OOC Thread

[Arynne]

I am torn between having Ash carry a Big F'ing Hammer (she's a Hammer of Heaven, a smith, and a miner's daughter) and having her use Gun Fu. The former is more Zenith-y, the second more First Age-y, plus it goes with the image of Thunder as Optimus Prime.

 

[Esbilon]

I'm gonna go melee. Ash doesn't strike me as the most Zenith Zenith who ever Zenith'd, but perhaps that's just the reason you'd want to Zenith things up when you can. Guns are cool too, of course. Though their range is rather very in Exalted, and I'm not sure if there are warstrider versions of the flame pieces that work with Righteous Devil.

 

[Arynne]

Fuel Bolt Launchers.

 

[Arynne]

But yeah, their range is a bit low compared to other weapons, especially when you have Melee Charms for throwing your hammer Thor-style.

 

[Esbilon]

Are pretty awesome, but not actually warstrider weapons. You could have them fitted, though.

Oooh, and with Wealth and Arsenal, there's no telling how many Fire Pearls you could have. Well, actually there is, Sherwood , how many Fire Pearls could she have?

 

[Arynne]

Well, yeah, and there are stats for them in BoS: WotLA when fitted up as warstrider weapons. Mostly a Second Age weapon...but a Righteous Devil might conceivably come up with the idea 1500 years before Lookshy did it.

 

[Arynne]

See why I'm so conflicted?

 

[UnassumingBoxCat]

Hey Sherwood would it be OK if Justinianus starts with non-Solar charms? It says in the core rulebook that Eclipses can't start with non-Solar charms minus ST approval, but it would seem to me that our characters don't really classify as fresh characters, since we're all Essence 4+, which implies we've spent a while around Creation in the First Age doing and learning what we please.

 

[Esbilon]

Sherwood This is probably a stupid question, but when last we checked, the Crown of Thunders was in Merela's possession, not our luggage, right?

 

[Esbilon]

Also, how do you feel about this Solar Circle Spell?

Spoiler: spell

Raise the Elemental Legion
(Source: Maeso Mateo on the now defunct Exalted Wiki)
Adamant Circle Sorcery Spell
The most powerful and terrible Solar warlords of the First Age use this spell to rise an army worthy of their might. This spell was often a reason of jealously among the Dragon-Blooded, who see it as a corruption of their purpose.
The sorcerer must make a special object before casting this spell which must be made of a single Magical Material (Resources 5) and alloy it with the sorcerer’s blood (5 lethal health levels of damage). This object must be a symbol of rulership for the sorcerer, usually a scepter or a crown.
The sorcerer then can cast this spell as a long ritual lasting 15 minutes per Magnitude summoned. He can summon a unit of up to (Essence) Magnitude, and must commit 5 motes per Magnitude. This is a Shaping effect. Once he finished, the ambient essence and local least gods start forming a legion at the service of the character using the nearest source of appropriate element. They have the appearance and behavior of the sorcerer’s dreamed army, a reflection of his own desires. They elemental and magical nature is Obvious can cannot be hidden.
This can only create an army if there is enough appropriate element near for the least gods to posses. This is as follows:
*Blue Jade: air, ice, thunder, etc.
*White Jade: earth, stones, metal, etc
*Red Jade: fire, lava, etc.
*Green Jade: wood, grass, flowers, etc.
*Black Jade: water, steam, etc.
*Orichalcum: sunlight.
*Starmetal: starlight.
*Moonsilver: moonlight.

The Legion has the basic stats of an Elite Soldier except as follows:
*The elemental soldiers are considered automatons and have automaton psychology (no Virtues).
*They understand (but cannot speak) Old Realm and the native language of the sorcerer.
*Willpower 10 (0 against the sorcerer)
*Drill 5.
*They are tireless, so no Endurance is needed.
*They have a Might equal to (Sorcerer’s Essence/2), rounded up.
*They never fail a Morale check.
*They have any non-artifact weapon and armor the sorcerer’s know, but this equipment benefits from the Magical Material bonuses appropriates for their element.
*They are always extras.

Also, every Magical Material gives one additional power to the soldiers:
*Blue Jade: the unit can fly at their normal movement.
*White Jade: the unit is immune to knockdown or knockback.
*Red Jade: the unit deals (Might) additional levels of lethal damage, which is soaked separately.
*Green Jade: the unit heals (Might) heath levels of damage per turn (once a Magnitude point is lost, it cannot be regained with this effect).
*Black Jade: the unit can move freely under water and can walk upon it.
*Orichalcum: the unit deals Aggavated damage against Creatures of Darkness (this is a Holy effect).
*Starmetal: the unit is Outside Fate.
*Moonsilver: the unit is immune to Wyld influence and Shaping effects as a tattooed Lunar.

The sorcerer can choose to summon horses (or any other non-magical mount of similar size) for his troops, but the mounts count for Magnitude calculation. Mounts also add the benefit of Magical Material to their attacks and defenses and have the special power appropriate to their element.
The sorcerer can only maintain one version of this spell at a time. If he wants to create a new Legion or add more Magnitude, he needs to dispel the current unit and start all over again. The sorcerer cannot lose physical contact with the special object or be at more than (Essence x2) miles of his unit, or the spell ends. Otherwise, the Legion lasts until he terminates the effect.
This spell has a great impact in the ambient essence where it’s casted. The geomantic flow in a radius of (Magnitude) miles weakens suffering a reduction of (Magnitude) to the motes that can be recovered. Demesnes and Manses suffer less because they feed on the Dragonlines; losing one mote per two motes of normal reduction (Heartstones lose mote recovery, but retain their special power). This can’t lower the motes to less than zero, but it counts for the recovery phase. The zone recovers one mote per day, and the spell cannot be cast in that place until the geomantic flow is fully restored.
If cast in a Manse or Demesne of correct element in which the sorcerer is attuned to, then he adds its rating to his Essence to calculate the maximum effect of the spell. This spell cannot be used with soulsteel or vitriol tainted Magical Materials.

There is a void necromancy version of this spell, called Chain the Mourning Horde, which works similarly but can only be cast with soulsteel and in the Underworld or in a shadowland at night. This unit deals aggravate damage against mortals and it is composed of Creatures of Darkness.

The Infernal Sorcery version, called Legion of Worthy Minions, is equal to the Sorcery one, except it can only be used with vitriol tainted Magical Materials (except orichalcum, but including soulsteel) and the soldiers are Creatures of Darkness. Using this version of the spell in Creation is a Blasphemy effect.

 

[Esbilon]

And this sword?

Spoiler: sword

The Cry That Wakes The World
Speed: 5
Accuracy: +3
Damage: +11L/4
Defense: +3
Rate: 2
Tages: 2, O, R
Attunement: 10
Cost: 5

This orichalcum Grand Daiklave has three Hearthstone slots, and as a Holy effect, it deals Aggravated Damage to Creatures of Darkness.

At the start of a battle, the wielder may reflexively commit 5m and cause the sword to light up as a solar anima at the 10 mote level. When it shines thus, all those who participate in the battle count it as a scene spent building an intimacy of respect to the bearer. Heroic characters can resist this at the cost of 1 wp.
Extras who are not Creatures of Darkness and participated in the battle (regardless of side) also gain an intimacy to having participated in it. E.g. "We are veterans of the battle of the Red Cliffs, that bond makes us brothers even if we were on opposing sides." Once an Extra has accumulated three such intimacies, they re combined into a single Intimacy that covers the entire war.

In Mass Combat, the wielder of this sword may take a speed 5 miscellaneous action and spend 10m to designate all units led by a Creature of Darkness or composed primarily of Creatures of Darkness as common threats. She then rolls Charisma + War and adds a number of automatic successes equal to her highest virtue. This constitutes a social attack against every unit involved in the battle which are not designated a common threat. Any unit that fails to resist this social attack suffers an Unnatural Compulsion to do their best to engage a designated unit of their choice. This effect lasts for a number of actions equal to the wielder's Essence can be resisted at the cost of 2 wp. A unit that resist this effect is immune to further activations for the rest of the scene.

In regular combat, the wielder may likewise take a speed 5 miscellaneous action and pay 10m to designate all Creatures of Darkness as common threats. This works completely equivalently with the Mass Combat use.

 

[Arynne]

Potential justification for Cult: your mortal dynasty has survived the centuries, holed up in your secret fortress manse. They may be crazy inbred cannibals, or a simply isolationist. They revere your (exaggerated and idealized) memory, but will be highly skeptical (and possibly disappointed) when the flesh-and-blood you appears to reclaim your manse. Expect to hear opinions you never actually held quoted to you as gospel truth, casual sayings of yours magnified into dogmas, and possible holy wars over the color of hat you wore. If things have gotten really bad, they may have turned to demon worship or human sacrifice on the grounds of some misunderstood action of yours. Can you convince them you're the real Son of the Sun, or will you shatter their faith and lose the Cult completely?

 

[Sherwood]

Wow. Lots of posts. Let me go down the line and reply to them, and hopefully I won't miss one.

Are pretty awesome, but not actually warstrider weapons. You could have them fitted, though.

Oooh, and with Wealth and Arsenal, there's no telling how many Fire Pearls you could have. Well, actually there is, Sherwood , how many Fire Pearls could she have?

There are personal guns listed in the Exalted book Shards of the Exalted Dream that I will go ahead and allow if you want to give them a look. I do not believe that there are Warstrider-scaled guns there, but it would not be too difficult to upscale one of them for Optimus Prime to use.

Hey Sherwood would it be OK if Justinianus starts with non-Solar charms? It says in the core rulebook that Eclipses can't start with non-Solar charms minus ST approval, but it would seem to me that our characters don't really classify as fresh characters, since we're all Essence 4+, which implies we've spent a while around Creation in the First Age doing and learning what we please.

Since you have been around for a while, I'll let you pick up no more than five other kinds of Charms from spirits of your choice.

Also, how do you feel about this Solar Circle Spell?

Spoiler: spell

Raise the Elemental Legion
(Source: Maeso Mateo on the now defunct Exalted Wiki)
Adamant Circle Sorcery Spell
The most powerful and terrible Solar warlords of the First Age use this spell to rise an army worthy of their might. This spell was often a reason of jealously among the Dragon-Blooded, who see it as a corruption of their purpose.
The sorcerer must make a special object before casting this spell which must be made of a single Magical Material (Resources 5) and alloy it with the sorcerer’s blood (5 lethal health levels of damage). This object must be a symbol of rulership for the sorcerer, usually a scepter or a crown.
The sorcerer then can cast this spell as a long ritual lasting 15 minutes per Magnitude summoned. He can summon a unit of up to (Essence) Magnitude, and must commit 5 motes per Magnitude. This is a Shaping effect. Once he finished, the ambient essence and local least gods start forming a legion at the service of the character using the nearest source of appropriate element. They have the appearance and behavior of the sorcerer’s dreamed army, a reflection of his own desires. They elemental and magical nature is Obvious can cannot be hidden.
This can only create an army if there is enough appropriate element near for the least gods to posses. This is as follows:
*Blue Jade: air, ice, thunder, etc.
*White Jade: earth, stones, metal, etc
*Red Jade: fire, lava, etc.
*Green Jade: wood, grass, flowers, etc.
*Black Jade: water, steam, etc.
*Orichalcum: sunlight.
*Starmetal: starlight.
*Moonsilver: moonlight.

The Legion has the basic stats of an Elite Soldier except as follows:
*The elemental soldiers are considered automatons and have automaton psychology (no Virtues).
*They understand (but cannot speak) Old Realm and the native language of the sorcerer.
*Willpower 10 (0 against the sorcerer)
*Drill 5.
*They are tireless, so no Endurance is needed.
*They have a Might equal to (Sorcerer’s Essence/2), rounded up.
*They never fail a Morale check.
*They have any non-artifact weapon and armor the sorcerer’s know, but this equipment benefits from the Magical Material bonuses appropriates for their element.
*They are always extras.

Also, every Magical Material gives one additional power to the soldiers:
*Blue Jade: the unit can fly at their normal movement.
*White Jade: the unit is immune to knockdown or knockback.
*Red Jade: the unit deals (Might) additional levels of lethal damage, which is soaked separately.
*Green Jade: the unit heals (Might) heath levels of damage per turn (once a Magnitude point is lost, it cannot be regained with this effect).
*Black Jade: the unit can move freely under water and can walk upon it.
*Orichalcum: the unit deals Aggavated damage against Creatures of Darkness (this is a Holy effect).
*Starmetal: the unit is Outside Fate.
*Moonsilver: the unit is immune to Wyld influence and Shaping effects as a tattooed Lunar.

The sorcerer can choose to summon horses (or any other non-magical mount of similar size) for his troops, but the mounts count for Magnitude calculation. Mounts also add the benefit of Magical Material to their attacks and defenses and have the special power appropriate to their element.
The sorcerer can only maintain one version of this spell at a time. If he wants to create a new Legion or add more Magnitude, he needs to dispel the current unit and start all over again. The sorcerer cannot lose physical contact with the special object or be at more than (Essence x2) miles of his unit, or the spell ends. Otherwise, the Legion lasts until he terminates the effect.
This spell has a great impact in the ambient essence where it’s casted. The geomantic flow in a radius of (Magnitude) miles weakens suffering a reduction of (Magnitude) to the motes that can be recovered. Demesnes and Manses suffer less because they feed on the Dragonlines; losing one mote per two motes of normal reduction (Heartstones lose mote recovery, but retain their special power). This can’t lower the motes to less than zero, but it counts for the recovery phase. The zone recovers one mote per day, and the spell cannot be cast in that place until the geomantic flow is fully restored.
If cast in a Manse or Demesne of correct element in which the sorcerer is attuned to, then he adds its rating to his Essence to calculate the maximum effect of the spell. This spell cannot be used with soulsteel or vitriol tainted Magical Materials.

There is a void necromancy version of this spell, called Chain the Mourning Horde, which works similarly but can only be cast with soulsteel and in the Underworld or in a shadowland at night. This unit deals aggravate damage against mortals and it is composed of Creatures of Darkness.

The Infernal Sorcery version, called Legion of Worthy Minions, is equal to the Sorcery one, except it can only be used with vitriol tainted Magical Materials (except orichalcum, but including soulsteel) and the soldiers are Creatures of Darkness. Using this version of the spell in Creation is a Blasphemy effect.

Pretty potent spell, but all the Solar level ones are. I will go ahead and allow it.

And this sword?

Spoiler: sword

The Cry That Wakes The World
Speed: 5
Accuracy: +3
Damage: +11L/4
Defense: +3
Rate: 2
Tages: 2, O, R
Attunement: 10
Cost: 5

This orichalcum Grand Daiklave has three Hearthstone slots, and as a Holy effect, it deals Aggravated Damage to Creatures of Darkness.

At the start of a battle, the wielder may reflexively commit 5m and cause the sword to light up as a solar anima at the 10 mote level. When it shines thus, all those who participate in the battle count it as a scene spent building an intimacy of respect to the bearer. Heroic characters can resist this at the cost of 1 wp.
Extras who are not Creatures of Darkness and participated in the battle (regardless of side) also gain an intimacy to having participated in it. E.g. "We are veterans of the battle of the Red Cliffs, that bond makes us brothers even if we were on opposing sides." Once an Extra has accumulated three such intimacies, they re combined into a single Intimacy that covers the entire war.

In Mass Combat, the wielder of this sword may take a speed 5 miscellaneous action and spend 10m to designate all units led by a Creature of Darkness or composed primarily of Creatures of Darkness as common threats. She then rolls Charisma + War and adds a number of automatic successes equal to her highest virtue. This constitutes a social attack against every unit involved in the battle which are not designated a common threat. Any unit that fails to resist this social attack suffers an Unnatural Compulsion to do their best to engage a designated unit of their choice. This effect lasts for a number of actions equal to the wielder's Essence can be resisted at the cost of 2 wp. A unit that resist this effect is immune to further activations for the rest of the scene.

In regular combat, the wielder may likewise take a speed 5 miscellaneous action and pay 10m to designate all Creatures of Darkness as common threats. This works completely equivalently with the Mass Combat use.

Another powerful Artifact, but it is the High First Age. I'll give that one a nod, too.

 

[Sherwood]

Sherwood This is probably a stupid question, but when last we checked, the Crown of Thunders was in Merela's possession, not our luggage, right?

Forgot this one. Yes, the Crown is currently unavailable to you.

 

[Psychie]

I may have to put some dots into Archery if we can have access to firearms. I'll have to look over my PDF of Shards and check them out.

But either way, I'm happy with the Glaive that I have as my main weapon. Combining that with my hearthstone drops my Speed down to a two if I just make a regular attack, and a three if I activate any Charms like my Dex Excellency. I'm pretty damn quick!

 

[Sherwood]

Yep, that Gemstone of Perfect Mobility is a good one.

 

[Arynne]

Forgot this one. Yes, the Crown is currently unavailable to you.

Too bad -- I can imagine a story where a clever Night Caste steals the Crown just before joining his comrades in suspended animation, thus giving him a way to avoid jail (or more likely, execution). Imagine their faces when he pulls it out of his storage locker...

 

[Psychie]

Too bad -- I can imagine a story where a clever Night Caste steals the Crown just before joining his comrades in suspended animation, thus giving him a way to avoid jail (or more likely, execution). Imagine their faces when he pulls it out of his storage locker...

Perhaps we could work on Sherwood together and say a certain Lunar thief stole it for you before we went into stasis! <rubs her hands together with evil glee>

 

[Sherwood]

Um, no.

Nice try, though.

 

[Esbilon]

Sherwood cool!

Also, Lords of Creation specifies that no abilities can be bought past 3 without bonus points, but they nixed that rule for standard chargen in the errata, so I assume we can buy up to max. Otherwise, let me know and I'll fiddle things back.

 

[Esbilon]

Speed down to a two

The errata has put in a general nerf that no effects that don't explicitly say so can lower your speed below Three. That's still pretty powerful, mind, but no speed 2 or 1. Besides, you'll always want to use an Excellency if you intend on hitting another Exalt.

 

[Esbilon]

Sorry about scatter-posting like this, but I keep forgetting things and then remembering them as I'm working through the books.

If you go with Arsenal and Panoply, you will be able to return to your stasis chamber and trade out some gear for other stuff, with some limits as to what you can get. I will just need to figure out just how much stuff you can have on you at any one time, since the Backgrounds in the DotFA book don't say what a rating of, say 3 dots, will give you to carry.

I always assumed that you could carry around as many artifacts as you could carry and afford to Attune to. Your solution of rating x 2 doesn't seem unreasonable as such, but neither does it really square with the sheer abundance of artifacts assumed to existing in the First Age. In particular, it's less bang for our buck than Alchemicals get for Artifacts. The relevant quote is:

A character can buy as many individual artifacts as she wants, though, as long as her Arsenal or Panoply rating (depending on the type of device) is high enough to allow her access to that device—and as long as her Wealth rating is at least one dot higher than the item’s Artifact rating. If her Wealth rating is merely equal to that of the item, purchasing it will reduce her permanent Wealth rating by one.

 

[Esbilon]

And a couple of custom Charms

Spoiler: charms

Speeding Falcon Action
Cost: 2m (3m)
Mins: Awareness 2, Essence 2
Type: Supplemental
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Any Awareness Excellency

The Lawgiver need not think to act. After invoking this Charm, the Solar adds (Essence) automatic successes to his Join Battle roll.

The Solar Exalted show their prowess in all arenas. A Lawgiver with Essence 3 or more may reflexively spend one additional mote to apply the benefit of this Charm to a Join War or Join Debate roll.

Glorious Totemic Leadership
Cost: 10m, 1w
Mins: War 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple
Keywords: Combo-Basic, Obvious, War
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisite Charms: Any War Excellency, Heroism-Encouraging Presence

The solar's anima banner flares to its full totemic glory and spreads to encompass the unit she is leading. The totem lends its strength to the unit and the members of the unit emulate the unity it symbolizes.

For the duration of the charm, the unit counts as having (Essence x 2) additional Relays gains a bonus to its Might rating of (Essence/2) round up.

Celestial Tiger Edification
Cost: -
Mins: War 5, Essence 5
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Obvious, Training
Duration: One Week
Prerequisite Charms: Legendary Warrior Curriculum

The Solar’s Tiger Warrior Training Technique is permanently enhanced by her greater enlightenment. The Solar may now use her instruction to enlighten mortals, granting them the enlightened essence blight (see The Compass of Celestial Directions, Vol. II—The Wyld, p. 148). She also abolishes the 7-dot training cap on willpower and the 4-dot training cap on other traits from Tiger Warrior Training Technique and Legendary Warrior Curriculum; only the age and Essence of her students limits their potential to absorb knowledge at the Solar’s feet. She may also use Tiger Warrior Training Technique to initiate students into the root of the Perfected Lotus and knowledge of martial arts charms, assuming her students are capable of using such magic.

 

[Esbilon]

I posted a first draft. I've still got some points to fiddle with and some things I may go back or forth on, but this is certainly a decent picture of what she's about.

 

[Arynne]

Well, it looks like our war-sorcerer is going the Melee route, so maybe I should go for Gun Fu after all. Too bad there isn't a Righteous Devil equivalent for prayer pieces...