Infernal Quest

[Jemnite]

Shattered Crystal Flames (Slayer)




Patron Yozi: Malfeas
Favored Yozi: Adorjan
Concept: A premier warrior in a small village, Shatter Crystal Flames's village was threatened one day by a raiding force. As the best warrior in the village, she agreed to protect it, but once she saw the dragonblood outcaste leading the raiding band, she dropped her blade and fled.

As her village burned behind her, she realized her folly, and sought to return, but it was too late. The village had perished, taking most of the raiding band with them. If only they had one more warrior, they may have changed the tide.

Struck by grief and remorse, she took the offer the Neomah gave her. She would ensure that never happened against.
Motivation: Destroy the raiding bands that plague the region.
Urge: Release the people of from their own restraint on violence. (Adorjani)
Banked EXP: 20

(Social) Combat Stats
Join Battle: 9
Dodge DV: 5
M. Dodge:
Parry MVD:
Attacks:
Punch:
Kick:
Soak:
Health
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ] [ ]
-2 [ ] [ ]
-4 [ ]
Incapacitated [ ]

[ ] = Fine
[/] = Bashing damage
[X] = Lethal wound
[*] = Aggravated wound

Essence
Permanent Essence: ***** *****
Personal Pool [14/14]
Peripheral Pool [31/31]

Anima
Totem: A burning green flame, with a faceless brass automaton standing within.
Banner: Two crossed swords that glint of burnished brass.
Effect:

Attributes
Primary: Physical
Strength *****
Dexterity *****
Stamina *****

Tertiary: Social
Charisma *****
Manipulation *****
Appearance *****

Secondary: Mental
Perception *****
Intelligence *****
Wits *****

Abilities
[] = Caste Abilities
() = Favored Abilities

-[Archery] *****
-[Martial Arts] *****
-[Melee] *****
-[Thrown] *****
-[War] *****
-(Integrity) *****
Performance *****
Presence ******
-(Resistance) *****
Survival *****
Craft *****
Investigation *****
Lore *****
Medicine *****
Occult *****
-(Athletics) *****
Awareness *****
-(Dodge) *****
Larceny *****
Stealth *****
Bureaucracy *****
Linguistics *****
-(Ride) *****
Sail *****
Socialize *****

Virtues
Compassion ***
Conviction *****
Temperance *****
Valor *****
Willpower ***** *****
Willpower pool [5/5]

Backgrounds
Unwoven Coadjutor *****
Artifact *****
Contacts *****
Cult *****
Influence (Progeny of Malfeas) *****
Backing (Malfeas) *****

(Unwoven Coadjutor)

Species: Neomah, the Makers of Flesh
Motivation: To fulfill the terms of the Neomah charter: exchange services for flesh and weave that flesh into unique beings.
Intimacies (Willpower + Compassion)

(Social) Combat Stats
Join Battle: 5
Dodge DV: 6
Attacks:
Spitting Fire: Speed 5, Accuracy 8, Damage 10L, Defense 2, Rate 2
Aconite-Dusted Brass Hairpin: Speed 3, Accuracy 9, Damage 5L+Poison(Aconite), Defense 6, Rate 3
Soak: 5L/5B
Health
-0 [ ]
-1 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
-2 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
-4 [ ]
Incapacitated [ ]

[ ] = Fine
[/] = Bashing damage
[X] = Lethal wound
[*] = Aggravated wound

Attributes
Physical
Strength *****
Dexterity *****
Stamina *****

Social
Charisma *****
Manipulation *****
Appearance *****

Mental
Perception *****
Intelligence *****
Wits *****

Abilities
Melee *****
Athletics *****
Awareness *****
Bureaucracy *****
Dodge *****
Integrity *****
Investigation *****
Larceny *****
Linguistics (Old Realm, Body Language) *****
Lore *****
Martial Arts *****
Occult *****
Performance *****
Resistance *****
Thrown *****
Presence *****
Ride *****
Sail *****
Socialize *****
Stealth *****
Survival *****

Specialties
Craft (Flesh) *****
Dodge (Unarmed) ***
Melee (Hairpin) ***
Presence (Seduction) ***
Athletics (Contortion) *

Backgrounds
Backing (Malfeas) *****

Virtues:
Compassion *****
Conviction *****
Temperance *****
Valor *****

Essence
Permanent Essence: ***** *****
Essence Pool [75/75]

Charms
Harrow the Mind - Some clients prefer complete fantasy worlds so the Neomah use this charm to aid in the experience. The demon must pay 10 motes of Essence and on temporary Willpower to activate this charm for a scene. Then the Storyteller makes a (Manipulation+ Presence) roll for the demon against the target's Mental DV, adding a number of automatic successes Equal to its temperance. Only one success is needed to create the illusion, but each additional success adds to the difficulty of the roll made to break free of the illusion.
Principle of Motion - Neomah typically keep seven extra actions ready.
Reserve of will () - Neomah have three additional temporary willpower
Shapechange - Neomah use this power to alter their outward appearance and gender to be more compatible with a prospective client. This Charm costs five motes and one temporary willpower, and it lasts for one turn.
Weaving of Flesh - This charm is unique to Neomah. To activate it, the Neomah must spend 10 motes of Essence and one temporary willpower. Then the Storyteller makes a (Compassion+Craft [Flesh]) roll for the demon, with a difficulty equal to the amount of creatures donating flesh. The Neomah may combine spirit and mortal flesh at an additional +1 difficulty. Neomah may also increase the likelihood of a Dragon-Blooded Exaltation for a +1 difficulty. On a failed roll, a child is born, but without any exceptional traits or abilities. On a botch, the child is born wrong, with some sort of demonic taint.
First Excellency - Athletics, Dodge, Melee, Presence, Stealth
Second Excellency - Athletics, Dodge, Melee, Presence, Stealth
Third Excellency - Athletics, Dodge, Melee, Presence, Stealth

 

[Jiven]

So, what do you needed us to do now ?

 

[Carrnage]

Can Neomah teach Craft (genesis)?

 

[Zasnul]

So, what do you needed us to do now ?

Click to shrink...

To pick charms, probably.

 

[Dinya]

Can Neomah teach Craft (genesis)?

Click to shrink...

No.
It only has 'Craft (Flesh) 5' (With no Excellences for it, currently.)
'Weaving of Flesh' is a Charm and can thus be only used with by the complete Neomah transformation granted by the 'Fourth Soul Externalisation', or by the use of some other such Charms. (I am not yet sure whether there are any others - still looking at 'Fourth Soul'.)

To pick charms, probably.

Click to shrink...

Our Charms are:
First Malfeas Excellency
By Pain Reforged
By Rage Recast
Insignificant Embers Intuition
Green Sun Nimbus Flare
Wind Borne Stride
Death Dealing Journey
Who Strikes the Wind?
Loom Snarling Deception

Our BP-allocation is:
8 BP on Dexterity 3 -> 5
4 BP on Unwoven Coadjutor 3 -> 5:
2 BP on +1 WP
1 BP on 2 * Specialty in <Weapon of Choice>

As for what we still have to do:

Apply stats of UC? Does it have a name?

You can grab two extra charms besides the default ones for a Neomah, you can distribute two extra attributes, three extra specialties, and five extra abilities.

Also, your unique act of villainy for a Neomah would be Harvest Biological Material, given that you're using bonus points to increase the UC background to five.

Any idea where you want to start out? East, west, north, south, scavenger lands, the wyld?

Click to shrink...

Edit:
Old thread.

 

[Jemnite]

To pick charms, probably.

Click to shrink...

Also, to decides starting region.

 

[Jiven]

I don't really have a preference... scavenger lands ?

 

[Larekko12]

Also, to decides starting region.

Click to shrink...

Don't we have a hometown with a raiding problem and no super powers to stomp it?

 

[Dinya]

OK. Let's look at the possible uses for the Neomah's stats:

• 'Fourth Soul Externalisation' - Allows SCF to use the Neomah's charmest and look instead of her own.
• 'Unweave Into Hollowness' - Allows SCF to copy her Neomah's mind instead of her own into a mechanical victim with 'Hollow Mind Possession'.
• 'Fourth-Soul Devil Domain' - The Neomah has its full powers withing an inner world - a Devil Domain. The Neomah can Craft stuff here and send them back to SCF. It can also use all its Charms here.
• 'Omphalic Reverence Receptacle' - Requires 'Fourth-Soul Devil Domain'. More crafting. Far more. And some free charms for that purpose along with a shitload of resources.
• 'The Spirit of the Living World' - The Neomah lives within it. Can be expanded with its own version of 'Omphalic Reverence Receptacle' to fulfill the same function.

Click to shrink...

Specialties:

• Fully salvageable at no extra cost.
• The Nomah has 9:
  • Athletics (Contortion) +1
  • Presence (Seduction) +3
  • Melee (Hairpin) +2
  • ...and 3 more we have yet to choose.

Attributes and Abilities:

• Trainer. → Let them complement our current ones.
• Mental copies in stolen mechanical bodies might yet have to operate on their own. Physical Attributes and Appearance of the body are not transferred.
• Whatever is used for Crafting might be useful.

Charms:

• Only usable
  • with the complete Neomah transformation granted by 'Fourth Soul Externalisation' (9 XP and 14 days of training away),
  • by a mental copy of the Neomah granted by 'Unweave Into Hollowness' (requires Essence 4), or
  • in the internal Devil Domain granted by 'Fourth-Soul Devil Domain' (mainly useful for crafting).
• 'Omphalic Reverence Receptacle' grants 'First Craft Excellency' and 'Creation of Perfection' for free. So I would prefer something else for now.
• Almost all Spirtis Charms are viable! Look search 'Rolls of Glorious Divinity' for some cool stuff! The only real limit is Essence 4. Edit: "Spirits treat the minimum Essence of their Charms as guidelines. Many spirits possess Charms with a minimum Essence higher than their own Essence scores." -- 'Rolls of Glorious Divinity', p. 140
• The Neomah has 24 Charms:
  • 'Harrow the Mind'
  • 'Principle of Motion'
  • 'Reserve of Will'
  • 'Shapechange'
  • 'Weaving of Flesh'
  • 1st, 2nd and 3rf Excellency for
    • Athletics
    • Dodge
    • Melee
    • Presence
  • ...and 2 more we have yet to choose.

Willpower:

• Permanent: 9
• Temporary: 12 (It's +3 from 'Reserve of Will' .)

Essence:

• Permanent Essence 4
• 85 motes in the temporary Essence Pool

 

[Dinya]

My stats Charms for the Neomah:


Charms:

• Infinite Dodge Mastery - The Neomah already has the 3 Dodge Excellencies (among others). [So: Commit 20 motes for 10 extra dice, 5 extra successes, or reroll. All free. In Dodge DV terms: Either 10 rolled dice towards an Dodge DV increase or +5 Dodge DV or a combination thereof. {The Third Excellency is pretty much useless, here.}] Requires Essence 4 to use.
• All-Encompassing Divine Melee Subordination with the Compassion or Convicton Flaw - If armed, this is a perfect defense or an unavoidable attack with Threshold 0 for 5m, 1wp. Requires Essence 5 to use. Hax Mode: Compassion Flaw and get SCF a positive Intimacy towards the Neomah.
• Notes:
  • For this, we need at least Melee 5 and Dodge 4, respectively.
  • The unavoidable attack should be good for striking with a poisoned hairpin.
  • It might well be worth it, to switch the '(Ability)' of these two Charms - make Parry DV our primary defense in the Neomah-form and gain 10 extra free dice or 5 successes to all Accuracy rolls.
  • I am thinking of an additional Stealth Excellency instead of one of these, as well.

Attributes:

• +1 Strength (3 → 4)
• +1 Perception (3 → 4)
• Notes:
  • Chosen for training purposes, as it's hard to access them for anything else, anyway.

Abilities:

• +2 Dodge (3 → 5)
• +3 Melee (2 → 5)
• Notes:
  • More-or-less dictated by my chosen Charms.
  • Also good for training 2 of our favored Abilities.

Specialties:

• +1 Hairpin (Melee) (2 → 3)
• +2 Against Unarmed (Dodge) (0 → 2)
• Notes:
  • Feel free to propose something else.

Concept: This dude girl thing most often dude is way too badass with a hairpin, even for Neomah.
It made a name for itself as an assassin in some backwater of Malfeas, especially, as it favor a direct conclusion over a quiet affair.
Edit: Now that I think about it, neither killing (assassination), nor direct confrontation is what Neomahs do. So this wouldn't work at all without a massive adjustment of its virtues.




Still left to choose:

• A name for the Neomah.
• A starting region.
• All the intimacies of SCF and the Neomah.
• Edit: Maybe more details for the Neomah's 'concept'.

 

[Dinya]

Some stupid questions:


- What's up with that Brass Hairpin?
Seriously, a hairpin? A Neomah doesn't have any hair at all! Why carry a hairpin? I could understand why they would have a needle with them. But not a hairpin! You can't even pretend that you use it to hold your hair in place, as you don't fricking have any!

Also:
Is there anyway to get more / better versions of them? I couldn't find any other mention of hairpins in the books.
Is it considered a part of the body for the purpose of the transformations granted by 'Fourth Soul Externalisation'?

I sure hope that the Neomah form still has the Punch/Kick/Clinch Natural Weapon. (For that matter, SCF's Clinch is missing from the character sheet. Is there a reason for that?)


- How much flash is needed for 'Weaving of Flesh'?
I can't find anything more specific then 'collecting flesh'. Duh.
Is it like "Let's get the mass of a newborn out of you!", or "You will need to leave a sample of your skin behind."?


- The Tower.
'A tower of fire and brass and tin.' Do we get one with both of the transformations granted by 'Fourth Soul Externalisation'? It is an 'innate powers the species' and apparently not a Charm, after all.
Does it disappear, when 'Loom Snarling Deception' is deactivated?


- What would the Spirit Charm 'Hurry Home' do?
It sounds like a good escape method (1. 'Loom Snarling Deception'; 2. 'Hurry Home'; 3. Profit!).
But it's not clear where exactly that would deposits, or whether it would move us at all!


- What's up with the low number of Charms?

Spirits have a minimum number of Charms
of each type of Virtue equal to their rating in that Virtue, so a
god with a Temperance of 4 and a Valor of 1 will have at least
four Temperance spirit Charms and one Valor spirit Charm.

Click to shrink...

...OK.
Let's see:

A Neomah's Attributes:
Compassion 4
Conviction 5
Temperance 1
Valor 1

A Neomah's Virtue-aspected Charms:
Compassion: 1. N/A; 2. N/A; 3. N/A; 4. N/A.
Conviction: 1. 'Shapechange'; 2. 'Weaving of Flesh'?; 3. N/A; 4. N/A; 5. N/A.
Temperance: 1. 'Harrow the Mind'. ✔
Valor: 1. N/A.

...

WTF?!

According to the rulebook, at least 8 Charms are missing! And the Neomah character sheet is in the very same book!!

 

[Larekko12]

A neomah is a sahpeshifter and normally wears a form with hair?

 

[Dinya]

A Neomah is a shapeshifter and normally wears a form with hair?

Click to shrink...

No.

Shapechange: Neomah use this power to alter their outward
appearance and gender to be more compatible with a prospective
client. This Charm costs five motes and one temporary
Willpower, and it lasts for one scene.

Click to shrink...

(The emphasis (bolding) is mine.)

On that note: Apparently the thing's really female by default. Is that right?

 

[Jemnite]

On that note: Apparently the thing's really female by default. Is that right?

Click to shrink...

I'll call it female pronouns, so yes. Anyway, is the consensus on scavenger lands?

 

[Darik29]

Scavenger lands is fine with me. Lets go kill us some bandits!

 

[Zasnul]

Yes.

 

[Larekko12]

Bandit murdering in atonement go.

 

[fitzgerald]

Yes. Bandit killing is a go

 

[Jemnite]

Some stupid questions:


- What's up with that Brass Hairpin?
Seriously, a hairpin? A Neomah doesn't have any hair at all! Why carry a hairpin? I could understand why they would have a needle with them. But not a hairpin! You can't even pretend that you use it to hold your hair in place, as you don't fricking have any!

Also:
Is there anyway to get more / better versions of them? I couldn't find any other mention of hairpins in the books.
Is it considered a part of the body for the purpose of the transformations granted by 'Fourth Soul Externalisation'?

I sure hope that the Neomah form still has the Punch/Kick/Clinch Natural Weapon. (For that matter, SCF's Clinch is missing from the character sheet. Is there a reason for that?)


- How much flash is needed for 'Weaving of Flesh'?
I can't find anything more specific then 'collecting flesh'. Duh.
Is it like "Let's get the mass of a newborn out of you!", or "You will need to leave a sample of your skin behind."?


- The Tower.
'A tower of fire and brass and tin.' Do we get one with both of the transformations granted by 'Fourth Soul Externalisation'? It is an 'innate powers the species' and apparently not a Charm, after all.
Does it disappear, when 'Loom Snarling Deception' is deactivated?


- What would the Spirit Charm 'Hurry Home' do?
It sounds like a good escape method (1. 'Loom Snarling Deception'; 2. 'Hurry Home'; 3. Profit!).
But it's not clear where exactly that would deposits, or whether it would move us at all!


- What's up with the low number of Charms?...OK.
Let's see:

A Neomah's Attributes:
Compassion 4
Conviction 5
Temperance 1
Valor 1

A Neomah's Virtue-aspected Charms:
Compassion: 1. N/A; 2. N/A; 3. N/A; 4. N/A.
Conviction: 1. 'Shapechange'; 2. 'Weaving of Flesh'?; 3. N/A; 4. N/A; 5. N/A.
Temperance: 1. 'Harrow the Mind'. ✔
Valor: 1. N/A.

...

WTF?!

According to the rulebook, at least 8 Charms are missing! And the Neomah character sheet is in the very same book!!

Click to shrink...

Brass Hairpin: I have no idea. It's part of the concept, though, so just roll with it. Neomahs can always shapeshift hair if they want any.

Flesh: An ounce of flesh. It can be any sort of flesh, blood, sperm, meat. Just has to be flesh.

The Tower: Yes

Hurry Home: It'd bring you to the place you most consider home.

Charms: If there's nothing there, there's a good chance I have fully statted that part out yet. Just wait. I'll at least up a placeholder if there really is nothing to fill that section.

OK. Let's look at the possible uses for the Neomah's stats:

Specialties:

• Fully salvageable at no extra cost.
• The Nomah has 9:
  • Athletics (Contortion) +1
  • Presence (Seduction) +3
  • Melee (Hairpin) +2
  • ...and 3 more we have yet to choose.

Attributes and Abilities:

• Trainer. → Let them complement our current ones.
• Mental copies in stolen mechanical bodies might yet have to operate on their own. Physical Attributes and Appearance of the body are not transferred.
• Whatever is used for Crafting might be useful.

Charms:

• Only usable
  • with the complete Neomah transformation granted by 'Fourth Soul Externalisation' (9 XP and 14 days of training away),
  • by a mental copy of the Neomah granted by 'Unweave Into Hollowness' (requires Essence 4), or
  • in the internal Devil Domain granted by 'Fourth-Soul Devil Domain' (mainly useful for crafting).
• 'Omphalic Reverence Receptacle' grants 'First Craft Excellency' and 'Creation of Perfection' for free. So I would prefer something else for now.
• Almost all Spirtis Charms are viable! Look search 'Rolls of Glorious Divinity' for some cool stuff! The only real limit is Essence 4. Edit: "Spirits treat the minimum Essence of their Charms as guidelines. Many spirits possess Charms with a minimum Essence higher than their own Essence scores." -- 'Rolls of Glorious Divinity', p. 140
• The Neomah has 24 Charms:
  • 'Harrow the Mind'
  • 'Principle of Motion'
  • 'Reserve of Will'
  • 'Shapechange'
  • 'Weaving of Flesh'
  • 1st, 2nd and 3rf Excellency for
    • Athletics
    • Dodge
    • Melee
    • Presence
  • ...and 2 more we have yet to choose.

Willpower:

• Permanent: 9
• Temporary: 12 (It's +3 from 'Reserve of Will' .)

Essence:

• Permanent Essence 4
• 85 motes in the temporary Essence Pool

Click to shrink...

Give me where you found those two charms. Page number and such. Remember, they have to be spirit charms.

 

[Dinya]

Charms: If there's nothing there, there's a good chance I have fully statted that part out yet. Just wait. I'll at least up a placeholder if there really is nothing to fill that section.

Click to shrink...

I wasn't talking about anything you have (or have not) written.

I was merely ranting about the Second Edition Core being inconsistent - the official stats for Neomahs are illegal under the rules listed in the same chapter ('Antagonists'), as the stats are.

Give me where you found those two charms. Page number and such. Remember, they have to be spirit charms.

Click to shrink...

Uh... There's the Wiki, which lists such things.
Anyway, here you go:


'Infinite (Ability) Mastery':

EXCELLENCIES
Spirits can use the First, Second and Third (Ability)
Excellencies for each Ability, as well as Infinite (Ability)
Mastery, as long as they meet the prerequisites for
each Charm as described on pages 181–186 of Exalted.
These count as spirit Charms, and most are related to a
specific Virtue, just as their other Charms are.

Click to shrink...

And it requires only Essence 3. Not 4. My bad.


'Divine (Ability) Subordination':

DIVINE (ABILITY) SUBORDINATION
Cost: 5m, 1wp ; Mins: (Ability) 5, Essence 5;
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant

Click to shrink...

But now that you clarified how it works, I would really like to take 'Hurry Home', instead of one of them:

HURRY HOME
Cost: 5m; Mins: Essence 2;
Type: Simple
Keywords: Obvious
Duration: Instant

Click to shrink...

So...
My new stats for our Neomah:

Charms:
Hurry Home
Infinite Melee Mastery

Attributes:
+1 Strength (3 → 4)
+1 Perception (3 → 4)

Abilities:
+3 Melee (2 → 5)
+2 Resistance (3 → 5)

Specialties:
+1 Hairpin (Melee) (2 → 3)
+2 Against Ambushes (Awareness) (0 → 2)

Notes:
This relies on Parry DV instead of Dodge DV. There's an enormous Melee boost (free Melee Excellencies) and a cheap let's-get-the-hell-out-of-here technique (Hurry Home) and it's all usable with just Essence 3.
Thus, the Neomah-form becomes an escape-form - at Essence 3 you just need to pay 12 motes and 1 point of limit in a 2-action flurry, weather 5 ticks with a +1 or +0 Parry DV bonus, and you are already home. (It really should be instant.) And assuming that that's not where the fighting is, you are probably save, as well.

 

[Dinya]

Give me where you found those two charms. Page number and such. Remember, they have to be spirit charms.

Click to shrink...

Hm...

Did you actually mean these (↓) Charms?

• 'Harrow the Mind'
• 'Principle of Motion'
• 'Reserve of Will'
• 'Shapechange'
• 'Weaving of Flesh'
• 1st, 2nd and 3rd Excellency for
  • Athletics
  • Dodge
  • Melee
  • Presence

Click to shrink...

They are all from the official Neomah stats on page 311 of the Second Edition Core.
I also forgot to list 'Materialize'.

And these (↓) are all Infernal Charms - for Shattered Crystal Flames to learn, if she want to use aspects of the Neomah's stats. Not for the Neomah herself.

• 'Fourth Soul Externalisation' - Allows SCF to use the Neomah's charmest and look instead of her own.
• 'Unweave Into Hollowness' - Allows SCF to copy her Neomah's mind instead of her own into a mechanical victim with 'Hollow Mind Possession'.
• 'Fourth-Soul Devil Domain' - The Neomah has its full powers withing an inner world - a Devil Domain. The Neomah can Craft stuff here and send them back to SCF. It can also use all its Charms here.
• 'Omphalic Reverence Receptacle' - Requires 'Fourth-Soul Devil Domain'. More crafting. Far more. And some free charms for that purpose along with a shitload of resources.
• 'The Spirit of the Living World' - The Neomah lives within it. Can be expanded with its own version of 'Omphalic Reverence Receptacle' to fulfill the same function.

Click to shrink...

Click to shrink...