Dice Exalted 3E - Tale of a Falling Empire OOC

[Rykon]

I made an IC post for this first, but I'm thinking (other than the current plans to sway the people), we can try and win over the local gods through prayer/sacrifice, see if we can summon some spirits of a sort to engage in guerilla warfare, and research opportunities to increase supplies/troops...

Only so much one person can do, but I'm happy to throw dice at whatever you guys think will improve the odds.

 

[Random Word]

Second, we know our opponent has access to at least one sorcerer.

I must have missed something, or forgotten it. How do we know that again?

 

[Rykon]

Kirito reported that sorcery was speeding their travel if I recall correctly.

Edit: After reviewing prior posts, it was vaguely hinted they could have a "sorcerer or two" and that some sort of magic was accelerating their pace. So I may be getting things twisted. Either way, I think it safer to be prepared for it just in case, since the testimony in and of itself made it sound likely we'd have to deal with one.

 

[D. Rex]

Even if we had no clues, assuming the enemies have sorcery at their hands would be smart. These are anathema we are talking about, we can't be too careful.

And if we prepare. And they end up not having sorcerers, then we have gained that much of an edge.

 

[D. Rex]

All of this Exalted and planning always makes me want to make a new char.

Already have my next new Solar figured out (save for having to write their book of a story without overloading my CS).

 

[Rykon]

I've still got ideas for that first age/war strider game on the back burner. Alternatively, I could always plan a different game for something closer to baseline character creation. I've still got a lot to learn about worldbuilding though, among other things.

 

[D. Rex]

I've still got ideas for that first age/war strider game on the back burner. Alternatively, I could always plan a different game for something closer to baseline character creation. I've still got a lot to learn about worldbuilding though, among other things.

Well if i learned anything from my attempts and failures, it never hurts to start small to get a good feel for things.

A baseline could give give you the prelude you need to start world building. With an adventure being easy, you can use it to flesh out a world, and then build on that to a sequel game that involves warring striders.




Or... as thematically appropriate for exalted.... dive into the deep end and conquer everything by power and force of will.

 

[Random Word]

I've still got a lot to learn about worldbuilding though, among other things

What do you have to learn about worldbuilding?

 

[Rykon]

What do you have to learn about worldbuilding?

Mostly things that come with practice, I think. I can manage pacing and reacting to character decisions well enough for a sandbox style experience, but I've never quite been satisfied with how I've handled the worlds and the npcs in them for the games I've ran before. I've only tried being ST a handful of times after all.

 

[Rykon]

I think I've reached a decision on what to declare, assuming it's approved.

jaydude
Assuming Manato uses Flawless Study Focus to gain a Lore specialty in Kandara, I'd like to not only declare the existence of a nearby Orichalcum mine with a fully manned fortress, but I'd also like to use Confluence of Savant thought to declare that the Satrapy has an existing mutual defense pact with the mine that was put into place by the Empress' ministers that oversee it (I presume the All-Seeing Eye or some division of the Thousand Scales) and a previous Satrap prior to the Empress' disappearance.

In short, they'd have an official obligation to commit some support to defend Kandara, though obviously they can't empty the garrison and leave the mine completely unguarded. Were I to define the mine alone, they'd have no obligation to part with any troops or assets. More like we'd be falling back to bunker down with them.

I will note: ordinarily, a character can only define one fact in a scene. I would argue that Confluence of Savant Thought could circumvent that as the fact is entirely created by activating the charm. If that's permitted, obviously the charm too would be limited to once per scene.

Does this sound reasonable?

EDIT: I was leaning toward All-Seeing Eye out of reflex, but wasn't quite sure that this would be in their purview. I've been mostly ignorant of that faction up to this point. Apparently, their whole thing is being the architects behind anti-anathema operations. Almost like it's an unofficially organized yet blatant support structure to serve the Bronze Faction agenda. Someone among their ranks is almost certainly an agent of the All-Seeing Eye. Whether or not our group would recognize it at first is a different matter.

 

[jaydude]

I think I've reached a decision on what to declare, assuming it's approved.

jaydude
Assuming Manato uses Flawless Study Focus to gain a Lore specialty in Kandara, I'd like to not only declare the existence of a nearby Orichalcum mine with a fully manned fortress, but I'd also like to use Confluence of Savant thought to declare that the Satrapy has an existing mutual defense pact with the mine that was put into place by the Empress' ministers that oversee it (I presume the All-Seeing Eye or some division of the Thousand Scales) and a previous Satrap prior to the Empress' disappearance.

In short, they'd have an official obligation to commit some support to defend Kandara, though obviously they can't empty the garrison and leave the mine completely unguarded. Were I to define the mine alone, they'd have no obligation to part with any troops or assets. More like we'd be falling back to bunker down with them.

I will note: ordinarily, a character can only define one fact in a scene. I would argue that Confluence of Savant Thought could circumvent that as the fact is entirely created by activating the charm. If that's permitted, obviously the charm too would be limited to once per scene.

Does this sound reasonable?

EDIT: I was leaning toward All-Seeing Eye out of reflex, but wasn't quite sure that this would be in their purview. I've been mostly ignorant of that faction up to this point. Apparently, their whole thing is being the architects behind anti-anathema operations. Almost like it's an unofficially organized yet blatant support structure to serve the Bronze Faction agenda. Someone among their ranks is almost certainly an agent of the All-Seeing Eye. Whether or not our group would recognize it at first is a different matter.

Hi. Yes, this all sounds reasonable. And yes, you can use Confluence of Savant Thought to introduce a second fact in this scene. It doesn't say specifically that you can do that in the book, but in all honestly I don't see much point in prohibiting it, seeing as you can do another introduce fact in the next scene anyway.

 

[Rykon]

Hi. Yes, this all sounds reasonable. And yes, you can use Confluence of Savant Thought to introduce a second fact in this scene. It doesn't say specifically that you can do that in the book, but in all honestly I don't see much point in prohibiting it, seeing as you can do another introduce fact in the next scene anyway.

It will have to take place in a subsequent scene, as it would require a few more hours of study on Manato's part to acquire the specialty. I assume Satori doesn't object to Manato making use of her library?

 

[jaydude]

It will have to take place in a subsequent scene, as it would require a few more hours of study on Manato's part to acquire the specialty. I assume Satori doesn't object to Manato making use of her library?

Nope.

 

[jaydude]

Is there anything else you'd like me to cover here, following my latest post?

 

[Rykon]

The only remaining question I had was if any of the allied sorcerers can summon bound spirits.

Other than that, I'm good to move forward and write the fact declaration stunt.

 

[jaydude]

The only remaining question I had was if any of the allied sorcerers can summon bound spirits.

Updated the IC post. Zadari at least can summon spirits, alongside other sorcery-based tasks.

 

[Rykon]

Those rerolling 6s from the Bureaucracy excellency came in clutch. Double checked the Lore excellency and it doubles 9s. So that's 9 successes to declare a former Shogunate, now imperial mine and 7 for the written pact.

 

[Sherwood]

I just got ahold of my hard copy of my Lunar's book! It is a beautiful copy.

 

[Random Word]

Mine hasn't arrived yet, but it did just tell me it shipped.

 

[Sherwood]

I got the shipping link today, and discovered that it had been delivered to my mailbox two days ago! I need to check my mail more often.

 

[Rykon]

I've got a tracking number but it says pre-shipping. I reckon we'll see. Looking forward to having a hard copy.

 

[jaydude]

Psychie and Sherwood , do you have anything you want to add to this scene? I know we've got other games and that you two are on the mend from covid, so I'll fully understand if not.

 

[Rykon]

[OOC: Seeing as this is a fact you introduced, how many troops and Dynasts were you expecting Akarukan to bring, Rykon ? Also, is it close enough for the reinforcements to arrive before Jinlong's army?]

Obviously, my bias is to hope for as many as possible. That said I've done more research on the state of the Realm's military in "The Realm" supplement. I'll share my observations.

So each legion is 5000 troops, 40 legions are currently standing, that's 200,000 grand total if every last man in a legion uniform was thrown at a problem.

Obviously, the scale of what a secret garrison, albeit one intended to hold against Anathema, is going to have is notably fewer people than the average great house, even with all the shadowy machinations of the All-Seeing Eye. So to me, sounds like the best I could expect is quality over raw quantity.

Before digging that up, I was holding out hope that we could close the numbers gap somehow, silly me. Turns out 15,000 troops is enough to match the average great house in its totality.

In lieu of getting us up to 15,000, here's what I'll ask for given the number of successes. 2500 Elite Troops (2 size 5 units), Might 1 and 3 additional portable Implosion bows with professional crews to man them.

Given the fact states that Kandara is the sole port of export for the mine, I'll say close enough to where other ports don't make more sense than Kandara. Looking at the map, 50-100 miles or so into the mountains west of the city proper makes the journey roughly a week or so without special factors and doesn't put them closer to the Inland sea than the Satrapy. Still much closer than Yangofu. Are you willing to let a force like that show up a day before Jinlong?

 

[Random Word]

Those numbers in the Realm book make no sense. The Blessed Isle is bigger than all of Asia, dwarfing the Roman Empire several times over, and at its peak the Romans fielded more soldiers than that. One important missing piece is auxiliaries. Each Legion probably marches with 2-3x its standing number in auxiliaries drawn from the threshold, so actual boots on the ground is closer to 15-20k. Any threshold garrison is going to be mostly auxiliaries with a core of officers from the Blessed Isle and a handful of regular enlisted troops. It also doesn't count any of the House paramilitary forces, who, while not as dangerous as a proper Legion, are vastly more numerous.

Where are we getting Might 1 from?

 

[Sherwood]

Psychie and Sherwood , do you have anything you want to add to this scene? I know we've got other games and that you two are on the mend from covid, so I'll fully understand if not.

I'm pretty much suffering from writers block, so at the moment, I'm not able to come up with anything to add into the scene.