>What is Exalted?
An epic high-flying role-playing game about reborn god-heroes in a world that turned on them.
Start here: http://theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/exalted/
>That sounds cool, how can I get into it?
Read the 3e core book (link below). For mechanics of the old edition, play this tutorial: http://jyenicolson.net/exalted/. It'll get you familiar with most of the mechanics.
>Gosh that was fun. How do I find a group?
Roll20 and the Game Finder General here on /tg/. With the new edition, though, chances are more games will crop up.
Resources for Third Edition
>Final 3E Core Release
https://mega.nz/#!ctgxyJaC!ygkrLnFsrnBJzIUZY-dJsMfyFrhFQgDsQuuo52fcW0I
http://www.mediafire.com/download/q51qw8skdw1rg15/Exalted_3e_Core.pdf
>3E Backer Core (Old)
https://mega.nz/#!E1dRBBIa!ZbQG4IasYCJRli2bhgE2MOdWeFAeV3N1rqL9kAIGbNE
>Frequently updated Character Sheet with Formulas and Autofill https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pfjmZKzcUqAX9mB58IAEUIFkZr8rq4CvdRRM4kzwwgU/edit?usp=sharing
>General Homebrew dumping folder: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByD2BL6J89NiQzdCWWFaY0c5Mkk&usp=sharing
>Collection of old 3e Materials, including comics and fiction anthologies https://www.mediafire.com/folder/t2arqtqtyyt28/Exalted_3Leak
>Charm Trees:
>Solar Charms: https://imgur.com/a/q6Vbc
>Martial Arts: https://imgur.com/a/mnQDe
>Evocations: https://imgur.com/a/TYKE4
Resources for 2.5 Edition:
>All books with embedded errata notes, as well as some extras: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/253ulzik1j9s5/Exalted
>Chargen software: http://anathema.github.io/
>Anathema homebrew charm files: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/pka3nz3vqbqda/Anathema_Files
>MA form weapon guide: http://www.brilliantdisaster.net/dif/ExaltedMA.html
>http://www.mediafire.com/view/ua7tanepy2jfkdp/Exalted_2nd_Ed_-_Return_of_the_Scarlet_Empress.pdf
Resources for 1e:
>https://www.mediafire.com/folder/9vp0e9id3by6m/Exalted_1e
Sorcery edition. What's your favorite spell or Working?
>>47061145
Still Invulnerable Skin of Bronze. You feel like a real pulp sorcerer if you're walking around looking like a statue wearing embroidered robes and occult talismans.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/377do37qdpga754/Yagan%20charsheet.pdf?dl=0
What's more appropriate for a character that's from a patrician family attached to a real great house, a kimono, a cheongsam, an ao dai, or something else?The character in question is a trap, because I am shameless like that
>>47061145
My circle is planning to use an emerald spell in a very unorthodox way, along with a few summoned demons, to sink an entire Realm fleet. I'm actually pretty hype, but I can't help but think this is where we get the phrase 'pc plans.'
>>47061145
OP you life failure you didn't put /exg/ in title.
>>47061995
>The character in question is a trap
Oh hey, I'm currently playing a similar character. A Guild Factor, though, rather than a Dynast.
I don't think it matters, honestly. You're an aristocrat, presumably involved with high society. You can switch your outfit out as the fashion pleases you. For what it's worth, I tended towards kimono because of the images I was using, but in practice I think they work best for their more detailed brocades and their flowing sleeves, which lend themselves well to an exotic sort of sorcerer's robe.
Which gods are strong enough for entire circles of solar exalted?
>>47062489
I don't understand your question. Strong enough to be a combat threat? Strong enough to be their patron?
>>47062489
Any of the War Gods like Ahlat and Siaka are probably good bets.
But whyyyy?
>>47062489
>threat to Solar circle
none
not even one
>>47062518
>Strong enough to be a combat threat
This
>>47062523
My players view gods only as pushover. I want to change that.
>>47062629
What is the circle like?
>>47062629
Isn't it enough to introduce a god who can challenge a Solar rather than a circle of Solars?
>>47062629
Ahlat, I guess? Do you have a Dawn with a Supernal Combat Ability? If so, then the only gods who AREN'T combat pushovers to them are Celestial elites.
But that's by design.
>>47062489
Ahlat.
If not even him can't faze you, you need to go higher. Poke Yu-shan. They have celestial gods of war and shit.
So, I've been roped into a quick 3e game, and I was planning on pretty much playing Urien, of Street Fighter fame. I was going to play him as a Zenith-caste with Brawl and Occult for Invulnerable Skin of Bronze (and First Circle Demon, because of course). My questions for people who have read more of the book than me are twofold:
-Is ISoB and Resistance charms going to be enough to tank a pack of Erymanthus? We're going to be busting a Yozi cult, and I'd really rather not have my first session end with striding confidently into the fray and immediately getting punked.
-Brawl is huge and between Integrity, Athletics, Resistance, and Occult, I don't have a whole lot of charm slots left. What are the charms that return the most combat value for the least investment? Would switching it out for Melee and carrying an actual weapon be a better plan?
How does a Dragon-blooded's clothes survive their anima banner?
>>47062629
>My players view gods only as pushover. I want to change that.
Again, whyyyyy?
"Gods" in exalted are basically immortal managers. The parrot manager oversees the parrot population, works for the head-of-section bird manager, and has sub-managers that oversee specific breeds of parrot like the manager for lilac-crested southern parrots.
If we call them "managers" this way, do you still feel the need to change your players' perception? Aren't "managers" supposed to be pushovers to some extent?
With that said, my answer stands at War Gods and other Direction-wide/Creation-wide gods of major concepts. Ahlat, Southern God of War and Cattle is in the corebook; Siakal is described in 2e and is the Western God of Sharks and Slaughter. She fights messier.
In the north the job is shared by Nasamara (the glory of war) and Voharun (the hardship of war). In the east there's Sunipa (dutiful soldiers and the rules of war) and in the center there's Tachi-Kun (war and exalted warfare).
Some possible examples of other major concepts that might have important powerful people in charge of making sure they work right, and harvesting a lot of sweet sweet prayer:
-gods of travel (if you want to draw inspiration from 2e you could look at Ruvia, head of the Division of Journeys, who answers directly to Mercury)
-gods of weather (all weather, not just Storm Mothers and the like)
-gods of secrets
-gods of food and drink
-gods of cities (not gods who are each of one city, but the God of Eastern Cities or the like)
-gods of flight (from birds to airships)
>Add (Essence) non-Charm bonus dice to her Craft, spell effects, and speculative Bureaucracy rolls, to Lore rolls which require logic or mathematics, and to any use of Wyld-Shaping Technique.
For the 'spell effects,' what does that mean? The attack roll to hit with an attack spell? Damage? What exactly is a spell's effects for the purposes of Heaven-Turning Calculations?
>>47063084
>Is ISoB and Resistance charms going to be enough to tank a pack of Erymanthus?
It ought to be. General consensus is that Aegis of Invincible Might makes you Fucking Invincible.
Pick up Sensory Acuity Prana from Awareness if you don't want to be caught with your thumb up your ass every time someone rolls Join Battle. Fists of Iron in Brawl will be great of you have a Defining Intimacy of the love of Violence, and Heaven Thunder Hammer is a good Fuck You button. Iron Battle Focus will help against Onslaught if you're ever outnumbered.
Melee is very good defensively and you can do a lot with little investment, but if you don't mind paying the Merit cost, consider swapping out Brawl for a Martial Art, as this will give you something to spend Solar XP on. Tiger Style seems to be thematically similar to what you want.
>>47063522
>Pick up Sensory Acuity Prana from Awareness if you don't want to be caught with your thumb up your ass every time someone rolls Join Battle.
BTW: Double 9s for 5m might not seem that good on Join Battle, so let me take the opportunity to reiterate that having a single Awareness charm also grants you use of the Awareness Excellency, which boosts JB much more directly.
And JB creates initiative, which is your damage resource. Awareness Excellency is a quasi-damage-excellency for opening combat.
>>47063256
I would say any effect the spell causes whether it's damage, roll for corrupted words, binding a demon/elemental, whatever 'effect' casting the spell causes to happen gets the bonus.
>>47063225
>God of Miracle
>God of CertaintyAlso both are lesbian.
>>47063729
So any roll that takes place between finishing Shape Sorcery and the spell being concluded, basically?
>>47063823
I'd say any roll that would be made directly by your character in resolving the outward effects of a spell. Is there a specific spell you were thinking about?
>>47063823
In case of attack effects, I'd say the bonus only goes to accuracy though.
>>47063863
Nope, none in particular. There's just such a huge diversity of rolls from spell to spell, it wasn't clear to me what would count as a spell's effect and which is just, say, the delivering of its effect. Or whatever.
>>47063725
>>47063522
Thanks, that's pretty much what I was looking for. I already had Sensory Acuity and Surprise Anticipation on my short list, because I still have shellshock from 2e Paranoia Combat.
I just finished digging out charm cascades, which do a much better job of showing what my actual choices are, and Brawl isn't actually that overwhelming when you aren't using it as your supernal.
I completely glossed over the way Fists of Iron interacts with Intimacies, which stacks really well with Battle Fury Focus. I know that the Dawn in the group is going to go as far down the martial art that gives his sword its own initiative as he can, so I don't need to be THE most horrific combat monster ever created.
Question about what Flowing Mind Prana. That's the Lore charm that lets you give xp to other people.
In it, it says that
>At the end of each story, the Solar may roll a
number of dice equal to experience points spent on this Charm, regaining a number of experience equal to her successes, but not beyond the total amount of experience she expended in training.
I can see this being resolved a few ways:
One is that you only get one roll per story based off of how many experience you spent this story on it. So you only have one roll to recover the experience you spend.
Another is you keep a running total of how much experience you have spent total on the charm since you started using it and use that as your recovery roll with of course never going over your total spent. So your roll for recovering gets larger and larger without ever resetting as you use the charm more and more.
And thirdly, at the end of any story you can roll for whatever experience you have spent and not recovered. So say in the first story you spend three experience, roll three dice to recover, and recover one. Then in the second story you spend another three experience, you now have five unrecovered experience so you roll five dice to see how much you recover there.
I'd say that the third option is what I think it reads as, though I can see arguments for the first as being reasonable as well. Two seems a bit outright as after three or so stories you're always going to be recovering maximum experience basically doubling every experience you gain.
>>47063522
Keep in mind that ISoB counts as wearing medium armor, which locks you out of Tiger Style. Single Point etc. and Iron Demon allow medium armor, but not unarmed attacks, which pretty much leaves White Reaper as the only Martial Arts choice for a bare-handed, bronze-skinned fighter.
If you are going to be taking Sorcery anyway, I'd suggest Claws of the Wood Dragon, eventually. A brawl-compatible artifact with access to any tag you would ever want on a weapon is a pretty decent investment, even if it doesn't really mesh with the character concept.
>>47064153
>One is that you only get one roll per story based off of how many experience you spent this story on it. So you only have one roll to recover the experience you spend.
It's this one.
If you spent 10 XP on it this story, you roll 10 dice at the end of the story. Any successes, you get that XP back. And failures, it's gone and done - not waste, since you spent it on an ally, but still not yours anymore.
>>47064153
>Flowing Mind Prana
says "commits" at the start of the charm, which I really think is how you should treat these experience points (like committed motes), rather than "spent" which it says later which is a stupid confusing word for points you can get back. Roll for what's currently committed, IMO, option three. Conservation of experience is the reasonable course of action regardless of interpretations and vague wording.
There's also the upgrade to consider, Tireless Learner Method, which has functionality >implying things about how FMP works: the Solar can "pay" one experience point to reroll non-success on the roll to regain experience, and
>This Charm explicitly allows the Solar to gain back more experience points than she invested in training.
"invested"?
Fucking natural language plague, but TLM suggests that FMP uses option one by the Rules As Written.
>>47064163
I'd say that ISoB plus Claws can fit single point style if you tag yoru claws with slashing and narratively fluff it as a sword. Same with Steel Devil. Might seem a bit powergamey but it's still just a light artifact that you have to spend a turn 'drawing'. But that would just be my opinion.
>>47064334
It doesn't fit the aesthetic, narrative OR the mechanics. What are you smoking?
>>47064361
I know reading can be hard but:
>She might extend them into a lash of scourging brambles to grant them the flexible tag,
The book gives an explicit example of transforming them narratively into the shape of a weapon to give it a mechanical tag.
>>47064427
Giving it another tag doesn't help at all though. It's still stupid.
>>47064427
A tag's not a weapon. If the martial art style doesn't mention it works with any weapon with a specific tag, then it doesn't.
>>47064450
>>47064474
The only difference between weapons in the rules (say a light sword and a light ax) is the narrative description and the tags associated with them.
The way I see it is that the wood dragon claws can be shaped narratively to give it a tag, as demonstrated in the book. If they're shaped into the form of a sword to give them the 'slashing' tag, then they would be a 'slashing sword light artifact' weapon for the purposes of use with single point style which as the book states:
>This style uses slashing swords and their artifact equivalents
I'm perfectly fine with other people not using this interpretation but I would still think it's well within the realm of exalted fuckery as Sing Point focuses immense essence into their weapon to move it at bilinding speeds, etc. So focusing burning essence into yoru magical wood hands to grow a harded wood sword in the moment of a slash and then after it burns away from the sheer magical force contained therein fits the theme of 'sheathing' after every strike and the bonkers shit solars get up to.
>>47062523
>Any of the War Gods like Ahla
Is it still possible for a starting solar to reliably beat Ahlat in the first round? Or did the devs change the charms?
>>47064907
If by "starting Solar" and "reliably" you mean "one specific build that uses a Solar Charm illegally, requires Ahlat to not use one of his strongest Charms, be completely alone, and not get even slightly lucky," then yes, the Southpaw Empress build still "works."
Though, actually, I'm not sure she can afford the Heaven Thunder Hammers anymore, so it might not.
>>47064941
So yes.
>>47064958
That build relied on Ahlat being material and straying like that, since its completely incapable of hitting immaterial targets
>>47064985
Dematerializing is a simple action, so it's not really something you can do mid-flurry.
(I also really like it being that way because it means Restrain/Drag actions prevent spirits from doing so as well. If you can get a neomah in a headlock it can't just pomf.)
>>47064907
That build never worked. The guy writing it was abusing Thundebolt Attack Prana.
>>47064576
I rescind my argument because reading is hard.
I misread, thinking 'slashing' was a tag and 'sword' was a weapon type when Single Point was referring to weapon restrictions. I now see that 'Slashing sword' is a specific MEDIUM weapon which would put it out of the Claws range of being a LIGHT weapon.
I still say that Claws shaped as swords would be permissible for steel devil style since that one has no restrictions for weapon weight category.
So does anyone else think the absurd charm bloat in 3e justifies starting characters beginning with 20 charms?
>>47065212
I think the 20 charms is to balance the fact that you will always start at essence 1.
>>47065212
no, starting Characters are more than capable enough, in my experience.
>>47065286
I think you missed the point. The book says start with 15. This is a proposed houserule.
>>47065326
I see. I think 15 charms is fine for starting.
>>47065365
>>47065212
No. Your mistake is thinking of the charms as a check-list.
>>47065380
"There are a lot of Charms" doesn't actually imply "you need a lot of Charms to be good at [x]."
The difference between having 5 Melee Charms and 10 Melee Charms is much larger than the difference between having 10 and having even 20.
>>47064907
>>47064941
Actually, Fivefold Fury Onslaught / Hammer on Iron Technique no longer ignores Hardness; I don't recall if that has a significant impact on Southpaw Empress but IIRC she was just abusing the number of attacks she gets plus FFO's bonus damage. Ahlat's Hardness 10 now ignores the first few hits in that flurry, which is a big deal.
>>47065380
How are you confused Mr Chan? You basically asked if people thought that characters needed 20 charms to start, and once I understood what you were asking I stated that I think the base 15 that the rulebook gives starting characters is just fine. This means that I disagree with the concept of 'charm bloat' justifying more starting charms.
What sort of things should I aim for with Presence as a supernal?
>>47065286
>>47065326
>>47065365
>>47065380
>>47065457
>being this obtuse
>>47065477
>What sort of things should I aim for with Presence as a supernal?
What are you trying to do with your Supernal Presence?
>>47065767
The ability to make a stone feel fear.
>>47065477
Get empowering shout and the indefinite version. It's fucking insane. Basically, your circle will never, ever have a thing they aren't at least competent at.
Nobody took bureaucracy at all? Get Nerd with highest int and shout at him, bam 8+ dicepool
Need to repair a bridge and no craft guy around? Shout at guy with highest dex, 8+ dicepool
Find a guy bleeding out and nobody has medicine? 8+ dicepool!
Need to commandeer a ship and nobody bothered taking sail? You get it by now.
That's before you consider capbreaking on important rolls like attacks, sorcerous workings, artifact crafting etc.
>>47065847
Just play a Dawn.
>>47065900
forgot to mention: +2 Parry on the Dawn with already maxed Parry can give you a resting Parry of 9! If he has Steel Devil Style, he can have a resting Parry of 11 before he spends any motes.
>>47065847
>The ability to make a stone feel fear.
Dawn anima power, Listener-Swaying Argument, Harmonious Presence Meditation, Tiger's Dread Symmetry.
At Essence 2, Majestic Radiant Presence, Threefold Magnetic Ardor, and Awakened Carnal Demiurge.
Pick up Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgement and Terrifying Apparition of Glory, and Blazing Glorious Icon at Essence 3.
If you make it to Essence 4+, start looking into Countenance of Vast Wrath.
Now, this requires you to be Dawn, and means you can't take Presence as a Supernal. But it's worth it, because a Dawn makes the very heavens themselves shake with fear at his dreadful footsteps.
First for Morke and Holden are liars
>>47063199
>How does a Dragon-blooded's clothes survive their anima banner?
The physics engine of Creation considrs their clothes part of them, so they're not damaged by their anima for the same reason the Dragon-blooded themselves don't get hurt.
>>47063199
>How does a Dragon-blooded's clothes survive their anima banner?
A Dragon-blooded's equipment is specifically called out as being immune.
That said, I often stunt clothing destruction, personally.
How is stage magic trated in the setting?
>>47065900
>>47065966
>capbreaking
>+2 Parry on the Dawn with already maxed Parry
>The subject’s Attribute and Ability ratings may not be increased past five with this Charm
What in the actual fuck are you talking about?
>>47066128
Probably with wonder and the occasional witch-burning. Most peasants in Creation have never seen literally any magic, and are a superstitious and cowardly lot. I've heard the 'average' cultural and technological level of Creation be compared to the Witcher a lot, where there are the occasional rare sorcerers and monster-slayers, but most people have never met one, or didn't know that they did.
>>47066140
>What in the actual fuck are you talking about?
Those are two different uses. The Instant Duration base charm is cap-breaking unless used on a parry.
The Indefinite version is charm dice, yes. A maxed parry, in this case, refers to Dex 5 Melee 5 Speciality + Medium Weapon, which has a maxed, resting Parry of 7. With the Charm commited, it has a resting Parry of 9. With Steel Devil's defensive Form or the capstone form up, he has a resting Parry of 11, with a Charmcap at Parry 12
>>47066240
>>47065966
>>47065900
Oh also, while Empowering Shout doesn't stack with itself, it stacks with the Indefinite Version. If you have time to throw it up and need to boost a non-maxed dicepool, you can add up to 8 dice to a roll, 4 of which are non-charm.
>>47066240
>a resting Parry of 9
Since Favor-Conferring Prana doesn't work on a character who is already at peak mortal, that Parry of 9 is only accessible when the Presence-user is constantly shouting at them. It's a nice versatile charm, but that's not really my definition of "resting".
That said, if you did want to use Empowering Shout every round, if the Dawn is using Melee and not Steel Devil they could at least use War Lion Stance to return the favour. I'd want to do something other than shout, though; shame you can't flurry anything with a Simple charm.
>>47066173
>Most peasants in Creation have never seen literally any magic
I wouldn't say that. Maybe not Sorcery level magic, but spirits are very common, and so are elementals and, to lesser extent, ghosts and demons. You can literally speak with your dead grandmother if your are living in a Shadowland or nearby. If that's not magic then I don't know what is. There are also First Age and Shogunate remnants, various halfbloods and mutants, Wyld incursions, Raksha meddling, Fate glitches and so on. Exalted is a high magic setting, even tough there probably are backwater villages where the only magic is the local field god appearing once a year to "bless" the crops or something.
>>47065212
If you want to do that, use the rules for starting at Essence 2, which includes 20 charms.
>>47068862
What do you think is the Realm's cultural stance on disability, wether inborn or acquired?
>>47069323
"Can you still contribute? Then contribute."
Slug demonstrates that there's no real special exceptions made, but nor is there any particular discrimination.
>>47061145
Of all the times I've seen that picture, this is literally the first time I've ever noticed the Penguin Boots.
>>47069796
Damn it.
>>47069796
>>47069895
Have you noticed the spider he's sitting on and the octopus at the hip? Those are important for sorcery.
>>47069945
Yeah, I did, which is why I'm surprised I didn't catch the penguins.
>>47068839
>spirits are very common, and so are elementals and, to lesser extent, ghosts and demons
The IDEA that they exist is commonplace. Having actually met any of them is super rare. Your typical peasant prays every week to their local god, who nobody but the town priest has even claimed to have spoken to in decades.
Places where that's not the case are overwhelmingly the exception, and are almost always places of great peril or intense wonderment.
The things you're talking about all exist, and they're easy to run into if you're an Exalt the same way that in the Witcher you run into djinns and dragons and shit that nobody else has every even heard of just by dint of being an exceptional badass who puts their nose where it doesn't belong.
But most people lead extremely mundane lives where these things are rumors and legends, things of superstition and hearsay, not something that they've actually experienced or know about in any kind of objective detail.
>>47071051
The idea that they exist is UNIVERSAL. If there's a mention of a place in Creation where spirits are regarded as superstition, please tell me, 'cause that's hilarious. Meeting one is rare but not really unusual. The IO, for example, is very fond of making spirits manifest during festivals and publicly proclaiming their support. The IO covers a lot of territory.
Anyone got art of assassins disguised as japanese courtesans?
>>47072294
>>47063199
They might not, depending if its dramatic.
And some DBs e.g. Dynasts being the shameless lechers they are, often don't care about strutting their stuff.
>>47063770
Not in the Umineko pornography I actually fap to they're not!
Haha, bigotry!
>>47065406
I have, in fact, been treating them like a checklist.
Why should I give charms more respect in 3e than I did in 2e and think of them as anything more than stepping stones on my journey to craft the Perfect Build For The Character I Want To Play™?
>>47065457
I'm the person who asked the question >>47065212 here, just btw, and was not the one who posted Jackie Chan. I am not particularly taken aback by someone disagreeing with my initial premise.
>>47072827
>I have, in fact, been treating them like a checklist.
You're confused.
The "checklist" comparison is in terms of completionism.
You aren't going to master all of Melee, in Ex3e. You aren't SUPPOSED to master all of Melee. You master the parts of Melee that express your character's particular Melee fighting style (focus on counterattacks, flurries, defense, etc.), and then move on.
Having even 10 or 15 Melee Charms would make you the most terrifying thing you'll ever run into in a campaign, but it does mean that your fighting style isn't "literally anything and everything Melee does," and so if you ran into another Melee master, you wouldn't be clones.
>>47065477
>What sort of things should I aim for with Presence as a supernal?
Worshipful Lackey Acquisition.
Does your character ever considers wether or not he/she is "the bad guy"?
>>47073909
Mine does. I'm the voice of reason in the circle.
>>47073909
I stopped doing that after, while fighting a hit-and-run battle against a Dawn murder machine I'd heavily poisoned yet still otherwise had little chance of finally beating (because he'd already murdered all of my combat Demons), I reestablished concealment and, rather then trying for another surprise attack or backing off for the moment like the ST expected, took on the shape of his childhood friend and lover via Perfect Mirror, pretended to have arrived to rescue him, then used the moment to ambush him with Heart-Ripping Claw.
No use pretending what you are at that point.
>>47073909
Of course she doesn't. Her way is always the right way. How dare you consider that she, the one DESTINED to Rule Creation in its ENTIRETY could ever be wrong. Watch your tongue, peasant. She will have it cut from your head.
>>47073909
"But why SKULLS?"
>>47072702
Sorry, but they are as lesbian as it gets. They are the essence of lesbianism.
I actually tried to stat Lambada and Bernie as high essences Raksha, but then Graceful Wicked Mask. I tried very hard but Graceful Wicked Mask, man. It was me against the monster. I was weak. My body crumbled, my mind shattered before I was able to complete my quest.I need to let it go. It was six years ago man.
>>47074374
>Sorry, but they are as lesbian as it gets. They are the essence of lesbianism.There's a person on the side of this image that's been cropped out, and it ain't a girl.I'd adjust it to "the essence of yuri," in any case, because the essence of lesbianism probably doesn't shave its legs as often as it should.Haha, bigotry!
>but then Graceful Wicked Mask
I used Graceful Wicked Masques to make a Manse out of an Unshaped Raksha once since I had to stat out its Emanations. It was a nightmare both in and out of game, to say the least.
I would almost say that GWM couldn't have done Umineko Witches justice, but honestly, as far as practice goes, it actually fits pretty well, what with Shaping Fantasies and all. Spirit Charms would just be so much simpler, though, even though they'd lose a lot in aesthetic.
>>47074285
>then used the moment to ambush him with Heart-Ripping Claw
Black Claw seems so much fun, I'm tempted to invest in Martial Arts with my future character just for it.It's an Eclipse.
So, what is some good animu for getting in the Exalted mood?
>>47074511
Who thought GWM would be a great idea?
Who thought 'Yes, we have a book with charm trees absolutely nobody understands, using a ton of very, very poorly explained new concepts, with rules for Shaping that don't work and also Raksha Sorcery (!) that is also different from anything else in the setting. That's a great idea. People will love it'.
GWN was my first Exalted book, because I wanted to play a Raksha very hard. You can guess how it went.
>I would almost say that GWM couldn't have done Umineko Witches justice,
It depends a lot of how you consider them. There is much ambiguity in what they are able to do, how they do it, and what it really means.
You could easily stat them as Essence 6 Raksha nobles, all the way up to Essence 10 Unshaped (but still shaped?) Raksha. Or as spirits, too.
I like to think of them as human souls swallowed by the wyld and reborn as high essence Raksha.
>>47074636
Basilisk, Blade of the Immortal, Hokuto No Ken, MOTHERFUCKING NINJA SCROLL to name but a few.
>>47074640
>Who thought GWM would be a great idea?
Say what you will about Holden, but he is often very informative, and in this case his explanation is revelatory:
http://nobilis.me/quotes:secret-history-of-the-raksha
To be honest, I don't think GWM and that presentation of Raksha is an utterly fucking awful thing. I am actually quite fond of Raksha and all of the cool concepts they bring to the setting. But they are indeed dense and their mechanics are annoying to parse, there's no doubt about that.
Incidentally, Raksha Sorcery is honestly pretty pointless since Sorcery was, conceptually speaking, already the "Shape Fantasy" of the Primordials. Hence Raksha being able to replicate the Sorcery of Creation through certain Shaping charms. So it's a bit of a redundant idea.
>It depends a lot of how you consider them. There is much ambiguity in what they are able to do, how they do it, and what it really means.
Yeah, that's very much why I switched my opinion while I was thinking about it. Given the Raksha's general limitations when faced against the rigid form of Shape, I was thinking "well, in practice, they wouldn't be as strong as Lambda and Bern are supposed to be," but then, a lot of the more extreme stuff those two are shown pulling is kind of, eh, frivolous anyway, as most of the last 3 episodes of Umineko are. Bernkastel's attempt to JRPG final boss supernova attack Battler with cosmic cats or whatever fucking stupid shit Ryukishi was writing at the time and him just shrugging it away is basically Raksha Shaping vs. Integrity-Protecting Prana in 2e, so the image actually fits perfectly well. Not to mention, Raksha charms are thematic to the often rather narrative-based powers of the witches.
>>47074511Sauce?
>>47075038
look up "lambdadelta" + "penis" on gelbooru
easiest shit in the world
>>47075078
Thanks
Sell me on Steel Devil style.
So, I would like your input on introducing a Charm from 2e into 3e, the Charm in question being Guarding Star Tactics which can be found on page 150 of the Scroll of Errata. The gist behind it is that it allows you to apply a perfect defense over a remarkably large area. The ST has already approved of the idea of the Charm and has allowed me to use it a couple of times in game but we are still working on the exact cost, restrictions, and precise power of the Charm. For this I come to you.
So, the current version has a cost of 10m, 1wp, 3a and prerequisite Charms of Unassailable Guardian Posture and Protection of Celestial Bliss. A note on the 3a cost, this is committed for the duration of the Charm, you are technically at bonfire but they are tied up and cannot be used on other Charms. They can be released the end the Charm early.
It allows the user to apply their Parry Defense for a large area, if successful, everyone in the area is safe from the attack. Further, the people in the area are protected from attacks that would instantly kill them for the rest of the scene, this could be uncountable scenery damage or if a Death Ray was being used on trivial opponents. Basically the idea is to defend the defenseless, anyone who IS capable of defending themselves and not instantly dying is not protected.
The ST believes that it should be a 1/scene with a reset, which I'm not against, but I believe the committed anima limits it enough. The price is also adjustable if necessary.
>>47075623
yo dawg i herd you like swords. so we gave you a sword, and then another sword, so you can sword while you sword.
>>47075673
Sounds retarded
>>47075673
>>It allows the user to apply their Parry Defense for a large area, if successful, everyone in the area is safe from the attack. Further, the people in the area are protected from attacks that would instantly kill them for the rest of the scene, this could be uncountable scenery damage or if a Death Ray was being used on trivial opponents. Basically the idea is to defend the defenseless, anyone who IS capable of defending themselves and not instantly dying is not protected.
>>47075623
You sexually identify as an attack helicopter, so you take Steel Devil style to become one.
>>47076173
>>47076262
Given, it is outlandish but it did indeed exist in Second Edition, albeit in a different form than it would take in 3rd.
Do you feel it is simply too powerful an effect than should exist in 3E no matter the costs?
I am being serious here.
>>47075673
I get your theme but this is a mess mechanically.
Instead of perfect defenses, try one of the following:
* Can take reflexive defend others actions for everyone in the area. (Isn't there already a charm for this?). This is the best solution imho.
* Add the exalt parry to everyone in the area. This is a more magical solution.
* Burns down incoming attacks but for an area.
>>47076307
I didn't feel it is that much of a mess, much less so than Heavenly Guardian Defense. The basic premise is the same as any perfect defense, defends against one attack specifically then gives protection from scene long uncountable. I chose to make it a non-perfect against the single attack to make it a bit less powerful.
It's meant to be rather outrageous, it would be Essence 5 with pretty heavy prerequisite Charm purchases, and blatantly magical.
How do you think 3E is going to handle supernal-like upgrades for each other splat? A lunar supernal would be a stat and that seems a bit op, but without anything like a supernal they're just worthless compared to solars
>>47076519
I don't expect other splats to get anything comparable.
>>47076519
What I would do is nerfbat the hell out of Lunar charm requirements, combined with Lunars having arbitrary Attribute more often than Solars have arbitrary Ability, allowing Lunars to pick up hella breadth instead.
>>47076519
Supernal is a Solar only mechanic, according to the devs, just like shapeshifting is Lunar's.
>>47061145
This thread edition is relevant to my interests. I'm playing a sorcerer right now with the Pact with an Ifrit Lord shaping ritual who uses Righteous Devil Style, how useful would Flight of the Brilliant Raptor be for me? Would that and Magma Kraken at celestial circle count as form weapons technically since they're flame-based attacks?
Also, what are some fun Terrestrial Circle Workings you've used in the past? Right now I'm trying to think of things to do with workings so any suggestions are appreciated.
>>47076580
So every other splat is going to be boring as shit to play? Good to know
>>47076556
I don't expect other splats ever.
>>47076737
They will all have a unique mechanic. Lunars shapeshift, Sidereals have astrology, Getimians have their yinyang pools, witcher-prometheans get to scavenge bodyparts and have a mortal they have a mystical connection to, etc.
Supernal is Solar's, because that's the biggest expression of them being "the best" at everything.
>>47076737
Gold medal for world-class conclusion-jumping!
>>47076796
OK Holden.
>>47076811
Nottu dissu shittu again.
>>47076794
It sucks that they won't get access to higher level charms.
>>47076794
>>47076796
Essence 1 charms are disgustingly boring at chargen because of supernal. Really they've always been disgustingly boring and thats why people used to start higher essence. Supernal is there to remedy that problem... but only for solars? How is shapeshifting or astrology going to compensate for the fact that all your turns are going to be excellent strike and pass until 100 sessions in?
>>47076811
>>47076848
>>47076794
>>47076737
Judging from the sample they showed of DBs, they at least are getting some sort of reverse supernal where certain aspects access charms earlier than others. Its basically just supernal.
>>47076847
They will, eventually.
>>47076848
The real problem is that we got the "goet real powerful at chargen" splat first, so we have very little appreciation of the normal power growth for exalts. We're spoiled.
Essence gating charms and normal essence growth time are a fundamental design problem in Exalted, vis a vis charm bloat and charm quality.
If your Essence growth is slow, you need enough charms to make advancement within each essence tier fulfilling, leading to charm bloat.
If your Essence growth is fast, the characters grow too powerful unrealistically quickly, and renders lower essence charms undesirable because you have access to more powerful stuff so soon.
Really, I'd rather rework the requirement system to not be Essence based at all, instead adding more Essence scaling in the charms: you have access to buy all the charms at the start, but each charm grows in power as you gain essence.
This would make Ability requirements more important, so I'd make Abilities a bit more expensive.
I wish the guy who wrote up the Infernal homebrew hadn't gotten writer's block.
>>47076941
In cases where Essence scaling is inapplicable in how strong the effect is, Essence levels would reduce the cost of the charm or I introduce a roll to get the charm to activate, which gets easier/is removed at higher Essence.
How is this shit drivethruprg's best seller?
>>47076987
All the KS backers collecting their PDF copies are counted as sales by DTRPG.
>>47076987
Niche.
Exalted has half-decent mechanics for starting at epic-level play out of the gate, it has a world populated by humans only rather than standard elf/dwarf/orc or thinly veiled standard eldar/abhuman/orkenkork, and it's gay as hell. Those add up to produce a devoted fanbase with no competition for anything similar except possibly other white wolf products.
>>47077009
>humans only
All the art shows tons of beastmen and fae and monsters and a lot of the humans in the setting are mutated.
>>47077028
I'm not making a technical distinction argument, I'm making a niche perception argument. Look at most fantasy settings and there will probably be an Elfhome/Elfforest/Elfland/Elfworld/Elfdimension/Elfboard/Elfwhateverthefuck taking up some large chunk of the map. Exalted doesn't have one.
If you want to say that the mongol expies or whatever are basically non-fantasy human-elves, go you, but the point is that Exalted carves out its "space" by billing itself as a human-centric fantasy, where the PHB-equivalent takes "human" for granted and lacks a Races chapter.
>>47076999
That is a horrible way to count them. No wonder.
>>47077136
yeah its horrible to count people who bought the pdf as actual sales.
>>47077226
They paid to design the pdf and were given a copy. Its entirely different.
>>47077236
nope. when you funded the kickstarter it said you were paying for the pdf. ltr.
>>47076796
History has taught us that Lunars are fated to get the short end of the stick every edition.
>>47061145
MAGMA KRAKEN.
What does an Immaculate monk answer when asked where demons come from?
>>47077348
Malfeas/Hell. Am I missing something obvious?
>>47077296
Yeah, the intro comic pretty much supports that this is also true for 3rd Ed.
>>47077358
Yes, but what is the Immaculate explanation of what Malfeas/Hell is?
>>47077401
its where demons come from
>>47077401
Evil beings who ruled in the world in the past and were overthrown by the Elemental Dragons.
Basically, a lie that's close enough to the truth to fool most people.
>>47076730
>I'm playing a sorcerer right now with the Pact with an Ifrit Lord shaping ritual who uses Righteous Devil Style, how useful would Flight of the Brilliant Raptor be for me?
Pretty useful. If you take the ritual that lets you draw motes from fires, the Flight of the Burning Raptor generates fires from which you can draw motes - if its your control spell it doesn't even put them out.
If you get the merit Suzerain of Endless Fire, attached to that ritual, it drops the motes cost for Burning Raptor/Magma Kraken (and the willpower cost if its control).
If you get the Unburnt Majesty merit, you can Burning Raptor people in close range, and just tank the bonfire with a good chance of success, if you've got good stam+resistance.
>Would that and Magma Kraken at celestial circle count as form weapons technically since they're flame-based attacks?
Nope. They're not weapons. Neither is the merit that lets you throw fireballs.
>>47077622
>Neither is the merit that lets you throw fireballs.
> and can also use it as an attack, rolling (Intelligence + Occult) to direct the flames, which are treated as a light mundane weapon with the lethal, thrown (short), and mounted tags.
>treated as a light mundane weapon
You're right about the spells though.
>>47077684
>rolling (Intelligence + Occult)
Don't see how that can combine with Martial Arts.
>>47077747
You'd have to roll Intelligence + Martial Arts (Righteous Devil Style) to use it with Martial Arts. Though I personally prefer the idea Vance proposed of Perception for attack and Intelligence for damage.
>>47077466
I mean more Malfeas/Hell itself.
>>47077791
Making Perception a general attack stat might have helped with the god-stat problem in general.
>>47077622
Alright then. Here's my question though, how viable is it to actually use FotBR in a fight? I mean, it's take probably 2 rounds assuming I roll okay with 4 Intelligence and 5 Occult, and it still resets me back to base initiative if it hits, so is it really worth it when I can just draw those fire motes from my firewand or Burning Name if I need to?
>>47078275
It all depends on how much you want to focus on it.
If you take Suzerain of Endless Fire, and max out your willpower, you can probably get it off in one round (int + occult, full excellency, specialty, sorcerous motes from ritual, discount from suzerein, etc). And it adds your willpower to its decisive damage. If you max your willpower track, that's 13 decisive dice from base. That'll ruin anyone's day. AND if it deals at least 3 levels of damage, it ignites into a bonfire, which does another 4 dice of damage at the end of the round if they can't get out of it - which they probably can't, because it usually takes 2 rounds to move that far.
I mean, you can take it even further, if you like. Max out dodge (for opposing disengage actions) and resistance, take Unburnt Majesty, and then you can pin people down in the fire, while remaining unhurt yourself.
And/or buy into Integrity for Spirit-Tempering Practice, to boost your Willpower with an indefinite, cap-breaking, +1 per scene, which'll let you charge up your Raptors to insane numbers.
>>47077849
The Elemental Dragons put them there. Stop asking you heretic.
>>47076730
>Also, what are some fun Terrestrial Circle Workings you've used in the past?
I usually just jump straight to Celestial Workings, even as a Terrestrial Circle Sorcerer. Eating the Finesse and XP penalty isn't such a bitter pill to swallow.
I'm fairly sure Exalted has no chance die mechanic like nWoD does. What happens if penalties reduce your dice pool to 0? Do you just auto-fail? Can't find a specific answer in the 3rd Ed rulebook.
>>47067965
>Since Favor-Conferring Prana doesn't work on a character who is already at peak mortal, that Parry of 9 is only accessible when the Presence-user is constantly shouting at them.
Incorrect. Favour-Conferring Prana merely states that "The subject’s Attribute and Ability ratings may not be increased past five with this Charm"
Defence is neither an Ability nor an Attribute, and the Defence boost boosts Defence directly, bypassing Attributes and Abilities completely. The only limitation is that Raising Defence past 7 counts as Charm dice.
Sorry for the late reply, but I was away from my books and wanted to confirm.
>>47079870
>I'm fairly sure Exalted has no chance die mechanic like nWoD does.
Correct.
>What happens if penalties reduce your dice pool to 0?
You roll all 0 of your dice and get your 0 successes. It's not a Dramatic Failure like in nWoD, but it does just fail outright.
Mind you, the number of cases where that can actually happen are staggeringly rare. The most common situation to get something zeroed out would be one of your static Defense scores, like Parry, getting slammed down with Onslaught.
Quick Question. How do you judge how big a penalty a certain environment causes? Like, what's the penalty to combat for wading through waist-deep mud or snow, or fighting in a sandstorm or something like that?
>>47079948
It's pretty clearly not the intent of the charm though.
>>47062104
>pc plans
>>47080142
Well then the devs should have worded it better and not used natural language.
>>47080337
It only matters in games with bad STs though. I'm mostly grateful I don't have to play with people online.
Can someone post a picture of the actual book? Trying to explain to a friend how fucking fat this book is.
>>47080142
Eh, I think it is. The Defence boost is inherently capped by the charm dice while the attribute/ability boost isn't, so it makes sense to give the latter a cap too.
>>47080398
Not my picture (it's from a previous thread), but here.
>>47080530
>someone at some table is actually going to get bludgeoned to death with the core book
>>47080555
They have to buy the Martial Arts merit first
>>47080581
Nah, improvised weapons can use Brawl
>>47080555
Or they could make the offending person eat it.
>>47076301
I have something similar as an evocation on one of my artifacts. It has the same cost of 10m, 1wp as HGD does, is an Essence 3 evocation and requires I have a major city state under my control. It will stop uncountable area damage just like heavenly guardian defense, but to cast aside large area damage that is countable like a hazard or the like, I have to pay the initiative out of my own pool. That's how my ST handled it, but mine might be working with us a little more. The sword was all about GROUP POWEEEEER
>>47076828
O'Malley is a mediocre artist and a poor writer.
>>47077849
I'd reckon it depends on the Immaculate monk. A portion are simply not cerebral or experienced enough to answer that question in any great detail beyond the tautology described in >>47077449, >>47077466, and >>47079794. These include those Dynasts who did not become Immaculate monks by choice or are otherwise new to the role. This is the stupid grunt answer.
Still other monks, the more dedicated and/or experienced, will directly quote Immaculate Scripture regarding the topic and use that as their description of the nature of demons and Malfeas. This will be a cloudy reflection of the truth shrouded in prose and allegory. They can name the names of demons and may know their descriptions from the Immaculate texts (if the Demon is described at all and not just noted as something involved in a given scripture), but unless they've encountered a demon for themselves, this is like speaking of an asura in the Vedic texts, youkai in Japanese myth, Christian demons in the Bible, that sort of thing. Probably, they will not discern the Yozi as individual entities, but regions of an alternate plane similar to and opposite of Heaven, with different demons coming from different regions. They will know the scripture and can quote it, but may not know how to interpret it entirely.
A third category, often overlapping with the second, will be more monastery monks in a sort of Aquinas role of discerning the sacred texts, including core scriptures and apocrypha, and therein developing metaphysics. These monks will often be sorcerers whose role in the Immaculate Order is dependent on actually knowing how spirits and demons work, so a deeper, less ambiguous understanding is necessary. In some cases, they may even have learned at the Heptagram in the past. Those among these are sorts of Monks may be able to note such details as the fact that the Yozi are individual entities as well as vague notions that Demons are interconnected in a soul hierarchy.
>>47081536
As I recall, being accepted in the Order isn't easy, and everyone goes through a rigorous training before becoming a full-fledged monk. I'd assume almost all monks are in your second category.
Last thread or two ago I saw a post saying something about "tearing secrets from the screaming minds of dead Titans" while discussing necromancy with another anon, and didn't really have any interest in that when I saw it, but now I do. What would that entail? Would that be detailed in the White and Black Treatise?
>>47076871
As the anon who started saying "Ok Holden," I approve of this Reductio Ad Nazium.
#biwinning
>>47077078
I had no idea Golarion was a complete ripoff of Forgotten Realms until now.
Mostly because I never gave a shit but that...that is Steve Jobsian shit.
>>47081536
That, with the added fact that if you are sorcerer, you need to understand how it works, and you need to understand it really well. Sorcerers will often quote the vernacular name of a demon and be able to understand what, who, in which case, and what for. They will absolutely understand the soul hierarchy, if only because it is such an important part of understanding demons. They won't know all yozi, nor even more than one or two, but the one or two yozi they know they'll know them really well.
You can't be a sorcerer and a moron. Moron sorcerers die.
Immaculate Order mortal sorcerers should be incredibly rare, exactly because this kind of knowledge is really frowned upon for monks. DB sorcerers are often not Immaculate. Immaculates almost never becomes sorcerers.
>>47081916
It is worse.
Each of these area is in their own books, generally an adventure path, and as such they try to inspire a defined, self-contained thematic.
So one country has space robots, laser guns, and space plane. Twenty feet from its border there is a country that is elvenland with bows and arrows. Twenty feet from elvenland there is 1900's Russia with witches and guns, and twenty feet from not!Russia you get a demon motherland.
I have never seen a setting so disjointed. Even Forgotten Realm had some measure of logic and coherence. Here it is like Disneyland on crack.
>>47082072
...so Exalted?
>>47082139
Exalted's setting is pretty coherent as a whole, despite the variety between different parts of Creation. Exalted's devs have borrowed from various sources and thrown in plenty of stuff just because it's cool, but they've generally out some thought into how it all fits together. So no, it's not really like Exalted.
>>47082072
There is no 1900s Russia land, it was a dimensional hop as "earth" exists in golarion setting.
>>47082180
Steampunk Samurailand and Tundra Barbarians and Actual Literal Space Robots, oh my.
Yep. Those are totally different.
>>47082228
First of all, the point was about how it all fits together, not about whether individual parts of Golarion resemble those of Exalted. Secondly, by "Steampunk Samurailand" I assume you meant Lookshy, which is really not steampunk and only kind of samurailand.
>>47082288
Ok Holden
How rigid is the Exaltation on picking souls?
Do they have to be completely human, or could there be extra stuff from Workings etc?
>>47082424
Solar Exaltation that is, I guess.
>>47082139
Are you serious?
Exalted is certainly a deep setting, with a lot of themes going on. But in Exalted there is thoughts as to why some countries have some level of technology and not the other. The economic is sound. Nations actually trade together, unless they really can't because they are too far away. Like in real life, some nations have a surplus of goods and some others a deficit.
It is incredibly coherent. I could write a 5000 words essay on why a particular country has no access to magical planes while the Blessed Isle has. The politics of the Scavenger Lands are an intricate and well thought web.
In Golarion, there is no trade between nations. The technological disparity has no reason to exist. The magical disparity is ridiculous. Nations don't interact with each other, even though they are literally touching.
>>47080036
Try to bear in mind what an ordinary person is going to find difficult or impossible and scale from there.
Running on sand is harder than running on tarmac, but I can do it and I'm posting on a board that isn't /fit/; -1 penalty.
Fighting effectively while waist-deep in something sounds like it'd be possible for someone with proper training but not for an ordinary person; -3 penalty.
A violent sandstorm might incapacitate anyone short of a master; -5 or higher.
>>47082424
Exaltations always pick mortals. There's a certain amount of fanrage about the idea of one exaltation overriding another (like that one dragonblood who became a Solar in the fiction anthology everyone hates), but as long as the target didn't have an essence pool they're canonically valid. PCs can be Wyld mutants, or ex-cultists in thrall to a sorcerer-king, or the daughter of three women stitched together by a Neomah who just naturally has four arms and is seven feet tall. (Some day I will play the Ultra Lesbian. Some day.)
>>47082424
>>47082471
It has a rather broad definition. Beast-folk, Ghost-blooded, Fae-blooded, and so on are all eligible because they're all partly human. Basically, if you take a human and slap on mutations willy-nilly, you'll still have a character that qualifies.
>>47082474
Ok Holden.
But the difference here is just that Golarion players don't bother making up justifications in essay form.
>>47082474
Also don't forget that Golarion technically is unfinished.
I actually kind of think Tian Xia is more coherent than the main continent.
>>47082579
>I like to be stupid :^)
Ok holden.
>>47082580
Well, like many, many things in Pathfinder, it seems to be written by people who have absolutely no idea how to write a RPG or a setting. Ask /exg/ sometimes. They have stories.
Golarion's goal is to be the ultimate fantasy kitchen sink. There is absolutely no goal of historical coherence, technological coherence or political coherence. It is made so that you can run a game in the Elvenland and then jump into your magical space ship and goes to not-mercury to fight giant robots. Its number one rule is 'try not to think too hard about it'.
In Exalted, Autochtonia breaking into Creation is a Big think, impacting the setting as a whole and changing the face of Creation durably. Golarion has a dozen Autochtonia breaking into medieval France and nobody bats an eyeleash.
I don't dislike Golarion however. I sure like to be able to just remove my brain and play any adventure in any format.
So what kind of cool things can you create with craft and sorcerous workings?
>>47082721
I know my Sorcerer Princess has made the rather large forest near her fledgling city always guide people lost in said forest safely to her city. She has grand plans to make a type of fountain of youth in the center of her grand city next to the Solar aspected manse she has there, as well as changing how reincarnation works in that city, so that the dead may be changed into spirits akin to 1st circle demons in power. She also has an idea to make waygates to far off locations she's conquered that stop those with harmful intent on her, her cities, or her people that move through the gate. Supernatural threats are planned to be significantly weakened by their travel for a time at least. I think that's all i've had thusfar...
>>47082579
It's more about the justifications made up by the devs of these games. These justifications, along with other stuff made up by the devs and writers, are what make up the setting, so it's kind of a big difference.
>>47082993
>>47078951
>And/or buy into Integrity for Spirit-Tempering Practice, to boost your Willpower with an indefinite, cap-breaking, +1 per scene, which'll let you charge up your Raptors to insane numbers.
Only to a maximum of 10.
Why do you have to have a dot in brawl to get martial arts if the only martial art you want doesn't work with unarmed?
>>47083556
You have to learn how to fist before you can learn to fist-sword
>>47083556
Because shit makes no sense.
>>47083556
Because most of them do, and MA initiation is all-or-nothing.
>>47083597
you think a limited initiation merit that requires, say, melee, archery, or brawl 2 and only opens one MA, but costs 2 dots instead of 4 would be balanced?
>>47083725
Sounds fine.
Here's what I did, personally, but I'm the type to tinker:
1) Anyone can take dots in Styles, merit or no merit. This does let you deal lethal damage with an unarmed attack, or whatever other "innate" powers the Style has.
2) Anyone who wants to buy Charms in the Style has to buy one of the two merits below.
[Style] Initiate (2 dots): You can now buy Charms in [Style], but no others.
Master of Many Styles (4 dots, requires 4 dots among at least two Styles): You can now buy Charms in all Styles, and get a cost-break for each style you've mastered (I think it was 1XP per dot and 2XP per Charm to a minimum of 1XP and 2XP each, for each previous style mastered; and ofc applied retroactively).
The latter is mostly for Supernal MA Dawns and other dedicated artists, the former is mostly for people who want to pick up one style.
>>47083556
You only have to have a dot in it if it's a favored.
A Dawn can take it as his caste ability and leave it at 0.
>Kingdoms of mortals
>No Exalted around.
>Suddenly enters a unbound Second Circle the kingdom.
Could the mortals defend itself?
>>47083817
No, he's talking about the martial artist merit, which does indeed require a dot of Brawl.
>>47083818
Depends, actual mortals or do you have some godbloods / sorcerers / etc.?
Why the fuck didn't the Siddies intervene?
>>47083818
For certain values of "defend."
If they can get the demon into a context where its primary focus doesn't apply (e.g. challenging Octavian to a dance battle or getting Mara into an open brawl) they can win about as well as they could win against an Exalt in a similar position, which means it'll still require numbers (real numbers; 5 heroic individuals with attitude, not people who'd glob into a battle group), some advantages on their side (poison, terrain, ambush, etc.), and some luck.
>>47083818
Depends on the 2CD. Some aren't all that combat capable, like, not something a single mortal could defeat but something a kingdom of mortals could deal with in a direct conflict. Of course, 2CDs like that are generally dangerous and formidable in ways that have nothing to do with direct applications of violence. Some 2CDs can also be dealt with relatively peacefully. Makarios, for instance, probably wouldn't fuck shit up even if released into the Creation unbound.
What the fuck is an ifrit Lord?
>>47083906
A really badass kind of elemental.
>>47083906
An ifrit who is also a lord. An ifrit, an particular kind of fire elemental, of particular power and influence.
>>47083899
>Makarios, for instance, probably wouldn't fuck shit up even if released into the Creation unbound.
Well, I wouldn't want to be a merchant within 200 miles of that event, but otherwise yeah, this.
It just struck me how the Wyld is practically going to start early at the edges of 3e's Creation. 3e's Creation is ringed with Celestial Exalted who have lots of time to pick up sorcery if/when they want, and who give no fucks what polite society thinks of them. Sure, the Blessed Isle has more sorcerers by sheer numbers, but they're weaker, not to mention _licensed_, can't personally own large kingdoms, live for a shorter time, and generally can't mess about with everything they feel like. The Lunars, OTOH...
Large swathes of the Outer Rim are probably going to be Sorcerously Worked into near unrecognizability "because I can", and many of the Lunars might have accumulated over time buffs and changes of the Celestial Ambition 1 sort or lower out the wazoo, e.g.
> Bless a region to enhance its natural properties, causing a field to always deliver a bountiful harvest or a freshwater river to always run clean. Create a completely new but mundane form of life, or breed a specimen of an existing species with a minor supernatural power that augments its strongest traits. Place a curse on a small region in a way that diminishes, warps, or blights its mundane aspects such as flora, fauna, or natural resources, making it all but impossible to make a livelihood off the cursed land. Create a rift between two realms of existence that allows communication, possession, or similar forms of limited interaction, but not actual transportation.
> Create a sorcerous bond between two characters that allows them to mentally communicate at any distance, or bestow a similarly useful but limited supernatural blessing. Create persistent illusions that haunt a structure or town-sized region. Invite an unbound Second Circle demon into Creation in a ritual that culminates on the night of the new moon. Transform a chamber so that its interior emulates the environment of any natural terrain within Creation. Ward a chamber or structure against all intruders with magical traps or barriers.
>>47083876
Human wave tactics genuinely could wear down a combat-oriented 2CD like Octavian eventually, although the casualties would be monstrous. The real difficulty there is that Octavian, like all demons, can just dematerialize if he's not doing well. Without a way to supernaturally lock a demon in place, they can NOPE out of any situation as long as they have a quarter of their total motes ready.
And then you get into the issue that even if you bait Octavian into a situation where he can die, all demons above the first circle reform after death. Now he knows whatever trick you tried and has a grudge.
Pure mortals, no magic available, are going to surrender against that sort of invincibility.
>>47083985
Let's imagine what could be done.
Stats: Suppose you're a 100-year-old Lunar who wants to do this at Finesse 3 so it functions smoothly. You have Intelligence 6 because Intelligence is your primary, Occult 4 because you didn't really consider it that important when you could mentally bruteforce through problems, and no relevant specialty. The excellency can be taken for granted since it's once a week, putting you at 16 dice. Supposing intermittent 1pt stunts (lowballing!) that's an extra 2 excellency dice, 2 stunt dice on half the rolls. Average 18 dice, so 6 successes accumulated towards the goal every roll. Ambition 1 Celestial needs 25 successes on a terminus of 5 rolls - quite reliable.
If you want to be on the safe side or raise the Finesse, let's consider Means: You likely have a Complementary Ability (or might it be Attribute for Lunars?) since you have sprawling dots everywhere after 100 years of age. Likewise you have some Exotic Components you've hoarded over that time, or perhaps traded for a large supply of stuff for one specific Working you want to repeat. Let's ignore Sorcerous Infrastructure, though, and suppose you can't drag in your sorcerous friend for Cooperation every damn time. That's a terminus of 7, so possible Finesse 5, especially if after the first few times of doing the same working the ST lets you claim "well practiced at this one" as an 8th Means.
What does this add up to?
It's not hard for Kitsune-Kimmy the Loquacious Lunar to be in telepathic contact with all the elders of the Silver Pact. It takes her six weeks to set up the link with a new one, which she probably doesn't have to do more than once or twice a year. (And 2xp refunded on target's death.)
Now imagine one Solar Working added on top: "I can work as a passive silent channel for anyone I'm telepathically bonded to", linking the entire Elderhood of the Silver Pact so any two can talk to each other without needing Kimmy to pass messages.
>>47083921
I FRIT
Ifrit resemble tall, handsome desert nomads, reach-
ing up to eight feet in height, with smooth foreheads
and noble noses—save only for their incandescent skin.
The skin of the ifrit glows with an orange light, visible
for miles at night. By nearly everyone they meet, the
ifrit are prized. They make excellent warriors, diplomats
and generals. They are virtuous, honorable and hon-
est. Unfortunately, that they sided quickly with the
Dragon-Blooded during the Usurpation lent the ifrit an
undeserved reputation for treachery in Yu-Shan—while
once ifrit and garda birds visited Heaven together, now
the gardas go alone and the ifrit aren’t welcome.
Ifrit are incredibly proud. An ifrit who chooses to
become an ascetic must go through the worst priva-
tion and offer the sagest, most impenetrable insights.
A diplomat-ifrit must be renowned for its wise and
evenhanded compromises. A warrior-ifrit will seize
every opportunity to demonstrate bravery and mercy.
An ifrit who feels no mortal respect for its character
will be unhappy—even if it claims all it wants to do is
sit meditating on a 50-foot column, alone and uninter-
rupted. Thus, ifrit dislike being around other ifrit and
enjoy granting favors to suitably humble petitioners:
a lone ifrit will often go unchallenged as a city’s most
upstanding citizen.
From 2e.
>>47084060
>Without a way to supernaturally lock a demon in place, they can NOPE out of any situation as long as they have a quarter of their total motes ready.
Grappling helps. Just devote some of your heroic casualities to making sure two or more people are grappling and restraining octavian at all times.
Which--actually, conveniently shuts down his normal action, meaning he's dramatically reduced in offense capability too.
>>47084079
Ifrit excel at nearly everything. Their aspect is
inspiring and intimidating, and their commands form
hot words that cannot be challenged. Elemental courts
welcome ifrit gladly, and quickly elevate them to high
positions. Even the Terrestrial courts, which normally
treat elementals disdainfully, sometimes receive ifrit
with respect and request their help with thorny issues.
Ifrit don’t often settle down, but one might commit
itself to a cause or region that’s having a great many
problems. This can be a curse in disguise, for when these
elementals dedicate themselves to something, they are
more likely to feel stress over its shortcomings—and
their tempers can be fiery indeed.
It’s not unusual for ifrit to take flame ducks (see
pp. 116-117) as consorts, and the South has more than
a few ifrit-flame duck teams.
Flame ducks are fun too. Much less furry than you might expect.
Summoning: An ifrit will warm somewhat to a sorcerer
who gives it interesting and challenging assignments
(thus, ifrit make good Hunters), particularly if the
summoner is polite. Nothing insults an ifrit so much as
being called to do something easy, such as guarding an
unthreatened front door for show or carrying written
messages like a street urchin. These elementals would
never whine or seek their own revenge, but an ifrit
bound to demeaning purpose will later drop complaints
in powerful, well-chosen ears.
They're essence 4 in 2e, which sort of means you can't summon/create them in 3e. Personally, I'd drop that but also imagine that a newly minted Ifrit isn't going to have the personal experience of an established one. Summon demons if you want advisors or experts, but these guys should do if you want someone you can train as a bodyguard or form a battle group from.
>>47084107
Does grappling prevent simple actions? That's what dematerializing is.
>>47084140
Restrain/Drag actions do, yeah. Regular grappling doesn't.
>>47083985
>3e's Creation is ringed with Celestial Exalted who have lots of time to pick up sorcery if/when they want
That's PC thinking. Becoming a sorcerer is hard and not everyone can make it just because they are an Exalted.
>>47084155
Restrain/drag consumes two rounds of control and can't be used against an opponent who won the control roll. Good luck trying to use that action against Octavian as as a mortal.
>>47084241
>PC thinking
First, these are Exalts we're discussing here, not mortals. Exalts are supposed to function on a high degree of PC thinking. They're usually picked for world-shaking ambition in the first place. If they wanted a quiet life they probably wouldn't have gotten the Exaltation; if they once did, they don't even anymore because Essence Fever.
Moreover, "sorcerous workings" are a giant fucking heap of stuff comprising so many alterations to the world that I expect a lot of Lunars will either random-walk their way into eventually getting it over the course of a century if it's the only way of doing such, or if it's not the only way they're going to have/invent Charms for duplicating it and my point about worked-as-hell regions stands.
Finally, it only takes one gossip to set up Lunar-MSN and put the elders all in communication. I'm not saying they're all sorcerers/workers/whatever. I'm saying that if (for example) there's twenty Sorcerous-Working Lunar Elders out of several hundred Lunars, and a SWLE is mostly doing other stuff but Working something for an average of one week in ten, that's nonetheless 2000 workings performed over a century. Spitball your own figure of how many of those are on the Lunar or something else breakable, and how many are on the land or otherwise going to stick around.
Hello all, sheet guy here again. I have been tinkering with it and made some changes.
Most notably there is now a split between Chargen Merits and Play Merits, the big difference is Story merits aren't counted as XP if you get them during play.
Thoughts on how many spaces I gave for each, did I leave enough for one or the other?
Second, I have been trying to make a clear legend/key for the color coding system that was probably unnecessary but was fun for me to make, if you guys could view it on the Charms tab and see if it is clear with what I am trying to get across. I already know how the system works so that colors my perception of what is understandable.
As always, thank you for your contributions.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pfjmZKzcUqAX9mB58IAEUIFkZr8rq4CvdRRM4kzwwgU/edit?usp=sharing
>>47083985
>>47084066
>>47084519
This right here is one of the reasons I don't like the idea that sorcerous workings are irreversible. If Creation was ruled for thousands of years by hundreds of assholes initiated into adamant sorcery, why is it still recognizably Creation? Why aren't there entire sections of the near Threshold where your personal gravity points wherever you're looking and a good sneeze can plaster yourself across the nearest mountain?
>>47084519
Established lore-wise (i.e. the way it worked in 2e, and only probably still true), the No Moons like to keep Sorcery as their thing. They don't train the other castes unless they're particularly exceptional. Celestial Sorcery is definitely something they prefer to keep to themselves; they don't trust Lunars in general with 2CDs, in particular.
None of that is saying that you can't play a sorcerer Full Moon, but that's the difference between an exceptional PC and typical Lunar society. And Lunars do have an established society; you've got no peers to get along with or disgrace if you're a Solar, but Lunars are much less isolated. Lunar society doesn't lend itself to every Lunar being taught sorcery.
>>47084519
>Lunar-MSN
All I can think of this is LotR-Palantir, particularly the way they're presented in the films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBMiyEzOJmI
Put more directly, Lunar elders would never set up a system of sorcerous communication when they remember what Sidereals are.
>>47084984
Not to mention, Infallible Messenger's been a thing since 1e.
>>47084944
They're not irreversible, they "cannot be countered or distorted". That's referring to the Countermagic and Distortion actions. You can still undo or destroy a working, you just can't Jace Bellend it out of existence.
If someone blesses a field to grow more crops or creates a new species of bird, you can set that on fire and the working is gone. Sapphire circle, permanent portal between Creation and Hell or give fortifications "a measure of resilience to supernatural powers"; the second one spells out that it's smashable, just harder to smash. Even floating cities such are going to have lodestones or mystic runes or something that means they can be wiped out by a sufficiently determined dude with a hammer. The game doesn't have rules for that, because the Sorcerous Working system is designed to be flexible enough to encompass any big magic ritual concept, but even Finesse 5 isn't going to create free-standing untouchable magical patterns that can never be changed by anything unless the GM says so.
Also,
>If Creation was ruled for thousands of years by hundreds of assholes initiated into adamant sorcery, why is it still recognizably Creation?
The Usurpation. Specifically to stop this stuff from going too far.
>>47084944
>If Creation was ruled for thousands of years by hundreds of assholes initiated into adamant sorcery, why is it still recognizably Creation?
Creation's huge. Also, Creation's a magical place, more weird places are positive in my opinion
>>47084060
How bad would be an angry Octavian? I do not know much about this guy.
>>47085570
Octavian is the embodiment of "nigga you dead"
Pissing him off is ill-advised
>>47084944
"Recognizably Creation" is a magical realm in the first place where one-third of the population is queer and magical contraceptives and abortifacients with no side effects grow on trees and evolution doesn't exist. If it has a couple of extra flying cities and fields that can be harvested five times a year and cursed mountains where everyone takes care to always look down at the ground, this is arguably less change to the human condition.
>>47085570
Put it this way: Octavian commands more territory, as a Second Circle Demon, than many THIRD Circle Demons, who are an order of magnitude more powerful than him.
He is a living, breathing, engine of war. It's not that different from picking a fight with a Dawn caste Solar, so far as a mortal kingdom would be concerned.
>>47085698
Yeah, Octavian punches above his weight. He's very strong, but more importantly he's intelligent with it. Not convoluted or Machiavellian (Major Principle: “Strategy and cunning are no match for brute force.”), but a competent enough administrator and tactician to do the Scarlet Empress thing and actually KEEP what he conquers.
It's crazy to me that a guy who controls a quarter of a layer of Hell is just one of the options for a summoner to take as a servant for a year and a day. Exalted.
>>47084845
Why not just say what the colors mean?
>>47086252
Oh, you do. Nevermind then.
Is there a guide to appropriate power level of non weapon artifacts?
>>47086401
Only the baseline provided by the existing artifacts. What did you have in mind?
>>47086512
Boots that can walk on any surface.
>>47086676
2 dots seems fine, unless "any surface" includes "the air," in which case 3 dots.
Similarly if the boots actually provide protection against the surface (e.g. walking on lava) they should be 3 dots.
>>47086729
Thanks any Idea what should be needed to craft them?
>>47083393
Why 10?
Kung Fu-ssars. Yay or nay?
>>47079870
Can't remember the exact reference, but I thought Exalts couldn't have their pools reduced below 0. (Mortals just suck it up as described)
>>47086773
Well, if you're crafting them and your ST wants you hunting for materials try something air aspected, maybe get the blessing of an air elemental or the like. Feathers of a very rare bird, maybe even a garda bird. Depends what you're after to make them function as listed.
>>47086812
If it was a 2 dot artifact that just let you walk up solid walls do you think I would need any of the magic materials like jade or would just some rare materials like a Spider gods webbing would be good enough? Or do all Artifacts require one of the 5 magic materials?
>>47086931
No, the magical materials aren't required, for any artifact. You could totally have a 5-dot artifact that's made entirely out of regular-ass iron, if it fit the themes and you had suitable exotic ingredients that went into it otherwise.
(And yes, it'd be just as indestructible as any other artifact.)
>>47086931
Usually artifacts use one of the 5 materials, but there are exceptions. Basically just talk to your ST. I myself use logic in such situations, if I think it's good enough I let it go.
How exactly does Stalking Wolf Attitude work? Are you supposed to use it only in combat, or out of combat as well? Each time you roll Stealth, is it a contested roll against the target's (Perception+Awareness)?
