No, I get why Brass Court ones would still need to be voted on. It's just to me it seems that if we gift him a computer with internet, we should concentrate on our Court novels, and may e provide them in an electronic form, rather than printed form. Because he'd get Earthside novels automatically via internet access.
Good romance books arent free, and while fanfiction has some gems, a lot of it is dreck.
Not paying for books requires piracy, and its not like most of the good places for that sort of thing advertise their presence to newcomers to the Internet.
Besides, some people like the tactile sensation of paper.
Easier to cover the bases that way.
Good romance books arent free, and while fanfiction has some gems, a lot of it is dreck.
Not paying for books requires piracy, and its not like most of the good places for that sort of thing advertise their presence to newcomers to the Internet.
Besides, some people like the tactile sensation of paper.
Easier to cover the bases that way.
Bob is a spirit of intellect, he is good at learning things from the Knowledge category pretty much by definition and that includes Computers. Molly is pretty sure that if handed a computer he would learn how to hack quite quickly for better or for worse. He would literally google 'hacking how to' and then follow the rabbit hole no matter how long it took him to find what he is looking for. This may lead to figuring out there are people out there pirating them already or it may lead to a break into countless editors' email accounts.
Bob is a spirit of intellect, he is good at learning things from the Knowledge category pretty much by definition and that includes Computers. Molly is pretty sure that if handed a computer he would learn how to hack quite quickly for better or for worse. He would literally google 'hacking how to' and then follow the rabbit hole no matter how long it took him to find what he is looking for. This may lead to figuring out there are people out there pirating them already or it may lead to a break into countless editors' email accounts.
Oh sure.
But time spent looking around for stuff is time he's not actually reading
And Bob being Bob, he'll take the easier option if its offered. Probably.
Besides, if Harry tells him not to, he wont.
Hell, if Molly advises that he dont, he'll at least give some consideration to it.
He learned to access the Internet without equipment in the books.
He lived with Butters for more than two years between the end of Changes and the end of Skin Game.
He managed not to do anything egregiously improper in that time.
I still think that we should become penpals with Ivy. Add her to the League of Ladies that Molly's forming with friendship.
Not that relevant to the current vote, but the soulfire thing brought it back to mind.
She's one of my favorite characters, but there's no IC reason for Molly to do so now; their paths havent crossed.
Besides, Ivy is currently younger than Leech IC; she was 7 in Death Masks, which would make her around ~10 now.
Molly's 18 year old. Any non-professional relationship is going to be...different.
She's one of my favorite characters, but there's no IC reason for Molly to do so now; their paths havent crossed.
Besides, Ivy is currently younger than Leech IC; she was 7 in Death Masks, which would make her around ~10 now.
Molly's 18 year old. Any non-professional relationship is going to be...different.
Ivy is complicated, in a sense yes she is 10, in another she was never 10 could never be 10, she inherited the archive as a baby which means... You know those reincarnation fanfics, usually but not always self-inserts where the protagonist is fully themselves as a baby, knows how to do things like read and write while being unable to lift their head? That is how Ivy's life started. To be the Archive one must store not random collections of letters, but information, thoughts, which means one has to to understand them, so that is what the mantle did to her.
@DragonParadox if you don't mind, a couple of clarifications (I am continuing to test Holden's system, and there are edge cases cropping up, which really shows how half-baked it is):
1) When a Splendor is manifested, it is (it may be) a physical object. Can it be used as a keystone for an Emanation / Ephemera and what happens to said Emanation when the Splendor is unsummoned? I would assume that similar to how an Emanation can use our Kingdom as a keystone, and in the real world would be bound to our location, an Emanation with an unmanifested splendor keystone would be confined to the location of the splendor's owner (the person in whose anima it resides).
2) For a number of Adornment effects, the duration is not specified, but can easily be inferred as "as long as the adornment is manifested / worn". How does this interact with Elongation of the Curse? Does it extend the duration of the splendor's manifestation, or does it extend the effect past the time the splendor is unsummoned? If the answer is the former, does this mean that Elongation of the Curse makes it possible for a 5 dot splendor to be manifested permanently (and probably Fascinations rated at or above 3 dots)?
Sorry to keep bothering you, if you want I'll stop immediately, I have more than enough ideas made already (like green lantern ring) to last us a very long time.
@DragonParadox if you don't mind, a couple of clarifications (I am continuing to test Holden's system, and there are edge cases cropping up, which really shows how half-baked it is):
1) When a Splendor is manifested, it is (it may be) a physical object. Can it be used as a keystone for an Emanation / Ephemera and what happens to said Emanation when the Splendor is unsummoned? I would assume that similar to how an Emanation can use our Kingdom as a keystone, and in the real world would be bound to our location, an Emanation with an unmanifested splendor keystone would be confined to the location of the splendor's owner (the person in whose anima it resides).
2) For a number of Adornment effects, the duration is not specified, but can easily be inferred as "as long as the adornment is manifested / worn". How does this interact with Elongation of the Curse? Does it extend the duration of the splendor's manifestation, or does it extend the effect past the time the splendor is unsummoned? If the answer is the former, does this mean that Elongation of the Curse makes it possible for a 5 dot splendor to be manifested permanently (and probably Fascinations rated at or above 3 dots)?
Sorry to keep bothering you, if you want I'll stop immediately, I have more than enough ideas made already (like green lantern ring) to last us a very long time.
I am going to say no, you cannot mix and match magics like that since it does not seem to be intended in the system and there is no narrative reason to overwrite that which I can see.
For duration that are 'as long as summoned' you cannot really expand them since they are already (potentially) permanent.
I just remembered we still need to make a Paranet equivalent for the talents to commune since we retconned it away. When we get around to that I say we should name it-
Harry was given soulfire as a balance to the Denarians getting extra special hellfire from down below when they abducted Marcone and Ivy. We have disrupted that chain of events, but it wasn't the Lash stuff.
Even if that chain of events was still on the table he probably wouldn't get it.
Being able to hurl a celestial exalt at your enemies is an attractive alternative to pretty much any option, and Molly is on board to help Uriel cheat if needed. Technically all he has to do to get Molly to clear her calendar IC is have a "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" moment in front of her. Not sure if the thread as a whole would be on board, but still.
She's one of my favorite characters, but there's no IC reason for Molly to do so now; their paths havent crossed.
Besides, Ivy is currently younger than Leech IC; she was 7 in Death Masks, which would make her around ~10 now.
Molly's 18 year old. Any non-professional relationship is going to be...different.
Clearly the solution is to throw her to the Jawas; at least one will manage to befriend or adopt her.
We even have the perfect bonding activity; assuming things currently in our hell aren't implicitly known to her, if we can finagle streaming TV from the FCF to earth we can potentially show her the first plot twist she hasn't known in advance in her entire life.
Ivy is complicated, in a sense yes she is 10, in another she was never 10 could never be 10, she inherited the archive as a baby which means... You know those reincarnation fanfics, usually but not always self-inserts where the protagonist is fully themselves as a baby, knows how to do things like read and write while being unable to lift their head? That is how Ivy's life started. To be the Archive one must store not random collections of letters, but information, thoughts, which means one has to to understand them, so that is what the mantle did to her.
Doesn't it also force the host to have a kid on some age trigger*, then destroy their mind when moving to the new host?
We should make a note to do something about the nastier parts of the archive's existence at some point. Ivy is fine for the next few decades, but it's still a super screwed up fate to have hanging over her head.
* I want to say sometime in their thirties based on Ivy's mother, but I'm not sure about the details.
I just remembered we still need to make a Paranet equivalent for the talents to commune since we retconned it away. When we get around to that I say we should name it-
I wonder how far dream magic and techno-sorcery could be stretched for this. It'd be really neat if we could make some sort of shared dream accessible via web portal. Seems like it'd be easier to secure and helpful for demonstrating the supernatural to people in a simple way, among other useful functions.
Doesn't it also force the host to have a kid on some age trigger*, then destroy their mind when moving to the new host?
We should make a note to do something about the nastier parts of the archive's existence at some point. Ivy is fine for the next few decades, but it's still a super screwed up fate to have hanging over her head.
As far as I know it does not kill the hosts. Why would it after all, they have a perfectly good brain to hold the information in. Ivy's mother just did not want to deal with it so she killed herself (or allowed herself to die, it is unclear). Given that she could do that in a way that pushed the mantle on a literal baby, making it vastly more vulnerable, I would say the hosts maintain a decent level of autonomy
As far as I know it does not kill the hosts. Why would it after all, they have a perfectly good brain to hold the information in. Ivy's mother just did not want to deal with it so she killed herself (or allowed herself to die, it is unclear). Given that she could do that in a way that pushed the mantle on a literal baby, making it vastly more vulnerable, I would say the hosts maintain a decent level of autonomy
Just checked the Wiki for more details and you're right. For some reason I thought it was a lot darker than that, and nuked old hosts for oblivion war reasons.
Ivy is complicated, in a sense yes she is 10, in another she was never 10 could never be 10, she inherited the archive as a baby which means... You know those reincarnation fanfics, usually but not always self-inserts where the protagonist is fully themselves as a baby, knows how to do things like read and write while being unable to lift their head? That is how Ivy's life started. To be the Archive one must store not random collections of letters, but information, thoughts, which means one has to to understand them, so that is what the mantle did to her.
True.
The Archive is still filtered through the brain, body and developing personality of a tween. You can see there's still a split when she's on duty and when she isnt. See her first meeting with Dresden at his home, where she goes from serious to "Kitty!" very sharply.
She's a very Wednesday Addams character at times.
Just much less goth.
Being able to hurl a celestial exalt at your enemies is an attractive alternative to pretty much any option, and Molly is on board to help Uriel cheat if needed. Technically all he has to do to get Molly to clear her calendar IC is have a "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" moment in front of her. Not sure if the thread as a whole would be on board, but still.
If I was a betting person? I'd bet on him getting it anyway, if only on a belt and suspenders trip.
We still dont know IC or OOC what the whole Starborn thing is about in the Dresdenverse, and I would not necessarily assume that a Celestial Exalt, or her circle, would be able to stand in for it.
As for chain of events? I fully expect Lasciel to react to the Lash exorcism by attempting to spread her displeasure liberally across those who hurt her pride. And in canon, she broke the rules so flagrantly that Uriel was able to redirect Dresden's soul and turn him loose on a whole set of plans.
Besides, if Nicky was willing to ask Lucy to lean on the scales with regards to the Archive, I dont expect him to be less restrained with a hostile Infernal Exalt running around.
One of the many advantages of being an Exalted is that by supernatural rules you are both human and not whichever is more convenient at the time which helps us with free will rules.
A bit like how a fallen with a cooperative host can both have their cake and eat it.
I am going to say no, you cannot mix and match magics like that since it does not seem to be intended in the system and there is no narrative reason to overwrite that which I can see.
Phantasms have the simplest requirements, needing only a keystone to anchor them in the world.
This can be nearly any small object of great emotional or financial value. If the keystone is of
great emotional significance, that significance need not necessarily be to the Exalt making the
phantasm. In the case of 5-dot Phantasms, the keystone needs to be a magical item of some kind, such as a Fetish or Prodigy, rated at 2 dots or above.
And splendors are a sort of magical items (prodigies are for active effects, splendors are for +X attribute type stuff in general)... I think? I mean, for the time they are manifested at least.
And not continue from here, there's this part of the Splendor creation rules:
Focus the Power: Having gathered the power, the Exalt must then carve it into a mystic token.
What can be a mystic token? Does it disappear with the splendor into the owner's anima when the splendor is carved into it? Could, for example, a prodigy be a mystic token in question?
The reason I am asking all these is that I am trying to make the Green Lantern Ring idea fully rules-compatible. So far I hae come up with something like this:
1) Make a prodigy (probably out of gossamer) ring that can create holographic images imagined by the user (no color, appropriately Ligier-green frameworks). That's probably a 2 dot prodigy or so. Maybe add "find a new user according to criteria in case the current one dies" thing, but that's a separate issue.
2) Make a 5 dot AI arcana, with the ring being the keystone
3) Make the ring splendor according to the design I have previously posted (it starts at 4 dots, and the full version with inbuilt Library is a 5 dot version), and transfer the ownership to the spirit. The ring design has Form of Hero's Shadow, so ring's AI will be able to manifest the splendor and bestow its powers upon the ring's user, dodging the issue of attunement.
The end result is an actual physical ring with a ring AI that can manifest powers of a green lantern ring.
This is skirting the rules, but overall, I think, might work. The prodigy thing is needed to anchor the AI.
Ok, so Elongation of the Curse cannot be used to expand how long a splendor stays manifested. Speaking of Elongation of the Curse, would you allow it to be stacked, so we could get permanent effects for below 5 dot splendors for focused effects? Because it seems rather silly to arbitrarily stack additional unrelated effects when making specific things. Or, I guess, this could be decided be on the case by case basis.
I wonder how far dream magic and techno-sorcery could be stretched for this. It'd be really neat if we could make some sort of shared dream accessible via web portal. Seems like it'd be easier to secure and helpful for demonstrating the supernatural to people in a simple way, among other useful functions.
I am fairly sure that we previously got a ruling that yes, Rosie could GM role playing dream campaigns with perfect CGI effects and it wouldn't be a Law violation as long as everyone consented.
We still dont know IC or OOC what the whole Starborn thing is about in the Dresdenverse, and I would not necessarily assume that a Celestial Exalt, or her circle, would be able to stand in for it.
One might, feeling poetic call the patterns of light and darkness in Harry's aura a starry sky, personally you think it is more like a fireworks display slowly orbiting around a central point.
And splendors are a sort of magical items (prodigies are for active effects, splendors are for +X attribute type stuff in general)... I think? I mean, for the time they are manifested at least.
And not continue from here, there's this part of the Splendor creation rules:
What can be a mystic token? Does it disappear with the splendor into the owner's anima when the splendor is carved into it? Could, for example, a prodigy be a mystic token in question?
Splendors are specifically not called out in that list unlike prodigies and fetishes. That said a splendor is a material thing, that is what distinguishes them from normal Ancient Sorcery after all, even those which are meant for exalts and carved from their souls become material when made.
The reason I am asking all these is that I am trying to make the Green Lantern Ring idea fully rules-compatible. So far I hae come up with something like this:
1) Make a prodigy (probably out of gossamer) ring that can create holographic images imagined by the user (no color, appropriately Ligier-green frameworks). That's probably a 2 dot prodigy or so. Maybe add "find a new user according to criteria in case the current one dies" thing, but that's a separate issue.
2) Make a 5 dot AI arcana, with the ring being the keystone
3) Make the ring splendor according to the design I have previously posted (it starts at 4 dots, and the full version with inbuilt Library is a 5 dot version), and transfer the ownership to the spirit. The ring design has Form of Hero's Shadow, so ring's AI will be able to manifest the splendor and bestow its powers upon the ring's user, dodging the issue of attunement.
The end result is an actual physical ring with a ring AI that can manifest powers of a green lantern ring.
This is skirting the rules, but overall, I think, might work. The prodigy thing is needed to anchor the AI.
Ok, so Elongation of the Curse cannot be used to expand how long a splendor stays manifested. Speaking of Elongation of the Curse, would you allow it to be stacked, so we could get permanent effects for below 5 dot splendors for focused effects? Because it seems rather silly to arbitrarily stack additional unrelated effects when making specific things. Or, I guess, this could be decided be on the case by case basis.
That works thematically and I am not seeing anything that would open Pandora's Box system-wise so sure, that works, including stacking Elongation of the Curse to get permanent effects under 5 dots, after all you guys still have to pay to make the thing.
Doesn't it also force the host to have a kid on some age trigger*, then destroy their mind when moving to the new host?
We should make a note to do something about the nastier parts of the archive's existence at some point. Ivy is fine for the next few decades, but it's still a super screwed up fate to have hanging over her head.
Taking the Lash-model to first separate it from Ivy and then give it a neutral (and immortal) body to do its own stuff, if we want it to continue with the Oblivion-War.
Which I'm not really on board with by the way.
In a few decades and with some more Exalted, Cthulhu should be afraid to leave his sunken city even if it does wake up and the stars are right.
On another note - with Lash removed, I think Dresden missed his chance to acquire soulfire - in canon, if I recall correctly, it was granted to him by Uriel after Lash died, and I'm not sure if the same would happen now.
2. We are actually never given an explanation for why Ethniu was so powerful. WOJ says she's strong, but nowhere in Battle Ground is it explained. The Eye depended on fear but could be shut off by a rainstorm. Ethniu, meanwhile, was just that strong. Lots of fanon exists to try and explain it, but there's zero Word of Butcher on why she's so strong.
In a way it wasnt her fault. Ethniu was an elemental being, a primal force of the universe. Such beings had been meant to shape worlds from raw matter, not to cope with their wills being frustrated. Her own personal power meant she could demand and get her way in nearly every circumstance.
Examples of Uriel/Ferrovax exerting their whole power?
Well, last book for a dragon. We're definitely doing a dragon vs wizard fight (cheers) you're not getting out of a fantasy series there. Dragons are on the same scale as titans. If titans were the construction crew, dragons were their bulldozers. If a dragon got really upset, he could tear about the universe he existed in which would admittedly be counter intuitive unless he's really nihilistic. Uriel is constrained by the above, dragons are constrained because they need somewhere to stand.
2)The Eye of Balor was empowered by all the local fear in a feedback loop, but it didnt need it to start with.
Remember that the very first time it was used, noone even knew what it was before Ethniu used it to blow out power across the city.
3)The fear miasma was turned off by a rainstorm summoned by Titania, Queen of the Summer Court.
In midsummer, when Summer is at its most powerful.
It wasnt just a random bout of weather that did it, and I suspect random rain wouldnt have been enough
On the matter of Battleground, and indeed all books after Proven Guilty, but especially that one, there will be some picking and choosing of what is and is not canon. Mab having the combat capabilities of a wet noodle is one of the major problems with that book especially given how much she was built up and what her actual job is.
1)This wasnt a straight battle where the goal is to destroy the enemy, it was a power play to break their will.
If all Ethniu wanted was to destroy Chicago, she'd have showed up on a random night with her army, used the Eye a couple times, wrecked the city and left. Moved on to another city.
Instead she showed up at a peace conference, murdered one of the lesser fae kings, sucker punched Mab who was presiding, and then challenged everybody to a fight in three days.
She didnt even try to kill Mab there.
Its also noteworthy that she prioritized making Mab submit over trying to kill her.
Only when the intimidation failed did she try to Eye her.
2) Similarly, Mab and her alliance had a plan going in.
They knew they could not kill Ethniu at all, short of a divine miracle by one of the Swords, so the plan was to subdue and bind her.
No point in defeating her if she was in a position to retreat; theyd just have to do this all over again.
They also knew Ethniu had a personal grudge against Mab in particular, over and beyond her enmity for the institutional order that Mab and Winter's power had a key role in upholding
"My contribution to the defenses must be subtle," Ferrovax said. "To do otherwise would be to risk destroying more of the city than I save." He nodded thoughtfully. "With Etri's counsel and consent, I will close the underworld to them, prevent them from moving through or beneath the earth. One-Eye?"
Vadderung nodded slowly, evidently tracking Ferrovax's line of thought. "I will close all the Ways to them within the city itself. Given who they are, that will leave them only one viable avenue of approach."
So they took advantage of Ethniu's fixation on Mab to lead her around by the nose until they got her into position.
In that entire plan, Mab standing to fight would not have furthered their goals.
Mab successfully denying Ethniu in front of the combined armies was a Big Deal, both for morale and fear levels that empowered the Eye.Mab dodging the beam would likely have had a negative effect on the local fear levels , and so she made a deliberate calculation that she could tank the beam. And did.
Note that Odin, Titania and the Erlking didnt take the field until they drew Ethniu out into position where they could all gang up on her without her having any support from her army.
If they'd been around from the beginning, she would have moved differently, to honor the threat.
I mean you can make an arcanum with hedge magic (as long as you know the magic or collaborate with someone who does), but not pull the splendor trick with it.
Its a construct, not a mortal.
It shouldnt have that at all, any more than a HITMark should have an awakened Avatar or a Technocracy Victor able to use Fetishes. Even choosing to play them as PCs doesnt open the Merits of other splats.
Its a construct, not a mortal.
It shouldnt have that at all, any more than a HITMark should have an awakened Avatar or a Technocracy Victor able to use Fetishes. Even choosing to play them as PCs doesnt open the Merits of other splats.
I don't think linear magic is the merits of other splats, pretty much everyone gets that in one form or another. Avatars are special in WoD, sorcery is not, just like how minor talents are all over the place in Dresdenverse and full wizards are rare.
Its a construct, not a mortal.
It shouldnt have that at all, any more than a HITMark should have an awakened Avatar or a Technocracy Victor able to use Fetishes. Even choosing to play them as PCs doesnt open the Merits of other splats.
Hede-Magic is a minor splat though, those are generally open to other greater Splats.
For example an Exalt can never Awaken as a Mage, or shift as a Werewolf, but they can use Hedge Magic and they can use Kinfolk-Rites.
Likewise a Werewolf or Mage can never become a Vampire and retain what he had before, but they can be Ghouled and profit (and suffer) from that.
Or any Mage can be Kinain, but never a full Changeling.
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