Putting this in the thread for SC and because Discord still won't load effectively on my computer:
Right now the proposed mechanics for Aspect stacking are:
*Sanctum +0.2 Arcanum Levels per Sanctum Level while inside the Sanctum (by Birdsie)
*Hermes +2 Arcanum for Combat if equal level with Arcanum, bonus reduced by 30% for each level below (by Birdsie)
*Arcane Focus: Devotion - the specialist bonuses mentioned above plus some degree of +Arcanum Levels for the Technique itself. I have proposed +1 at acquisition and +0.2 per level thereafter.
*Arcanum has a baseline -0.25 penalty to combat.
Eyeballing the numbers, my thoughts are:
*We should probably cap the Sanctum bonus at +2.0 to be safe. This won't be relevant until Sanctum 10 anyway. Sanctum levels beyond 10 can apply some different mechanical benefit or massively improve the sanctum's mobility / accessibility / defensibility.
*If we want to maintain Hermes' position as the go-to solution for efficient combat power, I think a +3 bonus with 50% decay would be cleaner. This will basically maintain its relative value for each level below Arcanum, but offer a hefty bonus for keeping it equal level with Arcanum.
*Basically, Hermes works as an XP tax on Arcanum but grants great combat power in exchange. If we pay a 100% tax (equal level) we get +3 Combat Arcanum. If we pay a 50% tax (-1 level) we get +1.5 Combat Arcanum (compare to +1.4 for the current proposal - nearly identical). If we pay a 25% tax (-2 levels) we get +.75 Combat Arcanum (compare to +.7 for the current proposal). If we pay a 12.5% tax (-3 levels) we get +.375 Combat Arcanum (compare to +.49 for the current proposal). +3 / 50% decay makes it compelling to level Hermes in concert with Arcanum, as a 100% tax can also be used to fund a direct +1 Arcanum itself.
Okay, let's model two hypothetical Sols with these revised proposals in mind. I will consider the outcome degenerate if Sol exceeds Combat Arcanum 16 (16+ is when Aspects begins to scale really fast, going from 9 to 16 only takes you from townbuster to citybuster) by the end of a theoretical 3rd year without additional major SC purchases. I won't consider it degenerate if 16 is exceeded via Sanctum or the Air Devotion, as Sol's supposed to be overpowered in such conditions.
Model 1: Post-build Sol + ~10k XP and Arcane Focus
*This is Sol immediately after our Dual Transcendence build vote, plus 10k more XP to account for adventures and stuff in the coming months. Assume Simple and Good II wins.
Arcanum 7 + 1 Eldritch
Hermes 5 (4,000 XP)
Arcane Focus: Air 3 (3,000 XP)
Sanctum 4 (3,750 XP)
Combat Arcanum: 7 + 1 Eldritch + .75 Hermes + 1.4 Devotion + (3 Air Devotion vs Supernatural Effects) + (0.8 In Sanctum) - .25 Arcanum Penalty = 9.9, 12.9 vs Supernaturals, 13.7 theoretical max
So 10k XP elevates Sol from Simple and Good II's 8.25 to 9.9. If the Air Devotion specifically is taken, that becomes 12.9 against foes that rely on supernatural effects such as magic or superscience, but not hard science. If Air is not taken, it's 9.9 for Water, or 11.9 briefly for Fire, or 9.9 for Earth. Note that Air does dramatically reduce his versatility compared to the other Devotions, so must be mechanically powerful to compensate.
Model 2: Above build + 120k XP
*A hypothetical third-year Sol who doesn't get any more SC
Arcanum 8 (32,000 XP) + 1 Eldritch
Hermes 7 (24,000 XP)
Arcane Focus: Air 7 (35,400 XP)
Sanctum 7 (28,250 XP)
Combat Arcanum: 8 + 1 Eldritch + 1.5 Hermes + 2.2 Devotion + (3 Air Devotion vs Supernatural) + (1.4 in Sanctum) - .25 Arcanum Penalty = 12.7, 15.7 vs Supernaturals, 17.1 theoretical max
Casting Arcanum: 8 + 1 + 2.2 = 11.2, 12.6 in Sanctum, (14.6 theoretical max with Fire)
This extra 120k XP elevates Sol from 9.9 to 12.7, 15.7 against supernaturals if Air is taken. 14.7 briefly if Fire is taken, 12.7 for Water or Earth. Okay, this looks more or less fine to me. Since Air's bonus doesn't actually pay out against the environment or civilians, even Sol with an Air Devotion would take many, many SC purchases to equal the impact of a graduated Metaphysician. We don't even have the extra SC for Arcane Focus right now and don't want to kneecap a future Sol if monetary support dries up for whatever reason.
If this build is willing to drop Air by a level and Sanctum by three levels, it can squeeze out an extra Hermes Level, which would provide a marginal 1.3 Combat Arcanum taking Sol to 14 (17 vs Supernaturals) at a great cost in versatility. If Hermes were +2 / 30% instead of +3 / 50% this would not be worth it.
And of course, Sol's baseline combat power will be much lower if he takes Capitalism, Ho! or some less spell-focused build instead. Noting that the thread does not realistically produce 25 SC in any appreciable time without monetary support (even with 3.5x we struggled to get 12 in this voting period), I don't think we'll actually get that many EFBs later.
