- Pronouns
- Reader
A vote is already leading, and has been for at least 10 days. Better to just close things now rather than risk being stuck with a tie.
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HELLSTRIDER: An Exalted Quest
- Thread starter Gargulec
- Start date
- Fantasy
- Location
- Germany
Nobody sane will underestimate a Warstrider, even a relativly weak one.
- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] The Jagged Edge
"We should give our manipulator character the manipulator mecha." No. This is a HELLSTRIDER. All caps. It should be a monster even the demons fear, an alien thing of unknown stars beyond even the boundless void. And why should our protagonist be an exception? Why give her a gentle mecha that fits her perfectly, the equivalent of a happy comfort food gun? Better to confront her with the howling in her blood straining against the cage of her flesh. She was raised to subtly twist the hearts of others sure, but her blood given weapon is not a scalpel for cutting hearts but the rage to shatter infinity.
*cough* Er. The contrast makes it a far more interesting story, I feel. Something like that.
"We should give our manipulator character the manipulator mecha." No. This is a HELLSTRIDER. All caps. It should be a monster even the demons fear, an alien thing of unknown stars beyond even the boundless void. And why should our protagonist be an exception? Why give her a gentle mecha that fits her perfectly, the equivalent of a happy comfort food gun? Better to confront her with the howling in her blood straining against the cage of her flesh. She was raised to subtly twist the hearts of others sure, but her blood given weapon is not a scalpel for cutting hearts but the rage to shatter infinity.
*cough* Er. The contrast makes it a far more interesting story, I feel. Something like that.
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- Pronouns
- Reader
Based on our choice of Patron...
We very much voted to be the kind of person who is dismissed and underestimated.
There's the tie I meantioned.
- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Sorry, I wanted to write something but wasn't sure the vote would close before I could. I've edited my post with a (rather hasty) argument.
- Pronouns
- Reader
I find the whole "our character starts out in a a certain path and is then locked into a path of developing skills completely opposed to her current approach" tiresome. Like, I'm a late comer and I joined because I enjoyed reading Adamant Flame play the role of brilliant empath and manipulator. If the quest suddenly nosedives into some mind numbing carnage fest right after I joined, I'm gonna regret bringing the quest back to the front of the quests page with my vote in the first place.
I'm not seeing anything in the first vote that locks us into an underestimated manipulator build. It made our Patron a manipulator, but what we got from that vote was shadow-weaving, which seems pretty value neutral, the skill of seeing what people want, and the ability to blunt force hypnotize people with our eyes. The latter two can certainly be part of a manipulator build, but they're also generic enough to be useful utility skills for a combat focused character.
You say that we shouldn't take Jagged Edge because it's a complete character reversal. I say that if we're still getting impactful votes that define what powers we'll develop in the future, we aren't even out of char-gen to have a character to reverse yet. And on a personal scale, the other exalted quest that I've read through and started voting in had a manipulator MC, so I'm more interested in voting for a character that focuses more on combat.
- Pronouns
- Reader
Not locks, but it does start us out as one. It defines our starting build, and the content that resulted is what ultimately had me decide to stick with this quest. The first vote defined what we are capable of, the second who we are, and the third defines where we are headed in terms of future development.
You seem to be missing the summary of what we got with that vote and focusing on the minute details.
This sounds very much like a manipulator to me. Can a clever exalted turn almost any bit of sorcery towards combat? Sure. Does that make Jagged Edge any less of an about face away from the subtle empathy and manipulation that's been characterized? Not in my opinion. The, as one voter put it, Raw Power and Atrocious Ultra Violence of Jagged edge feels discordant with the way the rest of the character has come together. A sour note in an otherwise pleasant musical performance.
A story can be headed in a clear direction as early as the first vote and be pushed toward a completely different conclusion at any time. It doesn't change the fact that a story about an Overpowered berserker feels as off the beaten path from the talented manipulator we started with as you can get.
Sorry to hear that. My experience has been more balanced and a true manipulator rather than someone who mearly plays the game as an element of the setting isn't something I have found yet.
I can recommend this Gem for some High Stakes Exalted Combat. It starts off slow but picks up once the MC leaves his hometown, all of which happens in the first part.
There is also this fascinating piece for an in depth look at Sorcery rapped in excellent world building with admitted undertones of high dynast society that don't overshadow the occasional emotional and engaging fight scenes.
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I think one of us is misinterpreting the vote, because I'm looking at the description of the vote and seeing where it says that no matter who our patron is, what we're good at will always be the same. What I'm viewing that vote as is a vote based mostly on who our patron is rather than anything else, with a bit of extra flavor tacked onto our already existing core character for good measure. I see this vote as more defining of our build than the first since this one explicitly impacts what powers we will develop in the future.
Either way, the current vote isn't much of a swerve from the first, since if you go back to look at how it closed you'll see that it too was a perfect tie between a more violent build and manipulation. Mara only won because the QM thought that having them in particular as a patron worked better with a future plot hook, not anything about our character's abilities. It being tied between violence and manipulation again is just a continuation of that first vote, and if you count the whole tally more people want some form of combat rather than manipulations, they just can't agree on which kind of combat.
And since you were so kind to link other stories to read besides this one, why don't I return the favor? Why not go check out The Dragon's Spite? 300k words of Ferem Odat Rena, a sorceress specializing in the Wyld, contracts, and cults with a suite of abilities based around manipulation, misdirection, deception, and reading people. Seems just up your alley given what you've said your looking for.
Erinys
the Frantic Archivist
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I voted for otherworldy dreams because I did not want a Malfeas-inspired raging berserker. I still don't want a berserker. I just don't enjoy that type of character.
The Fallen Star Omen still has melee ability, it's still a warstrider. None of the options are for a non-combat role. We are choosing between precise combat and random berserker flailing. We are choosing how we are going to dispose of hordes of zombies, not whether or not we will fight at all.
It's true a warstrider is not likely to be underestimated to the point people think it isn't dangerous. But we are deciding the character's playstyle, not the NPC's behavior. We are deciding how it will feel to play this character.
The Fallen Star Omen still has melee ability, it's still a warstrider. None of the options are for a non-combat role. We are choosing between precise combat and random berserker flailing. We are choosing how we are going to dispose of hordes of zombies, not whether or not we will fight at all.
It's true a warstrider is not likely to be underestimated to the point people think it isn't dangerous. But we are deciding the character's playstyle, not the NPC's behavior. We are deciding how it will feel to play this character.
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- Pronouns
- Reader
It spells it out pretty clear that this defines our development going forth. That doesn't change that Adamant Flame is already still a capable Demon Blooded Sorceress who has powers of empathy and other Mara nitch abilities that are worked into the narrative quite excellently in both of the updates following that vote. I at least want development that slightly favors our foundation.
I'll give it a try. Thank you.
An excellent point. It is still combat either way, but it feels like less of a leap for our character to go from demure maiden to precise spearwoman than transitioning from raging berserker to demure maiden.
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- Location
- an unseen void
- Pronouns
- Any
Small correction: Adamant Flame is explicitly not exalted. She is a demon-blooded sorceress, which gives her a lot of tricks and indirect power, but she does not have the strength or versatility of an exalt.
- Pronouns
- Reader
Thank you for the heads up. I'm still at the point of quest only exposure and wiki's aren't proving helpful. I'm still a ways short on working the books into my budget.
Yes, this vote affects our build going forward. That's why I said I see this vote as more defining of our build that the first vote.
What I was talking about in the paragraph you quoted was the first vote, the one where we picked who our patron was. Despite what you have said about Mara winning that vote making us a manipulator character, that vote description explicitly states that our choice of patron does not affect the core abilities of our character. It's merely some flavor on top of our existing kit as a sorceress and crafter.
Half Moon
In the end, there is no end.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Don't forget objectifying men. She does that as well. A lot of that.
Erinys
the Frantic Archivist
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I think the vote about dreams was pretty defining. We voted for otherworldly dreams and descent from Oramus, not dreams of rage and violence and descent from Malfeas.
And again, there is no such thing as a "gentle warstrider". Fallen Star Omen is not a vote against combat. It will not at all reduce the amount of combat, or make the Hellstrider or character "nice", or let us defeat brainless zombie hordes by peacefully persuading them to leave. Being a berserker is not the only possible option for combat.
No matter what we vote for, we will use a Hellstrider to stride into melee combat and violently destroy thousands of zombies. This is the fundamental concept of the quest. It will not change.
And again, there is no such thing as a "gentle warstrider". Fallen Star Omen is not a vote against combat. It will not at all reduce the amount of combat, or make the Hellstrider or character "nice", or let us defeat brainless zombie hordes by peacefully persuading them to leave. Being a berserker is not the only possible option for combat.
No matter what we vote for, we will use a Hellstrider to stride into melee combat and violently destroy thousands of zombies. This is the fundamental concept of the quest. It will not change.
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The last vote was one what kind of aesthetics the powers will have in this quest, not on what powers we got. It's just as possible to have had a predatory manipulator/temptress/sorcerer as it is possible to have an otherworldly berserker. And TBH I like the idea of an otherworldy berserker more than the other berserker possibilities.
- Pronouns
- Reader
Frankly looking at the vote again, it"s pretty clear that they tied, and that the option that didn't get picked was fairly berserker like in nature. That in mind, it looks like we'll have to have another qm selection, just like I was worried we would, because the pro berserker side came in with a late near comeback.
- Location
- Nova Scotia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] The Jagged Edge
Changing my vote to break the tie, as sadly no one wants a rad magical artillery platform.
Changing my vote to break the tie, as sadly no one wants a rad magical artillery platform.
Gargulec
impact!
- Location
- a garden
The vote is now closed. The Jagged Edge wins.
Since the next update may be some days away - I work on this quest in the breaks between my other, major writing projects - I just want to assuage some fears. The aesthetics of the Jagged Edge won't be equivalent to Malfeas' berserk tendency, is one thing. The other is that I want to stress that the relationship between what the warstrider can do, and what Adamant Flame's role in this quest is will be vastly clarified by the next update and you should not worry too much about whether the aesthetics of the machine and her skillset are aligned enough. She is under no threat of suddenly turning from a slightly manipulative handmaiden to a angry berserker just because of the proximity to the Jagged Edge. Her relationship with the warstrider will be different than that.
Since the next update may be some days away - I work on this quest in the breaks between my other, major writing projects - I just want to assuage some fears. The aesthetics of the Jagged Edge won't be equivalent to Malfeas' berserk tendency, is one thing. The other is that I want to stress that the relationship between what the warstrider can do, and what Adamant Flame's role in this quest is will be vastly clarified by the next update and you should not worry too much about whether the aesthetics of the machine and her skillset are aligned enough. She is under no threat of suddenly turning from a slightly manipulative handmaiden to a angry berserker just because of the proximity to the Jagged Edge. Her relationship with the warstrider will be different than that.
