First time player, questions both mechanical and referencial

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


If I have an attack, such as a punch doing 0B, and a charm/anima flare/artifact that adds +6L to the attack, does the extra damage from strength and additional successes stay bashing?

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen

If I have an attack, such as a punch doing 0B, and a charm/anima flare/artifact that adds +6L to the attack, does the extra damage from strength and additional successes stay bashing?

No, your attack defaults to the +6L. Also, your punch damage is +0B, to which you add your strength.


Captain Hesperus

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


I'm a little confused, let's say I have strenght 4 and 4 more successes then needed to hit, This would normally mean 8B damage... but thanks to the fire aspect anima flare, I'm adding 6L to the damage...


Do I get 8B+6L, 2B+6L, 8L, 14L?


Also, is there anyway to increase Essence besides aging?

 

[Plague of Hats]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen

I'm a little confused, let's say I have strenght 4 and 4 more successes then needed to hit, This would normally mean 8B damage... but thanks to the fire aspect anima flare, I'm adding 6L to the damage...
Do I get 8B+6L, 2B+6L, 8L, 14L?

There's no clear official ruling that I can recall. I suggest defaulting to the most deadly imposed form of damage for the entire attack.

Also, is there anyway to increase Essence besides aging?

If you mean bypassing the "age cap" on Essence ratings higher than 5, yes, there are some. The most likely for a Terrestrial is becoming an akuma, and a distant second is getting an Endowment from an Incarna-level being. There may be avenues similar to Endowment that are temporary or come with significant drawbacks.


If your Storyteller is feeling permissive or bases his table on some of the implications of older rules, the Endowment option may be more accessible than I suggest.


Your Storyteller might also allow you to develop a custom Charm for cap-breaking, but as a default that's something only Celestial Exalted are supposed to be doing, and only Solars, Abyssals and Infernals with anything like ease.

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


Considering what my character concept is, Crazy dragonblooded becoming one with all elements, the being likely to empower me, in order of likelyhood Gaia, Nox, Autochthon, and Parad...


Given that, What exactly are Akuma, and can I become one without too much fuss?

 

[Plague of Hats]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


Akuma are those who have, for whatever reason, given up their souls to the Yozis in Hell to be reshaped as transcendent servants of their titanic will. They lose their Motivation and replace it with an Urge, which functions similarly but is more restrictive and can drive you insane if you have problems with it.


When transformed into akuma, the recipient's trait caps go up by one. Akuma can also learn the Ascendancy Mantle of (Yozi) to gain another dot of Essence beyond their normal age cap, technically, but this is probably not intended.


The rules support specifically for akuma is currently messed up, but for Exalted akuma not tremendously so.


Autochthon doesn't create akuma, as such, though he can transform characters into perfected servants. Gaia is mysterious and largely unexamined as a character or power, but I like to believe that she does not have a similar process because that would be boring.


Considering how permissive your Storyteller seems to be and the unique situation of your character, this is all pretty up-in-the-air and would probably best be just a discussion with your Storyteller about what specifically will happen to your character.

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


Well considering I'm of the opinion that 5 doses of Transcendent Gaian Harmony should turn my soul into an Exaltation... And that the ST has been cooperative so far, it might.

 

[Revoke]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


Becoming akuma isn't usually a good option for PCs. The Yozi you deal with can break you down and rebuild you however it wants. You can make a deal with conditions with it...but once you've agreed, it is under no obligation to actually honor the deal. You might end up with an entirely different traits and a motivation the opposite of your old one....or the Yozi might just slap 'and worship me' on their end of your motivation and call it a day. There's no way to tell what you'll get (Disclaimer: this is all IIRC).


Anything you and your ST can come up with is probably a better option.

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


Then I'm going to have to eat a few terrestiral gods... That's how you ussurp their essence yes, eating them?

 

[Plague of Hats]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen

(Disclaimer: this is all IIRC).

Technically, you are correct. But, this is one of those things that has got to change to make akuma a thing, instead of just some stupid vestigial organ of the system. When the only way to make akuma is to trick sorely uninformed or entirely idiotic people into a bad deal, stories for akuma become kind of constrained.

Then I'm going to have to eat a few terrestiral gods... That's how you ussurp their essence yes, eating them?

Not in any meaningfully relevant, published sense.

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


Drat... how am I supposed to drain the power gods and spirits to fuel my crazy assention of power?

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen

Considering what my character concept is, Crazy dragonblooded becoming one with all elements, the being likely to empower me, in order of likelyhood Gaia, Nox, Autochthon, and Parad...
Given that, What exactly are Akuma, and can I become one without too much fuss?

Gaia... Try and catch her when she's not off out in the Deep Wyld.


Nox... That's the guy who's now the Loom of Fate, right?


Autocthon... You'd need to a) get through the Seal of Eight Divinities or b) get past the Locust Crusade, pass through the Patropolis of Ot, awaken Autocthon and make your bid to him.


Parad... He's probably your best option. If you get yourself known by the Crimson Parlor Matriarchs as a Dragon-Blooded who wants to revive the pure bloodlines of the past, you might receive a visit from a functionary from the Office of Divine Elemental Essence...


Captain Hesperus

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


I might get that done... once the ST has read more on the books.


But since Nox is/was the Incarea of Limitless Potential, and he has limited control over the loom of fate... it is within his power to empower my character... I could just never convince him to do it...


Parad is the best bet... but considering my bloodline contains a Sidereal and I've sired a child with a Lunar... I'm thinking meeting him through the usual channels are out... which is alright because what PC takes the normal channels anywhere?


What are the chances of someone with 6 Essence winning the Heaven and Earth Inventational?

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen

I might get that done... once the ST has read more on the books.
But since Nox is/was the Incarea of Limitless Potential, and he has limited control over the loom of fate... it is within his power to empower my character... I could just never convince him to do it...

Sadly, Nox has lost all sense of self. His physical form is the Loom and his mind is simply a subroutine of the Loom now.

Parad is the best bet... but considering my bloodline contains a Sidereal and I've sired a child with a Lunar... I'm thinking meeting him through the usual channels are out... which is alright because what PC takes the normal channels anywhere?

Maybe not through conventional means, but if you can convince people that your ultimate aim is to advance the purity of the DB lines then maybe Parad might come seeking you incognito.

What are the chances of someone with 6 Essence winning the Heaven and Earth Inventational?

An Essence 6 Dragon-Blooded? Up against Essence 6 or less Sidereals? Hmmm, you would have to be extraordinarily clever. And even then, what would you gain from the prize?


Captain Hesperus

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


The prize is said to be a handshake from the Unconquered Sun, one move in the Games of Divinity and one day’s training with the Maiden of Battles—and, of course, eternal glory.


And considering how entrenched the Games of Divinity is in Yu Shan politics... A move in favor of a god, such as Parad or Nox might go a long way. Not to mention, with my character's memory, and the fact that once you'd been welcomed into the location the maidens of battle train, you're welcome until you die, my character could learn Violet Bier of Sorrows Style, which is one step to his plan for gaining sidereal martial arts.


Considering my character's strongest modivations are personal betterment and family, Parad might gain certain impressions.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen

The prize is said to be a handshake from the Unconquered Sun, one move in the Games of Divinity and one day’s training with the Maiden of Battles—and, of course, eternal glory.
And considering how entrenched the Games of Divinity is in Yu Shan politics... A move in favor of a god, such as Parad or Nox might go a long way. Not to mention, with my character's memory, and the fact that once you'd been welcomed into the location the maidens of battle train, you're welcome until you die, my character could learn Violet Bier of Sorrows Style, which is one step to his plan for gaining sidereal martial arts.


Considering my character's strongest modivations are personal betterment and family, Parad might gain certain impressions.

Good luck with the GoD, hope you can resist the addiction....


And I don't think the Games actually do anything politically or even if a single move will result in an advantage enough to change the dome of Heaven. But then, it depends on what the ST decides the Games do. At the very least, winning the H+EI would likely draw you to the attention of Anys Syn and possibly Carjack Ketchup.


Captain Hesperus

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


I've found, that in and game of strategy and long term planning, a single drop of true chaos, in the right place, can horribly maim most plans... Making a move in the game in the favor of Nox might just do that.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen

I've found, that in and game of strategy and long term planning, a single drop of true chaos, in the right place, can horribly maim most plans... Making a move in the game in the favor of Nox might just do that.

Yeah. Considering that most gods remember Nox as being a turncoat, criminal and traitor in the service of the Primordials during the war, increasing his prominence in so public a manner would certainly cause a degree of maiming to occur....


Captain Hesperus

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


From what I've read most gods don't remember Nox at all.

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


The Destiny Background, is that worth getting? Assuming no one in the party is jynxed.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen

The Destiny Background, is that worth getting? Assuming no one in the party is jynxed.

Destiny is uncaring of whether anyone else in the party has a dark fate. Destiny affects your character solely. In the scene you apply your Destiny, you might survive the shipwreck by finding a floating barrel full of fruit while the rest of the party has to depend upon their own fates, or you might survive the explosion of an Essence cannon because one of your allies stumbles between you and the weapon.


Captain Hesperus

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


Sounds like I'd be punishing the guy who got bad luck, which effects the whole of the party which is... Perfect.

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


So, I planning mastering the 5th varient of the Even Blade Style, any recommendation on the last two charms?


Also, what are the likelyhood of Mela being willing to empower my character, in addition to his second breathe?

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen

So, I planning mastering the 5th varient of the Even Blade Style, any recommendation on the last two charms?

Sorry, I don't know enough about the style to offer advice. However, I'd say consider the concepts of the other four pinnacles and see if there is anything they miss, then build on that.

Also, what are the likelyhood of Mela being willing to empower my character, in addition to his second breathe?

Mela? No-one's really sure if any of the Immaculate Dragons actually exist or if they were a fabrication by the Bronze Faction. There's only the Greater Elemental Dragons, of which only the Kukla, the Black Cloud of An-Teng, Oo-Tahn and Gardullis are even mentioned in name, if not in full detail.


Captain Hesperus

 

[vinom]

Re: First time player, questions both mechanical and referen


If I have a suplemental charm with a one-scene duration in a combo, but it's already active, do I still have to pay the motes while using the combo?