Could we just craft a really good medical evacuation? I feel like almost all of our friends, minions and Daniel would be useful if we didn't have to worry about them dieing. They don't actually need to be super powerful just force enemies to spend actions defending against them.
Could we just craft a really good medical evacuation? I feel like almost all of our friends, minions and Daniel would be useful if we didn't have to worry about them dieing. They don't actually need to be super powerful just force enemies to spend actions defending against them.
I have been in similar situations (well not as violent) and being able to help even a little goes a really long way to make you feel better. It's alright if other people are better at it or contribute more as long as you are able to contribute and your contribution actually helps.
Looks good to me. Is this gonna cost the Gossamer we got, or are there more components we need?
Tbh, I just want to see Daniel's (and Michael, and Charity, and Dresden) reaction to our making him more relevant by giving him a Green Lantern Ring. The cost for this gift will be that he has to deal with the lawsuits about copyright
We are definitely spending Gossamer, and probably (if we can preserve it) naagloshii's soul. This is basically 2 4 dot wonders stacked one onto another. This is expensive stuff. We probably also want exotic materials like Daniel's own willpower (to bind him to the ring), and a crystallized sample of our anima while we manifest TTC.
EDIT: Before we use up gossamer, we should definitely use it as a focus and see where we can get more.
It occurs to me that Form of Hero's Shadow splendor property in principle allows for silly broken template stacking. Create a splendor, attach arcana (emanation) to it, like I did with ring AI. Then use Form Of Hero's shadow Adornment with Emanation being the anchor. At least the first level of stacking should be possible. And then you could possibly repeat the cycle. With fascination area of effect splendors you could get some silly stuff quickly.
The ways to counter this would probably be to limit the stack by the dot value of the splendor at the base of the stack (so, if we start with a 4 dot splendor, the maximum stack would be splendor-emanation- 2 splendors attached to the emenation), and to make the destruction of one part of the stack destroy all of it. And probably require more and more resources for stacking, or increasing the difficulty.
It occurs to me that Form of Hero's Shadow splendor property in principle allows for silly broken template stacking. Create a splendor, attach arcana (emanation) to it, like I did with ring AI. Then use Form Of Hero's shadow Adornment with Emanation being the anchor. At least the first level of stacking should be possible. And then you could possibly repeat the cycle. With fascination area of effect splendors you could get some silly stuff quickly.
The ways to counter this would probably be to limit the stack by the dot value of the splendor at the base of the stack (so, if we start with a 4 dot splendor, the maximum stack would be splendor-emanation- 2 splendors attached to the emenation), and to make the destruction of one part of the stack destroy all of it. And probably require more and more resources for stacking, or increasing the difficulty.
Yep, stacking hits diminishing returns, that said this is the magic of the Age of Legends (or what is left it it at least), you can make some pretty damn powerful allies with it if you pay to have them usable by a non-Exalt.
Ok, so, here's the refined concept. The ring itself is pretty solid, I feel, the accompanying spirit AI is less so, and I am open to suggestions. The spirit can be conjured after the ring is made, so we don't have to wait too long.
The Splendor takes the form of something that is evocative of the fantastic. It might be a child's
toy, a brightly-decorated banner, a monster or carnival mask, or a treasure chest. It might be a
kaleidoscope, or a bundle of bright balloons. This Element defines the Splendor's physical form
and gives it a character, and that character is aligned with the power of the Dreaming. Other
Elements may draw upon this fact.
The Splendor stands out as a powerful work of magic when seen with chimerical eyes or mystic
scrutiny, but it seems nigh-impossible to credit it with any specific significance if observed with
purely mundane senses. Even when presented with compelling evidence that there's something
weird about the object, anyone who hasn't made a magical survey of the Splendor must make a
Willpower roll against difficulty (4 + Splendor's rating) to accept such a conclusion.
As an Adornment, it raises the difficulty to affect the user with hostile works of Glamour by one.
As the basis for a Fascination, it may have one minor impossible feature such as floating in
defiance of gravity, reflecting people's true selves when looked into, or aging backwards in time
The Splendor manifests in the world as an enchantment embedded in a specific person present at
the time of its summoning, chosen by its owner. If it has no other Form Element, then it appears
as a mark like a tattoo somewhere on the infected individual's body. Wherever they go, so too
goes the Splendor. If it has a physical Form Element, then it appears in the infected individual's
possession, and will always return to them at the beginning of each scene even if thrown away,
left behind, or given away. If its physical Form is something immobile like a tree, then the
targeted individual is going to find that tree wherever they go for the duration of the Splendor's
manifestation. If the Splendor is an Adornment, then this Element allows its benefits to be enjoyed by the
person to whom the Splendor is attached, even if they're not its owner and not attuned to it. Even if they're not Exalted at all.
This Splendor defines a rigid certainty and imposes it upon existence. When used in an Adornment, define a specific roll of (Attribute) + (Ability) and a specialty that
it falls under. When the user makes such a roll, she cannot botch and cannot fail regardless of the
difficulty. No matter what, she always generates at least one success. If this roll is opposed by another character, Invincible Assertion instead adds two bonus successes.
When used in a Fascination, define a specific roll of (Attribute) + (Ability) and a specialty that it
falls under. Under circumstances defined by the Splendor, such rolls cannot fail in its presence,
and always generate at least one success. If such a roll is opposed, it adds two bonus successes.
This Element may be incorporated into a Splendor more than once.
The Splendor creates a mundane object which resonates with one or more of its characters, as
defined by Form Elements such as Form of Crackling Fire or Form of Ash and Dust. Conjured
objects can have a Resources value no higher than the Splendor's rating. Incorporated into an Adornment, this Element allows the Exalt to spend a turn and to make a
Wits + Craft roll against difficulty (4 + object's Resources value) to summon whatever object
she likes to hand, so long as it resonates with the Splendor's character in some way, such as a
shovel for an earth-affiliated (or death-affiliated…) Splendor. Objects can be created no more than once per scene.
Incorporated into a Fascination, this Element allows the Splendor to create particular objects in
response to certain stimuli and conditions which are in accord with its character — often, this
trigger is "when someone is cursed by the Splendor's Root Element." No more than (Splendor's
rating) objects can be created per scene.
One of the Splendor's snares or benefits is particularly wicked or potent. Modify one roll
associated with the Splendor by increasing or decreasing its difficulty by two, or modify one
value associated with activating or resisting its effects (such as the number of points of Willpower that must be spent to shake off a Beautiful Lie) by two.
The Splendor manipulates and reshapes that which resonates with its character, as defined by
Form Elements such as Form of Crackling Fire and Form of Ash and Dust. The benefits
provided depend on whether the Splendor is an Adornment or Fascination, and on which Form or
Forms it has incorporated.
Incorporated into an Adornment, this Element allows the Exalt to use Craft actions to sculpt
wind, water, and fire as though they were clay, creating impossible works of art or short-lived
elemental tools. Living wood can be induced to grow into patterns the Exalt desires in the same
fashion, while the difficulty to work with stone or metal is reduced by two. The difficulty to craft
dead flesh into Arcana may be reduced by two as well. The Exalt can raise or lower the Gauntlet
by one degree per success on a Crafts roll to modify it, and can rework the chimerical identity of
things.
Incorporated into a Fascination, this Element allows the Splendor to rewrite the details of
landscapes and objects, rerouting the paths of a graveyard, changing the appearance of a corpse,
repairing a rundown wooden shack, or making a barren landscape green and verdant.
This Splendor manifests the resources of a Background, chosen at the time of the Splendor's creation. The Background is either Arsenal or Library (see M20, p. 318). As an Adornment, the character may spend a turn and a point of Willpower to simply manifest whatever equipment or research materials they desire from their Arsenal or Library. They have an effective rating in the Background equal to the Splendor's rating while wearing it. As a Fascination, Panoply of Wonders requires that the Splendor also have a location-type Form Element such as Form of the Hearth. The chosen Background has a dot rating equal to the Splendor's rating, and manifests throughout the affected area.
Mystic Fortification (1 pt. Mystic Element): Willpower cost of Panoply of Wonders, so it either restores willpower on use or, if that's too broken, then Willpower and activation time
Taking a form of a heavy sigil ring, it is at once recognizable by any comic geek, and yet unlike any comic book paraphernalia out there. Semi-transparent, it looks as though it is carved from some manner of unearthly crystal, with a runic symbol on top. If seen against the light, or from the corner of an eye, shadows of movement can be glimpsed inside of its structure, impossible forms of dreams and nightmares ready to come forth upon its master's command.
Exactly what it says on the can, a green lantern ring. A ring that is capable of generating temporary constructs made out of solidified energy / stuff of dreams and nightmares. The constructs are physical, but not permanent. The ring is also capable of generating forcefields and operating them. In principle, this could be used to achieve flight.
(4 dot Emanation)
8 willpower (5 +3 freebie points)
Physical
Strength 1
Dexterity 3
Stamina 2
Social
Charisma 4
Manipulation 3
Appearance 1
Mental (2x purchases of Superior mind for 5 additional points, and raising max attribute to 7)
Intelligence: 5 (4+2)
Perception: 7 (4+3)
Wits: 3 (2+1)
Talents:
Alertness 5 (3 + 2 from freebie points)
Awareness 5 (3 +2 from freebie points)
Empathy 3
Skills:
Etiquette 3
Survival 2
Knowledges
Investigation 5 (3 +2 from freebie points)
Occult 4 (3+1 from freebie points)
Computer 2
Medicine 2
Technology 2
Science 2
Emanations can soak lethal damage, but not aggravated. Select either the Umbra or the Underworld. This is the emanation's native home. It may roam freely in its native realm, where it enjoys the natural ability to converse with the other native denizens and to navigate without undue difficulty (in the Umbra, this amounts to having the Charm Airt Sense, while in the Underworld it amounts to having several dots of Argos). The phantasm may manifest in the physical world only while within one hundred yards of its keystone, or within ten yards of its master. It must pay one Willpower to remain manifest for a scene. It may pay one Willpower to immediately teleport to its master's or keystone's location. If the phantasm's master the emanation's name, the Arcana hears her words wherever it may be. If she commands the ephemera to attend her, it may teleport to her master's location and manifest without paying any Willpower. If the keystone is destroyed, the phantasm is also destroyed. If the emanation is slain, it may reform one hundred years later within its keystone. Each point of Essence fed into the keystone by its master quickens this recovery by 10 years. If the emanation's master has learned The King and the Kingdom: The Thousand and First Hell, the phantasm may treat its master's Hell as a keystone. Ephemera are always otherworldly, disturbing beings with demonic features of some sort that cannot be mistaken for as human.
The Arcana gains three additional dots of Mental Attributes, which may increase its traits to 6. Taking this Feature a second time provides only two bonus dots, but raises the permitted cap to 7.
The Arcana can project its thoughts into the minds of other nearby people to communicate with them. It can communicate with its master across up to (Arcana rating x 100 miles) of distance. By spending a point of Willpower, it can also receive communications from someone… or, to put it another way, it actively reads their surface thoughts for the rest of the scene. The target can always sense this, and can shut the Arcana out by spending a point of Willpower.
Unnatural Sense: The Arcana has some superhuman sense, such as the ability to see in infrared, to see in the dark, or to hear radio waves.
The Arcana lacks the necessary anatomy for easy communication. It can still understand speech, and it could speak if it possessed the proper facilities to do so, but alas, it doesn't. It can still communicate effectively with its master through pantomime.
The Arcana doesn't really have proper hands, as such; or if it does, they're not really equipped with functional fingers. It also doesn't have anything to adequately substitute for the lack, like nimble tentacles or pseudopods. As such, it suffers a +2 difficulty penalty when engaging in tasks requiring fine manipulation.
A disfigurement makes your appearance disturbing and memorable. When in the presence of those who judge based on appearances, the difficulties of die rolls relating to social interaction are increased by two. You may not have an Appearance rating greater than 2. As a three-point Flaw your deformity also raises the difficulty by two for rolls of one chosen Physical Attribute, as your deformity afflicts your mobility.
You're especially devoted to a certain cause, group, creed or person. When someone tries to turn you against the object of your loyalty, you receive a two-die bonus to your dice pool when resisting that attempt with your Willpower. If the assault uses your Willpower Trait as the difficulty for the attack, then your attacker adds +2 to her difficulty while striving to undermine your loyalty. (See the feat Resisting on the Dramatic Feats chart in Mage 20, p. 403, and the Mind Sphere entry in the same book, p. 519.)
Naturally, you must define the source and reasons for your devotion when you select this Merit. Such loyalty will influence many of your roleplaying choices too – your friends, enemies, priorities, magickal focus, and other things besides. For extra fun (ha ha), you can complement this Merit with the Flaw: Conflicting Loyalties, described below.
You have a sixth sense warning you of danger. When in danger, the Storyteller will make a roll against your Perception + Alertness; the difficulty depends on the remoteness of the danger. If the roll succeeds, the Storyteller will say you have a sense of foreboding. Multiple successes may refine the feeling and give an indication of direction, distance, or nature.
Your physical senses are unusually sharp, capturing nuances that few people ever notice. In game terms, your character reduces the difficulty of her Perception-based rolls by -2. At the 1-point level, a single sense (vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell) is more acute than usual; at the 3-point level, all five physical senses are equally sharp.
Everything, to you, has a richer significance than it might otherwise appear. The flight of birds, the fall of cards, the patterns of sand after a wave, a spatter of sacrificial blood… in your eyes, they're all clues to the Universal Mystery. You're good at deciphering such clues, and so while many enigmas remain unanswered, you often spot insights that other people – even mages – fail to see.
In game terms, you can make a Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty 7) whenever the Storyteller feels you're in a position to perceive a hidden message in apparently random phenomena. If you do spot what appears to be a message, you can make a second roll of Perception + Esoterica (or Occult, whichever is higher) to see if you
can interpret the message you think you see. The difficulty of this interpretation roll depends on how random the phenomena is; a deck of cards, for instance, is less
random (difficulty 6 or 7) than a scatter of crow feathers (difficulty 8 or 9), and so is better suited for divination purposes. This doesn't mean you can't read that scatter of feathers, only that doing so is more challenging than interpreting a deck of cards!
Even without employing your Arts, you have a preternatural gift for seeing things as they are, not as they appear to be. Illusions, disguises, cloaking spells, and other forms of trickery rarely deceive your eyes.
In game terms, you can make a Perception + Awareness roll to see through metaphysical deception powers: vampiric Disciplines, faerie cantrips, werecreature Gifts, Sphere-based illusions, and other powers that are based on deceiving a witnesses' perceptions. This roll works only against powers that deceive the target's perceptions, not against any other form of Gift, Discipline, cantrip, and so forth. (Vampiric Obfuscate, for example, but not Presence or Dominate.)
The difficulty for that roll is generally 5 + the highest Sphere Rank or other level involved in that power; a Forces 2 /Prime 2 illusion, then, would be difficulty 7, while a vampire's Mask of a Thousand Faces (Obfuscate 3) would be difficulty 8. If a character could normally get a roll to see through the illusion (as shown in How Do You DO That?, pp. 129-132), then your character subtracts -3 from her difficulty when trying to do so.
Your clear sight also reduces your difficulty by -3 when you try to see through a disguise, a cloaking spell or device, or other attempts to conceal the truth from an onlooker. It does not, however, allow you to see through darkness, notice stealthing or invisible characters, or otherwise perceive something that you would not be able to see without this Merit; combining this Merit with the physical Merit: Acute Senses, however, could make you a formidably perceptive character.
The spirit of the ring takes a form of constantly shifting paradoxical geometric shapes, observable within the ring as a play of light and unnatural darkness. On the rare occasions it manifests outside, the substance of its body is brilliant emerald energy intervened with impossibly black darkness. Something in a lizard part of a human brain finds the constantly changing form unnatural, dangerous and disturbing. it would take a kind mind indeed to see hidden alien beauty and see past its appearance to connect to the deep and kind mind it houses.
Lacking perceivable mouth or equivalent, its ability to physically talk is limited to producing dazzling displays of music. It uses a form of telepathy to communicate, projecting a pleasant gender-neutral voice into the minds of those it talks to.
While it the surface of its body lacks lacks any recognizable sensory organs, its senses are beyond human, capable of perceving the world with perfect clarity. And what it sees, hears and senses, it translates to the master of the ring.
Its main function is to act as an assistant, advisor and an onboard AI, expanding the functionality of the power ring it is bound to.
So, this is basically ring's AI. It generates a heads up display, allows the user to see through disguises, etc. Basically, I wanted the user to be able to do fanfic-based "scan everything" thing. And since the user of the ring is the one with Hero's Shadow, the spirit can attune the ring to itself, so it can use it. Thus getting access to the ring's database (after 5 dot upgrade) and stuff like ability to connect to the internet (via Conjury Art: mobile phone). Oracular Ability is taken as a buff to Danger Sense to form one quasi-ability to perceive and predict danger, including in a fight. If it can connect to the internet / make phone calls, it would be able to act as an intermediary, allowing the user to communicate via these channels.
As it is also very smart, it should be capable of learning languages quickly, thus acting as a translator for the user.
The design I made maximizes senses. If we are maximizing AI thing, then drop Unnatural Sense in favor of
The Arcana has most likely has a machine-mind, though it might also have some other quirk like a technological spirit having been bound into it during its creation. Whatever the case, the difficulty of all the Arcana's Computer rolls are reduced by two.
And drop Oracular Ability in favor of Lightning Calculator Merit, Computer Aptitude and Mechanical Aptitude, redistribute points from occult to Computers, at which point the user could say "ring, obtain information", and it would be done.
This all depends on the ring being able to generate constructs capable of physically interacting with the world. Which is, yeah, a big question. The main thing I like about it is not only it is iconic, it doesn't lock Daniel (or anyone we make it for) into any role. It's as broad of an instrument as possible. Useful in a fight, but also useful as an investigative tool, and as a craft tool (basically, it's TTC without speed boost), and in a lot of other situations. It's something Daniel can take on a quest into NeverNever to gain more power.
Just impose essence level equal to arete and have us require magical material with resonance to replicate the effect of a particular sphere. So to create a sword of death would require use to steal the reapers scythe.
And since you are the one that is setting the required number of success you can scale it easily enough. And how much time a single roll requires. So sure we only need 10 rolls to get 150 success but if the roll happens weekly then thats a serious investment.
It can't be stronger than template stacking that someone already figured out.
Just impose essence equal to arete and have us require magical material with resonance to replicate the effect of a particular sphere. So to create a sword of death would require use to steal the reapers scythe.
'Magical material' just drops the whole job of restricting you guys from breaking the game solely on me. I would very much prefer rules built into an actual system than I can use to check myself against.
'Magical material' just drops the whole job of restricting you guys from breaking the game solely on me. I would very much prefer rules built into an actual system than I can use to check myself against.
I mean we are getting a literal country. So low level mass production of magical goods is solved or will be once we figure out how to import it. So thats one aspect of balance shot. The only way i see that bit of blance surviving is saying that stuff disolve in reality like fairy stuff.
So all that is really left is bespoke high level items. Which should require expenditures of AP, the only resources that is truly limited. That is what will prevent us from breaking the game, if any major item cost AP to source and AP to craft with many required successes like the the last station.
Also you can force us to spread out our skills if you rule different type of wonders requires different skills to make, like medicine for cyborgs, technology for robots and expression for a spirit of music. Further forcing us to spend xp
Form of Imminent Violence (1 pt. Form Element)
The Splendor takes the form of a weapon. It has the traits of a Melee weapon such as a sword or mace, or an archaic ranged weapon such as a bow. The Splendor must also have a one-point Form Element with some sort of character to it.
If the Splendor is aligned with the elemental power of air, this weapon produces a great thunderclap and burst of air when swung. Anyone struck by it who suffers more levels of damage than their Dexterity rating is knocked prone.
If the Splendor is aligned with the elemental power of Earth, this weapon is one which inflicts bashing damage. It inflicts one die of bashing damage more than would be normal for a weapon of its type.
If the Splendor is aligned with the elemental power of fire, this weapon burns red-hot when swung and its damage is considered to be fire damage.
If the Splendor is aligned with the elemental power of water, this weapon is always something flexible and graceful, like a whip or thin-bladed sword. The difficulty to parry or dodge its attacks increases by one.
If the Splendor is aligned with the elemental power of wood, this weapon is always something with a substantial amount of wood in its construction. The difficulty to parry attacks with it decreases by one.
If the Splendor is aligned with the feral, primitive, and bestial, this increases the difficulty of rolls to attack with it by one, but lowers the difficulty of damage rolls made with it by one.
If the Splendor is aligned with the power of death, this weapon inflicts aggravated damage to ghosts.
If the Splendor is aligned with the power of the Dreaming, this weapon may, at its user's discretion, inflict chimerical rather than real damage (see C20).
If the Splendor is aligned with the power of the Spirit World, this weapon inflicts aggravated damage to spirits.
Form of Dreams and Nightmares (1 pt. Form Element)
The Splendor takes the form of something that is evocative of the fantastic. It might be a child's toy, a brightly-decorated banner, a monster or carnival mask, or a treasure chest. It might be a kaleidoscope, or a bundle of bright balloons. This Element defines the Splendor's physical form and gives it a character, and that character is aligned with the power of the Dreaming. Other Elements may draw upon this fact.
The Splendor stands out as a powerful work of magic when seen with chimerical eyes or mystic scrutiny, but it seems nigh-impossible to credit it with any specific significance if observed with purely mundane senses. Even when presented with compelling evidence that there's something weird about the object, anyone who hasn't made a magical survey of the Splendor must make a Willpower roll against difficulty (4 + Splendor's rating) to accept such a conclusion.
As an Adornment, it raises the difficulty to affect the user with hostile works of Glamour by one. As the basis for a Fascination, it may have one minor impossible feature such as floating in defiance of gravity, reflecting people's true selves when looked into, or aging backwards in time.
Invincible Assertion (3 pt. Root Element)
This Splendor defines a rigid certainty and imposes it upon existence.
When used in an Adornment, define a specific roll of (Attribute) + (Ability) and a specialty that it falls under. When the user makes such a roll, she cannot botch and cannot fail regardless of the difficulty. No matter what, she always generates at least one success. If this roll is opposed by another character, Invincible Assertion instead adds two bonus successes.
When used in a Fascination, define a specific roll of (Attribute) + (Ability) and a specialty that it falls under. Under circumstances defined by the Splendor, such rolls cannot fail in its presence, and always generate at least one success. If such a roll is opposed, it adds two bonus successes.
This Element may be incorporated into a Splendor more than once.
Sacred Protection (3 pt. Root Element)
This Splendor defines that which cannot threaten those within its influence, according to the Splendor's character as defined by appropriate Form Elements.
It provides immunity to damage from wind, cold, and electricity (air); being crushed, cut, or pierced by stone or metal (earth); being burned (fire); being drowned (water); being poisoned or struck by wooden objects (wood); disease (death); possession (spirit); or the twisting of the mind by supernatural powers (dreams). If its protection is bestowed by a Fascination, it lasts for a number of hours equal to the Splendor's rating, and may be set to persist indefinitely while within the Splendor's influence in the case of Forms such as Form of the Hearth.
If more than one characteristic is drawn upon when this Element grants its Protection, then instead of invincibility, damage is simply downgraded from aggravated to lethal, lethal to bashing, and bashing damage cut in half after soak (round down), while immunity to possession and thought alteration become the ability to make a Willpower roll at difficulty (10 – Splendor's rating) to immediately shake the effect off, and immunity to disease becomes the ability to make a Stamina roll at difficulty (10 – Splendor's rating) to immediately shake the infection off.
Mystic Fortification (1 pt. Mystic Element)
One of the Splendor's snares or benefits is particularly wicked or potent. Modify one roll associated with the Splendor by increasing or decreasing its difficulty by two, or modify one value associated with activating or resisting its effects (such as the number of points of Willpower that must be spent to shake off a Beautiful Lie) by two
Soul Snare (3 pt. Root Element)
The Splendor captures souls. It may hold a number of souls equal to its rating. Captured soul of potent supernatural beings may later be fashioned into Prodigies or used in Splendor-crafting. Lesser souls might be bartered to beings interested in them, or used as display pieces.
To use Soul Snare as an Adornment, the Splendor must also have Form of Imminent Violence. The soul of anyone slain by the Splendor is drawn into it.
As a Fascination, Soul Snare either indiscriminately absorbs the soul of anyone who dies in its vicinity, or may be designed to exercise discretion and only capture certain departing souls. If combined with the Form of Dust and Ash, anyone who dies while interacting with the Splendor whose soul is not trapped by it is guaranteed to linger in the Underworld as a wraith. Coupled with Form of Dust and Ash and a location-type Form such as Form of the Hearth, this fate befalls anyone who dies in the Splendor's area of effect
Phantasm (Emanation): Emanations can soak lethal damage, but not aggravated.
Select either the Umbra or the Underworld. This is the emanation's native home. It may roam freely in its native realm, where it enjoys the natural ability to converse with the other native denizens and to navigate without undue difficulty (in the Umbra, this amounts to having the Charm Airt Sense, while in the Underworld it amounts to having several dots of Argos). The phantasm may manifest in the physical world only while within one hundred yards of its keystone, or within ten yards of its master. It must pay one Willpower to remain manifest for a scene. It may pay one Willpower to immediately teleport to its master's or keystone's location.
If the phantasm's master the emanation's name, the Arcana hears her words wherever it may be. If she commands the ephemera to attend her, it may teleport to her master's location and manifest without paying any Willpower. If the keystone is destroyed, the phantasm is also destroyed. If the emanation is slain, it may reform one hundred years later within its keystone. Each point of Essence fed into the keystone by its master quickens this recovery by 10 years.
If the emanation's master has learned The King and the Kingdom: The Thousand and First Hell, the phantasm may treat its master's Hell as a keystone.
Ephemera are always otherworldly, disturbing beings with demonic features of some sort that cannot be mistaken for as human
The Arcana can project its thoughts into the minds of other nearby people to communicate with them. It can communicate with its master across up to (Arcana rating x 100 miles) of distance. By spending a point of Willpower, it can also receive communications from someone… or, to put it another way, it actively reads their surface thoughts for the rest of the scene. The target can always sense this, and can shut the Arcana out by spending a point of Willpower.
Expertise: The Arcana gains seven additional dots of Abilities, which may be used to raise them above three dots. Taking this Feature additional times provides only five bonus dots
Superior Mind: The Arcana gains three additional dots of Mental Attributes, which may increase its traits to 6. Taking this Feature a second time provides only two bonus dots, but raises the permitted cap to 7.
Divine Favor: The Arcana gains a Favored Ability, which may be raised as high as 6 dots. Increasing the Arcana's Favored Ability only costs one freebie point per dot.
Assigned such that in combination with the base dots the sword-emanation has Perception 7, Intelligence 7, Occult 6, Awareness 5, Brawl 5.
Add divination path at the highest level available with freebies.
Flaws:
Conditional Magic (1 to 6-pt. Merit or Flaw)
There is one thing in the world that is a great boon, or bane, to your character's magic. Perhaps her spells work particularly well against men, or on Tuesdays, or just after a storm, or on people dressed all in black. Maybe she's powerless to affect those who are or who bear that certain thing, such as her magic being unable to affect Christians or those who carry a piece of rowan and red thread. It may be that a certain individual gave her power over them, or perhaps it is utterly proof against her magic due to an oath she swore or spells that were placed on her.
The conditions that affect your magic may be common, uncommon or rare, and the value of this Merit or Flaw depends on the rarity of the condition. The base costs listed here assume that you have a difficulty modifier of three on all Arete rolls under the given conditions. You may adjust the difficulty by one for every point more or less you devote to the Trait.
Points Condition
1 point Unique: The Sword of Roland, the Matriarch of the MECHA construct, Leap Year.
2 points Scarce as hen's teeth: Current or former members of the Council of Nine, your former Mentors, once in a blue moon.
3 points Rare, but not unheard of: loadstones, Swedish royalty, werewolves, rowan and red thread, the holy days of the archangels.
4 points Special order: virgins, middle eastern eye-bead charms, any member of Iteration X, during a thunderstorm.
5 points Available without much trouble: cold iron, silver, Christians, any member of the Traditions, a windy day, holy ground.
6 points Common as dirt: men, anyone who's ever been baptized, the color purple, under cloud cover, Tuesdays.
6 dots, all magical abilities are limited to being used in ways that connect to the wielder of the sword.
Merits:
3 dots:
Oracular Ability (3-pt. Merit)
No, your mage is not one of the mystic Master mages living in an ivory tower in the Deep Umbra. Neither is she a software company. What she is, is an ordinary mage with a flair for divination and glimpses into the past, present and future. Whenever the Storyteller feels you are in the position to see a sign or portent, you may make a Perception + Awareness roll, with the difficulty relative to how well the omen is concealed. If successful, you may then roll Intelligence + Occult to interpret what you have seen, the difficulty is relative to the complexity of what you have seen. Your difficulty for all divination with magic (generally with Time) reduces by two.
Prophetic Ability God speaks to you in signs and portents, visions and images. Some visions may be precognitive, while others might be warnings or advice. You cannot request or induce a prophetic vision; they come on their own. These visions will range from the obvious to the symbolic; the exact nature and effect of the visions is up to the Storyteller. This merit should provide dramatic moments, and players should not come to rely upon them for plot resolution. (INQ)
Once a night black blade of imperfection sharpened to a lethal point, under the hand of the first Green Sun Princess of the new age Certiorari has become something more.
Shot through the blade in what appears to be cracks of impossibly bright silver, runes lay down a new order of the world.
Rather than making whole what was broken, the sword exalts its flaws and raises them up as the true way of things; a monopole forcing its way into existence and asserting supremacy over all alternatives.
Within the alien constellations of the blade a living emanation of the order to come stirs to wakefulness, watching the world that is in an echo of the sovereignty that formed it.
In the hands of a chosen wielder Certiorari empowers, protects, and guides in accordance with its true nature - Surety from an age yet to be infringing on the one yet to pass.
With the blade of conviction at hand, the wielder is sheltered under its unyielding purpose. No magic may touch their mind, for it simply lacks the authority to change their purpose regardless of power.
When acting on opposition to the world the sword cannot guarantee success against all opposition, but it can ward off any true failure regardless of difficulty.
These are just the most obvious and least important of its powers however.
In the image of its creator, Certiorari's greatest strength is in its eyes.
Using its privileged position partially outside of time and the laws of the current age, the spirit in the blade may peer out at the world and trace the connections of its wielder through it.
With inhuman precision it constantly monitors the present moment, and tries to guide its wielder to the best place they can be to accomplish their goals, collecting whatever information it can to inform its decision.
Due to its position, the spirit also has the ability to see glimpses of the future and the context of the world at large, though only ever as their related to the wielder and their interests.
With its inhuman intellect all of this information is used to support the goals of the wielder. Avoiding what they cannot fight, fighting what they cannot avoid, and striving to find the exact right spot to make the greatest possible impact.
I've changed things around here a bit.
Actually manifesting and doing stuff is the last thing the emanation should be doing, so I dropped natural weapons for telepathy so it could remain in the blade but still use its various powers and communicate with Daniel. I also shuffled the others around per the prior discussion in the thread to optimize for its core role.
In the styling of the swords of the cross, Certiorari is the Blade of Conviction. Something that can be a great virtue or terrible vice depending on the purpose to which it is put.
The inspiration isn't just the literal translation, but a legal phrase used for a type of writ where a superior court compels an inferior one to turn over a case for review.
"To be made certain" isn't a request, it's a declaration.
Which is on one level exactly what the sword is for. It reaches down from a lofty position and provides surety in their purpose and results in a variety of variably material ways.
In use the biggest advantage is the spirit whispering in the background. The immunity, guaranteed melee success, and melee difficulty reduction make him dangerous in a fight, but regardless of the item in use he's still mortal.
An supernatural information officer with inhuman intelligence, high levels of local situational awareness, and atemporal knowledge actively crunching the numbers to give him an advantage is a critical part of taking any lever we give him and making sure he can stand in the right spot to use it.
It's basically the closest we can get to granting him Mysterious Ways functionality.
The soul eating upgrade path also provides a way to actually manage this issue long term. Per DP's ruling it can be used to generate bonus exp for Daniel.
It'd be good if that gets expanded to optionally going to the sword emanation, but even without that it lets him boost his progress in a way that will help compensate for his disadvantages without unbalancing everything since it requires noteworthy battles.
There are some issues with binding it, but if we want to play the rules straight Daniel could manage learning just enough chi control to do the job.
Considering that the alternative @Yog wrote actively redefines how several abilities work for maximum advantage without changing the point buy involved on the basis of Gossamer I think it's reasonable to flex this requirement a little here since it otherwise follows RaW.
Give him an exemption as the one the blade was made for at the start and let him pay in willpower to toggle it on or off.
Sorry about the constant effort posts. Will try to cool it with the thread spam.
Yeah. I am a bit surprised how well it maps to the mechanical rules. And also, this could easily be used to gain cult dots. I mean, real life superhero. Make some appearances, hell, visit comic-con, and you are bound to have a cult rating.
Yep, stacking hits diminishing returns, that said this is the magic of the Age of Legends (or what is left it it at least), you can make some pretty damn powerful allies with it if you pay to have them usable by a non-Exalt.
Huh... In that case the build I made becomes even more broken after one stack.
Form of Dreams and Nightmares
Form of Hero's Shadow
Invincible Assertion: Perception + Awareness
Mystic Fortification: -2 to Perception + Awareness rolls
This basically destroys all glamours thanks to Clear Sight merit, and also makes Oracular Ability always work. Does not affect Danger Sense, and in general maybe switch Awareness to Alertness. Or make 2 splendors, one for awareness, one for Alertness.
Basically this gives ring's wearer the ability to see through veils without fail. Alertness one gives perfect danger sense.
Also, would Unnatural sense: Magic be allowed? I think it might be more useful than sensing minds.
You can't have more than 7 points total in merits regardless of the number of flaws as a balance factor. It's the same as the restrictions on the number of dots an Arcana can have in various attributes/abilities at various power levels. Specifically so that you can't wildly min-max a utility creature who can soak all sorts of flaws that aren't even actually inconveniences for it.
You can't have more than 7 points total in merits regardless of the number of flaws as a balance factor. It's the same as the restrictions on the number of dots an Arcana can have in various attributes/abilities at various power levels. Specifically so that you can't wildly min-max a utility creature who can soak all sorts of flaws that aren't even actually inconveniences for it.
Huh, ok. That breaks pretty much all of my AI build. Could I get a citation somewhere? I can see the logic there, even though it disincentivizes getting flaws. I thought it was like in kingdom build system (flaws are minus points). I'll have to think about the build if I am wrong.
Huh, ok. That breaks pretty much all of my AI build. Could I get a citation somewhere? I can see the logic there, even though it disincentivizes getting flaws. I thought it was like in kingdom build system (flaws are minus points). I'll have to think about the build if I am wrong.
Arcana (••••) Creation
• All Attributes begin at 1 dot.
• Rank categories of Attributes (Physical, Social, Mental) in order of importance to the Arcana's role.
• Divide 7 dots among primary Attributes, 5 dots among secondary Attributes, and 3 dots among tertiary Attributes.
• All Abilities begin at 0 dots.
• Rank categories of Abilities (Talents, Skills, Knowledges) in order of importance to the Arcana's function.
• Divide 13 dots among primary Abilities, 9 dots among secondary Abilities, and 5 dots among tertiary Abilities.
• No Ability can have more than 3 points without spending Freebie Points. • Record Willpower (3) and Backgrounds (0).
• Record Health Track (Bruised, Hurt, Injured Wounded, Mauled, Crippled, Incapacitated — a standard track).
Note that it has point restrictions for everything and gives explicit exceptions like with the 3 dot limit on abilities and attributes without freebies or arcana features.
It says no more than seven points in merits, not seven points on balance, and provides no way to increase that cap.
The example notably doesn't buy any despite it being the optimal way to actually empower a low tier build if you can take any flaws you like as long as the points balance.
Edit:
Arcana already effectively get a whole set of free merits with their core features. Your interpretation would let them triple dip instead of double dip like they currently can.
