[Exalted]Level 5 Manse Powers

[Beelzebub1111]

I was considering powers for manse hearthstones and I thought back to my first Exalted character. Among other things, he was attuned to a level 5 manse that let conjured equipment that, while living wood, were as strong as metal and could be incredibly detailed. He would make articulated plate armor with it and spear weapons as he was a town guard before exaltation and that's what he was familiar with. I was wondering two things:

1)was that over or underpowered for a Level 5 manse, or should a level 4 or 3 have been able to do that?

2)What are some other good power idea for various dots of manse just so I can get a frame of reference. (preferably in the high dots) Share your stories even.

I also had four dots followers and one dot allies to represent the villagers and apprentices who gathered around and guarded the sacred location. So talking about the practicality of attuning to a manse when you're an adventurer is probably moot if you spend the background to keep it up. And even then it's a good adventure hook if you have to reclaim or defend it from abyssals or dragonblooded or whatever.

[Bahumat]

I was considering powers for manse hearthstones and I thought back to my first Exalted character. Among other things, he was attuned to a level 5 manse that let conjured equipment that, while living wood, were as strong as metal and could be incredibly detailed. He would make articulated plate armor with it and spear weapons as he was a town guard before exaltation and that's what he was familiar with. I was wondering two things:

1)was that over or underpowered for a Level 5 manse, or should a level 4 or 3 have been able to do that?

2)What are some other good power idea for various dots of manse just so I can get a frame of reference. (preferably in the high dots) Share your stories even.

I also had four dots followers and one dot allies to represent the villagers and apprentices who gathered around and guarded the sacred location. So talking about the practicality of attuning to a manse when you're an adventurer is probably moot if you spend the background to keep it up. And even then it's a good adventure hook if you have to reclaim or defend it from abyssals or dragonblooded or whatever.

You have a manse that allows you to (basically) reproduce the effects of Glorious Solar Saber and Armour? Sounds interesting, but I wouldn't have that as a 5 dot manse myself. As a comparison, one of the Infernal 5-dot hearthstones is the Mortality-Entangling Gem, a get-out-of-jail free card for any Infernal who can get access to it (since it literally allows you to cheat death once.) One of the less silly ones from the Core book is the Gem of Immortality, from the core book, which renders you immortal (does not age, immune to illness and old age). The Gem of True Light allows you to illuminate a mile around with the light of the sun, with all the penalties that applies to some creatures (great way to counter creatures in the Underworld).

One of the sidereal 5-dot stones, the Heart's Home, lets you teleport from anywhere (with friends) to the manse.

My first advice to to have a look here (http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=List_of_Level_5_Hearthstones) and also to acquire Oadenol's Codex from somewhere. Most of the expansions on artifacts are in there, though a lot are borderline or completely overpowered.

[Eurus]

The Deterministic Orb is hilarious. "The bearer never rolls dice; instead, she gains one success for every two dice in her pool, rounded up. In addition, her Temperance is set to 5."

[Bahumat]

O_O I didn't remember that one! That's a very strong hearthstone, though it's not as good in combat as out of it (given people can easily hit mid-teen DV, and most low-to-medium essence characters cap out at or below 30 dice pool....). Still being able to turn your first excellency into a second excellency isn't bad for stuff like Lore and Occult, or the monster that is Craft. You lose out on snowballs, but eh.

That said, some of the 5-dots aren't so hot. For example, the Jewel of the True Self protects you from hostile shaping effects....just like that essence 1 integrity charm that Solars and Abyssals get! Yaaaaaaaaay!

A lot of the terrestrial stones are more like that, aside from the one that lets you turn into a phoenix. That's pretty cool, and thematic!

Abyssal level 5's are fairly 'underpowered' for rank 5 stones (can drop an area into night (handy against that 'I make the area daylight' stone), or inflict diseases on them....which is something they can reproduce somewhat with charms anyhow).

To keep kind of related to the original question, I think it would depend on what the armour and arms do. Are you planning for my a fore mentioned Solar Saber style of weapon? Does it create artifacts, or mundane weapons? Can they be given to others, or only wielded/worn by the person attuned to the manse?

I know my GM rewrote the Mortality-ensnaring gem into something more...problematic for the party. Namely that it allows both possibilities to continue (you both live, and die)....resulting in a new Ghost running around the Underworld (assuming you're not an Abyssal). Now, assume this happens to a major plot character....and you have the basis for the recent swearing my character did when he found out EXACTLY who he'd been talking to for the past session.

That said, low powered hearthstones are great too. The humble Death-Speech Gemstone is used to speak with corpses...great for when you raid a Solar Tomb right? Particularly when it's the one of one of your past incarnations, right?

Ah. Right. Thrice-Bound-Gorol's ghost just elbowed the actual corpse's ghost out of the way. Lovely. Right.

So yeah, don't worry too much about manse stone power levels unless you want to get into the nitty-gritty of manse construction (Please don't. It makes the GM's head asplode.)

[Beelzebub1111]

You have a manse that allows you to (basically) reproduce the effects of Glorious Solar Saber and Armour? Sounds interesting, but I wouldn't have that as a 5 dot manse myself. As a comparison, one of the Infernal 5-dot hearthstones is the Mortality-Entangling Gem, a get-out-of-jail free card for any Infernal who can get access to it (since it literally allows you to cheat death once.) One of the less silly ones from the Core book is the Gem of Immortality, from the core book, which renders you immortal (does not age, immune to illness and old age). The Gem of True Light allows you to illuminate a mile around with the light of the sun, with all the penalties that applies to some creatures (great way to counter creatures in the Underworld).

One of the sidereal 5-dot stones, the Heart's Home, lets you teleport from anywhere (with friends) to the manse.

My first advice to to have a look here (http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=List_of_Level_5_Hearthstones) and also to acquire Oadenol's Codex from somewhere. Most of the expansions on artifacts are in there, though a lot are borderline or completely overpowered.
It could also do things like, make chairs and large tools, but that's basically it. I would mostly use it to pretend to be a Terrestrial. It also helped since I was essence 2 for a long while and the sped up essence regeneration was nice.

That's a useful resource, though. Thank you.

Oh, and to answer your questions
1)It was only mundane equipment and didn't offer any combat advantages other than the equipment itself. Though it was easier to swim in.
2)I couldn't share the items. it had to be attached to the amulet that the stone was set in
3)As long as I had the essence invested, I could have articulated armor, shield and favored weapon up at a moment's notice. Making other objects took an action and concentration.
4)If I wanted to make something larger like a ladder or a raft, I had to be touching it, and couldn't have the armor up while it was up. The larger and more complicated the item, the less I could do.

[meschlum]

Amulet of Minor Trinkets

Creation aches to become the Wyld - its minor features can be easily altered by the desires of any being that matters, their essence attuned will imposing minor details on the canvas of reality. However, these changes are limited, and do not apply to such basics as having a mount or Emergency Chandelier at hand.

Hence the Wyld wove a series of Trinket Amulets, gifts to Gaia and Creation that would allow them to gain what they desired. The Amulet of Minor Trinkets is the weakest of these, a mere bauble that can equip its bearer with weapons, armor, and a variety of useful tools.

More potent Amulets are said to exist, but are quite rare, as they can only be made in the Wyld, where they serve no purpose to its inhabitants.

Mechanics
1-dot Oneiromancy
Assumption of Fire Form - the Amulet is an exquisite piece of jewelry
Mad God Mien - its creations are entirely natural and not affected by counter-magic.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - it can create a suit of armor.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - it can create a spear.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - it can create a shield.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - it can create a ladder.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - it can create a small boat.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - it can create a campfire.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - it can create a full waterbottle.
Ordinary Object Conjuration - it can create a sut of court clothes.

This does not help your mote regeneration, and requires 3 committed motes, but it's a 1-dot artifact. If you want a mote battery, that's a different artifact. If you want to create whatever mundane items you like, that's a bit more powerful but still an option (and a bit more expensive to do it instantly, or to make your creations permanent). If you want high grade weaponry (and armor), that's yet another option (and possibly more expensive).

So I'd say it's a bit weak for a 5-dot hearthstone, but then Fair Folk tend to operate on a power scale where 3+ dots means you're affecting hundreds or thousands of people rather than just yourself - so most personal things (absent really extreme power) are 1- or 2-dot trinkets anyway.

[Bahumat]

*googles the Emergency Chandelier*

There are no words that describe my joy. Makes me wish my GM allowed one to play Fey.

But yeah, that amulet is at fair folk power levels, not Solaroid. Fey are weiirrdd in their power levels.