Bound in a Battlesuit

[Kajata]

I know it's been done over and over again in fantasy writing, but I wanted to give it a go in Exalted.  Whether or not you think it's a good idea isn't really what I'm asking (so please no-one yell saying "omg!  that's just stupid, you can't do that with a Solar spark!!!"), I'm just wondering if it was done, what mechanics would you apply?


Basically, there's a Solar exalt who gets ripped out of his body, soul, spark an' all, and finds himself bound into a first age battlesuit (Dragon Armour type thing, but we're talking the Solar version of such).  How would you manage the mechanics for HLs, eating, drinking etc?  Would you say it's a merit or a flaw?


The way I'd see it, he'd still need sleep and to rest and such, because they're as much mental as physical, and he'd need to rest whatever magical process allowed him to move the limbs of the suit.  I'm thinking that for eating/drinking he might absorb the ambient essence out of food and expel it as dust or ash, since it had been drained of the magic that was holding it together, in order to keep his soul/shard from dissapating.  As I'd see it, HLs would just be damage to the armour itself and he'd leak part of his "self" out when wounded.  So, sure, he wouldn't sever any ligaments or puncture an organ, but if you were to open up a big gash in the armour, the gaseous essence form that he's in inside the armour would begin to leak out, reducing the force within the armour which he had to move with (ie. wound penalties).


So, just any ideas for a character with this affliction, and whether you think it'd be a merit/flaw or whatever, if you can!

 

[Vanman]

I don't think he'd have to eat at all. Maybe he'd have to recharge in a Manse or something, but I don't think there'd be enough essence in normal food/drink to be able to sustain what was needed to keep the suit moving.


As for Merits/Flaws, they might equal out. Or you take both Merits and Flaws. You have a Merit for not needing to eat or drink, but then you have a flaw because he wouldn't be able to have physical contact with people, have a lover, etc. Think Cliff Steele. I agree that he'd have to sleep, so there'd be no benefit or drawback on that front. I'm just not sure what value I'd assign to the Merit/Flaw in this case. I don't have my PG with me, but look at what they have and see what looks similar and go from there.

 

[Jukashi]

I once had an idea for something similar to this, a giant dragon-robot that a Solar could sacrifice themselves to animate and control, but I gave it up because it was so complicated. One thing I would ask is if a character can keep their "humanity" while animating a suit of armour- they might find their human emotions slowly eroding away to be replaced with nothing but cold, merciless logic.

 

[Vanman]

One thing I would ask is if a character can keep their "humanity" while animating a suit of armour- they might find their human emotions slowly eroding away to be replaced with nothing but cold, merciless logic.

Mr. Data anyone?


:-)


That depends on how you look at it. Again, I bring up Cliff Steele. He's still pretty much human, even though he's encased in metal. But he does have issues, which is why I would give a Flaw - No Human Contact, or something like that. Whilst it would be more difficult to retain your humanity (Exaltity?!?), I still think you could do it. Unless the character just gives in and does away with his emotions. Or, on the flip side, his emotions take over and run out of control, as that's essentially all he has left of his humanity.


It'd certainly be a roleplaying challenge.....

 

[Persell]

You could just use the alchemical rules for that character...


You got clarity to handle the emotional stuff, and the reduced powerlevel in comparison to a solar could be explained with the fact that he lacks the destiny 3+mortal to power him up. Or you can easily make him more powerful by allwoing him access to solar charms.

 

[Kajata]

I think I'd want to keep him fully solar really, though it is an option.


I like the idea of the erroding humanity  but the way I'd probably do it is not to put any rules on his humanity-loss, but just make a flaw for the non-contact and the like, and let THAT do it, in a role-playing sense.  Wouldn't virtues alone make that possible?  Like, whenever he wants to have human contact he'd have to roll temperence to stop himself from breaking down into a morose sadness, or to avoid from attacking the woman and attempting to ravish her.  I mean, after all, after a year or more trapped inside a steel shell his emotions and desires are bound to become more exaggerated.

 

[uteck]

Since you want him to be a Solar, why not wrap the issue of humanity loss in the virtue flaw?  The more ticks on his chart makes him less able to deal with humans, until it peeks in an emotional outburst of epic scale.  Or something like that.

 

[Kyrn]

Okay, you need to check a couple of resources for research.  First, we already have a canonical example of this happening.  The First and Forsaken Lion in locked inside his tin-can for the rest of ever and ever.  Read up on that for some of the limitations.  Next up, check out that one guy from Blood Omen:  Legacy of Kaine for a really cool representation of this.  (Where I beleive the idea for FaFL's predicament came from)  Really cool visuals, and there's a cutscene that basically depicts a circle of equals punishing one of their members by blasting away his flesh and bones and sealing his soul/essence/spark into a suit of armor.  Next, for food use just check out Alchemicals.  Basically they don't need to eat, but if they want to regain Essence through respiration they should.  


Finally, don't make it a Merit or a Flaw, just make sure homeslice purchases the armor in question as an artifact and the rest is flavor text.  Of course you could always have a couple extra powers tacked on to the armor, perhaps unlockable as big game secrets or through expenditure of experience points.   Sounds like it could be a cool character.

 

[Lotus1]

not so much in fantasy writing... just in *ack* anime. Too much full metal alchemist for you i would say.


Regardless, yea just freakin make a solar, get rid of health levels i would think. just use soak? Cus i mean he is a body anymore, i am guessing he cant feel pain. When he takes damage he looses motes of essence instead. To eat, he needs to charge up on a manse. Give him some sorta flaw that he cant feel crap and bam its done.


seriously though you shouldnt take my advice cus i dont know the mechanics of exalted that well, i dont read the charms section just like the beginning chapters and descriptions.

 

[Persell]

The first and forsaken lion still has flesh...


Isn't there an animated mercy killer armour in planescape?

 

[Kyrn]

The Lion doesn't have flesh.  He's a ghost.  And yeah, one of NPC you can pick up in Torment is an animated suit of armor.  He's bastard though.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Nah, he just has corpus and the biggest daiklaive this size of the Underworld...

 

[EccentricNed]

The Lion doesn't have flesh.  He's a ghost.

Well, he has ghostly flesh... But the main thing is that he still has health levels.


I'd say that, based on the Lion's his armour, some Aggravated Damage soak would be applicable.


You can replace eating and sleeping with "Recharging," but then if he is going to be away from a manse for long periods of time this may be difficult. The clarity virtue flaw is a very good idea.


Finally, since he'll obviously be a giant suit of armour, give him a flaw based on "Permanent Castemark." Or the highest "Unusual Appearence" flaw.

 

[Kajata]

Well, so far I'm going with the following merits/flaws.  This list isn't complete, so if anyone sees any more that'd work well, or has any they've designed, please post them!


Merits:


Custom - Iron Stomach 2(or maybe 3 :S ) points


This functions along the same lines as the way that Alchemical Exalts need to eat and drink.  Also, instead of eating/drinking the character can draw essence from a readily available source (manse/demanse).  As long as the character eats/drinks he functions normally.  Without sustenance of some kind, he cannot regain essence at all and heals at the rate of a mortal.


Flaws:


Unusual Appearance 3pt (he doesn't even look HUMAN after all?)


Sterile 2pt


Diminished Sense 1pt (Touch; Partial?)


Custom - Spirit-Bound Form 2pt


The character has, through one means or another, become incorporeal, at least to the extent where holding the particles of his body together has becomes as much an effort of willpower as anything else.  To this end, a character with this flaw can never have more health levels than his willpower + permenent essence and if he is reduced to 0 temporary willpower he becomes completely incapacitated until he restores at least 1 point, dissapating into an incorporeal state.  Many mortals have been transformed into this state via sorcery and arcane artifacts, and frequently they are bound to objects in order to create magical servants.  Certain Exalts have also been known to fall under the effects of this flaw, due to the effects of Solar Circle sorcery or massively powerful first age weapons.


I know there are a lot of flaws there, and I wouldn't mind trying to combine some of them, cos I don't wanna min/max this char or anything.  Please add to/alter this list if you can!

 

[uteck]

Would you use a healing Charm or a Repair Charm on him?

 

[Kajata]

Healing, I'd say.  The armour he wares effectively becomes like his body.  It can heal itself like a normal body can.  Whilst fixing the armour would heal the outward wounds, I'd say that'd it'd be like sewing someone up before attending to internal injuries, so his spectral body would still be "injured".


At least that's what I think

 

[uteck]

I would think Repair would be more fitting, since you are dealing with metal and not flesh.  And instead of using Medicen, use Craft-Repair.  I keep thinking of an episode of Full Metal Alchmist were Ed repaired Al using some scrap metal and rebuilding most of his body.  This also makes the difference between him and a normal human more marked.  Otherwise he is just 'armor man' with no real difference.  Also, if healing works, then will posion and other things affect him also?  If he is going to be immune to most things, then when he gets hurt it should not be as easy to heal.

 

[Kajata]

My only problem would be when he's "on the road" so to speak.  I realise that he's bound to his armour, but our group moves around a LOT and so he's not always gonna be able to patch himself up, and having to wait WEEKS just to fix a bashing HL or something seems a bit much :S

 

[uteck]

He just has to learn some Craft Charms.  The higher level ones would work better then any Solar Healing.

 

[Lotus1]

I would think Repair would be more fitting, since you are dealing with metal and not flesh.  And instead of using Medicen, use Craft-Repair.  I keep thinking of an episode of Full Metal Alchmist were Ed repaired Al using some scrap metal and rebuilding most of his body.  This also makes the difference between him and a normal human more marked.  Otherwise he is just 'armor man' with no real difference.  Also, if healing works, then will posion and other things affect him also?  If he is going to be immune to most things, then when he gets hurt it should not be as easy to heal.

Isnt that a good thing? then it shows more how being in amror is a hinderance rather then a boon. It encourages him to avoid getting hit becuase he may loose the only thing holding his body together. I am guessing that havin the Metal body was supposed to be a negative thing right?


If he can heal instantly then isnt really any different from anyone else. He is just a exalt with some weird appearace who cant feel and has clarity. Nothing really THAT different.  I vote and say he can only be repaired by exalt or spirit charms. No mortal craftsman could have the skill or time to repair his magical hide.


But dont be distraught since he is magical you should freakin have strong ass armor. *Adamant*     xD hehe cus its my fav. and it should be yours too. Plus slap on some like freakin blades built into his arms and he can freakin do piercing.

 

[Jukashi]

Going back to my "giant robot dragon" idea for inspiration, I had the idea that the dragon, being made of orichalcum, could eat orichalcum artifacts, or its own broken parts, to heal itself. Failing that, it could eat gold, and convert it into orichalcum in its innards for slower but more available healing.


You could try something like that.

 

[Kajata]

Well I don't mind him repairing himself, as long as it'd be something he could do "on the road" so to speak.  I don't mean like on horseback


I just mean that he wouldn't need a full workshop to repair himself when he gets whacked over the head and dents himself.


I like the idea of eating orichalcum... maybe expand it to eating all metals to allow him to "heal" with a craft roll?  Like rather than having to have a full workshop and the like, if he could "eat" the metal he needs to fix himself, he could then make a craft + essence roll to make the armour fix itself?  With him needing to eat a kg of metal for each HL he wished to heal?  Failing that, he'd just have to fix himself like a normal craft-job.


I kinda like the combination between the armour being what's keeping him held together as well as the armour being like his body, so him being able to, if not make it heal itself fully, maybe manipulate it so, given the raw materials needed, he could make it patch itself up  :?

 

[uteck]

Well I don't mind him repairing himself, as long as it'd be something he could do "on the road" so to speak.  I don't mean like on horseback
I just mean that he wouldn't need a full workshop to repair himself when he gets whacked over the head and dents himself.


I like the idea of eating orichalcum... maybe expand it to eating all metals to allow him to "heal" with a craft roll?  Like rather than having to have a full workshop and the like, if he could "eat" the metal he needs to fix himself, he could then make a craft + essence roll to make the armour fix itself?  With him needing to eat a kg of metal for each HL he wished to heal?  Failing that, he'd just have to fix himself like a normal craft-job.


I kinda like the combination between the armour being what's keeping him held together as well as the armour being like his body, so him being able to, if not make it heal itself fully, maybe manipulate it so, given the raw materials needed, he could make it patch itself up  :?

I like this.  Has the right balance of being a drawback, (having to eat all that metal) and still not a compleat setback (not being able to heal without graet effort).


Did you decide if posion would affect him, or would that be a Merit?  Does he have to breath?  And of course, how hard is it to swim.  :twisted:

 

[Kajata]

I'd say that he doesn't need to breath and he doesn't get effected by poisons (unless they mess with essence or something).  I'd have to put that in a merit I'd guess.  Any ideas for cost?


I'd probably judge that he just can't swim  but then again, he can just walk along the bottom of whatever body of water he needs to

 

[Persell]

I just want to state... you are nearing yourself the alchemical rules more and more.