Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
Robert *came* to power in a civil war... which was only a few generations after the Targ's lost their
Robert's much closer to being Fokuf than being the SE.
General Exalted Thread
Robert's much closer to being Fokuf than being the SE.
Aaron Peori
Rest in Peace
(shrug) Replace The Lap with whatever other satrapy or threshold state you want to name then. The idea is to give the PCs some breathing room and allow them to wander around being good old fashioned fantasy murderhobos until they find themselves in charge of some area, give them time to build up and institute reforms, maybe have the local satrap or Immaculate temple throw some danger their way.
Revlid kind of has the point. It doesn't need to be that Scarlet was the first and only Empress, but their needs to have been enough of a shake up that their command and control is going to struggle to deal with things flying apart at the far ends.
If I were reimagining it, I'd have the Empress be like the forth or fifth to hold the title but have the Realm/Immaculate Faith playing a long game and concealing that fact to create an illusion of stability. Maybe even have something about the very nature of the Sword of Creation change the user in such a way that the various Empresses have been very uniform. Then I'd have this crisis based on a failure of that system, with the Sword no longer accepting new user. Perhaps even tie that back into the Solar's return. "Sorry, emergency authorities have been revoked now that primary user has been detected," kind of deal.
- Location
- The end of all things
In 3e, the Empress's "specialness" can be derived from the simple fact that she is an exceedingly ambitious sorceress with access to the best possible infrastructure, essentially unlimited resources, and a lack of relevant moral constraints. She's not in the habit of dragging live Anathema into the Imperial Manse just for fun. She doesn't even need an Artifact N/A to give her access to Celestial Circle Sorcery, just a willingness to take a calculated risk and seize it for herself.
Indefinite longevity? Easy enough. Greatly enhanced power? Depends on what you're willing to allow from workings, but she's probably substantially stronger than a Dragon-Blooded has any right to be. Possibly vastly stronger. Really, the primary thing limiting her is social constraints, both from the Dynasty and from the Bronze Faction. She's got to look and act roughly the same, and she has a huge number of other responsibilities that eat up her time. Well, that and she has to be really careful that she doesn't change herself so much that she locks herself out of the Sword of Creation. That would be quite unfortunate.
Indefinite longevity? Easy enough. Greatly enhanced power? Depends on what you're willing to allow from workings, but she's probably substantially stronger than a Dragon-Blooded has any right to be. Possibly vastly stronger. Really, the primary thing limiting her is social constraints, both from the Dynasty and from the Bronze Faction. She's got to look and act roughly the same, and she has a huge number of other responsibilities that eat up her time. Well, that and she has to be really careful that she doesn't change herself so much that she locks herself out of the Sword of Creation. That would be quite unfortunate.
"You can run like Adorjan, fight like a Forsaken. But you'll never be better than the Scarlet Empress"- Immaculate Monk on the Scarlet Empress
Bursting Eagerness Soul
Threadwalking Rating Machine
- Location
- Wisconsin
Would you consider doing a write-up of your major changes to the setting for those of us not fortunate enough to already know? I find the idea of Imperial inheritance being based on the RDG really cool in particular and would want to see more of it.
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
So she's doing the whole Transhumanism thing?
The take away I have from this is that 3e's playtesting of "mortals first and then it should scale up to exalts just fine" was a terrible plan.
Romantic_Kaiju
Romantic Kaiju
- Location
- National Battlefield
@EarthScorpion
How does Chartreuse Coronary Ignition from the Book of Ten Thousand Scorpions work with the Pantheon Keyword? And how does it interact with Fourth-Soul Devil Domain and the fact Pantheon souls appear there and are...
Because I think it would work much like is seen in Kerisgame, with the Sun-Heart being inside the Devil-Domain, and being able to be pulled out at will. This would also be the first charm.. that played off the pantheon Keyword, as a side effect this charm would allow to pull out the soul that you have been talking with, teaching, and being friends with and would let you pull them out into the real world for a small price (1 mote per hour).
Wait, the Pantheon Keyword already gives you souls, and they can become aware, so CCI would be obsoleted by the Pantheon Keyword, and instead would have the auxiliary effect (summoning, manifesting in the Real? world)
How does Chartreuse Coronary Ignition from the Book of Ten Thousand Scorpions work with the Pantheon Keyword? And how does it interact with Fourth-Soul Devil Domain and the fact Pantheon souls appear there and are...
Because I think it would work much like is seen in Kerisgame, with the Sun-Heart being inside the Devil-Domain, and being able to be pulled out at will. This would also be the first charm.. that played off the pantheon Keyword, as a side effect this charm would allow to pull out the soul that you have been talking with, teaching, and being friends with and would let you pull them out into the real world for a small price (1 mote per hour).
Wait, the Pantheon Keyword already gives you souls, and they can become aware, so CCI would be obsoleted by the Pantheon Keyword, and instead would have the auxiliary effect (summoning, manifesting in the Real? world)
Cost: - (1m/hour); Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: First Malfeas Excellency, Sun-Heart Furnace Soul
The terrible burning power of Unquestionable Ligier is far greater than mindless sleepfulness can support. Feeding the immature soul within them with wrathful glory, the Infernal grows a second, mightier heart which sits in their chest; the corpus of a newborn coronary prince. Upon learning this Charm, the Infernal's quiescent fifth soul becomes a deva in its own right, with Essence equal to (Infernal's Essence). The Infernal's player and the Storyteller should design the newborn deva around the personal themes of the warlock and their personality as interpreted through the Malfeas Excellency, and it may learn spirit Charms appropriate to those themes. No matter its precise appearance, green fire and stellar themes will be a dominant motif. It has an unbreakable positive Intimacy towards the Infernal - though the precise context of the Intimacy may change.
By default, the deva-princeling slumbers dormant within the Infernal's chest. It only naturally respires motes when inactive, and during such times is an invalid target for any effects. It costs the warlock one mote per hour to allow it activity, and this cost must be paid from the Peripheral pool granted by this Charm's prerequisite. While it is active, the deva-princeling co-locates between its throne in the Infernal's chest, and whatever its spiritual-form is doing.
For any Charms and sorceries which distinguish, the deva-princeling despite its relative weakness counts as a deva of the Third Circle. It is not party to the Surrender Oaths of the Yozis nor the law of Cecelyne, and thus may not be summoned, bound or banished. If the deva-princeling is killed, it automatically regenerates after five days. If it is killed with a spirit-killing Charm, a new deva-princeling forms after a year and a day, although it is a separate being with no shared memories and a different personality to the previous one, and the Infernal loses access to the mote pool granted by this Charm's prerequisite while it regrows.
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: First Malfeas Excellency, Sun-Heart Furnace Soul
The terrible burning power of Unquestionable Ligier is far greater than mindless sleepfulness can support. Feeding the immature soul within them with wrathful glory, the Infernal grows a second, mightier heart which sits in their chest; the corpus of a newborn coronary prince. Upon learning this Charm, the Infernal's quiescent fifth soul becomes a deva in its own right, with Essence equal to (Infernal's Essence). The Infernal's player and the Storyteller should design the newborn deva around the personal themes of the warlock and their personality as interpreted through the Malfeas Excellency, and it may learn spirit Charms appropriate to those themes. No matter its precise appearance, green fire and stellar themes will be a dominant motif. It has an unbreakable positive Intimacy towards the Infernal - though the precise context of the Intimacy may change.
By default, the deva-princeling slumbers dormant within the Infernal's chest. It only naturally respires motes when inactive, and during such times is an invalid target for any effects. It costs the warlock one mote per hour to allow it activity, and this cost must be paid from the Peripheral pool granted by this Charm's prerequisite. While it is active, the deva-princeling co-locates between its throne in the Infernal's chest, and whatever its spiritual-form is doing.
For any Charms and sorceries which distinguish, the deva-princeling despite its relative weakness counts as a deva of the Third Circle. It is not party to the Surrender Oaths of the Yozis nor the law of Cecelyne, and thus may not be summoned, bound or banished. If the deva-princeling is killed, it automatically regenerates after five days. If it is killed with a spirit-killing Charm, a new deva-princeling forms after a year and a day, although it is a separate being with no shared memories and a different personality to the previous one, and the Infernal loses access to the mote pool granted by this Charm's prerequisite while it regrows.
Obsolete charmtech, rendered redundant by the Pantheon keyword and Titanic Heart Overweening. You manifest your Pantheon soul linked to Sun Heart Furnace Soul through an intimacy using THO - you don't need a specific Charm just for it.
Romantic_Kaiju
Romantic Kaiju
- Location
- National Battlefield
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
Hey, is there any place i can get a copy of this? I remember seeing an image of this charm tree presented as a joke, but I have not been able to find it again. (this may be due to GREAT FIREWALL)
For that matter, is that giant pile of Styles @Aleph mentioned publicly available?
Sucal
The Devil’s Cut
- Location
- Bottom of the barrel
I'm pretty sure that the styles that Aleph mentioned are the ones from KerisGame/ES System, not canon
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Here. I've actually written a buttload of new ones since, I should really update that list.
This... is basically indistinguishable from a state of affairs where she's actually a Solar, though, is the thing. And that would, frankly, make more sense given her canonical accomplishments. I mean, as described, the Realm was not ruled by a Dragonblooded, it was ruled by a Solar with a coat of elemental-themed paint who sits on a bunch of "Solar empress" themes and ignores all the "Dragonblooded-led society" ones.
I mean, seriously. She rules independently, she's so long-lived that nobody even remembers a time without her, she's so much more skilled at it that she can play off the Great Houses against each other, and without her the entire thing collapses. The Scarlet Empress, as written in canon 2e, is a Solar with a mirror of Eldritch Secrets Mastery who the writers have described as a Solar in almost every detail and then tried to go "oh no but honestly she's a Dragonblooded, we swear".
If the Realm being a Solar empire that's helpless and doomed to collapse without its super-special leader keeping the entire thing running is so important to you... then just make her a goddamn Solar and stop trying to shoehorn a Dragonblood into fitting the role in defiance of basically all their themes of working best when cooperating and having limited lifespans and so on.
Sucal
The Devil’s Cut
- Location
- Bottom of the barrel
Clearly she is a Dragonblooded who received an actual exaltion, burning out her glorified god bloodedness and replacing it with 2000 ccs of Solar Awesome.
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
I dunno, I like the Scarlet Empress in part because of her Dragon-Blooded nature. I like the thematic statement she makes to player, that even a 'mere' Dragon-Blooded can become the most prominent ruler in the world. It makes me wonder what I could do.
Plus, I think people are overstating how much she ignores Dragonblooded themes. Yes, she rules alone, and she's a skilled manipulator of Dynastic politics, but a major aspect of what allowed her to maintain control is that she's the matriarch of almost all of the major Houses.
(Another major aspect of course is that she has the worlds biggest superweapon backing her up, which I can accept allowed her to set up an administration where all power flowed from her, so she wouldn't have to use her giant stick to keep everybody in line all the time)
Plus, I think people are overstating how much she ignores Dragonblooded themes. Yes, she rules alone, and she's a skilled manipulator of Dynastic politics, but a major aspect of what allowed her to maintain control is that she's the matriarch of almost all of the major Houses.
(Another major aspect of course is that she has the worlds biggest superweapon backing her up, which I can accept allowed her to set up an administration where all power flowed from her, so she wouldn't have to use her giant stick to keep everybody in line all the time)
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- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
That's sort of what I mean by her being painted over in Dragonblooded colours, though. I'm not saying she has no DB themes, and they've certainly tried to justify it with Dynasty Charms and the like, but when you look at what they're actually justifying? She's a peerless god-queen who effortlessly outmanoeuvres and manipulates the Great Houses and rules entirely independently for centuries on end. And the thing is, she's a Dragonblooded. So are they. She should be the first among equals, with a much more real-life feudal arrangement where the Throne cannot risk pissing off the Houses because a lot of its power comes from them and where experienced leaders of the Houses can go toe-to-toe with her politically on an even footing, with her control of the RDG being the big stick that means she's first among equals rather than it being a council. But instead she's portrayed as manipulating the whole empire and arranging it so that it collapses without her, which should be blatantly obvious for the Houses to see if they've got any political savvy whatsoever, is a terrible setup for an empire, and yet she gets away with it anyway.
No Dragonblooded is "mere", and yeah, a DB can totally be in charge of Creation's greatest superpower and be the most prominent ruler in the world. But the thing is, they should be in charge of it in a Dragonblooded way. They should be a Dragonblooded ruler. Not a Solar one.
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
I don't agree. If you want to hold the Scarlet Empress up as the exemplar of what a DB should be, then, yeah, she should rule in the manner of a DB. But why does she have to be an exemplar of DB-ness just because she is one? I find it much akin to saying Salina 'should' be a Twilight.
I'll grant I find the alternative the ES proposes interesting, and perhaps better., but I don't see that it's what the Realm should be like.
I'll grant I find the alternative the ES proposes interesting, and perhaps better., but I don't see that it's what the Realm should be like.
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The problem is then , why is she so much better then her children and other at everything even with the backing/problems with the sids. Peerlessness is something for Solars , and unless they now say that she used some DB charms to influence everyone that shares her blood she is compared to everyone else even in matters not dealing with the RDG too effective.
Heck we know that at times she was not much stronger then other regional powers and only dealt with most of them because of the RGD.. Or some of them using the Eye like Bagrash Kol. It took a while for the Realm to get running after all.
Heck we know that at times she was not much stronger then other regional powers and only dealt with most of them because of the RGD.. Or some of them using the Eye like Bagrash Kol. It took a while for the Realm to get running after all.
Revlid
blob of bugs
- Location
- England
Well, perhaps the objection is that you can't hold up the Scarlet Empress as an example of what the Dragon-blooded can achieve, and then treat her as being effectively a Solar? That does rather smack of wanting to have one's cake and eat it.
"Even the weakest of the Exalted Host can seize rulership of Creation and build a world-spanning empire that fends off the Outer Unknown" is kind of diluted if you then cheerfully append "(provided they are actually a reskinned Solar)".
Salty
Shadow Cabal Assumptor Supreme
- Location
- Sun, Moon, Talia
- Pronouns
- I/Me
I think the Scarlet Empress and the Realm as presented work a bit better if you just take her and add that Kimbery-ish twist.
Let us remember, not only is she the Empress. She is also the Savior of Creation, who wields the Sword. A significant of the world's DBs are descended from her in some fashion or another. And she should be using this hero-worship, this knowledge in the Realm that she is the source of all power, the seat from which it all flows. Forget demon cults among the DBs, there should be Scarlet cults that she quietly encourages. She is the ultimate ancestor cult for the Dynasts, and she still lives.
...IOW, Scar doesn't have to be the center of Realm politics, but she should sure as hell be the center of their society.
Let us remember, not only is she the Empress. She is also the Savior of Creation, who wields the Sword. A significant of the world's DBs are descended from her in some fashion or another. And she should be using this hero-worship, this knowledge in the Realm that she is the source of all power, the seat from which it all flows. Forget demon cults among the DBs, there should be Scarlet cults that she quietly encourages. She is the ultimate ancestor cult for the Dynasts, and she still lives.
...IOW, Scar doesn't have to be the center of Realm politics, but she should sure as hell be the center of their society.
Aaron Peori
Rest in Peace
It would be kind of interesting if Cult offered some more serious benefits for Exalts than increased mote regen. The fact they nerfed it so hard for Exalts and made it so powerful for spirits is kind of annoying to me.
Though, heh, that would be interesting. A Dragonblooded Charm that allows you to share the benefits of your Cult with others. Kind of in theme for them if you look at it right. For most PCs, it means little, maybe a useful way of buffing a spirit ally.
For her Scarlettness? Well, it would be a very useful took for getting what she wanted out of various spirits. Though of course, no Immaculate spirit could accept such a deal. Which just makes infernalism so much more appealing.
Though, heh, that would be interesting. A Dragonblooded Charm that allows you to share the benefits of your Cult with others. Kind of in theme for them if you look at it right. For most PCs, it means little, maybe a useful way of buffing a spirit ally.
For her Scarlettness? Well, it would be a very useful took for getting what she wanted out of various spirits. Though of course, no Immaculate spirit could accept such a deal. Which just makes infernalism so much more appealing.
Bursting Eagerness Soul
Threadwalking Rating Machine
- Location
- Wisconsin
Don't lie. This was totally based on Rincewind, wasn't it?Aleph said:
Imrix
Periodically Malevolent QM
I don't see any contradiction, frankly. The Solar archetype of heroism is so fantastically broad that other splats already play in the same pen a goodly chunk of the time.
- Location
- The end of all things
Oh, there's similarities, but no amount of sorcerous enhancements can endow one with the limitless potential and effortless excellence of the Solar Exalted. The Empress may be able to stomp a moderately experienced Solar and posses potent custom charms and other abilities, but she'll never posses the wide ranging power of Prophet of Seventeen Cycles or the bureaucratic control of Taboo-Inflicting Diatribe.
That said, the exact limits of workings are extremely vague. Everything except the broadest sketches are basically left up to ST fiat.
That charm already exists in the core book. Amusingly, it is named Perfect Mirror.
Given their tendency to die horrible violent deaths, I can't say that I find limited lifespan to be a key Dragon-Blooded theme. To the extent that it imposes a hard limit it kind of gets stomped by Sorcery's transgressive themes in 3e. Not for everyone, or even most, and not without extreme costs and risks, but Scarlet is far better positioned to pay those than most.
Still, if you want a series of Empresses, that's easy enough. Lunar assassins are amazingly good at what they do.
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- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yup. Honestly, Styles are much, much easier to write when you have a specific character in mind than when you're just sort of going "I want an archery style" - they're far more thematic than specialties in "Bows +3", so you don't write an archery style, you write a Hawkeye style (with trickshots and specialised arrows) or a Legolas style (with keen senses and shots while moving) or whatever. Keris is going to wind up spending quite a lot of mortal xp on a range of Expression and Occult styles - a Tengese silverworking jewellery-making thing, a wet-on-wet painting technique from Malfeas, a couple of vitriol-working styles (one for alchemical concoctions, another for crafting metal with it), a dance style I haven't decided on yet, a flute one that maaaaay have pied piper themes, etc.
They get even cooler when you add our thaumaturgy hack into it (which we'll be trying out in Kerisgame as soon as she gets a Style that lends itself to using any).
Edit PS: That Style in particular is actually quite a good one to have if you are squishy and do not want to be in or anywhere near a fight. Sasi may have picked up a dot or two from watching how Keris runs during their vacation and adding that knowledge to her strong desire not to die.
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Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
I liked the empress to be on the vague side, precisely so we can screw around with the setting details.
I actually likedMatther Wasser's Maddman75's relatively benevolent take on the Empress, who found that the RDG was no longer working for her when she tried to nuke Thorns/Mask of Winter, and has been in seclusion trying to regain the motivation/defining intimacy that granted her access to it in the first place. Or the version where the Empress is actually several DB pretending to all be the same person.
With 3e now making it explicit that a way back into Zen Mu exists, I'm trying to figure out a plot that has the Empress there.
EDIT: Hmn, Ebon Shadow style makes your anima emo. Can that be used to prevent it from identifying you as a filthy 'nathima?
EDIT 2 Whoops, wrong guy.
I actually liked
With 3e now making it explicit that a way back into Zen Mu exists, I'm trying to figure out a plot that has the Empress there.
EDIT: Hmn, Ebon Shadow style makes your anima emo. Can that be used to prevent it from identifying you as a filthy 'nathima?
EDIT 2 Whoops, wrong guy.
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