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Infernal Conundrum: [Exalted/Worm] - Part 2: Hell is Other Exalts

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Conjured Blade said:
We could pepper @Thief of Words with questions about which homebrew is and isn't canon day in and day out and annoy her to the point where she may lose interest. Or we could take a different approach.

If a certain item of homebrew she hasn't thought of is one you find interesting, why not make a stunt with accompanying mechanical data and see if she finds it interesting/thematically relevant/sufficiently foreshadowed/insert standard of what's worth canonizing here.
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How would that even work? Most homebrew means Charms, which you need to learn to be able to use in the first place. Your entire idea makes no sense.
 
ShadowAngelBeta said:
How would that even work? Most homebrew means Charms, which you need to learn to be able to use in the first place. Your entire idea makes no sense.
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It makes less sense then it did five metaphorical seconds ago but I still think it's somewhat viable.

Exposure to Parahuman Abilities as Inspiration and things being reasonable thematic outgrowths of existing charms are the most obvious ideas.

Like the Oni Lee fight would have been an opportunity to learn Revlid's Distance Eliminating Efficiency Translocation charm under the assumption we were using the official SWLIHN charms and not Revlids.

Pantheon charm unlocking would probably require some stunt that ties it thematically to something happening wherever Taylor is, or a result of regular meditation write-ins. Or taking charms that lend themselves to being influenced by subsouls.

Depending on fluff though, I can't think of any reasonable way to unlock something like say... The Demented One's Charm tree for Hegra or something. It would also be utterly contrary to Taylor's personality unless she took enough Adorjan charms to meaningfully change her personality/give her serious incentives to act in a way more in line with Hegra or something. And I just came up with a setup that would justify unlocking Hegra charms. Nevermind.
 
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Voting is now Closed.

As for homebrew, it depends upon what the homebrew in question is. I'm not familiar with Pantheon-keyword charms, but if linked to them, I'll give them a look and offer a yes/no on whether they're available.

Homebrew-wise: we're using the Fourth Soul UC rewrite. We're probably going to be using the Revlid version of SWLiHN's charmset (with some modifications) for the most part, because it seems far more narratively interesting than the set in MoEP: Infernals, even if less combat-monster-y.
 
Conjured Blade said:
Pantheon charm unlocking would probably require some stunt that ties it thematically to something happening wherever Taylor is, or a result of regular meditation write-ins.
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Meditation on the pieces of Taylor's personality that... are similar to the appropriate Yozi's themes? I could see that as a good way to link into Pantheon charms fluff wise.

I still grin every time I think about Lelouch's TED born one. Or rather her "mommy". That was a good one Alex pulled, felt like it fit as well considering the intimacy we got from her.
Thief of Words said:
As for homebrew, it depends upon what the homebrew in question is. I'm not familiar with Pantheon-keyword charms, but if linked to them, I'll give them a look and offer a yes/no on whether they're available.
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I don't have the link for them unfortunately, but they were written by EarthScorpian and... Aleph I think? Sorry, I'm really tired. Anyway, those two are local so they were written up here on SV I think.

Edit: Someone else will definitely have the link is what I mean.
 
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ShadowAngelBeta said:
How would that even work? Most homebrew means Charms, which you need to learn to be able to use in the first place. Your entire idea makes no sense.
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Well, for one thing: I'll be asking the players for Charm selection options after a near-future update, so a good time to bring up if certain charms are an option would be then. Or you can send me a message with a link to what you're hoping to include, and I can review it, then get back to you.
 
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Chrysalis 1.4 Vote Results
  • Threadmarks
    • Voting Tallied. Results:


    [X]Glory, Glory Halleluia
    --Attempt to get Glory Girl's attention. After all, her whole family are heroes, and maybe her sister can do something about the freakish changes that happened to you between getting stuffed in your locker and now.
    Total Votes: 20

    [ ] A Call to Arms
    --Armsmaster is the leader of the local Protectorate. He's a Hero. He's a big damn deal, and if anyone can help you make sense of all this, they can.
    Total Votes: 6

    [ ] Get While the Getting's Good
    --That girl from before was trying to help you. And you were just covered in blood from before. You...maybe being the tall and freakish monster girl isn't the safest thing to be in the middle of the fight between the city's major gangs. Maybe it'd be safer to escape and lie low, at least until you're unlikely to be mistaken for a villain and arrested or attacked by the good guys.
    Total Votes: 11

    [ ] Write In
    --Do something not listed here.
    Total Votes: 0
     
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    • Conjured Blade said:
    Link where Aleph first mentions them.

    Tabletop - General Exalted Thread | Page 234
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    Basically you buy one of
    Sun-Heart Furnace Soul, Counter-Pronouncement of Enthymemic Law, Crystal Facet Thoughts, Silence in Her Wake, Darkling Grace Complete, Carmine Mantled Emissary, Self-Seed Infestation, Toil By Proxy, Empyreal Invincibility Declaration.
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    And then Titanic Spawn Uncountable and give birth to a 1st Circle demon that reflects the themes of the Yozi as they apply to your (character's) soul and are born in a way thematically connected to the Yozi.

    Not sure how the 3rd Circle demon crafting comes in, but I remember we had been making one or two archetypes for the two 1st Circle Demons Lelouch had spawned.

    *Shrug* It was interesting and we only got to explore a little bit of it before it died/went on hiatus.

    I really liked the fresh approach and how it was basically going in the opposite direction that the Shintais approach it.

    And it felt appropriate for someone who was looking never to be betrayed again.

    ... Probably shouldn't use TED's then. Taylor has a history of betraying herself as well.
     
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    Thief of Words said:
    If I remember the bit from canon rightly, Taylor had Armsmaster undies when she was a little kid. Presumably by the time Worm started she'd have grown out of them. The lack of underwear comment beyond that was just me being flippant.
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    Just imagine a stunt as first words to Armsmaster about the underwear with him on it in a panicked babble.
    Thief of Words said:
    Homebrew-wise: we're using the Fourth Soul UC rewrite. We're probably going to be using the Revlid version of SWLiHN's charmset (with some modifications) for the most part, because it seems far more narratively interesting than the set in MoEP: Infernals, even if less combat-monster-y.
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    Could you quote the variant/homebrew rules/charms you'd be using somewhere in a threadmark?
     
    Will add a section on homebrew and houserules to the index once I figure out how to format one properly.
     
    The charm listing it as a prereq was designed to potentially be used in Gunstar Autochthonia or other settings in which Theion still existed as he was.

    On a more official note: Chyrsalis 1.5 is in the process of being written. It might take me a few hours to iron everything out to where I'm happy with it, or it might not. I'm...honestly not sure yet. We shall see.
     
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    Chrysalis: 1.5
  • Threadmarks
    • [X]Glory, Glory Halleluia
    --Attempt to get Glory Girl's attention. After all, her whole family are heroes, and maybe her sister can do something about the freakish changes that happened to you between getting stuffed in your locker and now.
    Total Votes: 20
    -[x] Stunt: You crouch behind one of the intact units on the roof, hugging yourself, as you let all the confusion and fear you've been experiencing since your awakening show. "Hello." You call out. "Please, I need some help. I don't know what's going on." You let your emotions pour into your voice as you begin to cry. "I just woke up and now I look like a monster. Please. Help me!" (2-die stunt! <3)



    ooo

    It...it was over. Oni Lee had fled. Sagging with relief, you experienced a brief disorientation that sent you falling onto your butt on the rooftop. He wasn't going to kill you. You...you'd won. Or close enough, any way. Taking deep, slow breaths, you fought to master your racing pulse, the welling panic that threatened to overwhelm any semblance of rationality and thought. Oni Lee was one of the most-wanted capes in the city. One of the most dangerous people in the state. And you'd won. Well, survived, really. But against someone like that? Survival was a victory in itself.

    Drawing in on yourself, you forced your way to a wobbling stand. For a moment, you contemplated running again. You didn't want people to see you like th is. You were a freak, a hideous thing, a monster. You didn't want the heroes near here to see you like th at. Like you were a rabid beast to be put down. Another villain, another monster for the birdcage. And you knew it didn't look good. Though most of him had burst into ash, the Oni Lee clone which had exploded all over your gifted clothes had left conspicuous blood-stains on your borrowed, ill-fitting garments. Still, as little as the idea of them seeing you and assuming you were a threat to be put down appealed, you knew you couldn't run. That would only make things worse.

    So you forced yourself to move, slinking over to crouch behind one of the still-intact climate control units. As you wrapped yourself in a tight hug, knees pulled in to somewhere just above head level, you tried to draw their attention. You couldn't help it; the confusion, fear, pain, and bewilderment you'd been experiencing ever since your awakening tinged your voice. "Hello?" Your call was plaintive, hurting, and an undercurrent of desperation threatened to drown the whole. "P-p-please? I...," you shuddered and hugged yourself tighter in a manner that had nothing to do with the cold, "I need help! I-I...I d-don't know what's...what's...I don't know what's going o-on." Your voice cracks on that last syllable, your voice going hoarse, rasping a moment. Though you clench your eyes tightly shut, you can feel the burn of unshed tears.

    Mom, Emma, Dad. So much loss in so short a time. And now. Now, when you get what you'd dreamed of for as long as you can remember wanting anything, becoming a cape, life finds a way to twist the knife even further. You were one. But you were a freak, a monster, a creature that didn't even look human any more.

    The flood of emotion overwhelming all reason suffuses your voice as you cry out, "I just...just woke up and," hot tears carve molten trails down your cheeks, "and I l-l-look like a," you sob, a wracking, pained thing. "Like a m-m-m-monster-her-errr!" You're wailing by the end, but you can't help it. Months, years of pain held behind a tightly controlled dam have finally spilled over, and the flood that results permits no control, no caution, no dignity in it.

    You're startled to silence when a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around you, pulling you into a close hug. You freeze momentarily at the contact. When it doesn't relent, you unfold your limbs from around yourself and clutch tightly to the person offering you comfort. Shame, image, things like that take a distant back-seat to the raw emotional needs of the moment as you sob, you weep, you cry piteously, clinging to the person before you in desperation. You don't can't care about the judgment you might face from others right now. Your entire world was eviscerated, and for years you didn't let yourself admit the pain you felt at that. You can't hide that now.

    Eventually, you find you've cried yourself out. The person holding you goes to give your head a pat, freezing mid-gesture as their hand touches your apparently bare scalp. "S-sorry," you manage to finally mumble. They rub your scalp in the approximation of ruffling your hair anyway. As you come back to your senses, you catch the tail end of a soothing, crooning song which the mental voice from before had been singing. Your eyes still closed, you send a mental pulse of gratitude to Joyous Uncertainty, even if you still aren't convinced they're real. If they're a hallucination, at least they're one that doesn't hate you. Finally forcing your eyes open, you start to realize that Glory Girl, the Glory Girl, is the one that's been holding you and helping you through your overemotional outburst.

    Sniffling, you pull back, arms unfolding from around her. Horrified by the trail of snot from her shoulder to your nose, you offer up a murmured, "Dhorry. God snod all ober your cosdume." She laughs at that, shaking her head. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's had worse on it before." You feel the intense urge to apologize again, after all, she's a hero. A real hero, who helps people on a daily basis. And you dirtied up her uniform, as it were.

    Rolling her eyes, she stands, offering you a hand to get up. Accepting it, you unfold yourself up to your full nine-foot height. She blinks at that, then shrugs. A cocky smile splits her features. She again offers you a hand. "Ready to get out of here?" Her tone's an invitation. You start to nod, then pause.

    "I...can I do one thing first?"

    Looking up at you, Glory Girl meets your eyes with a weighing gaze, then she nods. "Sure. What do you need?"
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • 1.6 will follow directly on the heels of 1.5. In the meantime, once I've finished typing up the pre-voting sheet for Taylor, a vote will go up for initial Charm/Ability/Specialty selection.
     
    I'm calling for Essence-Dissecting Stare, Counter-Conceptual Interposition, Mind-Hand Manipulation and Principle-Invoking Onslaught.
     
    Thief of Words said:
    We'll be primarily using the Revlid rewrite of SWLiHN due to the better narrative possibilities in it. That's not to say there won't be hybridization there.
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    Can we still get Heuristic Logos Shintai? I'm disappointed about losing the original MHM's ability to turn Willpower into combat ability, especially as Taylor, but I will be actively annoyed if my favorite Charm is forbidden because of the change.
     
    beowolf said:
    Can we still get Heuristic Logos Shintai? I'm disappointed about losing the original MHM's ability to turn Willpower into combat ability, especially as Taylor, but I will be actively annoyed if my favorite Charm is forbidden because of the change.
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    Absolutely. I'll be making a middle-of-the-road version of MHM anyway (as Revlid nerfs it too hard, but the base version is fucking broken.)

    Either way, I'm off to go take a nap. Been up since 6am, so I'mma go be a sleepy thiefy. <3 you all! Thank you for reading my godawful keyboard flailings!
     
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    Mother Sea Mastery and Fathomless Poison Haven are obvious picks for Brockton Bay.

    Spiteful Sea Tincture also allows for perfectly non-lethal takedowns and other tricks when combined with Great Mother's Tears.
     
    Vote 1 for 1.5:


    Favored Yozi Selection:

    [ ]To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower. Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour.
    --Cecelyne Favored

    [ ] Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child, before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is loving, joyful, and free. The real you is just like a flower, just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun.
    --Adorjan Favored

    [ ] I love the sea's sounds and the way it reflects the sky. The colours that shimmer across its surface are unbelievable.
    --Kimbery Favored

    [ ] Write In.
    --Pick Your Own Favored Yozi.
     
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