Alchems! Hoo! Ha! What are they good at?

Kajata

Kajata

Junior Member
Okay, I'm alchem obsessed, so what?  But I'm just wondering, what are the alchems actually good at.  I mean every other celestial exalt has something which they excel at, normally to a level at which even the solars can't exceed.  Ie. Lunars are the best shapeshifters, Abyssals are master necromancers with sole access to the Void circle, Siddies have their astrology and awesome MA skillz and the Solars are just generally awesome but tend to be surpassed by these other Exalts in their areas of expertise.  Even the Dragon-Blooded are better than the solars, ostensibly, in the narrow purview of element manipulation and power-pooling.


But the Alchems seem to lack this?  I'm not saying they don't excel at something, I'm just saying I can't see it, and so can someone please enlighten me.  I mean, the other Exalts tend to have a couple of things they're good at, like the Abyssals are master death-dealers, Lunars are the superpredators, Siddies are the wise kick ass-fu masters.  What are alchems?  I know they're the mechanicle Exalts but the creators seem to like reminding us that they're, emotionally and mentally, at least at lower power levels, just as human as any other Exalt, so it's not like you can make them Mr Data-esque logic masters or anything...  I just don't see what it is that they're REALLY good at.  They seem to be like Solars, in that they do a lot of things equally well, but just not as good, in that they do a lot of things equally badly.


That's just my opinion and I'm really dying for someone to show me exactly what use I can put an alchem to :P
 
Alchemicals don't neccessarily excell at anything.  


They reproduce the other Exalts, in a more controlled form, and at lower power levels, in general, than the others.  They aren't really supposed to be competing with the other Exalts.  They were the proto-types for the other Exalts.  DKs came first, and while they were fine and dandy for some things, the Primordials wanted a bit more oomph, and maybe something pretty, without scales, or scars. (I like them them when they have no scars... name that movie with Michael Ironsides in two notes...)


Then there were the Alchemicals, as experiments.  Put on the shelf for a while, and then taken off that shelf when Auto bugged the heck out of the Creation, before his creations turned on him--and do you blame him?  


That the Alchemicals are limited is in part because they are the proto-types, and in part, because while Auto has the designs for other Exalts, who wants Creations running around that can put pointy things into your Primordial hide?  Who needs that aggravation?  So, instead of upgrading the Alchemicals with full on Exalty goodness, he keeps them limited, he keeps them loyal, and he uses them to run things he just doesn't want to do, and eventually take care of his ass.  


Alchemicals are great at maintaining their boss.  That's what they're there for.  They maintain Auto, and take care of his bid'ness right.  Their entire purpose is be cogs in the Great Machine.  No more, no less.  And not in the Creation.  


That they suffer in comparison with the 2.0 models is no surprise, and in part, I think, it's out of design as well as well.  Auto doesn't need Solars and Lunars, he doesn't have a vast Creation to maintain, he just has himself.  I like to think of the Alchemicals as the toiletry set for Auto--he's got his combs, his clippers, his little little shoe horns, his wee bottles of oils and ungents, while the Exalted are more like professional tool and die shop sets.  Both get the jobs done, but different jobs.  You don't need to send a Solar deep into Auto's bowels to root out a Gremlin or two, anymore than you'd take a ballpeen hammer and chisel to a pimple?  Right tool, for the right job, and Auto just needs his Alchemicals for personal grooming and maintenance.


Tweezers vs pliers and furnace tongs.  Comb vs rake.  Nail clippers vs hedge trimmers.
 
Alchemicals excel at versatility - as the book states, they were designed to be modular.  No other Exalt type can shift his capacities as readily or quickly as an Alchemical, who can, with enough forewarning, exchange his Social Charms for combat ones when he's about to go gremlin-bashing... and that's more than you can say for even a Solar.  The US's boys and girls learn faster, and oh yes the Eclipse, they display some versatility.  But the Alchemicals can just switch out all the shit they don't need for the exact right stuff they do need.  That's useful, right there.


I think they're also intended to be powerful as a host, rather than as individuals - like the Dragon-Blooded, but built by a Primordial rather than the Elemental Dragons.  The most individually powerful ones, after all, end up becoming a part of Autocthon and regulating his functions...
 
Solars have the advantage of having all their shit with them at all times. However, they also have to learn all their shit from scratch.


Autochtonians can just custom-fit the shit they want. But then they'll have to exchange their shit to do shit other than the shit they intended at the time of their shit-fitting.


... mmm. Yeah. That's about it.
 
They also have less training time when putting up attributes and charms, technically.


For other exalts, it's minimum Charm ability by days, or current attribute rating by months,  but an Alchemical just has to jump into a Vat complex for a month and spend as much experience as they want, putting up any stat and learning any charm they can. Although, Vat background and GM plans play a role in how often you can do this....
 
That the Alchemicals are limited is in part because they are the proto-types, and in part, because while Auto has the designs for other Exalts, who wants Creations running around that can put pointy things into your Primordial hide?
...


That they suffer in comparison with the 2.0 models is no surprise, and in part, I think, it's out of design as well as well.  Auto doesn't need Solars and Lunars, he doesn't have a vast Creation to maintain, he just has himself.
Click to expand...
I also like to consider their power level a product of the fact that they are designed to be made by humans. If Autocthon had handed a note to his people saying "Here you go, now you can make Solars of your very own", they wouldn't have been able to do much with a plan that required the ability to shape primal chaos and rewrite reality.


Although, as mentioned elsewhere, I like to think that the "Adamant Caste" Alchemicals are Autocthon's personal toys; Solar essences he nicked on the way out that he tinkered with briefly before nodding off. Incredibly powerful problem solvers without a Solar curse, and they show up only when needed because otherwise their power would destabilise society.


I like the fact that Autocthon incorporated people into his design because they had such a sense of self-preservation, but there is no question that he made the Alchemicals to be the everyman-repairman of the party.


In conclusion, I like the Soulsteel caste.
 
Samiel said:
I also like to consider their power level a product of the fact that they are designed to be made by humans. If Autocthon had handed a note to his people saying "Here you go, now you can make Solars of your very own", they wouldn't have been able to do much with a plan that required the ability to shape primal chaos and rewrite reality.
Click to expand...
This begs the question; could a Solar with those plans and the right wyld-shaping charms make more Solars? Minty-fresh new ones with no curse?
 
I don't think Solars (or any other Exalt) are capable of making more Shards; otherwise, some enterprising Twilight/No Moon/Chosen of Venus would have tried in the First Age.


 Now, the idea of an Exalt making Alchemicals from scratch...is quite interesting. Given enough resources and time, I can definitely see a Twilight or other Craft-inclined Solar eventually building one in the Age of Sorrows. An Alchemical may take more time than Imbue Amalgam, and be less powerful at first, but its upside is a bit higher. The whole invulnerability to Sapphire CM doesn't hurt either.


 Hmm...that's a whole 'nother way to get Alchemicals into Creation, and without Autochthonian baggage. Now, they won't get Protocols, but...
 
Hmmm... given that Alchemicals are prototypes, and exalted is anime-ish...


Would not the convention in anime that prototypes are always better, more powerful then the production models hold true even in Exalted...


Yeah...


You get what I'm saying, don't you?   :P
 
Well, I don't think anyone else gets a Pattern Override Spike, for starters. It seems to me that they are best at blending aspects of the other exalts, perhaps not exceeding any in max power, but able to do a lot of the same shit. Also, the essence pulse cannon is pretty badass.


That said, I have to disagree with the book about them being flexible/versatile. The fact that they have a limited number of slots fundamentally limits their utiliity. They also don't have a charm for every situation. Solars have at least a small tree for every friggin ability, and they get to have all of their charms at the same time, they don't have to take a month off in order to be good at riding that horse to make a quick get away.


Still, I really like alchemicals, and the real perk they have over everyone else is Artifact. They can start with 15 dots worth of magical toys. That's a lot of toys to work with.


Also, beam-klaves are still shiny, despite the George-Lucas-felating description in the book, which I ignore for game purpose. When I play, they don't buzz, they CRACK! and they're not little magic dildos, they're spheres, full on daiklave hilts, or some other snazzy object that doesn't look like something Carrie Fisher could pleasure herself with (at least not comfortably).
 
lowguppy said:
Also, beam-klaves are still shiny, despite the George-Lucas-felating description in the book, which I ignore for game purpose. When I play, they don't buzz, they CRACK! and they're not little magic dildos, they're spheres, full on daiklave hilts, or some other snazzy object that doesn't look like something Carrie Fisher could pleasure herself with (at least not comfortably).
Click to expand...
I like you.


-S
 
I think that the versatility of the Alchemicals refers to their ability to set up their charms for specific situations.


 Yes, they don't have access to all their charms at any given time (not without blowing a lot on Charm slots--which at 12/10, isn't too pricy), but new charms in the Panoply cost only 6 xp each.


 If caught off guard, they may not be as effective. But when they're prepped for the situation, they can do some serious damage.
 
I'd say the biggest advantage of alchemicals are arrays. Lets face it their charms are for the most part very terrestrial in power (yeah there are some exceptions but most of them are) but arrays, the cheap I can make an instant combo every round and get a discount in installation cost thingies. They make alchemicals versatile and very decent combatants if pressed to. Yes it is willpower intensive but that is about the only downside.


Edit: And thanks to personality overriding spike they win the robocop look a like competition and the competition for the coolest charm in the game... in my opinion at least.
 
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