Rune of Singular Hate

altona

Lurker
Well I Singular hated my groups healer last sessions, and he lived through it.  It cost him aproximantly 300 xp.  He went from essence 5 to 1, among other things.  He wants to keep playing the character.  Im not sure how to deal with it.  Any suggestions?
 
....


oooooh...


Ouch. Well... you could involve a loophole that the Rune doesn't nuke the experience, it just unmakes the charms, essence... -everything-... into raw xp...


Which means he'll need to retrain up... again.
 
First off, how can you post that you used RoSH on one of your player's and not even hint at why?


Second, if you have a large group, then he tags along until he gets killed. He'll never catch up, unless you decide to reward him for pissing a solar circle sorceror off that much.


If you solo him, or it's a small, tightly knit party, then you can, essentially run a "lower level" game. He'll still never catch up with any other PC's or even any active NPC's.


Course you can always invent a solar circle spell that makes him better - it would probably be a real bitch to cast though.


I still wanna know what led up to this.
 
About that essence 1...


All exalted are essence 2+. If the Rune reduces you to essence 0, you die. If it reduces you to essence 1, the results are unclear, but since unexalted mortals are essence 1, it's logicl to suppose that reducing you to essence 1 would mean that your shad has moved on, as you are now an insufficent vessel. In other words, I think the character should be retired.
 
ImaginalDisc said:
About that essence 1...
All exalted are essence 2+. If the Rune reduces you to essence 0, you die. If it reduces you to essence 1, the results are unclear, but since unexalted mortals are essence 1, it's logicl to suppose that reducing you to essence 1 would mean that your shad has moved on, as you are now an insufficent vessel. In other words, I think the character should be retired.
Not necessarily.  In the Player's Guide there are a couple of Merits that are based on mortal essence masterery, and if i recall, there is no mention to gaining an extra point in permenant Essence a la when one Exalts, so in theory, the character could still have some kind of potential to continue, maybe as a side plot by both player and ST, while the player gets into a new character.


~FC.
 
ImaginalDisc said:
About that essence 1...
All exalted are essence 2+. If the Rune reduces you to essence 0, you die. If it reduces you to essence 1, the results are unclear, but since unexalted mortals are essence 1, it's logicl to suppose that reducing you to essence 1 would mean that your shad has moved on, as you are now an insufficent vessel. In other words, I think the character should be retired.
Not really, if you're at essence 1, you're just at a low, low level... you can STILL be exalted, but be at essence 1, say a newly exalted can have essence 1, but usually they pop up to 2 if not 3 -fast-. I believe, in the Dragonblooded book, where they had rules on -young- exalted DBs, they gave the option of essence 1, but allowing it to be increased with graduation if they hadn't already gotten up to 2 by xp.
 
It sounds like some Sadistic Equine Necromancy to me (brining a dead horse back to life to beat it some more).  I admit that as a player I have gotten attached to my characters.  I want to see them excel.  When something happens to a character like that, I want to find any loophole to keep in play.  As a ST, I'd yank the character out, because it will never be the equal to the other characters and it will be a source of friction between players.  I'd expect to be able to see a NPC extra be able to take down the character, and how can you expect that to be fun for anyone?  Do the guy a favor:  Make 'em pull out a new sheet and start over.
 
Your player's obviously attached to their character, and they take the game seriously enough to not mind losing teh leet powerZ.


Honour them! Many STs would kill for a player like that. I know I have.


Maybe it won't work out. Maybe it'll be a whole new dimension to the game. The best way to find out is to try it. If it doesn't work, no harm done. But if you don't let them play the character, you're wiping an extremely interesting plot point out of the game.


As for how to handle it, my advice is take it very seriously. The Exalt is now much, much less powerful than their companions and they're going to feel it. Throw a couple of low-level threats at the circle to show the difference between the Essence 5 and Essence 1 Exalts. Also give the character stuff that they can do well. Have the healer seperated from the circle and have to deal with something as simple as cold weather on their own. Then tempt the circle with a mission that only powerful Exalts could handle. This lets the whole circle make an informed decision about the course of action.


There certainly are all sorts of factors that make it very hard to work such a character into a game. The place to sort them out is in the gaming group. Who knows, they might add a whole lot to the game. And if they don't it's best if everyone can see that and is comfortable with it.


Good luck.
 
I would allow the player of the now diminished to make choices only available to him. I would add a theme like in being cursed comes insight and knowledge. While being weaker than the other characters, he could be able to make choices never available to others.


Make the other players see that the character has become something not encountered before and make them wonder what's happening. Why is the cursed character changing, gaining powers and insights not heard of?
 
I'm with Burning Palm on this one.


A player who wants to continue on with that character is doing a fine job of building a great hero. Setbacks, and how the character deals with them is a big part of the Hero's Journey. I'd say kudos to the player, and while you don't have to coddle them--you should at least respect the player for wanting to soldier on.  And reward them for good play as well.


Regaining the Essence is going to be easier than you think. Essence 2 is going to be fair easy--current rating x8. Boom. You've got an Essence 2 Solar back in play soon enough. RoSH doesn't erase Charms, so they'll qualify back in some time. And on top of it, the character who cast RoSH can't do it again, and having failed to kill the character, has made a very motivated enemy. That's worth a few stories all on its own.


This is a great opportunity, not a burden. You can really have a good time dealing with this in play. Plenty of great chances for great role-playing. Especially if the diminished character has made powerful enemies that don't know that they're diminished. Or has a reputation.  You can play with this a good while, and get in some great experiences with this.


Worry more about the tales that you're telling, and less about the glitz and glamour of the Charms and goodies. Stories are what you're there for, not hte special effects. Your player just handed you a great toy box to play with. Thank them.
 
Seems to me you have an excellent oppurtunity to roleplay those training episodes that all heroes must go through.


You know like how Batman went through heck after Bane broke his back.


Or, and whatever Diety forgive me for bringing this up, Any one of Dragonball training eps would make a nice thing.


Or think Rocky 3, after Clubber Lang kills Mickey, and Rocky loses his Eye of the Tiger.


Sounds to me like you have some great stories ahead.  Additionally, while the other characters are expanding, and yes, the other guy probably wont catch up, he WILL be making faster strides in his improvement.  So that over enough time, the differences will be minor.
 
I must say that I envy you, having nearly reduced a player to mortal level, to have them not throw a huge sulk, let alone play on shows that the game is being hugely successful, I wish you luck for future games since the series is clearly going well
 
You know the first thing that came to my mind when reading the thread?


The part in Batman Begins when Dad Wayne asks Bruce: Why do we fall?


I think that it can be a GREAT story to tell, how the hero fell, only to rise again, against all odds, despite being almost killed, and all that stuff.


Yes, I'd love to have (more) players like that one in my group. I must admit I already have one, and it's always a pleasure watching as the character unfolds.


Maybe you can include a subplot that can lead to a reversing of the curse, or something like that. In fact, there's a lot of good story material in there, that you should use, even if it's just to show your appreciation for the player, that is willing to become significantly less powerful than his comrades, because the story took him there. If you can't/won't reward him with extra experience, cool powers or artifacts, maybe extra "spotlight time" is a good way to "thank" him for his decision.


Because I, as ST, would be thankful for helping me to tell good stories, and not just becoming more and more powerful.
 
That is a hard one.


I do not think I would have used that spell against the character.  It can be used only once, it almost does as much damage to the caster as it does to the target and, in my opinion, it is a real waste of experience.  I mean, if you are going to learn a Solar Circle Spell, something I never let my characters do without much soul-searching, why would you learn that one?


Anyway, I have to complement your player for being a good sport.  My suggestion would be, since he is most likely a Twilight, to take a few months or years off (gametime, not realtime) and construct one big gun to blow the heck out of whoever did that to him.  Artifacts are a crutch but you have to use a crutch when you've broken your leg, so you might as well have the best you can get until you heal.
 
Actually its kinda cool...


well he knows he can never have that spell used on him again hes got that goin for him


besides maybe he can get his stuff back by some weird quest deep into the recesses of the characters soul ( you could let the player play some diety-perhaps the one that allows them to go inside him Gajimbe- The Walker in Souls or something- this could be fun for the guy who had his character smote) the delve deep into the characters soul revisiting reflections of the past and the ancient past (maybe even some cool 1st age info) until they find the resting place of the essence of the spell- its home deep in his soul Demon, Primordial or Fair Folk whatever you prefer theres abig satisfying battle and slowly the spell reverses itself everybody learns something about themselves and everyone goes home happy


what do ya think?
 
Re: Actually its kinda cool...

well he knows he can never have that spell used on him again hes got that goin for him
Sure he can. Why wouldn't he? The sorceror who cast the spell can never use it again, but the victim can get nobbled by the next Solar Circle sorceror he happens across.
 
Well, technically he could get it called out on him--but how many Sorcerers are willing to drop one point in all their Attributes, Abilities, and Virtues? You would have to be some prime Grade A asshole to merit more than one Sorcerer popping this puppy out on you.


Which I suppose opens the door for an entire Circle to learn this spell, and then drop it on their favorite Deathlord...


Sure, the cost is up there, but imagine leaving a Deathlord a doddering, mindless vegetable, still possessed of all his Malfean granted might, but in a shell that is damn near useless. Of course, an exit plan will be in order, and hopefully that exit plan includes another Sorcerer to pop another heap of nasty on your new friend, on the chance that it retains a few points in Intelligence or Wits, but let's face it, if you're going to drop that many RoSH bombs on something, you were probably planning something grand anyhow.
 
Hmmm... RoSHing a Deathlord to, um, death might even be ale to circumvent their supposed indestructibility. Unless they come back with their Traits restored to a level capable of sustaining unlife.


What I'm saying is, if RoSH drops a DL's Essence to 0, then when they return from the dead (? stupid language), their Essence is still 0.


Of course I'm bullshitting. Doing that much damage to a being that can't be destroyed is just going to result in some plot-action by the ST... maybe turning the Deathlord into a malevolent whisper on the breeze, or a shadow that can barely chill the elderly and frail to death - still "alive", but so many XP behind everyone else that their Malfean master will probably destroy them out of embarresment.
 
It can be used only once' date=' it almost does as much damage to the caster as it does to the target and, in my opinion, it is a real waste of experience.  I mean, if you are going to learn a Solar Circle Spell, something I never let my characters do without much soul-searching, why would you learn that one?[/quote']
RoSH works best as an equalizer for low level Adamant Circle initiates. If you're still rather pathetic in the abilities and attributes department, or are rather specalized (or a combination of the two) you're not doing all that much damage to yourself compared to what you'll be dumping on someone who has a number of stats in the 6-8 range.


As such, it makes a good spell to have (and hopefully never use) if you plan to be dealing with major Gods, Deathlords, Third Circle Demons, etc. Anyone who is really powerful, and has Measure the Wind, basicly. Infact, I'd be tempted to say that it makes a truely excellent *first* spell from the Adamant Circle, as this will allow an otherwise 'puny' young Solar to realistically expect to be treated fairly by such beings.


Just make sure you never actually use it.
 
Burning Palm-


getting hit with it once can be good for the story but as a player, the second time the GM hit the same character with rune of singuler hate i would put my character sheet away, pretend that those words were never spoken, and leave.


who cares if the rules allow it... lame is lame
 
Lol good point.


Although the character is probably deeply traumatised and worried about it happening again, the player doesn't need to worry, you're right.
 

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