Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)

[uju32]

@uju32, I can't even begin to comment on most of the build beyond saying it seems complicated and potentially difficult to manage, but I will add my two cents on skill distribution.

Click to shrink...

Fair.
I included the Powers at the end in spoilers, but if you dont have the time...

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Athletics 4 seems excessive, as does Brawl 2 and Streetwise 2.
I argued for Yog to include some of those in his plan, but not to the significant detriment of more relevant areas.

Athletics 2 or 3, and Brawl and Subterfuge 1 make more sense.

Click to shrink...

Athletics is also our auxiliary combat dice pool for throwing weapons like knives and hand-grenades, and for bows (since we dont have Archery). And for any future magical ranged gifts, assuming it comes up.
There's good reason to keep that high.

Streetwise 2 is the highest on our warparty. Noone else has it.
Molly had to roll bare 3 dice of Intelligence in Vegas when we had a Streetwise roll because of the Dragon.

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Drive 2 is excessive and I don't see the need for Survival at all.
Performance should be at least 4, and anything less than 4 for Stealth seems really strange to me.

Click to shrink...

Hmm. You have a point about Drive. Will look over it again.


Survival is the base Ability for Gift: Adaptation, which is how Olivia is supposed to survive in hostile environments with poison gas, heat, cold, oxygen deprivation and similar hazards.
Without it, you suffer environmental penalties or die.

Its also the Ability for tracking people by their trail.
If someone has been kidnapped, or you're trying to track a fleeing enemy, you're rolling Perception + Survival IIRC.


Performance IS supposed to be 4. I spent the XP. Thats an error, I think. Will check.
Thank you for pointing it out.


Olivia with Dexterity 9-10 + Stealth 2 is 11-12 dice.
By comparison, Yog's plan has Dexterity 5 + Stealth 5 = 10 dice.
Generally look at the Attribute + Ability pool, not just the Ability score alone.

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Why waste points in Computer, Finance, Investigation, and Medicine? There's being well-rounded as a person, and then there's just being all over the place. Also, Academics 2 is excessive for a dance major.

All in all, there should be more focus on Stealth and Performance given Olivia's nature and background.

Click to shrink...

Nobody else had ANY of those in our warparty.

I put Finance because of the student debt situation, but if you insist I can remove it.
Computer and Investigation? Nobody else has those skills in our war party right now. Maybe Harry, but we dont have access to Harry's stat sheet, and he isnt always available.

==
Dance Program of UChicago according to the QM.
I had a little free time, so I looked at the course requirements for graduating with a degree, as listed on the website

Major & Minor | Committee on Theater and Performance Studies

taps.uchicago.edu

Academics 2 does not appear to excessive for a college student majoring in Dance at UChicago.
Just average, actually.

 

[Ivar]

I agree with the academics 2 dots. Everything else makes absolutely no sense. Because one dot cis almost useless. Seriously, I understand that we have holes in this area. But making Olivia an amateur in these areas won't help. Mayyybe 1 dot of computers

 

[fictionfan]

I agree with the academics 2 dots. Everything else makes absolutely no sense. Because one dot cis almost useless. Seriously, I understand that we have holes in this area. But making Olivia an amateur in these areas won't help.

Click to shrink...

Besides we are certainly giving her a cyber devil phone. That is just one of the perks for working for Molly.

 

[Yog]

Ok, with much thanks to @uju32 I am presenting a new and hopefully improved version of my plan.

Changelog:
1) Raised willpower to 10. Willpower is the resource used for all path magic, so it makes sense to max it.
2) Added Debt 3 flaw. This maxed out the flaws (no more than 7 flaw points is allowed), so I decreased Bizarre Hunger to 2 points from blood to raw meat
3) Added 1 point merit: Concentration that is very useful for a sniper in combat situations. It removes penalties for distracting situations, such as gunfire, when concentrating.


[X] Plan stealth Archer v.3
-[X] Character generation v.4

Spoiler: Chargen v.5

Willpower 10

Attributes

PHYSICAL	SOCIAL	MENTAL
Strength ●○○○○	Charisma ●●●○○	Perception ●●○○○
Dexterity ●●●○○	Manipulation ●○○○○	Intelligence ●●○○○
Stamina ●●○○○	Appearance ●●●○○	Wits ●●●●●

Abilities

TALENTS	SKILLS	KNOWLEDGES
Alertness ●●●○○	Animal Ken ○○○○○	Academics ●○○○○
Athletics ●○○○○	Crafts ○○○○○	Computer ○○○○○
Awareness ●●○○○	Drive ●○○○○	Finance ○○○○○
Brawl ○○○○○	Etiquette ○○○○○	Investigation ○○○○○
Empathy ●○○○○	Firearms ●●●○○	Law ○○○○○
Expression ○○○○○	Larceny ●○○○○	Medicine ○○○○○
Intimidation ○○○○○	Melee ○○○○○	Occult ●●●○○
Leadership ○○○○○	Performance ●●●●●	Politics ○○○○○
Streetwise ○○○○○	Stealth ●●●●●	Science ○○○○○
Subterfuge ○○○○○	Survival ○○○○○	Technology ○○○○○

Paths:

Spoiler: Psychic Invisibility ●●●●●

While some mages take advantage of Arcane to walk
unnoticed through society, psychics can make use of this
Phenomenon. A sort of mass hypnosis, it projects "don't
notice me" into the minds of everyone nearby. It isn't
true invisibility: the psychic still shows up on cameras
and electronic surveillance equipment in general, animals
are unaffected because their minds are so different, etc.
Even some people might shrug it off because they can
tell something is wrong indirectly. Those looking for
something amiss can roll Perception + Stealth against
the psychic's roll, and if they have more successes, they
can see the psychic with no difficulty.
The number of successes on the roll determines how
thoroughly hidden the character is: one success makes the
characters still noticeable but people will tend to avert
their eyes, whereas with three or more successes almost
no one will noticed them. Mind Shields, of any sort, do
protect against this. The levels of this power dictate how
the psychic can behave and still remain hidden, and at
the higher levels, they can interact with select others and
even disappear from memories.
Cost: One Willpower.
Roll: Wits + Stealth
Duration: As long as the psychic actively maintains
the effect (this counts as an action).
Cost of Failure: On a botch, the psychic instead sends
out a "look at me!" signal to everyone in the vicinity.
Effects
• Hide: The character must remain completely still
to remain unnoticed. If they move, speak or do anything
else, the effect ends.
•• Slow Movement: Now the psychic can move while
maintaining their invisibility. However, they can only
move slowly, and cannot do anything that would draw
attention to them while maintaining the effect.
••• Invisibility: Now the psychic can walk and behave
normally, so long as they are not attempting to disappear
while being directly observed.
•••• Selective Invisibility: At this level of control,
the psychic can be invisible to some people but not to
others. This requires a Wits + Empathy roll (difficulty
7) and each success allows another person to see them
while everyone else is fooled by the Psychic Invisibility.
••••• Forget You Ever Saw Me: At the peak of power,
the invisible psychic is able to make a group of people forget
seeing them. The group's highest Perception + Alertness
pool is rolled (at difficulty 7) against the psychic's roll. If
the psychic gets a single success more than the observers,
they simply vanish from view. If they get at least three
successes more, they not only vanish but the observers
forget the psychic was there, losing memories one turn
back for every two successes.
Associated Spheres: Mind

Backgrounds:

Spoiler: Technê •••••

Sorcerers are unable to shape the raw essence of cre-
ation like mages can. They need a slightly more refined
energy to aid in their work. This energy, called chi, ki,
essence, mana, orgone, prana, ionized electrolytes or
any number of other things, can be harnessed to aid
the techniques that sorcerers use. The ability to use it is
referred to as technê, or practice/the craft.
Sorcerers find this energy, most commonly called
mana (despite most sorcerers not being Polynesian) diffi-
cult to obtain. Those who are particularly skilled can draw
it from Nodes with resonance matching theirs, though the
Path of Mana Manipulation gives more options. They can
roll Perception + Meditation at difficulty 7, each success
restores a point of mana, but each point of mana drawn
will drain two points of quintessence from the Node.
Mana can be spent to decrease the difficulty of sorcery
rolls, by up to -3, on a one-for-one basis.
X You have to get by on your skill alone.
• May store a pool of/expend one Mana
•• May store a pool of/expend two Mana
••• May store a pool of/expend three Mana
•••• May store a pool of/expend four Mana
••••• May store a pool of/expend five Mana

Merits and Flaws

Spoiler: Strength of Psyche (2-pt. Merit)

Your mind is mystically empowered. So much so, that
instead of being restricted to use mana only on sorcery,
you can use it to reduce the difficulty of any mental task.
This has the same restrictions as spending mana to aid
sorcery. The specific form this takes depends on the task,
perhaps making the sorcerer more insightful, perceptive,
or quicker to solve puzzles.

Spoiler: The Flow of Ki (3-pt. Merit)

Mostly used by sorcerers with the Martial Arts Practice,
this merit indicates a deep understanding of the flow of
magical and life energy. A sorcerer with this merit has
prowess beyond what mere skill can accomplish, and in-
stead has learned to use their Mana to enhance themselves
physically. A sorcerer with this merit can spend Mana to
decrease the difficulty on physical actions in addition to
sorcerous ones.

Spoiler: Acute Senses (3 pt. Physical Merit)

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 3-point level, all five physical senses are equally sharp.

Spoiler: Clear Sighted (5 pt. Merit)

Even without employing your Arts, you have a preternat-
ural 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 wit-
nesses' 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.

Spoiler: Artistically Gifted (1 pt. Merit)

The Muses work their will through you, or so it appears.
Whenever you employ your artistic talent (as in, the Talent:
Art in Mage 20, p. 275), reduce the difficulty of those rolls by -2. As
with other Merits of this kind, this Merit does not reduce the difficulty
of magick-casting rolls, but may reduce the difficulty of Attribute
+ Ability rolls that are involved with magickal acts. (For more details, see
Abilities Enhancing Magick, Mage 20, pp. 533.)

Spoiler: Concentration (1 pt. Merit)

Even by mage standards, you're especially good at tuning
out distractions. When you're attempting some sort of feat that
demands focus (as most do), this Merit eliminates modifiers
that would be caused by distracting circumstances – gunfire,
thunderstorms, rampaging critters from beyond the stars, and
so forth. Truly distracting situations (trying to hack a computer
system during a tornado, for instance) might demand a successful
Willpower roll in order to wipe out the potential penalty;
the difficulty would depend upon the circumstances. For the
most part, though, you get in and get stuff done, whatever else
might be going on around you

Spoiler: Vengeful (2 pt. Mental Flaw) or Obsession for the same cost

They've hurt you, and now they'll pay! Someone has committed
a crime you cannot and will not forgive, and whenever you get
the chance, you'll shower them with red-hot vengeance. This
grudge has become your highest priority in life – everything else
is merely a distraction. You may put this quest for revenge aside
temporarily if you spend a Willpower point in order to do so.
Until the guilty parties have been punished, though, vengeance
drives you to become that most dangerous of creatures: a mage
on a mission that ends only with blood.

Spoiler: Debts (3 pt. Flaw)

Mages still need money in order to function in the human realm.
And in your case, you're kinda fucked financially. Student loans,
credit-card debts, child-support payments, gambling losses, legal
judgments, medical bills, car and /or mortgage payments… the
ways in which a modern mage can get in over her head financially
are as numerous as the parties who prosper from such debts.
And then there's the possibility of financial manipulation from
Awakened sources – mages or Night-Folk who, intentionally or
otherwise, are keeping you broke in order to assert their hold over
you (see Technocracy: Syndicate, p. 28). Maybe you just suck at the
whole paying-your-bills thing. For whatever reason, your income keeps
going back out. You might indeed have the Background: Resources,
but the money just doesn't stay in your bank account for long.
As a Flaw, these Debts represent a minimum amount of
money you owe your creditors. The more you owe, the more
this Flaw is worth:
• (1 point) Minimal debt (less than $10,000).
• (2 points) Moderate debt (less than $50,000).
• (3 points) Significant debt (over $50,000).
• (4 points) Crushing debt (over $100,000).
• (5 points) Overwhelming debt (over $500,000).
From the three-point level onward, your creditors will
expend a fair amount (perhaps a great deal) of effort to collect
those funds from you. Certain creditors, like loan sharks,
will start far lower than that. Tactics could range from roundthe-
clock phone calls and red-envelope letters to lawsuits,
repossessions, threats, eviction, and physical violence. For folks
with small and /or irregular incomes, the pressure from debt
and debt-collection harassment can cause intense emotional
and psychological distress… which, in turn, affects one's ability
to make money… which deepens the debt… which deepens
the stress… in a desperate cycle that can lead to desperate acts

Spoiler: Bizarre Hunger: raw meat (2 pt. Flaw)

You prefer – maybe even need – to eat weird shit… quite
possibly in a literal sense of that expression. Perhaps you've
sworn a vow, suffered a curse, been treated (or created) with
unhallowed rituals or arcane hyperscience, or initiated into
an occult fellowship with… interesting admission demands. In
any case, you must consume substances that may be degrading,
unpleasant, expensive, or downright illegal.
The more inconvenient the substance, the more this Flaw
is worth:
• (2 points) Easy to procure, though not as easy to devour
(paper, fresh eggs, poop, etc.).
• (3 points) Unpleasant, hazardous, and perhaps illegal
to consume (rotten meat, swamp water, raw cannabis,
and so forth).
• (4 points) Specialized, foul, criminal, and /or expensive
chow (human blood, custom-brewed potions or meals,
and the like).
• (5 points) You really shouldn't eat such things… but
you must (live humans, toxic sludge, gold dust, highly
specialized food-like concoctions, and other similar
forms of sustenance).
For each dot in your Stamina Trait, you can go one day
without satisfying your special dietary requirements. After that,
you lose one health level per day until you either consume
your particular substance, or else die of hunger or thirst, suf-
fer the punishment of a vow unfulfilled, or otherwise endure
whichever other consequences might result from denying your
bizarre hunger.
For a related (and probably essential) companion Trait,
see the physical Merit: Cast-Iron Stomach, p. 36. And for a
potentially related focus-instrument, see the Chapter Three
Expanded Instruments entry for Cannibalism, pp. 206-207.

Spoiler: freebier point tally

start 21 points
-4 points for Willpower 9 = 17 points
-4 points to Performance 5 = 13 points
-4 points to Stealth 5 = 9 points
-2 points for Strength of Psyche = 7 points
-3 points for The Flow of Ki = 4 points
-3 points for Acute senses = 1 points
-5 points for Clear sighted = -4 points
-1 point for Artistically gifted = -5 points
+2 points for Vengeful = -3 points
+3 points for Bizarre Hunger = 0 points

-[X] XP spending v.3

Spoiler: Statsheet after XP spending v3

Attributes

PHYSICAL	SOCIAL	MENTAL
Strength ●○○○○	Charisma ●●●○○	Perception ●●●●○
Dexterity ●●●○○	Manipulation ●○○○○	Intelligence ●●●○○
Stamina ●●○○○	Appearance ●●●○○	Wits ●●●●●

Abilities

TALENTS	SKILLS	KNOWLEDGES
Alertness ●●●●○	Animal Ken ○○○○○	Academics ●○○○○
Athletics ●●○○○	Crafts ○○○○○	Computer ○○○○○
Awareness ●●●○○	Drive ●○○○○	Finance ○○○○○
Brawl ○○○○○	Etiquette ○○○○○	Investigation ○○○○○
Empathy ●●○○○	Firearms ●●●●○	Law ○○○○○
Expression ●○○○○	Larceny ●○○○○	Medicine ○○○○○
Intimidation ○○○○○	Melee ○○○○○	Occult ●●●○○
Leadership ○○○○○	Performance ●●●●●	Politics ○○○○○
Streetwise ○○○○○	Stealth ●●●●●	Science ○○○○○
Subterfuge ●○○○○	Survival ○○○○○	Technology ○○○○○

Paths:

Spoiler: Clairvoyance ●●

Psychics, spies and magicians have all desired the
ability to see things that are far away from them as they
happen. This power allows psychics to cast their senses
out and observe places far away from them. Though sight
is the easiest, as they advance in this power, they can
use their other senses as well, though even their sense
of touch will let them feel sensations without affecting
the place they are observing. Despite sensing whatever is
happening at the place being viewed, the psychic is not
actually present in any sense. For that, Astral Projection
is necessary.
Once they pick a location to view, they can move their
vision around the area. However, they cannot leave the
area with their senses, and to even go to the next room,
or the forest around the clearing they are viewing, they
must make another Clairvoyance roll.
Cost: One Willpower
Roll: Perception + Awareness
Modifiers: -2 to +2 difficulty modifier based on how
familiar the psychic is with the location.
Duration: Concentration
Cost of Failure: On a botch, the psychic has sent their
senses away but gains nothing from it, they are rendered
blind (and otherwise insensate depending on the level)
for one turn per success.
Effects
• Though hazy and often dreamlike, the psychic can
see anything within approximately a mile of them.
•• At this level, sight clears up and faint hearing is
available. The range also increases, to 4 miles plus one
mile per success.
••• Sound is now clear, and a limited sense of touch
becomes available to the psychic. Texture is too subtle to
detect, but solidity can be managed, as though through a
heavy pair of gloves. The range now extends to 10 miles
per success rolled.
•••• Touch improves to the point where textures can
be made out, and strong scents can be perceived. The
location can now be 100 miles away per success rolled.
••••• With mastery of this power, the psychic can use
all five senses as though they are there, and can do so for
a location that is 1000 miles away per success.
Associated Spheres: Correspondence

Spoiler: Psychoportation ●●

This power allows a psychic to travel from one place
to another without visiting the intervening space. They
simply disappear from one place an then reappear in
another. How this works is mysterious, but most of the
psychics who do it don't particularly care, they only care
that they can get where they're going very, very quickly.
When the psychic teleports, they can carry a reason-
able load of personal possessions with them. No psychic
has ever been recorded successfully transporting more
than about 100 pounds of materials, however. Whenever
this is attempted, a feedback loop of some sort occurs
causing the psychic to take 6 levels of bashing damage.
Cost: One Willpower point
Roll: Perception + Alertness
Time: Instantaneous
Cost of Failure: One a botch, the psychic ends up
inside a solid object, taking 8 dice of Aggravated damage
and the same to the object teleported into. Alternatively,
the psychic ends up somewhere wildly different than
their intended location, often leaving behind valuable
equipment and even their clothing.
Effects
• Short Hop: The teleporter can appear 12 + Intel-
ligence meters from where they started. Through some
means, they must be able to perceive their destination.
•• Simple Jump: Exactly like Short Hop, but with
range 20 + (3 x Intelligence) meters.
••• Long Jump: Similar to Simple Jump, though
the distance is now 40 + (6 x Intelligence) meters and it
can be doubled by spending a full turn in concentration
to prepare.
•••• Very Long Jump: Exactly as Long Jump, though
range is now 80 + (12 x Intelligence) meters.
••••• Blind Jump: Finally, with this power, the psychic
no longer needs to be able to see their destination, but
can teleport to places they are familiar with. This requires
that they spend a scene memorizing a location and spend
a point of Willpower. These locations must be stationary.
Associated Spheres: Correspondence

Spoiler: Mana Manipulation •••

Some sorcerers have a natural ability to work with
mana (represented by the Technê background), but others
study it and train to use it. This Path focuses on more
complex uses of mana, and some powers that will allow
its use even without Technê. Through the powers of this
Path, a sorcerer learns to detect and manipulate the flow
of mana in a variety of ways.
This Path rarely goes by the name "Mana Manipula-
tion." It is usually processed more fully through the lens
of their Practice. Often it goes by names like Geomancy,
Feng Shui, Channeling Ley Lines, etc. The Path, more
than any other, is shaped by the views of the sorcerer and
the tools that they use to perform it.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Roll: Manipulation + Ability
Modifiers: -1 difficulty near a Node
Time: One turn per level
Duration: Varies
Cost of Failure: While on failure, nothing happens,
a botch results in burns, a number of levels of bashing
damage (unsoakable) equal to the rank of the spell.
Effects
• The sorcerer can detect concentrations of Mana.
With a brief meditation or invocation, they can find
anything and anywhere that it (or similar substances) have
gathered. This includes Mana, but also Quintessence,
Vitae, Essence, Nodes, etc. If they score at least three
successes, then they also get hints of the resonance.
•• Now the sorcerer can see magical energy directly.
They can determine if someone is using magic (broadly
construed) near them, and even determine how potent
a concentration of magical energy is. Furthermore, they
can detect disrupted magic, including blocked chi, curses,
and other negative effects.
••• While before they could detect when something is
disrupted, now the sorcerer can alter and obstruct mana
flows themselves. They can block flows, causing Nodes
to go dormant (for one turn per success), they can push
it around, causing it to flow in a different direction or
along a different path, and they can even store a single
point of Mana in an object, albeit briefly.
•••• The ability to manipulate mana gets substantially
more fine-grained. The sorcerer can now increase the
amount of mana that they can store temporarily, draw
mana directly from a place of power, or even draw it directly
from others, stealing their vitality. When drawing from a
place of power, each success grants the sorcerer a point of
mana they can use the next turn. Drawing energy out of
a person is point-for-point with other sorcerers, but two
successes for one point with other supernatural beings,
including Essence from spirits, Gnosis from werewolves
and Quintessence from mages. Drawing the energy away
from anyone, including completely mundane people, has
no health effects immediately, but will cause long-term
health problems if repeated, and can cause some long-
term benefits if used to infuse energy into them rather
than take it away.
••••• With mastery of this Path, mana can be used to
create a magical "shield." This spends mana to decrease
countermagic difficulties. Other things that the sorcerer
can do include blocking the use of mana (each success
cancels out a point of mana being used by an opponent,
two successes can cancel Quintessence, Essence, Gnosis,
etc.). At this level, the sorcerer can even alter the resonance
of mana, with one success weakening it, three successes
canceling it out and five or more allowing the sorcerer
to reverse the resonance.
••••• • Legendary sorcerers can call up a surge of
magical energy in an area. For a few moments, mana
becomes available, with successes spent on number of
turns and number of points of mana per turn. Anyone
who can access mana can access this source, but it's dan-
gerous. For each success on magic channeling this mana,
the sorcerer takes one level of bashing damage in burns.

Spoiler: Mind Shields •••

Many psychic Phenomena and sorcerous Paths allow
the invasion of other minds. Telepaths can read your
thoughts, Psychic Vampires can feed on you, Alchemy
can brew truth serums and Oneiromancy can invade
dreams. And of course, there are far, far worse things
in the world than psychics and sorcerers. Vampires have
Dominate, mages have the full and unbridled power of
the Mind sphere, and that's before worrying about what
wraiths and changelings can do to an unguarded mind.
So some psychics either naturally have or train
themselves to have mental defenses. Their minds are
arranged in some way that makes them harder to attack.
Depending on the psychic, though, this can take the form
of being disciplined to the point of being able to force
the invader out, thoughts that are too chaotic to make
sense of, or even just a projection of a blank state where
nothing, useful or useless, can be read.
This only affects mental attacks. A Mind Shield is
useless against Pyrokinesis for instance: no hope that an
exceptionally ordered mind can just ignore a fireball! So
any psychic power that stays outside of the mind works
as normal. For those occasions when the psychic wants to
allow access, they can lower their shields, but this leaves
them vulnerable to others and to betrayal. At level three,
however, the psychic can tell when an intrusion is friendly
or hostile, and can selectively allow the friendlies in while
maintaining their defenses.
When the psychic with a Mind Shield is mentally
attacked, they make their roll and successes are subtracted
from the successes on the attack's roll, which fails if the
difference is less than the number of successes required
by the action. If the defender would normally get some
kind of defense, such as a Willpower roll, the Mind Shield
dice are added to that defense.
Roll: Against arbitrary mental attacks, the psychic
rolls their Mind Shields rating at difficulty 6. Against
other psychics, they roll twice as many dice.
Time: Instantaneous
Duration: Instantaneous
Associated Spheres: Mind

Spoiler: XP tally

Perception 4 - 8 + 12 XP = 20 XP
Intelligence 3 - 8 XP
Alertness 4 - 6 XP
Awareness 3 - 4 XP
Firearms 4 - 6 XP
Subterfuge 1 - 3 XP
Expression 1 - 3 XP
Empathy 2 - 2 XP
Athletics 2 - 2 XP
Clairvoyance 2 - 4 + 3 +6 = 13 XP
Psychoportation 2 - 4 + 3 = 7 XP
Mind Shields 3 - 4 + 3 + 6 = 13 XP
Mana Manipulation 3 - 4 +3 + 6 = 13 XP

-[X] Awakened Sleeper
--[X] Black Wind 3 dots
--[X] Hellweaving 3 dots
--[X] Iron Mountain 1 dot


I specifically got permission to buy unaging later in game, symbolizing her full maturation. So I'm not buying it now.

 

[Goldfish]

Nobody else had ANY of those in our warparty.

I put Finance because of the student debt situation, but if you insist I can remove it.
Computer and Investigation? Nobody else has those skills in our war party right now. Maybe Harry, but we dont have access to Harry's stat sheet, and he isnt always available.

Click to shrink...

Just because we don't currently have members with those skills doesn't mean we should try to make Olivia into a cutrate Jack of all trades. It could be helpful to have them, but it doesn't make sense for Olivia's character, IMO.

This is like making a Pathfinder 1E Rogue dump a bunch of skill points into Knowledge skills rather than Disable Device or Stealth because the party Wizard can't be bothered to do it.

 

[Yog]

Athletics is also our auxiliary combat dice pool for throwing weapons like knives and hand-grenades, and for bows (since we dont have Archery). And for any future magical ranged gifts, assuming it comes up.
There's good reason to keep that high.

Click to shrink...

The key word is our. Having Olivia be a copy of Molly is a losing strategy I feel. She should be completely different in her application. That's the only way she pulls her weight as a circlemate I feel. The more orthogonal she is to Molly, the better. She should be self-sufficient, as all circlemates are, but in collective combat, she should pull a different role from Molly. Molly is a melee tank. Lydia is a summoner and medium-range shooter with battlefield control in the future. Tiffany is a healer and buffer. Olivia should be something else entirely that compliments the current team. A sniper / long range fire support does, I feel.

Streetwise 2 is the highest on our warparty. Noone else has it.
Molly had to roll bare 3 dice of Intelligence in Vegas when we had a Streetwise roll because of the Dragon.

Click to shrink...

Fairly sure Harry, who is effectively our circlemate, does. We just don't get access to his stat sheet.

Survival is the base Ability for Gift: Adaptation, which is how Olivia is supposed to survive in hostile environments with poison gas, heat, cold, oxygen deprivation and similar hazards.
Without it, you suffer environmental penalties or die.

Its also the Ability for tracking people by their trail.
If someone has been kidnapped, or you're trying to track a fleeing enemy, you're rolling Perception + Survival IIRC.

Click to shrink...

Give me several hours, I'll try to whip up the monstrosity I want Lash and Molly to make together. The symbiotic organ replacement / upgraded organ system that they could do with exalted craft designs and Lore of Flesh 5.

Dance Program of UChicago according to the QM.
I had a little free time, so I looked at the course requirements for graduating with a degree, as listed on the website

Major & Minor | Committee on Theater and Performance Studies

taps.uchicago.edu

Academics 2 does not appear to excessive for a college student majoring in Dance at UChicago.
Just average, actually.

Click to shrink...

Olivia hasn't graduated from bachelor studies yet, as I understand it. 2 would be appropriate for a graduate student, and a good one who focuses on all parts of her studies. Or at least that's my opinion.

 

[fictionfan]

Olivia hasn't graduated from bachelor studies yet, as I understand it. 2 would be appropriate for a graduate student, and a good one who focuses on all parts of her studies. Or at least that's my opinion.

Click to shrink...

If you give her academic 2 now I think that college stops counting as training time for her.

 

[uju32]

Here is your answer.
[X] Uju32

Click to shrink...

You appear to be the only person interested in it, so sure:
1) Perception 6, Dexterity 10.

Coincidentally, that should put her ground speed around 75 yards/turn
She should be out-Bolting Usain Bolt pretty easily.

=====
Looking at the comments by @Goldfish, he's right about Performance 3.
I thought it was supposed to be 4, but apparently forgot.
Rectifying that:

Drive 2 to 1 releases 2xp
Finance 1 to 0 releases 3xp
Brawl 2 to 1 releases 2xp (with Dexterity 10, it doesnt need to be quite so high anyway)

---

I agree with the academics 2 dots. Everything else makes absolutely no sense. Because one dot cis almost useless. Seriously, I understand that we have holes in this area. But making Olivia an amateur in these areas won't help. Mayyybe 1 dot of computers

Click to shrink...

1) Its not Attribute, its Attribute + Ability
Olivia rolls Perception 6 + Investigation 2 for a dice pool of 8; thats not mortal max, but its better than most FBI special agents.

2) Since the QM tends to default to V20, I've been using it as a rough guide:

Investigation
You've learned to notice details others might over- look, and might make an admirable detective. This Knowledge represents not only a good eye for detail, but also an ability to do research and follow leads. Such research may include Internet searches or more specific research techniques like hitting the law books and pe- riodicals archives at the library.
• Student: You can parse a broad Web search for clues.
•• College: Police officer
••• Masters: Private detective
•••• Doctorate: Federal agent
••••• Scholar: Sherlock Holmes
Possessed by: Detectives, Mystery Buffs, Policemen, Stalkers
Specialties: Forensics, Shadowing, Search, Discolor- ations, Database Research

---

Computer
This Knowledge represents the ability to operate and program computers, including mobile devices. Most Computer use also imparts a degree of Internet awareness (if not savvy).
• Student: You can navigate touchscreen and traditional point-and-click
GUIs.
•• College: You know your way around various applications and the Internet.
••• Masters: You know what to do with a text command prompt.
•••• Doctorate: You can make a very comfortable living as a consultant.
••••• Scholar: You have all the SDKs and comprehend data structures for a stunning variety of programming
languages.
Possessed by: Hackers, Office Workers, Program- mers, Data Processors, Students

Click to shrink...

2-dots in Investigation puts her at regular police officer ratings.
When you combine that with high base stats, she outperforms.


Olivia is also the person with high Perception and Gift: Cybersenses.
Where she can simulate having shit like crime-scene sensors, which is something only Molly can do with Tool Constructs, and Molly has no points in Investigation.

She can potentially analyze/match DNA by touch, for example.
Or chemical sniffers for bombs and explosives and gas leaks, or to track someone by scent.

 

[Ivar]

I know that student debt in the US is bad...But are they really worth as much as eternal youth or Enemies 3?!/s

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

Note we have a Strong AI taking over the web pretty much all knowledge skills at max rank is something Molly can call upon.

 

[Yzarc]

I know that student debt in the US is bad...But are they really worth as much as eternal youth or Enemies 3?!/s

Click to shrink...

Given it has consequences years down the line? Yeah. Debts are also compounded on the total amount. Meaning unless you managed to somehow pay a lot of it early, the interest will build up rapidly.

There is a reason why people speak about it with horror or call it a crippling debt.

 

[Yog]

I also would like to point that I am fairly sure we could actually make implants indistinguishable from normal human appearance if be bought latter-day devil implants charm. So, there's another upgrade path for later.

 

[uju32]

I know that student debt in the US is bad...But are they really worth as much as eternal youth or Enemies 3?!/s

Click to shrink...

Its about impact during the game, not objective value.
Unaging is objectively valuable OOC, but IC, it doesnt really affect your character very much unless you intend to play a game that timeskips over hundreds of years. Largely a flavor/roleplaying merit.

Debt, though? Oh yeah.
The average US college debt is almost $30,000, and IIRC Olivia is an out of state student studying dance at a top-tier private university, so her college debt is not going to be average. Significantly more.

Everything from her ability to rent an apartment, to holding certain types of jobs IC, can be affected by this.
To what she can afford to eat.
And if you have debt collectors calling, you dont exactly have time to hobo around.

At least she isnt in medical school.

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

I know that student debt in the US is bad...But are they really worth as much as eternal youth or Enemies 3?!/s

Click to shrink...

As usual the government is the problem, it somehow got the idea that everybody should have a degree, so it started giving out Guaranteed loans for students. This meant that colleges which previously largely got funding by turning out graduates into highly paid jobs, now got more money by cramming students which had no reason to ever go to university into classrooms while jacking up tuition several thousand times over the last 4-5 decades.

 

[Yzarc]

@uju32 might want to fix your vote.

Adhoc vote count started by Yzarc on Mar 6, 2024 at 11:54 AM, finished with 311 posts and 13 votes.

• ---

  8 people have voted

  [X] Plan stealth Archer v.3
  -[X] Character generation v.4
  -[X] XP spending v.3
  -[X] Awakened Sleeper
  --[X] Black Wind 3 dots
  --[X] Hellweaving 3 dots
  --[X] Iron Mountain 1 dot

  • Yog
  • Azais
  • Nyarky
  • Sesparra
  • Ivar
  • Mithrill
  • Vanguard_D
  • powergoat

  4 people have voted

  [X] uju32

  • Goldfish
  • No7sHere
  • Ness
  • Yzarc

  1 people have voted

  [X] Y's Plan plus 13 points of flaws and merits
  -[X]Flaws
  -[X]Nightmares flaw (4 points)
  -[X]Merits
  --[X]Strong Po 4 points
  --[X]The Flow of Ki (3-pt. Merit)

  • fictionfan

 

[Yog]

Unaging is objectively valuable OOC, but IC, it doesnt really affect your character very much unless you intend to play a game that timeskips over hundreds of years. Largely a flavor/roleplaying merit.

Click to shrink...

Also, we got a permission to buy unaging (and I hope some other mutation style merits) later, symbolizing her maturation as a new species.

 

[fictionfan]

Its about impact during the game, not objective value.
Unaging is objectively valuable OOC, but IC, it doesnt really affect your character very much unless you intend to play a game that timeskips over hundreds of years. Largely a flavor/roleplaying merit.

Click to shrink...

Yes although just about everyone reading this quest would take on student debt in order to become unaging in game unaging is fairly useless.

 

[BoredMan]

Why are people talking about Olivia's debt? Molly can just pay it off.

 

[Yog]

Why are people talking about Olivia's debt? Molly can just pay it off.

Click to shrink...

It's a flaw that's worth points. Precious, precious points.

 

[Azais]

[X] Yog

[X] Uju32

 

[BoredMan]

It's a flaw that's worth points. Precious, precious points.

Click to shrink...

Then take it and let Molly pay it off after we do the lottery lol. It seems like one or two people think it's a liability somehow.

 

[uju32]

The key word is our. Having Olivia be a copy of Molly is a losing strategy I feel. She should be completely different in her application. That's the only way she pulls her weight as a circlemate I feel. The more orthogonal she is to Molly, the better. She should be self-sufficient, as all circlemates are, but in collective combat, she should pull a different role from Molly. Molly is a melee tank. Lydia is a summoner and medium-range shooter with battlefield control in the future. Tiffany is a healer and buffer. Olivia should be something else entirely that compliments the current team. A sniper / long range fire support does, I feel.

Click to shrink...

Who said anything about her being a copy? I certainly havent.

Olivia has 0 Melee, 1 dot of Brawl. Her primary combat focus is Firearms. Her primary social modality is Performance,
She isnt contesting Molly in Molly's areas of focus, she is going after those things that Molly isnt really interested in investing effort into. I mean, are you going to vote for spending 13XP to give Molly Investigation 3 + an Investigation Excellency?

Fairly sure Harry, who is effectively our circlemate, does. We just don't get access to his stat sheet.

Click to shrink...

Harry rolled 5 dice on that Streetwise roll. And he usually isnt around.

Pay attention to Attribute + Ability, not just Ability alone.
Someone with high Attributes but low Ability can roll much higher than someone with maxed out Abilities but low or average Attributes. Think of it as natural skill or aptitude making up for inferior training/experience.

Give me several hours, I'll try to whip up the monstrosity I want Lash and Molly to make together. The symbiotic organ replacement / upgraded organ system that they could do with exalted craft designs and Lore of Flesh 5.

Click to shrink...

Interested in seeing it, but its more likely something Sanctuary will be interested in than something we want to work on.

Olivia hasn't graduated from bachelor studies yet, as I understand it. 2 would be appropriate for a graduate student, and a good one who focuses on all parts of her studies. Or at least that's my opinion.

Click to shrink...

V20, as the QM's primary reference:

Academics
This catchall Knowledge covers the character's erudition in the humanities: literature, history, art, philosophy, and other "liberal" arts and sciences. A character with dots in Academics is generally well rounded in these fields, and at high levels may be considered an expert in one or more areas of study. Not only can this Knowledge impress at salons and other Elysium func- tions, but it can also offer valuable clues to certain past — and future — movements in the Jyhad.

If you like, you can choose a specialty for Academics even at less than 4 dots.

• Student: You're aware that 1066 isn't a Beverly Hills area code.
•• College: You can quote from the classics, identify major cultural movements, and expound on the difference between Ming and Moghul.
•• Masters: You could get a paper published in a scholarly journal.
•••• Doctorate: Professor emeritus
••••• Scholar: Scholars worldwide acknowledge you as one of the foremost experts of your time.
Possessed by: Professors, Literati, Topical Bloggers, Elders

Click to shrink...

So apparently not. Academics 2 is not out of place for a standard college student.
Graduate student/masters is Academics 3.

 

[Cavalar]

[X] Yog

 

[Yog]

I think one (weak) argument in favor of my design is that if it's used as something of a template for further IDU uses, it has a wider pool of targets. As far as changes go, it has Bizarre Hunger: raw meat, which honestly isn't much of an issue. We can get far more people to accept boosts if we show Olivia as a template.

Interested in seeing it, but its more likely something Sanctuary will be interested in than something we want to work on.

Click to shrink...

Nah, it's something only a collaboration of Molly and Lash could hope to make. I am slowly working on designing proper WH40K custodes.

V20, as the QM's primary reference:

Click to shrink...

I took it to mean "graduated X". I.e. 1 dot is a student in college / university. 2 dots - graduated bachelor studies. 3 dots - graduated masters course. etc

 

[uju32]

Also, we got a permission to buy unaging (and I hope some other mutation style merits) later, symbolizing her maturation as a new species.

Click to shrink...

We did? Can I get a citation?
PLEASE? Because I can think of one Merit I could replace it with, if not for IC reasons