Lunar NPC

[Ker'ion]

I've got a Lunar NPC made for higer powered characters, like 50-100 XP.


Though I'm not sure if he's too powerful for even that level...


It's kind of an NPC on crack.


Physical Charms are:


Body Weapon Tech., Sinuous Striking Grace, Tyrant Lizard Strike, Hydra Head Attack, Snake Body Technique, and Deadly Claw Blow.


Gifts are:


Terrible Claws, Savage Moonsilver Talons, and Talons of Luna


Resilience of Nature and Wound Knitting Power


and Heightened Senses


Merits are:


Sturdy, Tough, and Giant


MA Charms:                              Beastform:


All of Tiger Form                        Tiger


Hearthstones:


Gem of Adamant Skin


and Gem of Incomparable Wellness


So, he has a Strength of 10 and Stamina of 9, hence, Ox-Body of 9.


Health Levels: 2x -0, 19x -1, 17x -2, -4, Incap.


Soak is 23/4 for Bashing, 21/4 Lethal, and 12 Agg.


Warform Stats are:


Str - 14, Dex - 8, Sta - 16.  Soak is 26/4 for Bashing, 24/4 for Lethal, and 12 Agg.


Moonsilver Articulated Plate (shifts with his form and has a banish to elsewhere charm (for Tiger Form)), and a Huge Moonsilver Reaver Daiklave (Spd -1, Acc +2, Dmg +11L, Def +0)

 

[Flagg]

I've got a Lunar NPC made for higer powered characters' date=' like 50-100 XP.[/quote']
What do you mean "made for"? Made to be able to defeat in a fight?


-S

 

[wordman]

Questions/comments:

1. What are "Talons of Luna"?
   
2. Unless his Essence is 5, I don't think he can have that many gifts.
   
3. I wouldn't let Sturdy and Tough stack.
   
4. The Gem of Incomparable Wellness is not really necessary. Wound Knitting Power heals all bashing each turn (even when incapacitated) and the Gem of Adamant Skin turns lethal damage to bashing, so this guy should pretty much never die anyway. Give him Calling Luna's Favor and he could do this all the time.
   
5. The sword is uncessary and will just give the PCs a nice artifact when they inevitably defeat this guy. The Savage Moonsilver Talons should be more than formidable enough.
   
6. PCs should fight this guy the same way you fight all regenerating soak monsters: use spells like Mists of Eventide and charms like Crippling Pressure Point Strike, Joint-Wounding Attack to give him dice penalties to the point of immobility (these penalties usually apply "until the end of the scene" not "until the damage is healed", so the damage will regenerate away, the penalties will not). Then cut his head off.*
   
7. Some parties at the 50-100xp level may also be able to do aggravated damage. This would probably work as well. Even if you assume that he has the Gem of Incomparable Wellness, once he is down, it is a trivial matter to remove it from his skin, then cut his head off.
   
8. How much XP is needed to build this guy? The ox-body alone is over 100.

*Interestingly, Earth Aspect Immaculates are better at fighting this type of opponent than your average solar.

 

[Flagg]

*Interestingly, Earth Aspect Immaculates are better at fighting this type of opponent than your average solar.

I'm sure a Solar Earth Dragon Stylist would be even better yet.


-S

 

[Quchu]

[*]Some parties at the 50-100xp level may also be able to do aggravated damage. This would probably work as well. Even if you assume that he has the Gem of Incomparable Wellness, once he is down, it is a trivial matter to remove it from his skin, then cut his head off.

I thought the effect of the Gem of Incomparable Wellness lasted a day even after the Hearthstone was removed? (I assume that means the regeneration effect is still there.)

 

[Dulio Giovanni]

Gotta agree with wordman, I don't think 100 xp would cut this guy since he'll need to be an Essence 6 to get enough gifts to pull it off from Deadly Beastman Transformation. And sorry to burst you bubble but for a high level character he's pretty weak. A starting combat oriented Sidreal could kick his ass in roughly three turns if he comboed his Melee charms correctly with Water Dragon and Hungry Ghost Martial Arts. Incidentally why didn't you give this guy any comboes since the real measure of power for an Exalt is his combos not his Essence?


Personally I would suggest ditching the entire Tiger Form Martial Arts since its utterly pointless for Lunars since they can't combo them with attribute charms and its higher level charms are not compatible with the armor or the Daiklave your character has as well as detracting completely from the usual Lunar Image (not that there's anything wrong with that mind you, it's just odd).  I would also suggerst swapping out your sturdy merit for Berserker instead.

 

[Obsidian Soul]

I agree, it would take an experienced Solar Circle (500 XP each) to defeat this guy.  The Gem of Incomparable Wellness, combined with his Merits, mean that anyone less powerful would treat this creature as a major boss.  Quite frankly, I agree that Tiger Form is useless for him.  I would suggest Ebon Shadow.  His high Essence and Martial Arts would give him a great deal of advantages, especially with the Ebon Shadow form Charm and, quite frankly, big cats are stalkers anyway, so it would fit with his Totem.

 

[Ker'ion]

What do you mean "made for"? Made to be able to defeat in a fight?
-S

Originally made as an ally for three 100 point characters.  Hasn't been used yet, but I'm planning on using him in my next game as an enemy.


Just gauging how powerful the PC's should be before attacking him...

Incidentally why didn't you give this guy any comboes since the real measure of power for an Exalt is his combos not his Essence?

I forgot to put it in ops:


I only gave him one combo:


Blinding Silver Claw Attack (Tyrant Lizard Strike + Hydra Head Attack + Deadly Claw Blow)


In Beastform this is 6 attacks @ (16 auto successes + 12 dice) and 6 attacks @ (16 auto successes + 11 dice) :twisted:


The power burnt to do this is 42 motes and 2 willpower, so he can only do it twice, but.........


I'm also used to my players being hellbent on pure power gaming, thus being socially inept even in character, so all of their charms are used only on battle charms, unless absolutely needed (As EM just yelled in my ear aboot).

 

[Ker'ion]

I think I should have put this under Cloister of Wisdom....


I've only really run one game, since one defaulted at the fourth game from a rules lawyer trying to override me.

 

[wordman]

the real measure of power for an Exalt is his combos not his Essence

This is particularly true for lunars.

 

[Persell]

the gem of incomparable wellness will make this character undefeatable.maybe his essence will be burnt out, but he can keep fighting till all the PC's are dead. his combo alone can kill most people in one attack with it, unless everyone had superheavy plate artifacts.his health levels are pretty nasty, too how much OBT does he have and has he gone into the wild and gained the large mutation or huge even?

 

[Obsidian Soul]

He's a giant, he doesn't need large or huge.


Look, this Lunar is not 100 XP, he is rapidly approaching 1000 XP (if his traits are to be well rounded).  He is a final boss to a long series.

 

[Persell]

He's a giant, he doesn't need large or huge.
Look, this Lunar is not 100 XP, he is rapidly approaching 1000 XP (if his traits are to be well rounded).  He is a final boss to a long series.

sorry, didnt notice that merit section, my bad.

 

[Ker'ion]

how much OBT does he have?

What is OBT?


I asked EM, and he doesn't even know...

 

[Persell]

how much OBT does he have?

What is OBT?


I asked EM, and he doesn't even know...

thats the abbreveation me and my group use for Ox-Body Technique.

 

[Obsidian Soul]

He should have a Essence of 6, due to his DBT gifts, so his Strength and Stamina should be, including his Merits, around 11 and 12 respectively, which means that he could have up to 12 OBTs.  That could, with the bonuses from his Merits, put his health levels at -0*2/-1*5/-2*32/-4/Incap, if you wanted to maximize his full potential.  Combined with a natural soak of 12B/12L and the Gem of Incomparable Wellness, he is very very hard to kill.  In his DBT form, he probably should have a Strength 21 and Stamina 22, which would give him, with his Ruggen Hide DBT Gift, a soak and hardness of 12B/12L (the Lunars protean nature does not allow natural soaks above 12 for some reason.)

 

[Ker'ion]

His permanent Essence is 6.


I gave him Tiger form, since Mantis form didn't seem to fit, Snake form would allow him to do agg., and Ebon Shadow form seemed to be a solar thing.


The other stats in question should be in the original post.

 

[Dulio Giovanni]

Actually I suggest you completely lay off the Martial Arts entirely and if you really need an example of what a high level lunar should look like check Mnailf from Blood and Salt for a lesson on pure brutality or Bastions of the North, the Lunars presented there only have Essence 4 but are much more deadly than say many 200 xp Solars.


The GoIW is pointless, I suggest you ditch it for Gem of Adamant Skin, the first one is really just overratted and you musn't fall into the trap of relying on it since it's relatively easy to overcome. Also you should get this guy some defensive charms other than those that directly correlate to soak, even Bowing Reed Technique and Snake Body Technique will suffice so that he'd have an active defense of some sort to avoid the nastier attacks that could be thrown at him.


Say a combo based around Crashing Wave Style, Flow Reversal Strike, Smiling at the Damned and Theft of Essence Method.  At its best the combo could rob you character of upwards of 30+  motes per hit, inflict 5 unsoakble lethal, inflict a -10 penalty on all rolls and deal a variable number of aggravated damage as well in five separate attacks while leaving his opponent with a full willpower pool and a full essence pool. And this is just from a starting Sidreal acting on his second turn after activating Water Dragon From what more those agents who use Sidreal Level Martial Arts or are more senior members of the Wyld Hunt.


I would also suggest getting him a Living Glaive from Time of Tumult which gives him an extra action for defensive purposes and giving him attack combos that don't cost too much but have some substantial effects like those shown in Blood and Salt. If you really have your heart set on Martial Arts get him Hungry Ghost style instead since it would round out and cover his weaknesses by giving him acces to cheap offensive techniques such as Shrouded Claw Attack which halves his opponents defense pools, gives him access to charm snuffing techniques and a from that lets him strike incorporeal opponents.

 

[wordman]

Personally I would suggest ditching the entire Tiger Form Martial Arts since its utterly pointless for Lunars since they can't combo them with attribute charms

This is actually untrue. Lunars can combo mismatching attribute charms, charms with attributes and abilities, and pretty much anything else. Note that Eclipse solars can combo attribute charms with ability charms as well, as long as they apply to the same action.


Note that comboing charms doesn't negate any of the many restrictions specific Lunar charms have, so these place a practical limit a lot of combo possibilities.

 

[Quchu]

Wasn't that changed after the Power Combat came out?

 

[Dulio Giovanni]

Yep it is explicitly stated in the section on Martial Arts in the Players Guide book that Lunars cannot combo Martial Arts with Attribute based charms period. It's a case of either/or for them, the Rakhasa and the Alchemicals. Eclipse and Moonshadows are exceptions to the rule and can freely combo all kinds of charms even if they are normally illegal such as attribute, virtue and ability base charms making for some really sick stuff.

 

[wordman]

Yep it is explicitly stated in the section on Martial Arts in the Players Guide book that Lunars cannot combo Martial Arts with Attribute based charms period.

D'oh! So it does. I stand corrected. Wow, that screws lunars even more than they already are. Their combo flexibility was one of their major assets.

 

[Dulio Giovanni]

Lunars aren't really designed to do a lot of fancy stuff in my opinion they just get in there and beat the crap out of anyone with their scene length booster charms and Deadly Beastman Form. Any combos are just really for added flavor since most of their charms are deadly enough with the high die pools Lunars regularly achieve with DBF, Foe Driving Attack being one such example.

 

[Ker'ion]

As an added twist, if I were to put him as the final boss on a long campaign, how would one go about converting a lunar to Infernal? :twisted:

 

[Persell]

Lunars aren't really designed to do a lot of fancy stuff in my opinion they just get in there and beat the crap out of anyone with their scene length booster charms and Deadly Beastman Form. Any combos are just really for added flavor since most of their charms are deadly enough with the high die pools Lunars regularly achieve with DBF' date=' Foe Driving Attack being one such example.[/quote']
I beg to differ.  Combos are an important part of any high-end Exalt's combat set, and particularly so for Lunars.  Use of your mobility and the careful splitting and holding of actions are also a key part of effective Lunar combat.  Simply throwing up DBT and trying to tough it out will not take you very far.

As an added twist' date=' if I were to put him as the final boss on a long campaign, how would one go about converting a lunar to Infernal? :twisted:[/quote']
Infernal conversion rules can be found in the Player's Guide.