Dice Trial by Fire - Exalted 2e OOC

[Sherwood]

Kalin Scarlet I see that you have only six dots in your Backgrounds when you are supposed to have seven starting out. Did you remember the free spell you get with your various Sorcery Charms?

 

[Kalin Scarlet]

Kalin Scarlet I see that you have only six dots in your Backgrounds when you are supposed to have seven starting out. Did you remember the free spell you get with your various Sorcery Charms?

Right! I couldn't think of where to put the final points so I put it off til later. Looks like later became never xD

 

[Rykon]

I highly recommend prioritizing Sapphire Countermagic over Emerald, as Sapphire can counter both.

 

[MasterDAF]

I highly recommend prioritizing Sapphire Countermagic over Emerald, as Sapphire can counter both.

Kalin Scarlet Plus I've got Emerald Countermagic, so if you want the higher level Saphire Countermagic than you can focus on stopping larger sorcery and rely on me to squash the weaker Terrestrial spells (hopefully saving you a few motes of essence in the process).

 

[Kalin Scarlet]

I highly recommend prioritizing Sapphire Countermagic over Emerald, as Sapphire can counter both.

Kalin Scarlet Plus I've got Emerald Countermagic, so if you want the higher level Saphire Countermagic than you can focus on stopping larger sorcery and rely on me to squash the weaker Terrestrial spells (hopefully saving you a few motes of essence in the process).

Alright, will do!

 

[Rykon]

One last concern. I don't mean to be a jerk by saying this, but Imbue Amalgam has setting breaking potential due to how potent it actually is. Is this a road we're willing to go down?

 

[jaydude]

One last concern. I don't mean to be a jerk by saying this, but Imbue Amalgam has setting breaking potential due to how potent it actually is. Is this a road we're willing to go down?

Dare I ask what Imbue Amalgam actually does?

 

[Rykon]

It lets you take a mortal and boost their stats and essence, but most importantly, give them the ability to use the charms of anyone present in the ritual (regardless of if they are of similar nature or not), for life. Yes they are obviously non-human for the rest of their days, but when you have a factory that can pump out chimeric mortals with solar charms and decently large essence pools... We have both massive escalation and the trivialization of Dragon-Blooded and potentially player characters with just how powerful these things can be.

Spoiler: meta concerns

One of the important implications is that not only can infernals mimic this. This can be combined with unity of the closed fist to hike the essence battery of the ritual and give mortals charms of someone like Ligier or Erembour. There are essence and mote caps I believe, but I think that scales to the essence of the caster or ritual participants.

 

[jaydude]

Sounds like it would completely undermine the whole exaltation system. Not such a big fan of it, to be honest.

 

[MasterDAF]

I agree, it sounds like it could cause a number of problems with the setting.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

Still need to tweak some things, like combat stats, and a few details that I copied from another character and need to edit them to my own character, but mostly done. and background is coming along nicely.

 

[Kalin Scarlet]

If it's a problem I can just replace it. I can't really say what effect any ability will have on the game, having never played before.

 

[Rykon]

I understand. I've been in that position before myself. This is just something I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of. Looks like player consensus thus far though is that it's a can of worms best left closed.

As for the Mellar incident... I almost want to go on a massive political campaign to lock him in a century long audit for abusing access to the loom to plot assault on fellow sidereals and celestial exalted. Regardless, I think it's time we made friends with the spirit courts of the area for protection. IC Post is incoming.

 

[MasterDAF]

Ooh boy! Viktor has no problem with convincing others to follow a new path, but he has a huge problem with the idea of magical brainwashing and would definitely find the brainwashing of anyone to join their cause (the Dynasts included) distasteful at best. He fears the possibility that an entire populous could be convinced to change their entire outlook, without a single possibility to physically fight for their beliefs. I've kept him in the dark concerning the details of Gwynnin's reverence for the Unconquered Sun, assuming Darian is just incredibly convincing, and likewise avoided the memory-rewriting of the Terrestrials by assuming it was just an interrogation attempt that he wasn't needed for.

If he realizes that they've been brainwashing the Terrestrials, he's gonna have something to say about it. But I was curious to see how Aredin and Darian would respond, and am impressed with the way Aredin's response was worded. Unless a conflicting account is provided, the Eclipse caste did a good job of arguing in defense of his wife's abilities without admitting to anything supernatural in her approach. I am soooo enjoying the way this is playing out!!

 

[jaydude]

Ooh boy! Viktor has no problem with convincing others to follow a new path, but he has a huge problem with the idea of magical brainwashing and would definitely find the brainwashing of anyone to join their cause (the Dynasts included) distasteful at best. He fears the possibility that an entire populous could be convinced to change their entire outlook, without a single possibility to physically fight for their beliefs. I've kept him in the dark concerning the details of Gwynnin's reverence for the Unconquered Sun, assuming Darian is just incredibly convincing, and likewise avoided the memory-rewriting of the Terrestrials by assuming it was just an interrogation attempt that he wasn't needed for.

If he realizes that they've been brainwashing the Terrestrials, he's gonna have something to say about it. But I was curious to see how Aredin and Darian would respond, and am impressed with the way Aredin's response was worded. Unless a conflicting account is provided, the Eclipse caste did a good job of arguing in defense of his wife's abilities without admitting to anything supernatural in her approach. I am soooo enjoying the way this is playing out!!

I think if Annika were to find out what exactly Darian's methods involve, she'd be more than a bit unhappy and have ethical concerns, though she'd probably be more concerned about the possibility that Darian would mind-control her, or forcibly turn her thieves against her. She wouldn't make as much of a fuss as Viktor would, but she's also closer than him to figuring out the truth about Darian's abilities, following her exchange with Mellar.

I'm also enjoying this, if only for the possibility of further conflict and drama like the argument between Annika and Durke.

 

[LowRollLyfe]

Same here, a little friction here and there between player characters is a healthy thing .

Durke is in the same boat as Victor when it comes to mind control. Durke believes strongly in people's freedom of choice and the idea that you could be forced to believe something would horrify him. That being said, he can be a little oblivious and hasn't picked up on anything yet.

 

[jaydude]

Same here, a little friction here and there between player characters is a healthy thing .

The way I see it, the main point of contention between Annika and Durke is that Durke - a military man - believes that a skirmish party should avoid giving away its location to an enemy until they're in a position to strike, whereas Annika - a thief - is very good at hiding from people she knows are looking from her, and fully believes she can repeat that with the circle to draw the enemy's focus away from Gwynnin.

 

[LowRollLyfe]

Pretty much, that seems spot on.

 

[jaydude]

Both Sides Have a Point

 

[jaydude]

Also, I've noticed that while Aredin seems to be in favor of Darian's use of mind-altering charms, Annika, Viktor and Durke all seem to be against it. Part of me's wondering if this is going to end up causing a massive civil war between our characters at some point in the future.

 

[Rykon]

Aredin has the ability to make this sales pitch on her behalf if needed. His position on this issue is not a usual whim or impulse (like it might be, were it only affecting him). When it comes to the people, he sees breaking a thousand years of lies to be a worthy goal even if it means destroying the memory of the propaganda.

For the Dragon-Blooded, in particular, this amounts to either executing them as criminals while they acted on the lies of the Bronze, or removing the lies and arguing past the misguided zeal. When viewed through the life or death lens, the weight of the sacrifice for the life is worth it for Aredin. What would you preserve? Life? or Lies?

His argument to the Bronze's accusations of irredeemable insanity would be that they gave up without making any effort, nearly dooming the world in their lazy, reckless, heartless abandonment of all of their Celestial peers. The Exalted were not made to give up, they were not made to surrender. They were made to fight the makers of the universe and do the impossible. He will make sure a sincere effort is made to prevent history from repeating itself.

Edit: As for the showing our hand dilemma... Gwynnin is both our home AND our shield. If we project our absence to the enemy, why would he not take advantage of a divide and conquer? The victory of the Bull is not so long past that they would forget the foolishness of assaulting Solars on home turf. They would pay for every inch with a sea of blood and they know it, so long as we are there to fight. Were we absent, our forces appear soft and ripe for raiding. We have two Terrestrials, they have [Lots]. Thus we shall ensure the threat of Solar might stays on the war maps.

 

[jaydude]

I don't think any of us are saying that Aredin doesn't have an understandable viewpoint. Just that in real life and the vast majority of fiction, rewiring people's minds and memories isn't exactly considered "heroic".

 

[MasterDAF]

Also, I've noticed that while Aredin seems to be in favor of Darian's use of mind-altering charms, Annika, Viktor and Durke all seem to be against it. Part of me's wondering if this is going to end up causing a massive civil war between our characters at some point in the future.

CAPTAIN DURKE-MERICA
CIVIL WAR​

 

[Rykon]

That doesn't really bother me personally, even if I take the hyperbole at face value. I've learned enough about the art of persuasion to tell you that natural methods are just as exploitive if not more in some cases.

Been on a gaming marathon for Kingdom Hearts since after 14 years the third big installment finally has a release date and I haven't touched most of the side games since KH2 (I was 12 when the series launched. The nostalgia + Duke Nukem Forever syndrome is a bit of a thing). So the recent plow through Re:Chain of Memories has likely colored my opinions on a lot of this.

 

[LowRollLyfe]

The big difference in opinion is choice. Persuasion can't force someone to act a certain way, they can still choose. Mind control removes that choice. Durke would want people to be disillusioned by the past and to make the choice to support the solars. If you force the terrestrials to do your bidding, then we won't be any better than the bronze faction from the first age.