Question for Holden: Bad Design Space from Glories

Holden:

There are a lot of things that can go to passive perma-buff. The big thing to watch out for is closing off tactical space rather than opening it up. There aren't many interesting ways to fight a guy who is permanently no-cost immune to environmental damage, shaping, poison, sickness and crippling, you know?

Interesting. Is (mote cost x 3) + a point of willpower a good general formula for basic stuff, or is that just how the FaSS upgrade worked out to be? I was thinking of one for Green Sun Nimbus Flare, along these lines...

Emerald Apocalypse Crown
Cost: – (+4m)
Mins: Essence 3
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Vitriolic Corona Endowment

Hail to the king. This Charm permanently enhances Vitriolic Corona Endowment. Whenever the Infernal invokes it, he may spend four additional motes to do so reflexively, rather than as a simple action. As he does, a crown of green flame flickers into being upon the Infernal's brow, casting a baleful light that forces metal to shine with strange and eerie glows. The enchanted weapon bursts into emerald fire, granting it the benefit of Green Sun Nimbus Flare for one scene, rather than Vitriolic Corona Endowment's normal effect. In addition, any Charms that the Infernal knows that enhance Green Sun Nimbus Flare also enhance attacks made with his weapons, as if he had invoked it normally. The Infernal cannot invoke Green Sun Nimbus Flare to stack its benefits doubly with those already granted to the weapon.

Holden:

I blame Rebecca and DotFA. One of the problems I ran into repeatedly in Glories was having to steer around design space someone else had already claimed. Rebecca made the corebook Solar social suite very comprehensive. The general high-Essence game, by contrast, had a lot of its most obvious good ideas taken up by Dreams (and in many cases botched, which was damned frustrating). So I had a lot of things I had to steer around.

BORGSTROM!

Holden:

It took a couple of tries to get God Beast Transcendence right. (Its original name, incidentally, was God Beast Shintai, but I got talked out of that.) Short version is, do not ever just slap down some arbitrarily gigantic addition to a being's Strength, unless you want them to initiate clinches with a dice pool that takes five minutes to roll.

Out of curiosity, why did you decide to do GBT's strength thing as a straight-up dice bonus, instead of an effect like World-Scarring Solar Glory? If you didn't have to cleave to Emperor Ox Expansion, would you have done it differently?

The Wizard of Oz:

Immortal Blade Triumphant/Charnel Emperor Stance was a last-minute addition crafted for the exclusive purpose of slashing the Deathlords' tires.

Ah yes, I wanted to ask you about this. Is this specifically supposed to be a revision of the combat-y Deathlords' charms that let them spend a few motes and a willpower, and then perfectly defend for 3m no charm use for the rest of the scene?

Yeah. This is the "full details" version of it.

The Demented One:

Holden:

It took a couple of tries to get God Beast Transcendence right. (Its original name, incidentally, was God Beast Shintai, but I got talked out of that.) Short version is, do not ever just slap down some arbitrarily gigantic addition to a being's Strength, unless you want them to initiate clinches with a dice pool that takes five minutes to roll.

Out of curiosity, why did you decide to do GBT's strength thing as a straight-up dice bonus, instead of an effect like World-Scarring Solar Glory? If you didn't have to cleave to Emperor Ox Expansion, would you have done it differently?

Will respond to the rest later, have to run, but I can answer this quick:

I structured it like that because I thought the ultimate Knack should provide the ultimate Lunar experience.

And I think the ultimate Lunar experience is rolling the damage from your attack with the aid of a bucket.

Holden:

I structured it like that because I thought the ultimate Knack should provide the ultimate Lunar experience.

And I think the ultimate Lunar experience is rolling the damage from your attack with the aid of a bucket.

...I like the cut of that jib.

Holden:

...I think the ultimate Lunar experience is rolling the damage from your attack with the aid of a bucket.

And now I have a sig.

Oh, and a good idea/bad idea query: An SMA that Lunars are capable of using, with the Sutra of the Changing Maiden, and no post-form elder charms at all.

Holden:

I structured it like that because I thought the ultimate Knack should provide the ultimate Lunar experience.

And I think the ultimate Lunar experience is rolling the damage from your attack with the aid of a bucket.

That sounds great conceptually but will be a nightmare in actual play if someone ever uses the Knack (and I'm betting my boots there are people setting up an Essence 10 game right now just for the purpose of giving this Knack a go).

Morangias:

That sounds great conceptually but will be a nightmare in actual play

To be honest, I can't believe people actually play Exalted with dice instead of electronic autorollers.

In practice, if you have that many dice to roll, there's really no need to roll them. If you're rolling five times as many dice as you need successes to not only hurt someone but outright send them past their Dying levels, you probably can get by without rolling the dice.

So... you roll a bucket of dice because the game lets you and it is awesome, not because you have to.

DoktorWario:

To be honest, I can't believe people actually play Exalted with dice instead of electronic autorollers.

Well, I am. Any autoroller I've found on the net takes longer to set up for a roll than any roll I've ever had to make. Granted, I'm doing my best to keep my players' pools in line.

Morangias:

Holden:

I structured it like that because I thought the ultimate Knack should provide the ultimate Lunar experience.

And I think the ultimate Lunar experience is rolling the damage from your attack with the aid of a bucket.

That sounds great conceptually but will be a nightmare in actual play if someone ever uses the Knack (and I'm betting my boots there are people setting up an Essence 10 game right now just for the purpose of giving this Knack a go).

I considered that, and ultimately dismissed it.

1) How often does an Essence 10 Lunar show up in anyone's game? I don't mind slowing down the game to resolve a battle with The Most Powerful Lunar Who Ever Lived.

2) Even if that Lunar is a PC, God Beast Transcendence is structured such that you won't want to use it every time you fight. It's not just like swatting a fly with Jupiter, it's actively harmful to abuse it too often. So it'll only come out to play on special occasions, when you want to turn the dial to 11. I mean, how many encounters in the setting would actually need that Knack to resolve them?

The Demented One:

Oh, and a good idea/bad idea query: An SMA that Lunars are capable of using, with the Sutra of the Changing Maiden, and no post-form elder charms at all.

Nephilpal seemed to tell me that the Sutra isn't one of those Sutras written upon the fabric of reality or anything. It's just something that Luna made herself and spread around to tell everyone that she's not one of the Maidens, and she doesn't think or act like them.

Therefore, it cannot be the foundation for a Sidereal Martial Art... though it might, perhaps, be part of a brand new Lunar Hero Style in a similar fashion as the Scripture of the One Handed Maiden and Infernal Monster Style's One Hand Fury.

If you know of an autoroller that works with macs, and has a mechanic that is as simple as how many dice you want to roll, and whether to count 10's twice, feel free to link it. I don't even care for a target # place; I can roll things manually when the target # changes.

Inugami:

Nephilpal seemed to tell me that the Sutra isn't one of those Sutras written upon the fabric of reality or anything. It's just something that Luna made herself and spread around to tell everyone that she's not one of the Maidens, and she doesn't think or act like them.

The dice roller my friend who has a mac uses is
http://www.miketilly.com/exalted/diceroller.html

Works great