Rise to the Throne.

Cthulhu_Wakes

Cthulhu_Wakes

Black Sun in a White World
Question: Have any of you ever introduced and new Emperor or Empress in your games? Not the old Scarlet Empress all akuma-ed but someone new? I've done it a few times actually. The Sapphire Emperor and so on. It's a new spin to put on things and rather interesting ot see players reactions. If so, what have you done with your new ruler of a stable and ready Realm?
 
No, not at all.  In all honesty, I have yet to include the Realm specifically in any of my games.  The players now about it, but it is a far away land, and not in their immediate plots.  I'm currently working on changing that.


~FC.
 
The Sapphire Emperor
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Sapphire?


One assumes the Scarlet Empress is so named because she's Fire Aspected, but whence comes "Sapphire"? Air Aspected? I'd have given that a more sky-blue color.


-S
 
No, not at all.  In all honesty, I have yet to include the Realm specifically in any of my games.  The players now about it, but it is a far away land, and not in their immediate plots.  I'm currently working on changing that.
~FC.
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Makes me curious, have your characters ever seen or encountered a Wyld Hunt? Seen a warstrider? It would be a shock to be sure.
 
Stillborn said:
The Sapphire Emperor
Click to expand...
Sapphire?


One assumes the Scarlet Empress is so named because she's Fire Aspected, but whence comes "Sapphire"? Air Aspected? I'd have given that a more sky-blue color.


-S
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^^; I know, I know, but I pulled it out of my ass at the moment. It mainly involved the Sapphire mantel he wore, a mask made of the precious stone along with his artifacts. It was a long and drawn out story.
 
No, not at all.  In all honesty, I have yet to include the Realm specifically in any of my games.  The players now about it, but it is a far away land, and not in their immediate plots.  I'm currently working on changing that.
~FC.
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Makes me curious, have your characters ever seen or encountered a Wyld Hunt? Seen a warstrider? It would be a shock to be sure.
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No, not as yet.  I'm planning on bringing the Wyld Hunt and the Realm more into focus with my current campaign.  The players have viewed the DB's as the weakest Exalted (*sigh*) and I wish to turn that against them now and feel comfortable enough in my ST'ing skills to use the Hunt in the best way.


~FC.
 
Yeah, my players had that idea for the longest time, would always bash them and such. Though the DBs are one of my favorite groups. So...I used a Hunt with a modicum of experience and tactics, I believe the end result was two heavily wounded Solars, their mortal crews dead and their ship sunk in harbor, stranding them. Plus one artifact broken by the Earth Aspect who did most of the wounding. Needless to say, they feared the name Wyld Hunt forevermore ^_^
 
I wish you good luck! If you need any help building a Hunt, drop me a line on PM, or hell, make a thread, I'm not sure if there is one about building a Hunt or not.
 
The Hunt can be effective, but it might be more useful to remember that the Wyld Hunt is also over worked.


They went from dealing with one or two Solars a year, and a few other threats, like God Bloods and lulling Behemoths back to sleep with a LOT of Sidereal aid, to suddenly dealing with nearly 200 newly arrived Solars, the Abyssals, and that means that upstart God Bloods, Spirits, and other critters are getting less attention than they should as well--including the odd Lunar who is just acting a fool.  


This means you're most experienced of Wyld Hunt teams are dealing with the really important things, and less experienced teams are trying to, and often missing, newly Exalted Solars.  Instead of finding a Solar just as they Exalt, and putting a nice piece of metal in the base of the skull, they've got to deal with Solars that have got a little dap.  And for the DBs who survive, that's great, because it vets them a bit, and makes them all the hungrier for some payback, but it still means that your average DB team is not that bad ass yet.


The real strength to the DBs isn't their use of reflexives, but that they can plan and have lots of resources.  And all these new Solars are stretching that for the Wyld Hunt.


It's easy to build bad ass villains--you just keep piling goodies and points on.  It's harder to build a series of villains and foils that make sense.  A few encounters with Wyld Hunters who haven't a clue, and then someone in the Hunt realizes what they've got on their hands, coming into the Realm, that will take more dap.  


Most of the really experienced Hunters are going to be outside the Realm, on their own missions, looking to take down the Solars who are making the most trouble, and organizing.  A team coming into the Realm is going to encounter some resistance, if they act a fool, but it will take a bit for the Hunt to zero in on them, in fact, the local militia and House military units will probably have first crack at them, unless the Sidereal advising that branch of the Hunt has an interest, and isn't busy trying to organize teams to excise newly minted Solars in the hinterlands, and training up new teams to take care of the other/i] hundred or so Solars who are starting to make life difficult for the Bronze.


Two to three incidents a year.  150 incidents.  If you're playing the Hunt right, they are seriously undermanned for the new threat, and scared shitless by it.  Which means a stab into the Realm by Solars should mean some good over-reaction, but that also means throwing teams against Solars just to slow them down so the really powerful teams can get into position, and that will take some time.


The Hunt isn't just about power, they're also about precision and planning.  They have gotten good at taking out Solars, but not just out of raw power, but cunning and good tactics.  Use those elements and your Solars will respect them, not just twinking out DBs with goodies and Charms.
 
I actually dislike the idea of using the wyld hunt to scare the player characters, so far it has proven far more useful in portraying that the other side is full of people who believe in what they are doing, too, just like the solars are. Like jakk pointed out, the hunt is overworked, understaffed and probably lost most of its finest already when encountering well prepared abyssals or siderial guided solars. still they keep on going on cause they believe in what they do. with the right playercharacters in the group this can be the foundation for some serious roleplaying.
 
The only time I really made use of the hunt was when my players passed through the realm-proper and were foolish enough to go round making use of their powers.  The hunt showed up and basically chased them all the way to the edge of the blessed isle :P
 
I prefer to use the Hunt only when folks have really made a show of making a play for power.  Not just existing is enough anymore for the Hunt to show up at your door.  You've got to give them a reason.  


Now then, making a play into the heart of the Realm, that's some In Your Grill action.  No doubt, but if you're going to use the Hunt, make them smart about it.  Test the Solars, use the Hunt in the background.


The Hunt wants to know the Solars' strengths?  Send in a few dupes, and watch the fun.  That's what House Legions are for, right?  Expend a few lesser lights of the DBs, and with tales of glory to spur them on.  The Hunt watches, takes in what they see.  Consult their masters.  Maybe they send in a less experienced team of Hunters--to not only test the Solars, but to lull them into a sense of compalcency about the capabilities of their biggest boogeymen.  


Then, when the real deal shows up, they aren't quaking in their boots.  They are ready for a stand up fight, and that is exactly what they don't get.  The Solar stand their ground, only to get pelted by archers, siege engines, Sorcery, and then, when they've expended a fair amount of Essence, when they are on the ropes, and have dispatched a few dozen Mortals each, then the Hunt rolls in, maybe after a few Firedust blasts, just to be sure that the Solars are softened up a bit.


Or, worse, the Hunt doesn't show their faces.  Picks the Solars off one by one.  When they go to the latrine.  When they are sleeping.  When they take a doxy, and slit their throats while they're in coitus.  The Hunt didn't get to be scary as hell because they played fair.  Put poison in the damn incense and candles.  Weaken them long before the Hunt gets there.  Poison darts and needles.  Wear them down, and then when the Solars are really starting to get jumpy, you send in the troops to soften them up, and then, while the Solars are running, they get taken down, one by one, quiet and easy.


The Wyld Hunt doesn't play fair.  If your Hunters are in a stand up fight, they've chosen poorly.
 
Just be careful not to turn it into a ST-trying-to-outthink-the-players scenario. If the players are complacent, they deserve what they get.


 However, if they smell a rat, and take appropriate countermeasures against surveillance--or walk into gimme-ambushes with a counter-ambush all set up and ready...the Bronze Faction is rarely everywhere, or omniscient. The Wyld Hunt's SOP is a good, solid one--but can be exploited by ingenious PCs.
 
Exactly.  You've got to give the players a chance to see the traps, and that means a few teams of DBs who aren't as experienced show up early.  They maybe are sacrificed, but it gives the PCs a chance to see what's coming.  


Just blind siding them with Super Bad Ass Mo Fo's doesn't give them any build up, no clue.  You want to give them fear of Dragon Bloods then build it up a bit.  Make them respect their foes, but it helps your game if they also understand their foes.


Best Wyld Hunt are those who are committed believers, and if the PCs get a chance to capture their foes, and actually talk to them, and understand that most of the DBs are scared witless by them, and what they represent as Anathema, then you've got a richer game already.
 
I prefer to use the Hunt only when folks have really made a show of making a play for power.  Not just existing is enough anymore for the Hunt to show up at your door.  You've got to give them a reason.  
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This is the reason why I have never really included them.  I've agreed with most of what you, my fellow forumites, have suggested.  However, I don't want to jack the thread no longer, so I'll start a new post elsewhere.


~FC.
 
But isn't the fact that no one's tried to counter-jack the thread back to its original topic mean that no one's run a campaign with a bonafide successor to the Scarlet Empress?
 
I prefer to use the Hunt only when folks have really made a show of making a play for power.  Not just existing is enough anymore for the Hunt to show up at your door.  You've got to give them a reason.  
Now then, making a play into the heart of the Realm, that's some In Your Grill action.  No doubt, but if you're going to use the Hunt, make them smart about it.  Test the Solars, use the Hunt in the background.


The Hunt wants to know the Solars' strengths?  Send in a few dupes, and watch the fun.  That's what House Legions are for, right?  Expend a few lesser lights of the DBs, and with tales of glory to spur them on.  The Hunt watches, takes in what they see.  Consult their masters.  Maybe they send in a less experienced team of Hunters--to not only test the Solars, but to lull them into a sense of compalcency about the capabilities of their biggest boogeymen.  


Then, when the real deal shows up, they aren't quaking in their boots.  They are ready for a stand up fight, and that is exactly what they don't get.  The Solar stand their ground, only to get pelted by archers, siege engines, Sorcery, and then, when they've expended a fair amount of Essence, when they are on the ropes, and have dispatched a few dozen Mortals each, then the Hunt rolls in, maybe after a few Firedust blasts, just to be sure that the Solars are softened up a bit.


Or, worse, the Hunt doesn't show their faces.  Picks the Solars off one by one.  When they go to the latrine.  When they are sleeping.  When they take a doxy, and slit their throats while they're in coitus.  The Hunt didn't get to be scary as hell because they played fair.  Put poison in the damn incense and candles.  Weaken them long before the Hunt gets there.  Poison darts and needles.  Wear them down, and then when the Solars are really starting to get jumpy, you send in the troops to soften them up, and then, while the Solars are running, they get taken down, one by one, quiet and easy.


The Wyld Hunt doesn't play fair.  If your Hunters are in a stand up fight, they've chosen poorly.
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Exactly, I used the Hunt in a rather bold move I haven't used before. One being obvious, hiring out Outcastes from the Scavenger Lands to use as mercenaries so their own Huntsmen don't get trashed. It worked out well, testing their strengths while the chaff was killed off to find a greater purpose in their next life. My villain at the moment is a Siderial leading the Hunt, casting his eyes over the Zenith, the reincanation of one of the First Age's greatest Solars. I based him off the assassin in Serenity, the polite and oh so evil assassin, who believed his wrong doings were the best things for the greater good.
 
Question: Have any of you ever introduced and new Emperor or Empress in your games? Not the old Scarlet Empress all akuma-ed but someone new? I've done it a few times actually. The Sapphire Emperor and so on. It's a new spin to put on things and rather interesting ot see players reactions. If so' date=' what have you done with your new ruler of a stable and ready Realm?[/quote']
I admit I'm guilty of trying to place a new leader upon the throne.


I called them the Scarlet Ibis, identical twin grandaughters of the Empress, through Ragara. They come into play initially roughly a year after the Empress disappears. The Scarlet Ibis keeps the fact that she is really twins a secret, giving "her" the ability to be in court and seeing to the death of solars. My players didn't think the Scarlet Ibis was a big deal. At the time of bringing her around they were playing Solars who were being good solars and keeping low. So she didn't sent units after them or give them reason to care.


"She" grew in power, and they were oblivious.  Hell, the first solar game ended before they realized what was going on. The next small game I ran, same people, same time line, was a DB game set in the realm. A political mind twisting game, and she only played a small part of. They then realized what sway she had over the courts, and invesitgated deeper, thinking they could blackmail her with something. Then they encountered her elsewere (I think her better half was working with the people, trying to get their support) and they got confused. Digging deeper they traveled to Ragara and questioned him, he was the one who told them about his daughters. They figured it out, and started setting up plots against her. However, when they set them in place they were caught and killed.


Games since have been solar, Lunar and DB, all have tried to off her, and yet, haven't.


"She" has not yet sat upon the throne, except at first when she challenged the puppet to a duel and killed him, but she might as well be.
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Very, very interesting. Kudos Star Hawk. I like that plot idea and your timeline. Yeah, my next submission for artifacts will have a mere hint of how the race for the throne went into one of my long running games.
 
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