In terms of crafting, I have some ideas.
Broadly, what we can and should craft soonish can be categorized as follows:
1) Protective equipment. We made a good start with a shield and underarmor (speaking of,
@DragonParadox it's listed in Soak, but not in the gear part of the character sheet. Is that deliberate? I would appreciate if there was a section with actual description of what it was in our character sheet; and I couldn't find the shield at all), but we are far from done. Underarmor can and should be improved (we need pants, and a hood, and gloves, and socks). We should make actual armor. We should at least consider making underarmor and improving armor for our father, and maybe Harry.
We should also look into the possibilities of power armor, especially if we can make it run on magic / essence.
2) Weapons. We have our demonic weapon, but we badly lack long range options. So, gunsmithing should at least be considered. And, if we can make "essence to power" converter of some kind (or learn how to make equipment run on essence), laser weaponry becomes viable and surprisingly sturdy, given the lack of moving parts. The long range weaponry also can be synergized with the next category,
3) Utility. Synergizing with the long range option, we could improve our mobility by building a grappling gun, which is also, well, a gun, and a variety of custom ammunition. Like a tracking beacon equipped bullet. Stuff like a 3d maneuvering gear or a jetpack built into our power armor is also something to consider. Yes, we'll be buying flight, but having a backup is a good idea.
Utility in general is a very broad category. Remember, this is 2006. So, stuff like smartphones and easy, cheap and
fast internet, especially in some areas where we can see combat, like out in the woods, is still hard to find (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong). This means that navigation is something that might need to be handled (ideally, we'll appropriate or build a satellite for real-time imagery of our location, I think). We also probably want a variant of a body camera to record and later analyze our combat performance, and to gather intel. Communication equipment that is guaranteed to work (something like super-sturdy radio sets). Definitely a field medical kit to at least stabilize someone so they don't bleed out.
I think either a gun, continuing with underarmor, or making actual armor are good ideas.
1)I dont think she needs more armor. Or can afford it.
Mechanically, the Armor Scale goes 1 to 5. Biker jacket to Riot Suit. Or in V20 Dark Ages, Heavy Clothing to Knights Armor.
Ebon Scales gives us +1 Soak dice, a social bonus and is concealable. Armor that gives better than +1 soak is either Obvious(biker jacket+), begins to apply a penalty to our Dexterity due to weight and bulk, or both.
Something like Kevlar Vest(Armor 3, -1 penalty to Dexterity) might be doable if we ask really nicely, and if we roll exceedingky well the GM might even allow us to remove the Dex penalty. But given its benefits, its unlikely to be a major priority.
Soak charms are probably a better investment.
And under the game systems in play, equipment loadout is not that granular IIRC; we dont need to make pants and hoods and stuff.
Thats DnD that has all those equipment slots.
Only shit thats narratively relevant matters here.
2)Power armor is almost definitely right out.
We arent playing the billionaire genius whose power is in what they make with their hands . We are roleplaying the last scion and inheritor of a dead civilization raised by humble blue collar folk, whose power is in their very nature and in who they know.
Superman, not Iron Man. What items we make are adjuncts to our power, not cornerstones of it.
We might get minions from our internal Hell who use power armor or at least occult cyberware because of the cyberpunk aesthetic of one of our Aspect Hells, but even thats questionable.
3)Molly's 17 and while you can own a longarm legally once you turn 18, you cant legally own a handgun in Illnois until you're 21.
Nor is it an open carry state. Chicago and Cook County had additional firearms regulation prior to 2013, but I dont think we are going to bother with that in this quest.
Concealed carry permit is an additional layer of regulation.
While we can pick up weapons on the battlefield as salvage and use them until they run out of ammo, actual firearms are right out unless we choose to buy the appropriate 3-dot charm. Gonna have to live with that.
4) We dont need a grappling gun; we want to buy Flight at our next XP milestone.
Cellphones and computerized equipment waits on our buying
Hollow Mind Curse as a onetime upgrade to off the shelf electronics. Body cameras are not a thing in 2006 afaik, and we dont want to carry a data record of the things we do anyway.
And the rest (satellites??!!!) falls outside the thematic space of the character we're roleplaying.
The billionaire child of a billionaire father who owns a multibillion dollar tech conglomerate and weapons manufacturer might afford realtime space imagery from satellites, and have the educational and the operational background to think of it.
The 17 year old inheritor to an occult legacy from beyond time, raised by bluecollar parents, not so much.
That seems like stuff that could be done with charms. Essence Dissecting stare does the spirit vision and more besides.
I'd also like to note the EvWoD version of Witness to Darkness lacks the penalty to Charisma the original had, and I've seen a homebrew Malfeas charm that removes penalties due to bright lights.
It would be one think if Molly could just hand it off to a minion when we didn't need it anymore, but from the description earlier only an Exalt can use it. I'll admit I'm not familiar enough with the system to know which is a better investment time and xp wise though.
Essence Directing Stare is a 3 dot charm for 12XP and it doesnt give nightvision.
The only charm that does is Witness to Darkness and possibly Rage Recast buying a Shintai Aspect.
Mechanically, the spirit vision is maybe the very watered down equivalent of the ointment that the Gatekeeper Rashid gave Dresden in canon. Well, a little between that and a very watered down version of the Three Eye potion from Storm Front.
Nothing all that complicated.
Nightvision is your standard issue nightvision goggles that already exist IRL as purely mundane items used by soldiers, police and hunters; scientists at UMichigan actually made a prototype of nightvision contact lenses in 2014.
