can be of her control, and telling Rankar "I can make people serve me as long as I give them what they want- and I can find out what they want by talking to them'.
Well. Rankar likes to leer at Inks, but he's a petty, paranoid despot, and he'd take this sort of revelation heavily.
With that said, this closes the 50th session of Sunlit sands, and the postmortem. I hope you all enjoyed it!
The final note is that with the milestone of Session 50, I will start a dedicated thread for Sunlit Sands in User Fiction, and begin the process of formatting the game for presentation on an external site like Ao3 or similar. I have no ETA on this actual development, and when I do finally get it started, all further game updates will be hosted there.
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hee hee hee. Yes, I've had Jad Raheem waiting for some time now, as someone who's perfect for Inks' goals but also guilty of considerable crimes against the Despot, and so she has to choose between her personal goals and "not committing treason". And @Shyft is indeed absolutely right; Keris's advice to her would have been to flip Jad Raheem, murder the fae quietly and keep enough evidence to blackmail Ayla into compliance, slowly work on Flickering Gold until he was convinced Inks could turn out better profits for the House than Bana... and that's three of seven council members and two keys to power already. Then she'd just have needed to frame Omar for something (or Train up one of his underlings to be an obvious replacement before arranging for him to have a perfectly natural heart attack brought on by old age) and she'd effectively have a controlling interest in House Iblan by default.
But Inks is Inks and Keris gonna Keris, so we did it the loud way instead.
I'm also quite pleased with the little "break" segments I put between the stages of the strategic action, particularly Celi's. I have a fairly clear grasp on her character, but I'm sometimes less sure of how well I distinguish her from, say, Pipera (as another reserved advisor). I think the way she clams up and gets excessively formal and retreats into making statements rather than conversation when she's nervous - even statements of the obvious - is a cute little detail that gives her a memorable "feel" to her character bits.
I look forward to seeing what Inks will do about this dilemma!
Did I write this Oramus charm entirely so you had reason to be the backing music in boss fights against powerful spirits?
No, not at all.
I also wanted to make a joke about you playing Dancing Mad.
THAT MOURNFUL DIRGE
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple (Speed 6, DV-2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Symphonic
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Those Twirling Figures
The gylmine tell tales of the last dances of those of their kind who venture onto the Dragon's blasted heaths. They pay the piper with their lives - but ah, what beauty!
The Infernal performs a hauntingly beautiful piece, rolling (Manipulation + Performance). Her successes are compared to the permanent Essence scores of any spirits who suffer dispersal within hearing range of her. Should her successes exceed theirs, in a burst of unnatural light the slain spirit takes up a place in the Infernal's performance, lending their voice and body to her music. These phantasms are intangible and are invalid targets for any other effect that would interact with them. If the Infernal chooses to end the performance, it is up to her whether to let the spirits disperse naturally (reforming if they would do so), or dance off into the Beyond. If the latter option is chosen, this is a fate equivalent to death, as if they had been slain by Ghost Eating Technique. If the music is interrupted, the spirits must roll Willpower at a Difficulty of her Performance. On a success, they may reform - otherwise they suffer the latter fate, dancing out of existence in search of such beauty.
This charm is Simple by default, but Reflexive (DV -0) if the Infernal has Endlessly Wailing Flutist active.
No, not at all.
I also wanted to make a joke about you playing Dancing Mad.
THAT MOURNFUL DIRGE
Cost: 4m; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple (Speed 6, DV-2)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Symphonic
Duration: One scene
Prerequisites: Those Twirling Figures
The gylmine tell tales of the last dances of those of their kind who venture onto the Dragon's blasted heaths. They pay the piper with their lives - but ah, what beauty!
The Infernal performs a hauntingly beautiful piece, rolling (Manipulation + Performance). Her successes are compared to the permanent Essence scores of any spirits who suffer dispersal within hearing range of her. Should her successes exceed theirs, in a burst of unnatural light the slain spirit takes up a place in the Infernal's performance, lending their voice and body to her music. These phantasms are intangible and are invalid targets for any other effect that would interact with them. If the Infernal chooses to end the performance, it is up to her whether to let the spirits disperse naturally (reforming if they would do so), or dance off into the Beyond. If the latter option is chosen, this is a fate equivalent to death, as if they had been slain by Ghost Eating Technique. If the music is interrupted, the spirits must roll Willpower at a Difficulty of her Performance. On a success, they may reform - otherwise they suffer the latter fate, dancing out of existence in search of such beauty.
This charm is Simple by default, but Reflexive (DV -0) if the Infernal has Endlessly Wailing Flutist active.
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