Would this cause a headache for the Archives who cannot forget their records unless they actively want to or would the information in their database be rewritten without them noticing?
She'll notice the change, but my assumption is that she has a perfect effect running, so she'll know someone is supernaturally changing the records, but would also remember the original state of them.
It can also have synergy with our cyberdemons where we open places with very tight security, since our dc is limited to 9 and we have several difficulty reducers, and then let them come in and have fun.
(Man the mortal governments are really fucked up against Molly)
Very true. Molly is a modern progressive Yama Queen and future Jade Empress. Mortal government really cannot hope to match her.
That would be cool... but it's so expensive, both before and to use, that outside of very niche or just fluff situations we will never use it.
There is a lot of solar stuff that we just don't have analogs of, and I don't think it's too expensive. I tried balancing it so it would be playable without being overpowered. I thought about the system being just "you get access to solar charms for purchase at 5 XP per dot", but that's way, way too broken, even if we disallow double excellencies, and silly stuff like identical charms buffing each other (like craftsman needs no tools and transcendent tool constructs resulting in either x20 or x100 cumulative speed upgrade for crafting speed). Solars getter flat out better training charms. Dice expansion charms that synergy with our DC reducers. Dice pool reduction charms against our opponents. It's very, very synergetic.
Hey
@Yog , lightbulb moment, we need at least 1 direct attacking/offensive charm in the set, as well as more then 1 five dot charm. I also realized that we have no charm that helps with Mollys thing of being a frontline sword-wielding warrior. So why not tie it all into one using a fun idea- Bayblade McGee.
Seriously though, Mollys entire realm is focused on spinning cycles and she has a giant spinning storm making up most of it. I know Hell of Flayed probobly has something fairly similar even if I can't check rn, but now I am obsessed with Molly spinning faster then even supernatural eyes can properly track and bouncing through a room, slicing through a dozen minor nasties in a few breaths like a Top powered by a Truck of Cocaine.
How exactly to stat it, I'm not sure but it should probably focus on attacking numbers over multi attacking one target, and be worth 5 dots so give it nice fat numbers to match.
Molly is the fulcrum, the center upon witch the world spins, so for her it would probably look like the world is spinning around we her and yet be easy to move.
Edit: also, I really like the Twin Suns charm even if it's a XP hog that will probably only be relevant in postgame of something, Molly is really a Solar at heart even if infernal exaltations can't be flipped like abyssals potentially can, being able to reach for that glory as a righteous god-queen feels thematic for her.
Edit 2: Finally had time to look at the EvWoD doc, and the closest thing to what I see it thousandfold typhoon hand, and that is explicitly only against a single target unless its a signature charm in shintai. So yeah, something like '5 dots charm, Pay 3 essence, for 5 turns become the revolving storm, being able to take... 5 attack, deflect, or movement actions per turn, and each attack must be on a different target'? that might be over or underpowered, don't really know for sure, maybe make it scale with essence spent like TTH instead, I'm just spitballing.
There's a reason I chose what I chose for the fluff text of the charm. That's canon entrance to Heretical charms in Second Edition Broken Winged Crane. Devil Tigers, the "Primordials to transcend Primordials" are supposed to be backed via the solar exaltation might, which pushes them beyond Yozi or even Primordial glory level. The exaltations cannot be diminished, cannot be twisted, cannot be broken. Their transformation into infernal ones was done by building on top the solar exaltation cores. But the core is still there, at the, well, core of the whole system, providing transcendent perfection and infinite potential. So, how to represent that? By granting an infernal devil tiger access to solar charms. And because, unlike Abyssals, they are not pallette swaps, it makes sense that an Infernal gets to permanently buy solar charms to expand her library.
The hardest thing here is balance. Because yes, it's an XP hog, and an essence hog. But I fear that without costs, we'd just immediately grab it, and start buying solar charms only. Like, even at 5 XP, All-Encompassing Sorcerer's sight is a 1 dot charm that is fully identical to Essence-Dissecting Stare, which is a 3 dot charm. So, from a game design perspective (ie if we were designing it for an abstract game, or for some exalt to come after Molly in this story, who gets access to this charm set) it would just make sense to always purchase Twin Suns Illuminated Throne at chargen and to start playing a solar-infernal hybrid. I'll probably add "you need to be E4 to buy this" rule into the charm text, to symbolize that young infernals shouldn't get access to it.
The attack idea is interesting. So, do I understand correctly is that the idea is to grant multiple (5) actions per turn? That sounds interesting, yes. I am also unsure about balance. I'll have to think about it.
Scholar Assimilation technique (•••)
After the the Infernal has already establish their cult it can continue to grow on it's own. The Infernal brings people to a place where she is in control. They quickly learn the ways of the locals.
System: The Infernal brings a group of mortal or bakemono to a place where they are the unquestionable in charge (controlled by their cult, prayer-eating, taught by Chirality Prohibition Index, their own personal hell, etc) with the understanding that they are here to learn. During each day of visiting the Infernal spends 1 Essence per inductee. At the end of seven days of integration, all students gain 30 experience points to spend raising their Mental Attributes, Charisma, and Craft, Academics, Computer, Investigation, Medicine, Firearms, Science, or Technology Abilities. No Ability can be raised higher than that of their local instructor. This Charm can be used on the same students repeatedly, but bestows only 20 experience points on subsequent training regimens. Any unspent experience is lost.
If the Locals knows hedge magic, they may also use this Charm to train students in the mystic arts, allowing them to spend the granted experience on Paths and rituals, though she can only bestow Paths and rituals that she herself knows.
Completing a training regimen under this Charm makes the acolytes into creatures of darkness, if they were not already. Additionally, each course of training
alters an acolyte's personality in the following fashion:
• After one course of learning, he will grow to view himself as a member of the group and feel a corresponding sense of loyalty.
• After two courses of learning, he will also be able to speak all the languages of the group and will find himself incorporating their slang into his regular speech.
• After three courses of learning, he will become current with the local fashions and will find his sense of style matching the locals such as not to stand out.
• After four courses of training, he will shun and scrupulously avoid certain actions or modes of thought proscribed by the Infernal with the default shun being disrespect towards the infernal.
• After five courses of training, he will adopt one obligation he must regularly discharge, as defined by the Infernal.
I like this. But maybe change what is being taught? From a pre-defined set to "the category of attributes and set abilities most defining of the group they have been brought into"? Like, Jade Dogs would be able to teach physical attributes and streetwise, survival, brawl, larceny, subterfuge, maybe melee or firearms, while bringing someone to one of the cities would get them the set of abilities from those cities. On one hand it makes the charm a lot more flexible, for Molly at least, but on the other in narrative sense it requires more setup and encourages the Infernal to get diverse groups of minions. Might be hard on the storyteller though, as they would need to define what each group is emblematic of in terms of abilities.
Also, I think the fourth and fifth course downside should probably be changed somehow. Maybe the fourth being "adopts the laws and taboos of the group as her own"? Not sure about the fifth one. The only idea is something like "the records and memories of everyone involved are reworked to make them always have been a part of the group they are learning from", but that's a bit out there.
Someone before say that the charm should not have going to the five fold court as a prereq because we are building this as if some other Infernal might learn it.
Yeah, that's my position basically, I should probably put it into the general design notes. I feel it keeps the design more honest.
That's not what I meant, though I have no real issue with either.
My point was that the original Charm sounded like it couldn't lead through Desolation.
Which is in my opinion against the point.
A caravan between two cities must pass the wilderness between, no matter what it is.
Ah, I see. I'll do some edits to make it clear that the caravan doesn't actually pass through the space between its starting point and its destination, instead disappearing into the dragon veins of the world / deep NeverNever.
Summary is that it uses the same city shift concept but trades the scene thing for slowly stacking bonus dice that stick around till you break character.
Yeah, ok, we get very little dice pool manipulation normally, so I'll switch to it.
We don't need another fomori charm, but we could instead use a "community service" sentence as a replacement.
The target gets fate weaving grade protection against their wrong doing catching up with them in exchange for serving Molly. If they ever betray her or refuse an order it all catches up to them at once. Or maybe they get dragged straight to (our) hell, we don't have a lot of those in Molly's kit and it'd be a shame to miss out on that particular bit of the infernal experience.
Maybe that could be a synergy effect with the notary charm too? If you have a hell you can choose to inflict damage or to damn them on the spot.
Hmm, could work. Something along the lines of "the jurisdiction of the Empress supersedes that of other courts" with Molly being able to substitute punishment meted out by other judges for her own equivalents? Will need to think of which ones, but yeah, that seems like a very interesting idea.
I don't see the point of this one. A four dot charm and all it does is make big metal rods?
The existing four dots are things like perfect defenses, making fomori, and nuking places with cursed radiation.
The charm that lets us summon any weapon we can physically pick up is three dots. Slapping people so hard they spontaneously develop Ebola is two dots.
Big poking sticks are neat, but at that price I think they're inadequate.
they are
very big poking sticks though. Battlefield reshaping even. We took our kingdom as signature charm in order to get, among other things, battlefield control. This also gives us battlefield control. 5 yard thick 50 yard high columns are mobile fortresses. You could encircle enemies with those, put snipers on top of those, bar passage, use them as battering rams, etc. Outside of combat, they are highly synergetic with TTC, providing metal for our crafting. I thought they were worth 4 dots. Maybe I am wrong. I'll have to think about it.
I like the idea of channeling this, but the effect just seems like paying through the nose to be a worse solar. Which seems like a waste of the reference.
If infernals are supposed to be developing into something that has the bullshit of both solars and primordials behind it, why not do that in a more indirect way?
Buy the charm and in exchange get a supernal type effect from one of the others we already possess. Those are constant increases in power that are pretty bullshit, and building one for Molly's existing kit would make it personalized. Maybe keep the temporary reprieve from counting as a creature of darkness thing too, for flavor reasons, but set it to only apply when Molly is using the supernal effect she bought.
That would be very bullshit, but we could also lock it as a high essence thing, to represent how it's a fundamental step forwards for the infernal on her path to becoming more.
I'm definitely adding "have to be E4 or higher to buy" in the next version.
I'm not sure what you mean by "supernal type effect from one of the others we already possess"? Do you mean we design a signature+ type of effect for other charms? That seems like way too much work, to be honest. As a note: I am planning to make some charms that are not exactly our hell, but are "general" charms. A 5 dot "buy more signature charms" is probably one of them, and I think I might move Twin Suns Illuminated Throne into that category.
The idea I had with this is that while there's overlap between Solar and Infernal Charms, there are also effects that work differently, and different tools. Infernals get more DC reduction and adjustment techniques. Solars get to add successes, expand dice pools, switch which attributes or abilities to roll for various rolls. In this case 1+1 is very much 11, not 2. Which is why I locked the use of solar charms behind both XP buying and essence use. Otherwise it would be the "must buy immediately" charm that everyone would buy.
I am unsure how to balance this charm. I like the idea of a nascent primordial growing past the corruption of the Yomi Wan, of Yozi even, and accessing the solar glory within their core to expand their primordial glory, so both working in concert propel them far farther than normal. I like the idea very much. But the balance is killing me. Here is the abyssal version:
Unconquered Hero's Faith (•••••)
In another time, in another place, the Abyssal was something more than this. Something bright. Something glorious. Something that brought hope rather than despair. Striking a fist against the black ice that binds her heart, she creates a crack for the light to shine through.
System: The Abyssal may force her Shadows and her need for the trappings of the grave to disappear for 24 hours. Doing so is considered a violation of the laws of the Nameless Curse, but her punishment for this transgression won't begin until the 24 hours have elapsed.
The Abyssal may also give up one of her Charms for a scene, replacing it with a Solar Charm of the same rating from the equivalent Solar Caste (such as forsaking Corpse Graft Technique in order to gain Wholeness-Restoring Meditation; if she knows Birth of Sanity's Sorrow, she may exchange it for Final Ray of Light). This also counts as a violation of the Nameless Curse, and an especially severe one at that.
Finally, having rejected the blessings and brotherhood of the void, the Abyssal loses her Spectre Notoriety Background.
If the Abyssal learns Unconquered Hero's Faith, she may never learn Immortal Malevolence Enslavement.
What I designed is already strictly superior to this, I think. Yes, it costs XP and essence. But you get no punishment, and instead of one solar charm in exchange to one of your own charms, you get solar charms in addition to your own. Expansion, rather than conversion.
Still, I acknowledge that I may have over-corrected - the Abyssal version doesn't cost essence to use, and the punishment is delayed, and I was aiming at this charm being deliberately more powerful than the abyssal version, because it's supposed to be additive, instead of a replacement. So, what could the correction be? Ideas I have:
1) Drop essence spending completely, maybe replacing it with a willpower roll against DC 9 (before DC reducers). Probably the most flavorful, but also the most overpowered. This is probably what I am going to choose.
2) Keep essence spending, but have the effect last one day. For Molly that's essentially "for free" because it just means she spends 1 hour 15 minutes in bleach each night to regenerate essence, or spends it just before sunrise, whenher essence is replenished. Could be tweaked to be "until the next sunrise" to avoid that, now that I think about it.
3) Let the infernal switch the charms they have to solar versions with the same effect while refunding the XP difference. That's the most iffy version.
Fivefold Learning Meditation ●●●
The Infernal Guides others through visions of lessons in the fivefold courts, spending 1 mote per student per day. At the end of five days training, all subjects gain 30 experience points to spend on Mental Attributes, Law, Finance, Politics, Computers, Technology, Science, Academics, or Medicine. Experience can also be spent on any sorcery paths known to the general inhabitants of the fivefold courts. This charm can be used on the same subjects repeatedly, but only grants 20 experience on successive uses.Any unspent experience is lost.
Completing a training regimen under this Charm transforms the subjects to creatures of darkness if they were not already. Additionally, all of the subjects chose one of the following obsessions. Each time repeating this charm strengthens the obsession by one dot.
Obsession of Law (Must do things legally, by the book)
Obsession of Scrolls (Pushed to seek hidden lore)
Obsession of Journeys (Pushed to travel and explore the world)
Obsession of Fountains (Seek to make things perfect and beautiful even at cost)
Obsession of Endings (Pushed to help others even at your own expense)
This is also an interesting idea. I'll be honest, I like the society-induction version one better right now - it's more Infernallish, where you induct people into your society / cult, but this one is good too.
It's still bad mechanically. If we're going to emulate them we can at least pick something that's more interesting and useful.
Oh I fully agree but I was just saying it's not without precedence or logic.
As I said above, it's not meant to be emulation. It's meant to be hybridization / expansion in order to generate synergetic effects. The flavor text of the charm was chosen with meaning. Devil Tigers are supposed to be Primordials+, backed with Solar Exaltation excellence and transcendent perfection that normal Primordials lacked. Thus, access to solar charms.
