EXALTED: Please help me make a Night Caste as Min Maxxed as possible. Details Inside.

[TimeWizard]

Hey playgrounders. I want tot start by thanking all of you who gave me great advice on building a powerful Eclipse deal broker. Unfortunately, last night's session was traumatic and I'm going to have to retire the Eclipse and that style of play. Now I need a new character, but I'm a little lost on how to make something useful. The party consists of a Dawn who put all his points into sword fighting. The other two players (and myself) are making new characters. One of them is going to be a ghost blooded, not too sure what they do or how they work. The other player and I both decided (separately) to be Night Caste.

I don't want to be made redundant. I also don't want to have to play a mage type character. My idea is of a poor, travelling doctor who gathers herbs and heals the common and the destitute, but is secretly a master ninja assassin who puts on a mask at night to kill the unjust with his freakish strength and lethal martial arts. So I have two facets for the character: Survivalist medicine man / stealthy assassin.

EDIT: Here's what we've worked out so far...


Red Goblin, Night Caste Assassin.
ATTRIBUTES

Strength 5
Dexterity 3
Stamina 3
Charisma 4
Manipulate 1
Appearance 2
Perception 4
Intelligence 2
Wits 3


ESSENCE 4
WILLPOWER 7

ABILITIES
Martial Arts
Resistance
Survival
Medicine
Integrity
Dodge
Awareness
Larceny
Athletics
Stealth


CHARMS

Durability of Oak
*Iron Skin Concentration
**Iron Kettle
*Spirit Strengthens Skin
**Adamantine Skin Technique
Ox Body Technique
Third Martial Arts Excellency
Fists Of Iron
*Solar Hero Supremacy
Dragon Coil Technique
Sledgehammer Fist Punch
Solar Hero Form
Monkey Leap Technique
*Foe Vaulting Method
Graceful Crane Stance
*Spider Foot technique
First Medicine Excellency
Flawless Diagnosis Technique
*Body Purifying Admonitions
*Instant Treatment Methodology
Just Another Branch Deceit
Lion Mouse Stratagem


Background

Hearthstone Bracers- Orichalcum (Artifact 2)
Mask (Artifact 2)
Mentor (3)

Virtues
Compassion 4
Valor 3


Merits/Flaws

M: Pain Tolerance (5)
M: Danger Sense (3)
M: Innocuous (2)
F: Oathbound (5) [Daily Meditation]-> Pain Tolerance
F: Obligation (3) (Mentor's Contracts)
F: Enemy (2) Rival Ninja Clan

Specialties
S: Hiding Identity- Wits + Larceny


Incomplete
Allocation of Attributes
Allocation of Abilities
XP to spend: 28


This is a work in progress. Thank you for the help

[Tavar]

First off, do you want to be good at Martial Arts, as in the charm trees that are kinda universal, or good at combat? Those are two very different goals for a Solar, especially if you want to be a good Ninja. See, the best solar charms for stealthy combat are in the Thrown Tree. Now, there are Martial art styles suited for combat, but they're going to be less powerful, which isn't always a bad thing, but it may well be.

Solar Hero style is very good, largely because in the hands of a Solar it's actually Solar charms instead of Celestial Martial Arts(which are almost always weaker.)

Merits and flaws are problematic largely due to their iffy mechanics, though that might not be something that's a real issue.

[TimeWizard]

Thank you for the Reply! I was not aware that Celestial Martial Arts weren't considered like regular Charms. Do they cost lest? Do they work differently?

I would like to be good at actually fighting. The idea is sneak in, kill the first guy by surprise and assault the rest. Maybe hide and repeat if possible. Like Arkham City Batman: stealth-surprise-combat. Trying not to take thrown because it might overlap with the other player- if he picks Night he'll want archery/thrown and play a more Silent Predator type Night Caste, I think.

Could you elaborate on the differences between Solar Charms and Solar Martial Arts?

[Friv]

oh god merits and flaws


Okay, time for some serious. Is this a 2.0 game, or a 2.5 game? I can't give exact advice before I know that. And why is the ST not giving you guys similar XP totals to the Dawn player? I mean, that is going to be the worst kind of balancing headache for him. 100 XP against 270? That's like... that's like starting two party members five levels lower than a third in D&D and hoping for the best.

Stealth-Surprise-Combat works really well as a Night Caste against most enemies, but you are probably going to be not so hot against fellow Exalts, who tend to get inexpensive defenses against that sort of thing. Spirits, however, are hilariously vulnerable to surprise attacks.

The general thing about Celestial Martial Arts is that they're balanced to be equivalent Charms for Lunars and Sidereals, who tend to have slightly weaker Charms than Solars. The best MA Charms for Solars are the ones that do things you just flat-out can't do, but honestly, so many of them are so mucked up that you're really better off staying away from them. There is a specific ninja-style martial art. It is a total mess. Like, mechanically unsound to an amazing degree. I would tend to avoid it and stick with your native Charms.

Solar Hero Style, post-errata, provides extra benefits when used by a Solar. It is a style based around unarmed attacks and weapons like punching daggers and iron boots, and makes you really good at grabbing people, crushing them to death, and then throwing them at other people. Alternately, knocking buildings down. It's not precisely Batman, but you could get some mileage out of it with one or two custom Charms (oh man, Stealth in conjunction with grappling would be pretty awesome).

Oh yeah, months! Exalted's calender runs on a 15-month system, which each of its five seasons named for one of the five elements and each month in a season named Ascending, Resplendent, and Descending (so the month of Ascending Water starts off the season of Water). However, it is also a planet. So if you like the month name "August", argue that your mentor's home nation doesn't use Realm calenders.

*EDIT* Okay, I'll also swallow my dislike and evaluate your Merits and Flaws individually.
Large Size - Don't bother. Remember that you don't actually get bonus Attribute dots for it, so it's really just a pain.
Fleet of Foot - This is okay.
Improved Resistance - Not generally worthwhile. I'd just buy Resistance up to 5, and then get Charms to give you total immunity. If 8-10 dice isn't going to protect you, an extra 3 are not likely to help much.
Pain Tolerance - That is certainly min-maxing, yes. If your ST allows it, go for it.
Strong Lungs - That's a cool one, but it's not generally that powerful. Still, it is fun to have so I'd say why not? You can grab people and pull them underwater for extra hilarity.

Sterile - *sigh* If you can sneak it past your ST, why not.
Disfigured - Bear in mind that Appearance is insanely important to social combat in Second Edition. If you take this Flaw, you're pretty much unable to convince people of things in most situations, taking a -3 success penalty to convince them or be convinced by them. If you are going to take it, go for the 5-pt version; you can stunt being scary to resist social attacks, scare people really well, and... well, it's just generally a much less crippling pick than the 3-pt one, while also giving you more bonus points. Hilarious.
Code of Honor - I assume only the 1-2 point version. It is hard to be a sneaky guy who can't lie to his friends.
Oathbound - This can be seriously problematic, but if you can work something out with the ST, go for it.
Intolerance - Go for it.

Also remember that you only get points for your first 10 points of Flaws. With this setup, I would suggest Disfigured (5), Sterile (1), Code of Honor (2), Intolerance (2).

[Tavar]

Okay, here's how it works:
Terrestrial Martial Arts are slightly weaker than Dragonblooded charms, generally.
Celestial Martial Arts are generally slightly weaker than Siderea/Lunar Charms.
Sidereal martial Arts are weird, and it's complicated by the fact that there's only one canonical style that's balanced. With the high costs associated with them, as well as the restrictions on use, it's best not to use them.

Solar Martial Arts aren't a thing, really. What solars have is charm trees for every ability, which includes martial arts. These charms are of the power of normal Solar charms, at least while in the hands of a Solar.

[industrious]

You could also use August as meaning "Important or distinguished."

Day Castes get better charms, unfortunately, when it comes to stealth.

One useful CMA charm to get for the style you want might be Lion Mouse Strategem (from Scroll of Errata); it gives you bonuses to reestablish surprise, and you can essentially always leave it on. It also means that individuals nearly always underestimate you; they take a -3 external penalty to figure out how competent/skilled you are.

[Tavar]

That actually brings up a good point: must you all be Solars? A Sidereal can work really well for what you want, and Throne Shadow Style works very well with Sidereals.

[TimeWizard]

Thank you all so much! Let me get these in order:
The game is 2.5,

The primary ST is kinda... well we'll see how much xp I get.

Sex comes up a surprising amount, so Sterile is actually a bonus,

Disfigured 5 sounds actually like a boost, since my last character was 100% social combat, so I'm actively looking to distance myself from him. Plus he wears a Tengu mask at all times.

Not sure if CoH has specific restrictions, but I was hoping i could use that or oath for "always heal the sick, always defend the defenseless, always try to easy suffering, always stop injustice" etc.

Solar Hero Style is something I will look into, especially since I think hitting hard and fast is the right idea for the character. Does SHS have any disarming moves/overcoming armor and soak?

Lion Mouse Stratagem sounds perfectly tailored to my Red Goblin (my character)

We do not need to be Solars. The party had a God blooded (fire) and will have a Ghost blooded. One player might be a Fey. Sidereals are cool sounding, but I'm not sure its what I want this game (maybe when 3.0 comes out)

Also, we do combat a little streamlined. no Speed, Accuracy, or other bits: you roll to hit mortals, and you roll against Exalted. Soak applies.

Any ways to get higher soak? Thoughts on a fifth ability? Is Background just for RP purposes?

[industrious]

Yes. Load up on Artifacts. Lots of Artifacts. Orichalcum armor always gives good quantities of soak (and I don't think Solar Hero disallows armor), so I'd go with Reinforced Breastplate (2-dots). Then get Orichalcum Smashfists.

Ox-Stunning Blow ignores Armor and natural soak; get that charm, and every damage success will give your opponent -1 on their dicepools and DVs. Follow it up with a powerful attack, and your DV 0 opponent will be in a good deal of pain; not to mention the large internal penalties keeping them from effectively striking back for 3 actions.

[meschlum]

Because of my... unique focus, I'll make the following recommendation.

1) Spend 1 bp to have a Grace at character creation.
2) Get Grace Magic, either via artifacts (expensive) or shenanigans (requires GM approval).
3) Contemplate getting a Raksha ally via Backgrounds
4) Build the rest of your character.

Pouch of All Blessings

Some Raksha seek to overthrow Creation with force, drowning what Is in endless waves of nightmares drawn from what Might Be. Though Balor came close, they have never been successful. Others, more finely attuned to the principles of Cup, seek to seduce Creation, that it might give itself to the Wyld when the time comes.

The Pouch is a simple leather satchel with a faint herbal scent. When opened, it reveals a variety of simples, medicines, and other essentials for a healer's work. Drawn from the endless bounty of the Wyld, its contents never run out - though the size of the Pouch limits the amount that can be obtained at any time.

More importantly, one of the vials within the Pouch contains an unusual greenish fluid, with no label or markings to identify it. If opened and consumed, the liquid will convey a potent blessing, healing the most terrible wounds and eradicating illness, poison, and other weaknesses. Unlike the other contents of the Pouch, the vial does not replenish itself as fast. If left alone, it can take as long as a month to refill, but certain esoteric herbs and rites can accelerate the process. Given plentiful supplies and deperate patients, the vial can be refilled in a mere quarter hour.

A final property of the Pouch is that it does not take kindly to attempts at stealing it. Anone foolish enough to take it from its owner by force or guile will have a brief lifetime as a chicken during which to contemplate their mistake. As it is meant for beneficial purposes, the Pouch is unwilling to be used asa weapon in this manner, however.

1-dot Oneiromancy (3 committed motes)
Assumption of Wood Form - the Pouch always smells of herbs.
Ordinary Object Conuration - the Pouch can create medical supplies at will.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - the Pouch can create a vial of liquid with the properties of a glass of Celestial Wine every month. Suitable offerings and behaviors can accelerate this significantly.
Chicken Transformation - anyone trying to take the Pouch from its owner will be transformed into a chicken. This is a Shaping effect, and conveys physical mutations as well as a powerful Illusion effect which can be bypassed only by beings with Survival 4+.


Ring of Nine Cats

Using the legend stating that cats have nine lives, the Fair Folk wove all thse lives into a single one - a life that wold not falter to blows, for others were there to support it. The Ring is the manifestation of feline fortitude, conveying something close to invulnerability to those who swear to follow its dictates.

3-dot Adjuration (3 committed motes): "So long as I harm no cats, their lives shall bolster and renew mine"
Bastion of the Heart - one who has sworn to the Ring cannot be harmed by mundane means, and even supernatural techniques are less effective than they could be.

Mix in a suit of gossamer full plate (no mobility or fatigue penalties) for soak in the 12/12 to 20/20 range (depends on your Raksha allies and ST willingness), and you've got a decent starting point.


Cloak of Wind Incarnate

The North has elementals who rule the air, setting the storms and clouds along their appointed courses. They are passionate beings, and find love and hatred easy to come by. When one of the great Winds fell in love, she knew that the maiden would be frightened - and begged the wild flows for aid. Because the maiden was fair, the wilds chose to help, and wove a Cloak of surpassing beauty, with which the Wind might hide its nature.

And so Wind and maiden met, and were joyful. But mankind has laws, and the time comes when a maiden must wed. What could the Wind offer the maiden, constrained to mortal woman's form? Only love, and an ever growing hatred for the man who was to stand between them and take the maiden away.

The final evening came, when Wind, maiden, and man were drawn together, to close matters once and for all. The man brought soldiers, that the laws he chose might be enforced. The maiden brought hope, that her love might be allowed to grow. The Wind... brought what winds bring, and heard what winds hear when breezes catch the curses of man and turn them into venom.

In vain, the maiden cried. In vain, the earth bound Wind cursed. Blood would be shed, the man commanded - but first, he'd look upon the Wind. No sooner was her Cloak released, but the Wind broke free and called upon the gathering storm. Lightning stuck, or was it hatred? If the maiden pled, and to whom, the tempest carried her words away.

Only the maiden and Cloak remained, the latter offering a new future to the former. She smiled, and the breezes were gentle as thunderclouds melted away. She lifted the Cloak upon her shoulders - and vanished, a newborn drift of air, free to love and become what she would.

The Winds were kind that year, and many years afterward.

1-dot Oneiromancy (3 committed motes)
Assumption of Air Form - the Cloak is woven with wind and ice, yet remains comfortable in all climes.
Air Transformation - the Cloak can be called up to turn its wearer into an Air Elemental.
Gossamer Wing Flight - even without transforming its owner, the Cloak lets them float above the ground with ease.
Fall of Night Shadows the Truth - when used in the pursuit of love or justice, the Cloak makes its owner nearly impossible to notice.
Untouchable Performer Technique - organizing people to hunt or harm the owner of the Cloak is extremely difficult. Individuals with grudges have no compunctions, but groups will find it difficult to think ill of its wearer.
Mad God Mien - the Cloak is a thing of power, and its effects will not be undone by counter-magic.


Least Lesson of the Broken Strand

Somewhere between Creation and Yu Shan, a terrible storm shook the Web that held what Is together. The Spiders swayed and chittered, madly seeking to support and repair the damage - and were mostly successful. Still, a single thread snapped and fell, striking a small section of the North with broken metaphors and broken wardings.

There is a lake in the northern mountains, its strand covered in smooth pebbles that shimmer in the daylight. The lake empties itself into a large waterfall through a brutal cut in the ground, breaking the pattern of stone and water where the earth moved once upon a time. It is a place of eerie tranquility, and many a student of the martial arts has studied there, taught by an ancient sifu who seems to have forgotten that age should weigh him down.

The most promising apprentices learn to balance on water as easily as stone, to unlock their inner essence, and may even aspire to the true Lessons that are taught there. The first, and Least, is a study in the flaws of all forms, be they of martial arts or bodies. To one who has undergone this Lesson, the very fabric of Creation seems fragile, the greatest techniques full of weak points.

1-dot Behemoth (3 committed motes)
Assumption of the Person's Heart - the Least Lesson manifests as a stylized tattoo on the one bearing it, often placed near the eyes, hands, or heart.
Surpassing Excellence - one who has learned the Least Lesson is more skilled in the martial arts than the greatest mortal specialist.
Knife Hand Dream - the stuff of Creation is no more solid than a dream, and the student of the Least Lesson can block supposedly lethal weapons without harm - or even, when more skilled, inflict terrible damage with a touch.
Armament of Flesh - even without further training, one who has assimilated the Least Lesson can cut bodies and metal with ease.

Mechanically, the Lesson lets your unarmed attacks behave like the Fine weapon of your choice (and count as unarmed for the purpose of martial arts). You also get +2 Accuracy, +2 Defense, and +(Essence) to spread along Accuracy, Damage, Defense, and Rate on top of that (the +Essence bonus is limited to +4 in any category). At Essence 3+, you get +5 Damage extra.

This gives you nicely extreme numbers for martial arts, which stack with any Charms you happen to want to use (except weapon making charms). Further Lessons require more committed motes, but can boost your numbers a lot higher, grant you soak, and convey special powers.


Note that none of the devices above cost motes to use, so you have a slightly lower mote pool for a plethora of always on powers - and can activate your own Charms freely to boot.

[golentan]

And also because of Meschlum's unique focus, I'm going to suggest ignoring him. His creations are all raksha based, incredibly cheesy, and considered legal grounds for the ST to plead Justifiable Homicide in many places. Or, if it's the ST using them, for the players to hold a revolution and immediately declare a new ST or demand that the game be switched to something more conducive to player agency and survivability, like paranoia.

[TheCountAlucard]

And also because of Meschlum's unique focus, I'm going to suggest ignoring him. His creations are all raksha based, incredibly cheesy, and considered legal grounds for the ST to plead Justifiable Homicide in many places.To be fair, more than a few of these aren't really problematic; Bastion of the Heart's immunity to damage can be overcome by stunts, Charms, and artifacts, and if the opponent isn't levying at least one of these against you, he's probably doing it wrong. So really the only thing gained by committing those three motes to the adjuration is +Essence to your soak, which isn't that huge a benefit.

The behemoth should be fine; while it'd need a good Spirit-Cutting Attack to affect it (being dematerialized and all), the benefits it conveys aren't that huge. It'd mostly mean that his "unarmed" attack is on par with a pretty sweet artifact weapon.

The Pouch might be problematic, mostly because I think he's mixing inward- and outward-facing oneiromantic effects. Plus, I doubt Ordinary Object Conjuration could be used to make celestial wine (or other substances with similar effects), as OOC isn't supposed to be able to create magical substances; one would think that since celestial wine only grows in the vineyards of Yu-Shan, it's because its properties are magical, and not just because no one's tried to produce the stuff in Creation.

Also, meschlum, I think you got the commitment costs wrong on the Cloak and Pouch; they each need ten motes committed, and a point of gossamer be spent each season. While the user could foist those costs off on a Fair Folk ally purchased with the right Background, said Fair Folk is probably going to want some favors in return.

But anyway, point is, while meschlum can certainly pull off some brokenness with Fair Folk, that's not what he's doing here.

[TheOOB]

If you want to be as min-maxed as possible you may want to consider Twilight Caste. Their Anima ability is about 100 times better than all 4 others combined, their skills are useful, and you have enough favored skills to cover your other bases, (stealth, larceny, martial arts, resistance, dodge).

Get Orichalcum Celestial Battle Armor(Glories of the First Age 1) with the Flight and Healing Enhancement, and an Adamantine Skin Heartstone. Between that, the Twilight Anima, and the charm that makes you immune to shaping charms you'll be near impossible to kill.

Added bonus, the armor helps with stealth.

[HerrTenko]

If you want to be as min-maxed as possible you may want to consider Twilight Caste. Their Anima ability is about 100 times better than all 4 others combined


The game is 2.5

Someone did not read the thread before responding. :smallbiggrin:

[TheCountAlucard]

Their Anima ability is about 100 times better than all 4 others combined...Was, anyway, before the errata gave it the beatdown it deserved. :smallamused:

On the other hand, for the stuff the OP is wanting to do, I still like the Night anima power; being able to hood the veritable lantern of one's anima means one no longer has to restrict oneself to Personal motes while doing stealthy business.


Get Orichalcum Celestial Battle Armor(Glories of the First Age 1)...To clarify, OP, he means The Books of Sorcery, Volume I. - Wonders of the Lost Age.

Celestial Battle Armor is a potent tool, though combining it with a Gem of Adamant Skin (Core) pushes it beyond that and into broken territory: the hearthstone will turn incoming lethal damage into bashing, and the armor will automatically heal bashing damage, along with numerous other benefits, including giving you +2 to Strength.

On the other hand, since the armor is Artifact ●●●●●, and the hearthstone is Manse ●●●●, AND you need a whole other hearthstone besides that to power the suit, it's gonna eat up a significant amount of your character's resources, and as such, might be a tad hard to justify.

[meschlum]

To be fair, more than a few of these aren't really problematic; Bastion of the Heart's immunity to damage can be overcome by stunts, Charms, and artifacts, and if the opponent isn't levying at least one of these against you, he's probably doing it wrong. So really the only thing gained by committing those three motes to the adjuration is +Essence to your soak, which isn't that huge a benefit.

The behemoth should be fine; while it'd need a good Spirit-Cutting Attack to affect it (being dematerialized and all), the benefits it conveys aren't that huge. It'd mostly mean that his "unarmed" attack is on par with a pretty sweet artifact weapon.

The Pouch might be problematic, mostly because I think he's mixing inward- and outward-facing oneiromantic effects. Plus, I doubt Ordinary Object Conjuration could be used to make celestial wine (or other substances with similar effects), as OOC isn't supposed to be able to create magical substances; one would think that since celestial wine only grows in the vineyards of Yu-Shan, it's because its properties are magical, and not just because no one's tried to produce the stuff in Creation.

Also, meschlum, I think you got the commitment costs wrong on the Cloak and Pouch; they each need ten motes committed, and a point of gossamer be spent each season. While the user could foist those costs off on a Fair Folk ally purchased with the right Background, said Fair Folk is probably going to want some favors in return.

But anyway, point is, while meschlum can certainly pull off some brokenness with Fair Folk, that's not what he's doing here.

Eh, the request was for min/maxing a Solar, so I didn't go too far.

That said, even in the post-errata world, Celestial Wine is a Resources 5 item. Meaning it can be created with Ordinary Object Conjuration, by the book. Use a different high tier medicinal product if you prefer, but the fluff I used makes it useful without going to excessive levels. The Pouch is purely Outward Facing, it creates the things it makes rather than summon them.

Oneiromancies must be 'cast' every season, which requires 1 gossamer and 10 motes (for the 1-dot versions). These costs are not committed, and if you have less than 10 motes in your pool (and you're not a Raksha), you have bigger problems. The actual commitment cost for Behemoths and Oneiromancies is 3 motes per dot, which is what I discussed - again, taking a non-abusive route.

That said, since it's been requested...

The Friendly Abacus

Welcome, citizen, to the First Kingdom, where everyone is happy!

In the dark days of the distant past (last week), the Anti-monarchic Fae-touched Traitors sought to overthrow the good and just First Kingdom, and so we cleverly attacked them first. Now, only the First Kingdom survives, thanks to the blessings and guidance of the Friendly Abacus. To say otherwise is treason, and treason is punished by death.

In order to maximize your happiness, the Friendly Abacus is always at hand and ready to give you good advice, while you do your part to make the First Kingdom as happy a place as it can be! Sadly, the remnants of the evil anti-monarchists still lurk within the First Kingdom, so the Friendly Abacus has instructed a few heroes to seek out members of hidden groups, Fae-touched abominations, and just plain traitors. And then shoot them repeatedly.

As a newly minted citizen of the First Kingdom, you will be happy (doing otherwise is treason) to know that you are secretly a member of a treasonous group, and fea-touched to boot! The Friendly Abacus would have you killed twice over for this crime right away, but it seems to have misplaced the proof at the moment. Luckily, there are lots of others in the First Kingdom who, like you, are tasked with rooting out treachery! Maybe they'll discover you! Maybe you'll prove that they are traitors first, and shoot them! Either way, everyone will be happy!

You'll be happy too! Being otherwise is treason. Because the Friendly Abacus, in its infinite kindness and becaue it is always right, has granted you five more lives after this one - and they're all persumed innocent! So even if you are killed for self evidently treasonous efforts to leave the First Kingdom, you'll come back and get to work for it again!

Now, who here would be happy to muck the stables? Remember, unhappiness is treason!

5-dot Oneiromancy
Assumption of the City's Heart - despite its self inflated opinion of itself, the Friendly Abacus can only affect the area covered by a fairly extensive complex or two.
Emotion Weaving Style - "Trust No One! Watch out for anti-monarchist fae-touched traitors! Keep your flame gun handy!"
Behemoth Forging Meditation - as the citizens of the First Kingdom perform more impressive deeds, they change color, following the patterns of the rainbow. Even the most destitute scum scrubbers are granted multiple lives, though.
Unitary Being Forge - anything said by someone you do not trust sounds extremely treasonous.
Prince and Pauper Approach - anyone granted any bit of responsibility seems especially untrustworthy.
Mad God Mien - being partly divine, the Friendly Abacus cannot be easily eliminated.

5-dot Oneiromancy
Assumption of the City's Heart - the production facilities of the Friendly Abacus reach everywhere it does.
Mad God Mien - repeated efforts to shut down its production only encourage it.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - the Friendly Abacus will provide a working flame gun (often in appropriate colors) to anyone needing one.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - requesting food will have the Friendly Abacus deliver a suitable portion of possibly colored glop. It's reported to be edible, and you wouldn't doubt the Friendly Abacus, would you?
Waypint Knife - the First Kingdom claimed by the Friendly Abacus has no outside. Or rather, efforts to get there are a) treason and b) doomed to fail.
Manacles of Virtue - upon detecting treason, loyal citizens are filled with mad courage as they seek to destroy the traitors!

Mechanically, the deep mind and body warping (and extra lives) do not work on Exalts. Everything else operates as it should, though - and shenanigans give more options.

[Story Time]

[...]raksha based, incredibly cheesy, and considered[...]

Meschlum's posts about Wyld matters are honest about their level of game-related fairness. They also usually include ample notes about use and mis-use of the suggested formula. It's true, I've seen Meschlum build some really do-not-use-at-the-game-table stuff. But Meschlum's posts also include warnings about what should, or should not be, considered fair for use in actual play.

[TimeWizard]

Well this escalated quickly! thanks for the information, but I don't think I'll be dabbing in any Fey abilities. I'm trying to avoid wearing armor,, so any help with that would be appreciated, I'm thinking of the iron body line of charms in Resistance Line, and getting the Dodge perfect defense for those attacks I can't just eat with my hardness/soak. I'm planning on learning Orichalcum Fists of Battle, so I thought that Hearthstone Bracers (orichalcum) (Artifact 2) would be a better choice than gauntlets.

I'll post the updated character information as an edit to the first post after work today, and we can talk about how to spend the 150 xp I get to start with.

[industrious]

Well this escalated quickly! thanks for the information, but I don't think I'll be dabbing in any Fey abilities. I'm trying to avoid wearing armor,, so any help with that would be appreciated, I'm thinking of the iron body line of charms in Resistance Line, and getting the Dodge perfect defense for those attacks I can't just eat with my hardness/soak. I'm planning on learning Orichalcum Fists of Battle, so I thought that Hearthstone Bracers (orichalcum) (Artifact 2) would be a better choice than gauntlets.

I'll post the updated character information as an edit to the first post after work today, and we can talk about how to spend the 150 xp I get to start with.

You pretty much need to have armor to be effective in Exalted. That being said, Silken Armor and/or Discreet Essence Armor don't count as armor for purposes of martial arts.

[Tavar]

Keep in mind that Orichalcum Fists of Battle is broken in the current, 2.5 system.

Resistance charms can take the pace of Armor, but it's expensive.

[TimeWizard]

Ok! I've updated the Original Post with the basic character sheet.


Keep in mind that Orichalcum Fists of Battle is broken in the current, 2.5 system.
Can you elaborate? Is it broken good or broken mechanical invalid?


Resistance charms can take the pace of Armor, but it's expensive.
Thanks for the advice. I'm really stuck on the concept for that martial archetype of the unarmored monk (What can I say? I'm a romantic), which is a big reason I need the Playgrounds help in making my other choices as useful as possible.

The Incomplete section will be updated every time I compile new info from everyone's wonderful suggestions. I'd like to get more SHS charms, pick up some utility moves in my other abilities, and get to Essence 4 if possible.

[HerrTenko]

I'm thinking of the iron body line of charms in Resistance Line, and getting the Dodge perfect defense for those attacks I can't just eat with my hardness/soak.

Why not simply pick Adamant Skin Technique? It's a Soak-oriented Perfect Defense and is applicable in more circumstances than a perfect dodge (can't really Perfect Dodge Creation when you fall from the sky and risk breaking your neck, but Perfectly Soaking the damage is absolutely possible).

[TheCountAlucard]

Why not simply pick Adamant Skin Technique?Because Adamant Skin Technique has a bunch of prerequisites, and also because as of 2.5, perfect defenses are damn expensive.

[Tavar]

Broken in the too good sense.

Also, regarding the celestial wine, if it has limits against making magical things, then I don 't think it matters that it is on the rescource scale. Artifacts can be bought that way, as can thaumaturgy items, both of which are magical.

[industrious]

Get Willpower 10, for sure.

[Friv]

I'm actually going to take an opposing argument. In 2.5, you can get a very good, inexpensive soak off of Solar Resistance Charms. It is more XP-intensive than just buying armor, but valuable nonetheless.

Three Charms nets you Durability of Oak (which a soak build wants with or without armor), Iron Skin Concentration (ditto) and Iron Kettle Body.

That lets you spend 6 motes reflexively to gain (assuming Stamina 4, Resistance 5, Essence 3) an extra 12B/12L soak for the scene (bringing you to 16B/14L), comparable to heavy armor, but with no Mobility or Fatigue penalties and no obviousness. You can also reduce minimum damage by 1, rendering yourself immune to mundane weapons and highly resilient to Exalt weapons. With Solar Hero Form adding an extra 5B/L soak, you're comparable to superheavy plate and totally free to move as you wish. Finally, Spirit Strengthens The Skin acts as your generic damage reducer, dropping a few dice off any stronger hit that gets through.

I wouldn't bother with Dodge Charms. Give yourself a good Parry DV and some Martial Arts Charms, toss in Adamant Skin for disasters, and you have a very strong 2/7 filter going on.

[TimeWizard]

I wouldn't bother with Dodge Charms. Give yourself a good Parry DV and some Martial Arts Charms, toss in Adamant Skin for disasters, and you have a very strong 2/7 filter going on.

Thanks you for the tip Friv! I am very appreciative of the extra two charms that saved me. What is a 2/7 Filter?

Secondly, I'm still wanting for: charms that help me hide during combat, the best way to utilize the Medicine tree, and how to spend 150 XP

[HerrTenko]

Because Adamant Skin Technique has a bunch of prerequisites, and also because as of 2.5, perfect defenses are damn expensive.

I meant instead of Seven Shadows Evasion, given he's going to pick Resistance Charms anyways, he might as well pick a Resistance-based PD and forget Dodge altogether.

[Tavar]

2/7 filter refers to the two main defensive steps in combat. Step 2 is when you declare which DV you are applying to the attack, and thus also the step where you use defense boosting charms, including perfect parries and dodges.

Step 7 is when most resistance boosting effects come into play, including perfect soak charms, but also simply soak adders and the like.

The term originated in 2.0 combat, but it still applies to some degree in 2.5, it's just that the mechanics involved have changed. Basically, you want a high DV(and effects that allow you to apply the high dv to attacks, plus ways to boost it/negate penalties, and perfect effects) and a high Soak(plus ways to boost it, and perfect effects). You let most attacks hit your DV(which is a binary filter, in that either you get past it and continue, or you don't and thus fail), but you have the soak to fall back on.

This is higher end combat optimization, though. If you're a combat focused character, you'll want some of this(for obvious reasons: if you can't block any attacks, you're going to die fast, and if you don't have any soak every attack that hits could be lethal) but it's not like you need to have all the applicable charms from the start.

Solar's don't really get many charms that help them hide in combat. In fact, there aren't many of those, and for good reason: it's a very, very, very powerful tactic. The closest thing I can think of is Crystal Chameleon Style, and that's a slightly different approach(there's reason it's called disco ninja style....).

Note, if you are doing Martial Arts you're likely going to want Dodge charms: martial arts lacks defensive charms, because the martial arts system isn't well integrated.

For the Medicine Tree, what exactly do you mean?

[Friv]

Rather than actually hiding in combat, you might want to take a peek at Athletics. Foe-Vaulting Method costs 1 mote for the scene, and adds your Athletics to your attempts to re-establish surprise and get new sneak attacks in. Five bonus dice for the scene and they don't count as stealth. Stack it with a Stealth Excellency reroll and you're good to go.

As for Medicine... Medicine is tricky. It's so modular and straightforward that I don't think there are any real tricks for min-maxing it. You can get useful artifacts to bypass sections of the tree, though - Wound-Mending Needles are artifact 3, and are generally better than Solar Charms. Your ST may find this suspicious. The Rod of Cleansing The Body works great on diseases that aren't high-tier magical ones, but you'll ultimately want Wholeness Restoring Meditation, Ailment-Rectifying Method, and Instant Treatment Methodology, allowing you to tap anyone better from disease or injuries up to the Contagion or amputation.

[TimeWizard]

Solar's don't really get many charms that help them hide in combat. In fact, there aren't many of those, and for good reason: it's a very, very, very powerful tactic.


Rather than actually hiding in combat, you might want to take a peek at Athletics. Foe-Vaulting Method costs 1 mote for the scene, and adds your Athletics to your attempts to re-establish surprise

This is exactly why I love Playgrounders, you guys always ask the right questions and give the right answers. Also, this happens to add the "Repeat" step to my theme of Stealth-Surprise-Combat. I had some inspiration (http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/6700000/Arkham-Asylum-batman-6724948-1024-768.gif) for the idea.


The closest thing I can think of is Crystal Chameleon Style, and that's a slightly different approach(there's reason it's called disco ninja style....).
Just started checking this out. It looks powerful, and i'll have to learn the best time to alternate between Solar Hero Form (i'm guessing for enemies in the mid-power tier: strong enough to warrant avoiding, not so strong that hiding is a waste of time and defense). Just Another Branch Deceit and Shattered Crystal Rebuke especially.

For the Medicine Tree, what exactly do you mean?
Healing myself if needed, healing other solar, and curing diseases/poison from mortal npcs. Here's Friv

you'll ultimately want Wholeness Restoring Meditation, Ailment-Rectifying Method, and Instant Treatment Methodology, allowing you to tap anyone better from disease or injuries up to the Contagion or amputation.
Basically this, then I can literally (acupressure) punch the sickness out of people, which I shall call Solar Healing Style.

Is there any way to have two Forms on simultaneously?


Edit: Original Post has been updated

[Drglenn]

Dex 5 is pretty much a must for anyone considering going near combat in exalted as it adds to accuracy (for all weapons and unarmed) and dodge DV.

Also, if you're using form charms you might want to look into Perfected Kata Bracers (Books of Sorcery vol 3- Oadenol's Codex, p42):when using a form charm you get +essence to accuracy, damage and defense with unarmed attacks or form weapons, can choose whether to deal basing or lethal damage at-will, can parry lethal attacks unarmed and you get an extra bonus based on the magical material (Orichalcum's is you deal aggravated damage to creatures of darkness). Does cost 8 motes to attune to though.

[Andreaz]

Dex 5 is pretty much a must for anyone considering going near combat in exalted as it adds to accuracy (for all weapons and unarmed) and dodge DV.Parry DV too. Damage through accuracy.
Also, if you're using form charms you might want to look into Perfected Kata Bracers (Books of Sorcery vol 3- Oadenol's Codex, p42):when using a form charm you get +essence to accuracy, damage and defense with unarmed attacks or form weapons, can choose whether to deal basing or lethal damage at-will, can parry lethal attacks unarmed and you get an extra bonus based on the magical material (Orichalcum's is you deal aggravated damage to creatures of darkness). Does cost 8 motes to attune to though.And THESE are broken. Stupidly broken. As in "if you insist on using this in a game i'm STing I will cut you" broken.

[Friv]

Parry DV too. Damage through accuracy.And THESE are broken. Stupidly broken. As in "if you insist on using this in a game i'm STing I will cut you" broken.

PKB aren't really broken unless you're using the starmetal ones or your experience curve gets totally out of control; it's 8 motes for a +3 to Acc, Dam and Def, and you can build that in other ways just as efficiently. Since you need to also be using another artifact weapon with them, you're looking at dropping 14 motes into your weapon. That's a lot of motes.

What they are is boring. It's a lot of points to spend for a really basic effect.

[TimeWizard]

I'm pretty sold on Orichalcum Bracers because we eschew Speed Accuracy and Parry in my game (the ST considers it to complicated and time consuming. I tend to agree with him), and I have those other effects through Charms, Solar Hero Style and Iron Fists cover the other benefits and they were already build inclusive.

On a related note, I have finished my character! I'll update the Original post to reflect this. My progression is pretty much all accounted for, considering the 100+ xp it will take to:


Finish Solar Hero Style
Finish Crystal Chameleon Style
Grab Remaining Stealth Charms
Get to Medicine 5
Grab Medicine Charms
Get to Essenence 5

[Tavar]

Wait. If you aren't using Speed, Accuracy, or Parry... how does the combat system work?

[TimeWizard]

For Combat vs nonexalts, roll Attribute + Ability and get three or more successes. Against an Exalt it's a rolloff between say, Dex+Dodge vs. Str+Melee.

For Situations of the ordinary kind, or to socially combat a mortal, Attribute +Ability, for three or more successes. Dangerous, Incredible, and Otherwise Exalty scenarios, a minimum number of successes is set based on unlikelyhood.

Going two or more successes over is an Overwhelming Success, usually the feat you were trying to perform but up to 11. You Convince the Guard so well he'll believe you for days, you Sprint across an icy railing with a speed boost, you get extra damage against the Abyssal you just smacked, etc...

it keeps the action going, and the game is so RP heavy that rolls are exceedingly infrequent. If you have the right charm or ability, you,don't even need to roll usually i.e. you can Mountain Vault right into that city, You can Bureaucracy 5 your way right to the King, You Lore 5 into knowing whats going on with the treasure chest that leads to a demon fight club in the heart of Malfeas... etc. It's not standard, but its how the ST runs it.