- Location
- Germany
Nah, I really favor the Wolfhound, both for flavor and as it is a strong and intelligent dog by itself, before any enhancement.
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
[X] Try to find and bargain with a spirit-kin dog with Mouse's help, though scions will have their own purposes
-[X] Investigate, by Crown and Lydia's background, the whereabouts of Cŵn Annwn or their descendants
-[X] Investigate, by Crown and Lydia's background, the whereabouts of Cŵn Annwn or their descendants
Ivar
Dark Reaper
- Location
- Russia Moscow
A bit of obscure lore, but if you want a dog breed associated with death and the passage of souls, you can look here. They are certainly dogs of the new world, but maybe it will suit Lydia thematically as someone on a new path.
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
Xoloitzcuintle - Wikipedia
Dogs in Mesoamerican folklore and myth - Wikipedia
Anyway, I wanted to talk about Special Advantages - those are special powers from M20: Gods and Monsters appropriate for familiars of various kinds. They are all over the place in terms of power levels, I feel, and some of them are very useful.
With Lash willing to provide boosts, and us making them equipment (doggy armor!) I won't go into regeneration or armor powers. The best "general" advantage is, to me,
Essentially, this gives two active powers:
1) Spend a point of Wwillpower, and roll Willpower (I assume it's willpower) against DC6. Each success on that roll changes the result of the targeted character's next roll into a 1. Yes, that can cause botches. Yes, you can do it each turn, as long as you have WP to spend. This is a mage assassination tool, essentially.
2) Spend a point of Willpower to allow Lydia to reroll her roll.
Depending on other circumstances, for the remaining 3 points, I would probably go with Soak Lethal (3 pts) and Dominance (-2 DC for socials against your species) or Human Speech, or take Human Guise 2 (shapeshifting into a human with a tell of the inhuman nature), Bare necessities 1 (allows clothing to be retained when shapeshifting), and Blending (fade into background, +2 DC to spot the character with mundane senses).
Of course human shapeshifting might make it weird. There are other options too.
With Lash willing to provide boosts, and us making them equipment (doggy armor!) I won't go into regeneration or armor powers. The best "general" advantage is, to me,
Invoking the fickle currents of fortune, you can employ
a combination of the spirit powers Bad Luck Charm and
Good Luck Charm. Instead of spending a point of Essence,
you must spend a point of Willpower to confer ill or happy
fortune upon the target of your whims. For details about
those Charms, see below.
a combination of the spirit powers Bad Luck Charm and
Good Luck Charm. Instead of spending a point of Essence,
you must spend a point of Willpower to confer ill or happy
fortune upon the target of your whims. For details about
those Charms, see below.
The hallmark power of black cats and
other beasts of ill-omen, this Charm directs the tides of
fate and fortune to curse the ass of some beleaguered
mortal.
The spirit's player spends one point of Essence and rolls
that spirit's Gnosis against difficulty 6. Each success on
that roll changes the result of the targeted character's
next roll into a 1. Thus, an otherwise-successful roll
can be turned into a failure… and, if there are no more
successes left, but one or more 1s on that roll, into a
botch.
The spirit may use this Charm as often as it likes.
Pissing off a black-cat spirit, then, is a fast-track trip
to a really bad day.
other beasts of ill-omen, this Charm directs the tides of
fate and fortune to curse the ass of some beleaguered
mortal.
The spirit's player spends one point of Essence and rolls
that spirit's Gnosis against difficulty 6. Each success on
that roll changes the result of the targeted character's
next roll into a 1. Thus, an otherwise-successful roll
can be turned into a failure… and, if there are no more
successes left, but one or more 1s on that roll, into a
botch.
The spirit may use this Charm as often as it likes.
Pissing off a black-cat spirit, then, is a fast-track trip
to a really bad day.
By adjusting the flow of fortune,
the spirit offers good luck to the object of its affections.
One Essence point allows the favored character to reroll
a single task, though for better or worse that character
must keep the results of the second roll. This Charm
can be employed only once for any given task but can
be used as often as the spirit desires.
the spirit offers good luck to the object of its affections.
One Essence point allows the favored character to reroll
a single task, though for better or worse that character
must keep the results of the second roll. This Charm
can be employed only once for any given task but can
be used as often as the spirit desires.
1) Spend a point of Wwillpower, and roll Willpower (I assume it's willpower) against DC6. Each success on that roll changes the result of the targeted character's next roll into a 1. Yes, that can cause botches. Yes, you can do it each turn, as long as you have WP to spend. This is a mage assassination tool, essentially.
2) Spend a point of Willpower to allow Lydia to reroll her roll.
Depending on other circumstances, for the remaining 3 points, I would probably go with Soak Lethal (3 pts) and Dominance (-2 DC for socials against your species) or Human Speech, or take Human Guise 2 (shapeshifting into a human with a tell of the inhuman nature), Bare necessities 1 (allows clothing to be retained when shapeshifting), and Blending (fade into background, +2 DC to spot the character with mundane senses).
Of course human shapeshifting might make it weird. There are other options too.
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BoredMan
Dinosaurs came in many flavors. Like potato chips.
That's such a busted support power. It would greatly improve her survivability against middling to boss type characters and make escape attempts easier.
I cant but think that wizards, specifically, have to have defenses against that sort of thing to be viable in the setting.
Whether its a Merit that ignores 1s, or a version of the Immunity thing, or something else. If they didnt, spirits and Fae would own them all day everyday.
I mean, Dresdenverse lore isnt like Warhammer 40k; I dont think we have ever seen a White Council wizard botch, or even fail an attempted spell onscreen or off. There's guys who can counterspell Council magic, and guys who can prevent them casting, but I dont think we have ever seen anyone who can make a spell fail by fucking with the caster's rolls.
I think some manner of limit to this probably makes sense, and this can be modeled as an entropic effect, but in general, this is still super-useful.
Some Advantages are very powerful, and will probably need adjustment. Like,
Damn, you're fast! Capable of bursts of inhuman speed,
you can strike before most people can think. Each two points
spent in this Advantage, up to the maximum six points,
allows you to spend a Willpower point and take one extra
action within a single turn. That six-point Advantage, for
instance, would let you act four times in a single turn for the
cost of one Willpower point. Subsequent Willpower points
spent that turn do not add up, however; six points let you
act four times in one turn no matter how many Willpower
points you spent that turn. This bonus lasts only one turn
per point of Willpower spent that turn; if you need to burn
Willpower in order to move like the wind, however, you can
do so for as long as your Willpower lasts.
you can strike before most people can think. Each two points
spent in this Advantage, up to the maximum six points,
allows you to spend a Willpower point and take one extra
action within a single turn. That six-point Advantage, for
instance, would let you act four times in a single turn for the
cost of one Willpower point. Subsequent Willpower points
spent that turn do not add up, however; six points let you
act four times in one turn no matter how many Willpower
points you spent that turn. This bonus lasts only one turn
per point of Willpower spent that turn; if you need to burn
Willpower in order to move like the wind, however, you can
do so for as long as your Willpower lasts.
In legend and in fact, animals can lick wounds in order
to soothe the pain. Certain beasts, however, can do more
than that: Their licking actually heals cuts, burns, and so
forth. With this Advantage, you can repair a certain amount
of external damage — gashes, slashes, and the like, as opposed
to venom or broken bones. For three points, you can heal one
health level of bashing or lethal damage per turn of licking;
for six points, you can heal a level of aggravated damage the
same way. In both cases, that healing also eases the pain of
injuries, spreading a sense of calm along with the obvious
relief from torn tissues and flowing blood.
to soothe the pain. Certain beasts, however, can do more
than that: Their licking actually heals cuts, burns, and so
forth. With this Advantage, you can repair a certain amount
of external damage — gashes, slashes, and the like, as opposed
to venom or broken bones. For three points, you can heal one
health level of bashing or lethal damage per turn of licking;
for six points, you can heal a level of aggravated damage the
same way. In both cases, that healing also eases the pain of
injuries, spreading a sense of calm along with the obvious
relief from torn tissues and flowing blood.
Certain creatures may change their forms in radically
different ways. With this Advantage, your character shares
that gift. Though you're not one of the legendary Changing
Breeds, your physical body is less… established than those
of other beings. A miraculous talent possessed by witches,
spirit-animals, totem-blessed people, certain Bygones, and
especially wise beasts, this inheritance violates "normal" phys-
ics and biology, yet conforms to older laws of poetic reality.
This Trait lets your character assume different forms. All
of the natural abilities of a non-magical form (wings, speech,
swimming, sharp teeth, etc.) become your character's own
capabilities, although special ones (fiery breath, spirit-walking,
and so forth) must be purchased as Advantages. The same
rule applies to abilities that are not natural to the new body:
A man who wishes to become a talking pig, for example,
must still purchase the ability to form human speech with
the pig's anatomy.
In most cases, your Attributes and Abilities remain un-
changed unless those physical characteristics are incompatible
with your new form (a mouse, for instance, with a Strength
of 5). No other object shares your ability to change, and so
you must discard clothing, armor, weapons and so forth every
time you transform. Such transformations typically demand
one turn, although extreme shifts in size and mass might take
a turn or two longer than that.
An innate shapechanger retains her mind and personality
when she changes forms. The things she knows in one body
carry over into other physical shapes. Characters who can
sense auras or perceive paranormal effects might notice the
shapechanger's true nature with a Perception + Awareness roll,
difficulty 7. That shapechanger's scent remains more-or-less
consistent through her various incarnations; she might be a
wolf who smells like a woman, or a woman who smells like
a wolf, or a being whose smell doesn't seem quite "natural"
to the body she "wears" at the time.
The number of forms you can attain depends upon the
points spent upon this Advantage:
• (3 points) One alternate form (hawk, lynx, woman,
shark).
• (5 points) Any form within a limited range (cats, hu-
mans, birds, equines, and the like).
• (8 points) You can assume any form, although you must
purchase Advantages to cover things like venom, armor,
radical changes in size and Attributes, and so forth.
different ways. With this Advantage, your character shares
that gift. Though you're not one of the legendary Changing
Breeds, your physical body is less… established than those
of other beings. A miraculous talent possessed by witches,
spirit-animals, totem-blessed people, certain Bygones, and
especially wise beasts, this inheritance violates "normal" phys-
ics and biology, yet conforms to older laws of poetic reality.
This Trait lets your character assume different forms. All
of the natural abilities of a non-magical form (wings, speech,
swimming, sharp teeth, etc.) become your character's own
capabilities, although special ones (fiery breath, spirit-walking,
and so forth) must be purchased as Advantages. The same
rule applies to abilities that are not natural to the new body:
A man who wishes to become a talking pig, for example,
must still purchase the ability to form human speech with
the pig's anatomy.
In most cases, your Attributes and Abilities remain un-
changed unless those physical characteristics are incompatible
with your new form (a mouse, for instance, with a Strength
of 5). No other object shares your ability to change, and so
you must discard clothing, armor, weapons and so forth every
time you transform. Such transformations typically demand
one turn, although extreme shifts in size and mass might take
a turn or two longer than that.
An innate shapechanger retains her mind and personality
when she changes forms. The things she knows in one body
carry over into other physical shapes. Characters who can
sense auras or perceive paranormal effects might notice the
shapechanger's true nature with a Perception + Awareness roll,
difficulty 7. That shapechanger's scent remains more-or-less
consistent through her various incarnations; she might be a
wolf who smells like a woman, or a woman who smells like
a wolf, or a being whose smell doesn't seem quite "natural"
to the body she "wears" at the time.
The number of forms you can attain depends upon the
points spent upon this Advantage:
• (3 points) One alternate form (hawk, lynx, woman,
shark).
• (5 points) Any form within a limited range (cats, hu-
mans, birds, equines, and the like).
• (8 points) You can assume any form, although you must
purchase Advantages to cover things like venom, armor,
radical changes in size and Attributes, and so forth.
These ones are the most "fun" ones, I think. Others are fairly normal. I mean, there's also aura, which is just Shadow Spite Curse's signature effect at no cost for any being of "opposed nature":
People and entities opposed to the nature of
this creature (like demons in the presence of an angel, or vice
versa) feel compelled to flee unless they spend a Willpower
point to remain in the aura-bearer's vicinity; if they stay,
such creatures suffer a +3 addition to the difficulty of all
rolls they make against the character who radiates the Aura.
More neutral characters, meanwhile, can't help but notice the
pervasive effects of this entity: withering or flourishing plant-
life, shining light or glowering darkness, faint music, metallic
clanging, or a buzz of flies, and other similarly environmental
effects. While those effects won't influence system modifiers,
they speak volumes — for good and ill — about the nature of
the entity in question. The character can spend a point of
Willpower to suppress the Advantage for one scene, at which
point, a witness needs to make a successful Awareness roll,
difficulty 7, to discern the character's true nature. Otherwise,
the Aura manifests as a matter of course, without any form
of "activation" required or any duration set on the length
of its effects.
this creature (like demons in the presence of an angel, or vice
versa) feel compelled to flee unless they spend a Willpower
point to remain in the aura-bearer's vicinity; if they stay,
such creatures suffer a +3 addition to the difficulty of all
rolls they make against the character who radiates the Aura.
More neutral characters, meanwhile, can't help but notice the
pervasive effects of this entity: withering or flourishing plant-
life, shining light or glowering darkness, faint music, metallic
clanging, or a buzz of flies, and other similarly environmental
effects. While those effects won't influence system modifiers,
they speak volumes — for good and ill — about the nature of
the entity in question. The character can spend a point of
Willpower to suppress the Advantage for one scene, at which
point, a witness needs to make a successful Awareness roll,
difficulty 7, to discern the character's true nature. Otherwise,
the Aura manifests as a matter of course, without any form
of "activation" required or any duration set on the length
of its effects.
This is almost directly better than Shadow Spite Curse. In fact, a combination of this and Aura is almost exactly Shadow Spite Curse, only in some ways even better. When you can recreate celestial-tier charms (including signature effects), you know your effects are powerful.
The update when we meet them is going to be at least 50% screaming by volume, I tell you.
Let's find her an enabler.
The simplest version would be to give them I Believe I can 6 pts merit, or at least all the senior wizards. It even makes sense with magic being self-reinforcing belief that reshapes you. You start out without it, but as you practice magic, it transforms your mind to make you believe you can do it. Like how Lawbreakers may start out curing addictions, but end up with brainwashed slaves.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
I'd say there are pretty decent odds that Molly gets splashed with holy water.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Bit of a paradox with holy water. If it worked on Molly then it would be a poison which means that she would be able to bath in it without problem.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
We know that, but they don't.
Maybe Molly could use BMI to fake being horribly disfigured by the holy water as it reveals the "hidden evil" lurking within? 😈
Fair point. My thought was that she wouldn't be rolling for ancient lore to get that since it's splintering off of instances itself that would be alarming, but that's a significant assumption.
Bulldogs are surprisingly intelligent themselves, and are probably the most physically dangerous of the set we're talking about. Thematic picks are good, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be exactly on the nose.Nah, I really favor the Wolfhound, both for flavor and as it is a strong and intelligent dog by itself, before any enhancement.
Irish Wolfhound - Wikipedia
To be fair, we see relatively little in the way of immediate combat magic that plays this sort of game. It shows up more often as an element of a larger ritual than anywhere else.
It seems likely that the wizard experience has a lot of either being well prepared and rolling around feeling like a magical god or meeting something new and fighting desperately for your life. I wouldn't expect them to be passively resistant to it, but being able to block it if they knew to prepare for the effect would make sense.
Also worth noting that evokers are kinda rare and weird for wizards. The vast majority of the time you piss off a DF wizard they aren't going to personally show up to throw hands if they can help it. Certainly not without a kit built to ruin your day in particular. More likely they're going to spend a lot of time quietly plotting your demise in their lab and then hit you out of left field.
Margret LeFay for example, could probably blow you up if she wanted. However given time to work it's more likely a dozen trolls show up and eat you alive.
In that scenario the ability to put short term bad luck on a wizard matters less, because their wards put them at a significant advantage against that sort of thing if you can target them in the first place.
Weren't the alphas taught how to shape shift into wolves by a wolf that somehow learned to shape shift into a human? I'm pretty sure the implication wasn't that she was a spirit, but some sort of absurdly magic mortal wolf.The update when we meet them is going to be at least 50% screaming by volume, I tell you.
Let's find her an enabler.
Maybe she'll be interested in a side gig.
Ivar
Dark Reaper
- Location
- Russia Moscow
I'm rereading the beginning of the quest because I went into the interlude with soulgaze... And I can't help but think, what does Ebenzer think of Molly now? When they first met, she immediately started chopping down outsiders. And since then, she has only escalated her exploits.
Ebenezer reclines back in his rocking chair and slowly takes a long sip of his favorite beer.
- Never thought there would be a chance of me actually retiring. But its not bad.
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To be fair Molly's time is limited and there were multiple critical problems that needed to be dealt with.
Though if we worked with them from the start right now Lydia may have been able to hire them as her dog retinue.
[X] Try to find and bargain with a spirit-kin dog with Mouse's help, though scions will have their own purposes
-[X] Investigate, by Crown and other means the whereabouts of any Cu-Sith who would be interested in working with Lydia
-[x] Also look into seeing if any of Mouse's relatives would work.
-[X] Investigate, by Crown and other means the whereabouts of any Cu-Sith who would be interested in working with Lydia
-[x] Also look into seeing if any of Mouse's relatives would work.
Good night guys, see you in the morning with the local exigent of death getting her own posse of brand new supernatural beings. Can't have Molly stealing all the spotlight.
Also we may or may not also see Mortimer meeting a nice girl who has some questions (may not attention to the ghosts making like an air alarm )
Also we may or may not also see Mortimer meeting a nice girl who has some questions (may not attention to the ghosts making like an air alarm
)If I was doing a mundane dog?A bit of obscure lore, but if you want a dog breed associated with death and the passage of souls, you can look here. They are certainly dogs of the new world, but maybe it will suit Lydia thematically as someone on a new path.
Xoloitzcuintle - Wikipedia
Dogs in Mesoamerican folklore and myth - Wikipedia
I would probably lean towards a livestock guardian breed; a Great Pyrenees Shepherd from France or a Kangal from Turkey
Pyrenean Mountain Dog - Wikipedia
Kangal Shepherd Dog - Wikipedia
Breeds noted for their size, temperament, fearlessness and independent decision making capabilities.
Alternatively?
Border collies, Goldens or Labs, which are known for being smart as fuck, without being as needy as breeds like the German Shepherds, for example. And also, because they are so common, very likely to be underestimated.
This was one of the reasons I campaigned so hard for a downtime arc.
And at least we are going to see them this month.
Yes, Alacrity is very powerful. You'll notice that Nergai's horse used it during the pursuit on the Ebon Path.
There's a fomor Power that does something a little similar, but better, because it also buffs Dexterity.
I just didnt include it in my Protector build because I thought it was a bit much for an E4 clone.
Maybe at E5, along with the Hidden Power Merit. Assuming the QM doesnt ban it for PCs.
I dont remember the QM ruling on Healing Lick, actually.
And with Lash around, its not as much of an issue for the party. But I was only going to use that on Daniel's Arcana armor when he eventually gets trained to Molly's satisfaction, so it doesnt really matter.
Seems reasonable for something like that to exist for wizard-strength talents.
There has to be a reason the Outsiders dont have them all culled in their youth, after all.
I dont think I agree.
The wizard experience often involves dealing with people who were around when your grandparents were children, and their longstanding, sometimes generational plotting. And while, yes, wizards would generally prefer to avoid frontal confrontations , sometimes that just isnt possible. Even for senior wizards.
Eldest Gruff is walking around with the stoles of office of three Senior Council wizards on his belt; if even wizards at the peak of their careers like members of the Senior Council have to deal with the Tyson Experience(TM) where everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face, everyone else has to survive that scenario to become senior wizards.
And frankly, if they werent passively resistant, it would make active sense for the Outsiders to devote a couple points of manpower to systematically culling wizards in their youth as a longterm project, well before they got any experience.
Given that it takes centuries to train a wizard, and the White Council's lack of aggression in recruitment, they would have been whittled down a long time ago.
That they havent says that, just like their advanced healing, there's more to them than meets the eye.
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