Dice Exalted 3E - Tale of a Falling Empire OOC

[Rykon]

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.

My gut instinct was 20,000 or so for a legion as well. Regardless, I assume no more than half of the standing force of the garrison would show up.

Where are we getting Might 1 from?

I expect to be told no on that one, but I figured I might as well ask. The hope is that the Bronze Faction invests enough in deterrent forces to lobby for divine blessings or astrology blessings

 

[jaydude]

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?

That's all fine. And the arrival time question was really just a way of asking whether you wanted the army to help hold the city, or cause problems for Jinlong outside it.

As for Might, I'm inclined to allow you to have it at 1, but only because I'm feeling a bit generous - yesterday was my birthday - and want to give you all a sporting chance against Jinlong.

 

[D. Rex]

That's all fine. And the arrival time question was really just a way of asking whether you wanted the army to help hold the city, or cause problems for Jinlong outside it.

As for Might, I'm inclined to allow you to have it at 1, but only because I'm feeling a bit generous - yesterday was my birthday - and want to give you all a sporting chance against Jinlong.

Happy birthday!

 

[Rykon]

Thanks and happy birthday man!

 

[Psychie]

I am good with Xandra. She is more of a 'hit it until it stops moving' kind of girl, so all of this plotting for the war is a little out of her wheelhouse.

 

[jaydude]

One more question - and some of you might have already answered it - but what would everyone like to have their characters do between the present day and Jinlong's arrival?

 

[D. Rex]

One more question - and some of you might have already answered it - but what would everyone like to have their characters do between the present day and Jinlong's arrival?

I'd like to attempt to do some crafting. But a week is a pretty short time to make anything substantial.

How long would it take to smelt and forge a giant lance of jade?

At the least, id like to get started on such a project. As well as helping to prepare parts for repairs to the warstrider.

 

[Rykon]

Manato will be working on a propaganda campaign. First making the people distrust Solars, then giving them the hope that they can build better lives for themselves as they are. Gradually whittling away their anger and focusing their minds elsewhere.

Other than that, he'd largely be relaxing and enjoying his vacation.

 

[Random Word]

Asuna has a few potential plans, some of which are mutually exclusive:

1. Bait & Switch with a Warstrider to pull some amount of Jinlong's forces (ideally the Lunar and his beastmen host) into an early ambush. Xandra, Fel, and Larissa would get to fight something big and scary, and Manato would get some meat for the propaganda machine, especially if there are beastmen bodies to bring home the horror of the enemy (assuming beastmen and wyld mutants in general aren't accepted here - and Manato can always declare a fact about that).
2. Join the stream of peasants to infiltrate Jinlong's camp. Make herself useful about camp, listen, and learn what she can about the personalities, motivations, and dispositions of the enemy, then try to slip away before they reach the gates.
3. If Satori grants her a commission in Kandara she'll need to establish her authority and drill the soldiers under her command, as well as making defensive preparations.
4. If Satori approves of the plan Manato and Asuna are advocating, she could work with Manato, Harun, and Voruna to choose the initial composition of the council for Boruma to rubber stamp, as well as massage Boruma to bring his interests more in line with her own.
5. The Festival idea had to be scrapped - those food supplies will be needed for the siege - but she could work with Larissa to try to uncover seditious plots.

I'm not married to any of these, and they all sound entertaining to me. The danger with 2 is if everyone else isn't doing something similarly involved for the week, it needs to be kept short so as not to block everyone else unduly.

 

[jaydude]

I'd like to attempt to do some crafting. But a week is a pretty short time to make anything substantial.

How long would it take to smelt and forge a giant lance of jade?

At the least, id like to get started on such a project. As well as helping to prepare parts for repairs to the warstrider.

Assuming that the whole of the giant lance is literally made of jade - yeah, that's going to take a few months at least. A lance with a shaft of wood and just a head of jade - probably only a few weeks.

As for replacement limbs, I'd say we're looking at a few months for a full limb, and a few weeks for, say, a hand or a foot. That said, seeing as Fel's plan is essentially "have replacement parts ready in advance", I'm fine with reducing repair times by one level to accommodate this, eg having a -4 health level take only three days to repair, instead of one week. Plus, looking at Arms of the Chosen, I imagine it would be pretty hard to just rip off a warstrider's limb, seeing as merely breaching the frame is a difficulty 9 gambit.

Asuna has a few potential plans, some of which are mutually exclusive:

1. Bait & Switch with a Warstrider to pull some amount of Jinlong's forces (ideally the Lunar and his beastmen host) into an early ambush. Xandra, Fel, and Larissa would get to fight something big and scary, and Manato would get some meat for the propaganda machine, especially if there are beastmen bodies to bring home the horror of the enemy (assuming beastmen and wyld mutants in general aren't accepted here - and Manato can always declare a fact about that).
2. Join the stream of peasants to infiltrate Jinlong's camp. Make herself useful about camp, listen, and learn what she can about the personalities, motivations, and dispositions of the enemy, then try to slip away before they reach the gates.
3. If Satori grants her a commission in Kandara she'll need to establish her authority and drill the soldiers under her command, as well as making defensive preparations.
4. If Satori approves of the plan Manato and Asuna are advocating, she could work with Manato, Harun, and Voruna to choose the initial composition of the council for Boruma to rubber stamp, as well as massage Boruma to bring his interests more in line with her own.
5. The Festival idea had to be scrapped - those food supplies will be needed for the siege - but she could work with Larissa to try to uncover seditious plots.

I'm not married to any of these, and they all sound entertaining to me. The danger with 2 is if everyone else isn't doing something similarly involved for the week, it needs to be kept short so as not to block everyone else unduly.

Oh, don't worry. Satori's certainly onboard with the council idea.

Also, given how you've allowed me a good amount of liberty with the Hematti in Brave New World, I'm willing to allow you to do the same with the council members, seeing as the whole thing was your idea.

 

[D. Rex]

Assuming that the whole of the giant lance is literally made of jade - yeah, that's going to take a few months at least. A lance with a shaft of wood and just a head of jade - probably only a few weeks.

As for replacement limbs, I'd say we're looking at a few months for a full limb, and a few weeks for, say, a hand or a foot. That said, seeing as Fel's plan is essentially "have replacement parts ready in advance", I'm fine with reducing repair times by one level to accommodate this, eg having a -4 health level take only three days to repair, instead of one week. Plus, looking at Arms of the Chosen, I imagine it would be pretty hard to just rip off a warstrider's limb, seeing as merely breaching the frame is a difficulty 9 gambit.



Oh, don't worry. Satori's certainly onboard with the council idea.

Also, given how you've allowed me a good amount of liberty with the Hematti in Brave New World, I'm willing to allow you to do the same with the council members, seeing as the whole thing was your idea.

I wouldn't mind having a project of making a large jade weapon for the warstrider if you think we will survive a couple of months.

But let's say I wanted to modify the lance i currently have. Such as giving it some reinforcements and a jade spearhead(or cap depending on what sort of lance it is)



That all said. I like the idea of reducing repair times. That goes in line well with what Fel suggested be done. While whole limbs might be much, it can also be reason that they are getting simpler things like plates and smaller parts fabricated to make the repairs go quicker.

So I guess a good question would be, what sort of things will the Warstrider Engineers and Kessi be able to do, be directed to do, or could help with? I understand Fel isn't in charge of them. But he would help them if they have any duties.

 

[jaydude]

I wouldn't mind having a project of making a large jade weapon for the warstrider if you think we will survive a couple of months.

But let's say I wanted to modify the lance i currently have. Such as giving it some reinforcements and a jade spearhead(or cap depending on what sort of lance it is)



That all said. I like the idea of reducing repair times. That goes in line well with what Fel suggested be done. While whole limbs might be much, it can also be reason that they are getting simpler things like plates and smaller parts fabricated to make the repairs go quicker.

So I guess a good question would be, what sort of things will the Warstrider Engineers and Kessi be able to do, be directed to do, or could help with? I understand Fel isn't in charge of them. But he would help them if they have any duties.

Hmm. Based on the stats given for Emerald Chevalier's lance in Arms of the Chosen, I think it's safe to say that it already qualifies as an artifact weapon.

And yeah, the "plates and smaller parts" thing was my reasoning behind the decreased repair times. And as for Kessi and her crew, besides Warstrider maintenance, they can certainly work with jade, and Kessi herself will have high Craft ratings for Artifacts, First Age Artifice and a skill relevant to artifacts (presumably either blacksmithing or machinery), as well as Lore and Occult ratings of 5.

 

[Random Word]

Also, given how you've allowed me a good amount of liberty with the Hematti in Brave New World, I'm willing to allow you to do the same with the council members, seeing as the whole thing was your idea.

I don't have anything specific in mind for its membership. They may well never see any screen time, depending on how much of a focus you want on the internal politics of the city. They're mostly an expression of Manato's plan. They can of course be a source of plenty of problems, conflict, and drama of a political nature, as someone will have to herd those cats, but if the focus is on not being killed by Jinlong then Asuna can just help select them and keep an eye on them for signs of sedition offscreen, and they can just happily truck along in the background.

 

[Rykon]

jaydude how would you prefer to handle Manato's influence on the citizens at large? Should I make one giant post again to keep it all together?

 

[jaydude]

jaydude how would you prefer to handle Manato's influence on the citizens at large? Should I make one giant post again to keep it all together?

Do whatever you like, though I'm planning on having another scene take place later in the day, when Satori makes her address.

 

[Rykon]

Hope that set of activities works. I was really tired and generally out of it when I wrote it. So if anyone can actually follow that thought process, I'll consider it a miracle.

 

[Random Word]

a red ring she had carved into her forehead with a knife

Abyssal fashion? Talk about creepy. If that's typical for cult adherents then we should definitely use that against them. That's the sort of practice that must have cult members asking, "Hans... are we the baddies?"

 

[Rykon]

I'm falling further behind after a sudden emergency work call today. Still, I've got enough fire and brimstone floating around my headspace to where I should have a thorough rebuke of the speaker ready soon.

 

[Rykon]

If only our characters understood what a Sidereal was... I'd really enjoy bribing spirits to bury the speaker in a decade of audits.

Anyhow, I think we have a few options for dealing with the cult that isn't an exercise of tyrannical authority. I don't want to pretend like I have all the answers though. Does anyone have any thoughts on fun ways to make the cult's life difficult? I don't want to steer us to something that keeps people from getting engaged in the story.

 

[D. Rex]

If only our characters understood what a Sidereal was... I'd really enjoy bribing spirits to bury the speaker in a decade of audits.

Anyhow, I think we have a few options for dealing with the cult that isn't an exercise of tyrannical authority. I don't want to pretend like I have all the answers though. Does anyone have any thoughts on fun ways to make the cult's life difficult? I don't want to steer us to something that keeps people from getting engaged in the story.

Well one such idea i had was for the public punishment of Satori. With them inciting against the satrap as calls for punishment and stepping down, by doing so we give them what they asked the people to want. By giving them that, we deprive them of their calls, and leaving them with nothing but bloodlust and showing their true colors and motives.

Of which we have done! And it definitely seems to be getting them flustered. (Though good whipping could still make people thing that the Illuminated are going too far in their demands and make them feel sorry for poor Satori who is trying so hard to make things right.)

Lol though getting him in trouble with sidereals does sound pretty funny. Who knows, that line might lead to us getting an opportunity for the Bronze faction to give us some bigger aid.

1. Another idea is to play them even harder. Appoint him on this proposed council. With the ones we have chosen, his voice will seem extreme by comparison. Again, he will be given the chance to do good for the people. As they claim they want. But make it more obvious to people he just wants Anathema in charge. And by being there we can more closely monitor his network. And shift blame to him should things not work out. It would have its cons, but a potentially useful gambit. And it hammers home to the people that Satori is really trying for unity and making up for past mistakes as well as appearing to be open minded.


2. We could plant evidence and frame him for bad things, or really lay thick on the investigation of him and the cult.

3. We coul provoke him. Getting him to show a more distasteful side of himself. Ruining the cults reputation and getting the people to throw him out or police the cult.

4. Or find a way to destroy his beliefs. And make it seem like the anathema do not care about him. Such as "beast folk" killing some of his members. Making him doubt if the path he chose was the right one. Turning them against their master. I doubt this would be very easy, given how indoctrinated they are. But it could also show the people that the anathema don't care about the lives of those who faithfully serve them, while in contrast Satori is trying to make things better.

 

[Random Word]

Causing schisms, inciting power struggles, and revealing or manufacturing scandals would be Asuna's default approach if she were tasked with dealing with the cult.

Of course if she knew he were Anathema she could assassinate him in plain sight with none the wiser, forcing him to Avoidance Kata away again or die, thus leaving Manato free to work his magic. I assume we don't recognize him, though, and if he were actually just a mortal and died mid debate that wouldn't be a great look.

 

[D. Rex]

Causing schisms, inciting power struggles, and revealing or manufacturing scandals would be Asuna's default approach if she were tasked with dealing with the cult.

Of course if she knew he were Anathema she could assassinate him in plain sight with none the wiser, forcing him to Avoidance Kata away again or die, thus leaving Manato free to work his magic. I assume we don't recognize him, though, and if he were actually just a mortal and died mid debate that wouldn't be a great look.

I wonder if there is a way to make it look like he is an anathema or something above a mortal.

 

[Random Word]

If we had a friendly Manipulation heavy Lunar around there are hilarious Charms for making anyone look like an Anathema. Sadly we're fresh out.

 

[Rykon]

Not sure off the top of my head. I don't think I can keep repeating instills in a scene. So I think I've done about all I can to create and reinforce a pro-Realm base in the current scene. The antagonist faction will just keep burning will. Though a few on the inside may start questioning things silently. No doubt Asuna's insurgents are keen to fuel further doubts on the inside.

Perhaps we could have our court sorcerer summon a spirit to harass opposition with nightmares or just random loud noises in the night to prevent will recovery.

 

[D. Rex]

Can't we recover and spend essence faster than they can recover willpower?

If so, we can brute force our way into them accepting us. Where they will have to put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing Manato's honeyed words. And then they will just look immature and lose face :p


We could get Manato attuned to a manse to increase essence recovery, and really turn up the propaganda flood.