Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

Adhoc vote count started by Artemis1992 on Jul 13, 2023 at 2:34 AM, finished with 97 posts and 16 votes.

  • [X] Ignore the guards, kill that thing now
    [X] Order the remaining Skavis vampires to stand down (Lets you handle the lord without distraction if it works)
    -[X]Intimidation Excellency: 1m
    -[X]STUNT: You are abruptly, incandescently furious. "Dont you dare put that evil on me, dead man." You snarl, addressing what tattered remnants there are of the Skavis patriarch. "This was all you." Your feet touch the ground and you begin to move towards the figure, crunching through fallen glass. "Was. Before you sacrificed your son and your soul to an Outsider." You pause midstep, and side eye the Skavis retainers, along with half the eyes in the corona of virescent fire around you. No words are spoken. None are needed.
    -[x] [Stunt] Doing your best Obi-wan impression, you answer him with: "You did this to yourself." You then use one of the guards as a springboard to somersault right in the middle of them all, your aura promising death to all that approach, the eyes in it vigilant to any and all attacks they could try to send your way.
    -[X] Stunt: You do not spare a word or a look at the guards while charging for the creature that their lord had become, had invited into this reality. But that does not mean they are not watched, a dozen eyes of green balefire behold each guard, driving fear into their minds and asuring you that no blade will find your back unnoticed.
    -[X] Intimidation excellency
    -[X] STUNT: From the confines of your soul you draw your sword, its weight adding to the dreadful beauty and majesty of your form, and with a motion fit for an empress proclaiming a stay of execution you indicate the guards to move aside. "Step aside" you whisper, and your voice carries, "Or be swept aside" you finish and start moving towards the enemy of Creation before you.
    -[x] [Stunt] "You Cannot Hide. I SEE You. There Is Nothing For You Here. Only...Death." You then use one of the guards as a springboard to somersault right in the middle of them all, your aura promising death to all that approach, the eyes in it vigilant to any and all attacks they could try to send your way.

Tie between wasting an action on the guards or not.
You should have checked the mechanics before making this assertion, because your declaration is mistaken.
Page 246, V20
V20 Chapter 5 Rules said:
In most cases, speaking and conversations aren't considered actions. Although interesting developments may certainly arise from things the Kindred say to one another or to the other residents of the World of Darkness, talking is typically free in terms of game mechanics.
Talking to the guards does not consume an action.
Furthermore, I went out of my way to avoid saying a word to the guards.
Just body language Intimidation.

I'll never do something for the reason of bonus-XP.

And every action from someone who can use 9th level disciplines is vastly more dangerous than that of 4 regular vamps.
1) Fair enough.
Do note that I will remind you of this in the future :V

2) He has Celerity.
If he is rocking Rank 9 Disciplines in Chimestry under Outsider enhancement , he sure as hell has multiple tiers of Celerity, which translate to multiple actions each turn. Thats in addition to Potence and Fortitude.

If he has Rank 5 Celerity, he can put three of those into boosting his speed and still have 3 actions every combat turn.

[X] Ignore the guards, kill that thing now
[X] Ignore the guards, kill that thing now
[X] Ignore the guards, kill that thing now
[X] Ignore the guards, kill that thing now
My apologies for the ping, but please see my reply to Artemis above.
Because he made a material mistatement of fact about how the mechanics of the scene plays out, just before you voted.
Again, my apologies for the ping.
 
If telling the guards not to step in had no cost at all it wouldn't be a different vote, it would be a default part of attacking the elder.

At least that's how I think, no QM should give two different options, one of which is "the same, but better".
 
If telling the guards not to step in had no cost at all it wouldn't be a different vote, it would be a default part of attacking the elder.

At least that's how I think, no QM should give two different options, one of which is "the same, but better".
The downside is that we may not want to actually get them to stop and kill them in battle. Its a difference of priorities not of benefits. Talking has always been a free action dude.
 
You should have checked the mechanics before making this assertion, because your declaration is mistaken.
Page 246, V20
Talking to the guards does not consume an action.
Furthermore, I went out of my way to avoid saying a word to the guards.
Just body language Intimidation.


1) Fair enough.
Do note that I will remind you of this in the future :V

2) He has Celerity.
If he is rocking Rank 9 Disciplines in Chimestry under Outsider enhancement , he sure as hell has multiple tiers of Celerity, which translate to multiple actions each turn. Thats in addition to Potence and Fortitude.

If he has Rank 5 Celerity, he can put three of those into boosting his speed and still have 3 actions every combat turn.





My apologies for the ping, but please see my reply to Artemis above.
Because he made a material mistatement of fact about how the mechanics of the scene plays out, just before you voted.
Again, my apologies for the ping.

Telling the guards will in this case cost an action, in the form of not actively attacking them or their boss as you make the offer. You could of course ask them to stand down while you are actively attacking, but Exalt or no that is very unlikely to work.
 
I bet its somewhat complicated by the fact a lot of sealing stuff is specialized towards spirits, demons, godlike beings and not technically mortals.
If the ruling we got on Denarians vs. VEE holds here it might be even spicier for them.

The reincarnation effect doesn't have a failure chance or opposition mechanic other than being too low an essence rating, which arguably puts it in the category where trying to stop it means wrestling with the exaltation's proper backend.

"just" containing a soul is one thing, but starting a fist fight with a shard of perfection when it's allowed to flex is as dicier proposition. Not impossible, but worth considering.

I think there was a reasonable argument to be made for special super high end spirit killers prior to the QM ruling on it, but playing ritual magic games with a loose exaltation* isn't something I'd want to be in the same zip code as.

* Especially an anchored one, rather than one reset by the loss of a host.
 
1) We don't need to buy enchantment. Our kingdom should take care of that - we should be able to commission necessary materials and enchantments.

2) I want to buy enchantment and craft 5 anyway. Putting those before Constructive Convergence of Principles just makes sense. Because it is likely to make CCoP cheaper. And possibly overall better.

My point is that there are several steps between "what we have now" and "exalted charm crafted equipment". You are intent on skipping towards the top tier immediately. I am not.
1)We do need to buy Enchantment eventually.
Our kingdom isnt going to be able to match the expertise of a Craft-spec Celestial Exalt cooking with gas.
And it will have its own internal requirements for these things as well; we arent just going to grab their shit in bulk and leave.


2) So do I. I want Enchantment Path and Craft 5 eventually.
However, buying them before CCP does not make sense because we are incurring opportunity costs in the meantime that the narrative will not necessarily allow us to recoup.

Saving 4XP on buying Exalted Crafting does not even begin to compare to the potential narrative and mechanical value of securing someone like Lash for example.Or her daughter with Dresden.
Fallen Shadows or their progeny do not appear on the marketplace very often. Or ever.

It would be like declining the offer to befriend Lydia when it came up because we were waiting for more AP first.
And no, you dont make an Exalted charm better.
That's not how it works.


3) Holden specifically designed all the Exalted charmsets here so that there would be no precursor charms. No hoops to jump through.The whole game is designed for you to go directly for the charms you want, if and when you want them, instead of having to meet arbitrary requirements by the design team.

If you want a 5 dot charm, you dont have to wait for Attribute, Ability or Essence minimums; you just save your XP and buy it.
I see no reason to reintroduce additional barriers to entry and fun that the author specifically went to the trouble of ripping out.

Magical Jade also exists. But even if there are no exalted-grade magical materials, that doesn't really matter.
Magical jade here appears to be largely the province of vampire and death magic as far as I can tell, not mortal enchantment.
White Jade in particular is basically modern soulsteel, and is made from ghosts.

Wrong. We need exalted crafting for specific god customization. We don't need it for generalized god forging, and I actually think that having less control here is better for the moment. More interesting at least.
Wrong.
We kludged our way into making Bane by rolling gratuitous numbers of successes on a communal ward roll.
Thats not the same thing as suddenly being able to do god-forging at will.

Furthermore, when you are making terrifyingly lethal god-beast guardians for deployment in the middle of an urban center full of civilians, you do NOT want to leave anything about their creation or temperament to chance. Thats like raising a set of pitbulls or Rottweilers for families with children and declining to train them because it makes things interesting.

To do otherwise would be horrifyingly irresponsible. And not just for bystanders.
These are sapients; you cant just put them down if you fuck up and the result is twitchy, or antisocial, or otherwise unsuitable for watching over a habitation full of people.


It's not completionism. It's establishing foundation, and, mathematically, attempting to reduce the total amount of XP spent.
It is very much completionism.
You are suggesting we throw in arbitrary bottlenecks that the author specifically went to the trouble of removing so that we can "establish a foundation" that the book does not require us needing.

If I declared that we shouldnt buy or use shih Qiao without spending years at a Shih monastery in Nepal to build a proper spiritual and philosophical foundation for its use, you would call bullshit on it as well.
And you would be right to do so.

I see no reason for us to invent hoops to jump through. Might as well suggest we bring back the Great Curse.

That does mean that any magic able to say seal in the effects of the charm so that the pieces cannot reunite is very bad for the infernal since this is not arbitrary resurrection, the bloody screening sand has to race across the city/world/universe to get to where it needs to go in order to invest that part of the greater being with the crown of Exaltation and revert memories to prime.
Thats the same as saying any magic able to contain/restrain an active Celestial Exaltation.
Because the Exaltation is the carrier.


That's literally what it says it does though. I don't recall the WoQM for every part of it, but barring a reference you're painting what you'd like to find over what's actually there. It wouldn't be the first expensive infernal charm with a stupid effect.
I think you are misinterpreting that, given the context.
It certainly doesnt make sense in context either; spawning naked, powerless mortals in Shintai makes fuckall sense compared to the Signature versions of other charms in Shintai.

They have in fact been changed:
A change I actually enjoy even if it isn't relevant on a practical level; Molly is on the path to baby primordial, not being glowy Gilgamesh.
Thank you for the citation.
I dont really care for the ruling, but its not likely to be relevant in the lifespan of the quest, so 🤷

Telling the guards will in this case cost an action, in the form of not actively attacking them or their boss as you make the offer. You could of course ask them to stand down while you are actively attacking, but Exalt or no that is very unlikely to work.
Your game, your rules.
 
So? Causing mass death of normal people by way of disease in an uncontrolled matter isn't nearly as impressive. It doesn't say that he is powerful just that he considers causing mass death as an end goal in it's own right.
I won't underestimate the oldest living Denarius, who has continually killed several Knights of the Cross and who has the best relationship (and therefore the best cooperation) with his fallen angel who has the shadows whispering secrets to them, in a world where information is power.

He's old, he's influential, he's out to bring an apocalypse upon the world, and yes, he's powerful.
 
I think you are misinterpreting that, given the context.
It certainly doesnt make sense in context either; spawning naked, powerless mortals in Shintai makes fuckall sense compared to the Signature versions of other charms in Shintai.
So do charms like this, which introduce the profound signature effect of one free activation:

laughing shrapnel arrival (••)
The Infernal needs not fear gravity's pull, instead
making it her ally and weapon. When she lands, she un- leashes a deadly shockwave-blast filled with the flaying sand and shrapnel of the Hell of Being Skinned Alive.
System: The Infernal may reflexively pay 1 Es- sence at any time when she is plummeting toward the ground from a height great enough to normally inflict injury, wrapping herself in a powerful corona of Es- sence. When she lands, this Essence-bomb detonates, and she strikes the ground without suffering any in- jury whatsoever, scattering the flaying winds of Hell in every direction. Everyone and everything within (Essence x 10) yards of her point of impact must soak (Athletics + Essence) levels of lethal damage.
Signature Effect: When the Infernal dons her Shintai form, this Charm automatically triggers at no cost as though she had just landed from a great fall.
Or the 3-4 high dot charms that do something like this:

soul-sand devil stanCe (••••)
The Infernal's body dissolves into a mound of
sand, then erupts into a localized cyclone filled with stinging, flaying sand.
System: The Infernal concentrates for a turn and spends 2 Essence, then erupts into a miniature sand- storm about 10 yards in diameter. This is treated as a swarm of birds, according to the rules for swarms found on page 391 of V20. If the Infernal suffers enough damage to disperse the storm, the Charm ends and she returns to her normal form, having suffered three levels of lethal damage for the dispersal.
Signature Effect: When the Infernal dons her Shintai form, it comes into the world accompanied by a blinding, choking sandstorm. Anyone caught in the storm without sufficient protection (such as motorcy- cle leathers, a werewolf's thick fur, or some form of protective magic) suffers one level of bashing damage per minute, alongside a –2 penalty to all rolls.
Where you take a glorious 1 bashing and potentially a dc mod if you're in a t-shirt instead of quite nearly the lowest grade of armor worth tracking or better. Some even have additional requirements like needing to be moving and/or strict distance limits regardless of essence rating too.

Infernal signatures tend towards the stupid.

Naked is too much but the base charm doesn't even make passives available, DP fixed that with a houserule. By RaW you let loose mortals with only what mental defenses they can learn by mortal means into the world with all your secrets. Natively it isn't a well designed ability.
 
I won't underestimate the oldest living Denarius, who has continually killed several Knights of the Cross and who has the best relationship (and therefore the best cooperation) with his fallen angel who has the shadows whispering secrets to them, in a world where information is power.

He's old, he's influential, he's out to bring an apocalypse upon the world, and yes, he's powerful.
I'm not sure we really know his actual goals. Sure mid term goals his actions have been towards apocalypses. But, overall we don't know why and he's clearly not in it for shots and giggles and he seems to have some grand plan or plans and reason for his actions.
 
I'm not sure we really know his actual goals. Sure mid term goals his actions have been towards apocalypses. But, overall we don't know why and he's clearly not in it for shots and giggles and he seems to have some grand plan or plans and reason for his actions.
His ultimate goal in the situation you speak of or why he chose that path doesn't really matter to me because the only thing worse than an apocalypse is the opening of the outer gates. And since he didn't take advantage of the period where he was in charge of Winter's defenses to betray reality, I highly doubt that was the objective.
 
His ultimate goal in the situation you speak of or why he chose that path doesn't really matter to me because the only thing worse than an apocalypse is the opening of the outer gates. And since he didn't take advantage of the period where he was in charge of Winter's defenses to betray reality, I highly doubt that was the objective.
I mean the motivation matters to me he's doing these things for a reason and I want to know what that is.
 
Magical jade here appears to be largely the province of vampire and death magic as far as I can tell, not mortal enchantment.
White Jade in particular is basically modern soulsteel, and is made from ghosts.
I was talking about black jade that was used to hold our Exaltation since the Age of Legends.

3) Holden specifically designed all the Exalted charmsets here so that there would be no precursor charms. No hoops to jump through.The whole game is designed for you to go directly for the charms you want, if and when you want them, instead of having to meet arbitrary requirements by the design team.

If you want a 5 dot charm, you dont have to wait for Attribute, Ability or Essence minimums; you just save your XP and buy it.
I see no reason to reintroduce additional barriers to entry and fun that the author specifically went to the trouble of ripping out
Exalted crafting is a very involved multistep process which likely will use multiple AP to implement. If we make our stuff using CCoP when at Craft 3 with no further bonuses, we'll need to redo it later. Better to delay and use the charm when we can use it to its full extent.
 
Adhoc vote count started by Yzarc on Jul 13, 2023 at 11:19 AM, finished with 129 posts and 22 votes.

  • [X] Ignore the guards, kill that thing now
    [X] Order the remaining Skavis vampires to stand down (Lets you handle the lord without distraction if it works)
    -[X]Intimidation Excellency: 1m
    -[X]STUNT: You are abruptly, incandescently furious. "Dont you dare put that evil on me, dead man." You snarl, addressing what tattered remnants there are of the Skavis patriarch. "This was all you." Your feet touch the ground and you begin to move towards the figure, crunching through fallen glass. "Was. Before you sacrificed your son and your soul to an Outsider." You pause midstep, and side eye the Skavis retainers, along with half the eyes in the corona of virescent fire around you. No words are spoken. None are needed.
    -[x] [Stunt] Doing your best Obi-wan impression, you answer him with: "You did this to yourself." You then use one of the guards as a springboard to somersault right in the middle of them all, your aura promising death to all that approach, the eyes in it vigilant to any and all attacks they could try to send your way.
    -[X] Stunt: You do not spare a word or a look at the guards while charging for the creature that their lord had become, had invited into this reality. But that does not mean they are not watched, a dozen eyes of green balefire behold each guard, driving fear into their minds and asuring you that no blade will find your back unnoticed.
    -[X] Intimidation excellency
    -[X] STUNT: From the confines of your soul you draw your sword, its weight adding to the dreadful beauty and majesty of your form, and with a motion fit for an empress proclaiming a stay of execution you indicate the guards to move aside. "Step aside" you whisper, and your voice carries, "Or be swept aside" you finish and start moving towards the enemy of Creation before you.
    -[x] [Stunt] "You Cannot Hide. I SEE You. There Is Nothing For You Here. Only...Death." You then use one of the guards as a springboard to somersault right in the middle of them all, your aura promising death to all that approach, the eyes in it vigilant to any and all attacks they could try to send your way.
 
Also wanted to say the way shit went down makes me feel real good about getting Elaenor the fuck outta here. Legit, does Molly have a way of protecting here while going full Nuclear Hellfire Princess?
 
Also wanted to say the way shit went down makes me feel real good about getting Elaenor the fuck outta here. Legit, does Molly have a way of protecting here while going full Nuclear Hellfire Princess?
I don't think that Infernals really get any protect other people charms. If anything their abilities cause mass uncontrolled collateral damage which is really anti synergistic with all their minion master abilities.
 
Ah the Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain Energy be hitting hard.
Yes this basically. Works really well if we have loads of expendible minions that you don't care about. A Infernal with Skitters powers would be amazing likely falls under the hell of burrowing maggots.

But I suppose there is nothing stopping you from throwing bugs into a maggot pit by the swarm. Just need a control method. But even without one the transformed bugs won't attack us. Great for ruining the world in a way that benefits the Infernal.
 
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Vote closed, sorry this takes so long, it's just with the heat out I literally do not feel up to writing until 8-9 PM
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Jul 13, 2023 at 1:46 PM, finished with 135 posts and 22 votes.

  • [X] Ignore the guards, kill that thing now
    [X] Order the remaining Skavis vampires to stand down (Lets you handle the lord without distraction if it works)
    -[X]Intimidation Excellency: 1m
    -[X]STUNT: You are abruptly, incandescently furious. "Dont you dare put that evil on me, dead man." You snarl, addressing what tattered remnants there are of the Skavis patriarch. "This was all you." Your feet touch the ground and you begin to move towards the figure, crunching through fallen glass. "Was. Before you sacrificed your son and your soul to an Outsider." You pause midstep, and side eye the Skavis retainers, along with half the eyes in the corona of virescent fire around you. No words are spoken. None are needed.
    -[x] [Stunt] Doing your best Obi-wan impression, you answer him with: "You did this to yourself." You then use one of the guards as a springboard to somersault right in the middle of them all, your aura promising death to all that approach, the eyes in it vigilant to any and all attacks they could try to send your way.
    -[X] Stunt: You do not spare a word or a look at the guards while charging for the creature that their lord had become, had invited into this reality. But that does not mean they are not watched, a dozen eyes of green balefire behold each guard, driving fear into their minds and asuring you that no blade will find your back unnoticed.
    -[X] Intimidation excellency
    -[X] STUNT: From the confines of your soul you draw your sword, its weight adding to the dreadful beauty and majesty of your form, and with a motion fit for an empress proclaiming a stay of execution you indicate the guards to move aside. "Step aside" you whisper, and your voice carries, "Or be swept aside" you finish and start moving towards the enemy of Creation before you.
    -[x] [Stunt] "You Cannot Hide. I SEE You. There Is Nothing For You Here. Only...Death." You then use one of the guards as a springboard to somersault right in the middle of them all, your aura promising death to all that approach, the eyes in it vigilant to any and all attacks they could try to send your way.
 
Maybe should have stunted to the guards "If you run now you might get away you are at the bottoms of my priorities." So we don't have to delay to talk. Don't know if it would work, but it was worth trying.
 
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Arc 8 Post 32: Old Foes
Old Foes

13th of November 2006 A.D.

Some things were never meant to be housed in the world of form, not just because they are a blight upon the fabric of reality and a scourge to mankind, though this one is, but because their very unreality unreels the tapestry of being, Dragon Nests gripped in the hold of chaos, thoughts bursting from men's heads and feelings from their chest wild without constraint. This place, this city is now upon the cusp of finding out what it looks like when the thoughts of those who have preyed upon mankind of millennia run rampant.

"Die!" The word did not come out in English, at least you are pretty sure it did not have three syllables before, arranged by musical tone.

"SO yOu ARe here! Welcome! A WelCOME i BID to A PrINCE OF the eARTH!" The voice did not even sound a little like Lord Skavis or indeed like anything that would be called forth by the vibration of human vocal cords.

Somewhere in the back of your mind that feels familiar, no doubt sometime far, distant that will matter. For now there is only the sword and you give yourself to it, pressing the attack high and low, left and right, faint that builds up to faint that flows into true strike barely deep enough to scorch infested flesh only to draw again into the rhythm of faint meant to compensate for a foe sixfold faster than you.

It almost isn't enough

The flames lick at its... his sleave, catching and burning. "Almost isn't truly is!" The taunt feels well worn upon the tongue, like something you had shouted from the battlements of some ancient alien war.

Lord Skavis takes 2 Aggravated Damage -> Now at 5/7 Wounded Negated for the duration of the scene

Out of the corner of your eyes you see one of the guards, another woman moving at about half their lord's speed try to carve her way through your armor with a sort of crescent moon axe that certainly could not have been smuggled in, dream-spun, the first strike pries one of the slabs of your armor aside in a task more akin to mining than battle, the second glances off the bronze underneath, the third scores blood, a line across your upper back.

You take 1 Lethal Damage -> Now at 10/11 Bruised

You ignore her, as you do to the grizzled fellow attempting to dig his way to your spine while calling out warcries in a language you do not recognize, it's just a human language after all.

Then the Knight, the Old Enemy strikes you are ready and though he is sure, though he is peerless you match burning brass against the blade of nightmare until they screamed together. The puppet that was once the Lord of House Skavis is flying now, not as you are, but simply by moving so fast the grip of gravity had not yet caught up with him. So do the pair of you turn and turn again, matched in prowess as you are by all other things divided.

"YeS YES! SHOW Me TrUe BaTTle SPAWN OF the Empyreal Chaos! FoR Too LoNG HAS MY BlaDe ServeD NOTHING But TO Rattle IN ITs SheaTH AND FrightEN GNatS and SHADow-thinGS. KnoW ThaT if You FALL herE I ShalL NoT ClaimTHiNe SouL But DELIVer IT TO ITS Rigt-CHosen PLACe EveN ShoulD thIs FOrM Be ConsumED In ThE DoinG."

Is... did the Walker just claim to respect you? Somehow those words, those sincere sounding words from all your eyes can see, your ears can hear are more disturbing than all the curses he could have cast upon your name and all the threats of eternal torture he could have made.

What do you do?

[] You are going to kill this thing, but if it's feeling chatty who are you to complain?
-[] Write a question to ask the Walker as you are trying to kill each other

[] Nope, not listening to Eldritch Abominations, that is probably on the Evil Overlord List and if it isn't it should be, just kill it

[] Write in


OOC: Now talking is a free action. At Molly's present level of skill it will not affect her attempts to kill what is left of Skavis and banish the Walker, the question is if you want to listen to it.
 
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Mechanics
The rolls are too many to post but this... being is rolling 10 dice for melee and using the Flower of Death Celerity discipline to add 3 successes onto that . In addition to that it has 5 Dice with which to soak the Agg from your sword. Annoyingly the guards ignore 3 dots of your armor, though he does not seem to

PS: There is a hell of a storm here so if I go silent suddenly it's probably my power going out.
 
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