How powerful is the Empress?

[Skari-dono]

Assuming she was 20 when she Exalted, and has lived approx 800 years, that would give her 2550 XP if we use the Long-Term Experience chart on page 275 in the corebook.


With that in mind, how powerful can we assume she is in terms of stats? As far as I know, there is no canonical mention of the Empress's stats.

 

[Flagg]

It's hard to say. I'm sure they've left her vague on purpose.


I'm sure she's nothing short of impressive. The whole Realm feared her, she has access to Celestial Circle sorcery, and has quite possibly been some sort of Infernal for some time now. This is in addition to having her finger on the button, and gods know how many Artifacts, Astrologies, and sorceries protecting her.

 

[crashmurdoch]

I'd say her, at least before her dissapearance, her experiments with the Royal Manse, coupled with the subtle manipulations of the Broze Caste Sidreals have made her substantially more powerful than even the most experienced Dragonblooded Exalt.  More than likely she's on the scale of one of the more ancient Lunars or some of the lesser gods of Creation.


Of course now that she's in the realm of the Yozis who knows what sort of augmentations she's undergone.  She's probably personally more powerful and less dependant on outside sources such as the Imperial Manse, and being that the new powers came from a Yozi they're obviously dark and terrible in nature.

 

[Flagg]

Of course now that She's in the Underworld

Try again.

 

[crashmurdoch]

Ha ha, yeah I screwed up (fixed it though!) I keep forgetting Ebon Dragon (or whatever the hell his name is) isn't a Malfean, he's a Yozi.  Bah it's all confusing when it comes to Primordials!

 

[Sherwood]

It would be a safe bet that if you ever needed a write up for the Empress (say, for a game taking place before her disappearance) you can assume she has all available charms for the Dragon-Bloods, all available spells for the Terrestrial level, and any spell for the Celestial level you wish.


It would probably be best for her NOT to be written up, and just used as a plot device.

 

[Flagg]

She's also a total MILF.

 

[Sherwood]

Hey, go for it.  I hear that she's not really in Malfeas, but is a waitress at Chevey's.

 

[crashmurdoch]

Yeah she's kinda like Elvis in that fashion.


More people have seen her since she dissapeared than when she was on the throne.  

 

[Haku1]

*laughs*


I will be removing THE Scarlet Empress (as a concept) from a game I'll be running... instead, there's going to have been a series of Crimson Emperors and Crimson Emperess. They're suppose to be the head of the Realm, but everyone knows that it's the advisors who have control, and that the Empress/Emperor is just a figurehead...


I'll see how THAT ends up...

 

[Solfi]

Ha ha, yeah I screwed up (fixed it though!) I keep forgetting Ebon Dragon (or whatever the hell his name is) isn't a Malfean, he's a Yozi.  Bah it's all confusing when it comes to Primordials!

... Yup. It is. A fact that is only further examplified by you seeming to have forgotten that they've retconned the term 'Malfean'.


The "dead" Primordials are now known as the 'Neverborn', hence removing the confusion with demons residing in the realm of 'Malfeas', but the dead primordials claiming their heritage as Malfeans.

 

[Flagg]

They should have kept "Malfean", and renamed Malfeas "Yozistan"

 

[Sherwood]

Ok Flagg, why are you being reasonable?  Dont you know that its against the rules?   :lol:

 

[crashmurdoch]

Well sorry if I'm not up on all the latest info.  I've played Exalted in a couple of campaigns, but this is my first time running it, so some of the terminology is still a bit confusing.  


So let me get this straight


Neverborn - The Primordials who were killed


Malfeas- The Underworld, created when the first Primordial was slain.


Yozis- The Primordials who were not slain, but rather imprisoned in the demon realm.

 

[Flagg]

Neverborn - The Primordials who were killed

Yes.

Malfeas- The Underworld, created when the first Primordial was slain.

No. Malfeas is the Yozi whom the other Yozi are imprisoned within.

Yozis- The Primordials who were not slain, but rather imprisoned in the demon realm.

Yes, see above.

 

[crashmurdoch]

So the Abyssal exalted serve the Neverborn and the Infernal Exalted and demons serve the Yozis right?


The Neverborn want to turn the world into one big shadowland?


The Yozis just wanna destroy creation?


An _______________ Serpent is the YOZI who has the Scarlet Empress correct?


(Hmmm maybe I should start a Exalted for Dummies thread over in the Settings forum and stop hijaking this poor guy's thread.)

 

[Jukashi]

The Yozis don't really want to destroy Creation. Rather, they want to escape from their prison and take revenge on the ones who put them there, i.e. the Exalted, the Gods, humanity, etc. Then they'll rule over Creation again.


The Neverborn do want to turn Creation into a big Shadowland, but that's a means to their goal, not their end goal itself. See, they're dead, but not completely dead, so they're trapped in a hellish godly half-death until they can utterly destroy everything else. Then they, at last, will finally cease to exist and escape their pain.


And the guy who has the Scarlet empress is the Ebon Dragon, though in the piece of text that shows this, she's never directly referred to by name, so that STs can use other ideas at their leisure.

 

[RainOfSteel]

Assuming she was 20 when she Exalted' date=' and has lived approx 800 years, that would give her [b']2550 XP[/b] if we use the Long-Term Experience chart on page 275 in the corebook.
With that in mind, how powerful can we assume she is in terms of stats? As far as I know, there is no canonical mention of the Empress's stats.

I always assumed she was around Essence 8/9, and had the Mantle of Brigid for +5 and Celestial level spells.


Wild Estimate Follows:


5/6/6--6/10/5--8/8/9


A: Linguistics 8


A: Lore 9 (I.D.G. +3)


A: Occult 9


E: Awareness 10 (Body Language +3)


E: Resistance 10 (Poisons +3)


F: Socialize 10 (Dynasts +3)


F: Presence 10 (Intimidation +3)


Wa: Bureacracy 10 (Thousand Scales +3*)


Wa: Investigation 10 (Realm Politics +3)


Wo: Performance 8 (Singing +3)


Wo: Ride 5


*Or, perhaps, Deliberative +3.  Perhaps a Merit that allows her to pay for both?


Oh, yes.  Articact 5 and a 10 point Merit that allows for Artifact N/A (the Sword of Creation/Imperial Defense Grid).

 

[Ker'ion]

I always assumed she was around Essence 8/9, and had the Mantle of Brigid for +5 and Celestial level spells.
...


Oh, yes.  Articact 5 and a 10 point Merit that allows for Artifact N/A (the Sword of Creation/Imperial Defense Grid).

Not this time.
AFAIK, the only hard cap on Exalted in print is 7 for DBs.

1) I believe (and was backed up) that the Essence cap for DBs is seven by 2nd Ed.  So how could she have Essence 8 or 9 before the Mantle?


2) Isn't the Mantle of Brigid an N/A artifact?


3) The Artifact N/A Merit is for Artifacts, not Manses.  The most powerful Manses in Creation are only a Level 5 and you can buy them at Character Creation.

 

[Haku1]

The cap only applies due to age, and also the fact that you CAN go over it with certain methods like intensive meditation, specific diets, hearthstones, sorcerery and such... or you can beat up/blackmail/bribe a god/demon who has endowment.

 

[Bizar]

I think by how easily the wool has been pulled over her eyes that her mental stats should be a lot lower. All in all I thin all her stats should be a lot lower. The only thing that will have developed well is her social skills since she must have had enough training for that.

 

[Sherwood]

AFAIK, the only hard cap on Exalted in print is 7 for DBs.

1) I believe (and was backed up) that the Essence cap for DBs is seven by 2nd Ed.  So how could she have Essence 8 or 9 before the Mantle?


2) Isn't the Mantle of Brigid an N/A artifact?


3) The Artifact N/A Merit is for Artifacts, not Manses.  The most powerful Manses in Creation are only a Level 5 and you can buy them at Character Creation.


The Mantle is described in BoTC.  It was supposedly owned by Brigid herself and was imbued with her power.  It adds 5 perm Essence to the wearer and allows the casting of the next higher level spells, so a Lunar could cast Solar level spells if one had it.

 

[Quchu]

...it adds 5 Essence? I thought it was only power was allowing the wearer cast sorcery a circle higher?

 

[Sherwood]

Yep.  It adds 5 dots to your permanent Essence score with the added motes to your periferal and personal pools.  Not to mention all the other spells and charms that get their effects bumped up because their effects are based on your Essence score plus whatever.  No wonder its a artifact level N/A.


I was trying to quote Ker'ion in my last post but it got a bit munched.  Sorry about that.  I'm not trying to step on toes.

 

[Haku1]

AFAIK, the only hard cap on Exalted in print is 7 for DBs.

1) I believe (and was backed up) that the Essence cap for DBs is seven by 2nd Ed.  So how could she have Essence 8 or 9 before the Mantle?


2) Isn't the Mantle of Brigid an N/A artifact?


3) The Artifact N/A Merit is for Artifacts, not Manses.  The most powerful Manses in Creation are only a Level 5 and you can buy them at Character Creation.

The Mantle is described in BoTC.  It was supposedly owned by Brigid herself and was imbued with her power.  It adds 5 perm Essence to the wearer and allows the casting of the next higher level spells, so a Lunar could cast Solar level spells if one had it.


I repost with a fix

The Dragonblooded Essence cap only applies due to age, and there is also the fact that you CAN go over it with certain methods like intensive meditation, specific diets, hearthstones, sorcerery and such... or you can beat up/blackmail/bribe a god/demon who has endowment.