- Pronouns
- They/Them
What's that? I searched the thread assuming it was a custom Charm, but came up with nothing, which makes me assume it was something made so long ago that it's just assumed?
General Exalted Thread
What's that? I searched the thread assuming it was a custom Charm, but came up with nothing, which makes me assume it was something made so long ago that it's just assumed?
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Both, really.
I'm interesting in anything- but especially in their decision making at the "game development" level- basically, what did the producers do badly as producers and as people making a game?
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Well hey, I mentioned before I had some musings to present on the Alchemical condition and Clarity in specific, so lets get right into that, shall we?
Even as someone who loves Alchemicals a lot, I've always had problems with Clarity/Dissonance. Not only as mechanics, but in the things it was trying to say about Autochthonia as a whole and methods by which Alchemicals fit into the trends of Exalted. Neither of which ever really seemed very genuine to me. In fact, looking at Autochthonia as a post-cyberpunk setting the two of them stand out pretty glaringly by how much they attempt to fold in "science fiction" concepts which ultimately weaken the points they are attempting to make.
Now arguably, a trait like Clarity should exist, for thematic resonance if nothing else. Its an attempt to make a different style of "Limit Break" mechanic, while also trying to display the differing and 'unhuman' priorities that a world consisting of machines operates under (which in 2e we'd seen already better executed in 'Machine Virtues', but I digress). It also helps work into the impression that an isolated Exaltation is a Significant Thing, more than a source of magical powers. Like the infrastructure requirements of the material body for an Alchemical, the more you remove humanizing elements from the equation the more perilous Other the resulting Exalt-centric being eventually becomes in the attempt to sustain that heroic core.
Of course, the basic problems are fairly obvious just by reading closely with an eye towards how the mechanics execution and intent differ. Generally-speaking, Clarity is always a social buff with a minor roleplaying restriction. If you are playing a game in Autochthonia, you will likely have some investment in exploring the parts which make it a cool and interesting place from Creation, period. You'll want to be interacting with all the crazy robot gods and plotting a course of wacky hijinks through the strange biomech landscape of the Reaches as often as possible, the same way that Creation games dip toes into the Wyld, Yu-Shan or Malfeas regularly enough each one has the potential to become almost a secondary base of operations.
Giving you bonus dice for doing it, at the cost of being somewhat more of a dick with mortal relationships and disincentivizing Compassion rolls towards same, just seems like gilding the lily. Especially when the books spend so very little time on mortals and how the Alchemicals are expected to regard them and vice-versa, they may as well be non-factors. Its pushing players towards what is already expected, if not the Full Focus of a game already. Apparently I wasn't the only one to think so either, because in 2e increasing Clarity gives you the same "bonus dice for doing the cool stuff" benefits, at the 'drawback' of clear-cutting your Intimacies down from the broadest downwards.
Now, the idea behind how 2e Clarity clears your Intimacies out is supposed to represent the discarding of nebulous "inefficient" ideals and hanging onto only the specifics which matter most to the character. Which would work just fine in theory, if not for the other clause: Clarity changes the definition of how things matter to the character. The higher the Clarity, the more strictly Intimacies are discarded AND the more they are valued solely for the usefulness of that relationship as a resource you can utilize. If an Intimacy gives you nothing which advances your intended goals, it goes right on the chopping block with all the rest.
Mortal relationships, by definition of the Clarity system and book omission, generally do not matter for the purposes of Intimacies. Anything you can get by pulling rank using your Class or state-issued Backing can be gained faster and easier through supernatural means and favors. Furthermore it will be Yours to keep, not something loaned by the state and at risk of being seized as a punishment or reallocation of resources. Thus supernatural forces are always more inherently useful to retain Intimacies for, compared against any possible mortal in all of Autochthonia. But at least you have all those bonus dice available to talk those spirits into giving things to you.
Needless to say, this is a fairly dire focus-shift from what Alchemicals are Intended to be doing, which is guiding, engaging with and protecting mortals and their works, to bring an emphasis on the Outsider role that Exaltation brings with it in their society. That is like, the core of the Alchemical Narrative which all Exalts of their stripe define themselves by, either by fulfilling or acting in opposition towards.
But in practice, pursuing high Clarity and supernatural interactions, possibly even cutting all ties with the 'mundane' side of Autochthonia outside mandated (and readily glossed-over) downtime for Vats visits, does not actually clash sharply enough with the traditional mode of Exalted gameplay to generate a meaningful character conflict. The benefits are so massive and the consequences so ill-defined except by ST brute forcing.
Meaning that, much like the noticeably absent 'social game' driving Storytellers towards gremlin-killer and invasion campaigns, Alchemicals have absolutely nothing solid to make their "Limit Break" a story-defining element. There is never a reason to "soften" and walk among the common people as a folk-hero celebrity, observing their everyday trials to gain humanizing perspective. Adamants never feel any encouragement to witness "the world below" and see what they are missing out on in Octet life! It just falls apart completely, and that's a terrible shame.
And that leaves us with... Dissonance and Gremlin Syndrome. Oh boy, but I will get to that topic in a second, and instead lay out a (to me) more meaningful impression of how Clarity could present itself through the Alchemical condition. This doesn't have any kind of mechanical backing whatsoever, and purely exists as an exercise for defining the "Limit Break" potential of the Alchemical Exalted and the attitudes and philosophies their unique type of existence would cultivate. Accurate mechanics mapping to it would come later.
Clarity and the Machine
Although each Alchemical ritually activates as a physical and mental adult in addition to understanding her position and purpose as a Champion of Autochthonian society, a full grasp of her Exalted physicality takes longer to acclimate. Like her patron, she stands in command of a hierarchy of tightly-woven independent magical processes, functioning together to achieve her goals and support her life. But unlike the Great Maker's divine assembly, the Champion's consciousness is a mortal soul and the components she conducts are a symphony of manufactured flesh and bone.
Each piece is forged from and empowered by the highest thaumaturgy the eight nations can bring to bear, every inch a product of the people she serves. But an Alchemical's relationship to this construct is a deeply complex one. Wrought in part by the need for such a wonder of technology to exist, her own perceptions towards being part of it, and the adoration of those around her for having such greatness thrust upon her to embody. If internal conflict would arise within the Alchemical on the subject, it would be rare for anyone to become aware if it were taking place at all.
But the essential nature of how the exalt thinks, feels and grows is now impersonally distant, and differs sharply from what resonates in her heroic lifetimes past. Joints which click or buzz unusually become present to her as she moves, she feels full awareness of the thin film of moisture scraped across her eyes with every blink, or the rhythmic and unreal weight of the essence reservoir within her chest commanding attention as readily as the tongue within her mouth. Augmented or ancillary organs and limbs under the Champion's direction, some as inbuilt devices and Charms unrestrained by a more familiar organic anatomy, only further confuse the issue and her nostalgic senses.
While she controls the general motions and capabilities of her synthetic body, these programmed systems continue to operate quietly without her attention or care just as any other living form would. The exalt's pulse regulates, her tendons stretch and pull against muscle, air fills her lungs and moistens her breath, but this is all largely a facade formed by sympathetic magics and advanced material sciences. The dim and half-forgotten instincts of mortal memory which persist within the Champion's mind recognize that her underlying state of being has changed in countless imperceptible ways.
Though under her total control, this manufactured body is unlived-in. Refined motor skills do nothing to disguise the foreign-not-foreign nature of her own hand before her eyes, and many a newly-activated Exalt finds herself rapt by the stranger seen standing in her own reflection. It becomes remarkably easy then to see this living shell as nothing more than an elaborate puppet to exert power over the forces of the world, not an extension of the internal experiences which form the fledgling Alchemical's self-image.
Physically stretch as she might, the Champion cannot hope to adequately fill the many facets this artificial body demands of her. Either she requires assistance to reign in these hollow spaces, or she must become something greater than she currently understands. As a way of classifying this benign coexistence of what-she-was with who-she-has-become, the mechanistic processes and abilities which a Champion disassociates from her composite identity are colloquially referred to as 'the Machine.'
Head-space Commander
Traits unique to each personality catalyzation are what decide an exalt's relationship with the Machine, but the most common are broadly split into two categories: Detachment and Integration. In the first case, though she would not say it aloud to even her most trusted assembly-mates, the Alchemical exalt still regards her life as no different than any other mortal being with human needs and whims. Continuation of past feelings, experiences and personages still leave an indelible impression of how she interacts with those around her. The dry and waxy feel of the world is reconciled away as part of experiencing a spiritual rebirth though the lens of an exotic and transcendent piece of life-support equipment.
The detached Alchemical begins to view herself as something of a "conscious mind-pilot" animating the Machine through its functions and senses, regularly immersing herself in the dream-scape of past memories within her mind as a generations spanning blur composed of manifold individuals. Though frequently conflicting in the exact details and order of events, she is intensely aware of having been and currently being all and yet none of these past heroes. Each profound experience synthesized within the Champion's soul is a heady reminder of the core values which crafted her reborn self from the sum totality of this foundation. Both joyful times and painful ordeals are locked inside this wealth of memory, and the exalt comes to view and safeguard it as the only part of her which truly matters. It is a sacred and unspoken trust that will be passed forward too the next hero possessing her soulgem.
Archaic as some of these memories may seem when contrast against modern societies and cultures, that legacy still serves as a comforting frame of reference the Champion uses to gauge fresh experiences. Fondness for an old lover may color biases towards a technician with a similar cast of feature, while distaste or craving for a particular foodstuff may lie in a long-forgotten illness from one out of a dozen childhoods she never truly had. Such slight eccentricities are only to be expected of the Alchemical exalted, and thus those around her thankfully humor these strange tendencies and lapses in conduct as circumstances allow.
While the detached Alchemical does not fully identify with the Machine as part of herself, she takes mighty strides towards mastering the body-vehicle placed under her ownership. As long as she lives, the exterior face to the people will be this containing shell and it will be her primary means for interacting meaningfully with the industrial environment of her god. With proper maintenance, care from her support crew and no small amount of luck while operating in the field, that lifetime will be an extremely long and arduous journey. So the exalt prepares herself as best she is able, and outfits the Machine in equal parts as a customized mobility prosthetic and to be distinctive armor. Best exemplifying her self-expressions and fulfill the emblem and duties she excels in.
To an outsider witnessing her firsthand, none would guess the distance the detached Champion feels, as she projects her personality as emphatically responsive and present in the moment. Engaged with her surroundings and possessed of a striking expressiveness to her actions and speech, she broadly articulates her intentions as though from the other side of a hazy but unseen wall of glass. Her gait might exhibit an overt swagger, demonstrate difficult points with the use of physical touch and her hands (or other fine manipulators), or assume a timbre of military precision whenever recounting her daily objectives. While this combination of gesture and verbal tone to compensate for insufficiently nuanced facial features, body-language articulation or similar humanizing elements may come across as patronizing or unnecessary dramatic flair, she remains visibly invested and heedful her day-to-day activities.
Even when the Alchemical is not a likable or passionate personality, great pains are still taken to display stylized hallmarks of dress and distinction, anything which helps permit a small window into the mind behind the figurehead she inhabits. Handpicked aesthetics normally take the shape of deliberate personalizing features at a contrast to her emblem. A skilled courtier may strike steel pips into the plating of her clavicle to denote mission-kills, or a laconic exalt could reflect fondly towards affecting the strongly-accented intonation of a rural sub-sector which hasn't existed in centuries, but nevertheless resonates with her. The motives and ambitions underlying the pursuit of her goals remain refreshingly discernible through the Machine regardless, no matter what installed Charms have obscured and altered the form factor.
In cases where the morphology of detached exalt's exterior diverges from the human norm in significant fashion, she still concerns herself with a familiar sphere of internal influence. Beyond the four primary limbs and five senses she understands, minor spirit intelligences help fill the extraneous space for automating unusual supplementary tasks by proxy. Training and experience allow these normally inert and unaware spirits to be guided much the same way a rider would instruct a mount, arranging a graceful flow of thoughts and reflexes as readily as insectile limbs when the Alchemical wills herself to walk. When she must pore over hours worth of deeply complex sensory inputs and memory archives for potentially case-cracking detail during an ad hoc investigation, these unseen assistants rapidly become mainstays as sure as any external equipment the exalt brings herself to master.
By contrast achieving Integration necessitates a stark and sobering realization, that the Champion is not the person she believed herself to be, or possibly even a person as she recognizes the definition. Human beings are not constructed by committee to fulfill private objectives and promote national interests. The contradictory feelings and memories buried within the Alchemical's soul are all merely an illusionary identity, a simulation drawn out of pattern recognition and a thin film of mental debris. Any heroic impulses which drive her onwards are the unintended, piecemeal leftovers from welding together a human spirit capable of sustaining a self-guided Exaltation, projected over the knowledge bank it was expected to utilize. Hers is an identity with no genuine claim towards the heroic legacies it descended from, one which never existed prior to her activation and will barely exist afterward. Not even as a ghost lingering in commemorative murals.
When presented with proof of this self-indulgent sentimentality towards mortal life and the soul that now serves as her animating will, the Champion quietly retreats further into the Machine to ground herself in reliable and concrete triumphs. After all, it was her potential for incredible expertise, power and capacity for free will which were the reason for her activation. Not the intentions of the state to create a fully-fledged person.
By refusing to recognize her role as an adjunct overseer for an empty shell of magical contrivances and filtered information, the Alchemical finds herself unduly shackled by her operational past. How many equally effective paths had she locked away for arbitrary reasons, any one of which could have readily solved problems her people face? Were it not for the unspoken fears of tearing aside her mask to recognize it, her fledgling sympathies may will be the very source of the inefficiencies she has long battled against. Shirking the comfortable lies of simulated humanity as a form of 'hollow enlightenment' towards her state of being, the exalt can be said to have at-last touched the edges of true Clarity.
Root, Tree and Branch
Dubbed as such by the Divine Ministers, Clarity is the means of describing the tireless resolve in the multitudes of ex machina laboring for the greater whole of Autochthon's continued health. It is a single word encompassing both an unquestioning purity of thought and the furious zeal necessary to make it real. The lockstep hierarchy of every Minister could be likened to that of a tree of crystal chimes, each one forming the wide-spanning roots from which every branch of the divine assembly informs the functions of various individual subprocess spirits along its path. Constructed as a tiered mechanical system, the mind of a Champion is no different in principle, simply in practice.
Comprehending the vestigial nature of her existence irrevocably changes the Alchemical, how she was never intended as the root of her own hierarchy at all. To suppress her autonomous instincts means to almost feel the Machine hesitate at the conflicting input, advanced muscle memory quietly resisting the attempt to create an inefficiency. Were it not for the fluke of her rebirth, the exalt could barely matter for the optimal execution of the Machine's predetermined goal. Except perhaps as the means to supply it with one. But now that the Machine lives and toils, where does that leave her lingering? Which between the pair is truly the celebrated state hero, when a self-guiding Exaltation was the objective all along? If the Clarity of the Machine is what her people need most, submission to it as a peripheral appears to be the only way.
Some stubborn exalts persist along despite this dilemma, refusing to merely act as a human-compatible fail-safe between an all-too-necessary tool and the directives needed to spur it into position. But in time, age and duties conspire against these willful idealists as the Machine matures in size and power. Increasingly demanding missions depend on the latest retrofits to the Machine as a magical equipment platform and a rapidly changing body plan, with less paid towards a Champion's personal thoughts or unique skills at utilizing these specialized tools. Her characterizing hallmarks are buried under new technology or sacrificed to make additional room.
As an unseen operator, she could be any among her number in the Alchemical host within that Machine, faceless and disposable as a custodian. When the alternatives to full automation means folding extensively more auxiliary spirits into a private retinue, to help share the workload as she actively fights to engage with her body and surroundings... the burden of control, however illusionary, becomes exhausting to uphold. It would be far easier to accept her own inevitable integration with grace. To pull back and disconnect herself fully from rebellious muscles and planned inefficiencies, and delegate the task to the flawless Machine so essential to functions which must be fulfilled.
Ultimately though, it is her Machine. The one to which she belongs, which shelters the notion who describes herself as a Champion and granting her some minor purpose to perform even as she intermittently relinquishes direct cognitive command of her shell away. Divorced from finding continued meaning within her past memories by becoming nothing but another subordinate process, the exalt instead validates her tenuous existence in the only way she can. By throwing herself entirely into locating crucial new applications her Machine can fulfill, attempting to produce the most optimal results from time and labor.
Human After All
Marking the exalt's willingness to step away and serve as a supplementary component of her Machine, this degree of integration spurs a turning point where onlookers begin to see drastic changes emerge in the Alchemical's outward demeanor. As the exchange of power lies within the Champion's mind, the reasoning behind her increasingly utilitarian responses and actions lurks undetected as she accedes greater responsibilities in turn to her mechanical body. The diverse spectrum of Clarity is not an exact science where it meshes the complexity of the living soul to a programmed will. From exalt-to-exalt these automatic processes may span from her Machine affecting a sharply condensed caricature of her personality through prerecorded traits, to performing spontaneous and disjointed fits of inhuman skill before sending her lurching back to the forefront of her consciousness.
Low degrees of Clarity may leave her Machine frozen like a statue when the Champion subsumes herself within idle thoughts and devices, refusing to expend energy on frivolous humanizing acts like breathing or blinking unless necessary for the task at hand. Until she resurfaces the Machine responds vacantly in the exalt's tone of voice or displays her noted skills haltingly, going through the motions of her personality quirks and delivering any necessary information pulled from shared expertise. Only a distant, glassy stare betrays the presence of her Machine during these stretches of absence, as it becomes clear to any spectator that the conversation is a perfunctory, one-way affair.
Gaze alone is not acknowledgment by her Machine, but recording visual information for future processing. Buried deep inside, the Alchemical dwells on possible social frictions caused by this standoffish disposition, but can do little more than redouble plans for how to mitigate the consequences. In the event she must pull herself away from her internal revelry of organization and planning on extremely short notice, the Alchemical's sudden and terse shift in attitude may come across jarring and inattentive. Not uncommonly, the Champion to seems to find herself briefly ignorant of her surroundings, recent events or even her deployed Charms and equipment. All of which the Machine had successfully navigated "on autopilot" without input on the situation before wrenching her back to alertness.
With rising Clarity and public exposure of her Machine as it's skill at conducting itself to her standards increases, so to does the varied behaviors shown by her external reflection present itself as the "real Champion." Under the dictates of the theomachracy, any Alchemical who fully lives for the Maker, and ritually reshapes herself to become a paragon-component of the Grand Design, is believed to have undergone a form of holy apotheosis. Could she be said to have done anything different? Has she not similarly changed, surpassing mere mortality through communion with her Machine rather than merely adapting it or coexisting? Though her Machine may still wear a face for aesthetic functions, through her body the exalt's occluded soul is rendered as faceless as any machine spirit of lenses and wires.
Mistaken once too many times for the confused, intrusive outbursts of an irrational subprocess, the Alchemical is further encouraged to "sleepwalk" instead of reemerge. Entire days worth of projects and personal interactions are delegated away as she lies quiescent or coping with other complicating factors the Machine has been presented with, even in the midst of frantic combat. But try as she might the Champion has never been an impartial creature of logical judgment, unlike the ex machina she strives to emulate.
Biases formed by her still-human perceptions remain to cloud the information parsed by and communicated back into her Machine. Though she may attempt to diminish her importance as part of the whole, the exalt remains the beating heart at its core, in spirit if not in function. So the statements her Machine proclaims and tasks it undertakes as proxy are still informed by the Alchemical's own minimized opinions, beliefs and the worldview she possessed before completely sinking into introspective seclusion. Because though it works to fulfill her objectives and emblem to the best of its ability, the strictly pragmatic bent of the Machine's methods can spur the Alchemical to externalize herself once more.
Results are what matter to the completion of a goal, and when that goal is intangible, such as increasing the morale of a flagging factory, the kind of nuance necessary for such a mission is lost on her mechanical body to process. It may wait out the crisis as conditions worsen, repeatedly prioritizing the factory below other missions until total efficiency cannot be sustained before finally intervening, in order to reap the most highest amount of goodwill for the gesture with the lowest amount of effort or time. Though cold-blooded in the extreme, the emotional status of the workers was never part of the parameters, only that the appearance of the Champion should leave the factory in a superior position than initially cited and with no loss of productivity.
Where her outlook clashes against these ingrained instincts, such as in cases where she holds a deep emotional bond to the otherwise obstructing element, the Alchemical must selfishly serve as a tie-breaker between the two. A brief window opens in her mental fog, one which could allow the Champion to reconnect with the heroic urge which originally helped catalyze her Exaltation. To painstakingly pull back and out from her disassociated fugue, and resume asserting her will to resist the Machine for the things she cares deeply about.
Though it can be arguable if these connections are truly helping or hindering the Champion's mental stability, such as a situation where she must decide between loyalty to the state and withholding an implicating piece of evidence dear to her, these small gestures of defiant volition are enough to remind that she still holds agency within her body and is capable of making meaningful decisions. With time, effort and investment towards the people and operations dependent on her, it can be possible to briefly overthrow the Machine and express her revitalized heroic self at the forefront.
It is a cyclical, internal struggle for supremacy which cannot be adequately explained to others, especially when deviation my be misconstrued as malfunction. But then, a contest of Exalted Power being tamed by an Exalted Will is one she may never be capable of winning. For many Alchemical exalts though, regularly redefining the relationship between body and mind is one of the few battles worth fighting, even though it ranks her own humanity among the casualties.
Even as someone who loves Alchemicals a lot, I've always had problems with Clarity/Dissonance. Not only as mechanics, but in the things it was trying to say about Autochthonia as a whole and methods by which Alchemicals fit into the trends of Exalted. Neither of which ever really seemed very genuine to me. In fact, looking at Autochthonia as a post-cyberpunk setting the two of them stand out pretty glaringly by how much they attempt to fold in "science fiction" concepts which ultimately weaken the points they are attempting to make.
Now arguably, a trait like Clarity should exist, for thematic resonance if nothing else. Its an attempt to make a different style of "Limit Break" mechanic, while also trying to display the differing and 'unhuman' priorities that a world consisting of machines operates under (which in 2e we'd seen already better executed in 'Machine Virtues', but I digress). It also helps work into the impression that an isolated Exaltation is a Significant Thing, more than a source of magical powers. Like the infrastructure requirements of the material body for an Alchemical, the more you remove humanizing elements from the equation the more perilous Other the resulting Exalt-centric being eventually becomes in the attempt to sustain that heroic core.
Of course, the basic problems are fairly obvious just by reading closely with an eye towards how the mechanics execution and intent differ. Generally-speaking, Clarity is always a social buff with a minor roleplaying restriction. If you are playing a game in Autochthonia, you will likely have some investment in exploring the parts which make it a cool and interesting place from Creation, period. You'll want to be interacting with all the crazy robot gods and plotting a course of wacky hijinks through the strange biomech landscape of the Reaches as often as possible, the same way that Creation games dip toes into the Wyld, Yu-Shan or Malfeas regularly enough each one has the potential to become almost a secondary base of operations.
Giving you bonus dice for doing it, at the cost of being somewhat more of a dick with mortal relationships and disincentivizing Compassion rolls towards same, just seems like gilding the lily. Especially when the books spend so very little time on mortals and how the Alchemicals are expected to regard them and vice-versa, they may as well be non-factors. Its pushing players towards what is already expected, if not the Full Focus of a game already. Apparently I wasn't the only one to think so either, because in 2e increasing Clarity gives you the same "bonus dice for doing the cool stuff" benefits, at the 'drawback' of clear-cutting your Intimacies down from the broadest downwards.
Now, the idea behind how 2e Clarity clears your Intimacies out is supposed to represent the discarding of nebulous "inefficient" ideals and hanging onto only the specifics which matter most to the character. Which would work just fine in theory, if not for the other clause: Clarity changes the definition of how things matter to the character. The higher the Clarity, the more strictly Intimacies are discarded AND the more they are valued solely for the usefulness of that relationship as a resource you can utilize. If an Intimacy gives you nothing which advances your intended goals, it goes right on the chopping block with all the rest.
Mortal relationships, by definition of the Clarity system and book omission, generally do not matter for the purposes of Intimacies. Anything you can get by pulling rank using your Class or state-issued Backing can be gained faster and easier through supernatural means and favors. Furthermore it will be Yours to keep, not something loaned by the state and at risk of being seized as a punishment or reallocation of resources. Thus supernatural forces are always more inherently useful to retain Intimacies for, compared against any possible mortal in all of Autochthonia. But at least you have all those bonus dice available to talk those spirits into giving things to you.
Needless to say, this is a fairly dire focus-shift from what Alchemicals are Intended to be doing, which is guiding, engaging with and protecting mortals and their works, to bring an emphasis on the Outsider role that Exaltation brings with it in their society. That is like, the core of the Alchemical Narrative which all Exalts of their stripe define themselves by, either by fulfilling or acting in opposition towards.
But in practice, pursuing high Clarity and supernatural interactions, possibly even cutting all ties with the 'mundane' side of Autochthonia outside mandated (and readily glossed-over) downtime for Vats visits, does not actually clash sharply enough with the traditional mode of Exalted gameplay to generate a meaningful character conflict. The benefits are so massive and the consequences so ill-defined except by ST brute forcing.
Meaning that, much like the noticeably absent 'social game' driving Storytellers towards gremlin-killer and invasion campaigns, Alchemicals have absolutely nothing solid to make their "Limit Break" a story-defining element. There is never a reason to "soften" and walk among the common people as a folk-hero celebrity, observing their everyday trials to gain humanizing perspective. Adamants never feel any encouragement to witness "the world below" and see what they are missing out on in Octet life! It just falls apart completely, and that's a terrible shame.
And that leaves us with... Dissonance and Gremlin Syndrome. Oh boy, but I will get to that topic in a second, and instead lay out a (to me) more meaningful impression of how Clarity could present itself through the Alchemical condition. This doesn't have any kind of mechanical backing whatsoever, and purely exists as an exercise for defining the "Limit Break" potential of the Alchemical Exalted and the attitudes and philosophies their unique type of existence would cultivate. Accurate mechanics mapping to it would come later.
Clarity and the Machine
Although each Alchemical ritually activates as a physical and mental adult in addition to understanding her position and purpose as a Champion of Autochthonian society, a full grasp of her Exalted physicality takes longer to acclimate. Like her patron, she stands in command of a hierarchy of tightly-woven independent magical processes, functioning together to achieve her goals and support her life. But unlike the Great Maker's divine assembly, the Champion's consciousness is a mortal soul and the components she conducts are a symphony of manufactured flesh and bone.
Each piece is forged from and empowered by the highest thaumaturgy the eight nations can bring to bear, every inch a product of the people she serves. But an Alchemical's relationship to this construct is a deeply complex one. Wrought in part by the need for such a wonder of technology to exist, her own perceptions towards being part of it, and the adoration of those around her for having such greatness thrust upon her to embody. If internal conflict would arise within the Alchemical on the subject, it would be rare for anyone to become aware if it were taking place at all.
But the essential nature of how the exalt thinks, feels and grows is now impersonally distant, and differs sharply from what resonates in her heroic lifetimes past. Joints which click or buzz unusually become present to her as she moves, she feels full awareness of the thin film of moisture scraped across her eyes with every blink, or the rhythmic and unreal weight of the essence reservoir within her chest commanding attention as readily as the tongue within her mouth. Augmented or ancillary organs and limbs under the Champion's direction, some as inbuilt devices and Charms unrestrained by a more familiar organic anatomy, only further confuse the issue and her nostalgic senses.
While she controls the general motions and capabilities of her synthetic body, these programmed systems continue to operate quietly without her attention or care just as any other living form would. The exalt's pulse regulates, her tendons stretch and pull against muscle, air fills her lungs and moistens her breath, but this is all largely a facade formed by sympathetic magics and advanced material sciences. The dim and half-forgotten instincts of mortal memory which persist within the Champion's mind recognize that her underlying state of being has changed in countless imperceptible ways.
Though under her total control, this manufactured body is unlived-in. Refined motor skills do nothing to disguise the foreign-not-foreign nature of her own hand before her eyes, and many a newly-activated Exalt finds herself rapt by the stranger seen standing in her own reflection. It becomes remarkably easy then to see this living shell as nothing more than an elaborate puppet to exert power over the forces of the world, not an extension of the internal experiences which form the fledgling Alchemical's self-image.
Physically stretch as she might, the Champion cannot hope to adequately fill the many facets this artificial body demands of her. Either she requires assistance to reign in these hollow spaces, or she must become something greater than she currently understands. As a way of classifying this benign coexistence of what-she-was with who-she-has-become, the mechanistic processes and abilities which a Champion disassociates from her composite identity are colloquially referred to as 'the Machine.'
Head-space Commander
Traits unique to each personality catalyzation are what decide an exalt's relationship with the Machine, but the most common are broadly split into two categories: Detachment and Integration. In the first case, though she would not say it aloud to even her most trusted assembly-mates, the Alchemical exalt still regards her life as no different than any other mortal being with human needs and whims. Continuation of past feelings, experiences and personages still leave an indelible impression of how she interacts with those around her. The dry and waxy feel of the world is reconciled away as part of experiencing a spiritual rebirth though the lens of an exotic and transcendent piece of life-support equipment.
The detached Alchemical begins to view herself as something of a "conscious mind-pilot" animating the Machine through its functions and senses, regularly immersing herself in the dream-scape of past memories within her mind as a generations spanning blur composed of manifold individuals. Though frequently conflicting in the exact details and order of events, she is intensely aware of having been and currently being all and yet none of these past heroes. Each profound experience synthesized within the Champion's soul is a heady reminder of the core values which crafted her reborn self from the sum totality of this foundation. Both joyful times and painful ordeals are locked inside this wealth of memory, and the exalt comes to view and safeguard it as the only part of her which truly matters. It is a sacred and unspoken trust that will be passed forward too the next hero possessing her soulgem.
Archaic as some of these memories may seem when contrast against modern societies and cultures, that legacy still serves as a comforting frame of reference the Champion uses to gauge fresh experiences. Fondness for an old lover may color biases towards a technician with a similar cast of feature, while distaste or craving for a particular foodstuff may lie in a long-forgotten illness from one out of a dozen childhoods she never truly had. Such slight eccentricities are only to be expected of the Alchemical exalted, and thus those around her thankfully humor these strange tendencies and lapses in conduct as circumstances allow.
While the detached Alchemical does not fully identify with the Machine as part of herself, she takes mighty strides towards mastering the body-vehicle placed under her ownership. As long as she lives, the exterior face to the people will be this containing shell and it will be her primary means for interacting meaningfully with the industrial environment of her god. With proper maintenance, care from her support crew and no small amount of luck while operating in the field, that lifetime will be an extremely long and arduous journey. So the exalt prepares herself as best she is able, and outfits the Machine in equal parts as a customized mobility prosthetic and to be distinctive armor. Best exemplifying her self-expressions and fulfill the emblem and duties she excels in.
To an outsider witnessing her firsthand, none would guess the distance the detached Champion feels, as she projects her personality as emphatically responsive and present in the moment. Engaged with her surroundings and possessed of a striking expressiveness to her actions and speech, she broadly articulates her intentions as though from the other side of a hazy but unseen wall of glass. Her gait might exhibit an overt swagger, demonstrate difficult points with the use of physical touch and her hands (or other fine manipulators), or assume a timbre of military precision whenever recounting her daily objectives. While this combination of gesture and verbal tone to compensate for insufficiently nuanced facial features, body-language articulation or similar humanizing elements may come across as patronizing or unnecessary dramatic flair, she remains visibly invested and heedful her day-to-day activities.
Even when the Alchemical is not a likable or passionate personality, great pains are still taken to display stylized hallmarks of dress and distinction, anything which helps permit a small window into the mind behind the figurehead she inhabits. Handpicked aesthetics normally take the shape of deliberate personalizing features at a contrast to her emblem. A skilled courtier may strike steel pips into the plating of her clavicle to denote mission-kills, or a laconic exalt could reflect fondly towards affecting the strongly-accented intonation of a rural sub-sector which hasn't existed in centuries, but nevertheless resonates with her. The motives and ambitions underlying the pursuit of her goals remain refreshingly discernible through the Machine regardless, no matter what installed Charms have obscured and altered the form factor.
In cases where the morphology of detached exalt's exterior diverges from the human norm in significant fashion, she still concerns herself with a familiar sphere of internal influence. Beyond the four primary limbs and five senses she understands, minor spirit intelligences help fill the extraneous space for automating unusual supplementary tasks by proxy. Training and experience allow these normally inert and unaware spirits to be guided much the same way a rider would instruct a mount, arranging a graceful flow of thoughts and reflexes as readily as insectile limbs when the Alchemical wills herself to walk. When she must pore over hours worth of deeply complex sensory inputs and memory archives for potentially case-cracking detail during an ad hoc investigation, these unseen assistants rapidly become mainstays as sure as any external equipment the exalt brings herself to master.
By contrast achieving Integration necessitates a stark and sobering realization, that the Champion is not the person she believed herself to be, or possibly even a person as she recognizes the definition. Human beings are not constructed by committee to fulfill private objectives and promote national interests. The contradictory feelings and memories buried within the Alchemical's soul are all merely an illusionary identity, a simulation drawn out of pattern recognition and a thin film of mental debris. Any heroic impulses which drive her onwards are the unintended, piecemeal leftovers from welding together a human spirit capable of sustaining a self-guided Exaltation, projected over the knowledge bank it was expected to utilize. Hers is an identity with no genuine claim towards the heroic legacies it descended from, one which never existed prior to her activation and will barely exist afterward. Not even as a ghost lingering in commemorative murals.
When presented with proof of this self-indulgent sentimentality towards mortal life and the soul that now serves as her animating will, the Champion quietly retreats further into the Machine to ground herself in reliable and concrete triumphs. After all, it was her potential for incredible expertise, power and capacity for free will which were the reason for her activation. Not the intentions of the state to create a fully-fledged person.
By refusing to recognize her role as an adjunct overseer for an empty shell of magical contrivances and filtered information, the Alchemical finds herself unduly shackled by her operational past. How many equally effective paths had she locked away for arbitrary reasons, any one of which could have readily solved problems her people face? Were it not for the unspoken fears of tearing aside her mask to recognize it, her fledgling sympathies may will be the very source of the inefficiencies she has long battled against. Shirking the comfortable lies of simulated humanity as a form of 'hollow enlightenment' towards her state of being, the exalt can be said to have at-last touched the edges of true Clarity.
Root, Tree and Branch
Dubbed as such by the Divine Ministers, Clarity is the means of describing the tireless resolve in the multitudes of ex machina laboring for the greater whole of Autochthon's continued health. It is a single word encompassing both an unquestioning purity of thought and the furious zeal necessary to make it real. The lockstep hierarchy of every Minister could be likened to that of a tree of crystal chimes, each one forming the wide-spanning roots from which every branch of the divine assembly informs the functions of various individual subprocess spirits along its path. Constructed as a tiered mechanical system, the mind of a Champion is no different in principle, simply in practice.
Comprehending the vestigial nature of her existence irrevocably changes the Alchemical, how she was never intended as the root of her own hierarchy at all. To suppress her autonomous instincts means to almost feel the Machine hesitate at the conflicting input, advanced muscle memory quietly resisting the attempt to create an inefficiency. Were it not for the fluke of her rebirth, the exalt could barely matter for the optimal execution of the Machine's predetermined goal. Except perhaps as the means to supply it with one. But now that the Machine lives and toils, where does that leave her lingering? Which between the pair is truly the celebrated state hero, when a self-guiding Exaltation was the objective all along? If the Clarity of the Machine is what her people need most, submission to it as a peripheral appears to be the only way.
Some stubborn exalts persist along despite this dilemma, refusing to merely act as a human-compatible fail-safe between an all-too-necessary tool and the directives needed to spur it into position. But in time, age and duties conspire against these willful idealists as the Machine matures in size and power. Increasingly demanding missions depend on the latest retrofits to the Machine as a magical equipment platform and a rapidly changing body plan, with less paid towards a Champion's personal thoughts or unique skills at utilizing these specialized tools. Her characterizing hallmarks are buried under new technology or sacrificed to make additional room.
As an unseen operator, she could be any among her number in the Alchemical host within that Machine, faceless and disposable as a custodian. When the alternatives to full automation means folding extensively more auxiliary spirits into a private retinue, to help share the workload as she actively fights to engage with her body and surroundings... the burden of control, however illusionary, becomes exhausting to uphold. It would be far easier to accept her own inevitable integration with grace. To pull back and disconnect herself fully from rebellious muscles and planned inefficiencies, and delegate the task to the flawless Machine so essential to functions which must be fulfilled.
Ultimately though, it is her Machine. The one to which she belongs, which shelters the notion who describes herself as a Champion and granting her some minor purpose to perform even as she intermittently relinquishes direct cognitive command of her shell away. Divorced from finding continued meaning within her past memories by becoming nothing but another subordinate process, the exalt instead validates her tenuous existence in the only way she can. By throwing herself entirely into locating crucial new applications her Machine can fulfill, attempting to produce the most optimal results from time and labor.
Human After All
Marking the exalt's willingness to step away and serve as a supplementary component of her Machine, this degree of integration spurs a turning point where onlookers begin to see drastic changes emerge in the Alchemical's outward demeanor. As the exchange of power lies within the Champion's mind, the reasoning behind her increasingly utilitarian responses and actions lurks undetected as she accedes greater responsibilities in turn to her mechanical body. The diverse spectrum of Clarity is not an exact science where it meshes the complexity of the living soul to a programmed will. From exalt-to-exalt these automatic processes may span from her Machine affecting a sharply condensed caricature of her personality through prerecorded traits, to performing spontaneous and disjointed fits of inhuman skill before sending her lurching back to the forefront of her consciousness.
Low degrees of Clarity may leave her Machine frozen like a statue when the Champion subsumes herself within idle thoughts and devices, refusing to expend energy on frivolous humanizing acts like breathing or blinking unless necessary for the task at hand. Until she resurfaces the Machine responds vacantly in the exalt's tone of voice or displays her noted skills haltingly, going through the motions of her personality quirks and delivering any necessary information pulled from shared expertise. Only a distant, glassy stare betrays the presence of her Machine during these stretches of absence, as it becomes clear to any spectator that the conversation is a perfunctory, one-way affair.
Gaze alone is not acknowledgment by her Machine, but recording visual information for future processing. Buried deep inside, the Alchemical dwells on possible social frictions caused by this standoffish disposition, but can do little more than redouble plans for how to mitigate the consequences. In the event she must pull herself away from her internal revelry of organization and planning on extremely short notice, the Alchemical's sudden and terse shift in attitude may come across jarring and inattentive. Not uncommonly, the Champion to seems to find herself briefly ignorant of her surroundings, recent events or even her deployed Charms and equipment. All of which the Machine had successfully navigated "on autopilot" without input on the situation before wrenching her back to alertness.
With rising Clarity and public exposure of her Machine as it's skill at conducting itself to her standards increases, so to does the varied behaviors shown by her external reflection present itself as the "real Champion." Under the dictates of the theomachracy, any Alchemical who fully lives for the Maker, and ritually reshapes herself to become a paragon-component of the Grand Design, is believed to have undergone a form of holy apotheosis. Could she be said to have done anything different? Has she not similarly changed, surpassing mere mortality through communion with her Machine rather than merely adapting it or coexisting? Though her Machine may still wear a face for aesthetic functions, through her body the exalt's occluded soul is rendered as faceless as any machine spirit of lenses and wires.
Mistaken once too many times for the confused, intrusive outbursts of an irrational subprocess, the Alchemical is further encouraged to "sleepwalk" instead of reemerge. Entire days worth of projects and personal interactions are delegated away as she lies quiescent or coping with other complicating factors the Machine has been presented with, even in the midst of frantic combat. But try as she might the Champion has never been an impartial creature of logical judgment, unlike the ex machina she strives to emulate.
Biases formed by her still-human perceptions remain to cloud the information parsed by and communicated back into her Machine. Though she may attempt to diminish her importance as part of the whole, the exalt remains the beating heart at its core, in spirit if not in function. So the statements her Machine proclaims and tasks it undertakes as proxy are still informed by the Alchemical's own minimized opinions, beliefs and the worldview she possessed before completely sinking into introspective seclusion. Because though it works to fulfill her objectives and emblem to the best of its ability, the strictly pragmatic bent of the Machine's methods can spur the Alchemical to externalize herself once more.
Results are what matter to the completion of a goal, and when that goal is intangible, such as increasing the morale of a flagging factory, the kind of nuance necessary for such a mission is lost on her mechanical body to process. It may wait out the crisis as conditions worsen, repeatedly prioritizing the factory below other missions until total efficiency cannot be sustained before finally intervening, in order to reap the most highest amount of goodwill for the gesture with the lowest amount of effort or time. Though cold-blooded in the extreme, the emotional status of the workers was never part of the parameters, only that the appearance of the Champion should leave the factory in a superior position than initially cited and with no loss of productivity.
Where her outlook clashes against these ingrained instincts, such as in cases where she holds a deep emotional bond to the otherwise obstructing element, the Alchemical must selfishly serve as a tie-breaker between the two. A brief window opens in her mental fog, one which could allow the Champion to reconnect with the heroic urge which originally helped catalyze her Exaltation. To painstakingly pull back and out from her disassociated fugue, and resume asserting her will to resist the Machine for the things she cares deeply about.
Though it can be arguable if these connections are truly helping or hindering the Champion's mental stability, such as a situation where she must decide between loyalty to the state and withholding an implicating piece of evidence dear to her, these small gestures of defiant volition are enough to remind that she still holds agency within her body and is capable of making meaningful decisions. With time, effort and investment towards the people and operations dependent on her, it can be possible to briefly overthrow the Machine and express her revitalized heroic self at the forefront.
It is a cyclical, internal struggle for supremacy which cannot be adequately explained to others, especially when deviation my be misconstrued as malfunction. But then, a contest of Exalted Power being tamed by an Exalted Will is one she may never be capable of winning. For many Alchemical exalts though, regularly redefining the relationship between body and mind is one of the few battles worth fighting, even though it ranks her own humanity among the casualties.
- Location
- Virginia
My first crack at some 3e artifact homebrew:
(actually the first artifact is edition-agnostic)
A pure moonsilver tool that can transform into any handheld tool that acts through the application of great force or leverage (e.g. crowbar, wrench, axe). It leaps to the task, requiring little strength but very precise control. This allows the user to use Dexterity in any Craft or Larceny roll that would otherwise require Strength. At Storyteller discretion it can be used for other matching abilities, e.g. a Survival roll to fell a tree. It cannot be used in combat, as all of the wielder's control is already being devoted to simply directing it, with none remaining for precise accuracy. (Alternately, can be used in combat only with a stunt, and uses the stats of a mundane heavy weapon with the improvised tag.) Two dots.
A mundane container full of a magical liquid into which the user can deposit ideas from his mind. These ideas are then lost to him and cannot be recalled by any means except recovering them from the liquid. (Even if the user has written the idea down beforehand, if he rereads his notes he will find his eyes glazing over.) While they are there the user (or any other person who uses the cauldron) can visualize the ideas in the liquid's silvery surface, where they appear perfected. While visualizing them in this way the user can continue to modify the idea and see the changes reflected.
If the Cauldron is used to design a superior or legendary project or a sorcerous working, it grants one additional terminus. If used with Wyld-Shaping Technique, the Lawgiver starts one phase advanced. In any case, regardless of success or failure, the idea of the thing designed is consumed and the user can never again make another.
If the liquid is dumped out of the Cauldron the ideas escape, seeking their original owners. Each owner may make a Wits+Integrity roll, difficulty 3 (4 if the owner is not present, 5 if the owner is in another Direction, 6 if the owner is on another plane of existence), to recover his ideas. Ideas that have been modified by multiple people come apart, with only fragments being received by each person.
Three dots, with the option to develop 1-2 crafting- or Wyld-Shaping-related evocations. (No evocations may enhance Sorcerous Working rolls.)
Potential ingredients: starmetal, blue jade, the genuine tears of a Raksha (of either mirth or grief), the dust of the corpse of a slain spirit, one memory of the crafter that will then be forever lost.
(Yes, this was inspired by the Pensieve.)
If the Cauldron is used to design a superior or legendary project or a sorcerous working, it grants one additional terminus. If used with Wyld-Shaping Technique, the Lawgiver starts one phase advanced. In any case, regardless of success or failure, the idea of the thing designed is consumed and the user can never again make another.
If the liquid is dumped out of the Cauldron the ideas escape, seeking their original owners. Each owner may make a Wits+Integrity roll, difficulty 3 (4 if the owner is not present, 5 if the owner is in another Direction, 6 if the owner is on another plane of existence), to recover his ideas. Ideas that have been modified by multiple people come apart, with only fragments being received by each person.
Three dots, with the option to develop 1-2 crafting- or Wyld-Shaping-related evocations. (No evocations may enhance Sorcerous Working rolls.)
Potential ingredients: starmetal, blue jade, the genuine tears of a Raksha (of either mirth or grief), the dust of the corpse of a slain spirit, one memory of the crafter that will then be forever lost.
(Yes, this was inspired by the Pensieve.)
(actually the first artifact is edition-agnostic)
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- Location
- Denmark
- Pronouns
- She/Her
So I'm looking for some alternative Infernal Caste names where the Castes aren't just a reference to Demon: The Fallen. I've made the change that the Castes belong to different Yozi as following:
Dawn - Adorjan - ???
Zenith - Malfeas - ???
Twilight - She Who Lives In Her Name - ???
Night - Ebon Dragon - ???
Eclipse - Cecelyne - Exarch Caste
I've already done Cecelyne, and I might just keep Adorjan's Chosen as the Scourges.
Dawn - Adorjan - ???
Zenith - Malfeas - ???
Twilight - She Who Lives In Her Name - ???
Night - Ebon Dragon - ???
Eclipse - Cecelyne - Exarch Caste
I've already done Cecelyne, and I might just keep Adorjan's Chosen as the Scourges.
greensun
You shall all burn beneath my light!!!
Dawn - Adorjan - Scourge (Scourge works perfectly fine to emphaise that the chosen of Adorjan are murder machines.)
Zenith - Malfeas - Tyrant (Speaks for itself.)
Twilight - She Who Lives Her Name - Hierarch (she is the principle of Hierarchy after all.)
Night - Ebon Dragon - Shades ( To emphasis their sneaky nature vs the fiend's corrupting influence.)
Zenith - Malfeas - Tyrant (Speaks for itself.)
Twilight - She Who Lives Her Name - Hierarch (she is the principle of Hierarchy after all.)
Night - Ebon Dragon - Shades ( To emphasis their sneaky nature vs the fiend's corrupting influence.)
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
But that's not even themed naming.
The Eager Mallet looks fine. The Cauldron... I think you need to narrow down and specify what "ideas" mean, because as it stands "removing something from your memory and making yourself incapable of learning it again" is going to end up being the runaway 'true' benefit of the Artifact when people start getting creative with it.
- Location
- Virginia
I had not thought of that
Although the fact that you can only do this once (because dispersing the liquid effectively destroys the artifact - that's my intent, I suppose I should make it explicit) may make it OK.
Using a theme of "sinister-sounding Latin-or-latin-root words" (which is justified since Malfeas uses a mix of Hungarian and Latin for demon names - hence 'Octavian'), and naming them for what the Third Circles would want them for rather than their natural powers:
Dawn - Adorjan - ???
Zenith - Malfeas - Lictor Caste (Lictors are the bodyguards of important figures, who hold the fasces)
Twilight - She Who Lives In Her Name - Censor Caste (Censors are originally high judges of public morality and behaviour - which is much more what SWLIHN enables rather than being a raw Twilight)
Night - Ebon Dragon - Adversary Caste (Look, TED just loves adversaries)
Eclipse - Cecelyne - Exarch Caste (Exarchs are the governors of remote provinces - like Creation)
Now, yes, this leaves the Adorjani ones as the harder ones. "Scourge" doesn't quite fit into this scheme, but there isn't a Latin-origin word which feels right that I've thought up yet.
Well if we are willing to use Hungarian for the new Scourge cast, Fenyegetés is Hungarian for threat or menace, and given Adorjan's whole thing with brutal and unexpected violence and the role of the Dawn caste of keeping everyone else in line, it seems appropriate. Alternatively if you want to be a bit more literal korbács is the Hungarian word for scourge, but I feel that, that is not very creative.
However if you insist on keeping it Latin (which is odd given that Exarch is Greek, even if it was at various points used by Rome) comminator, means menace, threatener, or intimidator, which keeps the desired themes intact.
How about Periclum?
Hmm, Latin for danger or risk, that could work though it refers to a something rather than a someone, which is the broad consistency between the given names thus far. That is however a minor concern and if you like the sounds of the word just go for it.
NonSequtur
a body
Excoriator is what comes to my mind, meaning (someone who does) either severe, brutal criticism or the removal of the top layer, generally of skin. It also brings to mind exorcism, which is Greek, though exactly what Adorjan would remove might be a bit extreme.
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
None of these really work; EarthScorpion's suggestions are all actual words used to describe people or positions, rather than just latin words around an appropriate theme. It has to be a job, basically.
I would suggest Sicarius/Sicarii, "dagger-wielder," name of a sect of assassins in Judea, or Praetor, military general among other things.
I would suggest Sicarius/Sicarii, "dagger-wielder," name of a sect of assassins in Judea, or Praetor, military general among other things.
NonSequtur
a body
greensun
You shall all burn beneath my light!!!
Homicida. murderer.
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
Corrector works, but doesn't seem to fit the Silent Wind. Legate fits well with the Dawn caste, as does Praetor.
Walker of the Yellow Path
Ho There!
- Location
- The Land of Memes
Can Bluesids use the additional Performance Successes provided by their Anima Banner to enhance their Dodge DV if they have Defense of Shining Joy up?
I ask because I've heard mention of Bluesid dance battlers being really effective, but I hadn't realized the potential until I read DSJ.
I ask because I've heard mention of Bluesid dance battlers being really effective, but I hadn't realized the potential until I read DSJ.
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
... Scourges aren't Dawn-castes, though. Oh, they're corrupted Dawn-caste Exaltations, sure, but they're not exactly like Dawns, any more than Censors are Twilights. Adorjan is Dawn/Night; there's no Command or War or "military general" stuff in her thematics. She's about personal murder, not leading troops. Her Chosen are incredible killers, yes; the most murdery of all the Infernals, but a title for the leader of an army is more Malfeas's speed than Adorjan's.
The eager mallet strikes me as a solution looking for a problem. There aren't very many Craft or Larceny rolls that use Strength to begin with. I can think of a couple of reasons to make one, but it still seems awfully narrow.
As for the cauldron, how are you supposed to work on your ideas in the cauldron if you can't think about them while they're in the cauldron?