Dice [Exalted] O Brave New World (OOC)

[D. Rex]

What exactly is ward hunting?


Also, would Hazel have a chance to look over the papers she took?

 

[Random Word]

You can always make time to study the papers you took. They're encoded and you don't have the cipher, but you could try to crack the code. You might be able to find the cipher at the Alcazar or another ancient site of the same organization.

As to ward hunting, the Lady of the Forest has temples in most major settlements where she can be petitioned for a sacred hunt to obtain a ward. The guardian beasts of the jungle will attack and kill anyone who enters the jungle without a ward, a symbol that appears above their brow when the guardian beasts are close. Every clan and family that operates in Locura hires martial artists and other heroes to complete a hunt for them every year so their people can work the jungle if not in safety then in relative safety. The wards don't protect from mundane predators and natural hazards, just some of the most overtly hostile and supernatural dangers. If your petition is accepted, you'll be given the location of a specific guardian beast to slay, and killing it will grant you and your clan a ward until next Calibration. The annual Great Hunt is held just after Calibration for this reason.

 

[D. Rex]

You can always make time to study the papers you took. They're encoded and you don't have the cipher, but you could try to crack the code. You might be able to find the cipher at the Alcazar or another ancient site of the same organization.

As to ward hunting, the Lady of the Forest has temples in most major settlements where she can be petitioned for a sacred hunt to obtain a ward. The guardian beasts of the jungle will attack and kill anyone who enters the jungle without a ward, a symbol that appears above their brow when the guardian beasts are close. Every clan and family that operates in Locura hires martial artists and other heroes to complete a hunt for them every year so their people can work the jungle if not in safety than in relative safety. The wards don't protect from mundane predators and natural hazards, just some of the most overtly hostile and supernatural dangers. If your petition is accepted, you'll be given the location of a specific guardian beast to slay, and killing it will grant you and your clan a ward until next Calibration. The annual Great Hunt is held just after Calibration for this reason.

Then going ward hunting sounds like a blast. And maybe we can get ahead of Zahur and whats his name while we are at it.


And Hazel will definitely want to make time to read those papers. They got her worried. Breaking such a cipher would be Linguistics related attempt, correct?

 

[Random Word]

Linguistics seems like a sensible choice for codebreaking. Let's say a Linguistics + Int extended test with an interval of one week, a difficulty of 3, and a target number of 10.

 

[D. Rex]

Linguistics seems like a sensible choice for codebreaking. Let's say a Linguistics + Int extended test with an interval of one week, a difficulty of 3, and a target number of 10.

I haven't quite done extended rolls yet, so let me make sure I get the process right.

I would be making the skill check at difficulty three. Do threshold success count towards target number?

And by interval, does that mean I would be rolling once per week?


And, I think the term used is terminus(?). I dont think this situation would have a terminus. But if it did, that would mean I would have to have that 10 by that deadline?

 

[Random Word]

Correct on all counts. We can set a terminus, but it will be fairly generous. If you can't figure it out in five weeks, you'll probably need to find some additional Means to help you crack it. You don't fail if you haven't reached 10 net successes after 5 weeks, you're just stuck until you find a new angle through the story, like a codebreaking expert to help you or a piece of the cipher.

 

[Random Word]

Alright, Jaydude, Sherwood, and Psychie are unblocked (in the latter case just a small decision before the fortuitous discovery of Dalisay and the Princess). Rykon is waiting on D. Rex to decide how Hazel will approach the conundrum of sunlight.

I'm thinking of offering a Compel to Sherwood - I fluffed Renna's botched Strategic Manoeuvre roll as the curse of some God, but you could take some Solar XP and a Fate Point to make that true. Then the question would just be which God you had offended and how.

 

[Rykon]

Still with us D. Rex ?

 

[D. Rex]

Still with us D. Rex ?

Yes. Soon!

 

[Random Word]

D. Rex you sure there's nothing I can do to make the game more fun for you? If you're just not feeling it I understand.

 

[D. Rex]

D. Rex you sure there's nothing I can do to make the game more fun for you? If you're just not feeling it I understand.

Not at all boss. Just trying to get used to a new job, new work load. And new work schedule that leaves me with less free time than my previous job did.

 

[Random Word]

Gotcha. Congratulations on the new job, if appropriate.

 

[jaydude]

Hmm. Finally got around to looking at this game, and trying to figure out where to go from here.

Based on what was said in the Mechanics section of this post, Atusa's going to need to bring along more potent supernatural backup than she has at present in order to get past Ragalabash. In all honesty, right now I'm considering just abandoning the Palace of Justice for the time being, focusing on resolving the incident with Aejej and Hasani, and then returning when Atusa's got more powerful allies. I'm also concerned about water; I don't know how easy it would be to replenish supplies, or how far away we are from the Manzil-Hematti.

Seeing as Renna and Morrolan have apparently outed themselves as Celestials, one idea I did have was for Atusa to try and track them down, and then recruit/hire them to help her deal with Raglabash. Assuming Sherwood and Psychie are both okay with that.

 

[Random Word]

News will certainly spread that a Solar and Lunar are in the area, and if nothing is done to halt that spread it won't take long for the Lady of the Forest to catch word. There will be an internal power struggle in the Principate about whether to try to cover for the Celestials and rope them into the cold (and possibly hot) war with Ea-Abzu, or hand them over to the Lady rather than risk her wrath and the generally uncontrollable nature of Celestial Exalted. You could certainly have heard of them and their exploits, and move to intercept them/offer passage when they leave Kabir to travel back across the desert.

You can always toss Fate Points at problems to make them more advantageous - as an example, if persuading Aajej to relinquish Hasani doesn't seem interesting, you could declare Nomarch Chuma Fayum had been assassinated, prompting a succession crisis amongst the Fayum as three of his four children squabble for power and try to pull the vassals into their respective camps. Aajej wouldn't prevent Hasani from returning home for his father's funeral, so that trades your current problem for a new one. That little civil war could give the Hematti an excuse to break away, lead a vassal rebellion, play Nomarch-maker, etc. You could declare some useful things about some of his children or the other vassals to help your favoured path to power.

You can spend them any time you'd like a turn of good fortune of any sort, including buying the kind of aid you'd need to overcome obstacles in the Palace of Justice if you'd rather not rely on other PCs. It won't come for free, but you can buy an advantageous path to victory.

You're about four days sail from the Manzil-Hematti. You can also resupply at friendly oasis settlements. If you're with the Bintanath that opens more oases as friendly, but tongues will wag if you're seen together sharing water.

 

[jaydude]

Thanks. Will think on this.

 

[jaydude]

You can always toss Fate Points at problems to make them more advantageous - as an example, if persuading Aajej to relinquish Hasani doesn't seem interesting, you could declare Nomarch Chuma Fayum had been assassinated, prompting a succession crisis amongst the Fayum as three of his four children squabble for power and try to pull the vassals into their respective camps. Aajej wouldn't prevent Hasani from returning home for his father's funeral, so that trades your current problem for a new one. That little civil war could give the Hematti an excuse to break away, lead a vassal rebellion, play Nomarch-maker, etc. You could declare some useful things about some of his children or the other vassals to help your favoured path to power.

Kinda leaning towards this option, especially if it means getting Hasani back. After all, that was the main reason Atusa set sail in the first place. Though on the other hand, if Nomarch Chuma bites the arrowhead, I don't know if there'll be anything to stop Hasani from trying to return to Aejej. And if he doesn't, there's no telling how Aejej might react to losing him, unless she's placated in some way.

 

[Random Word]

OOC what is the roll for a knockdown attempt? A standard Withering attack?

He's a scrawny teenage boy and you're Morrolan. The roll for knocking him over with your legendary lance is 'you succeed', but if you'd like to roll for fun it's Dex or Str + Melee, difficulty 2.

Persuading him you're here to help, however, is either an Instill (an intimacy about how you're here to help) or a Persuade (leveraging an existing Intimacy to get him to sit still and tell you what you want to know). That's Charisma or Manipulation + any Social skill of your choice (Presence being the default). You can defer to Renna on that one, if you prefer.

 

[Random Word]

Whoops, didn't get my notifications here.

Is there a place where he can bunker down and wait to confront the guardian? Also, I think it’s already approaching nightfall, how much time does he have to prepare for a confrontation?

You can roll Int+Lore to declare an ideal site to hole up, or Survival+Wits to find such a place and fortify it. Survival+Wits/Perception would be good for getting there without being ambushed before nightfall and generally avoiding the dangers of the jungle. Hazel can of course offer the use of her magic flying cloud, which makes traversing the jungle easier and less dangerous, or some summoned Agata to fly faster.

 

[D. Rex]

Ack! Will post tomorrow!

I told myself I would post days ago. Told sherwood I would post days ago. And I still somehow forgot.

Of course Hazel will make going as easy as possible.

 

[Random Word]

Alright, Atusa's next scene is going to take a hot minute to write. Maybe tomorrow. In the meantime:

• Persuade the Fayum to Stand Down (4) [Returning the Kheru Hasani, offering concessions or reparations from the Bintanath, honeyed words, skilled negotiating, etc]
• Placate the Warmongering Faction of the Hematti (2) [This is optional, but will undermine clan unity if not pursued. Possible approaches: Extract concessions from the Bintanath; Give them a more enticing target; Consolidate power and neutralize them as a faction]

That first one is indeed achieved, netting everyone 3 XP. The second one is not, but it is optional and can still be achieved if you like. The Hawks (I should outline the factions in the Hematti but haven't bothered as they haven't been important so far) saw an opportunity to strike an enemy, and will be dissatisfied if the opportunity is squandered with nothing to show for it. They'll want to see what you've won from the Bintanath, and that you aren't soft on your enemies.

 

[Sherwood]

That first one is indeed achieved, netting everyone 3 XP.

Xp is always a good thing.

 

[Random Word]

Then it's a good thing I'm bad at running my own metagame, because I'm pretty sure Hazel and John had an Obstacle in figuring out where the Alcazar was, and they definitely did that. That brings the total up to 12 XP for everyone, plus the I think 6 earned at character creation.

 

[D. Rex]

Then it's a good thing I'm bad at running my own metagame, because I'm pretty sure Hazel and John had an Obstacle in figuring out where the Alcazar was, and they definitely did that. That brings the total up to 12 XP for everyone, plus the I think 6 earned at character creation.

You can always trust the players to get around blast through any potential obstacles with sheer force of creativity, absurdity, or stupidity.

 

[Random Word]

That's what we're all here for.

 

[Random Word]

[Rolling to Introduce a Fact of an old ruin around a tilted tower with an un-tilted/level interior that is near their mark. No essence on charms, but John gets a free non-charm success from Harmonious Academic Methodology. Unlucky roll, only 3 successes.]

I'd say that's at most Difficulty 1 or 2, so you definitely succeed. One or both of you should roll Wits + Survival (Difficulty 2 if you're flying, 3 on foot, with benefits for net successes) for getting there in one piece and on time, or hire/summon a guide to make the roll for you. Other than that, there's nothing holding the scene.