Dice Chronicle of the Scavenger Lands (Exalted 3E) - OOC

[jaydude]

For OOC discussion.

 

[Esbilon]

I'm interested in knowing how active a presence you consider the Wyld Hunt. I'm thinking that I'd like to try some proper kingdom building, but that kinda demands us not being interrupted by sidereal assassins, dragonblooded goons and mortal armies every other month.

 

[jaydude]

I'm interested in knowing how active a presence you consider the Wyld Hunt. I'm thinking that I'd like to try some proper kingdom building, but that kinda demands us not being interrupted by sidereal assassins, dragonblooded goons and mortal armies every other month.

I reckon you'll be okay, as long as you don't flaunt your Solar status too much.
The Hunt's been weakened by the Scarlet Empress's disappearance, and it'll have other Anathema to deal with besides you.

 

[Rykon]

Gonna take a while to pick exactly what I want to do, thinking of possibly leveraging medicine and resistance heavily. Probably looking at a Twilight or a Zenith. If we want to do nation-building, I'm fine with that.

 

[jaydude]

Gonna take a while to pick exactly what I want to do, thinking of possibly leveraging medicine and resistance heavily. Probably looking at a Twilight or a Zenith. If we want to do nation-building, I'm fine with that.

It's fine, bud. See y'all tomorrow.

 

[Weissplus]

Can we use an embedded pdf in the sheet thread?

 

[jaydude]

Can we use an embedded pdf in the sheet thread?

Yeah, sure.

 

[Weissplus]

I'll make a Southern Zenith from Chiaroscuro.
Mainly social, Supernal Performance.

Or maybe an Eclipse with Supernal Bureaucracy or Occult.

 

[Rykon]

Hm... if Zenith is taken, then I'm looking at either a Twilight physician or a Dawn general as my two options right now.

Come to think of it, Esbilon , you're looking to focus on nation building, yes? Do you have anything specific in mind? It could help me settle some personal indecision and better play to the team/circle dynamic.

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

I'd love to try out a Solar Craftsman. Probably start with mundane craft, and learn Geomancy and Artifact making later on.

 

[jaydude]

I'd love to try out a Solar Craftsman. Probably start with mundane craft, and learn Geomancy and Artifact making later on.

Can I assume that you're wanting to join in on this RP, Red Shadow Claws ?

 

[Red Shadow Claws]

I think it can be assumed

 

[ithinkcat]

jaydude I'll move my conversation over to here. Arms of the Chosen is basically just more artifacts and hearthstones. Currently the character I'm building has an artifact from it and 1 hearthstone as well. You want me to post the details in here or pm them to you so you can see their full effects?

 

[jaydude]

jaydude I'll move my conversation over to here. Arms of the Chosen is basically just more artifacts and hearthstones. Currently the character I'm building has an artifact from it and 1 hearthstone as well. You want me to post the details in here or pm them to you so you can see their full effects?

You can post it here, if you want.

 

[ithinkcat]

jaydude First, the simple hearthstone. By the way, my character's primary combat ability is brawling.

Spoiler: Hearthstone

Stone of Resilient Bamboo (Wood, Standard)
- Keywords: None
- This stone gleams the pale green of young bamboo leaves. When its bearer sockets it in an attuned artifact and commits one mote, it helps shrug off minor injuries. She adds two to her soak, can parry lethal attacks unarmed without a stunt, and halves healing times for bashing damage.

Next is the artifact. I'll leave out the massive amounts of fluff text for now.

Spoiler: Artifact

Heaven and Earth Gauntlets (Orichalcum Smashfists, Artifact •••)
- Attunement: 5m
- Type: Light (+5 ACC, +10 DMG, +0 DEF, OVW 3)
- Tags: Bashing, Brawl, Grappling, Smashing, Worn
- Hearthstone slot(s): 2
- The Heaven and Earth Gauntlets’ clash attack bonus when wielded paired rises to (the higher of Essence or 3).

Evocations:

Spoiler: 1. Falling Star Fists

1. Falling Star Fists
- Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
- Type: Supplemental
- Keywords: Dual
- Duration: Instant
- Prerequisites: None
- Striking with overwhelming force, the Heaven and Earth Gauntlets clear the battlefield of foes. This Evocation waives the Initiative cost and Defense penalty for making a smash attack (Exalted, p. 586). The wielder adds (Strength) bonus dice to a withering smash attack’s raw damage, or doubles 10s on a decisive smash attack’s damage roll.

Spoiler: 2. Mountain-Halting Might

2. Mountain-Halting Might
- Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
- Type: Permanent
- Keywords: None
- Duration: Permanent
- Prerequisites: Falling Star Fists, Iron Battle Focus
- The Solar combines defense and offense, fending off blows with overwhelming force. This Evocation upgrades Iron Battle Focus (Exalted, p. 273). When the wielder successfully blocks an attack from close range while Iron Battle Focus is active, she imposes a −1 onslaught penalty on the attacker.

Spoiler: 3. Comet-Diverting Guard

3. Comet-Diverting Guard
- Cost: 4m, 1i; Mins: Essence 2
- Type: Reflexive
- Keywords: Clash, Perilous, Resonant, Withering-only
- Duration: Instant
- Prerequisites: Falling Star Fists
- The Heaven and Earth Gauntlets answer violence with violence, ringing like bells with the force of deflected blades or arrows. The wielder may reflexively clash an attack against her with a withering attack. Winning the clash stops the enemy’s attack from hitting her, but she doesn’t roll damage against him, although she still gains 1 Initiative for hitting and inflicts a point of onslaught penalty as normal. This doesn’t count as her combat action for the round.
- Resonant: The wielder may roll withering damage against an enemy on a successful clash. However, the wielder gains no Initiative from this damage.

Spoiler: 4. Nova Breaker

4. Nova Breaker
- Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
- Type: Simple
- Keywords: Decisive-only, Dissonant, Resonant
- Duration: Instant
- Prerequisites: Comet-Diverting Guard
- The Heaven and Earth Gauntlets are limned with Essence, coruscating along the wielder’s arms as she strikes and detonating in a prismatic burst at the moment of impact. To use this Evocation, the wielder must have successfully hit an opponent with a smash attack since her last turn, and he must not have risen from prone yet. She moves one range band towards that opponent and makes a decisive attack against him, adding up to (Strength) threshold successes to the attack’s damage. This doesn’t count as her movement action for the round.
- Dissonant: Characters dissonant with orichalcum cannot awaken this Evocation.
- Resonant: The wielder adds all threshold successes on the attack roll to her damage roll.

Spoiler: 5. Meteor Fist Meditation

5. Meteor Fist Meditation
- Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
- Type: Permanent
- Keywords: None
- Duration: Permanent
- Prerequisites: Adamantine Fists of Battle (x2), Nova Breaker
- This Evocation upgrades Adamantine Fists of Battle (Exalted, p. 279), rendering it compatible with the Heaven and Earth Gauntlets. When the Solar wins Join Battle, she may reflexively invoke that Charm’s scene-long version.

Spoiler: 6. Legend-Forging Blow

6. Legend-Forging Blow
- Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
- Type: Simple
- Keywords: None
- Duration: Instant
- Prerequisites: Meteor Fist Meditation
Calling up limitless depths of power from the Heaven and Earth Gauntlets, the wielder strikes an almighty blow to carve her name into legend. She may unleash one of the following effects:
• She can knock back an enemy of up to Legendary Size, like a tyrant lizard or a warstrider, with a decisive attack. A hit flings the enemy three range bands backwards; if flung into an obstacle, he may suffer falling damage (Exalted, p. 232) at the Storyteller’s discretion.
• The wielder can smash through heavy fortifications with a single punch, doubling her effective base Strength to determine if she may attempt a given feat of demolition (Exalted, p. 231). Success destroys the targeted object instantly, while failure indicates the wielder will need to spend at least a few minutes more to destroy it.
• The wielder can use Legend-Forging Blow to stunt other applications of strength, such as diverting the course of a river by force or halting an avalanche in place with a single blow. The Storyteller should enhance these stunts with benefits comparable to the above options.
- Legend-Forging Blow can only be used once per story, unless reset by upholding a positive Defining Tie towards a community by defeating a powerful enemy that threatens it. The Dawn Caste anima power cannot reset this Evocation.

 

[jaydude]

jaydude First, the simple hearthstone. By the way, my character's primary combat ability is brawling.

Spoiler: Hearthstone

Stone of Resilient Bamboo (Wood, Standard)
- Keywords: None
- This stone gleams the pale green of young bamboo leaves. When its bearer sockets it in an attuned artifact and commits one mote, it helps shrug off minor injuries. She adds two to her soak, can parry lethal attacks unarmed without a stunt, and halves healing times for bashing damage.

Next is the artifact. I'll leave out the massive amounts of fluff text for now.

Spoiler: Artifact

Heaven and Earth Gauntlets (Orichalcum Smashfists, Artifact •••)
- Attunement: 5m
- Type: Light (+5 ACC, +10 DMG, +0 DEF, OVW 3)
- Tags: Bashing, Brawl, Grappling, Smashing, Worn
- Hearthstone slot(s): 2
- The Heaven and Earth Gauntlets’ clash attack bonus when wielded paired rises to (the higher of Essence or 3).

Evocations:

Spoiler: 1. Falling Star Fists

1. Falling Star Fists
- Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 1
- Type: Supplemental
- Keywords: Dual
- Duration: Instant
- Prerequisites: None
- Striking with overwhelming force, the Heaven and Earth Gauntlets clear the battlefield of foes. This Evocation waives the Initiative cost and Defense penalty for making a smash attack (Exalted, p. 586). The wielder adds (Strength) bonus dice to a withering smash attack’s raw damage, or doubles 10s on a decisive smash attack’s damage roll.

Spoiler: 2. Mountain-Halting Might

2. Mountain-Halting Might
- Cost: —; Mins: Essence 1
- Type: Permanent
- Keywords: None
- Duration: Permanent
- Prerequisites: Falling Star Fists, Iron Battle Focus
- The Solar combines defense and offense, fending off blows with overwhelming force. This Evocation upgrades Iron Battle Focus (Exalted, p. 273). When the wielder successfully blocks an attack from close range while Iron Battle Focus is active, she imposes a −1 onslaught penalty on the attacker.

Spoiler: 3. Comet-Diverting Guard

3. Comet-Diverting Guard
- Cost: 4m, 1i; Mins: Essence 2
- Type: Reflexive
- Keywords: Clash, Perilous, Resonant, Withering-only
- Duration: Instant
- Prerequisites: Falling Star Fists
- The Heaven and Earth Gauntlets answer violence with violence, ringing like bells with the force of deflected blades or arrows. The wielder may reflexively clash an attack against her with a withering attack. Winning the clash stops the enemy’s attack from hitting her, but she doesn’t roll damage against him, although she still gains 1 Initiative for hitting and inflicts a point of onslaught penalty as normal. This doesn’t count as her combat action for the round.
- Resonant: The wielder may roll withering damage against an enemy on a successful clash. However, the wielder gains no Initiative from this damage.

Spoiler: 4. Nova Breaker

4. Nova Breaker
- Cost: 4m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
- Type: Simple
- Keywords: Decisive-only, Dissonant, Resonant
- Duration: Instant
- Prerequisites: Comet-Diverting Guard
- The Heaven and Earth Gauntlets are limned with Essence, coruscating along the wielder’s arms as she strikes and detonating in a prismatic burst at the moment of impact. To use this Evocation, the wielder must have successfully hit an opponent with a smash attack since her last turn, and he must not have risen from prone yet. She moves one range band towards that opponent and makes a decisive attack against him, adding up to (Strength) threshold successes to the attack’s damage. This doesn’t count as her movement action for the round.
- Dissonant: Characters dissonant with orichalcum cannot awaken this Evocation.
- Resonant: The wielder adds all threshold successes on the attack roll to her damage roll.

Spoiler: 5. Meteor Fist Meditation

5. Meteor Fist Meditation
- Cost: —; Mins: Essence 3
- Type: Permanent
- Keywords: None
- Duration: Permanent
- Prerequisites: Adamantine Fists of Battle (x2), Nova Breaker
- This Evocation upgrades Adamantine Fists of Battle (Exalted, p. 279), rendering it compatible with the Heaven and Earth Gauntlets. When the Solar wins Join Battle, she may reflexively invoke that Charm’s scene-long version.

Spoiler: 6. Legend-Forging Blow

6. Legend-Forging Blow
- Cost: 10m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
- Type: Simple
- Keywords: None
- Duration: Instant
- Prerequisites: Meteor Fist Meditation
Calling up limitless depths of power from the Heaven and Earth Gauntlets, the wielder strikes an almighty blow to carve her name into legend. She may unleash one of the following effects:
• She can knock back an enemy of up to Legendary Size, like a tyrant lizard or a warstrider, with a decisive attack. A hit flings the enemy three range bands backwards; if flung into an obstacle, he may suffer falling damage (Exalted, p. 232) at the Storyteller’s discretion.
• The wielder can smash through heavy fortifications with a single punch, doubling her effective base Strength to determine if she may attempt a given feat of demolition (Exalted, p. 231). Success destroys the targeted object instantly, while failure indicates the wielder will need to spend at least a few minutes more to destroy it.
• The wielder can use Legend-Forging Blow to stunt other applications of strength, such as diverting the course of a river by force or halting an avalanche in place with a single blow. The Storyteller should enhance these stunts with benefits comparable to the above options.
- Legend-Forging Blow can only be used once per story, unless reset by upholding a positive Defining Tie towards a community by defeating a powerful enemy that threatens it. The Dawn Caste anima power cannot reset this Evocation.

Much obliged.

 

[Rykon]

Glad to have the new additions, given the characters we may be looking at, I've decided to go with a Dawn caste soldier. Still working on it, but I've been a bit under the weather. Should be done soon though.

 

[ithinkcat]

I'm terrible at making characters in Exalted. I always spread myself too thin. I'm trying to take my time with this one to try and not make that mistake again, but once I got the finished product I may want everyone's feedback on ways to improve it.

Hope you feel better soon Rykon

 

[Rykon]

I'm terrible at making characters in Exalted. I always spread myself too thin. I'm trying to take my time with this one to try and not make that mistake again, but once I got the finished product I may want everyone's feedback on ways to improve it.

Hope you feel better soon Rykon

Yeah, frequent headaches aren't very helpful for complex stuff like plotting out an Exalted character.

If needed though, I am more than happy to help with character building. Between 2E experience and notes I have from 3E research, I should be able to help achieve a balance of niche competence and secondary concept support.

I believe you were going for a night caste... I have a few questions that could help define skillset scope a bit.

1. What is your weapon(s) of choice (if any) and how mobile would you like to be?
2. Is there any part of your character's background you think would impact the ability or attribute ratings on the sheet? If so, how important are they to the character persona? (Think of what the character's family did, Merchants, farmers, sailors etc.)
3. Which of the following appeals to your vision for the character (any and all are reasonable): Theft, Disguise, Infiltration, Espionage, Deception, Assassination?
4. Has your character previously preferred to work alone, with a partner, or within a group? Is the character meant to be socially capable as well? If so, in what capacity?

 

[ithinkcat]

Rykon

1. Brawling is her method of fighting. No need to conceal a weapon if you are the weapon. And I want her to be pretty agile in combat. Closing distances quickly and taking opponents by surprise. She'll have to be good at Join Battle rolls too for some of her Stealth charms to be effective.
2. I have very little firmly set for my character's background and personality. How likely is it for a character to basically be the opposite of the personality their Solar incarnation is (or have an opposing moral compass)? Right now I'm thinking a daughter of one of the noble houses. She wasn't exactly a nice person. Was pampered and self-centered...so a true noblewoman. Looked down on the pleabs and whatnot. Then she exalted in some circumstance (no idea what yet) and it sort of flipped a switch in her on the terrible things she and her family were doing to other people. Her previous incarnations were very justice oriented. Her family, not wanting to have the social blight of having a member of their house turn anathema, tried quietly disposing of her without involving the Wyld Hunt but because of that it failed and she was able to escape.
3. I don't care much for theft, but I think it'll be important for her to be able to succeed at if she's going to be a good spy/investigator. Don't care about disguise at all. She'd rather just not be noticed at all. Infiltration and espionage are definitely primary feats she should be good at. Deception seems necessary to be a good infiltrator. Assassination, in the strictest sense, isn't that important. She wants to bring bad people to justice, not necessarily become the tyrant people already assume Solars are. She might sneak in while a baddie is sleeping and incapacitate them, drag them out to the streets and tie them up with a sign of their crimes and the evidence to back it up, but not murder them.
4. She's probably been working alone ever since her exaltation. Just moving around often enough to not draw too much attention and get caught. If I go with the backstory idea I mentioned earlier it would make sense she has some social abilities, though probably nothing refined. She'd probably know High Realm.

 

[Weissplus]

I posted my character, please give me some feedback!

 

[Rykon]

Rykon

1. Brawling is her method of fighting. No need to conceal a weapon if you are the weapon. And I want her to be pretty agile in combat. Closing distances quickly and taking opponents by surprise. She'll have to be good at Join Battle rolls too for some of her Stealth charms to be effective.
2. I have very little firmly set for my character's background and personality. How likely is it for a character to basically be the opposite of the personality their Solar incarnation is (or have an opposing moral compass)? Right now I'm thinking a daughter of one of the noble houses. She wasn't exactly a nice person. Was pampered and self-centered...so a true noblewoman. Looked down on the pleabs and whatnot. Then she exalted in some circumstance (no idea what yet) and it sort of flipped a switch in her on the terrible things she and her family were doing to other people. Her previous incarnations were very justice oriented. Her family, not wanting to have the social blight of having a member of their house turn anathema, tried quietly disposing of her without involving the Wyld Hunt but because of that it failed and she was able to escape.
3. I don't care much for theft, but I think it'll be important for her to be able to succeed at if she's going to be a good spy/investigator. Don't care about disguise at all. She'd rather just not be noticed at all. Infiltration and espionage are definitely primary feats she should be good at. Deception seems necessary to be a good infiltrator. Assassination, in the strictest sense, isn't that important. She wants to bring bad people to justice, not necessarily become the tyrant people already assume Solars are. She might sneak in while a baddie is sleeping and incapacitate them, drag them out to the streets and tie them up with a sign of their crimes and the evidence to back it up, but not murder them.
4. She's probably been working alone ever since her exaltation. Just moving around often enough to not draw too much attention and get caught. If I go with the backstory idea I mentioned earlier it would make sense she has some social abilities, though probably nothing refined. She'd probably know High Realm.

1. You'll want to start with Monkey Leap Technique and Graceful Crane Stance from Athletics, for defense I'd start with Dodge's Reed in the Wind, Drifting Leaf Illusion, and Shadow Over Water. For Offense, you can probably get away with just Fists of Iron Technique and/or Ferocious Jab. Consider building toward Thunderbolt Attack Prana(E1) and Leaping Tiger Attack(E2) if you have the charm count available to reach for them. Probably safe to wishlist those two for after the game starts. These will give you burst damage capability.

2. Perfectly reasonable concept. Sounds like taking a few dots of Socialize and lore would make sense for a noble's education, maybe a dot of Linguistics as well. Probably high appearance attribute as well to reflect nobility. Taking Motive Discerning Technique as unfavored will let you grab a socialize excellency for boosting guile in a pinch as well as provide a tool for spotting criminals.

3. For infiltration, you're going to want something like Lock Opening Touch to get through barriers then leverage Stealth for moving about. Without disguise, deception won't be -AS- useful, though the right disguise can get you almost anywhere in most locales so long as you can dismiss a bit of casual scrutiny. Based on your idea here though I'd stop at Lock Opening Touch and maybe Seasoned Criminal Method for some basic utility. Other things you'll want are Awareness and Investigation. Sensory Acuity Prana, Keen Sight Technique, and Watchman's Infallible Eye are good entry points for the start of the game.

4. Consider Harmonious Presence Meditation at creation if you want to engage in diverse social situations. This is a 3 die bonus even to abilities that aren't Presence over the course of a scene. Given that the character isn't in an organization heavy investment in Bureaucracy, Larceny, and Socialize are unnecessary unless you intend that to change at some point.

In summary, there are 13 starting charms I mentioned outside of Stealth. Favored/Caste lineup is looking like: Athletics, Awareness, Brawl, Dodge, Investigation, and Stealth with potential usefulness for Presence, Socialize, Larceny.

Out those mentioned I'd hold off on Graceful Crane Stance, Keen Sight Technique, and Watchman's Infallible Eye in favor of going more heavily into Stealth charms. Presence and Socialize charms can also wait if either are favored as you'll already have the free excellency to lean on. Also, easy artifact choice would be the Belt of Shadow Walking.

Weissplus since the Terrestrial Circle Sorcery Charm grants you a free spell you get one more power you can take. As an Eclipse I recommend either Corrupted Words, one of the two summoning spells, or Stormwind Rider. Summoning would be especially useful in regards to how Eclipses interact with spirits. Also, I see All-Encompassing Sorceror's Sight, but no dots of Awareness. Unless you have specific things you want out of the integrity tree, you might want to consider moving the investment in integrity over to Awareness.

My other thought is changing your attack ability to something that is innately ranged so you can farm initiative from a distance then blow things up with sorcery. A flame piece could be very useful for this. I don't know what's important to you in this concept though, so hard for me to give much more than that. Either way, I don't see a problem with the character those are just some idle suggestions.

 

[ithinkcat]

Weissplus I really like his backstory, but gosh darn it I want to keep calling him Zenith, which is confusing cause he's not even Zenith caste. Lol. Oh, and I think your Peripheral Essence is off by 1 unless I'm missing something. Peripheral Essence pool is ([Essence x 7] + 26). So...(1 x 7) + 26 = 33?

Rykon Holy chocolate cows, you came up with all that while having headaches. I probably have like 80% of everything you mention and I'm not under the weather. I have to say, Exalted has always been a more confusing system for me than others.

 

[Esbilon]

Alright, sorry about my bout of silence. Let's see what we have.

Rykon - Dawn Soldier
Weissplus - Sorceror-Eclipse
ithinkcat - Noble Night Caste
Red Shadow Claws - Crafter (Twilight?)

So, that leaves open Zenith, yes?

That suits me fine, actually. I'm thinking a comparatively minor in the Hundred Kingdoms cheated out of her inheritance by overly ambitious siblings or cousins. She'd have Exalted since and then returned for revenge and building her country into something to be proud of.
If the rest of you want to follow along with that pitch, we can start before or after taking the country back over, depending on what kinda things we want to actually do starting out.

 

[ithinkcat]

Esbilon That might work really well for my current character concept. She'd feel quite angry about her family, you know, trying to kill her and all and would have developed quite the distaste for the games the different houses and satraps play to gain power and influence. She just doesn't have the means or confidence to go against a foe as powerful as her own house. But if she were to hear your character's sob story, she'd probably agree to help because a.) you're the rightful heir, b.) it'll give her valuable experience for whether she decides to fry bigger fish, and c.) she can gain your trust early on in case you turn out to be the bigger tyrant that needs to be stopped.