General Exalted Thread
Well, the rules aren't really clear on what happens when you grapple someone with a Grappling-tagged weapon. There's nothing that actually says you then savage with the weapon instead of unarmed attacks when you do so, so by the RAW (and possibly the RAI) you still use unarmed attacks.
I'm also kind of concerned that it's underpowered, since it's so squishy. With lousy defense and no soak, it might work out to just gift-wrap initiative for your enemies. Maybe I should just give it some soak.
Well, it is kind of an outlier, in more ways than one. Honestly, I'm okay with it being an oddball charm that most characters won't bother picking up; that's why it's not a prerequisite for anything.
- Location
- Der Waffle Haus
True on the ambiguity. When I originally read the weapon I assumed that Tangled Thunder Constriction allowed a grapple and then you only restrain, with Electric Binding Blast and Crashing Thunder Impact needed to savage or throw, respectively. Then I reread the pdf and assumed that a weapon with the Grappling tag allowed all three options automatically. Now I'm back to not being sure how far the vanilla Grappling allows.
I suppose you could always sidestep the squishiness and say that the serpent can only be removed with a gambit, rather than dealing with soak and Defense?
Thank you. I'd thought the Hun was destroyed when that happened, so it's good to be corrected.
Garrotes are a thing, and whips and chains can be used like garrotes. So I'm pretty sure a grappling weapon lets you savage with the weapon.
But you have to be body-to-body with your victim, hands on either side of their neck as you pull the coils taut.
Which is why I have a problem with THIS Charm:
I am STILL struggling with how to express this image properly in mechanical terms, and THIS Evocation you have written doesn't consider all the points that it should.
Maintaining the grapple is all well and good, but you HAVE to apply one of four different effects each turn you control a grapple. You either do nothing, and thus Release them (or allow them to shrug free of your static grip), or you Throw/Slam them, or you Savage them, or you Restrain/Drag them.
Restraining a victim isn't as simple as maintaining the hold, since it is meant to go beyond inflicting the usual grappling penalties on the victim in order to render them completely immobile and helpless. It also consumes an additional turn of control each time it's used; it's the ONLY effect you can't choose if you fail the control roll, whereas otherwise you can still choose to savage or throw the victim in the turn where you at least succeeded at grabbing them with the gambit.
And Restraining/Dragging is very much the specific effect this Evocation is going for, so the Evocation should be designed with that in mind. Especially since "cannot take move actions" is PROBABLY one of the "normal penalties" you mean for the artifact's user to avoid with this Evocation, so that you can drag the victim around.
This Evocation should explicitly spell out that it does not allow you to Savage a foe grappled in this manner until your character gets close enough to grab the other end of the whip and start strangling the victim. Getting the whip itself to throttle the victim for you, without requiring your other hand, should be the effect of a separate, upgrading Evocation.
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Charm text doesn't say, so stunt as you like.
greensun
You shall all burn beneath my light!!!
Cool; I'm going for the more flavorful description. I always like to make my Infernal's odd.
- Location
- Der Waffle Haus
When I first saw the 3E preview that showed that weapon categories would be reduced to three simplified weight categories I started to think of weapons that could switch between the weights. At some point that crossbred with an old Exaltified kusarigama (basically a grimscythe on a chain) that I had used in a previous game.
I originally started this out intending it to be an Artifact 3/4 that played around with size changing, but the concept got away from me and expanded to an Artifact 5. Where possible I lifted directly from similar 3E Charm text, but when I ventured into new territory and had to make up new wording I tried my best to make it sound right. Peach and all that, I'm just glad to have finally expelled this from my head.
I originally started this out intending it to be an Artifact 3/4 that played around with size changing, but the concept got away from me and expanded to an Artifact 5. Where possible I lifted directly from similar 3E Charm text, but when I ventured into new territory and had to make up new wording I tried my best to make it sound right. Peach and all that, I'm just glad to have finally expelled this from my head.
Kusarigama-Light Melee Weapon-A variation on the fighting chain, this weapon features a metal chain 3 to 5 yards long with a small sickle on one end and a heavy weight at the other.
Tags: Lethal, Melee, Disarming, Flexible, Reaching
Unslaked (Soulsteel Kusarigama, Artifact 5)
While a young weapon, only being completed five years ago, Unslaked's construction began centuries ago. Following the end of the Balorian Crusade the Southern gods charged with monitoring the Burning Wastes began sending reports of a troubling ritual among the nomads; At the start of Calibration a family would depart from the rest of the tribe, tie one of their number to a stake in the desert, and then stand vigil waiting for the sacrifice to die of thirst. At the victim's passing an Underworld representative would appear to take the new ghost away, bestowing a boon on the remaining family members they would take back to the tribe. Unslaked is the result of hundreds of years and thousands of these bargains, its soulsteel dense with tormented souls raging at their fate.
In its desiccated state Unslaked can almost pass as a mortal weapon, its chains dull and black, its blade unadorned (although its needle like taper recalls a mosquito's proboscis). The only obvious supernatural tell is the sickle's tendency to float off to nearby sources of water, although the prudent wielder keeps it restrained. However, when the sickle is allowed to feed on blood, Unslaked's true horror is revealed, for as the soulsteel gorges itself the blade expands, revealing a vista of still screaming faces and charnel grotesqueries.
Wielding Unslaked involves mastering this unique nature, sating the weapon's thirst and capitalizing on its burgeoning potential. True mastery comes when the wielder can command the very souls inside the weapon, letting their terror loose upon the world they despise.
Unslaked has two hearthstone sockets, one at the base of the sickle and one in the heavy weight at the opposite end of the chain.
New Keywords – Desiccated & Glutted: Unslaked has the ability to change its size (i.e. whether it is a Light, Medium, or Heavy weapon), and certain Evocations depend on what size the weapon is. Evocations with the Desiccated keyword can only be used while Unslaked is a Light weapon. Evocations with the Glutted keyword can only be used while Unslaked is a Medium or Heavy weapon.
Emerald Evocations
Blood to Surge Strike
Cost: 1m per i; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Unslaked's blade is every thirsting, and is more than happy to reward those who allow it to drink. After landing a decisive attack which resets her to base Initiative, the Solar may use this Charm, paying one mote per +1 to her base Initiative value, up to the amount of health levels of damage done by the decisive attack.
Injury to Armament Canker
Cost: 4m, 1lhl; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: Desiccated
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Surge Strike
Blood is blood to the souls, regardless of what is in it. Dragging the blade across their skin, the wielder allows Unslaked to drink. This Evocation cancels one poison the wielder suffers from, sending it instead to dwell in Unslaked, where it lingers until the wielder stops committing Essence to the Evocation. If Unslaked is used to strike a decisive attack while this Evocation is active, it discharges the held poison into the target. The target is then poisoned, with each poison having a Duration equal to their remaining intervals at the time they were banished into the sickle.
This Evocation upgrades if the wielder is Essence 3 and has learned Injury to Externality Compelling, allowing the wielder to treat their own negative Intimacies and Ties as poisons that can be drained and discharged.
Blood to Horror Consumption
Cost: --- (+2m or +4m); Mins: Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Desiccated
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Surge Strike
When allowed to drench its unquenchable thirst the true monstrosity of the weapon is revealed. This Evocation modifies its prerequisite. After landing a successful decisive attack, Unslaked's wielder may pay an additional two motes, causing the weapon to absorb the spilled blood and take on the traits of a Medium weapon. If the attack deals 5 or more levels of damage or incapacitates a non-trivial opponent the wielder may instead pay 4 motes, causing Unslaked to become a Heavy weapon and gaining the Two-Handed tag.
The first time this Evocation is used in a fight is horrifically unsettling, as the victim's drained body gives rise to a monstrous weapon. After its first transformation, Unslaked may roll to intimidate all enemies, rolling (health levels drained) with an Appearance of 3 if Medium, 5 if Heavy, both with the Hideous Merit. Affected enemies suffer a -1 penalty to fight against Unslaked unless they pay Willpower to resist.
While Unslaked is Medium or Heavy it becomes a valid form weapon for Martial Arts styles that use scythes or grimscythes (including White Reaper Style). Without the use of other Evocations to vent Unslaked it requires a day to drop down from Heavy to Medium, and another day to go from Medium to Light, as the blood stored within slowly leaks from its pores.
Potency to Liability Siphon
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Desiccated
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Surge Strike
While the blade prefers blood, the weapon is known to sample more esoteric offerings from its victims. Potency to Liability Siphon allows the wielder to use one of the following gambits, Unslaked's needle draining the vitality from weapons, armor, and legs.
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Glutted, Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Horror Consumption
Riling up the soulsteel, the Solar can cause the tormented souls to vent their fury, seams rippling in the weapon and releasing their concentrated vileness. This Evocation adds (Essence) to the attack's raw damage if Unslaked is Medium, (Essence + 2) if Heavy. Additionally, the blood spray vented by the weapon drains the moisture from the air and the victim, causing the target to suffer a -3 penalty to all actions for the target's next (5 – target's Stamina) turns. If Unslaked was Heavy, the target also suffers from a -2 penalty to Defense during that time. Unslaked becomes a Light Weapon.
Gore to Vigor Rejuvenation
Cost: --(+1wp or +2wp) ; Mins: Essence 2 ; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Glutted
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Injury to Armament Canker, Hate to Terror Outbreak
The Solar places her hands upon the engorged blade, the blood rushing from the weapon's stores and suffusing her being with renewed drive. The wielder must be in initiative crash, paying a point of willpower at start of turn to gain 3 initiative if Unslaked is Medium, 6 initiative if Unslaked is Heavy. Doing so causes Unslaked to become a Light Weapon. This initiative surge can only be used once per scene, but can be reset if Unslaked changes weapon category three times.
May be repurchased at Essence 4. The wielder must have at least one damaged -4 health level to use Gore to Vigor Rejuvenation, paying two points of Willpower at the start of her turn to heal (Essence - 2) levels of bashing and lethal damage if Unslaked is Medium, (Essence) if Unslaked is Heavy. Doing so causes Unslaked to become a Light weapon. This healing surge can only be used once per scene.
Impudence to Humility Rebuke
Cost: (+3m) ; Mins: Essence 2 ; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Glutted
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Horror Consumption, Revolving Crescent Defense
The insult of those who would attack Unslaked's wielder must be dealt with and repaid with interest. After successfully parrying an attack with Revolving Crescent Defense, the wielder may pay an additional 3m to automatically respond with a disarm gambit against the attacker, adding a number of automatic successes to the gambit's attack roll equal to the bonus granted by Revolving Crescent Defense as the weapon's chains lash out to ensare the attacker's weapon.
Sapphire Evocations
In order to unlock Unslaked's Sapphire Evocations, the Solar must first awaken at least four of its Emerald Evocations. Unlocking Unslaked's Sapphire Evocations adds the Innate Keyword to Blood to Surge Strike.
Humility to Ignominy Divestment
Cost: -- (+1wp) ; Mins: Essence 3 ; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Glutted
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Impudence to Humility Rebuke
Unslaked is a hate filled weapons, and seizes any opportunity to enact its spite on those it can. If Unslaked's wielder successfully disarms her enemy after using this Evocation's prerequisite with three extra successes on the Initiative roll, she may pay an additional Willpower to shatter a mundane weapon, or fling an artifact weapon out to short range and absorb the motes that had been attuned to it.
Terror to Dread Irruption
Cost: -- (+1m, 1wp) ; Mins: ; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Glutted, Decisive-only
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hate to Terror Outbreak
As the wielder becomes more attuned with the weapon they recognize that what seemed like inefficiencies and cracks in its design are instead deliberate features and weapons. By paying an additional 1 mote and one Willpower while using Hate to Terror Outbreak the attack ignores half of the target's hardness. If Heavy, also ignore half of Dodge. The blood fissures and sprays that Unslaked releases also affect a wider area, spreading the -3 penalty (and -2 to Defense if Unslaked was heavy) to all within close range of the target, who are each affected for (5 – Stamina) turns.
Succor to Sand Spiting
Cost: Ritual, 2wp ; Mins: Essence 2
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Emerald Circle Sorcery, Injury to Armament Canker
This Evocation functions as a Terrestrial Circle spell performed by the wielder and Unslaked. It cannot be a control spell.
As night falls, the sorcerer-wielder feeds Unslaked into a contained pool of water no larger than a desert oasis. Once submerged the weapon seems to come to life, darting through the water like a snake. As Unslaked swims through the water the sorcerer stands watch, intoning the curses she has learned from proximity to the weapon's tortured souls. When the sun begins to rise Unslaked will return to her hand.
After the ritual is complete, the cursed water will not sate thirst. Although it does not look or taste different and still mentally feels satisfying when drunk, drinking of the cursed liquid satisfies the need for water no better than empty air. Drinking only the cursed water eventually means that a person will become weak and then die of dehydration, even as their family members put cup after cup to their lips.
This Evocation upgrades automatically if the wielder learns Celestial Circle Sorcery. Once upgraded, each day spent drinking cursed water counts as an additional day of not drinking. A person with Stamina 2 who only drinks from the cursed source will thus die after one day from dehydration.
Distortion (Goal Number 7): Distorting Succor to Sand Spiting causes the curse to weaken in direct sunlight. Once exposed to the sun for an hour the curse subsides and functions again as regular water. The distortion only applies to a specific body or container of water. Distorting a single glass will not affect the well it was drawn from, and distorting a pool will not change what was in a flask taken from it earlier.
Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion
Cost: 7m, 3i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Glutted
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Terror to Dread Irruption
Holding the massively fatted blade in her hand and pointing to a foe, the wielder awakens Unslaked's fury and allows the souls within to shoot forth from great bloody gashes in the weapon. Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion can only be used if Unslaked is a Heavy weapon. The character makes a single unblockable decisive attack against a target out to medium range, as well as all those in a direct line between her and the target, as a cloud of angry souls pours across the air in between. She makes only one attack roll, applying the effects to all targets equally. The character must spread her Initiative among all struck opponents, with one die of base damage added to each target. She must allocate at least half of her Initiative (round up) to the "focal" target, but may otherwise divide her Initiative as she pleases.
If the attack successfully strikes the focal target a cloud of miasma erupts, the released susurrus of souls and boiling blood angrily lashing out at anything organic they can. Treat this miasma as an acid bath hazard at close range to the focal target (3L/Round, Diff 5), with noxious fumes equivalent to arrow frog venom (3i/round, 5 rounds, -2, inhalation) out to short range from the center, which lasts for 3 rounds. Unslaked becomes a Light Weapon. May be used once per scene, but can be reset if Blood to Horror Consumption is used on a character with Essence 2 or greater and causes Unslaked to become a Heavy weapon.
Injury to Externality Compelling
Cost: 5m per health level, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Desiccated
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Injury to Armament Canker, Potency to Liability Siphon
the wielder can use Unslaked's blade to force up to (Essence)damaged health levels onto a target, healing her own health levels in turn. When done in combat, this is a difficulty 5 gambit. May be used once per scene, but is reset if Blood to Horror Consumption is used to make Unslaked Heavy two times.
Victim to Thrall Wraithing
Cost: 4m, 4i; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only, Desiccated
Duration:
Prerequisite Charms: Injury to Externality Compelling
For as much as the souls within Unslaked yearn to lash out at the world they despise, they desire an escape from their weapon-prison even more. The Evocation allows them to enjoy both at the same time. If a decisive attack enhanced by this Evocation slays a person, Unslaked disgorges some of the souls trapped within it into the dead body of the victim, creating a thrall.
Treat the thrall as a war ghost (p. XX), save that it has only one -0 health level. (Storytellers may treat the new thrall as a "hungrier ghost" (p. XX) if the victim was particularly strong.) It rolls Join Battle and spends its turns attacking anyone close to it or moving to the closest target to attack, save that it will not attack Unslaked's wielder (her allies do not benefit from this protection).
Adamant Evocations
In order to unlock Unslaked's Adamant Evocations, the Solar must first awaken at least four of its Sapphire Evocations. Unlocking Unslaked's Adamant Evocations adds the Innate Keyword to Potency to Liability Siphon and Succor to Sand Spiting.
Pollution to Expulsion Pulse
Cost: 3m, 1i ; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Desiccated
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion
Swinging the sickle over her head, the wielder recalls the violent clouds of miasma to come to her and strike her enemies. This Evocation cancels all miasmas currently in effect, as they stream to the swinging of the weapon. For one turn she is surrounded by an environmental hazard of boiling blood and vengeful spirits (equivalent to an acid bath) out to short range, adding an extra 1L/round to the hazard's damage and +1 difficulty to resist for every two rounds of total miasma remaining.
On the turn after using Pollution to Expulsion Pulseto create an environmental hazard, the wielder may use this Evocation again at no cost to recall the miasma into Unslaked, causing it to become Heavy if there were five or more total miasma rounds remaining, Medium if less. Alternatively, the wielder may pay an additional 5 motes, 1 willpower to cause the miasma to be violently dispersed outward, a blasting gust of vileness that attempts to crawl into victims mouths and drink the water from their every pore. The wielder rolls (Dexterity + Melee); all characters within medium range must make a reflexive (Stamina + Resistance) roll at a difficulty equal to the successes rolled, or suffer a -3 penalty to all actions and -1 to defense for their next (total miasma rounds remaining – Stamina) turns.
Scalded to Athirst Conversion
Cost: (+2-5m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion, Victim to Thrall Wraithing
By strengthening her bond with Unslaked the wielder can direct its constituent souls even when they are allowed to escape. Whenever a miasma created by Unslaked incapacitates an opponent, the wielder may pay (5 - rounds remaining of miasma) motes, 1 willpower to create a thrall with the victim's body. This ends the miasma instantly, as the souls swarm into the new thrall's body.
Myrmidon to Monstrosity Malignment
Cost: -- ; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Victim to Thrall Wraithing
After purchasing this Evocation the thralls created by Unslaked are made more dangerous, as their bond with the wielder helps to unlock their full despicableness. Treat all thrall attacks as envenomed with arrow frog venom, and living characters damaged with a decisive attack are exposed to rabies. If a thrall's decisive bite attack incapacitates an opponent who is both crashed and out of Willpower they suffer "the thrall's kiss", the victim becoming a new thrall.
Melancholia to Desolation Curse
Cost: --; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Succor to Sand Spiting, Myrmidon to Monstrosity Malignment
Far from fighting to prevent the horrors of their deaths on others, the souls within Unslaked can almost be heard to cheer when someone new dies in a similar fashion, especially if it came at their hands. This permanently upgrades Succor to Sand Spiting. Those who die from dehydration caused by drinking cursed water now arise as thralls upon death.
Cohorts to Cannibals Conscription
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 5; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Glutted
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Scalded to Athirst Conversion, The Risen Hunger
Proximity to the dead has taught the wielder to view enemies as merely unwilling recruits in waiting. This charm supplements an attack against a living battle group. If the attack empties the battle group's Magnitude track, a new battle group of thralls (Size 1, Poor Drill, Might 0, Magnitude equal to the damage done by Unslaked) is formed from the slain enemies. Treat this as an undead battle group under the wielder's control.
Berserker to Wasteland Volatility
Cost: --; Mins: Essence 5; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Myrmidon to Monstrosity Malignment
This evocation upgrades thralls again, allowing them to treat the inhabited body as a dreadful laboratory of necrotic essence. When a thrall's -0 health level is filled it instantly explodes, the body seeming to evaporate in a cloud of gore and wrath, creating a miasma that lasts for one round.
Contagion to Cataclysm Command
Cost: 10m, 5i, 1wp ; Mins: Essence 5 ; Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Scalded to Athirst Conversion, Berserker to Wasteland Volatility
Activating this Evocation requires that at least five thralls are currently engaged as combatants in the battle. The wielder utters a dark word which causes all the souls from Unslaked to quake with a horrific purpose. This Evocation causes all thralls to explode, as if their -0 health level had been filled. Thralls exploding within short range of each other combine their miasmas, adding 1L/round to the damage, increasing the difficulty to avoid by 1, and extending the duration of the hazard for one additional round for each thrall adding to the hazard.
Tags: Lethal, Melee, Disarming, Flexible, Reaching
Unslaked (Soulsteel Kusarigama, Artifact 5)
While a young weapon, only being completed five years ago, Unslaked's construction began centuries ago. Following the end of the Balorian Crusade the Southern gods charged with monitoring the Burning Wastes began sending reports of a troubling ritual among the nomads; At the start of Calibration a family would depart from the rest of the tribe, tie one of their number to a stake in the desert, and then stand vigil waiting for the sacrifice to die of thirst. At the victim's passing an Underworld representative would appear to take the new ghost away, bestowing a boon on the remaining family members they would take back to the tribe. Unslaked is the result of hundreds of years and thousands of these bargains, its soulsteel dense with tormented souls raging at their fate.
In its desiccated state Unslaked can almost pass as a mortal weapon, its chains dull and black, its blade unadorned (although its needle like taper recalls a mosquito's proboscis). The only obvious supernatural tell is the sickle's tendency to float off to nearby sources of water, although the prudent wielder keeps it restrained. However, when the sickle is allowed to feed on blood, Unslaked's true horror is revealed, for as the soulsteel gorges itself the blade expands, revealing a vista of still screaming faces and charnel grotesqueries.
Wielding Unslaked involves mastering this unique nature, sating the weapon's thirst and capitalizing on its burgeoning potential. True mastery comes when the wielder can command the very souls inside the weapon, letting their terror loose upon the world they despise.
Unslaked has two hearthstone sockets, one at the base of the sickle and one in the heavy weight at the opposite end of the chain.
New Keywords – Desiccated & Glutted: Unslaked has the ability to change its size (i.e. whether it is a Light, Medium, or Heavy weapon), and certain Evocations depend on what size the weapon is. Evocations with the Desiccated keyword can only be used while Unslaked is a Light weapon. Evocations with the Glutted keyword can only be used while Unslaked is a Medium or Heavy weapon.
Emerald Evocations
Blood to Surge Strike
Cost: 1m per i; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None
Unslaked's blade is every thirsting, and is more than happy to reward those who allow it to drink. After landing a decisive attack which resets her to base Initiative, the Solar may use this Charm, paying one mote per +1 to her base Initiative value, up to the amount of health levels of damage done by the decisive attack.
Injury to Armament Canker
Cost: 4m, 1lhl; Mins: Essence 1; Type: Simple
Keywords: Desiccated
Duration: Indefinite
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Surge Strike
Blood is blood to the souls, regardless of what is in it. Dragging the blade across their skin, the wielder allows Unslaked to drink. This Evocation cancels one poison the wielder suffers from, sending it instead to dwell in Unslaked, where it lingers until the wielder stops committing Essence to the Evocation. If Unslaked is used to strike a decisive attack while this Evocation is active, it discharges the held poison into the target. The target is then poisoned, with each poison having a Duration equal to their remaining intervals at the time they were banished into the sickle.
This Evocation upgrades if the wielder is Essence 3 and has learned Injury to Externality Compelling, allowing the wielder to treat their own negative Intimacies and Ties as poisons that can be drained and discharged.
Blood to Horror Consumption
Cost: --- (+2m or +4m); Mins: Essence 1; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Desiccated
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Surge Strike
When allowed to drench its unquenchable thirst the true monstrosity of the weapon is revealed. This Evocation modifies its prerequisite. After landing a successful decisive attack, Unslaked's wielder may pay an additional two motes, causing the weapon to absorb the spilled blood and take on the traits of a Medium weapon. If the attack deals 5 or more levels of damage or incapacitates a non-trivial opponent the wielder may instead pay 4 motes, causing Unslaked to become a Heavy weapon and gaining the Two-Handed tag.
The first time this Evocation is used in a fight is horrifically unsettling, as the victim's drained body gives rise to a monstrous weapon. After its first transformation, Unslaked may roll to intimidate all enemies, rolling (health levels drained) with an Appearance of 3 if Medium, 5 if Heavy, both with the Hideous Merit. Affected enemies suffer a -1 penalty to fight against Unslaked unless they pay Willpower to resist.
While Unslaked is Medium or Heavy it becomes a valid form weapon for Martial Arts styles that use scythes or grimscythes (including White Reaper Style). Without the use of other Evocations to vent Unslaked it requires a day to drop down from Heavy to Medium, and another day to go from Medium to Light, as the blood stored within slowly leaks from its pores.
Potency to Liability Siphon
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Desiccated
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Surge Strike
While the blade prefers blood, the weapon is known to sample more esoteric offerings from its victims. Potency to Liability Siphon allows the wielder to use one of the following gambits, Unslaked's needle draining the vitality from weapons, armor, and legs.
- Stalwart to Wavering Pierce (Difficulty 4): Unslaked skates across a foes armor or skin, drinking of his fortitude. The victim loses and the Solar gains up to (Stamina) soak, an effect which persists for (Essence) turns.
- Fleet to Fumbling Withdrawal (Difficulty 3): The victim's legs are quickly constricted by Unslaked's chain, their agility fleeing to another. The victim loses and the Solar gains up to (Dexterity) movement dice, an effect which persists for (Essence) turns.
- Thew to Trembling Lash (Difficulty 4): This can target either weapons or muscle fibers, their might flowing into Unslaked. The victim loses and the Solar gains up to (Strength) damage dice, an effect which persists for (Essence) turns.
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Glutted, Decisive-only
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Horror Consumption
Riling up the soulsteel, the Solar can cause the tormented souls to vent their fury, seams rippling in the weapon and releasing their concentrated vileness. This Evocation adds (Essence) to the attack's raw damage if Unslaked is Medium, (Essence + 2) if Heavy. Additionally, the blood spray vented by the weapon drains the moisture from the air and the victim, causing the target to suffer a -3 penalty to all actions for the target's next (5 – target's Stamina) turns. If Unslaked was Heavy, the target also suffers from a -2 penalty to Defense during that time. Unslaked becomes a Light Weapon.
Gore to Vigor Rejuvenation
Cost: --(+1wp or +2wp) ; Mins: Essence 2 ; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Glutted
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Injury to Armament Canker, Hate to Terror Outbreak
The Solar places her hands upon the engorged blade, the blood rushing from the weapon's stores and suffusing her being with renewed drive. The wielder must be in initiative crash, paying a point of willpower at start of turn to gain 3 initiative if Unslaked is Medium, 6 initiative if Unslaked is Heavy. Doing so causes Unslaked to become a Light Weapon. This initiative surge can only be used once per scene, but can be reset if Unslaked changes weapon category three times.
May be repurchased at Essence 4. The wielder must have at least one damaged -4 health level to use Gore to Vigor Rejuvenation, paying two points of Willpower at the start of her turn to heal (Essence - 2) levels of bashing and lethal damage if Unslaked is Medium, (Essence) if Unslaked is Heavy. Doing so causes Unslaked to become a Light weapon. This healing surge can only be used once per scene.
Impudence to Humility Rebuke
Cost: (+3m) ; Mins: Essence 2 ; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Glutted
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Blood to Horror Consumption, Revolving Crescent Defense
The insult of those who would attack Unslaked's wielder must be dealt with and repaid with interest. After successfully parrying an attack with Revolving Crescent Defense, the wielder may pay an additional 3m to automatically respond with a disarm gambit against the attacker, adding a number of automatic successes to the gambit's attack roll equal to the bonus granted by Revolving Crescent Defense as the weapon's chains lash out to ensare the attacker's weapon.
Sapphire Evocations
In order to unlock Unslaked's Sapphire Evocations, the Solar must first awaken at least four of its Emerald Evocations. Unlocking Unslaked's Sapphire Evocations adds the Innate Keyword to Blood to Surge Strike.
Humility to Ignominy Divestment
Cost: -- (+1wp) ; Mins: Essence 3 ; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Glutted
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Impudence to Humility Rebuke
Unslaked is a hate filled weapons, and seizes any opportunity to enact its spite on those it can. If Unslaked's wielder successfully disarms her enemy after using this Evocation's prerequisite with three extra successes on the Initiative roll, she may pay an additional Willpower to shatter a mundane weapon, or fling an artifact weapon out to short range and absorb the motes that had been attuned to it.
Terror to Dread Irruption
Cost: -- (+1m, 1wp) ; Mins: ; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Glutted, Decisive-only
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Hate to Terror Outbreak
As the wielder becomes more attuned with the weapon they recognize that what seemed like inefficiencies and cracks in its design are instead deliberate features and weapons. By paying an additional 1 mote and one Willpower while using Hate to Terror Outbreak the attack ignores half of the target's hardness. If Heavy, also ignore half of Dodge. The blood fissures and sprays that Unslaked releases also affect a wider area, spreading the -3 penalty (and -2 to Defense if Unslaked was heavy) to all within close range of the target, who are each affected for (5 – Stamina) turns.
Succor to Sand Spiting
Cost: Ritual, 2wp ; Mins: Essence 2
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Emerald Circle Sorcery, Injury to Armament Canker
This Evocation functions as a Terrestrial Circle spell performed by the wielder and Unslaked. It cannot be a control spell.
As night falls, the sorcerer-wielder feeds Unslaked into a contained pool of water no larger than a desert oasis. Once submerged the weapon seems to come to life, darting through the water like a snake. As Unslaked swims through the water the sorcerer stands watch, intoning the curses she has learned from proximity to the weapon's tortured souls. When the sun begins to rise Unslaked will return to her hand.
After the ritual is complete, the cursed water will not sate thirst. Although it does not look or taste different and still mentally feels satisfying when drunk, drinking of the cursed liquid satisfies the need for water no better than empty air. Drinking only the cursed water eventually means that a person will become weak and then die of dehydration, even as their family members put cup after cup to their lips.
This Evocation upgrades automatically if the wielder learns Celestial Circle Sorcery. Once upgraded, each day spent drinking cursed water counts as an additional day of not drinking. A person with Stamina 2 who only drinks from the cursed source will thus die after one day from dehydration.
Distortion (Goal Number 7): Distorting Succor to Sand Spiting causes the curse to weaken in direct sunlight. Once exposed to the sun for an hour the curse subsides and functions again as regular water. The distortion only applies to a specific body or container of water. Distorting a single glass will not affect the well it was drawn from, and distorting a pool will not change what was in a flask taken from it earlier.
Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion
Cost: 7m, 3i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Glutted
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Terror to Dread Irruption
Holding the massively fatted blade in her hand and pointing to a foe, the wielder awakens Unslaked's fury and allows the souls within to shoot forth from great bloody gashes in the weapon. Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion can only be used if Unslaked is a Heavy weapon. The character makes a single unblockable decisive attack against a target out to medium range, as well as all those in a direct line between her and the target, as a cloud of angry souls pours across the air in between. She makes only one attack roll, applying the effects to all targets equally. The character must spread her Initiative among all struck opponents, with one die of base damage added to each target. She must allocate at least half of her Initiative (round up) to the "focal" target, but may otherwise divide her Initiative as she pleases.
If the attack successfully strikes the focal target a cloud of miasma erupts, the released susurrus of souls and boiling blood angrily lashing out at anything organic they can. Treat this miasma as an acid bath hazard at close range to the focal target (3L/Round, Diff 5), with noxious fumes equivalent to arrow frog venom (3i/round, 5 rounds, -2, inhalation) out to short range from the center, which lasts for 3 rounds. Unslaked becomes a Light Weapon. May be used once per scene, but can be reset if Blood to Horror Consumption is used on a character with Essence 2 or greater and causes Unslaked to become a Heavy weapon.
Injury to Externality Compelling
Cost: 5m per health level, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-only, Desiccated
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Injury to Armament Canker, Potency to Liability Siphon
the wielder can use Unslaked's blade to force up to (Essence)damaged health levels onto a target, healing her own health levels in turn. When done in combat, this is a difficulty 5 gambit. May be used once per scene, but is reset if Blood to Horror Consumption is used to make Unslaked Heavy two times.
Victim to Thrall Wraithing
Cost: 4m, 4i; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Decisive-only, Desiccated
Duration:
Prerequisite Charms: Injury to Externality Compelling
For as much as the souls within Unslaked yearn to lash out at the world they despise, they desire an escape from their weapon-prison even more. The Evocation allows them to enjoy both at the same time. If a decisive attack enhanced by this Evocation slays a person, Unslaked disgorges some of the souls trapped within it into the dead body of the victim, creating a thrall.
Treat the thrall as a war ghost (p. XX), save that it has only one -0 health level. (Storytellers may treat the new thrall as a "hungrier ghost" (p. XX) if the victim was particularly strong.) It rolls Join Battle and spends its turns attacking anyone close to it or moving to the closest target to attack, save that it will not attack Unslaked's wielder (her allies do not benefit from this protection).
Adamant Evocations
In order to unlock Unslaked's Adamant Evocations, the Solar must first awaken at least four of its Sapphire Evocations. Unlocking Unslaked's Adamant Evocations adds the Innate Keyword to Potency to Liability Siphon and Succor to Sand Spiting.
Pollution to Expulsion Pulse
Cost: 3m, 1i ; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Simple
Keywords: Desiccated
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion
Swinging the sickle over her head, the wielder recalls the violent clouds of miasma to come to her and strike her enemies. This Evocation cancels all miasmas currently in effect, as they stream to the swinging of the weapon. For one turn she is surrounded by an environmental hazard of boiling blood and vengeful spirits (equivalent to an acid bath) out to short range, adding an extra 1L/round to the hazard's damage and +1 difficulty to resist for every two rounds of total miasma remaining.
On the turn after using Pollution to Expulsion Pulseto create an environmental hazard, the wielder may use this Evocation again at no cost to recall the miasma into Unslaked, causing it to become Heavy if there were five or more total miasma rounds remaining, Medium if less. Alternatively, the wielder may pay an additional 5 motes, 1 willpower to cause the miasma to be violently dispersed outward, a blasting gust of vileness that attempts to crawl into victims mouths and drink the water from their every pore. The wielder rolls (Dexterity + Melee); all characters within medium range must make a reflexive (Stamina + Resistance) roll at a difficulty equal to the successes rolled, or suffer a -3 penalty to all actions and -1 to defense for their next (total miasma rounds remaining – Stamina) turns.
Scalded to Athirst Conversion
Cost: (+2-5m, 1wp); Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion, Victim to Thrall Wraithing
By strengthening her bond with Unslaked the wielder can direct its constituent souls even when they are allowed to escape. Whenever a miasma created by Unslaked incapacitates an opponent, the wielder may pay (5 - rounds remaining of miasma) motes, 1 willpower to create a thrall with the victim's body. This ends the miasma instantly, as the souls swarm into the new thrall's body.
Myrmidon to Monstrosity Malignment
Cost: -- ; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Victim to Thrall Wraithing
After purchasing this Evocation the thralls created by Unslaked are made more dangerous, as their bond with the wielder helps to unlock their full despicableness. Treat all thrall attacks as envenomed with arrow frog venom, and living characters damaged with a decisive attack are exposed to rabies. If a thrall's decisive bite attack incapacitates an opponent who is both crashed and out of Willpower they suffer "the thrall's kiss", the victim becoming a new thrall.
Melancholia to Desolation Curse
Cost: --; Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Succor to Sand Spiting, Myrmidon to Monstrosity Malignment
Far from fighting to prevent the horrors of their deaths on others, the souls within Unslaked can almost be heard to cheer when someone new dies in a similar fashion, especially if it came at their hands. This permanently upgrades Succor to Sand Spiting. Those who die from dehydration caused by drinking cursed water now arise as thralls upon death.
Cohorts to Cannibals Conscription
Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 5; Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Glutted
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Scalded to Athirst Conversion, The Risen Hunger
Proximity to the dead has taught the wielder to view enemies as merely unwilling recruits in waiting. This charm supplements an attack against a living battle group. If the attack empties the battle group's Magnitude track, a new battle group of thralls (Size 1, Poor Drill, Might 0, Magnitude equal to the damage done by Unslaked) is formed from the slain enemies. Treat this as an undead battle group under the wielder's control.
Berserker to Wasteland Volatility
Cost: --; Mins: Essence 5; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Myrmidon to Monstrosity Malignment
This evocation upgrades thralls again, allowing them to treat the inhabited body as a dreadful laboratory of necrotic essence. When a thrall's -0 health level is filled it instantly explodes, the body seeming to evaporate in a cloud of gore and wrath, creating a miasma that lasts for one round.
Contagion to Cataclysm Command
Cost: 10m, 5i, 1wp ; Mins: Essence 5 ; Type: Simple
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Scalded to Athirst Conversion, Berserker to Wasteland Volatility
Activating this Evocation requires that at least five thralls are currently engaged as combatants in the battle. The wielder utters a dark word which causes all the souls from Unslaked to quake with a horrific purpose. This Evocation causes all thralls to explode, as if their -0 health level had been filled. Thralls exploding within short range of each other combine their miasmas, adding 1L/round to the damage, increasing the difficulty to avoid by 1, and extending the duration of the hazard for one additional round for each thrall adding to the hazard.
It would make sense, yeah, but...
As intended, it does allow you to savage the victim, and restrain/drag him, and throw him, just like you could in a normal grapple. The only difference is that you don't get hit with the "While grappling or being grappled, both characters suffer a -2 penalty to their Defense and cannot perform flurries" clause... and I guess it should really just be the defense penalty, because I'm not exactly sure what flurrying in a grapple would do. I guess maybe the charm could use a "The grapple is otherwise continued as normal" at the end.
Okay, I've had a chance to look over Unslaked; here are my comments.
Shouldn't it be a martial arts weapon, akin to the fighting chain? Heck, I'd just treat it as a dire chain that does lethal; even let it be used with the same MA styles. (Leaving the default size of this particular one at light, of course.)
Yikes. This is a really potent effect; compare it to the Dawn anima power. I think it needs to be scaled back, especially since it's an E1 entry charm.
I don't think an evocation that causes you hate less is really appropriate here.
- Are the penalties/bonuses capped by the wielder's attributes, or the victim's?
Hmm. Does the weapon shrink back down to light if the attack misses?
Why is this Permanent rather than Simple or Reflexive (I'm not sure which it's supposed to be)?
Revolving Crescent Defense doesn't seem to exist...
What does absorbing the motes mean? Does the wielder gain them? And is there anything stopping the enemy from immediately reattuning the weapon if he's the first to pick it back up?
I like the idea of an evocation-spell, but this is the kind of effect that you're supposed to use Sorcerous Workings for now.
Wouldn't zombies make more sense than ghosts? Or shouldn't they be material, if nothing else?
How are you ever going to have more than one active cloud of miasma? It's only created by Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion (which is not exactly spammable) and exploding thralls. I mean, I guess you could get a lot of thralls together with Melancholia to Desolation Curse if you had some way to herd them around, but overall I don't think the "number of turns left" mechanic will be relevant often enough to bother including.
How do battle groups of thralls interact with Berserker to Wasteland Volatility and Contagion to Cataclysm Command? Also, are these thralls supposed to be more controllable than the norm?
What's the size of this miasma?
You probably need some kind of cap on the miasma danger; 13L/round, Difficulty 15 is kind of bullshit, and arguably easy to achieve with Cohorts to Cannibals Conscription.
But should it?
What does that even look like? With one hand, you're holding a whip that extends towards and wraps completely around the other guy. Keep in mind, he needs to be Restrained, because otherwise he can easily shrug free of the lifeless and unresponsive coils. Or at least have the power to move around with the whip's slack.
If the whip's coils are animated, such that it can wrestle with the victim without you... that still seems like a completely separate effect from "grapple to Restrain or Throw at a distance".
At least using Throw/Slam to damage the victim makes sense; you yank hard enough on the whip to topple them into the ground or a wall, probably pulling them into close range of yourself to do it. You don't need any more leverage than you already have, and the whip doesn't need its own animating force.
But it doesn't let you grapple at a distance. Or, not mechanically, anyway; it does let you grapple at arm's length. The coils are animated; it wraps around the target like a snake, so you can savage by squeezing or shaking them. "Animated like a snake" is kind of one of Coiled Lightning's things.
wingnut2292
<Verified Sugar Addict>
- Location
- Milwaukee Metro
I found these alternate Yozi/Infernal on the Exalted MUSH. I'm interested, but I wanted to see if anyone else has heard of / seen of these Yozi/Charmsets? I was thinking of using them in my tabletop game and wanted to check for any known ballance/game breaking issues before showing them to my GM.
Exalted MUSH New Infernal Castes
Ta'akozoka Charms
Mardukth Charms
Isidoros Charms
Hegra Charms
Exalted MUSH New Infernal Castes
Ta'akozoka Charms
Mardukth Charms
Isidoros Charms
Hegra Charms
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I'd note that the first two got permakilled into Neverborn in canon, so they require setting tweaks.
Also, @Revlid did an Isidoros Charmset of his own.
- Location
- Der Waffle Haus
Thanks, much appreciated!
Hmm, I think I mistakenly thought fighting chains were light when I first started and never corrected my misreading. This makes more sense.
My benchmark for this was Striving Aftershock Method (2m to add +2 to base after landing a decisive, so I figured each +1 to base initiative was 1m), but that is Essence 3. Would 2m per +1i be balanced?
Doh, that line was a relic from when Unslaked had a lot more stuff about inflicting negative intimacies. I'll remove that going forward.
Wielder's, will add that in.
Intention is that all of the 'venting' attacks cause it to shrink no matter if they succeed or not. I'll try to make that clearer.
Originally this was a straight copy of Snow Follows Winter (the White Reaper charm that uses halos to heal) which has it as Permanent. I'm not great at delineating between types of actions though, so if anybody knows if Simple or Reflexive would be more appropriate I'm all ears.
It's a White Reaper Style Charm. It's my favorite MA so I figured I'd include a nudge for users to dip into it.
Intention is wielder gains them, yes, will try to make that clearer. No intention to stop reattuning.
I liked the hungry ghost stats, but I completely forgot that hungry ghosts were naturally/could be immaterial. Should make it clearer that it's hungry ghost stats in a material body.
Hmm, true. Maybe cut out all of the turn stuff and just make it a flat acid bath hazard and (5 - Stamina)?
They interact in a "Oops, forgot to consider that" sense. Maybe just abstract it away and say they create a miasma as if they were one thrall.
They are intended to be more controllable, at least as a battle group. The Risen Hunger is the Abyssal undead battle group charm, so I figured it would give greater control over these thralls.
Acid bath hazard at close range, Arrow frog venom at short. I got tired of typing that out/it looked clunky for all of the charms, so I thought I'd label that occurrence a miasma.
Hmm, would keeping the Difficulty a constant 5 and capping damage at (Essence + 2) be reasonable?
Thanks again!
The_Reptile_
Jolly Good
- Location
- THE PITS OF HELL. Also known as Connecticut.
Speaking as the current ditector of that Mush: Most of those Charms aren't very good anyway, either due to poorly thought out or limited mechanics, or being edging into the OP range in the case of Mardukth, and we're likely going to excise them in the next iteration.
Romantic_Kaiju
Romantic Kaiju
- Location
- National Battlefield
Mardukth (I can't be this big, can I?) and Ta'akozoka are currently Neverborn. To use these sets you must first tweak the setting so they are not Neverborn, or allow Plundering Cosmic Graves, From the Compilation The Book of Ten Thousand Scorpions by @EarthScorpion I believe.
Edit Sidereal'ed
Also, whats a MUSH?
They're Martial Arts, too, not Melee.
It's not just the efficiency, there's also the cap, which in combination with Hate to Terror Outbreak (and maybe another decisive damage booster) is potentially high enough to make decisive attacks spammable. (Oh, and shouldn't it be Decisive-Only?)
Hmm, so it does. Well, Permanent is okay, too, I suppose. Seems a little weak, though; I'd think more along the lines of setting initiative to 3/6 instead of just adding 3/6 initiative (which might still leave you crashed), and drop the willpower cost of the healing version to 1.
Oh, that's why it sounded familiar. Speaking of White Reaper Style, though, I'm not sure a chain with a big sickle on the end is similar enough to a normal scythe to justify using it in the same style.
Wait, is it the hungry ghost stats, or the war ghost stats?
Except centered on a point, rather than along a line. It's different enough that you can't just say "it's the same".
Yeah, probably.
I notice you didn't address my comment about Succor to Sand Spiting. To elaborate, 3e seems to have offloaded all the "do something big and highly specialized" spells into the Sorcerous Working system, and only uses actual spells for highly repeatable effects. Succor to Sand Spiting isn't highly repeatable; it's more like Water from Stone or Raising the Earth's Bones, and that kind of thing is done with sorcerous workings now.
By the way, shouldn't it suck all the water out of blood it absorbs, and spray crimson salt around instead?
- Location
- Der Waffle Haus
Since that's much cooler than the alternative, yes, yes it should.
Hmm, I didn't think about the cap. Even assuming the average mortal combatant would have 7hl, going up against a Supernal Resistance could amount to a hilarious amount of base initiative. (Essence +2) as a cap might be too big (since at Essence 5 you'd have the chance to reset to 10i). Maybe (Essence or 3, whichever is higher).
3/6 was the intention, I keep forgetting you can go to negative initiative in crash.
As written, you don't even need a scythe as long as your unarmed attacks "emulate the wide reach of polearms in whirling strikes". Swinging a scythe around on a chain seems to fit within that whirling spirit.
Hungry ghost stats. Also, I need to get my eyes checked. War ghost and hungrier ghost are literally stacked on top of each other in my Word draft and I still had to reread it twice to realize my mistake.
None of the miasmas are along a line. Abhorrence to Miasma Expulsion shoots souls out (for the initial multi-decisive attack) but the miasma is centered on the focal target. Thrall miasmas are centered on the thrall. I might need to rework that to make that clearer?
I had originally intended to respond, but ran out of time before running off to work. Mechanically, I like it better as a spell because it can be distorted (workings would require a separate working to overlay, not undo), the ritual to perform is on the same timeframe as Summon [x] rather than the weeks contemplated by a working, and I think the effect is repeatable (as in, it always requires the same conditions and always has the same output) where workings have more give due to finesse and ambition. It also fits better as a spell because you can just buy the charm/spell once and then perform it an infinity times after that, where a Working would require xp each time.
It also just might be personal preference/outlook. You mention that Succor to Sand Spiting is more like "something big and highly specialized" than a spell, but I don't consider it anymore specialized than something like Corrupted Words. I see Workings as unique effects dependent on context but capable of greater variety and flexibility, while spells are rigid/uniform in effect each time once they go off (the "It's Obsidian Butterflies, not Silver Hawks" thing).
Roadie
A plate full of blins and a cat nearby.
So I looked at the text of 3e's Foe-Vaulting Method, and wow, it's pretty terrible.
The text is clumsy, and worst of all, it's completely unclear to somebody looking at it for the first time if it enhances an attack, or if it makes an extra attack.
So here was my first try at rewriting it:
And then I got to thinking of what it might look like if the devs weren't slavishly sticking to 2e Charm formatting for no good reason:
The text is clumsy, and worst of all, it's completely unclear to somebody looking at it for the first time if it enhances an attack, or if it makes an extra attack.
So here was my first try at rewriting it:
And then I got to thinking of what it might look like if the devs weren't slavishly sticking to 2e Charm formatting for no good reason:
greensun
You shall all burn beneath my light!!!
They'll probably fix it on publication. It was a draft text and a lot of stuff was probably still under going revisions.
shepsquared
Erratic Aussie
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
Gotta say, that third iteration is really easy to read and understand.
Yes, but Roadie, to make sensible changes to 2e legacy code probably goes against the design docs. I mean, why else would they retain all the legacy Attributes and Abilities and incredibly dumb things like linear-chargen-exponential-XP?
Ignoring all the other sweeping changes they made to the game, sure.