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==FAQ==
==FAQ==
===Q: Why are you rewriting the Sidereal charmsets?===
===Q: Why are you rewriting the Sidereal charmsets?===
-
* A: I don't mind their trees being weird and esoteric. But as written, they aren't even that. Several charms are either in the wrong trees, have willpower or mote costs that are a holdover from First Edition, or are incorrectly keyworded. Duck Fate costs as much as some TCS/SCN spells. There is at least one tree which is almost entirely dependent upon Mass Combat and/or Mandate of Heaven in order to be more than a waste of player XP. (Come on, does anyone even USE Mandate of Heaven? Seriously? Be honest.)
+
* A: I don't mind their trees being weird and esoteric. But as written, they aren't even that. Several charms are either in the wrong trees, have willpower or mote costs that are a holdover from First Edition, or are incorrectly keyworded. Duck Fate costs as much as some TCS/SCN spells. There is at least one tree which is almost entirely dependent upon Mass Combat and/or Mandate of Heaven in order to be more than a waste of player XP. And so on.
===Q: Why did you remove the Maiden keyword?===
===Q: Why did you remove the Maiden keyword?===
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* A: Most STs are going to assume for the purposes of their game that the player has permission to use their Charms (and it's really not WW's job to babysit your players). And to be honest, the Exaltation itself should be all you need to use your own magic. It'd be like a Solar having to ask the UCS if he could use Heavenly Guardian Defense which I think we can all agree is a pretty silly idea.
+
* A: Because it's redundant. Besides which, the Exaltation itself should be all you need to use your own magic. It'd be like a Solar having to ask the UCS if he could use Heavenly Guardian Defense which I think we can all agree is a pretty silly idea.
===Q: What's the point of this rewrite?===
===Q: What's the point of this rewrite?===
* A: Ideally, once completed this charmset will put Sidereals on a roughly equal footing with the other Celestial Exalted, giving their charmsets some balance without making them absolute monsters in combat. A well-rounded (not even combat-twinked) Lunar or Solar of equal Essence should be fine against one of these guys, but they'll be an actual challenge instead of "lol paper ninja". They'll still be irritating to fight, in the way that most status-effect boss types are, but it's nothing you can't overcome.
* A: Ideally, once completed this charmset will put Sidereals on a roughly equal footing with the other Celestial Exalted, giving their charmsets some balance without making them absolute monsters in combat. A well-rounded (not even combat-twinked) Lunar or Solar of equal Essence should be fine against one of these guys, but they'll be an actual challenge instead of "lol paper ninja". They'll still be irritating to fight, in the way that most status-effect boss types are, but it's nothing you can't overcome.
-
===Q: Are you going to do anything about Blade of the Battle Maiden?===
+
===Q: Does this mean you're giving Sidereals a hero style?===
-
* A: Yes. I've relegated Violet Bier of Sorrows Style to being just another CMA, though it's a style more often used by Sidereals due to its flavor, so BotBM is getting a serious nerf job. That's not the only charm getting a makeover, either. Moreover, with an Ess + Ability cap, Blade of the Battle Maiden ''should'' no longer be necessary to make them effective in combat anymore - their lame dice cap was the only reason this Charm even made it past playtesting.
+
-
 
+
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===Q: What's this about the Sidereal dice cap?===
+
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* A: It's now '''''Essence + Ability''''' (thanks for the suggestion there, TFS!). Permanent Essence is a holdover from 1e, which does nothing except to make dice-adding effects useless for Sidereals until they hit Essence 4-5.
+
-
 
+
-
===Q: So if you're changing VBoS to just another CMA, does this mean you're giving Sidereals a hero style?===
+
* A: Yes. With a petition to the Maidens, they can even create extensions to the style which only they can use.
* A: Yes. With a petition to the Maidens, they can even create extensions to the style which only they can use.
==Assorted General Changes==
==Assorted General Changes==
-
* The limitations upon Charms keyworded Fate still apply - ''if'' the Sidereal is in the Underworld, Malfeas, or beyond a bordermarch when attempting to use them. Otherwise treat attempts at unnatural mental influence/shaping upon creatures outside fate as a contested roll - Creation is seeking to force the entity to play by the Loom's rules, as it were. If it works one way it should work the other. Plz to give some consistency, White Wolf. (I would also note that something similar was done with Abyssals, so this isn't exactly a leap.)
+
* The limitations upon Charms keyworded Fate still apply - ''if'' the Sidereal is in the Underworld, Malfeas, or the Deep Wyld when attempting to use them. Fate-keyworded Charms increase in difficulty by 1 in shadowlands and bordermarches, 2 in middlemarches.  
* I might create an Astrology keyword to replace Mandate so I don't have to strike certain charms entirely. Dunno. Still on the fence here.
* I might create an Astrology keyword to replace Mandate so I don't have to strike certain charms entirely. Dunno. Still on the fence here.
* Now and forevermore, the First Excellency includes the option of a penalty buyoff that ignores the cap.
* Now and forevermore, the First Excellency includes the option of a penalty buyoff that ignores the cap.
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* I refuse to use the term Vizier to refer to Sidereals. YES, I KNOW THIS IS NITPICKY. I don't care. It has negative connotations (as it was originally a literary trope intended to be negative), and these aren't the baddies of the setting. Occasional antagonists =/= villains, sorry.
 
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==Impending Changes==
 
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'''The text in this section will change as these items are added/edited/stricken from the record/whatever.'''<br>
 
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* Sidereal War is getting an overhaul. DEAR WHITE WOLF: If 3/4ths of a full tree requires mass combat or Mandate to be remotely useful, you are doing it wrong.
 
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* Sids now have a hero style! :D Violet Bier of Sorrows gets its own section, in a far less powerful form, as a general CMA.
 
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* I'm considering beefing up their Dodge tree with another charm, since it's kind of small as-is.
 
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* Smiling of the Damned - Now with 100% more Holy!
 
==Character Generation Rules==
==Character Generation Rules==
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* 28 Ability Points, to be allotted anywhere. None over 3 before bonus points.
* 28 Ability Points, to be allotted anywhere. None over 3 before bonus points.
* 10 Charms. None may be SMA.
* 10 Charms. None may be SMA.
-
* 5 College Dots. Caste colleges ONLY, and you cannot take resplendencies.
+
* 5 College Dots. Caste colleges only, no resplendent destiny crafting.
* 7 Backgrounds
* 7 Backgrounds
* 15 Bonus Points
* 15 Bonus Points
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[[Linguistics]]<br>
[[Linguistics]]<br>
[[Performance: The Musician]]<br>
[[Performance: The Musician]]<br>
-
[[Socialize]]<br>
+
[[Socialize: The Lovers]]<br>
===BATTLES===
===BATTLES===

Revision as of 04:03, 11 August 2009

OH HAY IT'S A SIDEREAL REWRITE. And it still won't take as long as Dragon-Blooded. God, that book fills me with hate.

Contents

FAQ

Q: Why are you rewriting the Sidereal charmsets?

  • A: I don't mind their trees being weird and esoteric. But as written, they aren't even that. Several charms are either in the wrong trees, have willpower or mote costs that are a holdover from First Edition, or are incorrectly keyworded. Duck Fate costs as much as some TCS/SCN spells. There is at least one tree which is almost entirely dependent upon Mass Combat and/or Mandate of Heaven in order to be more than a waste of player XP. And so on.

Q: Why did you remove the Maiden keyword?

  • A: Because it's redundant. Besides which, the Exaltation itself should be all you need to use your own magic. It'd be like a Solar having to ask the UCS if he could use Heavenly Guardian Defense which I think we can all agree is a pretty silly idea.

Q: What's the point of this rewrite?

  • A: Ideally, once completed this charmset will put Sidereals on a roughly equal footing with the other Celestial Exalted, giving their charmsets some balance without making them absolute monsters in combat. A well-rounded (not even combat-twinked) Lunar or Solar of equal Essence should be fine against one of these guys, but they'll be an actual challenge instead of "lol paper ninja". They'll still be irritating to fight, in the way that most status-effect boss types are, but it's nothing you can't overcome.

Q: Does this mean you're giving Sidereals a hero style?

  • A: Yes. With a petition to the Maidens, they can even create extensions to the style which only they can use.

Assorted General Changes

  • The limitations upon Charms keyworded Fate still apply - if the Sidereal is in the Underworld, Malfeas, or the Deep Wyld when attempting to use them. Fate-keyworded Charms increase in difficulty by 1 in shadowlands and bordermarches, 2 in middlemarches.
  • I might create an Astrology keyword to replace Mandate so I don't have to strike certain charms entirely. Dunno. Still on the fence here.
  • Now and forevermore, the First Excellency includes the option of a penalty buyoff that ignores the cap.

Character Generation Rules

Bureau Sidereals

  • Attributes: 8/6/4
  • 35 Ability Points, no ability over 3 without bonus points. Your character MUST have the following: Awareness 2, Bureaucracy 2, Linguistics (Old Realm) 1, Lore 3, Martial Arts 2, Occult 2, Socialize 1, Stealth 1 and at least one dot in either Archery, Melee or Thrown. Other requirements by caste are as follows:
    • Journeys: As stated in MOEP: Sidereals.
    • Serenity: As stated in MOEP: Sidereals.
    • Battles: As stated in MOEP: Sidereals.
    • Secrets: As stated in MOEP: Sidereals.
    • Endings: As stated in MOEP: Sidereals.
  • 12 Charms. None may be Sidereal Martial Arts.
  • 7 College dots. At least one dot must be in a caste-related college.
  • 13 Backgrounds
  • 18 Bonus Points

Ronin Sidereals

  • Attributes: 8/6/4
  • 28 Ability Points, to be allotted anywhere. None over 3 before bonus points.
  • 10 Charms. None may be SMA.
  • 5 College Dots. Caste colleges only, no resplendent destiny crafting.
  • 7 Backgrounds
  • 15 Bonus Points

Charms

JOURNEYS

Athletics: The Mast
Ride
Sail
Survival
Thrown

SERENITY

Craft
Dodge: The Ewer
Linguistics
Performance: The Musician
Socialize: The Lovers

BATTLES

Resistance: The Banner
Archery: The Quiver
Melee
War
Presence

SECRETS

Larceny
Lore
Occult
Stealth
Investigation

ENDINGS

Awareness
Bureaucracy
Integrity
Martial Arts
Medicine

Martial Arts

Celestial Martial Arts

  • Kon will work on the following:
    • Golden Barque of Journeys Style
    • Cerulean Lute of Harmony Style
    • Crimson Panoply of Victory Style
    • Forbidding Manse of Ivy Style


Violet Bier of Sorrows Style

Sidereal Martial Arts

Golden Laughter of Children Style - A peculiarly defensive style invoking the dichotomy of youthful innocence and using it as a weapon against one's foes. Sutra by Lynne, fluff and mechanics by Kailan and Seras, and editing by Svadisatma. Hooray for joint projects.

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