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Glorious Shotgun Princess (ME/Exalted) Thread #2

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GreggHL said:
That implies I see Warhammer 40K as anything I would ever, ever put in this story.
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Thank you for implying that you have standards.
Fiach McCarthy said:
The Great curse is basically a giant psycho button for all of the Celestial Exalted, excluding the Infernals they have their own problems. It makes an Exalted who has acted outside of their Virtues, a high compassion Solar would suffer if they let cruelty happen without intervening.
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Some of them[1] are just all upside, though, and I think it's entirely reasonable for there to be in-universe speculation, among those in the know, that it was intentional, and that all the Neverborn did was put in some forms that weren't as good.

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[1]: e.g., Heart of Flint: You are compelled to take the most efficient path to reach your goals, and in "exchange" you get the standard "compensation package" (WP, turning on things like Stubborn Boar Defense). Just make sure you've defined your goals well and it won't be a problem, just an excuse to put all your energy into winning.
 
RadiantPhoenix said:
Thank you for implying that you have standards.



Some of them[1] are just all upside, though, and I think it's entirely reasonable for there to be in-universe speculation, among those in the know, that it was intentional, and that all the Neverborn did was put in some forms that weren't as good.

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[1]: e.g., Heart of Flint: You are compelled to take the most efficient path to reach your goals, and in "exchange" you get the standard "compensation package" (WP, turning on things like Stubborn Boar Defense). Just make sure you've defined your goals well and it won't be a problem, just an excuse to put all your energy into winning.
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The most effective course of action could be slaughtering an entire town instead of holding, because it would take too long.

The Dragonblooded had a very good reason for their revolt.
 
Fiach McCarthy said:
The most effective course of action could be slaughtering an entire town instead of holding, because it would take too long.

The Dragonblooded had a very good reason for their revolt.
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More context and details would be required for a proper discussion. It's probably not appropriate in this thread.
 
RadiantPhoenix said:
Some of them are just all upside, though
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Aaaaand stop right there.

Any form of the Great Curse which doesn't make you fuck yourself, your plans and/or your reputation over whenever it activates? Is a badly written version. And no, that's not "fuck other people over". Fundamentally, the Great Curse is exactly that - a curse. If it doesn't cause problems for you when it kicks in, you're not playing it right.

But this is off-topic, and we should get back on. Specifically by tying this back into the topic at hand.

Jaded Gatekeeper still had the Great Curse after being turned into whateverheisnow. He was once a Sidereal - but has been dead for aeons, his Exaltation fled to reincarnate.

Which means that whatever process converts Exalts into Reapers or Reaperoids causes them, by some accident of transferred madness or corruption, to retain the Great Curse in their new forms.

Which means that every single Reaper out there with an Exalted soul at its core is carrying the potential to go completely fucking bugnuts crazy under sufficient pressure.

Which puts a rather greater perspective on why they spend most of their time in hibernation - if they didn't, they'd be dead by now.

But most importantly of all?

It means that Bright Star, now Harbinger, retains his Flaw.

That may well become rather important indeed, some time on from now.
 
Aleph said:
Aaaaand stop right there.

Any form of the Great Curse which doesn't make you fuck yourself, your plans and/or your reputation over whenever it activates? Is a badly written version. And no, that's not "fuck other people over". Fundamentally, the Great Curse is exactly that - a curse. If it doesn't cause problems for you when it kicks in, you're not playing it right.

But this is off-topic, and we should get back on. Specifically by tying this back into the topic at hand.

Jaded Gatekeeper still had the Great Curse after being turned into whateverheisnow. He was once a Sidereal - but has been dead for aeons, his Exaltation fled to reincarnate.

Which means that whatever process converts Exalts into Reapers or Reaperoids causes them, by some accident of transferred madness or corruption, to retain the Great Curse in their new forms.

Which means that every single Reaper out there with an Exalted soul at its core is carrying the potential to go completely fucking bugnuts crazy under sufficient pressure.

Which puts a rather greater perspective on why they spend most of their time in hibernation - if they didn't, they'd be dead by now.

But most importantly of all?

It means that Bright Star, now Harbinger, retains his Flaw.

That may well become rather important indeed, some time on from now.
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Would he have a Virtue flaw for his PD?
 
... How is story speculah a tangent?

Anyway, if Harby has a capital-F Flaw, Autochthon probably knows it or can guess. The Great Curse is not subtle, except by dint of obscurity. (Though it is personality-warping, but even so, I'd imagine a Limit Break would stand out.)

Hmm... someone who knows more ME want to hazard a guess? From what very little I know, Harby seems like the type to have a Temperence flaw....
 
Actually, Leaping Sky was a Dawn Solar.

Bright Star's virtue flaw was Compassion.

Meaning he would avoid Limit by forcing order in such a way that no suffering would be allowed.

Like turning entire disorganzied societies into beings of pure order.

:3
 
GreggHL said:
Actually, Leaping Sky was a Dawn Solar.

Bright Star's virtue flaw was Compassion.

Meaning he would avoid Limit by forcing order in such a way that no suffering would be allowed.

Like turning entire disorganzied societies into beings of pure order.

:3
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Except that the process by which he does so inflicts tremendous suffering. More fitting would be the Conviction based flaw Heart of Flint with Compassion ranked at the same level as his Conviction.
 
Hazard said:
Except that the process by which he does so inflicts tremendous suffering. More fitting would be the Conviction based flaw Heart of Flint with Compassion ranked at the same level as his Conviction.
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It's not suffering if he doesn't see it. :3
 
...

Wait. So, a Limit Break Bright Star was the guy who came up with the "Turn the entire species into one giant horror" idea? :shudders:

Edit: Oooopsies, got Leaping Sky and Bright Star mixed up. Heh.
 
Cornuthaum said:
Ah, the Exalted Not-Actually-The-Pope method of dealing with your Compassion.
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Know what the best part of a Solar exalted's lifespan is?

Watching your grandchildren die of old age.
 
GreggHL said:
Know what the best part of a Solar exalted's lifespan is?

Watching your grandchildren die of old age.
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And their lifespan is still ten times what it would have been without your Exalted machinations. That compassion means you can weep at their passing and cherish them in your memories.

It's something else entirely compared to, say, melting down billions as they scream and beg and plead you oh please oh please not to kill them.

Or walking through the slums of a major city in your domain.

That's why you shouldn't do these things... that is, be where you can hear them and see them.

After all, if Not-Pope does it, it can't be evil, righty-o?
 
Cornuthaum said:
And their lifespan is still ten times what it would have been without your Exalted machinations. That compassion means you can weep at their passing and cherish them in your memories.

It's something else entirely compared to, say, melting down billions as they scream and beg and plead you oh please oh please not to kill them.

Or walking through the slums of a major city in your domain.

That's why you shouldn't do these things... that is, be where you can hear them and see them.

After all, if Not-Pope does it, it can't be evil, righty-o?
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If it worked for the Hierophant...
 
The blast lights up the field like dawn, cutting through the smoke of wrecked shuttles and the red of molten metal. It booms like thunder, overtaking the horn of the overhead Reaper and giving pause to the battle. The Destroyer, as big as a cruiser, overshadowing them all, goes flying into the distance.

The defenders of Eden Prime give themselves a moment to cheer before the orders come in from on high. Defenses are raised as the militia regroups, practice and drills coming to bear as a large army becomes smaller, tight units. Gaps are broken in the lines of the infinite army, Grizzlys and Makos pushing through, soldiers falling back as the battle becomes an organized dance.

Shuttles strafe overhead as artillery strikes hammer the largest concentrations of drones. Ground rumbles beneath the reaper army, and the Maw begins dragging them down under. Among the wounded and injured, they see a black suited Quarian, appearing for split seconds before punching them to health.

The upright Geth Colossus continues firing into the ranks of the drones, disorganized and flanked by the Eden Prime militia. Even as the golden giant seizes up and collapses in mid swing, the infinite army is pushed back as the defenders of this human world dig in.

From on high, standing atop a broken, torn open artillery platform that the Reaper had deployed, Javik allows himself a rare grin. His army serves him well. He will have to...discuss...the matter with the turian. But he will do so after. And clothing himself in sunlight, he kicks off and dives back into the fray.
 
The Destroyer flips, bouncing off its swept up back before landing in a crouch. It rises, stumbling back on its six legs before parting the plates underneath its eyes and letting out a glass cracking bass roar.

The eye at the center of its lower body flashes and it releases a gout of molten iron. It burns the air, bends grass, burns soil, and deflects off the armored fist of Jane Shepard.

Racing forward, the sundisc on her brow, she closes the distance as the Destroyer roars. Dirt and dust falling off its foot, the Reaper steps forward and drives its claw into the ground. Bent over, bass tones filling the air, it releasing the wave of liquid death just as she comes within striking distance.

The ground beneath the giant turns to liquid and then to glass. Angry red cracks spread out. The seismic shock can be felt for miles as the blast penetrates for kilometers into the planet. As the light clears, as the heat and force dissipate, the Reaper realizes a simple, terrible truth about the consequences of its act.

It never hit. Because it can now, through the smoke and haze, clearly see Jane as she grabs one of his feet, wrapping her arms around its claws and glowing like the rising sun.

She grits her teeth, roaring. But as with all things, the only limits to the Lawgivers is what limits they set themselves. The only limits are those they believe that cannot be surpassed. The foot lifts. Not by the volition of the Reaper, but by the will of the Exalted. A warbled cry issues forth from the destroyer as it rises. Held by one foot, held aloft, it can only roar as Jane swings it into the ground.
 
The best way to fight an Exalt that has focused on melee range combat: Stay the fuck out of her way and keep shooting.

I don't think that's a mistake this Destroyer will ever make again. Or any mistake for that matter.
 
Hazard said:
The best way to fight an Exalt that has focused on melee range combat: Stay the fuck out of her way and keep shooting.

I don't think that's a mistake this Destroyer will ever make again. Or any mistake for that matter.
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Shoot and Scoot works very well. Which is why the Exalts in question usually have their own buddies with ranged weapons (or they pop Night's Avenger Lunge and hit you in the face ANYWAYS. An older Solar with NAL can jump 100 miles straight up in one second to punch you if need be.)

And poor Destroyer-kun learns that without house rules, the moment a Solar Hero stylist gets you in a clinch, you are fucked. And not the good way either, the "oh god, why is my entire world pain and misery".
 
Cornuthaum said:
Shoot and Scoot works very well. Which is why the Exalts in question usually have their own buddies with ranged weapons (or they pop Night's Avenger Lunge and hit you in the face ANYWAYS. An older Solar with NAL can jump 100 miles straight up in one second to punch you if need be.)

And poor Destroyer-kun learns that without house rules, the moment a Solar Hero stylist gets you in a clinch, you are fucked. And not the good way either, the "oh god, why is my entire world pain and misery".
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Or even worse, they have Blind Impulse Strike. Mmm, infinite range counterattacks.
 
Cornuthaum said:
or they pop Night's Avenger Lunge and hit you in the face ANYWAYS. An older Solar with NAL can jump 100 miles straight up in one second to punch you if need be
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Which is why you stay FOUR hundred (or more) miles up, in orbit, and nuke the site until the exaltation goes away, because it's the best way to be sure.
 
Distance doesn't actually matter. It's conceptual: you're the attacker, so you get hit.

We've been over this. You don't kill a Solar with biggatons, because he'll perfect it away and his counterattack will bypass distance and armor to destroy you. You kill a Solar with broadsides and barrages, and mote-tap him to death.

(Assuming you've got him pinned against something he's defending. If he's not, well, chances are he can get away.)
 
linkhyrule5 said:
Distance doesn't actually matter. It's conceptual: you're the attacker, so you get hit.
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Well, if you meant, "any distance," you should have said, "any distance," and not a number that's laughably small for the scenario.
 
RadiantPhoenix said:
Well, if you meant, "any distance," you should have said, "any distance," and not a number that's laughably small for the scenario.
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The counter attack works at any distance, NAL is an attack that works out to a set range. Exalted doesn't have a lot of BVR attacks.
 
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