Just my opinions on the paths and our Green Sun Princess.
Alchemy - This Path offers access to effects, like healing, that are hard to get in her charms and great versatility with the sheer range of things it can produce. It also synergises greatly with crafting as at 3 dots and above it can produce impossible materials to make things from.
Conjuration - While it is an ability not found in the Infernal charmset it really doesn't offer much of value for Molly, for a Green Sun Princess it's mostly a party trick.
Conveyance - I am of mixed opinions on this path, it can provide rapid short range transport, but like most paths it requires a good chunk of xp to learn to an actually useful level
Divination - Note that Divination below 4 dots is pretty much useless for us, it is simply too vague to produce results worth the cost. However 5-6 dots of this Path would be incredibly usefull, especially as it synergises with Molly's urge and the Crown of Eyes, plus it seems really in character for Molly to become even more adept at pulling secrets out of thin air.
Ephemera - As the social based version of summoning this Path is great for us, especially given Molly's enhanced influence over creatures of darkness.
Enchantment - Great path learn when we can, the ability to manufacture a broad range of magic Talismans both for our use and to hand out to others is great, Talismans at high levels can provide defenses for locations making this the path of defensive magic as well.
Fascination - Not only is this black magic it directly hits Molly's issues due to harming Rosie and Nelson. Avoid.
Fortune - Potentially very valuable for blessing and protecting others, would allow us to pull similar tricks as the angels do for the Knights.
Healing - somewhat usefull in itself, but cost wise we a probably better off learning alchemical healing recipes and just stocking them.
Hellfire - Pretty useless. Molly has access to more powerful attacks for cheaper with her native charms. The only part of this Path that would be somewhat worthwhile is the ability to store precast offensive spells at 5 dots and alchemy can produce equivalents to that.
Illusion - Very much a path of subtefuge, while it can be pretty devasting if used cleverly we are better off using the xp elsewhere.
Mana Manipulation - Geomancy, countermagic and magic manipulation, potent and functional. Very much something we should get xp permitting.
Necromancy - Nope, this Path is all about enslaving the dead, it is socially and morally bankrupt.
Necronics - Nope, this path is all about harming the dead, if we want to mulch spirits charms are better.
Onieromancy - Exotic, but treads close to black magic and has limited utility.
Shadows - Weak and we have native charms that blow it out of the water. Worthless
Shapeshifting - Interesting, but we have longer lasting disguise options and better combat transformations.
Starlight - The means to open ways, even basic levels would be quite useful.
Summoning, Binding and Warding - The not nice form of summoning, despite the name not actually that good at protecting things, requires a lot of xp to usefully purchase as you have to acquire specific rituals for each type of thing you want to target. Honestly think sticking to Ephemera for summoning and Enchantment for protection is better. (I am assuming DP will remove the Craft Problem with this path)
Weather Control - This Path can produce effects on a scale the Exalted generally struggle to
Let me present you with an alternate hypothesis:
Advanced techniques allow you to forgo the 1WP cost for linear sorcery two levels below your current level in return for raising the DC by 1. Mentat Stones reduce DC by 1.
Ergo, Hellfire Path + Mentat Stone means you can cast [current Tier -2] hellfire magic at normal difficulty without needing to spend WP.
That means at Hellfire tier 3, you can cast Hellfire tier 1 sorcery without spending willpower at normal difficulty.
At Hellfire tier 4, you can cast Hellfire tier 2 for free and so on.
And thats before Boiling Sea Mastery. Particularly useful when fighting mobs of hostiles, or places where you dont want to throw Agg around. Especially since you can buy different varieties of Hellfire, with different effects, from fire to lightning to water to ice to death lasers and entropic effects.
Being able to fire sunlight blasts for free, for example, or just make your sword glow with sunlight, would do interesting things to those supernaturals vulnerable to sunlight. Or even just to destroy evidence and bodies.
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=Conveyance is longrange teleportation of party members and loot at the high end, and high speed transportation at the low end. Stick six or eight people in a minivan or fullsize three row SUV like a Yukon or Suburban or custom vehicle, and you can move them at much faster than highway speeds.
=Divination appears to be a Perception roll, and we have ATB as a difficulty adjuster. Aside from thematics, having 1 dot in it and Scrying might serve as a workable cover for Crown use.
=Healing is for stuff where you dont have preptime for alchemy. Potions dont appear to keep indefinitely.
=Low-tier Shadows might be useful for disguises?
=Shapeshifting works on other people on a temporary and permanent basis. Our disguise charms dont. Mostly.
=Summoning/Binding/Warding is literally how you keep unwanted supernaturals out of a location, and bind big shots like the Erl King. If there had been wards at Last Station, Adam might still be alive. Its a fairly priority Path, and potent enough that it and Hellfire are the two Paths that Harry had hesitation about teaching Molly.
Most of these arent shortterm, mind.
Enchantment probably gives discounts on Exalted Crafting, though.
Just a nitpick, it's Naked Wicked Souls.
Thanks.
I keep making that mistake.
engineering.princeton.edu
