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View Full Version : [Exalted 2e Lunar Charms] Boneshaping



Lix Lorn
2010-12-16, 10:11 PM
There was a first edition charm that did this... so I thought i'd try to redo them. Probably completely unbalanced, and I have no idea which attribute to base them off. But hey. Learn by doing.

* * *

From Pain, Progress
Cost: (2m + 1lhl) per dot of resources, Mins: Stamina 2, Essence 2, Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: None

The Lunar reaches for her shoulder, shrugging her robes just off of it, and the skin writhes. Something white projects, a handle. And then a blade, sharp as glass.

The Lunar whips the bone blade from her shoulder, a spray of blood flicking from it, and points it at her target.

A Lunar with this charm can grow their bones into items and weapons, at cost of essence and health. Although they are nowhere near as badly injured as they appear, it is highly painful and even fatal, if they try to create something they cannot.
This charm costs two motes and deals one lethal level of damage for each dot of resources created, with a minimum cost of one lethal level of damage. Living creatures cannot be created, and neither can liquids. You cannot create any item larger than your own body.
At essence Five, you can ignore the size limitation.

For example, if this charm is used to create one item worth two dots of resources, and three items of one dot, it will cost them ten motes and deal them five levels of damage.
They may not create more dots of resources then their essence with a single use of this charm.

In addition, any Exalted with both this charm and a charm that allows them to store items elsewhere may remove any item made of his bones that he stored elsewhere as if only just creating it. This has no in-game effect, but could be used as part of a stunt to intimidate.
(It also means that you can create items in advance, and dramatically form them from your bones when needed without suffering damage in combat.)

From Agony, Artifice
Cost: (4m, 2ahl) per dot of artifact, 1wp Mins: Stamina 4, Essence 4, Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Prerequisite Charms: From Pain, Progress

”A lunar without moonsilver is like a hunt without prey.” sneered the elder Lunar. The younger merely reached for his shoulder, and the bone he formed from out of it glittered like that most famous of materials.

This charm permanently enhances its prerequisite. The Lunar may now use From Pain, Progress to create artifacts. However, doing so costs four motes and two aggravated health levels of damage for each dot of artifact background the artefact would be worth. In addition, a point of willpower must be paid. This point is invested, and cannot be regained for as long as the artifact exists. The artifact can be destroyed by the user holding it and concentrating on reabsorbing it.

Only artifacts with an artifact rating of half the user’s essence can be created, and they can only be made of moonsilver. Artifacts that do not normally exist made purely of moonsilver cannot be made this way.
These items are actually bone infused with lunar essence, but function exactly as moonsilver.

These items last as long as the user desires, but only if used by their creator. If anyone else attunes to an artifact created in this way, it lasts only a number of hours equal to their essence.

All artifacts created by a single Lunar must have a total artifact rating of equal to or less than that Lunar's essence. To create more after this limit, they must reabsorb one of the other artifacts.

With the aid of other Exalts, this charm may be used to create other magical materials. Any exalted can contribute a four mote surcharge to this charm by touching the user, and then this charm may create the appropriate magical material for their exalt type.

(Note that creating artifacts in this way artificially increases your backgrounds, and your Storyteller may charge you experience for doing so.)

From Essence, Endurance
Cost: -, Mins: Stamina 5, Essence 4, Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Prerequisite Charms: From Pain, Progress, From Agony, Artifice

As the Lunar forges weapons from her own body, her wounds close, as if she had never had them.

This charm permanently enhances its prerequisites. The user may reduce the lethal health levels of damage dealt to him by From Pain, Progress to bashing health levels.
With a second purchase of this charm which requires essence five, they also reduce the aggravated damage from From Agony, Artifice to lethal damage.

InfiniteNothing
2010-12-18, 12:13 AM
Cool. These Charms remind me of the Kaguya bloodline. Any plans to expand on the charm line?

Lix Lorn
2010-12-18, 10:52 AM
That's who I based them on. xD

I MIGHT start work on a martial arts set... Spinning and jumping and slash slash slashing.

InfiniteNothing
2010-12-18, 06:54 PM
Heh. And I'm betting the apex move of the style is going to involve mass impalement from below, right? Or maybe a spinal whip and a bone drill? :smallbiggrin:

Lix Lorn
2010-12-18, 07:01 PM
Probably. xD
That said, my grasp of Exalted isn't very strong. I might not do this soon.

Arcanoi
2010-12-18, 07:04 PM
Is the Essence Rating for FA, A rounding up or down for determining what half of the Lunar's Essence is? Otherwise, good charms. They might be a tad weak for weapon-crafting but the utility can't be ignored.

Lix Lorn
2010-12-18, 07:34 PM
Is the Essence Rating for FA, A rounding up or down for determining what half of the Lunar's Essence is? Otherwise, good charms. They might be a tad weak for weapon-crafting but the utility can't be ignored.
Down.
I and my coven friends may have leant towards underpowered just in case.

SurlySeraph
2010-12-18, 09:47 PM
You might want to add some restrictions on "From Pain, Progress," like that you can't create an object larger than you are. On the other hand, it would be totally awesome for an Essence 5 Lunar to pull a palace made of bones out of his body, so your call.

Lix Lorn
2010-12-18, 09:56 PM
This is Exalted. Awesome is more important than logic.

InfiniteNothing
2010-12-18, 10:23 PM
True, but I think liquids and anything meant for human consumption is off-limits. I just can't think of any conceivable way you could make stuff like that from bone.

Lix Lorn
2010-12-19, 12:31 PM
Easy! You're exalted, physics and logic cry in the corner when they see you coming. :smalltongue:

SurlySeraph
2010-12-19, 02:23 PM
Not being able to create more dots of resources then your Essence definitely cuts down on the silliness possible with this. Let me test it, though...

Clothing has listed resource costs. Courtly clothing (silk) is Resources 3. Silk bones are kind of odd.
Being able to do the same with jewelry is pretty plausible, though; "Yes, I can pull ridiculously beautiful engraved necklaces out of my leg. So?"
Instantly getting valuable sacrifices for prayer rolls without any shopping or suchlike is fine; instantly making perfect weapons is a clearly intended use of this.
Drugs are justifiable enough. At Essence 5 you can produce Celestial Wine, go crazy making things and then use the wine to heal it all back, but that's at Essence 5.

Do you want to allow creating living things? An unskilled slave or domestic animal (horse, camel, yeddim, etc.) is Resources 2, and slaves and various animals have listed costs as well. A starting Lunar with this charm can pull a yeddim out of his body.
A small caravan is Resources 2. That's several wagons larger than yourself, and presumably their draft animals and such, instantly.
Most exotic animals are Resources 3. Using this to make whatever animal you want to boost your Heart's Blood library is potentially an issue.

By the Feats of Strength table on p. 127 of the core book, you need a Strength + Athletics + Specialty + Stunt and/or Virtue total of 18 to throw a yeddim (I think they mixed up hippos and yeddim on the table and this should instead be 25, but let's go with RAW by now). That's not too hard with a good DBT form. It's certainly expensive and risky to pull a yeddim or similar heavy object out of your body to throw at someone, but it's pretty damn scary.

A "skilled, attractive, disease free" concubine is Resources 4. If your Solar Mate is now an Abyssal, or was really crazy in the First Age, "Here, have a hooker made out of bones" is a justifiable use of this Charm. But it's damn creepy.
Raising a legion is Resources 4. Whipping an army out of your body as an instant action is pretty crazy, and hard to adjudicate in combat.

Building a country villa is Resources 4; a palace is Resources 5; a Manse is 4-5 depending on its rating. Building a magic house much larger than yourself out of bones as an instant action is kinda hard to explain, and sweeps aside the time and effort manse creation takes.

None of the artifact uses are too crazy, mostly because vehicle artifacts and healing artifacts tend to be expensive.

I'd be most concerned about instant manse-building and army-raising, and it might be a good idea to add some kind of surcharge or restriction on creating living things, especially living things of mortal intelligence.

Keinnicht
2010-12-19, 02:28 PM
True, but I think liquids and anything meant for human consumption is off-limits. I just can't think of any conceivable way you could make stuff like that from bone.

Well, you could crack it open and your marrow could turn into pure water.


...Ewwwwwww




I'd be most concerned about instant manse-building and army-raising, and it might be a good idea to add some kind of surcharge or restriction on creating living things, especially living things of mortal intelligence.

It could just be a time for Storyteller Rule 0 though. You can't realistically rule out every single thing that would be stupid, so perhaps just add a "as determined by the storyteller" sort of thing as to what you can create.

Alternatively, extend the period of time required if the item exceeds a certain weight.

Arcanoi
2010-12-19, 02:47 PM
Not being able to create more dots of resources then your Essence definitely cuts down on the silliness possible with this. Let me test it, though...

Clothing has listed resource costs. Courtly clothing (silk) is Resources 3. Silk bones are kind of odd.
Being able to do the same with jewelry is pretty plausible, though; "Yes, I can pull ridiculously beautiful engraved necklaces out of my leg. So?"
Instantly getting valuable sacrifices for prayer rolls without any shopping or suchlike is fine; instantly making perfect weapons is a clearly intended use of this.


Agreed.



Drugs are justifiable enough. At Essence 5 you can produce Celestial Wine, go crazy making things and then use the wine to heal it all back, but that's at Essence 5.


I'd want to prohibit the making of liquids, as Lunars already have a whole charm tree that does this.



Do you want to allow creating living things? An unskilled slave or domestic animal (horse, camel, yeddim, etc.) is Resources 2, and slaves and various animals have listed costs as well. A starting Lunar with this charm can pull a yeddim out of his body.
A small caravan is Resources 2. That's several wagons larger than yourself, and presumably their draft animals and such, instantly.
Most exotic animals are Resources 3. Using this to make whatever animal you want to boost your Heart's Blood library is potentially an issue.


I think 'Items or Weapons' nicely prohibits the making of living things.



Raising a legion is Resources 4. Whipping an army out of your body as an instant action is pretty crazy, and hard to adjudicate in combat.

Raising a Legion does not entail creating the Legionaires, just recruiting, equipping, and training them. A legion is neither an item nor a weapon (Whatever Mass Combat wants you to believe) and can't be created with this charm.



Building a country villa is Resources 4; a palace is Resources 5; a Manse is 4-5 depending on its rating. Building a magic house much larger than yourself out of bones as an instant action is kinda hard to explain, and sweeps aside the time and effort manse creation takes.

Building a Country Villa does not entail the creation of the construction materials, just the construction itself. I wouldn't mind seeing an Essence 5 expansion charm that allow for this, though. Maybe a Cross-Attribute charm with one of the Den charms as an additional prerequisite.

As for Manses, again, 'Artifacts'. A Manse is not an Artifact, but a Manse. They have their own construction rules and requirements.

Lix Lorn
2010-12-19, 03:34 PM
Silk bones are odd, but I'm not saying no.
Living things are right out.
If there are already charms for it, I'll say non-liquid.

SurlySeraph
2010-12-19, 04:18 PM
As for Manses, again, 'Artifacts'. A Manse is not an Artifact, but a Manse. They have their own construction rules and requirements.

There's a listed Resources cost to build a manse, and this certainly bypasses the construction rules for weapons and suchlike, so why wouldn't it bypass the manse construction rules? Other than common sense, that is?

In any case, not allowing you to make living things or manses with this shuts down most of the possible abuse.

Lix Lorn
2010-12-19, 04:27 PM
Should I specify that the first charm can't get you artifacts and manses? :smallconfused:

InfiniteNothing
2010-12-19, 07:46 PM
The artifact part is already nixed since it specifies the item needing to have a Resource cost. Artifacts don't have that. As for manses... either have them nixed entirely or force the Lunar to roll for designing it before actually creating it. Unlike most of the items that Charm can make, manse-raising is an exceedingly precise art.

Lix Lorn
2010-12-19, 08:02 PM
Actually, I believe they do... :/

Arcanoi
2010-12-19, 08:03 PM
There's a listed Resources cost to build a manse, and this certainly bypasses the construction rules for weapons and suchlike, so why wouldn't it bypass the manse construction rules? Other than common sense, that is?

In any case, not allowing you to make living things or manses with this shuts down most of the possible abuse.

Manses are built with rules similar to Artifacts. The listing in the resources chart for Mansebuilding is overridden by at least 50 pages of Oadenol's Codex.

Not to mention that most of those listings suffer terribly from the abstract Resources system. Case in point, a Concubine for the same cost as a Three-Dot Magical Superhouse.