Remove ads

Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

Reader mode
@DragonParadox why use the mansion? Can we use one of the following?
1) Any of the security personnel of the mansion. The question would be "what are the plans set to be implemented within the next week that this person is charged with stopping?" Or something like this. Basically "what are the plans against the mansion this person is protecting"
2) Any of remaining foci (if we have any, like photos of his gravestone or birth certificate) for detective Greene (I hope I didn't forget the name) along the line of "what are the plans of this person's murderer set to be implemented within the next day"
3) Mansion's security perimeter.
 
Yog said:
@DragonParadox why use the mansion? Can we use one of the following?
1) Any of the security personnel of the mansion. The question would be "what are the plans set to be implemented within the next week that this person is charged with stopping?" Or something like this. Basically "what are the plans against the mansion this person is protecting"
2) Any of remaining foci (if we have any, like photos of his gravestone or birth certificate) for detective Greene (I hope I didn't forget the name) along the line of "what are the plans of this person's murderer set to be implemented within the next day"
3) Mansion's security perimeter.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You are effectively using the scene, it is scene or item in the description, you are fine either way.
 
DragonParadox said:
If a decision has been made and they are heading this way you will get a ping, if no decision has been made you will get a nul result. The crown was designed to see the future as much as the present and the past, it's just that now it has to operate around all this newfangled Free Will stuff. Back in my day we had the Loom and we liked it... :V
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The idea of free will being a software update is hilarious not gonna lie.
 
When it comes to Creation in 3e Fate and Destiny have been adjusted.
Fate is gravity, probability, physics, linear time, etc.
Destinies are woven into the loom of fate and strengthen creation against the Wyld when they come to pass. The Bureau of Destiny works to ensure planned Destinies come to pass. From the pattern spiders, to the gods, and the Sidereals in the most pressing circumstances.

The Loom offers insight to possible futures, but says nothing about their probability, or what is currently happening.
 
Earth-Destroyer said:
Sounds like an interesting solution, honestly just looking for way to make the VVE more then a one an done, we never see used more then once.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
To poke at this topic again, I think it's worth emphasizing that VEE is only limited per target and that we've got WoQM it has different value to different people.

We could make a wizard ageless, or give them talents in spheres they previously couldn't make real use of to name a few examples.

Presumably stronger supernaturals will have other specific areas where the right thumb on the scale could mean a lot.

The consequence of that from a user perspective is that it's not worth our time to bend the universe for mundanes/weaklings most of the time, and that we have to know our target when presenting a temptation to them. Both because it makes our bait better and because the people we want to sell wishes to are the type that generally know to be wary of taking a bite.

Which should sound familiar, because it echos the Yama King's soul commerce. Our pacts aren't the same, but we're still talking deals with a hellish entity for power.

The year long time out helps enforce that paradigm, and I don't think it really makes it useless doing so.
 
BronzeTongue said:
To poke at this topic again, I think it's worth emphasizing that VEE is only limited per target and that we've got WoQM it has different value to different people.

We could make a wizard ageless, or give them talents in spheres they previously couldn't make real use of to name a few examples.

Presumably stronger supernaturals will have other specific areas where the right thumb on the scale could mean a lot.

The consequence of that from a user perspective is that it's not worth our time to bend the universe for mundanes/weaklings most of the time, and that we have to know our target when presenting a temptation to them. Both because it makes our bait better and because the people we want to sell wishes to are the type that generally know to be wary of taking a bite.

Which should sound familiar, because it echos the Yama King's soul commerce. Our pacts aren't the same, but we're still talking deals with a hellish entity for power.

The year long time out helps enforce that paradigm, and I don't think it really makes it useless doing so.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I wonder if we could use VEE to give a Whampire the ability to feed their Hunger in a different manner? Rather than emotion-associated life energy, for example, maybe we could also make them solar-powered?

Bonus points if it makes them sparkly as a side-effect... :V
 
Yeah I don't believe we would ever manage to have a vote to give a wish to basically anybody of important. And even a hard cap of 2 wishes will be imposed on simple minions. Sure given Dresden a legendary merit for enchanting, or some such would be fun, but I don't believe we would every see pass vote to do it.

Basically I don't trust us ever using VVE on anybody not already a minion. Which makes it pretty worthless with a year cooldown. Faster and easier just to train people even without the training charm.
 
Last edited:
[X] Use the crown on one of the security personnel to find the plan of an attack
 
Goldfish said:
I wonder if we could use VEE to give a Whampire the ability to feed their Hunger in a different manner? Rather than emotion-associated life energy, for example, maybe we could also make them solar-powered?

Bonus points if it makes them sparkly as a side-effect... :V
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Probably not, I think they need to be actual merits. Possibly with some modifications for stuff from systems that don't make sense for our use case.

I've been working off the mage list, but the for vampires there are some fun merits to play with.

Pretty sure there are vampires how would stack bodies like cordwood for these:

Blase You are not easily impressed by others. You automatically resist all Presence powers. However, if the Kindred using Presence is far more powerful than yourself, the Storyteller might require you to spend a point of Willpower to resist. (CB:Tor1)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Efficient Digestion You are able to draw more than the usual amount of nourishment from blood. When feeding, you gain an additional point to your blood pool for every two points of blood you consume. This does not allow you to exceed your blood pool maximum.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

While they don't need it, I'm morbidly curious about what would happen if you gave a white vamp these:

Sex Appeal The sway of your hips and the pout of your lips give you a natural sexiness and sensuality that attract lovers to you like flies to honey. Perhaps it's your pheromones. Whatever the cause, you are sex incarnate. You are irresistible. When you flirt, you find many willing minions. This characteristic makes you the center of attention at any gathering, since they all want to wholeheartedly please you. With a look, a word, or a wave of your hand, you can make or break hearts. Even the most cold-hearted are not immune to your power. Though this does draw unwanted attention sometimes, you always manage to extricate yourself from unwanted situations. (The player makes all rolls related to either Charisma or Appearance at -2 difficulty.)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Surreal Beauty You are blessed with unspeakable beauty that supersedes most people's notions of loveliness and a sense of grace and dignity that makes you undeniable. Because of this, all Appearance-based rolls receive two extra bonus dice, as well as a -1 Difficulty rating to seduction-based Appearance rolls, too. You must have an Appearance rating of 4 or higher to take this Merit.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Enchanting Voice You have an almost magical voice, beautiful beyond words. You may add two dice to all rolls directly involving the use of your voice, such as Leadership, Seduction, Singing, etc. Depending upon the circumstances, the Storyteller may allow you to use two extra dice when making any type of roll involving Presence. (PGS)

  • There is something about your voice that others cannot ignore. When you command, they are cowed. When you seduce, they swoon. Whether thunderous, gentle, persuading or simply talking, your voice commands attention. The difficulties of all die rolls involving the use of the voice to persuade, charm or command are reduced by two.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
cite
They probably already have something like this for the most part, but stacking could make for some truly unfair bullshit.

Earth-Destroyer said:
Yeah I don't believe we would ever manage to have a vote to give a wish to basically anybody of important. And even a hard cap of 2 wishes will be imposed on simple minions. Sure given Dresden a legendary merit for enchanting, or some such would be fun, but I don't believe we would every see pass vote to do it.

Basically I don't trust us ever using VVE on anybody not already a minion. Which makes it pretty worthless with a year cooldown. Faster and easier just to train people even without the training charm.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Important is a relative thing. Any wizard tier talent, even a new one like Molly was, could get some very tempting benefits out of this. A reasonably powerful vampire, fey, or other similar creature would also work.

My point was more that VEE isn't supposed to be used to stack merits on muggles and crazed fledglings we found in a sewer.

We can spam it as far as we have the essence for and make deals where the power granted (and profit earned) is lesser, but the time lock keeps it bent towards the base idea of infernal dealings for power rather than a better version of one of the Bakemono charms.
 
VEE is silly broken, even if it's 1 year per person, even if it was once per person, and one year per casting.
1) Background granting can be used for some very strange and silly fate and reality manipulation, especially by granting certain people certain Mentor backgrounds. Also a reminder, Past Lives is a background. Destiny is a background. And, oh, Avatar is a background too:
Avatar/ Genius
Awakening defines the mage. Whether she refers to it
as some mystic inner god or the scientifically explainable
Enlightenment of higher consciousness, the Avatar or Genius
allows a willworker to do the things she does. Some Avatars,
though, are more potent and effective than others. This Trait
measures your Awakened self, reflects its ability to shift and
hold Quintessence, and determines how real it is in your
character's perceptions.
Every mage character has an Avatar of some kind; unless
you purchase at least one dot in this Trait, however, your ability
to actually do much with your magick is extremely limited.
Although your magick-casting rolls are based on Arete, not the
Avatar, your character won't be able to use Quintessence to aid
her spells. A mage's ability to absorb or employ Quintessence is
based on the Avatar Trait. (See the
Quintessence Trait
entry,
pp.331-333.) Her higher self, too, is weak – more of an ember
than a bonfire. A high Avatar/ Genius rating, though, reflects
a higher self whose distinct personality seems very real to the
mage in question.
X An ephemeral Avatar hardly capable of magick.
• A notable presence that lets you absorb or
expend one point of Quintessence.
•• A dynamic presence that lets you absorb or
expend two points of Quintessence.
••• A discernable entity that lets you absorb or
expend three points of Quintessence.
•••• A potent spirit that lets you absorb or expend
four points of Quintessence.
••••• A powerful force of Enlightenment that lets you
absorb or expend five points of Quintessence.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
In terms of Dresdenverse, that's mantle crafting, I think. There's also spirit inheritance, and kinfolk backgrounds. Essentially, we could retroactively make someone related to some spirits / fae. Why is this important? Oh, look at that lovely Red Court family slaying ritual over there!
2) Dark Magic Corruption is almost certainly a flaw, which we could probably remove
3) This is the only charm where we can freely raise attributes and abilities. Moreover, and this is a bit silly - there's no stated limit. I.e. VEE might be able to grant dots above 5.
 
BronzeTongue said:
My point was more that VEE isn't supposed to be used to stack merits on muggles and crazed fledglings we found in a sewer.

We can spam it as far as we have the essence for and make deals where the power granted (and profit earned) is lesser, but the time lock keeps it bent towards the base idea of infernal dealings for power rather than a better version of one of the Bakemono charms.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
VVE is not really meant for powerful people, those people are smart enough to say no. It's meant to turn worthless mortals into some what useful minions.
 
Earth-Destroyer said:
VVE is not really meant for powerful people, those people are smart enough to say no. It's meant to turn worthless mortals into some what useful minions.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
For our purposes, it seems like it would be helpful for boosting muggles, but best for turning lesser or marginal supernatural beings into serious contenders.
 
Earth-Destroyer said:
VVE is not really meant for powerful people, those people are smart enough to say no. It's meant to turn worthless mortals into some what useful minions.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Not really. Though it varies based on exactly what you mean by powerful.

The ruling here was that we can give certain merits to certain people, and increases at the top end in general are harder to acquire.

Even without getting into the silly merits that should be rejected outright there's a lot of power to be had.

New spheres of magic, eternal life, special abilities, permanent difficulty reducers with broad focuses, improvements in rank within an organization that are increasingly significant with each dot, it's serious business.

It's also outright silly to call it a minion charm in the immediate sense. It's explicitly transactional, the nominal benefit to the infernal is the favor.

A favor from someone who already takes orders from you is sort of nonsensical. There's some utility, but the baseline expectation is clearly that people aren't your minions when you use it on them.

You make minions with it the same way that Mab made Harry into hers via fey debt magic. By using the debt to get a foot in the door relationship wise and manipulating the favor you ask for such that it only gets them in deeper with you.

Using it to buff mortals is fair, abusing the precise conditions of charms is an expected part of gameplay, but what you want is a Bakemono charm where we get to pick a few merits without drawbacks instead of mutating people for a random draw of lesser benefits.

That's completely different from what VEE was designed for.
 
Earth-Destroyer said:
VVE is not really meant for powerful people, those people are smart enough to say no. It's meant to turn worthless mortals into some what useful minions.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
More accurately VVE is meant for ignorant or desperate people and powerful people are just as able to fall into those categories.

A newly minted Infernal can quickly gain influence over a wide subsection of society.
 
Last edited:
DragonParadox said:
In the House of the Hunters​
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
COMMENTARY
-Spear. Or rather javelin. Classical theming.
We, or rather Daniel, need to get her to watch more movies.

-Hit visibly injures the flyer, but doesnt cripple it.
It either has lethal soak, magic armor, a wound negator, or way more HP than a mortal shapeshifter or a familiar should have.
Potentially all of them.

At least it did not demonstrate combat regeneration.


-Three Crown focuses for questions in that scene
=Wood crane bird
=Motorcyclist/motorcycle on the ground
=Wrecked van

We are currently at 8/12m of Essence.
If we burn 3 motes on expending them as focuses, we get 3m net extra.
Which gets us back up to 11/12m before spending Essence interrogating our captive.


-Lara just lost 10 cool points in Molly's eyes, and no part of protesting this was her father's design will solve it
I am incredibly amused at Molly getting a close look at the trappings of the local White Court seat of power, and turning up her nose at them for being tacky and incapable of being both decorative and functional.

Local Infernal holding lesser powers to Exalted standards :V



-Going to point out that this is the White Court, and their theme colors are white.
We generally see their servants in similar colors: white, grey, beige. You might even make an argument for sensible colors where its necessary, like with security and such.

Whites care very much about appearances, and staff in red would look hella tacky given that there is a RED Court.


-Is Lydia actually not going to sit in on the interrogat....ooh, she expects it to get nasty, and is squeamish.
Cmon Didi, you should know Molly better than that by now.

On the one hand, I dislike splitting the party. Especially not here.
On the other hand, her familiar Midnight should either have come with us in the car, or simply flew cross-country to keep up?
Which should give her a buff to surveillance. And Thomas should be with her.

DragonParadox said:
Rolls
Lydia to hit
Molly not to seem affected by the motorcyclist in front of Lara vs
Lara's perception
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Lydia rolls 4 sux to hit from surprise.
Base damage 5L + 4 threshold sux = 9 damage dice at DC6 = Average 5 levels of damage against an opponent without lethal soak. That it shrugged that off suggests it has lethal soak or a wound negator.

Molly rolls 7 successes vs Lara's 6 successes.
Both sides roll Legendary, but Molly rolls better at keeping a poker face.
 
fictionfan said:
More accurately VVE is meant for ignorant or desperate people and powerful people are just as able to fall into those categories.

A newly minted Infernal can quickly gain influence over a wide subsection of society.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Everybody gets the chance to reject wish automatically. Nobody in Dresden Files worth using it on, is dumb enough to think random wish out of nowhere is a good idea. Even after that it only a Perception + Awareness D8 roll to realize the price, pretty much anybody above pure mooks can make that. Also dropping 5 essense on anybody puts us in danger can be killed mode so their is that to.
 
Last edited:
Earth-Destroyer said:
Everybody gets the chance to reject wish automatically. Nobody in Dresden Files worth using it on, is dumb enough to think random wish out of nowhere is a good idea. Even after that it only a Perception + Awareness D8 roll to realize the price, pretty much anybody above pure mooks can make that.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Last week we could fail that roll. Not everyone has great Perception + Awareness.
 
VOTE
[X]Plan Question Time
-[X] Head off at once to interrogate the prisoner with Lara, save your power for later
-[X] Clippy/Cyberdevils: Call 911 Emergency for the victims on the road. Use an online anonymizing service
-[X] Take possession and search through the prisoner's clothes
-[X] Crown Questions:
--[X] Chase Scene: Motorcylist/motorcycle: What allies/associates/minions of the entity/sorcerer whose attack injured this person/disabled their bike are in the Chicago area?
--[X]Arrival Scene: Disabled Van: How long before the associates of the entity who disabled/damaged this van will attack the Raith estate?
-[X]STUNT: You arrive in a surprisingly well-equipped infirmary with Lara Raith to see the prisoner being attended to, with one of the medics cutting his bloody clothes off and putting him in one of those backless medical gowns even as others hook up a confusing array of medical monitors and tubes. You note, but dont comment on the straps binding him to the bed, or the pair of armed guards by the entrance, choosing to go through the contents of his clothes as Lara talks in low tones to the medics before they adjust some. In what seems only moments, he comes to seeming full wakefulness, his eyes wild. You step into his field of view without preamble as with a thought you are crowned in green light. "Your boss just tried to pull your skeleton out of your" you make a wordless, yet expressive gesture "everything. And then we were attacked on our way here. I would like to know why." You pull a chair up by the side of his bed, his lifeblood still on your chainmail."Start talking."


EXPENSES
Crown Question: Chase Scene: Motorcyclist/Motorbike: 1m spent, 2m regained: +1m (Supernatural Secret)
Crown Question: Arrival Scene: Van: 1m spent, 2m regained: +1m (Supernatural Secret)

Total: +2m

STATUS
Essence: 10/12m (8+2)
Willpower: 8/9wp
Demonic Primacy of Essence: -2DC to all social against lesser creatures of darkness


RATIONALE
We go to the infirmary because we know OOC and IC that there has to be someone feeding the skin walker information on this estate. If we dont stay beside the prisoner, he might come down with a bad case of dead before we can talk to him.

Assuming we asked the question of the motorcyclist during the ending of the chase scene before we got to the Raith Estate.
Expend the two focuses for quick information on when we can expect an attack, and from who and what.
If we ask the questions in different scenes(the first one ), we should come

Keep the Wood Crane bird as a focus question for later.

Lydia should have Thomas as company.
And her familiar raven Midnight was either with us, or catching up to give additional aerial coverage.
 
Although, I was under the impression that asking future related questions of the crown is iffy.
[X]Plan Question Time
 
Last edited:
BoredMan said:
Although, I was under the impression that asking future related questions of the crown is iffy.
[X]Plan Question Time
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It is.
Which is why the first questions is to determine what forces they have available in the Chicago area for an attack.
Before asking about time frame.

To quote the QM:
DragonParadox said:
If a decision has been made and they are heading this way you will get a ping, if no decision has been made you will get a nul result. The crown was designed to see the future as much as the present and the past, it's just that now it has to operate around all this newfangled Free Will stuff. Back in my day we had the Loom and we liked it... :V
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Since they tried to intercept us on the way to the Raith estate, I assume they have at least enough force that they thought they had a good chance of successfully attacking the White Queen and her brother.
Even in the event of ignorance of what Molly and Lydia can do, just those two aren't easy hits.

And they have to consider that Dresden and or Michael might get involved the longer they delay.
So..
 
Last edited:
I'm pretty sure the real point of VEE was always to make people owe you.
It's a Cecelyne cult-building Charm.

Every benefit that the target gets from it is incidental next to the real point, which is the Infernal having a hold over her new minion.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top