sysid_ACE
Of Many
- Location
- Somewhere, UK
- Pronouns
- She/Her
We came to the erroneous conclusion that the Damage stat (on weapons) added successes but Accuracy only added dice.
General Exalted Thread
- Location
- Many Places
Ah, well I can't judge you for that, I missed the entire explanation about anima levels for an embarrassingly long time.
HalfTangible
Only half sane (it's less cringe)
- Location
- Valkyrie, Primus
Started a PBP today with some old friends with Sids. So many charms that range from hilarious to absolute bullshit. I was neutral on them before this game, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the divine boardroom meeting.
Long story short: The Circle are members of the Convention on the Dead, and the Convention on Hell has asked us to co-sign a proposal to hit An-Teng with a tsunami and 8 months of monsoons to eliminate a cult of She Who Lives In Her Name. We then started a vote on a proposal that if passed would include "finding" a long-lost heir to An-Teng's royal throne, guiding him to claiming an item with a resplendent destiny that will mark him as the 'true heir', and matchmaking him with the dragon-blooded leader of a Hearth we're sending in either way (just a question of how long we'll wait to do it) partly because I'd just established that she lost her betrothed to a Yozi cult in an attempt to make the Hearth an attractive option for the Convention on Hell.
And it passed, which means I now get to find a suitable young princeling* from among 623 potential royal candidates (one of whom was born when I asked the pattern spider this question, so now I have a mother and a newborn baby to find and look after just because she got really, REALLY lucky.)
*We want the Realm to be on board with this and they won't feel threatened by a male that's falling in love with a member of the Realm. Our Serenity said it, not me xD
Item #2 on the docket was our leader lost contact with his mystery cult in Skullstone, eliminating 40 years of work, so now the Convention needs to re-establish our eyes and ears in the city. Partly through our Ending's connections with the Timeless Order of Manacle and Coin, partly by just going ourselves because one of the NPCs is a young hothead that wants revenge on a deathlord. Fun.
It is so much fun to toy with the lives of tens of thousands and basically create the hook for someone else's campaign.
Long story short: The Circle are members of the Convention on the Dead, and the Convention on Hell has asked us to co-sign a proposal to hit An-Teng with a tsunami and 8 months of monsoons to eliminate a cult of She Who Lives In Her Name. We then started a vote on a proposal that if passed would include "finding" a long-lost heir to An-Teng's royal throne, guiding him to claiming an item with a resplendent destiny that will mark him as the 'true heir', and matchmaking him with the dragon-blooded leader of a Hearth we're sending in either way (just a question of how long we'll wait to do it) partly because I'd just established that she lost her betrothed to a Yozi cult in an attempt to make the Hearth an attractive option for the Convention on Hell.
And it passed, which means I now get to find a suitable young princeling* from among 623 potential royal candidates (one of whom was born when I asked the pattern spider this question, so now I have a mother and a newborn baby to find and look after just because she got really, REALLY lucky.)
*We want the Realm to be on board with this and they won't feel threatened by a male that's falling in love with a member of the Realm. Our Serenity said it, not me xD
Item #2 on the docket was our leader lost contact with his mystery cult in Skullstone, eliminating 40 years of work, so now the Convention needs to re-establish our eyes and ears in the city. Partly through our Ending's connections with the Timeless Order of Manacle and Coin, partly by just going ourselves because one of the NPCs is a young hothead that wants revenge on a deathlord. Fun.
It is so much fun to toy with the lives of tens of thousands and basically create the hook for someone else's campaign.
- Pronouns
- she/her
The built-in Ox-Body is possibly one of the most significant factors to the Yennin's combat prowess.
If you can't reliably avoid getting hit then you need to start making your opponent regret the effort that they've expended to hit you. They're also clearly intended for team-ups because Inhuman Precision Focus adds an additional dice per point of penalty the target is suffering and the most reliable way to achieve that against most targets is through onslaught penalties.
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- Location
- some computer lab
yeah, one Yennim is a significant threat to a starting DB combatant, and 5 can probably make even an experienced DB sweat. It really seems like they gave DBs their own less powerful rivals to deal with, which is pretty fun.
Yeah, the "cat's-cradle of clan bonds...largely incomprehensible to outsiders" mentioned in the 3E core is something Across the 8 Directions could've elaborated on more. There's a mention of Yennin familial relations being complex but not much detail beyond that. I guess it'd take a fair amount of wordcount to do justice to the idea, but then again something so unique to Volivat seems like something that deserves that wordcount.
I'll add that I'd specifically like to see more on the impact the Yennin multi-parent lineages have on the Yennin society beyond the Yennin themselves. Like, Volivat is a republic where Yennin may not hold more than two out of the ten places in the ruling council, but howmany of the rest of those places are held by parents of the Yennin? If these parents are chosen from among the best and brightest of Volivat's mortals, just how big an advantage is this in elections? Is there, or is there expected to be, some kind of a relationship or bond between the parents of the same Yennin? These are the kinds of things I'd like to see more on.
- Location
- some computer lab
How is Essence anyway?
I've been on an exalted kick recently, reading stuff from the kickstarters I've backed, but at the time I decided to skip out on essence since I thought I could never get a rules - medium game to the table, but I recently found out that the most rules averse folks in my home group are also in a V: TM campaign, so now a streamlined version of exalted seems really tempting.
I've been on an exalted kick recently, reading stuff from the kickstarters I've backed, but at the time I decided to skip out on essence since I thought I could never get a rules - medium game to the table, but I recently found out that the most rules averse folks in my home group are also in a V: TM campaign, so now a streamlined version of exalted seems really tempting.
- Pronouns
- she/her
Yes, I'd love to see someone's take on it.
It's good, the most complications I've had with it have come from people who've played multiple editions of Exalted in the past and get frustrated by rules that are similar but different or have streamlined out an aspect that they found compelling.
5 would murder basically any Dragon-Blooded who doesn't have the crazy AoE Lore stuff or the exact right Signature Charms and Evocations for dealing with multiple opponents. Terrestrials do not handle onslaught penalties well, nor do they get effective multi-action options. Be an E5 DB with the right build, or an E3 DB who can fly away and escape, or Die, is pretty much the options. Even an E3 DB with a perfect build I can't really see surviving playing out the combat, not without Artifact 5s giving them the ability to handle numbers DBs usually aren't allowed to have.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
It's about as good as 3e, to my mind, but with different strengths and weaknesses. It's not going to be more difficult or complex than VtM; it's probably a little easier to get into.
Essence is pretty intuitive once you grok it, though, to a degree I'd call easier to understand than 3e, so if the biggest concern you have is just people being willing to learn the system, you basically just need to make sure that the group really gets how its combat functions (I'm specifically thinking of withering attacks, decisive attacks, and build power actions: you all need to grasp what they're use for mechanically and narratively), and then you're good. It's easy to make homebrew for, it's got a lot of variety to work with, and it's complete within its own core book, which I know appeals to a lot of people.
I've had games where people complain and bring out homebrew declaring it the best one, also during the Kickstarter on multiple various threads here and there people were bringing out "simpler" systems with links saying this is better such as Cortex, Pbta and god bound. That kinda says a lot about the fans. Not to say it isn't bad making homebrew and playing how you want just that people in her tend to be very opinionated on what's the best system even outside the base. (I've seen people push 1e to this day, which 1e I don't really know to be honest.)
So I am a massive fan of essence like I mostly plan on using the system forward while occasionally buying 3e books for inspiration. But I do have to warn you that If what you like about Exalted is the thrill that comes from combining five or six Charms into an imploding wombo-combo of obliteration Essence will not scratch that itch and also if your into that then Essence isn't for people who like that aspect of the game.
All exalted start with one excellency or ox body technique with four other charms you have the option to have more it is mentioned in character creation if the GM approves but those are the base and I've seen people get miffed at that compared to 3e going up to 15 charms if I remember?
But at the same time, I've seen plenty of people get relieved that they aren't getting an overflow of charms (The fact that you have the option to create a personal mode that lets you modify the charm still gives a lot in my mind while also keeping it simple.)
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- Pronouns
- They/Them
The discussion inspired me to finish working on something I'd been working on, which is not all of this, but is definitely part of the central chunk of it.
On the Nature of Yennin and Their Parents
On the Nature of Yennin and Their Parents A text by Chirilyn Dikej, daughter of Ephrei Dikej, for benefit of her blessed mother's work in Saturn's service In the Dreaming Sea rests Volivat, a center of learning and culture. Volivat is carved out of the Sea itself by massive dams, protected by F...
docs.google.com
Have fourteen hundred words of homebrew on how Yennin parents arrange their affairs and what the ten kinds of parents are seen as.
- Location
- my house
Back on working on my Siege of Y'danna writeup, think I'm finally happy with the culture I placed in that big stretch of empty map territory between Prasad and Y'danna. Basically made it the gaul of rome married to medieveal europe.
The Petty Kingdoms
Stretching from Prasad in the West to Y'danna in the East, the Petty Kingdoms are a stretch of small, independent freeholdings that sprung up in the wake of retreating Y'danese authority. Formed from a mix of Austrech warlords – settling in the area by both consent and conquest – and Y'dannese provincial governors, these lands are a pale shadow of Y'danna's former greatness The Petty Kingdoms are a lush land of rolling hills and deep forests. Once great cities have been left to fall to ruin or partially re-colonized. The remains of sorcerous artifice dot the land. The Petty Kingdoms are strictly local powers, unable to muster the administrative capacity for large armies or long campaigns
Lacking an expansive bureaucracy – writing is still seen as the purview of strange foreigners and stranger mystics – the Petty Kingdoms practice a strictly personalistic form of governance. The leaders of each community are not selected by accident of birth – the very idea of a noble class is abhorrent to the freedom loving peoples of the region – but through popular (and unspoken) acclaim. The fact that such acclaim almost always selects from amongst the large landholders the community is economically reliant on goes unremarked upon. The leaders of these communities then form horizontal and economic relationships with the leaders of nearby communities – ties of marriage or trade or gifts – and these ties can be called upon to muster multiple communities towards shared goals. To the eyes of Prasad it may seem a strange and primitive system, but time and again it has allowed the Petty Kingdoms to unite in the face of Prasaid aggression and drive them from the land.
The military and political elite of the Petty Kingdoms are the Gentes. Roughly translating to "Great Personage", the Gentes are those who have distinguished themselves in some way in their community and earned the respect and deference of their peers. The Gentes is not a formal political class – no one calls themselves a Gentes – but simply denotes someone to whom others listen in affairs of politics. Most Gentes are rich landowners – not only are they able to afford the training and material to become great, but the economic dependence of their community means others are already inclined to defer when they speak – but others can earn that status through great deeds or expertise. The local priest will often be a Gentes (as will the local god), and noted warriors near always are. It goes without saying, but Dragonblooded are always Gentes, and most freeholds have at least a few such Exalted. The great clans of the Petty Kingdoms pursue the terrestrial exaltation with the same vigor as nearby Prasad and while they lack the riches that nation can offer, the Petty Kingdom's lack of central authority offers an ambitious Dragonblooded much opportunity for advancement.
The vast majority of people in the Petty Kingdoms are subsistence farmers (as are most in this age of sorrows). Only the largest landowners have the economic surplus to pay for the creation grain mills, town walls or other civic projects which benefit the community. Similarly only they can afford to employ specialist workers such as blacksmiths, artists and Thaumaturgic Engineers and having such on retainer makes them. Providing these things – which the are often loaned out to the community when their owner/employers are not using them – provides these landowners much goodwill which they can call upon for political support. It is for this reason that the large landowners are near always Gentes.
The people of the Petty Kingdoms are great exchangers of gifts. They give gifts regularly – upon visiting a household, at harvest time, during birthdays and feast days and weddings – and receive gifts in return. To give the greater gift is seen as a great honor and there is much competition amongst the people of the Petty Kingdoms to give the greatest gifts. It is these gifts which tie the people together. A system which benefits the large landowners – the greatest givers of gifts – immensely.
The Petty Kingdoms have a strong metallurgic tradition. Their land is rich with mundane and magical metals, a legacy of Y'danna's fallen empire. Strange metallic roads crisscross the land where they have not been torn up for raw materials, and the remains of many a fort has been stripped of the torn down for the same. Smiths are highly valued and seen as semi-divine. These master-craftsmen (and it is always a man's role, for women lack the patience for such delicate work) produce great works of art and equally great weapons which are highly valued throughout the dreaming sea.
The heart of the Petty Kingdom's military is their heavily armored shock cavalry. Riding Austrech's specially built for this purpose – they are larger and heavier than their nomadic mountain cousins – these cavalry shatter and scatter enemy formations. Membership into the cavalry is a near requirement to become a Gentes, and those who demonstrate the skills but lack the funds are generally sponsored by the richer Gentes of their community. The rest of the military generally consists of poorly armed free farmers wielding spear, shield and helmet. There is great variation both between and among freeholds as all must provide their own equipment (or have it provided for them from the largess of the wealthy).
Lacking an expansive bureaucracy – writing is still seen as the purview of strange foreigners and stranger mystics – the Petty Kingdoms practice a strictly personalistic form of governance. The leaders of each community are not selected by accident of birth – the very idea of a noble class is abhorrent to the freedom loving peoples of the region – but through popular (and unspoken) acclaim. The fact that such acclaim almost always selects from amongst the large landholders the community is economically reliant on goes unremarked upon. The leaders of these communities then form horizontal and economic relationships with the leaders of nearby communities – ties of marriage or trade or gifts – and these ties can be called upon to muster multiple communities towards shared goals. To the eyes of Prasad it may seem a strange and primitive system, but time and again it has allowed the Petty Kingdoms to unite in the face of Prasaid aggression and drive them from the land.
The military and political elite of the Petty Kingdoms are the Gentes. Roughly translating to "Great Personage", the Gentes are those who have distinguished themselves in some way in their community and earned the respect and deference of their peers. The Gentes is not a formal political class – no one calls themselves a Gentes – but simply denotes someone to whom others listen in affairs of politics. Most Gentes are rich landowners – not only are they able to afford the training and material to become great, but the economic dependence of their community means others are already inclined to defer when they speak – but others can earn that status through great deeds or expertise. The local priest will often be a Gentes (as will the local god), and noted warriors near always are. It goes without saying, but Dragonblooded are always Gentes, and most freeholds have at least a few such Exalted. The great clans of the Petty Kingdoms pursue the terrestrial exaltation with the same vigor as nearby Prasad and while they lack the riches that nation can offer, the Petty Kingdom's lack of central authority offers an ambitious Dragonblooded much opportunity for advancement.
The vast majority of people in the Petty Kingdoms are subsistence farmers (as are most in this age of sorrows). Only the largest landowners have the economic surplus to pay for the creation grain mills, town walls or other civic projects which benefit the community. Similarly only they can afford to employ specialist workers such as blacksmiths, artists and Thaumaturgic Engineers and having such on retainer makes them. Providing these things – which the are often loaned out to the community when their owner/employers are not using them – provides these landowners much goodwill which they can call upon for political support. It is for this reason that the large landowners are near always Gentes.
The people of the Petty Kingdoms are great exchangers of gifts. They give gifts regularly – upon visiting a household, at harvest time, during birthdays and feast days and weddings – and receive gifts in return. To give the greater gift is seen as a great honor and there is much competition amongst the people of the Petty Kingdoms to give the greatest gifts. It is these gifts which tie the people together. A system which benefits the large landowners – the greatest givers of gifts – immensely.
The Petty Kingdoms have a strong metallurgic tradition. Their land is rich with mundane and magical metals, a legacy of Y'danna's fallen empire. Strange metallic roads crisscross the land where they have not been torn up for raw materials, and the remains of many a fort has been stripped of the torn down for the same. Smiths are highly valued and seen as semi-divine. These master-craftsmen (and it is always a man's role, for women lack the patience for such delicate work) produce great works of art and equally great weapons which are highly valued throughout the dreaming sea.
The heart of the Petty Kingdom's military is their heavily armored shock cavalry. Riding Austrech's specially built for this purpose – they are larger and heavier than their nomadic mountain cousins – these cavalry shatter and scatter enemy formations. Membership into the cavalry is a near requirement to become a Gentes, and those who demonstrate the skills but lack the funds are generally sponsored by the richer Gentes of their community. The rest of the military generally consists of poorly armed free farmers wielding spear, shield and helmet. There is great variation both between and among freeholds as all must provide their own equipment (or have it provided for them from the largess of the wealthy).
The Ties That Bind
The gifts of the Petty Kingdoms are no mere signifiers of social status. They form a complex web of invisible social forces which bind the people of the Petty Kingdoms together. To give a gift is to create a debt, and an obligation to repay it. Amongst the small farmers this is used to bind the community together and provide mutual aid. During a good harvest a farmer may "banquet" her less fortunate neighbors, stretching their food stores and helping them get through the winter. In return, that neighbor will do the same – or some other favor – when she herself experiences misfortune.
Between a Gentes and her community, this relationship is far more hierarchical. A Gentes may offer the small farmers around her gifts of fine wine on their birthdays, or loan out the use of her oxen during harvest time, or forgive debts owned for rented land during a bad harvest. In return the small farmer – unable to pay this debt with physical gifts – offers up their service, or political support or military support (or often all three).
Relationships between Gentes are similarly hierarchical. Always there is the greater and the lesser. One who offers gifts and receives loyalty and friendship and service in return. In many ways this looks alien to Statist eyes. A reverse of the usual mechanism of government where the vassals offer tribute to the king. In the Petty Kingdoms it is the greatest who gives tribute to her lessers and in so doing earns their service.
It must be stressed that while the above is true, it is written with a distance and clarity which renders the institution cynical. Most in the Petty Kingdoms do not think in such crude terms as buying friendships or alliances. Rather they give gifts and deference and mutual aid because it is what is done. It is the way of things and society and the right things to do. It is the obligation of the well-off to care for the less-fortunate, and to repay all debts and fulfill all obligations is how one demonstrates one's honor. That this confluence of social forces also happens to bind least to greatest in a united culture is simply the way of things.
Between a Gentes and her community, this relationship is far more hierarchical. A Gentes may offer the small farmers around her gifts of fine wine on their birthdays, or loan out the use of her oxen during harvest time, or forgive debts owned for rented land during a bad harvest. In return the small farmer – unable to pay this debt with physical gifts – offers up their service, or political support or military support (or often all three).
Relationships between Gentes are similarly hierarchical. Always there is the greater and the lesser. One who offers gifts and receives loyalty and friendship and service in return. In many ways this looks alien to Statist eyes. A reverse of the usual mechanism of government where the vassals offer tribute to the king. In the Petty Kingdoms it is the greatest who gives tribute to her lessers and in so doing earns their service.
It must be stressed that while the above is true, it is written with a distance and clarity which renders the institution cynical. Most in the Petty Kingdoms do not think in such crude terms as buying friendships or alliances. Rather they give gifts and deference and mutual aid because it is what is done. It is the way of things and society and the right things to do. It is the obligation of the well-off to care for the less-fortunate, and to repay all debts and fulfill all obligations is how one demonstrates one's honor. That this confluence of social forces also happens to bind least to greatest in a united culture is simply the way of things.
Thaumaturgic Engineers
The Thaumaturgic Engineers of the Petty Kingdoms are a remnant of the Y'dannese magical-scientific tradition. Found throughought the Petty Kingdoms as miracle workers and advisors, the Thaumaturgic Engineers use the principles of sacred geometry to produce wonders every bit the equal of nearby Prasad.
The Thaumaturgic Engineers are divided into "Schools", isolated enclaves of fortified college-temples built from the remnants of Y'danna's occult enclaves. Each college-temple (and its surrounding territory) is the sovereign territory of the School, which rents out its land to local farmers in return for corvee labor and a cut of the harvest. Within their walls each school pursues its research with religious fervor. Each school specializes in a particular occult tradition – glasswork, magical-mechanical pistons, and the captured light of Ligier are all possible examples – and debates over which tradition is greatest have led to several wars between the schools.
The schools are theoretically open to all, but entrance is blocked behind a rigorous examination in the basic principles of the school. One who can not demonstrate what they consider to be "basic" occult knowledge is not considered worthy of learning the schools secrets. Even once one has been inducted into the college their secrets are sorely guarded. Each school is structured as a mystery cult with knowledge locked behind "tiers" of membership which can only be reached through service to the school, the mastery of previous occult principles and more than a fair amount of academic politics. This secrecy is a necessity for each school would sorely love to steal the knowledge of their academic rivals; mastery of this or that thaumaturgic has led to several wars between Schools.
Thaumaturgic Engineers are both revered and distrusted for their knowledge. It is considered a great honor for a Gentes to employ a Thaumaturgic Engineer as both advisor and craftsman. At the same time their ways are considered alien and there is always worry they may use their strange magic to ensorcelled the Gentes. Droughts, madness and other calamaties are often blamed on the Thaumaturgic Engineers. During these periods they must retreat to their temples and war is not uncommon. Such periods are usually short - ended by the Petty Kingdom's need for new weapons or the Schools need for food and labor – and with a token gift to smooth things over.
The Thaumaturgic Engineers are divided into "Schools", isolated enclaves of fortified college-temples built from the remnants of Y'danna's occult enclaves. Each college-temple (and its surrounding territory) is the sovereign territory of the School, which rents out its land to local farmers in return for corvee labor and a cut of the harvest. Within their walls each school pursues its research with religious fervor. Each school specializes in a particular occult tradition – glasswork, magical-mechanical pistons, and the captured light of Ligier are all possible examples – and debates over which tradition is greatest have led to several wars between the schools.
The schools are theoretically open to all, but entrance is blocked behind a rigorous examination in the basic principles of the school. One who can not demonstrate what they consider to be "basic" occult knowledge is not considered worthy of learning the schools secrets. Even once one has been inducted into the college their secrets are sorely guarded. Each school is structured as a mystery cult with knowledge locked behind "tiers" of membership which can only be reached through service to the school, the mastery of previous occult principles and more than a fair amount of academic politics. This secrecy is a necessity for each school would sorely love to steal the knowledge of their academic rivals; mastery of this or that thaumaturgic has led to several wars between Schools.
Thaumaturgic Engineers are both revered and distrusted for their knowledge. It is considered a great honor for a Gentes to employ a Thaumaturgic Engineer as both advisor and craftsman. At the same time their ways are considered alien and there is always worry they may use their strange magic to ensorcelled the Gentes. Droughts, madness and other calamaties are often blamed on the Thaumaturgic Engineers. During these periods they must retreat to their temples and war is not uncommon. Such periods are usually short - ended by the Petty Kingdom's need for new weapons or the Schools need for food and labor – and with a token gift to smooth things over.
The Lodges of the Petty Kingdoms
The lodges are semi-formal institutions found throughout the Petty Kingdoms. Generally short lived (most last no more than a generation), lodges are formed by groups of like-minded individuals to advance their interests – whether that be on a personal or professional level. Most lodges are hunting clubs or warrior brotherhoods (Need a gender neutral term), though professional associations or political parties are similarly common.
Most lodges lie somewhere between professional organization and social clubs, formed as much for a sense of camaraderie as to advance their stated goal. Lodges serve an important social function within the Petty Kingdoms, granting individuals a chance to network within and between local communities as well as to prove themselves to the community. Most Gentes are part of a lodge which provided them the training and opportunity necessary to excel.
Lodges are generally funded by voluntary donations from their members. Generally this means that a few rich members are providing the bulk of the funding – loaning out some of their lands to hold the physical structures of the lodge, providing for equipment, etc – and have correspondingly high positions in the lodge.
Most lodges lie somewhere between professional organization and social clubs, formed as much for a sense of camaraderie as to advance their stated goal. Lodges serve an important social function within the Petty Kingdoms, granting individuals a chance to network within and between local communities as well as to prove themselves to the community. Most Gentes are part of a lodge which provided them the training and opportunity necessary to excel.
Lodges are generally funded by voluntary donations from their members. Generally this means that a few rich members are providing the bulk of the funding – loaning out some of their lands to hold the physical structures of the lodge, providing for equipment, etc – and have correspondingly high positions in the lodge.
HalfTangible
Only half sane (it's less cringe)
- Location
- Valkyrie, Primus
We did the new Journey rules from Crucible today. 3 leg journey. Wits or Int + Sail, Difficulty 2 for each leg. For each success over that difficulty, we could buy off a complication, or buy an opportunity (interval # means a time limit for that complication, ie you must buy it on/before this interval or it'll be locked in)
COMPLICATIONS
We make poor time (Cost 5, Interval 3)
A Storm Mother is Angered (Cost 3, Interval 1)
Pirates Attack (Cost 4, Interval 2)
Ill Omens for journeys (Cost 1, Interval 1)
Illness spreads amongst the crew (Cost 3, Interval 2)
Word spreads on Vanta (Cost 2, Interval 3)
Opportunities
Make Good time (Cost 3, Exclusive w/ make poor time)
Enough time to train (Cost 3, Exclusive w/ make good time)
Building Rapport (Cost 2)
Learn more about Renjen Tigerkiller (Cost 3)
Bountiful fishing (Cost 1)
Commune with the local spirit court (Cost 4, exclusive w/ angered Storm Mother)
We make poor time (Cost 5, Interval 3)
A Storm Mother is Angered (Cost 3, Interval 1)
Pirates Attack (Cost 4, Interval 2)
Ill Omens for journeys (Cost 1, Interval 1)
Illness spreads amongst the crew (Cost 3, Interval 2)
Word spreads on Vanta (Cost 2, Interval 3)
Opportunities
Make Good time (Cost 3, Exclusive w/ make poor time)
Enough time to train (Cost 3, Exclusive w/ make good time)
Building Rapport (Cost 2)
Learn more about Renjen Tigerkiller (Cost 3)
Bountiful fishing (Cost 1)
Commune with the local spirit court (Cost 4, exclusive w/ angered Storm Mother)
We ended up buying off everything on this list, except for the pirate attack which we ultimately wanted. ST was worried he'd put in too much but we ended up overcoming most of it simply because our Battles Sid had amazing Sail.
Pros:
-Engaging. Because we knew everything that could have happened and everything we prevented or added on, what would've been a rather uneventful trip across the ocean with a random pirate attack became an engaging encounter.
-ST and Players can both add complications and opportunities.
-We could pick and choose what complications we wanted and throw our successes at the rest, which gave us some agency over what was happening.
Cons:
-Only one of our characters had Sail dots, so while the rest of us were able to contribute a little bit, First Daughter of Victory was carrying all our sorry asses. Not begrudging that she got a moment to shine, but it felt inflexible.
-All we really ended up using in terms of Charms was First Daughter's excellency.
-PBP format, so no idea how this would play out in a real-time game.
Overall a good system I wish there was more charm/ability support for. ST is hoping it will, in his own words, "shine better in a situation where everyone is okay at the roll in question rather than a few people struggling with one pumping out ten successes".
Unrelated, but from this same campaign: I fucking love
- Pronouns
- They/Them
For gender neutral terms for 'warrior brotherhood' you can use the pretty standard 'kithband' or you can go with something more metaphorical? Hm, these folks are big on Austreches, maybe 'bloodclutch' or similar plays on eggs?
- Location
- my house
Thank you!
- Location
- my house
Y'danna got a new adventure location!
Since then several expeditions have ventured to the city in the hopes of unearthing the secret technologies of the Shogunate preserved forever in gold, or for the simple expedience of melting it's gold down to fuel the armies of any number of empires. However anyone who enters the city earns the same fate. This has not prevented the cities looting. Vast portions of the city's outskirts have been torn down through the use of cable and pulleys. Even the city's wall - which denotes the boundary at which it's curse takes effect - has been torn down. All the "easy" money has already been made off of the city, what remains is too far from the curse boundary and too overgrown to be worth looting.
The "Lost" City of Belaco
During the time of the Shogunate Belaco was a bustling metropolis. It was the capital of the Red Hawk Junta, an empire renowned for it's military aggression. Aggression which greatly benefitted Belaco as it grew fat on the conquest of empire. The city was lost during the Balorian Crusade only to reappear in the year 345 (as measured from the reign of the empress) when the tides of the Wylds receded and portions of the Dreaming Sea returned to creation. Belaco did not return unchanged however, for everyone and everything within had been turned to solid gold. Judging by the expressions of the city's inhabitants this was not a pleasant process.Since then several expeditions have ventured to the city in the hopes of unearthing the secret technologies of the Shogunate preserved forever in gold, or for the simple expedience of melting it's gold down to fuel the armies of any number of empires. However anyone who enters the city earns the same fate. This has not prevented the cities looting. Vast portions of the city's outskirts have been torn down through the use of cable and pulleys. Even the city's wall - which denotes the boundary at which it's curse takes effect - has been torn down. All the "easy" money has already been made off of the city, what remains is too far from the curse boundary and too overgrown to be worth looting.
HalfTangible
Only half sane (it's less cringe)
- Location
- Valkyrie, Primus
So this plan was actually abandoned because it didn't really fit with the idea of playing a Convention on the Dead. Our ST felt that trying to install a new kingdom in An-Teng with Realm sympathies, while a good campaign idea, was more a Convention on the South thing, and most of the other players agreed. I went along with it, on the basis that while I didn't mind the Convention on the Dead overstepping its bounds, ST wanted to do something more directly death focused, and that's fine. Ya gotta consider what the ST wants to do, too. So we went to Skullstone to rebuild our spy/information network.
...
I still want to follow this one random woman and her child's life because being born *as I ask the question* is such an absurd coincidence. So the next time we got some downtime (couple of weeks at sea) I check in on her and her son.
Fallen Leaves had a healthy baby boy she named Red Pepper because of a birthmark on his nose. They had to abandon their tar paper shack on the outskirts of the City of Steel Lotus due to torrential rain and are currently living with their family in the central regions. They're all healthy, but the extended family "does not seem to like having to care for long term guests very much".
Remember how we co-signed a destiny with the convention on Hell to hit this area with monsoons and a hurricane?
Sorry Miss Leaves =(
- Location
- my house
Forbidden Horizon Dancers (**)
This pair of blue jade god-kicking boots reaches up to the wearer's upper thighs. It features a pair of stiletto heels made of white jade. When the wearer walks small gusts of wind send their clothes aflutter and the heel grinds any Earth into dust. The artifact grants the following benefits:- Gusts of wind accompany the wearer's attacks with this weapon sending foes flying. On step 10 of any attack which deals damage to a target, that target is knocked back 3 yards. Targets which strike hard objects take one die of damage for each yard they would have otherwise traveled. This damage is usually bashing but can be lethal if the target strikes a particularly dangerous object.
- When standing on a surface primarily or entirely formed of elemental Earth, the white jade heel of this artifact grinds the Earth into sand. Attacks with this weapon become Lethal and gain Overwhelming (4) as the wind blows razor-sharp sand into their foes and past their guard.
- Attacks made by this weapon against structures primarily or entirely made of elemental Earth treat the target as having Hardness 0. This fails against magical materials and similar.
- The wearer suffers no mobility penalties while moving in sand though this gives them no ability to stand where they would otherwise be unable (such as running up a waterfall of sand).
HalfTangible
Only half sane (it's less cringe)
- Location
- Valkyrie, Primus
Exalted
A game of mighty heroes!
Epic magic!
Continent-spanning intrigue!
Epic battles for the fates of nations!
Plans centuries in the making!
And questioning whether ghosts have toilets
(I'd explain the context but this game is PBP and I'd like to finish the sequence first this time.)
A game of mighty heroes!
Epic magic!
Continent-spanning intrigue!
Epic battles for the fates of nations!
Plans centuries in the making!
And questioning whether ghosts have toilets
(I'd explain the context but this game is PBP and I'd like to finish the sequence first this time.)
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- Location
- my house
Have a new magical material, might do one for each Maiden (but if anyone else wants to save me the trouble that would be great).
When ravens descend upon a battlefield they will often swallow bits of weapon and armor to act as gastroliths. If that Raven continues to eat nothing but the flesh of those slain by violence for a year and a day the dread essence of battle will suffuse their iron gastrolith and transform it into a smooth lump of red steel. This steel – known as Scarlet Steel – is one of the rarer magical materials.
Scarlet Steel makes phenomenal weapons and armor. It is both hard and elastic and nothing holds a better edge, save perhaps for Orichalcum. Aspected towards battle, weapons made of Scarlet Steel seem to leap into their owners hands and armor made of the same can be donned far more readily than traditional armor.
In addition to forming in the gullets of ravens, Scarlet Steel sometimes forms when a weapon is used to slay 100 consecutive enemies in honorable combat and certain thaumaturgic rites known only to priestesses of Mars can form this material. At least one priesthood achieves this by way of ritualized combat between ordained priestesses who have never known the touch of a man. Performed only during high holy days, this combat is performed upon a steel arena inset with grooves which channel the spilled blood of combatants into a small container. This blood is then allowed with regular steel and forged into a weapon presented to the winner of this holy tournament.
System: Drawing a weapon made of Scarlet Steel is a (-0 DV) action and does not contribute to the multiple action penalty when flurried with another action. When donning armor made of Scarlet Steel reduce the time taken to don the armor by half.
Scarlet Steel
When ravens descend upon a battlefield they will often swallow bits of weapon and armor to act as gastroliths. If that Raven continues to eat nothing but the flesh of those slain by violence for a year and a day the dread essence of battle will suffuse their iron gastrolith and transform it into a smooth lump of red steel. This steel – known as Scarlet Steel – is one of the rarer magical materials.
Scarlet Steel makes phenomenal weapons and armor. It is both hard and elastic and nothing holds a better edge, save perhaps for Orichalcum. Aspected towards battle, weapons made of Scarlet Steel seem to leap into their owners hands and armor made of the same can be donned far more readily than traditional armor.
In addition to forming in the gullets of ravens, Scarlet Steel sometimes forms when a weapon is used to slay 100 consecutive enemies in honorable combat and certain thaumaturgic rites known only to priestesses of Mars can form this material. At least one priesthood achieves this by way of ritualized combat between ordained priestesses who have never known the touch of a man. Performed only during high holy days, this combat is performed upon a steel arena inset with grooves which channel the spilled blood of combatants into a small container. This blood is then allowed with regular steel and forged into a weapon presented to the winner of this holy tournament.
System: Drawing a weapon made of Scarlet Steel is a (-0 DV) action and does not contribute to the multiple action penalty when flurried with another action. When donning armor made of Scarlet Steel reduce the time taken to don the armor by half.
HalfTangible
Only half sane (it's less cringe)
- Location
- Valkyrie, Primus
Okay, so
I said earlier that one of the Sidereal's mystery cults in Skullstone (specifically the island of Vanta) went dark and we had no idea what happened to them. We posed as foreigners, some of us looking to join up with the Black Fleet, others (like me) there to learn about Skullstone's culture. Because they are apparently very... I forget the word our ST used but I'ma go with "condescendingly jinogistic"; they were happy to 'enlighten us' on the superiority of their culture if you catch my drift.
Our group split up once we got to the island, everyone on their own sorta mini-adventure to gather information and lay the groundwork for future intelligence operations. Skipping past a lot of stuff to get to the moment with the toilets, we then met up at a newly-constructed opera house (which was the cult's new base before their disappearance) and our Shieldbearer wanted to pass info to my Oracle, but she had to do so in a way that wouldn't draw suspicion from the translator/handler we got when we arrived on the island. And I had a retainer who was also female. So naturally the best solution was for the two of them to go to the bathroom together and pass the info.
Which lead to this:
Harbinger (jokingly): "Its too unrealistic. Ghosts dont shit"
Me (Oracle): "No but their descendants do and they care about their descendants"
ST: "Ah, but just like hunger they are bedecked with the phantom memories of needing to shit (edited)"
Shieldbearer: *nodding pikachu gif*
Harbinger: "Bathrooms that are never used. Just ghosts squatting over the bowls, feeling nostalgic. They even take long shits during worktime"
Me (Oracle): ""We spent two hours waiting for a GHOST?!""
Once we got past that tomfoolery, though... we used the play as a cover to get beneath the opera house. It took me a bit longer than it should have because I rolled 9 dice with TN 6 and got ONE SUCCESS on stealth (also spent a willpower so 2) and forgot to mention I was giving myself an actor RD so I had to do a mundane disguise to get below.
Once we did, though, we used a combination of charms (Guilty Conscience Expiation, Marvelous Inclusion of Details, Obituary Composition Technique, and others) to figure out what had happened to the cult.
See, they'd been preparing to perform some great oracular ritual whose nature we have not discovered as of yet. The Lictors found them and raided the place, lead there by a traitorous new initiate, Crimson Spring. The cult had some sorcery and necromancy but ultimately proved no match. Once the cultists were dead the Lictors sealed the secret door and tried to burn the place down, but fortunately for us the fire ran out of oxygen before it could finish destroying the evidence. The corpse was a descendant of the Governor, a Black Judge who we'd already learned was corrupt and was in the middle of trying to get his grandson's body back as zombie labor (and this had happened before so he was PISSED about it). We were also able to track down where the Lictors in the city were staying.
Oh we also got one of the Lictor's masks, which we can repair to help with infiltration at a later date.
We later tracked down a Lictor (not the one we'd learned of unfortunately) and since he was wildly corrupt we persuaded him to work with our Shieldbearer who was playing the role of a ship captain.
So! We now have three potential leads to rebuild our intelligence network in the area: Crimson Spring the coward and traitor, who needs to be dealt with at some point. A corrupt member of the Secret Police named Black Waters. And a Black Judge who is also the governor of Vanta. We have not given him a name yet.
...
Oh, one other note: Part of our plan to get the Lictor alone with our Shieldbearer was to hypnotize him with Peacock Shadow Eyes and convince him to come along and answer questions. But to accomplish that, we started a brawl to get him out of his guard house. Our NPC Sidereal buddy (long story short he's the rookie our Shieldbearer is being a big sister for) started a fistfight with our Joybringer. Said Joybringer cursed like a sailor in Riverspeak so loudly that everyone who spoke it blushed (including my high-guile oracle), then when the altercation was done used a charm to walk away from the faux pas respected and admired by the cops who came to arrest him. This was after creating CHILD COFFINS and fact-establishing that they were considered wonderful gifts in Skullstone.
- Location
- my house
Have some battlefield control charms for SWliHN
SWLIHN Chess Charms
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, knockback
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Evasive Reassembly
This charm can be activated in step 10 of an unarmed attack by the Infernal. If that attack manages to deal any amount of damage, the infernal may additionally teleport the target a number of yards equal to (Infernal's Essence * Occult Rating). This forced movement can be in any direction of the Infernal's choosing. Teleporting into occupied space inflicts an unsoakable level of bashing damage on the target, and he instead re-appears at the closest spot between her starting point and the obstacle. Spaces warded against teleportation provoke a roll-off, with failure causing the target to treat them as occupied.
If the Infernal knows Mind-Hand Manipulation than they may explicitly use this charm to supplement purely telekinetic attacks.
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, knockback
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Disobedient Pawn Maneuver
This charm may be activated to supplement the movement action of any allied character the infernal can touch, replacing their movement action with the knockback provided by its prerequisite. Attempts to use this charm against an unwilling target automatically fail.
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Knockback, Obvious, Reflexive Counterattack
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cataprhact Takes Conscript
This charm may be activated in step 9 of any attack not targeting the Infernal where either the attacker or defender is within touch range of the Infernal (or of their Mind-Hand Manipulation), allowing them to target either the attacker or defender with this charm's prerequisite. If this attack succeeds and moves the target out of range of the original attack, that attacks fails. A target may choose to fail to defend against this attack as normal. This is considered a perfect dodge and so remains vulnerable to the Imperfection of the Whispering Pyre.
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Knockback, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Monk Eludes Cataphract
This charm grants the Infernal a special unarmed counter-attack (made with either their limbs or Mind-Hand Manipulation ) useable in Step 9 of any attack targeting the Infernal. If the attack hits the Infernal may interpose the target between themselves and the original attack. Mechanically this acts as a reflexive Defend-Other action taken by the target, if the action fails the target must let the attack target them rather than strike the Infernal. This is considered a perfect dodge and so remains vulnerable to the Imperfection of the Whispering Pyre.
As always, a target may choose to lwt this attack hit them if they wish.
[\spoiler]
SWLIHN Chess Charms
Disobedient Conscript Maneuver
Cost: 3mMins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, knockback
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Evasive Reassembly
This charm can be activated in step 10 of an unarmed attack by the Infernal. If that attack manages to deal any amount of damage, the infernal may additionally teleport the target a number of yards equal to (Infernal's Essence * Occult Rating). This forced movement can be in any direction of the Infernal's choosing. Teleporting into occupied space inflicts an unsoakable level of bashing damage on the target, and he instead re-appears at the closest spot between her starting point and the obstacle. Spaces warded against teleportation provoke a roll-off, with failure causing the target to treat them as occupied.
If the Infernal knows Mind-Hand Manipulation than they may explicitly use this charm to supplement purely telekinetic attacks.
Cataphract Takes Conscript
Cost: 4mMins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK, knockback
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Disobedient Pawn Maneuver
This charm may be activated to supplement the movement action of any allied character the infernal can touch, replacing their movement action with the knockback provided by its prerequisite. Attempts to use this charm against an unwilling target automatically fail.
Monk Eludes Cataphract
Cost: 8mMins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Knockback, Obvious, Reflexive Counterattack
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Cataprhact Takes Conscript
This charm may be activated in step 9 of any attack not targeting the Infernal where either the attacker or defender is within touch range of the Infernal (or of their Mind-Hand Manipulation), allowing them to target either the attacker or defender with this charm's prerequisite. If this attack succeeds and moves the target out of range of the original attack, that attacks fails. A target may choose to fail to defend against this attack as normal. This is considered a perfect dodge and so remains vulnerable to the Imperfection of the Whispering Pyre.
Castle Defends King
Cost: 3mMins: Essence 3
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Knockback, Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Monk Eludes Cataphract
This charm grants the Infernal a special unarmed counter-attack (made with either their limbs or Mind-Hand Manipulation ) useable in Step 9 of any attack targeting the Infernal. If the attack hits the Infernal may interpose the target between themselves and the original attack. Mechanically this acts as a reflexive Defend-Other action taken by the target, if the action fails the target must let the attack target them rather than strike the Infernal. This is considered a perfect dodge and so remains vulnerable to the Imperfection of the Whispering Pyre.
As always, a target may choose to lwt this attack hit them if they wish.
[\spoiler]