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virgindick
Jan 5, 2009

Alien Rope Burn posted:


• to be a reborn hero of legend, forging a new destiny.

... may as well apply to any Exalted type more often than not.


No, it really doesn't. Other Exalted share the same reincarnation theme, but only Solars are the heroes out of legend, they are the ones who were sealed away for millenia, they are the ones who raised the First Age to its height. Now they're back and you, the player, get to decide what that means.

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Rand Brittain
Mar 25, 2013

"Go on until you're stopped."
I think Roadie is right in saying that the Charms in question look a bit odd when you take "masters of mortal abilities" as the theme, then go straight to the top of the Charm tree and see "turn my cat into Battle Cat".

I don't think it's really that odd if you look at the progression and accept that Solar power tops out in mythic superhero territory:

* make friends with cat
* train cat real good
* train cat to be badass
* teach cat to use Spin Attack
* turn my cat into Battle Cat

Similarly, the Lore progression is:

* know a lot of stuff
* learn more stuff quickly
* see the truth of a thing
* make accurate predictions
* make predictions of DOOM which come true

which seems a lot more sensible in context.

Ferrinus
Jun 19, 2003

i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world
The thing about those super-familiar charms is that they aren't about filling your familiar with warping wyld-energy or something, they're about unlocking your familiar's latent abilities the same way that completely normal Survival-based training actions do. It's just that within the heart of every kitty cat lurks a ferocious dire sabretooth, and someone in tune enough with the wild can coax that primal superpredator out.

I WOULD have liked to see a trailblazing charm or two, mind.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

virgindick posted:

No, it really doesn't. Other Exalted share the same reincarnation theme, but only Solars are the heroes out of legend, they are the ones who were sealed away for millenia, they are the ones who raised the First Age to its height. Now they're back and you, the player, get to decide what that means.

Well, if you totally rewrite the statement in favor of your own interpretation, yes, what I said makes little sense.

Rand Brittain posted:

I think Roadie is right in saying that the Charms in question look a bit odd when you take "masters of mortal abilities" as the theme, then go straight to the top of the Charm tree and see "turn my cat into Battle Cat".

All I mean is that "masters of mortal abilities" gets awfully broad, especially when "magic" and "magic punches" are included on that list, and then "internalizing the powers of magic items" is tacked on at the end because I guess they didn't cover enough fields already. (Then there's the "learn powers from spirits" thing too, but that's only that 20%.) And that's without getting into everything that gets piled on because of the sun and law themes on top of that, shooting lasers, thinking chaos into order, etc.

unseenlibrarian
Jun 4, 2012

There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.
I now want a branch off Food Gathering Exercise and Friendship with Animals Approach that's just straight up lives of the Saints/Old Testament prophet poo poo. Instead of 'find meager food', animals actually carry the stuff to you and offer themselves up to be eaten. Instead of predators just letting you pass unharmed, they treat you as one of the pride/pack/sloth etc and you can safely shelter in their den.

theironjef
Aug 11, 2009

The archmage of unexpected stinks.

Alien Rope Burn posted:

(Then there's the "learn powers from spirits" thing too, but that's only that 20%.)

Can we talk about this bit? Has anyone else looked at the Eclipse-tagged charms in this book? They are crazy underwhelming. I was sort of hoping that the tag system was going to help fix this ability, since it's almost always been a complete non-starter for this caste. At essence one, you're basically looking at either Neomah shapeshifting (which doesn't include any info for Eclipses using it, so they "retain their demonic features" apparently), a few sail charms related very specifically to the process of sailing as a giant seahorse, and the hilariously priced stuff you can get from Harvest Spirits.

Ferrinus
Jun 19, 2003

i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

Alien Rope Burn posted:

All I mean is that "masters of mortal abilities" gets awfully broad,

So does "has implanted cyber-augs". See above; every Exalt's basic knack is stretched as far as possible in twenty different directions because each Exalt type has to be able to sustain an entire party of player characters AND cast of allies and opponents.

quote:

...especially when "magic" and "magic punches" are included on that list, and then "internalizing the powers of magic items" is tacked on at the end because I guess they didn't cover enough fields already. (Then there's the "learn powers from spirits" thing too, but that's only that 20%.) And that's without getting into everything that gets piled on because of the sun and law themes on top of that, shooting lasers, thinking chaos into order, etc.

Those are all just extrapolations of mastering mortal abilities. For some reason, no one complains when Sidereal mastery of "fate" includes dodging every potential consequence of someone else's action AND becoming in all was undetectable AND making a sea voyage go through a parallel dimension AND turning the guy who runs the food cart you visit every morning into a short-lived dragon mount.

theironjef
Aug 11, 2009

The archmage of unexpected stinks.

Ferrinus posted:

Those are all just extrapolations of mastering mortal abilities. For some reason, no one complains when Sidereal mastery of "fate" includes dodging every potential consequence of someone else's action AND becoming in all was undetectable AND making a sea voyage go through a parallel dimension AND turning the guy who runs the food cart you visit every morning into a short-lived dragon mount.

Is that a good thing? That sounds like the endgame is "Because it's a game system, every exalt has access to every narrative tool, and the key differences are A. The visuals change, and B. Solars are the best."

Like, I know this is a dumb thing to bring up, but remember that Teen Titans cartoon? It was pretty neat because the characterizations were cool, but the powersets they gave everyone were basically "fiat." Robin had so many gadgets and projectiles that his capacity to do hero stuff was basically identical to Raven's. Just had different visual effects.

Ferrinus
Jun 19, 2003

i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

theironjef posted:

Is that a good thing? That sounds like the endgame is "Because it's a game system, every exalt has access to every narrative tool, and the key differences are A. The visuals change, and B. Solars are the best."

But they don't have access to every narrative tool. You'd never confuse the Sidereal and Solar charm sets, or the Alchemical and Solar charm sets, even though both Alchemicals and Solars have ways to get more persuasive, ways to make lots of extra attacks, etc.

fool of sound
Oct 10, 2012
Not only that, but no given character (or circle!) is going to have all of their own charmset's tools, much less anything else's.

Roadie
Jun 30, 2013

theironjef posted:

Can we talk about this bit? Has anyone else looked at the Eclipse-tagged charms in this book? They are crazy underwhelming.

That's why you be a non-Eclipse and take the Integrity stuff that lets you get any Charms from a spirit you beat up.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
Sidereals have odd themes but it's all wound around very specific mythology tied to their patron gods. They have material tied to Fate in their charmset because their gods are tied to Fate, but that's different from having "Fate" as an overriding theme. Their direct Fate tie-in isn't through their charms, but their Astrology. They're also one of the most thematically bound of the Exalt types given they have perhaps the shortest charmset as well as a fixed charmset, so they're the polar opposite of Solars in that regard unless 3e changes that.

And then they're best at kung fu because something something ancient chinese secret something something.

virgindick
Jan 5, 2009

Alien Rope Burn posted:

Well, if you totally rewrite the statement in favor of your own interpretation, yes, what I said makes little sense.



How did I do that? You said " to be a reborn hero of legend, forging a new destiny" underlines your point that Solars are too broad and not unique enough, and that statement could apply to any of the Exalted. My argument is that no, that bullet point is describing a theme unique to Solars - only they have returned (reborn) to the setting after a long hiatus, they have a unique legend, and now they have the opportunity forge a new destiny because its a clean slate.

What you said made little sense not because I misinterpreted anything, but because you're wrong.

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!

virgindick posted:

What you said made little sense not because I misinterpreted anything, but because you're wrong.

You're right, and repeating yourself all over again if I didn't hear you only makes you more right.

Ferrinus
Jun 19, 2003

i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

Alien Rope Burn posted:

Sidereals have odd themes but it's all wound around very specific mythology tied to their patron gods. They have material tied to Fate in their charmset because their gods are tied to Fate, but that's different from having "Fate" as an overriding theme. Their direct Fate tie-in isn't through their charms, but their Astrology. They're also one of the most thematically bound of the Exalt types given they have perhaps the shortest charmset as well as a fixed charmset, so they're the polar opposite of Solars in that regard unless 3e changes that.

That's not true. "Fate" absolutely is the overriding mechanism behind Sidereal charms - just look at their descriptions from either edition. You reach out and fiddle with something's fate, or you tie something's fate to something else's fate, or you cast actual threads of fate into your opponent's face, or you exchange something's fate with something else's. That's the basic method of Sidereal action - they skillfully and cleverly bend fate, which turns out to allow them to drag cities from place to place, cause crafting projects to complete themselves unaided, etc.

EDIT: And Sidereals have the charmset that's most explicitly limited and in-setting by their superiors; like I keep saying, look to Alchemicals for an even more immediate analogue.

Ferrinus fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Nov 6, 2015

virgindick
Jan 5, 2009

Alien Rope Burn posted:

You're right, and repeating yourself all over again if I didn't hear you only makes you more right.

Actually I was expressing my confusion that you would say I totally rewrote the statement in favor of my interpretation, so I helpfully tried to clear any confusion. But thank you for admitting that I am correct.

Mendrian
Jan 6, 2013

I think there are a couple of subtle problems at play with Solar themes.

For one supernatural puissance isn't real and doesn't exist. It's the same problem you have with superman. Earth's yellow sun makes him X times stronger than a normal person, okay, If you squint your eyes just right flying is like jumping really far. And eye lazers, I guess? And he can go back in time... and... and... it gets ridiculous. Fate control or shapeshifting feels 'tighter' because you're not trying to define the undefinable. Solars are literal paradoxes - they represent the supernaturally mundane. Or mundanely supernatural. Take your pick. But also they're the best.

The other major problem is that in every edition of Exalted there are at least a few Solar charms that seem to exist so that a very specific archetype or character can exist because the designers feel it would be a disservice to the genre if you couldn't play that guy. Supernatural pirate, check. Don Juan, check. And now doomsaying prophet, check. It's almost like in a few corner cases one designer or other started with a concept and backsolved to make it work. I get it; it wouldn't be Greek myth without somebody who is doomsaying all the time. You don't need to make a charm for that but it seems like they just can't resist sometimes.

I don't personally think it's an unplayable issue but I recognize that it's there.

theironjef
Aug 11, 2009

The archmage of unexpected stinks.

It's weird to me that that charm isn't a spell. I mean, they have a whole magic system. It's been there forever, in various shades of bolted on and terrible. This time they even added a Sorcerous Workings category, and what is more sorcerish than reading the bones for a week and then proclaiming super doom?

Ferrinus
Jun 19, 2003

i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world
The fact that it isn't a spell is the whole point. You aren't using sorcery. You just find out what was going to happen all along.

Mendrian
Jan 6, 2013

Ferrinus posted:

The fact that it isn't a spell is the whole point. You aren't using sorcery. You just find out what was going to happen all along.

That's the problem it literally would never have occurred if you didn't look into it and you're better off cynically researching your enemys' rainfall history and windchill factors at a furious pace than trying to protect anyone. You can't even really save anybody from harm.

Edit: it's a perfect example of the problem I'm talking about. Somebody thought a prophetic doomsayer was a good solar theme (it is) and then implemented as Schrodinger's Disaster.

Mendrian fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Nov 6, 2015

Rohan Kishibe
Oct 29, 2011

Frankly, I don't like you
and I never have.
What's really gonna bake your noodle later, is would the Ultratsunami have destroyed your entire family if I hadn't said anything?

theironjef
Aug 11, 2009

The archmage of unexpected stinks.

Ferrinus posted:

The fact that it isn't a spell is the whole point. You aren't using sorcery. You just find out what was going to happen all along.

This is an accurate assessment of a dumb idea, basically. It more or less changes the flavor of the charm from "great prophet touched by amazing revelations" to "that one guy with the loose tie and the paper-leaking briefcase bursting into the joint military staff meeting in every disaster movie."

I'd probably be more for it if there were clear answers to whether or not there is charm awareness in the world. So do Solars who take this thing know "Oh yeah, that's the charm that lets me see exactly who is doomed and conveniently it is always my enemies?"

If that was the case it'd be better served to be a broader charm of prophecy, where you could actually see good stuff coming down the pipe from time to time.

Ferrinus
Jun 19, 2003

i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world
I don't think there's any problem with a charm that's specifically for predicting->unleashing disasters. Like, it's not a problem with Excellent Strike that you can't use it on the Defend Other action.

theironjef
Aug 11, 2009

The archmage of unexpected stinks.

Ferrinus posted:

I don't think there's any problem with a charm that's specifically for predicting->unleashing disasters. Like, it's not a problem with Excellent Strike that you can't use it on the Defend Other action.

Except for where there's a melee charm at the same tier that can be used for defense. I guess there's nothing stopping players from creating a God-King's Lark (Joystar Celebrations) equivalent charm though.

Calde
Jun 20, 2009

Boing posted:

Great, thanks! I'm vaguely aware of this cynicism about the Solars from various other TG threads, and I wonder why that is. Since 3e is all about Solars so far it seems to be the only option available at the moment. Is it because they're super badass and way more important than anyone else? I thought that was the point of the game.

*looks at 100 posts responding to this*

The cynicism I was referencing is more about the nature of Solar heroes. I think Kellhus makes for interesting Solar Exalt inspiration precisely because he is simultaneously a legendary hero come at the end of the world and an absolute bastard eager to utilize power towards his own ends. You could have cited Richard Rahl as the basis of your Solar character and I wouldn't have batted an eye, but Kellhus is a better pick because the author is in on the joke and is questioning the savior-hero alongside us. When Exalted is at it's best it's hitting that same story beat.

Not everyone feels the same way, though, and there's lots of people who want to play Exalted as a game of glorious golden paladins who are objectively right and good and here to bring us to paradise. The game has room for both interpretations, I was just letting you know my bias!

Boing posted:

Martial Arts seem really expensive to buy into - I need to spend four of my precious Merit dots (which I need for Cult and Command!) and invest into both the Brawl and Martial Arts abilities before even getting started. Crane Style looks cool and flavourful, I admit (punch someone into loving you!), but I think I can get the same things out of it with high Dodge and my Presence charms, while spending my Solar XP on all the attributes and abilities I want to push up high. Is it cool enough to be worth the investment? I'd drop Athletics and Melee for Brawl and Martial Arts, keeping Awareness and Integrity and all the important things I mentioned.

Integrity seems kinda weird and specific (being mostly receptive), but some of the higher Essence charms seem cool and appropriate, like Sun King Radiance. Lore also looks really cool at Essence 4+ for the whole calculation-of-causal-possibilities thing and would be a competitor for Supernal ability if Presence wasn't so important - and the two things aren't as closely linked in Exalted as they are in PoN, so I guess I'll stick more with the cult leader aspect than the infinite intelligence calculation aspect.

Brainstorming this stuff is helping put everything together!

The big thing in Exalted character creation is there's always more stuff you want than you can start with. It's important to figure out which parts of your concept are most vital to start with (set these Abilities to 5 with BP) and which you don't mind growing into; for example in PoN the main character doesn't start out with any followers or armies and there's an entire subplot about him learning War and it's attendant Charms (complete with his mastery culminating in exceeding his Lunar Full moon teacher, Ferrinus approved!). Solar Melee should honestly be enough for you to get by to start with for combat, with a sprinkling of Athletics/Brawl if there's some stuff you like. I'm not familiar enough with the 3E rules to give great advice on Charm selection with regards to effectiveness, so I'd suggest perusing this thread to get a feel for how powerful a given Charm is before investing in it.

Nessus
Dec 22, 2003

After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!



theironjef posted:

Except for where there's a melee charm at the same tier that can be used for defense. I guess there's nothing stopping players from creating a God-King's Lark (Joystar Celebrations) equivalent charm though.
Being able to forecast auspicious futures for locations does sound explicitly Sidereal though.

Grnegsnspm
Oct 20, 2003

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarian 2: Electric Boogaloo

theironjef posted:

Except for where there's a melee charm at the same tier that can be used for defense. I guess there's nothing stopping players from creating a God-King's Lark (Joystar Celebrations) equivalent charm though.

The pre-req charm can kind of let you do nice things. You can predict that a project will go a certain way and as long as everyone acts according to your prophecy, good things happen. Sadly the charm has precisely no concrete details on what anything means. Just "If they play along then good things. If they don't, bad things."

Thesaurasaurus
Feb 15, 2010

"Send in Boxbot!"

Ferrinus posted:

I don't think there's any problem with a charm that's specifically for predicting->unleashing disasters. Like, it's not a problem with Excellent Strike that you can't use it on the Defend Other action.

Given that it's pretty clearly meant as an allusion to Old Testament prophets, I'd honestly prefer if God-King's Shrike was about flexing them God-King muscles and asserting your holy will upon reality (as with Wyld-Shaping Technique etc) rather than about being Disaster Movie Professor Guy.

Nessus
Dec 22, 2003

After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!



Thesaurasaurus posted:

Given that it's pretty clearly meant as an allusion to Old Testament prophets, I'd honestly prefer if God-King's Shrike was about flexing them God-King muscles and asserting your holy will upon reality (as with Wyld-Shaping Technique etc) rather than about being Disaster Movie Professor Guy.
I don't think it's a good thing to emphasize, since it can lead to the impression of "doing anything other than total covert stealth = instant destruction by screaming thunderbird assault forces 20 minutes later", but this Charm sounds like it should have a note to the effect of "Nearby gods and, potentially, the Loom of Fate, will notice you using this poo poo."

Alien Rope Burn
Dec 5, 2004

I wanna be a saikyo HERO!
But what if a Solar had a prophecy and there wasn't a charm to model it? Then, surely, doom would befall us all.

theironjef posted:

I'd probably be more for it if there were clear answers to whether or not there is charm awareness in the world.

That's one of the things that surprises me with 3e - there doesn't seem to be, at least as far as "internal" (that is, non-MA) charms go, or at least it's vague. I mean certainly I'm sure Jane Dawn knows she can flurry out a bunch of attacks or leap over a mountain, don't get me wrong. But all these fancy names don't even exist in-setting according to the charm section, which feels bizarre and implies the capabilities of the various Exalts aren't or weren't well-documented for whatever reason. Why not just aim for functional names if they're not representing anything in-world other than a vague handwave in the direction of "being evocative!" Personally, I'd probably just say that the names are known things amongst those with sufficient familiarity, and even Solars eventually recall them, so at least there's some point to them other than syllable overload.

I remember the Kindred of the East authors griping later on that they realized it may have been a mistake to name things like "Tread the Thrashing Dragon's Tail" or "Jade Servant of the August Personage" once they realized they'd have to type those discipline names over and over over the course of its many supplements.

Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 10:07 on Nov 6, 2015

Rohan Kishibe
Oct 29, 2011

Frankly, I don't like you
and I never have.

Calde posted:

*looks at 100 posts responding to this*

The cynicism I was referencing is more about the nature of Solar heroes. I think Kellhus makes for interesting Solar Exalt inspiration precisely because he is simultaneously a legendary hero come at the end of the world and an absolute bastard eager to utilize power towards his own ends. You could have cited Richard Rahl as the basis of your Solar character and I wouldn't have batted an eye, but Kellhus is a better pick because the author is in on the joke and is questioning the savior-hero alongside us. When Exalted is at it's best it's hitting that same story beat.

Not everyone feels the same way, though, and there's lots of people who want to play Exalted as a game of glorious golden paladins who are objectively right and good and here to bring us to paradise. The game has room for both interpretations, I was just letting you know my bias!

Yeah, I usually feel like Rand al'Thor is a pretty perfect modern conception of a Solar. He's got the fact that he's a great destined hero from the olden times come again, but he's also a weird, illegal creature who everyone hates who goes slowly more and more crazy as he destroys half the world in an attempt to save it.

Ferrinus
Jun 19, 2003

i'm finding this quite easy, i guess in part because i'm a fast type but also because i have a coherent mental model of the world

theironjef posted:

Except for where there's a melee charm at the same tier that can be used for defense. I guess there's nothing stopping players from creating a God-King's Lark (Joystar Celebrations) equivalent charm though.

Right. That said, I don't actually think an inverse version of God-King's Shrike should exist for thematic reasons; disaster should befall you on its own, but you should actually have to struggle for good fortune. In general, I think GKS stands well on its own.

Thesaurasaurus posted:

Given that it's pretty clearly meant as an allusion to Old Testament prophets, I'd honestly prefer if God-King's Shrike was about flexing them God-King muscles and asserting your holy will upon reality (as with Wyld-Shaping Technique etc) rather than about being Disaster Movie Professor Guy.

That guy is Disaster Movie Professor guy, just... not played for laughs. There's a definite implication that while the disaster isn't literally caused by your character's machinations, it's definitely like, legitimated by them; I think that, in-character, a solar loremaster who's enraged by the depredations of the Realm and, heart full of hate, begins a feverish campaign of research into the Blessed Isle's history for any sign that the Realm might fall suffer bad luck soon kiiiinda knows what they're doing.

Like, there's a reason Wyld-Shaping Technique is in Lore, not Occult - it's a statement about the setting itself, that conscious understanding of the world is one of the things that keeps the world stable.

Calde
Jun 20, 2009

Thesaurasaurus posted:

Given that it's pretty clearly meant as an allusion to Old Testament prophets, I'd honestly prefer if God-King's Shrike was about flexing them God-King muscles and asserting your holy will upon reality (as with Wyld-Shaping Technique etc) rather than about being Disaster Movie Professor Guy.

I don't understand why people think it isn't this, because that's the straight read of the Charm.

the actual book posted:

Casting her gaze toward a foe... In this instance, what the Solar realizes she causes to happen...The Solar decides what region to research and pronounce doom upon...

God-King's Shrike is for pronouncing dooms upon your foes. The text doesn't ever treat it as Disaster Movie Guy, it's Zhuge Liang calling the wind.

Calde fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Nov 6, 2015

LimitedReagent
Oct 5, 2008
The big thing about Solars and why I always find making Solar characters the easiest of all is because Solars are just people brought to mythic levels. Unless you're specifically needing something like shapeshifting or the celestial bureaucracy or the Realm, you can make that character a Solar.

Solar charms are broad and have sorta mushy themes because they aren't supposed to be limitations to focus character concepts. The characters built from those charms need to have a strong sense of character to them, and that's what the charmset does well. It's really easy (for me at least) to take a concept and translate it to a Solar, because they have all the fundamentals and even the crazy poo poo follows pretty cleanly from those fundamentals. Wanna make a Solar who's a big tough person who punches boats in half and wrestles giant sharks? Done. Wanna make a Sidereal who does the same? Even in the best renditions of Sidereal Charmset, that's tough. You're gonna get something close, but it's gonna be weird, and probably not what you were originally imagining. Sure you'll be able to redirect diseases onto your foes and keep people from attacking you because you remind them of their dear lost mother, sure while you're running you're basically unstoppable and you can teleport around, sure you can be the mysterious martial arts master but -- it's just not the same. It's not as straightforward a translation from concept to execution.

I sometimes do like those more stringent themes. It can be fun to work within limitations, sometimes it's fun to twist a concept in unexpected ways by the charmset, and the flavor of the charms can often inspire cool character concepts of their own accord. But I always found taking a concept and translating it to a Solar by far the easiest.

theironjef
Aug 11, 2009

The archmage of unexpected stinks.

Calde posted:

I don't understand why people think it isn't this, because that's the straight read of the Charm.


God-King's Shrike is for pronouncing dooms upon your foes. The text doesn't ever treat it as Disaster Movie Guy, it's Zhuge Liang calling the wind.

See now if that's what the book says I'm right back to saying "This is a sorcerous working dammit you just invented those!"

DOCTOR ZIMBARDO
May 8, 2006
It's really different though. A Sorcerous Working of ruination is different from uncovering a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom. It's exactly the thing again where you can learn to flex your abs to be literally rock-hard, or use Sorcery to transform your abs into slabs of granite.

theironjef
Aug 11, 2009

The archmage of unexpected stinks.

DOCTOR ZIMBARDO posted:

It's really different though. A Sorcerous Working of ruination is different from uncovering a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom. It's exactly the thing again where you can learn to flex your abs to be literally rock-hard, or use Sorcery to transform your abs into slabs of granite.

Right but you aren't uncovering an actual prophecy or the truth of some impending doom. You're making one up, which "is recognized, in turn, by the universe."

"In this instance, what the Solar realizes she causes to happen." That's more or less exactly what a spell is. I manifest my will on creation and the world changes accordingly! If the charm was less dour, it could easily be some solar saying "It's true! My research is true! According to these tomes and the ancient law of those who came before, there's a pizza on my desk right now!" and be suddenly right. Summon Pizza probably wouldn't be a Lore Charm.

Meh, I'm not sure why I'm arguing about this. I think the charm is super rad, and think it's fine in Lore. It just also looks a lot like a spell to me.

Bouquet
Jul 14, 2001

Let's strip all flavor from this bad boy:
pre:
Ultimate Lore Charm
Cost: 30m, 1wp;
Mins: Lore 5, Essence 5
Type: Simple
Duration: Instant
Prereqs: Penultimate Lore Charm + any three Lore Charms

The Solar must spend a full week contemplating and researching a region's
history, climate, geography, etc. before using this Charm. Roll the Solar's
(Intelligence + Lore) against difficulty 5.

A basic success has this result in the region: flash floods ruin roads, a drought
destroys crops, an earthquake disables a vitally important manse, and so on.
Two to four extra successes results in: a tsunami wipes out a fleet of
battleships; a series of earthquakes devastate the infrastructures of several
cities and roads; a volcano detonates and wipes a city entirely off the map, etc.
Five or more extra successes results in: a star falls and annihilates a region; a
behemoth rises from its slumber and plows through a number of cities; an army of
the dead spills from its Shadowland during Calibration to wreak havoc, and so on.

The Solar decides what region to research, but the Storyteller decides the nature
of the disaster based on the result of the roll. The Solar may cancel the effect
of this Charm at any time before the disaster occurs. Though this Charm's
duration is instant, the motes spent activating it are committed for one week
after the disaster. This Charm may only be used once per year, though it can be
reset as often as once per season by paying 12 experience points.
When I spent a little time imagining how a Solar might achieve destruction of a city, here's what I came up with:

Dawn: An epic battle or two using the mass combat rules, followed by storming the walls with your Circle at your back.
Zenith: Walk into the city as a weaponless peasant. Within two months, walk away from the burning wreckage of a city wracked by dissension, intrigue, betrayal and near-madness inspired by your keen eye for the fracture lines of society.
Night: Go on an epic quest for the WORLD'S MOST VIRULENT POISON (TM) with your Circle. Sneak past the guards of the water supply (for a central supply) or distribute it undetected to the city's one hundred wells overnight.
Twilight: Spend years of game time and real-world time to become a Solar Circle Sorcerer. Walk around the city in one night while chanting really obviously and ominously while your Circle fights an amazing running battle to keep you safe and clear your way so that the city is inundated by an epic acid thunderstorm.
Eclipse: Make an unbreakable bargain with a local volcano god that he will destroy the city if your Circle accomplishes some thing the god thinks is clearly impossible. Go do the clearly impossible thing with your Circle (who have to do all the heavy lifting because you are good at sailing and selling stuff, but hey, you did sell the god on and seal the unbreakable bargain in scene one!)

What do all of these things have in common? An adventure you can undertake with your companions to achieve a dramatic result. (Ok, so the Zenith is solo, but that would be a pretty cool solo campaign if you liked political machination games.)

God-King's Shrike feels like something the Twilight does while bored because the stupid Dawn didn't buy Dex 5 at character creation and now they have to kill five months of downtime while he dodges pendulums and poo poo.
Dawn: I got Dex 5!
Zenith: I established an entire religion in Nexus devoted to myself. Cult 5, baby!
Night: I recruited a web of spies and contacts across the Scavenger Lands. Contacts 5!
Eclipse: I got Dex 4! ("What the gently caress, we're going to have to do this again in a few sessions?" say the Zenith and Night in unison.)
Twilight: I devastated the Scavenger Lands with a falling star that landed directly on Nexus! And for the next four months and four weeks I worked on these arrows in order to come up with a blueprint for a death ray. It was hard work rolling all those dice! If we have another five months of downtime I can make some progress on the death ray and destroy The Nameless Lair of Ma-Ha-Suchi.

Bouquet fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Nov 6, 2015

Excelsiortothemax
Sep 9, 2006
I couldn't find it in the text but are they still going with the Abyssals and Infernals are stolen shards ripped from the Jade Prison?

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Thug Lessons
Dec 14, 2006


I lust in my heart for as many dead refugees as possible.

Mendrian posted:

I think there are a couple of subtle problems at play with Solar themes.

For one supernatural puissance isn't real and doesn't exist. It's the same problem you have with superman. Earth's yellow sun makes him X times stronger than a normal person, okay, If you squint your eyes just right flying is like jumping really far. And eye lazers, I guess? And he can go back in time... and... and... it gets ridiculous. Fate control or shapeshifting feels 'tighter' because you're not trying to define the undefinable. Solars are literal paradoxes - they represent the supernaturally mundane. Or mundanely supernatural. Take your pick. But also they're the best.

That's incorrect, applying magic or supernatural power to human activities does not make it inherently generic or problematic compared to clearly defined and delimited magical powers. The same goes for people saying that charms should be explicit magic spells, rather than mysterious expressions of potential and power. The reason people feel this way is that they bring a lot of cultural assumption to the table about how fantasy is supposed to work.

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