Hearthstone Amulets (Taken from WW Forum)

[Guest]

And without further ado;

Actually, Hearthstone amulets do one nice thing - they let you use a hearthstone without being attuned to the manse. That DB you just killed, whose skin seemed to reduce blows(hearthstone of admant skin)? Take his shiny gem, stick it in your amulet and the power is now yours. Sure, eventually someone'll probably notice that Joe DB hasn't reported home and tinker with the manse a bit, but news travels slowly in Creation most of the time.

That was under 'Worst Artifacts Evar', if you want to read whole thing, but the next (and last) post was just someone telling him he's wrong.


However, reading the artifact in question;

Each Hearthstone amulet contains a setting for a
single Hearthstone. A character wearing such an amulet


against her skin gains the basic benefits of a Hearthstone


 that is, the ability to regain Essence more quickly.


However, a character can commit 1 mote of Essence to the


amulet, just as if she were maintaining a Charm with a cost


of 1 mote. This causes the amulet to resonate and activates


the Hearthstone. If the character removes the amulet, the


benefit dissipates.

I can see where he gets this idea. It is kinda ambuigious. And why pay a background, and commit a mote, to use another background when you can just, well, strap it in your jock for the same effect?


Maybe you actually can use the amulet to get the benifits of a hearthstone for which you don't control the manse, at least till the other owners (if any) figure out what is going on and take steps to correct the issue.


Ideas? Comments? Is this guy really an idiot? Am I silly for wondering if he might have a point? Will Sally ever tell Jim about their love child?

 

[Hanat-Osul]

In one of the DB aspect books, they have the Hearthstone amulet's death-metal older brother: the Skin-Mount Amulet.  Lets you socket the stone in a MM holder IMPLANTED IN YOUR FLESH and gives you extra Essence.

 

[Guest]

Any benifit to that past normal, other than the extra essence? How much extra? 1? 2? x2? All of it?


Do you have to control the manse, or can it be any stone you find?


See? Confusion, confusion...

 

[Hanat-Osul]

Your Peripheral Essence pool is increased by a number of motes equal to [2x Hearthstone leve].  So if you're attuned to a L3 Manse, and you carry the Hearthstone, socket it your skin-mount amulet, you get 6 extra motes.

 

[Guest]

That rocks. How much to commit for the artifact?

 

[Hanat-Osul]

Damn my eyes, I can't remember.  I think it's in Aspect Book: Earth.

 

[Solfi]

... how about that and Gem of Perfect Wellness ...

 

[wordman]

That rocks. How much to commit for the artifact?

Nothing, since it is basically surgically implanted. The book waves its hands here to "justify" a zero commitment cost.


As for hearthstone amulets: if you just shove a naked hearthstone "down your jock", the skin contact with the naked stone allows you to get the benefit of essence regeneration from the stone; however, you cannot use the stone's other kewl powerz. Only when the stone it is mounted in an artifact of the five magical materials to which you are attuned do these additional powers activate. In either case, you need to be attuned to the manse from which the hearthstone came to get any benefit.


Thus, hearthstones are a great way for storytellers to buff opposition without worrying about the buffs falling into the hands of the players. As far as I know, if you are not attuned to it's manse, a hearthstone is just dead weight. (One exception might be for artifacts powered by hearthstones. You might be able to power such with captured hearthstones.)

 

[wordman]

I also just realized that I'm using a house rule without having realized it: when a hearthstone is mounted into an attuned artifact, I play that the connection of the attunement allows the essence respiration and other hearthstone powers to carry through the link of the attunement (even when, say, its in a weapon that is banished to elsewhere). Cannonically, this is only true when the artifact is touching your skin (so, I guess, you're fucked if the hearthstone is in your weapon and you're wearing gloves).

 

[Flagg]

I see no real benefit, to game balance, setting, or enjoyment of the game, to be strict about the conditions for hearthstone use.


-S

 

[Solfi]

I see no real benefit, to game balance, setting, or enjoyment of the game, to be strict about the conditions for hearthstone use.

I agree. I can't remember if and where it says that you can't wear gloves to access the hearthstone power, but if it does, screw that. That's ruleslawyering at it's most annoying.

 

[Guest]

(One exception might be for artifacts powered by hearthstones. You might be able to power such with captured hearthstones.)

That could be an issue. They captured a Warstrider and the Pilots Hearthstone earlier in game. So far it's stayed where it was when she was killed because none of them really understand how to work the damn thing...

 

[Obsidian Soul]

I have a question.  What would happen if someone had multiple Skin-Mount Amulets implanted?  Sure, it would be a right bitch to get them done right but, if you equipped them with Essence Accumulators or Essence Pearls created through having an Essence Engine linked up to a couple of Essence Accumulators, you could get a lot of Peripherael Essence without having to worry about geomantic assets.  After all, it seems to be a fairly small implant, just big enough to support the Hearthstone, so, if one did mind looking like a freak, you could have four on each arm, six for each leg, ten for the front of the torso and ten for the back of the torso.  That would be forty Skin-Mount Amulets.  Assuming a level three Essence Pearl (equivalent to a level five Essence Accumulator) in each mount, that would provide you with four hundred extra essence.  I would even say that essence recharge rate should go up, as they are implanted into the flesh.  A recharge rate of six motes per minute would be about right for the equivalent of forty level five Hearthstones.

 

[Jukashi]

That really reminds me of Broken Sky.


(For those unfamiliar with that name, Broken Sky is an series of novels for young teenagers. The setting, which is very Exalted-esque, has characters which manifest superpowers by having magic stones implanted in their backs at birth. Should you have the opportunity to get a hold of the books, I recommend it- it's like reading an anime.)


In any case, to me that sounds painful more than anything.