Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
So is your prior adventure in nwod also a fic or is it just backstory for this one?
Pinball Wizard [SI, Keychain of Creation]
- Thread starter Andoriol
- Start date
- Crossover
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Then Misho probably knows it! Or at least knows OF it...
- Location
- Florida, United States
No. And I doubt that Misho does either. Misho probably has Harmonious Academic Methodology though, and possibly Legendary Scholar Curriculum as well.
BWUAHAHAHA! You're thinking far too small.
Just backstory for this one, it wouldn't have been interesting to read all the way through and works better conveyed through flashbacks. While it will be covered in time, I decided it wouldn't be an interesting place to start due to the initial mind-whammy there as well as other factors.
For one utterly unfamiliar with nwod, how do their mages stack up against exalted? And can you learn exalted style sorcery, or does the nwod style of magic cut you off from learning? And are you even willing to learn exalted style sorcery?
And it's sad that Yuko doesn't have enough time to actually teach you any magic between visits. I'm betting she has some regrets about that. On the other hand, pipe fox!
And it's sad that Yuko doesn't have enough time to actually teach you any magic between visits. I'm betting she has some regrets about that. On the other hand, pipe fox!
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
The Salinan Working explicitly allows ANYONE to learn how to use Exalted-style Sorcery, no matter who they are or where in existence they are. (See the Solar Charm Shinmaic Calibration for explanation.) Normally, only Celestial Exalted and Essence 6+ gods and demons can learn Celestial Circle Sorcery, and only Solars, Infernals, Lunar and Sidereal akuma, and Primordials can learn Solar Circle Sorcery. (Theoretically, an Abyssal akuma could, but I don't know if an Abyssal can even become akuma...) However, as a nWoD Mage, he MIGHT be able to bypass the restrictions, or adapt Exalted Sorcery to his own paradigms... (There's also a homebrew Cecelyne Charm that upgrades Verdant Emptiness Endowment to grant access to circles of sorcery higher than normally possible for the recipient to learn...)
- Location
- Florida, United States
Generally, a Mage is lower raw power than an Exalted, but much more versatile. Most forms of Exalted sorcery attempt to do things that he can already do, and do quite well. But there are other things that he's not skilled enough to do (yet) or that nwod mages struggle to do on the same scale.
Mind you, most of this is due to the SI being more Weak But Skilled than anything else. If he had higher Gnosis / "Essence" he'd be able to match the power of an Exalt. Between the Life Arcanum improving his physical stats, his Mind Arcanum improving his mental stats, the acceleration of the Time Arcanum, the durability of the Matter Arcanum, the fortune of the Fate Arcanum, and the offense of a combination of Matter and Forces, he could be running with a standing dice pool higher than even a specialized Exalts. The Exalted could still push theirs higher with an Excellency by using up some motes, but those could be enchantments on the SI that last months if not functionally forever. But right now he can't manage that and has to rely far more on subtlety and being an outside-context problem.
I've also slightly nerfed him, normally a Mage can cast spells of their Ruling Arcana (Their primary two) without mana cost, but I've removed that ability to tweak his power level down slightly, because otherwise he's a bit unfair. Remember, his dedicated mage tool (Prometheus) is a lighter-multitool. He can still do that, and it's actually his main form of attack, but he can't spam it and risks running out of power if he's not careful.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Then he should nab himself an artifact weapon at the earliest opportunity; he probably can't gain the special material bonuses, but he should still be able to attune to them (even mortals can, and a Mage is no mere mortal). What would be the best fit for him?
- Location
- Florida, United States
BWUAHAHAHAHA.
More seriously, I'll be a bit more explicit / in depth:
All of his improvised spells require 1 mana.
Rotes and Praxes do not require mana.
His primary method of attack is to use a Rote dubbed "Flame Alchemist" to adjust the oxygen ratio in the air and then uses his heavily enchanted lighter to ignite it, this creates a man-sized burst of fire basically anywhere he can perceive within fractions of a second of him flicking the lighter. This can be spammed. However, if this is insufficiently powerful / not widespread enough, he can create a different spell on the fly that does something like turn the air around you into chlorine triflouride or azidoazide azide because fuck you. That costs mana, sure, but holy crap is it a cheap trick.
Mind you, yes, Artifacts would be amazing to have. A modified Warstrider or Celestial Battle Armor focused on crafting or spellcasting would be ideal for him. But the attunement cost for any artifact would suck hardcore given his total mana pool right now is twelve. Hearthstones would actually be phenomenally more useful to him right now than any number of artifacts.
Yes. See above. Even now he can basically handle himself. And like any wizard, he'll get stronger the more knowledge he gets and as he gathers items and tools. That, and here at very least, he's very much a small fish in a very big pond. He has to operate as an Outside Context Problem or he can't really accomplish anything.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
Wait, are you equating mana with motes? because that what the speil on atunement costs sounds like....
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
This is Exalted. THERE IS NO OXYGEN IN THE AIR. That's Air-aspected Essence he's breathing, not oxygenated air. No baryonic matter exists anywhere in Creation aside from his body; everything is composed entirely of Essence. His Flame Alchemist Rote is...
- Location
- Florida, United States
I actually already linked the former, so... yes? <_<
But yes, he's explicitly inspired by Roy Mustang when it comes to his offense.
Yes, because there needs to be a measure of conversion between the rules to represent him doing a number of things, and that's honestly a pretty easy / logical conversion. A Mage is effectively a particularly enlightened mortal.
Why would he need to? He's a "Sorcerer". Nothing says mortals can't cast spells. Or that they can't defeat an Exalted.
"You Chosen... it always strikes me how arrogant you are." -p'chnkBOOM- "So many of you treat us mortals as if we were little more than furniture..." -p'chnkBOOM- "Or pets..." -p'chnkBOOM- "It's so..." -p'chnkBOOM- "Uncivilized."
"Nng! You can't keep running forever mortal!"
"That implies that I need to." -p'chnkBOOM-
"Nng! You can't keep running forever mortal!"
"That implies that I need to." -p'chnkBOOM-
A). I've never been a huge fan of that bit of world-building, at least to the level that most people take it. Like, I'm not even sure where it comes from. Or why people try to use it to justify a lack of baryonic matter beyond "Bluh bluh, don't have any fun! Don't bring any of that real world science into my Exalted!" Because seriously, nothing I've seen that indicates that sort of worldbuildin is mutually exclusive with there being baryonic matter that's just built from motes. I could be missing something, but I'd have thought I'd remember reading something like that.
B). If he was truly the only form of baryonic matter, he'd be suffocating. And if he didn't suffocate, he'd starve.
C). Even in the case that it's true, he's a fucking Mage. He casts spells by throwing Supernal Truths at shit. Even if there isn't any oxygen in the air, the spell either changes the "Air Essence's" potential to becoming "Fire Essence" or it just outright makes oxygen out of the Essence in the air which he then ignites.
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Mortanius
Aspiring Raksha - seeking stories
The author had spoken.
I do not care one way or the other. This is fantasy, not science fiction. It merely has to be internally consistent, it does not have to be even slightly realistic.
Only the level of awesome is important.
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- Location
- france
In other terms, your character is the equivalent of an enlightened mortal (thaumaturge path) armed with a Plasma Tongue Repeater (with infinite ammo) and can cast an area-spell that deals aggraveted damage (that very few charms outside perfect defense can stop).
...
Well, he just need a chain shirt (transmuted into titanium), a straight sword (also titanium-transmutated with a crude electrical battery inside for a "shocking" surprise), a pulley-type bow (with various payloads for the arrows for versatility) and he will be prepared for "some" of Creation.
Or if he was willing to be a min maxing bastard who abuses spirit bindings.
Roadie
A plate full of blins and a cat nearby.
While I don't have the quote on hand, one of the 1e Caste or Aspect books (I can't remember which) includes a mention of (real-world) biochemistry being studied as a part of First Age experiments to measure the effects of Essence use.
So, at a minimum, Exalted canon has physics down to a molecular level as identical to the real-world equivalent before you add in the effects of Essence and other weirdness.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Well there's your problem. KoC is 2nd/2.5 Edition.
- Location
- Florida, United States
Actually, his "Plasma Tongue Repeater" is functionally unblockable / undodgeable as well since it's literally wherever he wants it to be within the range of his senses and is basically an environmental effect rather than anything resembling an 'attack'. Provided he doesn't flub the spellcasting roll and can perceive his target, he hits. And his aggravated damage attack is more like a charm than a sorcerous spell since it can be fired off just as fast and has a small cost.In other terms, your character is the equivalent of an enlightened mortal (thaumaturge path) armed with a Plasma Tongue Repeater (with infinite ammo) and can cast an area-spell that deals aggraveted damage (that very few charms outside perfect defense can stop).
...
Well, he just need a chain shirt (transmuted into titanium), a straight sword (also titanium-transmutated with a crude electrical battery inside for a "shocking" surprise), a pulley-type bow (with various payloads for the arrows for versatility) and he will be prepared for "some" of Creation.
Also, he's explicitly stated that his outfit is enchanted to all fuck. I mean, sure, Artifact Armor would be an upgrade... But a Mage with his level of skill is capable of creating horrifyingly powerful layered enchantments. Between that and his Mage Armor he's hellaciously tough. Anything remotely resembling 'mundane' armor would be a serious downgrade.
Overcoat: General Armor 3, Ballistic Armor 2, Reduce Fire and Electrical Damage by 2
Suit: General Armor 3, Ballistic Armor 2, Reduce Fire and Electrical Damage by 2
"Kevlar" Under-Vest: General Armor 5, Ballistic Armor 4, Reduce Fire and Electrical Damage by 2
Matter Arcanum Mage Armor: General Armor 4
All of it without interfering with his enhanced speed and "natural" durability. So he's rolling around with armor about equivalent to Artifact Articulated Plate without any mobility or fatigue penalties.
Suit: General Armor 3, Ballistic Armor 2, Reduce Fire and Electrical Damage by 2
"Kevlar" Under-Vest: General Armor 5, Ballistic Armor 4, Reduce Fire and Electrical Damage by 2
Matter Arcanum Mage Armor: General Armor 4
All of it without interfering with his enhanced speed and "natural" durability. So he's rolling around with armor about equivalent to Artifact Articulated Plate without any mobility or fatigue penalties.
Overall, he's a bit squishier than a starting Solar since he has no perfect defenses and can't push his defenses significantly higher with Excellencies or anything really equivalent, but his offense is noticeably better. Really, he's strong enough to take out most things he'll encounter even in Exalted, even a lone Dragonblooded or two (Provided they're not Elders) and his overall power level is roughly equivalent to a starting Solar's. He doesn't spike as high as even a starting Solar can, but he can maintain a higher baseline than a starting Solar.
That'd be easier if Spirit wasn't his Inferior Arcanum...
Mind has a variant of spirit summoning involving dragging sins or virtues out of your own mind and giving them form. Done properly it can lead to having your own sin "possessing" you but leaving you in the driver seat, while getting attributes in the double digits. Also, you have access to their powers/charms.
On the minus side, you cannot indulge in that sin while this is going on, or you will be utterly fucked. Still, limited cosmic power.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
That's Goetic magic, if I remember correctly. Oh! One good thing about being in Exalted: No risk of Paradox invoking the Abyss!
Dakkan Sall
Random Encounter
- Location
- On the world map
Random Villager #1: "How is he doing that?"
RV #2: "... magic."
RV #1: "Oh, right. Don't know what I was thinking. Should we go cower behind cover?"
RV #2: "... of course we should. Are you feeling sick or something?"
RV #1: "Look, we all have off days..."
And on a separate note, I just realized: since this is the Keychain setting, that means that there's the possibility of stumbling into... house rules country.
- Location
- france
Oh gods! That's would be horrible!
I've just had the terrifying thought of him giving ideas to Nova that's lead to "Transformers", the Michael Bay version...
The Dynasts looked dismayed to the army of warstrider-scale automatons just outside the wall of the imperial city, something that dwarfed even the Brass Legion on all factors.
"I am Optimus Prime! Freedom is the right of every sentient beings! Surrender now or face the might of the Autobots!"
The Dynasts looked to themselves, remembering the various reports about past confrontations of said army with the Fair Folk, the Deathlords, the Locusts,... "We're screwed..."
"AUTOBOTS! TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!"
Not so unlikely on meeting the right... uh, 'person'
Keychain of Creation - Updates Monday and Friday
edit: doh, i just realized that was what you meant all along.
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