The payoff is being able to get messages without having to go in. Although prayer-eating 2 for 4 more XP is really great for picking which talent we want. Prayer-eating 2 is basically NWS but it tells us everything about a person and doesn't cost any essanse to use. Yes it only works on the faithful, but we have a lot of those now.
And then of course prayer eating 3 then costs and additional 6 xp costing a total of 12 XP.
However I do feel like spending a bunch of time listening to prayers with 1 and 2 should count as training reducing the cost.
Build a magic phone. Thats what crafting is for.
And it actually allows you to receive messages immediately, and for people to leave you a message.
For prayer, you have to be listening right when the person is praying.
If you are not, you miss it.
Thats essentially religious ritual stuff. Not any sort of reliable communications system.
Oh no something we try might not work because [blank] we must spend a bunch of XP to buy some better attack that can only be stopped by [blank]. That sort of thinking just leaves us spending all our XP to stay the same place on the escalation treadmill.
Lord Raith is a particularly poor example because maybe his deal would stop Sinner Boiling Stare by being some sort of perfect defense, but mundane bullets worked so MHM to push mundane damage at him would likely be a better option.
My dude, we are in a setting with old gods and outsiders and eldritch abominations.
Where there are people who can straight up ignore damage that isnt specifically dealt by particular means. How do you think bashing will help you against Ethniu and her mordite alloy armor, some of the Denarians, or a shoggoth, or a loup garou? Even wizards like Ebenezar wear robes in combat that can soak lethal damage.
I mean, there's a reason why literally the first thing we picked for our sword was Transcendent Anathema.
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I brought up Papa Raith as an example of the sorta shenanigans we will have to worry about.
We know that he's protected against mortal magic, even very high tier mortal magic; a Senior Council wizard couldnt touch him, or get around whatever his deal is despite multiple attempts.
We dont know what, if any other protections he has.
I doubt that Ebenezar didnt consider indirect attack in his three decades of assassination attempts, and the fact that he's still walking around suggests that it was considered as well.
