Oh yeah, definitely, interrogating someone with empathy while you are pruning them with unholy fire is definitely a 'Malfeas take the wheel' moment
Green Flame Rising (Exalted vs Dresden Files)
- Thread starter DragonParadox
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Oh yeah, definitely, interrogating someone with empathy while you are pruning them with unholy fire is definitely a 'Malfeas take the wheel' moment
Empathy is how some of the most effective interrogators get their targets to talk.
Its how the police interrogate a lot of suspects.
And in general, Im trying to spare Molly having to execute this guy in cold blood in the field if she doesnt have to.
The Library will certainly take him off her hands if she can get him to the Monoc staging point for the next couple hours.
Oh, this is Empathy BEFORE determining if we need to do a little gardening.
Supernatural intimidation is how you get him to talk. Intimidation is absolutely as valid as an interrogation technique here, and far more human. We can afford a 2 dice loss I feel.
I dont really agree.
This is one of those situations where the more successes matter with regards to how much information you can get out of him.
This was a planned kidnapping by the naagloshii and its posse.
We need as much information as possible to counteract the two or three weeks they have had to prepare.
I mean, we know that skinwalkers ate the hearts of two elephants at the zoo. What else have they invested in?
Besides.
If my Empathy doesnt work, I can default to Intimidation. Whats the plan B if you start with Intimidation, and Intimidation doesnt work? You cant exactly try to speak like you are thinking of his interests after threatening him.
Not to mention that your plan does not have Empathy Excellency running, so your social Perception dicepool isnt great and you will have trouble telling if/when he's lying to you if he has any social magic running.
Which is a major reason why you need Empathy during high stakes interrogation.
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We need to know, yes, but it's far more appropriate to use Intimidation here, and that's still 16 to 18 dice with a stunt depending on if whwh is active. At dc 7 (because dpe) with 1s not mattering that should be more than enough for legendary success.
Also, we don't have atb or hellscry Chakra and we should conserve essence and willpower. We are going to be deploying shintai soon, and using pretty much our whole bag of tricks, we need our energy near full.
Also, while it was somewhat planned, it could only be planned for five days, and it was triggered on our timeliness, not theirs.
So, yeah, stick with Intimidation and don't drag the interrogation out for multiple updates. We do need to hurry, and we probably are going to be using rvd or wind born Stride to make the time up.
[X] You do not have time for this, kill this thing and get back to Chicago
1)Appropriateness, nothing.
We shouldnt be leaving dice on the table when we dont know what social magic, if any, dude might have active to degrade our ability to social him properly. His teacher was a sort of fallen angel, after all.
I still remember Vittorio Malvora fucking with our ability to view his aura clearly.
2) We activated ATB, Hellscry and Occult Excellency before going out to grab him.
Thats why our Essence is down to 13/15m Essence and 8/9 Willpower.
3) It was planned longer than that.
Murphy told us about the dead elephants and the missing vet on November 9, and the timeline makes it clear that the elephants were killed at least three days before she told us.
It was triggered now, but they have been planning this shit for around two weeks at a minimum.
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- Location
- Estonia
What we don't have time for, is to run off without any information about exactly which one of our friends is in immediate danger or where they might be taken to.
Get back to Chicago? And then check on who first, exactly?
I'll vote for any interrogation stunt with a chance to win, and
[X] Yog
seems to have to most votes right now.
Get back to Chicago? And then check on who first, exactly?
I'll vote for any interrogation stunt with a chance to win, and
[X] Yog
seems to have to most votes right now.
- Location
- Right Where I Am
[X] Broken Seeker did try to kill this one the second it got spotted, it has to know more (Charisma+Empathy DPE applies; Base DC 9)
-[X] Intimidation Excellency, All Things Betray with Willpower to spot lies
-[X] Crown question: "What are the plans of this one's master for the next 24 hours"
-[X] STUNT: It takes everything you have not to tear this one's head from its neck and take of racing to save your friends. Somehow, you manage. Two minutes won't change much, a difference of one spark of essence spent to enhance your movements to make up for the time spent interrogating this raving beast. The fire of your soul unfurls, near-freezing the ephemerial air around you, as countless eyes peer into the thing's soul. With deliberate calm, you ask it: "Tell me what your master's forces are, and why it thought you worth killing to prevent us talking, and I will not feed you your own heart here and now", even as in your head, you ask another question, seeking to find what Broken Seeker actually intends to do about you.
-[X] Intimidation Excellency, All Things Betray with Willpower to spot lies
-[X] Crown question: "What are the plans of this one's master for the next 24 hours"
-[X] STUNT: It takes everything you have not to tear this one's head from its neck and take of racing to save your friends. Somehow, you manage. Two minutes won't change much, a difference of one spark of essence spent to enhance your movements to make up for the time spent interrogating this raving beast. The fire of your soul unfurls, near-freezing the ephemerial air around you, as countless eyes peer into the thing's soul. With deliberate calm, you ask it: "Tell me what your master's forces are, and why it thought you worth killing to prevent us talking, and I will not feed you your own heart here and now", even as in your head, you ask another question, seeking to find what Broken Seeker actually intends to do about you.
- Location
- Estonia
I mean, a "plan" is a state of mind in the present. I personally interpreted it in the way that it would tell us what the Naagloshii currently plans to do in the next 24 hours. Not about how they will actually act in the next 24 hours.
So it's like divining someone's calendar planner, not their actual future.
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BoredMan
Maintaining the Agenda is our top priority
Thats kind of weird?
Most don't plan out 24 hours of an attack for various reasons. One of them being that plans don't survive contact with the enemy, another being that attacks like this generally don't last that long in the first place. I think @Yog means what will he do for the next 24 hours which the crown can't reliably predict iirc. Correct me if I'm wrong though.
Edit:
Wait no I think I'm overthinking this.The crown might tell us everything planned which prob won't encompass 24 bloody hours but still.Fuck it nvm.
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[X] Broken Seeker did try to kill this one the second it got spotted, it has to know more (Charisma+Empathy DPE applies; Base DC 9)
-[X] Intimidation Excellency, All Things Betray with Willpower to spot lies
-[X] Crown question: "What are the plans of this one's master for the next 24 hours"
-[X] STUNT: It takes everything you have not to tear this one's head from its neck and take of racing to save your friends. Somehow, you manage. Two minutes won't change much, a difference of one spark of essence spent to enhance your movements to make up for the time spent interrogating this raving beast. The fire of your soul unfurls, near-freezing the ephemerial air around you, as countless eyes peer into the thing's soul. With deliberate calm, you ask it: "Tell me what your master's forces are, and why it thought you worth killing to prevent us talking, and I will not feed you your own heart here and now", even as in your head, you ask another question, seeking to find what Broken Seeker actually intends to do about you.
-[X] Intimidation Excellency, All Things Betray with Willpower to spot lies
-[X] Crown question: "What are the plans of this one's master for the next 24 hours"
-[X] STUNT: It takes everything you have not to tear this one's head from its neck and take of racing to save your friends. Somehow, you manage. Two minutes won't change much, a difference of one spark of essence spent to enhance your movements to make up for the time spent interrogating this raving beast. The fire of your soul unfurls, near-freezing the ephemerial air around you, as countless eyes peer into the thing's soul. With deliberate calm, you ask it: "Tell me what your master's forces are, and why it thought you worth killing to prevent us talking, and I will not feed you your own heart here and now", even as in your head, you ask another question, seeking to find what Broken Seeker actually intends to do about you.
[X] Yog
- Location
- Australia
[X] Broken Seeker did try to kill this one the second it got spotted, it has to know more (Charisma+Empathy DPE applies; Base DC 9)
-[X] Intimidation Excellency, All Things Betray with Willpower to spot lies
-[X] Crown question: "What are the plans of this one's master for the next 24 hours"
-[X] STUNT: It takes everything you have not to tear this one's head from its neck and take of racing to save your friends. Somehow, you manage. Two minutes won't change much, a difference of one spark of essence spent to enhance your movements to make up for the time spent interrogating this raving beast. The fire of your soul unfurls, near-freezing the ephemerial air around you, as countless eyes peer into the thing's soul. With deliberate calm, you ask it: "Tell me what your master's forces are, and why it thought you worth killing to prevent us talking, and I will not feed you your own heart here and now", even as in your head, you ask another question, seeking to find what Broken Seeker actually intends to do about you.
As tempting as it is to rush to the rescue, we cannot afford to run in blind - Broken Seeker (as a back up plan by way of what he selectively told to a minion he knew if he couldn't kill would boast to us) might be counting on our concern for family and friends to compel us to rush into a trap or ambush.
We have to be smart about this - a clever and patient hunter will try to exploit our care for others to pressure us to act without caution.
-[X] Intimidation Excellency, All Things Betray with Willpower to spot lies
-[X] Crown question: "What are the plans of this one's master for the next 24 hours"
-[X] STUNT: It takes everything you have not to tear this one's head from its neck and take of racing to save your friends. Somehow, you manage. Two minutes won't change much, a difference of one spark of essence spent to enhance your movements to make up for the time spent interrogating this raving beast. The fire of your soul unfurls, near-freezing the ephemerial air around you, as countless eyes peer into the thing's soul. With deliberate calm, you ask it: "Tell me what your master's forces are, and why it thought you worth killing to prevent us talking, and I will not feed you your own heart here and now", even as in your head, you ask another question, seeking to find what Broken Seeker actually intends to do about you.
As tempting as it is to rush to the rescue, we cannot afford to run in blind - Broken Seeker (as a back up plan by way of what he selectively told to a minion he knew if he couldn't kill would boast to us) might be counting on our concern for family and friends to compel us to rush into a trap or ambush.
We have to be smart about this - a clever and patient hunter will try to exploit our care for others to pressure us to act without caution.
We can't ask about what someone is going to do because that runs afoul of free will. But we can ask about their plans, like we did to learn that Mab was planning to use Lydia as a tool of revenge against Arawn. The question will which parts of naagloshii's actions are planned, and which are improvisation.
The time period is chosen so it covers not just the immediate combat, but a bit beyond. To see what naagloshii is planning to do in case of victory. Does it want to eat our exaltation for power (meaning it doesn't know what it is)? Summon a major Outsider to bargain with it using our exaltation? Enslave us magically and flee somewhere? Where exactly? Possess us in some way to gain access to our exaltation? Just plain murder / torture us for funsies? Use us as a catalyst in some Ancient Sorcery magic it might know but be unable to cast due to lacking authority?
Malvora is Outside-tainted, and we have direct indication in the text that DPE applies. Also, fallen angel is overselling naagloshii.
The plan to attack us was long in the brewing, yes. The kidnapping / hostage taking was unlikely to have been planned long because it directly relies on us being out of contact and reach, which is unusual for us.
So, I redid Daniel's potential combat form amulet. It's... Well, if nothing else he should survive anything thrown at him with little issue. Maybe not win (and yes, on stats alone it should maul most opponent), but definitely survive. 13 soak, soaks agg, applies -3 difficulty to all soak rolls. Probably sneers at rocket launchers. Heals bashing damage in an hour.
I am thinking we make this first (15+ successes diamond made from the ashes of the naagloshii's heart, our and Daniel's blood mixed and used to produce iron chain to hold the amulet, naagloshii's spirit as materials). This gives Daniel the ability to survive on whatever quests he wants to go on. Ideally, we make @BronzeTongue 's sword at the same time (WIll of Kakuri's sword, Walker's essence if we retroactively preserved it - it was sufficiently knight-like). This gives Daniel full panoply. And essentially makes him a white power ranger. And the group's tank, which I think would be good for his self-esteem.
I am thinking we make this first (15+ successes diamond made from the ashes of the naagloshii's heart, our and Daniel's blood mixed and used to produce iron chain to hold the amulet, naagloshii's spirit as materials). This gives Daniel the ability to survive on whatever quests he wants to go on. Ideally, we make @BronzeTongue 's sword at the same time (WIll of Kakuri's sword, Walker's essence if we retroactively preserved it - it was sufficiently knight-like). This gives Daniel full panoply. And essentially makes him a white power ranger. And the group's tank, which I think would be good for his self-esteem.
The Splendor takes the form of something that is solid and durable and sturdy. It might be made of stone, metal, or mineral deposits. It might be a crystal or gemstone. It might be dirty and roadworn. This Element defines the Splendor's physical form and gives it a character, and that character is aligned with the elemental power of earth. Other Elements may draw upon this fact.
The Splendor is extremely rugged, and the first attempt to damage or destroy it in any scene automatically fails. As an Adornment, it grants its user one extra die of soak. As the basis for a Fascination, it may generate the creator's choice of: useful tools for a certain kind of work; an aura of quiet and serenity; periodic foreboding tremors in the earth.
The Splendor is extremely rugged, and the first attempt to damage or destroy it in any scene automatically fails. As an Adornment, it grants its user one extra die of soak. As the basis for a Fascination, it may generate the creator's choice of: useful tools for a certain kind of work; an aura of quiet and serenity; periodic foreboding tremors in the earth.
The Splendor manifests in the world as an enchantment embedded in a specific person present at the time of its summoning, chosen by its owner. If it has no other Form Element, then it appears as a mark like a tattoo somewhere on the infected individual's body. Wherever they go, so too goes the Splendor. If it has a physical Form Element, then it appears in the infected individual's possession, and will always return to them at the beginning of each scene even if thrown away, left behind, or given away. If its physical Form is something immobile like a tree, then the targeted individual is going to find that tree wherever they go for the duration of the Splendor's manifestation.
If the Splendor is an Adornment, then this Element allows its benefits to be enjoyed by the person to whom the Splendor is attached, even if they're not its owner and not attuned to it. Even if they're not Exalted at all.
If the Splendor is an Adornment, then this Element allows its benefits to be enjoyed by the person to whom the Splendor is attached, even if they're not its owner and not attuned to it. Even if they're not Exalted at all.
The Splendor causes a transformation in accordance with its character, as defined by Form Elements such as Form of Graceful Air. The nature of the transformation depends on the Form or Forms in play, but might include transformation into things like a sparrow (air), pig (earth), a living flame (fire), a fish (water), a stag (wood), a walking corpse (death), a semitranslucent spirit (spirit), or a fantastic beast such as a sphinx (dreams). These are meant to be examples, and not an all-inclusive list.
As an Adornment, this Splendor requires a point of Willpower and a turn spent in transformation to either assume the characteristic form or return to the user's native form.
As part of a Fascination the maximum duration of the transformation (assuming it isn't cut short earlier by fulfilling some criteria built into the Splendor) is one day for a 1-2 dot Splendor, one week for a 3-dot Splendor, one month for a 4-dot Splendor, and one year for a 5-dot Splendor.
As an Adornment, this Splendor requires a point of Willpower and a turn spent in transformation to either assume the characteristic form or return to the user's native form.
As part of a Fascination the maximum duration of the transformation (assuming it isn't cut short earlier by fulfilling some criteria built into the Splendor) is one day for a 1-2 dot Splendor, one week for a 3-dot Splendor, one month for a 4-dot Splendor, and one year for a 5-dot Splendor.
One of the Splendor's snares or benefits is particularly wicked or potent. Modify one roll associated with the Splendor by increasing or decreasing its difficulty by two, or modify one value associated with activating or resisting its effects (such as the number of points of Willpower that must be spent to shake off a Beautiful Lie) by two.
The Splendor creates a mundane object which resonates with one or more of its characters, as defined by Form Elements such as Form of Crackling Fire or Form of Ash and Dust. Conjured objects can have a Resources value no higher than the Splendor's rating.
Incorporated into an Adornment, this Element allows the Exalt to spend a turn and to make a Wits + Craft roll against difficulty (4 + object's Resources value) to summon whatever object she likes to hand, so long as it resonates with the Splendor's character in some way, such as a shovel for an earth-affiliated (or death-affiliated…) Splendor. Objects can be created no more than once per scene.
Incorporated into a Fascination, this Element allows the Splendor to create particular objects in response to certain stimuli and conditions which are in accord with its character — often, this trigger is "when someone is cursed by the Splendor's Root Element." No more than (Splendor's rating) objects can be created per scene.
Incorporated into an Adornment, this Element allows the Exalt to spend a turn and to make a Wits + Craft roll against difficulty (4 + object's Resources value) to summon whatever object she likes to hand, so long as it resonates with the Splendor's character in some way, such as a shovel for an earth-affiliated (or death-affiliated…) Splendor. Objects can be created no more than once per scene.
Incorporated into a Fascination, this Element allows the Splendor to create particular objects in response to certain stimuli and conditions which are in accord with its character — often, this trigger is "when someone is cursed by the Splendor's Root Element." No more than (Splendor's rating) objects can be created per scene.
The Splendor manipulates and reshapes that which resonates with its character, as defined by Form Elements such as Form of Crackling Fire and Form of Ash and Dust. The benefits provided depend on whether the Splendor is an Adornment or Fascination, and on which Form or Forms it has incorporated.
Incorporated into an Adornment, this Element allows the Exalt to use Craft actions to sculpt wind, water, and fire as though they were clay, creating impossible works of art or short-lived elemental tools. Living wood can be induced to grow into patterns the Exalt desires in the same fashion, while the difficulty to work with stone or metal is reduced by two. The difficulty to craft dead flesh into Arcana may be reduced by two as well. The Exalt can raise or lower the Gauntlet by one degree per success on a Crafts roll to modify it, and can rework the chimerical identity of things.
Incorporated into a Fascination, this Element allows the Splendor to rewrite the details of landscapes and objects, rerouting the paths of a graveyard, changing the appearance of a corpse, repairing a rundown wooden shack, or making a barren landscape green and verdant.
Incorporated into an Adornment, this Element allows the Exalt to use Craft actions to sculpt wind, water, and fire as though they were clay, creating impossible works of art or short-lived elemental tools. Living wood can be induced to grow into patterns the Exalt desires in the same fashion, while the difficulty to work with stone or metal is reduced by two. The difficulty to craft dead flesh into Arcana may be reduced by two as well. The Exalt can raise or lower the Gauntlet by one degree per success on a Crafts roll to modify it, and can rework the chimerical identity of things.
Incorporated into a Fascination, this Element allows the Splendor to rewrite the details of landscapes and objects, rerouting the paths of a graveyard, changing the appearance of a corpse, repairing a rundown wooden shack, or making a barren landscape green and verdant.
A large multicolored diamond forged from ashes of a naagloshii's heart and embedded into an iron amulet, cast from the blood-wrought iron of a celestial exalt and its mortal user, it provides the user an ability to transform into a mighty form of an immortal warrior golem. With an effort of will the user's form is engulfed in a cocoon of jade, which shatters a moment later, revealing the Shining Armor Form (described below), which can be clad in armor and equipped with weapons made of stone-aligned materials, such as reinforced concrete shield, or a an advanced ceramic bulletproof vest. Normally, the form is clad in an intricate cloth spun from ceramic threads.
Arcana Rating: 4
Permanent Willpower: ●●●○○○○○○
Temporary Willpower: ●●●○○○○○○
Soak: 13 (6 with stamina, 3 from Reinforced body, 3 from Granite Skin Merit, 1 from form of Steadfast Earth), can soak aggravated damage (base DC 8 before adjustement) all soak rolls are done with a -3 difficulty adjustment (2 from Mystic Fortification, 1 from Elemental Frame (Earth)), -4 if damage is being done by stone weapons.
Attributes
Abilities
Permanent Willpower: ●●●○○○○○○
Temporary Willpower: ●●●○○○○○○
Soak: 13 (6 with stamina, 3 from Reinforced body, 3 from Granite Skin Merit, 1 from form of Steadfast Earth), can soak aggravated damage (base DC 8 before adjustement) all soak rolls are done with a -3 difficulty adjustment (2 from Mystic Fortification, 1 from Elemental Frame (Earth)), -4 if damage is being done by stone weapons.
Attributes
| PHYSICAL | SOCIAL | MENTAL | |
| Strength ●●●●●● | Charisma ●●○○○ |
| |
| Dexterity ●●●●●●● | Manipulation ●○○○○ | Intelligence ●●●●● | |
| Stamina ●●●●●● | Appearance ●●●○○ | Wits ●●●○○ |
Abilities
| TALENTS | SKILLS | KNOWLEDGES | |
| Alertness ●●●○○ | Animal Ken ○○○○○ | Academics ○○○○○ | |
| Athletics ●●●○○ | Crafts ○○○○○ | Computer ○○○○○ | |
| Awareness ●●●○○ | Drive ○○○○○ | Finance ○○○○○ | |
| Brawl ●●●○○ | Etiquette ○○○○○ | Investigation ○○○○○ | |
| Firearms ●●●○○ | Law ○○○○○ | |
| Expression ○○○○○ | Larceny ○○○○○ | Medicine ●●○○○ | |
| Intimidation ○○○○○ | Melee ●●●○○ | Occult ●●●○○ | |
| Leadership ○○○○○ | Performance ○○○○○ | Politics ○○○○○ | |
| Streetwise ●○○○○ | Stealth ○○○○○ | Science ○○○○○ | |
| Subterfuge ○○○○○ | Survival ●●●○○ | Technology ○○○○○ |
Increase the Arcana's Strength and Stamina by two each. This may increase their ratings above the maximums normally permitted for the Arcana's dot rating and Arcana Features. Golems may never have any Mental Attribute rated above 5 dots, even if another Feature might potentially provide it. A Golem cannot have an Appearance higher than 3, even if another Feature might potentially provide it. Golems can soak lethal damage, but not aggravated.
Golems are always obviously not human, and obviously made of inanimate materials
Golems are always obviously not human, and obviously made of inanimate materials
The Arcana gains three additional dots of Mental Attributes, which may increase its traits to 6. Taking this Feature a second time provides only two bonus dots, but raises the permitted cap to 7.
The Arcana gains three additional dots of Physical Attributes, which may increase its traits to 6. Taking this Feature a second time provides only two bonus dots, but raises the permitted cap to 7.
The Arcana's body is made primarily out of stone or clay. It reduces the difficulty of soak rolls by one, or by two against harm inflicted by stone weapons. All Arcana constructed by Dragon-Blooded must take one Elemental Frame quality.
The Arcana's body is immune to environmental or movement penalties and incidental damage from a certain type of harsh environment. This can protect it against arctic cold, poisonous fumes, or the burning heat of a desert, but not against intense perils such as industrial acids or molten lava.
The Arcana's body is made of tougher stuff than others of its kind. If the Arcana could normally only soak bashing damage, it can now also soak lethal damage. If the Arcana could normally soak lethal damage, it can now also soak aggravated damage at difficulty 8
The Arcana has been reinforced with armored plates. It rolls three extra dice to soak damage.
A pact or some other metaphysical occurrence has left you
with what old-school witch-hunters consider a "devil's mark": a
minor but noticeable deformation that remains insensate to pain
and yet allows a creature to draw your Quintessence out through
your body in physical form. Despite preconceptions, the origins
of this mark might not have come from a pact with some infernal
entity. That fact doesn't keep people – Sleepers and otherwise –
from looking askance at you if and when this mark can be seen,
especially since there's often something disconcerting about the
way it appears – a third nipple, a red or black growth, a vaguely
demonic face or sigil embedded in your flesh, and so forth.
Thankfully, you don't have to worry too much about
witch-hunters in the technologically industrialized world.
(Other regions are a different story; even rural areas of socalled
advanced nations still hold people who will harm or
kill someone who's "different.") The mark's disconcerting
appearance, though, may lead you to cover it up anyway. Folks
who do believe old-fashioned ideas about "witches" will not take
kindly to that devilish brand, so it could become a real problem
under the wrong circumstances. On the plus side, however,
you actually can nurture a Familiar (as in the Background
Trait of that name) on the mark, and do so without physical
discomfort. Of course, the idea of a talking, midnight-blue
winged tarantula taking hits of Quintessence off your body
may be uncomfortable in its own right.
with what old-school witch-hunters consider a "devil's mark": a
minor but noticeable deformation that remains insensate to pain
and yet allows a creature to draw your Quintessence out through
your body in physical form. Despite preconceptions, the origins
of this mark might not have come from a pact with some infernal
entity. That fact doesn't keep people – Sleepers and otherwise –
from looking askance at you if and when this mark can be seen,
especially since there's often something disconcerting about the
way it appears – a third nipple, a red or black growth, a vaguely
demonic face or sigil embedded in your flesh, and so forth.
Thankfully, you don't have to worry too much about
witch-hunters in the technologically industrialized world.
(Other regions are a different story; even rural areas of socalled
advanced nations still hold people who will harm or
kill someone who's "different.") The mark's disconcerting
appearance, though, may lead you to cover it up anyway. Folks
who do believe old-fashioned ideas about "witches" will not take
kindly to that devilish brand, so it could become a real problem
under the wrong circumstances. On the plus side, however,
you actually can nurture a Familiar (as in the Background
Trait of that name) on the mark, and do so without physical
discomfort. Of course, the idea of a talking, midnight-blue
winged tarantula taking hits of Quintessence off your body
may be uncomfortable in its own right.
Your metaphysical prowess occasionally warps reality in
your presence, even when you don't want it to do so. Weird
stuff happens when you're not expecting such phenomena, and
those quirks of strangeness seem to be rooted in the sort of
magick you pursue. A specialist in Entropy could suffer twists
of probability and decay; a Life-attuned healer discovers odd
growths and mutations in the life-forms around him, while a
Forces-gifted mage bends the physics in his general vicinity
These phenomena ebb and flow without your guidance or
control. Perversely, the more skilled you become in magick,
the stronger these tides of weirdness become.
System-wise, the Storyteller determines, once or twice per
game session, to roll your Arete against difficulty 6. If the roll
succeeds, the Storyteller throws in some random occurrence
that's based on a Sphere you possess – most often, on your
Affinity Sphere. Grass could grow suddenly, mirrors could crack,
psychic impressions could inform you of the sexual habits of the
person standing next to you in the elevator – that sort of thing.
If the roll fails, then nothing unusual occurs. If the roll
botches, however, then a Paradox backlash expels one point
of Paradox in your current pool for each dot you have in
your Affinity Sphere; or all of your current Paradox, if you
have fewer points than that in your Paradox pool. (If, as an
example, Jinx has three dots in Entropy but only one point
of Paradox, the backlash dispels that one point in a backlash.)
These small backlashes won't be terribly damaging, but given
the unpredictable nature of this Flaw, they could come at very
inconvenient times.
your presence, even when you don't want it to do so. Weird
stuff happens when you're not expecting such phenomena, and
those quirks of strangeness seem to be rooted in the sort of
magick you pursue. A specialist in Entropy could suffer twists
of probability and decay; a Life-attuned healer discovers odd
growths and mutations in the life-forms around him, while a
Forces-gifted mage bends the physics in his general vicinity
These phenomena ebb and flow without your guidance or
control. Perversely, the more skilled you become in magick,
the stronger these tides of weirdness become.
System-wise, the Storyteller determines, once or twice per
game session, to roll your Arete against difficulty 6. If the roll
succeeds, the Storyteller throws in some random occurrence
that's based on a Sphere you possess – most often, on your
Affinity Sphere. Grass could grow suddenly, mirrors could crack,
psychic impressions could inform you of the sexual habits of the
person standing next to you in the elevator – that sort of thing.
If the roll fails, then nothing unusual occurs. If the roll
botches, however, then a Paradox backlash expels one point
of Paradox in your current pool for each dot you have in
your Affinity Sphere; or all of your current Paradox, if you
have fewer points than that in your Paradox pool. (If, as an
example, Jinx has three dots in Entropy but only one point
of Paradox, the backlash dispels that one point in a backlash.)
These small backlashes won't be terribly damaging, but given
the unpredictable nature of this Flaw, they could come at very
inconvenient times.
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, suffer
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.
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, suffer
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.
Blessed with great vitality, you heal injuries with heroic speed and ease. Your own injuries from lethal damage heal as if they were bashing damage (see the Healing Damage chart in Mage 20, p. 406), and aggravated damage heals as if it were one level higher than it is. (Wounded-level damage, for instance, would heal at the Injured-level rate.) Bashing damage, regardless of its extent, heals within an hour.
If you're trying to heal someone else, you subtract -2 from the difficul- ty of the roll, even if that roll involves casting a Life Sphere healing Effect. (The usual +3 maximum modifier and minimum difficulty of 3 still apply – see Mage 20, p. 503.) As long as you remain in physical touch with the injured party, that character uses your healing rate as her own. Your touch also soothes minor pains – muscle spasms, headaches, and so forth – within a minute or two.
Beyond its healing pow- ers, this rush of life-energy simply feels good, too. Your aura shines with bright vitality, and your Reso- nance reflects your strong connection to the primal life-force. On the inevita- ble downside, vampires find your blood delicious – twice as potent as normal human vitae (worth double the usual blood points, for players of Vampire: The Masquerade) – and unspeakably refreshing.
If you're trying to heal someone else, you subtract -2 from the difficul- ty of the roll, even if that roll involves casting a Life Sphere healing Effect. (The usual +3 maximum modifier and minimum difficulty of 3 still apply – see Mage 20, p. 503.) As long as you remain in physical touch with the injured party, that character uses your healing rate as her own. Your touch also soothes minor pains – muscle spasms, headaches, and so forth – within a minute or two.
Beyond its healing pow- ers, this rush of life-energy simply feels good, too. Your aura shines with bright vitality, and your Reso- nance reflects your strong connection to the primal life-force. On the inevita- ble downside, vampires find your blood delicious – twice as potent as normal human vitae (worth double the usual blood points, for players of Vampire: The Masquerade) – and unspeakably refreshing.
A Trait held most commonly by trolls and redcaps, Granite Skin is quite literally an epidermal layer of thin, hard stone.
You're a great deal tougher than you might be normally, but have the undesirable effect of leaving small flakes of stone behind every time you bend or flex. You possess the equivalent of chainmail armor at all times (see C20 p. 285, it's rating 3). Granite Skin does not cause a Dexterity penalty, but does impose a +1 difficulty to all rolls involving moving quietly.
You're a great deal tougher than you might be normally, but have the undesirable effect of leaving small flakes of stone behind every time you bend or flex. You possess the equivalent of chainmail armor at all times (see C20 p. 285, it's rating 3). Granite Skin does not cause a Dexterity penalty, but does impose a +1 difficulty to all rolls involving moving quietly.
It looks like an ideal of human form as seen by something that measures time in geological epochs and doesn't notice movements lesser than those of continental plates. A skin of iridescent half-transculent diamond-like crystal, muscles literally chiseled out of granite, and nerves woven from jade, with petrol-like blood running through its veins, this is a living statue that breathes controlled violence and strength. It would be called beautiful, except that it is clear that its maker was far more concerned with functionality over beauty of its form. As such, it is only pleasant to view, instead of utterly enthralling. A single blemish marks it - a sword-like rune seemingly cast out of bronze, embedded into the palm of its right hand, with veins of bronze snaking from it up its arm.
As it is a living thing, it requires sustenance, and no mortal food would nourish it. Instead, it consumes petrol, metals and rare earth, and even diamonds are required to sustain its health. Once per month, in order to rekindle the spark of its gifted might.
As it is a living thing, it requires sustenance, and no mortal food would nourish it. Instead, it consumes petrol, metals and rare earth, and even diamonds are required to sustain its health. Once per month, in order to rekindle the spark of its gifted might.
So, this is a warform with a survival and tanking focus.
Golem template allows increasing Stamina and Strength to 9 points with additional purchases of Superior Body. I set Strength and stamina to 6. If and when the form is upgraded to 5 dots and base Attributes all imrove by 1, giving me three more points to play with, Stamina will be set to 8 for 2 more soak dice, and strength to 7.
It soaks aggravated damage at difficulty 5 thanks to a combination of Golem (-1 difficulty to soak), Too Tough to Die (soak lethal), Hardened Body (increase soak by one category, aggravated is soaked at DC 8 normally), and the Splendor Effect (-2 DC to soak + 1 soak dice). It has staggering 13 soak dice, rolled at DC 5 (or 4 fo stone weapon damage). When hitting 5 dots, the survival aspect can be further upgraded with Undying feature
For flaws i went with strangeness (i.e. techbane, essentially, that's actually useful in context), bizarre hunger (it needs to eat, so the user will spend some time in this form eating stuff like car batteries and diamonds and drinking machine oil and petrol), and Devil's mark. Devil's mark is essentially a synergetic with the sword, as it's basically a connector port to attach a splendor weapon to.
I also used a superior mind to get high perception, which is useful for a warrior.
For merits, I added Spark of Life partly out of flavor, and partly to make sure it survives on a longer deployment. It can be exchanged for 1 more Attribute point, bringing Stamina to 7, soak to 14 dice, and at a 5 dot upgrade, Stamina to 9 and soak to 16. Which is frankly ridiculous, as we don't have anywhere near close to that and can contemtuously disregard small firearms. This thing is a tank
It is designed to do one thing mainly - fight and survive in and after combat situation. The abilities are selected around that. Melee 5, Brawl and Firearms 3 allow it to hit hard. Alertness 4, Awareness and Occult 3 for senses, even if it's not being helped by the sword which it should be synergetic with. Medicine 2, survival 3, streetwise 1 for survival outside of combat. Survival above Streetwise for NeverNever deployments, and because Daniel is more likely to have high streetwise than Survival, I feel.
Low Willpower is so Daniel's own willpower is taken as the maximum value of the two, so no need to waste points.
At 5 dots, we increase its survival abilities, and possibly make it faster with Fast Arcane Feature. Or give it Flight, but that would be really, really strange and I am against it.
Golem template allows increasing Stamina and Strength to 9 points with additional purchases of Superior Body. I set Strength and stamina to 6. If and when the form is upgraded to 5 dots and base Attributes all imrove by 1, giving me three more points to play with, Stamina will be set to 8 for 2 more soak dice, and strength to 7.
It soaks aggravated damage at difficulty 5 thanks to a combination of Golem (-1 difficulty to soak), Too Tough to Die (soak lethal), Hardened Body (increase soak by one category, aggravated is soaked at DC 8 normally), and the Splendor Effect (-2 DC to soak + 1 soak dice). It has staggering 13 soak dice, rolled at DC 5 (or 4 fo stone weapon damage). When hitting 5 dots, the survival aspect can be further upgraded with Undying feature
For flaws i went with strangeness (i.e. techbane, essentially, that's actually useful in context), bizarre hunger (it needs to eat, so the user will spend some time in this form eating stuff like car batteries and diamonds and drinking machine oil and petrol), and Devil's mark. Devil's mark is essentially a synergetic with the sword, as it's basically a connector port to attach a splendor weapon to.
I also used a superior mind to get high perception, which is useful for a warrior.
For merits, I added Spark of Life partly out of flavor, and partly to make sure it survives on a longer deployment. It can be exchanged for 1 more Attribute point, bringing Stamina to 7, soak to 14 dice, and at a 5 dot upgrade, Stamina to 9 and soak to 16. Which is frankly ridiculous, as we don't have anywhere near close to that and can contemtuously disregard small firearms. This thing is a tank
It is designed to do one thing mainly - fight and survive in and after combat situation. The abilities are selected around that. Melee 5, Brawl and Firearms 3 allow it to hit hard. Alertness 4, Awareness and Occult 3 for senses, even if it's not being helped by the sword which it should be synergetic with. Medicine 2, survival 3, streetwise 1 for survival outside of combat. Survival above Streetwise for NeverNever deployments, and because Daniel is more likely to have high streetwise than Survival, I feel.
Low Willpower is so Daniel's own willpower is taken as the maximum value of the two, so no need to waste points.
At 5 dots, we increase its survival abilities, and possibly make it faster with Fast Arcane Feature. Or give it Flight, but that would be really, really strange and I am against it.
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We've tried this before, specifically with the naagloshii and its coven.
Remember when we grabbed the first skinwalker, and then asked about their plans and the Crown fizzled?
Because they changed once we captured a prisoner and they began to recalculate.
Its explicitly called a fallen divine messenger.
Its not of the same power level as the classic Christian angels we see in the series, but its explicitly of the same sort of mission set as an angel.
You might prefer to call it a god now, but that doesnt precisely make things all that much better.
Molly herself made it clear in her first Crown vision at Greene's house that the naagloshii is something stronger than Iku-Turso, and unlike Iku-Turso it's unbound under the sky.
The kidnapping/hostage taking would have required a lot of advance planning and scouting to identify our friends/associates, scout their homes and workplaces, and establish approach and exfiltration routes in advance. You cant exactly carry a screaming person through the streets of Chicago, and if you had any plans to use the NeverNever, you need to scout Ways.
And it could all be done in disguise/under magic stealth by its minions.
The TIMING is the only thing that required short-term decisions.
Possibly in part because if they had done this while Molly was working on Odin's shit, they could have risked aggro-ing Odin.
Which is....Bad. Even if you are an ex-angelic messenger.
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That is true, but this is different. This is, as you yourself say, a pre-planned assault and kidnapping / hostage taking. You can't have no plans in these and hope for success.
It's a valkyrie equivalent. A messenger of a pagan pantheon. I feel we should separate angels (White God's messengers and servants, probably at Celestine levels of power, very powerful and with authorities exceeding normal supernatural, but bound by the Rules and Free Will), and pagan divine servitors (vary insanely in strength, less bound by the rules and Free Will, mostly are products of bygone ages).
EDIT: Regarding plans question - what would you ask instead?
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Callback:
en.wikipedia.org
www.nytimes.com
gizmodo.com
Italian organized crime has been dumping radioactive and other toxic waste in continental Italy, the Mediterranean and off the coast of Somalia since the 1980s. While weapons grade material is under fairly tight scrutiny, there's a lot more stuff thats less so, even in the West, let alone the states of the former Soviet Union.
Toxic waste dumping by the 'Ndrangheta - Wikipedia
A Mafia Legacy Taints the Earth in Southern Italy (Published 2014)
The Camorra mafia is believed to have buried millions of tons of toxic garbage in a region near Naples, known as the Triangle of Death because of an alarming rise in cancer cases.
The Mob Is Secretly Dumping Nuclear Waste Across Italy and Africa
Organized crime is famously good at exploiting time-sensitive industries like construction, fishing, and—of course—garbage removal. But revelations about
gizmodo.com
New York Times article said:
TLDRGizmodo article said:
Italian organized crime has been dumping radioactive and other toxic waste in continental Italy, the Mediterranean and off the coast of Somalia since the 1980s. While weapons grade material is under fairly tight scrutiny, there's a lot more stuff thats less so, even in the West, let alone the states of the former Soviet Union.
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Thats a fair point. But that doesnt mean they have a detailed set of contingencies.
The plan at the beginning immediately changed once a skinwalker who was privy to them fell captive, and didnt die when Broken Seeker tried to kill it. The naagloshii is right now in the process of making new plans and contingencies, and that falls afoul of the Crown's free will provisions.
Thats the problem with asking what its plans over the next 24 hours are.
The naagloshii probably doesnt know itself.
Its not a valkyrie-equivalent; this beastie would eat Gard with fava beans and a nice Chianti.
Molly calls it a peer of Iku-Turso with fewer restrictions when she first scryed it back in Arc 5.
In World of Darkness terms it is an Incarna-class spirit; in the same general class as Mab, even though its NOWHERE as mighty.
Angels are Celestine or Celestine-plus.
I would save the question until after interrogating him.
But if I had to ask a question right now?
I would ask for the locations of prepared lairs/hideouts/safehouses of the Broken Arrows and their boss.
Hard physical locations in the physical world or the NeverNever wont change, and they need to use one to stash hostages.
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Nuclear Waste is easy to source (don't ask me how, I am fairly sure it's illegal for me to outright give instructions). Enriched uranium is a whole different thing. It's enriched that's problematic.
I chose 24 hours because it covers not just the fight, but the aftermath. It's clear that naagloshii is here for something. This exact attack might be the result of the opportunity we gave it, but it was here for us for something. From what the follower is saying, it wants our service. 24 hours is long enough (I think) to get a glimpse at what it plans to do after it wins. It has to have such a plan at least in generalities.
I don't think we should be spending more than one update on interrogation. Get the intel, then move on quickly, ideally picking up speed with Wind-Born Stride to make up for the time lost talking.
One thing that is worth noting which may have been missed in the discussion (and which I should have caught eariler since we have not been using werewolf rules) is that werewolves can use their rage to get more actions. The shape-changer can get so pissed off that he can use one of his actions in a round to get away and another to try to kill Molly. In fact since his rage is quite high he can use more than one extra action, though it burns him out relatively fast to do so.