Seed of Other Lives and Stag Plan: Difference between pages

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In no particular order, some possibilities for [[Stag]]. These make use of the [[Exalted Improving|costs and training table]].
Created just after the Usurpation by a half-man lunar sorcerer being manipulated by an ambitious young sidereal, only seven of these small artifacts are known to exist, though rumors exist of others. In their inert state, each appears as a metal acorn rafted from moonsilver and starmetal. Though unheard of in creation, these seeds are fairly well known (and coveted) by sidereals.


When swallowed, as seed allows the user to alter his or her own features to appear as anyone they like. This transformation process lasts for 10 minutes, while the seed sends tendrils throughout the user's body. This procedure is extremely painful, dealing three health levels of unsoakable lethal internal injuries as the seed takes root. The transformation is not an illusion, but a long-lasting physical transformation that can change the user's voice, sccent and even gender (with such cases operating similarly to the Many-Faced Moon Transformation charm [Lunars, pg 128]).
== Using the Mark ==


If used to duplicate the appearance of a specific person, the user must first make a disguise roll (''Exalted'', pg. 255) to determine how well the person is mimicked. If the user has any Craft skill based on study and/or reproduction of the human form (e.g. sculpture, portraiture, etc.), she may add those dice to this test. In addition, the seed provides two automatic successes in addition to those rolled. The storyteller should set the difficulty of this roll based on how well the user has studied the person they wish to imitate.
The [[Mark of Autochthon]] allows quite a bit of progress into the items below, particularly the Martial Arts stuff. A straight forward walk down that path would look something like this (and assuming you'd be working to reduce your Precision as you go):


If, on the other hand, the user elects to don an invented appearance (as most sidereals who use these seeds do), this disguise is considered nearly perfect. Should circumstances arise where someone might suspect the user's true identity, they would be able to do so withe Perception + Awareness roll as a difficulty equal to the Intelligence + Larceny + Essence of the use when she activated the seed.
* Learn Conclusion-Pursing Approach (9xp, burn a dot of Source, gain a dot of Precision).
* Four Magical Materials Form (10xp, burn a dot of Source, gain a dot of Precision, requires the previous step). You might want to gain another point of Precision, and spend 3 willpower to use the mark's Deep Resonance ability to compress the training for this into eight hours.


THe startmetal in the acorn is enchanted to specifically assist the Chosen of the Maidens in the generation of resplendent destinies. Sidereals who change into an invented appearance intended specifically for use with a resplendent destiny reduce the difficulty of the prayer roll for creating that destiny by one and add two dice to the effect test.
At this point, a totally different combat tactic becomes open to you. Many of your really cool abilities cost Willpower, but Conclusion-Pursing Approach basically lets you regain Willpower by punching people, and this changes the whole dynamics of your charm set. Prep for combat would basically go like this:


Making any type of appearance change requires 5 motes be committed to the seed. Under the new form, the user retains all abilities, powers and attributes except Appearance, which becomes that of the new form. The user must remain in that form ''at least'' until the next full moon rises. Any attempts to uncommit the essence simply fail, with the seed grabbing the essence for itself. While in this form, the user may not voluntarily be the target of any shapechanging charms or effects. At any time after the next full moon, the artifact may be deactivated normally.
# Turn 1: (Optional) Reflexively spend 1wp to activate the "student's sutra" for Prismatic Arrangement of Creation Style. (You now can do this, because you have learned your first form of this style). The makes all charms from this style cost 5 motes less. Note that if you elect not to use this sutra, your [[Efficient Kata Bands]] reduce sidereal martial arts by 3 motes anyway. Unless you plan on using a lot of sidereal martial arts charms (i.e. those from Prismatic Arrangement of Creation Style), you might be better off using the bands.
# Turn 1: Activate Four Magical Materials Form (15 motes, -5 if you use the sutra or -3 using the Kata bands). You now have +12B/+12L soak, +7L damage from wicked claws, +2 to speed/accuracy/defense, can to parry lethal and ranged attacks with bare hands, convert any lethal damage you receive to bashing, can strike at distance and all the bonuses of Five Jade Fury.
# Turn 2: Activate Conclusion-Pursing Approach (10 motes, 1 wp, 1 health level). You can now regain a point of willpower any time you damage someone with martial arts. This happens any time an attack does damage, so it will pay to split your pool for multiple attacks if you need to restore willpower. This charm also has other effects (see below).
# Turn 3 (or 4): Activate Joy in Adversity Stance (5m). Now, any time you successfully defend against an attack (dodge or parry), you roll Essence dice, gaining two motes back for each success. This averages out to five motes each time an attack misses you. Note that this charm is Reflexive, so you can still act on the same turn you activate it.
# Turn 4 (or 3): Activate Defense of Shining Joy (5m, 1wp). Reflexively Dodge with Dex + Dodge or Dex + Performance.
# Turn 5: (Optional) Activate Blade of the Battle Maiden with as much essence as you can spare (up to 18m, 2wp). Every two motes spent buys an extra Martial Arts die for the whole scene, so you can double your base pool. This would give you 18 dice, even before additions from artifacts and charms. Note also: Five Jady Fury awards bonuses based on how many dice you actually roll, so pumping your pool makes those bonuses even better.


Upon deactivation, the thousands of tendrils the seed has spread through the user's body come out through his or her skin, inflicting five health levels of unsoakable lethal damage. Once into the open air, the tendrils seek the user's navel, where they meet and reshape back into an acorn.
Assuming you do all of that, you'll be glowing pretty badly, having spent something like 50m, 4wp. On the other hand, your attacks would look like this:


== Instances ==
* +5 to initiative
** +2 from startmetal claw's Speed rating
** +3 from Five Jade bonus
* 21 attack dice:
** 9 dice from Dex + Martial Arts
** 2 dice from Accuracy of starmetal claws
** 1 die from kata bands
** 9 dice from Blade of the Battle Maiden
* Seven ''added'' automatic successes to the attack roll from Five Jade bonus using 21 dice
* Serious damage
** 3L base from Strength
** +7L from claws
** Five Jade bonus using 21 dice provides 7 ''added'' automatic successes to the damage roll
** Five Jade knocks target back a yard for each level of damage inflicted.
** Any damage dealt means you get back a point of willpower


[[Stag]] holds one of these seeds, though he has not used it.
The average result of this will be an attack roll generating 11 successes, plus seven added automatically, for a total of 18. Very few targets will be able to get these many defensive successes. Let's say they get none at all. That 18 successes then adds to the damage to deal 28L damage. Even if their soak is this insanely high, you still get your "ping" die, two which is added 7 automatic damage successes. So, if you hit them at all, your guaranteed to deal at least 7 points of damage. On an unarmored target that doesn't defend, you'd average something like 19 points of damage.


== Game Information ==
How about without the Blade of the Battle Maiden? That would only be something like 32m, 2wp, with stats like:


'''Commitment''': 5<br>
* +5 to initiative
'''Artifact''': &bull;&bull;<br>
** +2 from startmetal claw's Speed rating
&nbsp;&nbsp;''Power'': &bull;&bull;&bull;<br>
** +3 from Five Jade bonus
&nbsp;&nbsp;''Usefulness'': &bull;&bull;<br>
* 11 attack dice:
&nbsp;&nbsp;''Game Impact'': &bull;&bull;&bull;<br>
** 9 dice from Dex + Martial Arts
&nbsp;&nbsp;''Script Immunity'': &bull;&bull;<br>
** 2 dice from Accuracy of starmetal claws
&nbsp;&nbsp;''Essence Drawback'': &bull;&bull;&bull; (-&bull; damage on use)<br>
** 1 die from kata bands
&nbsp;&nbsp;''Component Drawback'': &bull;&bull;<br>
* Four ''added'' automatic successes to the attack roll from Five Jade bonus using 11 dice
&nbsp;&nbsp;''Deactivation Drawback'': &bull;<br>
* Serious damage
&nbsp;&nbsp;''Notoriety Drawback'': &bull;<br>
** 3L base from Strength
&nbsp;&nbsp;''Maintenance Drawback'': x
** +7L from claws
** Five Jade bonus using 11 dice provides four ''added'' automatic successes to the damage roll
** Five Jade knocks target back a yard for each level of damage inflicted.
** Any damage dealt means you get back a point of willpower


[[Category:Exalted]]
Pros: You are now not only combat effective (large dice pools, great damage), but also a master of regenerating essence and willpower. While it seems very costly to activate, you will have regained nearly all the cost within a few rounds.
[[Category:Magic Item]]
 
Cons: Slow to activate. Loses the nice damage effect of Violet Bier of Sorrows Form (back to one die minimum damage), though this is mitigated by Five Jade adding automatic damage.
 
== The Way of Charm Combination ==
 
 
== The Way of the Ass-Kicking Martial Artist ==
 
=== Short Term Goal: Mastering a lesser martial art ===
 
Stag cannot learn sidereal martial art form charms (see following goals) until he learns every charm in a lesser martial art. Since he already knows many charms in the Violet Bier of Sorrows tree, it would be logical to finish the rest:
 
*''Conclusion-Pursing Approach'' (pg. 181, 9xp, 40 hours training). For a scene, gain a point of Willpower each time you do damage. Also, opponents wound penalties are tripled when attacking you or defending against Martial Arts attacks from you. You can also enhance this with a prayer strip to remove a point of Willpower from your target each time you do damage (this is one of the few charms in Exalted that can do this). Since this is the pinnacle charm for this style, learning it requires a trainer.
 
=== Medium Term Goal: Four Magical Materials Form ===
 
This is a sidereal form that Stag already has most of the prerequisites for. To finish:
 
* Master a lesser martial art (see above)
* Increase Essence to 5 (''completed'')
* Find a sidereal teacher.
* From the teacher, learn ''Four Magical Materials Form'' (pg. 191, 10xp, 240 hours training). When active, he becomes a living artifact (+12B/+12L soak, +7L damage, +2 to speed/accuracy/defense, ability to parry lethal and ranged attacks with bare hands, convert any lethal damage you receive to bashing, strike at distance and all the bonuses of Five Jade Fury).
 
Note that this also allows you to use the "student's sutra" for the style, which saves essence.
 
=== Long Term Goal: Games of Divinity Form ===
 
This form builds from God Ways. It isn't quite as impressive as the previous one, but isn't as difficult, either. You need:
 
* Find a sidereal teacher.
* From the teacher, learn at least one instance of ''(Type) Exalt Ways'' (pg. 193, 10xp, 192 hours training), where ''type'' is is a type of exalted. Your anima banner will appear as this type of exalt for five turns while active. You also get five automatic successes for every test using an ability favored by the type. For example, suppose you learned Earth Dragon-Blooded Ways. Your anima (if visible) would erupt into a mantle of white and yellow light, shifting like rolling sand. Earth aspect dragon-blooded favor Awareness, Craft, Endurance, Martial Arts and Resistance, so at the time of casting, you could choose one of these and get automatic successes in tests using it. Note that lunars favor attributes (e.g. Dexterity) instead of abilities. [[Hammer in the Woods]] knows the Eclipse version of this charm.
* Master a lesser martial art (see above)
* Increase Essence to 5 (''completed'')
* From the teacher, learn ''Games of Divinity Form'' (pg. 194, 10xp, 240 hours training). When this form is active, attackers must fail a Compassion roll to be able to attack you, even if you are beating the crap out of them at the time. People who see this form may also become addicted to watching it.
 
=== Long Term Goal: Demesne and Manse Form ===
 
A short path to another form. It isn't quite as impressive as the previous one, but isn't as difficult, either. You need:
 
* Find a sidereal teacher.
* From the teacher, learn ''Demesne Emulation Practice'' (pg. 193, 10xp, 192 hours training). For a scene, each time you hit something, you also do a separate batch of aggravated damage.
* Master a lesser martial art (see above)
* Increase Essence to 5 (''completed'')
* From the teacher, learn ''Demesne and Manse Form'' (pg. 194, 10xp, 240 hours training). When this form is active, a 5 dot hearthstone is brought into existence, with a power matching Stag's personality.
 
=== Long Term Goal: Soul Fire Shaper Form ===
 
A longer path to another form. It contains some extremely potent abilities for messing with other people's magic. You need:
 
* Find a sidereal teacher.
* From the teacher, learn ''Charm Redirection Technique'' (pg. 191, 10xp, 192 hours training). Use a parry action to either cancel or re-target someone else's charm as it is being activated.
* From the teacher, learn ''Sequential Charm Disruption'' (pg. 192, 10xp, 192 hours training, requires Charm Redirection Technique). Expands on Charm Redirection Technique, allowing the cancellation or redirection of already running charms and Combos.
* From the teacher, learn ''Spell-Shattering Palm'' (pg. 193, 10xp, 192 hours training). Attack a spell, countering it if successful.
* From the teacher, learn ''Astrology Interruption Method'' (pg. 192, 10xp, 192 hours training). Attack astrological effects, canceling them if successful. This can even target the resplendent destinies of sidereals when they are not active.
* Master a lesser martial art (see above)
* Increase Essence to 5 (''completed'')
* From the teacher, learn ''Soul Fire Shaper Form'' (pg. 193, 10xp, 240 hours training). When this form is active, your Essence rating becomes effectively 10 (e.g. effects that "add your Essence rating", will add 10 instead of your normal Essence). This also increases the size of your personal and peripheral essence pools, but does ''not'' fill them; effects that regain essence will fill them up as normal, though. In addition, each turn you can make one free use of one of the four charms mentioned in this section.
 
=== Ultimate Goal: Prismatic Arrangement of Creation Form ===
 
This is the pinnacle of the sidereal form Stag has started on. You need:
 
* Learn Four Magical Materials Form (see above)
* Learn Games of Divinity Form (see above)
* Learn Demesne and Manse Form (see above)
* Learn Soul Fire Shaper Form (see above)
* Find a sidereal teacher.
* From the teacher, learn ''Soul Fire Shaper Form'' (pg. 194, 10xp, 240 hours training). This form doubles initiative and you notice everything happening within 50 yards (though noticing hidden things requires a Perception + Awarness roll, which you make for free and get automatic successes). The form's main benefit, however, is that it allows you to wave the restriction on using only one martial arts form at a time. You can activate all of the forms of this style as well as any two others.
 
== The Way of Virtue ==
 
Sidereals use the four virtues more than the other exalts. Among other things, for each virtue there is an "essence replenishment" charm that costs nothing to use (they are always on, like Ox-Body) that restore twice the virtue motes any time the virtue is rolled or a particular condition is met. Stag has one of these already (for Conviction) and have the prerequisites for two others (Valor, Compassion). Virtues can be rolled in two ways. First, you might roll them directly to defend against something (usually a spirit charm). More commonly, you can "channel" them. To channel a virtue, convince the GM that a virtue might come into play for what you are trying to do. For example, say you see a slave being beaten and want to smack the beater in the mouth. You could probably convince me that you could channel Compassion for your attack roll, since you are protecting the oppressed. You would then spend a point of Willpower to channel the virtue, which would give you extra dice equal to the virtue's rating for the roll. If you had Compassionate Essence Replenishment, you'd regain 2*Compassion motes.
 
Sidereals can milk this even further because they have charms that allow them to channel specific virtues even when they are not appropriate (that is, you don't need to convince the GM to let you use them). You have some of these already. For example, your charms that disintegrate zombies can always channel Valor. If you had Heroic Essence Replenishment, you'd gain 2*Valor motes for doing so.
 
Virtues are also important to sidereals because they provide limits or conditions to several charms. Optimistic Security Practice, for example, only works against targets with Essence less than your Compassion.
 
Lastly, the size of your Essence pool is calculated using virtues (among other things). Increasing a virtue increases your peripheral pool by one. Similarly, increasing your Willpower increases both your personal and peripheral pools by one (not to mention allows you to channel virtues more often). So:
 
* Increase Compassion to 3 (6xp, 0 training time) to increase pool and make ''Optimistic Security Practice'' effective against low level exalts.
* Learn ''Heroic Essence Replenishment'' (pg. 159, 9xp, 16 hours training). Regain 2*Valor motes anytime you roll Valor or make a Presence roll that bends an enemy to your will.
* Learn ''Compassionate Essence Replenishment'' (pg. 149, 9xp, 16 hour training). Regain 2*Compassion  motes anytime you roll Compassion or a Performance roll gives people a significant surge of favorable feeling toward you.
 
== The Way of Motion ==
 
Stag has already spent some xp to bump Athletics. This allows him to learn several Athletics charms. In general, Athletics charms tend to be used both in and out of combat. There are only five charms in the whole tree, with the final charm being seriously useful.
 
=== Goal: Invisible Motion ===
 
This charm is the top of the tree and lasts for an entire day. This means you could theoretically cast it using peripheral essence in the morning while hidden somewhere, then wait for a half-hour or so for your anima banner to subside.  To learn this charm, you need to learn its prerequisites. You can learn the following right away:
 
* ''Burn Life'' (pg. 174, 9xp, 32 hours self-training). Roll Essence + Athletics. For each success, add a dot to Strength, Dexterity and/or Stamina for the rest of the scene.
* ''Forgotten Earth'' (pg. 175, 9xp, 32 hours self-training). Triple your leaping distance for a single jump (i.e. Strength + Athletics in vertical yards, times three).
* Raise Athletics to 3 (3xp, no training needed).
* ''Inexorable Advance'' (pg. 175, 9xp, 48 hours self-training). Ignore wound penalties for five turns.
* ''Hungry Touch'' (pg. 174, 9xp, 48 hours self-training), need Burn Life first. Become extra effective at destroying objects.
* Raise Athletics to 4 (5xp, no training needed).
* ''Invisible Motion'' (pg. 175, 9xp, 64 hours self-training). For the rest of the day (24 hours), you suffer no penalties for wounds or to running speed. You double your movement rate. Every turn, you get a number of automatic successes equal to your Athletics score that you can spend on any physical action.
 
== The Way of Buffness ==
 
There are a couple of random increases Stag could make:
 
* Increase Strength to 4 (12xp, 1536 hours self-training)
* Increase Dexterity to 4 (12xp, 1536 hours self-training)
* An additional level of ''Ox-Body Technique'' (11xp, 48 hours self-training).
* Endurance to 3 (3xp, 288 hours of self-training)
* Another additional level of ''Ox-Body Technique'' (11xp, 64 hours self-training).
* Endurance to 4 (5xp, 384 hours of self-training)
* Another additional level of ''Ox-Body Technique'' (11xp, 80 hours self-training).
 
== The Way of Intuition ==
 
You mentioned wanting to increase your Lore ability. Since you do not have this as a favored ability, it will be more expensive and take longer. The Lore charms are a bit odd, even for sidereal charms. They largely have to do with either gaining bonuses for abilities or manipulating fate in some way. Some of these charms require the participation of additional sidereals, so may not be that useful to you. In addition, the final charm in the tree seems not worth the effort to me.
 
There are some useful things here, though. The first charm in the tree is needed for all that follow:
 
* ''Systematic Understanding of Everything'' (pg. 166, 11xp, 32 hours self-training). Gain a +1 specialty until you sleep. This is basically an extra die for using specific ability in a specific way. For example, you might pick a +1 swords specialty. This would give you an extra dice to Martial Arts attacks, but only when using swords. You'd also get the die for, say, Craft rolls involving swords. You choose the specialty at casting time.
 
After learning it, you could do the following (in any order):
 
* ''The Methodology of Secrets'' (pg. 167, 11xp, 64 hours self-training). Similar to Systematic Understanding of Everything, but using the specialty with a specific ability is at +3 dice instead of +1.
* ''Avoiding the Truth Technique'' (pg. 169, 11xp, 80 hours of self-training). Convince target that a true statement you utter is a lie.
 
You could also/instead increase your Lore to 4 and learn these:
 
* Increase Lore to 4 (6xp, 384 hours self-training)
* ''Of the Shape of the World'' (pg. 168, 11xp, 112 hours self-training). Lower target number on astrology rolls.
* ''Of Secrets Yet Untold'' (pg. 168, 11xp, 96 hours self-training). Bind a spirit to owe you a favor, chosen by necessity, not desire. While bound, spirit has penalties to initiate hostile action against you.
 
== The Way of Knowing ==
 
Stag is on his way into the Investigation charm tree. These charms basically allow the harvesting of information the sidereal has never actually learned in various ways. Given that he is looking for answers to questions that others most others have never even considered, this could help him a lot.
 
=== Goal: Embracing Life Method ===
 
To learn this you need the following (any order):
 
* ''Marvelous Inclusion of Details'' (pg. 163, 11xp, 32 hours self-training). Add automatic successes to an Investigation roll. Also helps locate type of evidence you want to find.
* ''Raise Investigation to 3'' (4xp, 288 hours self-training) then 4 (6xp, 384 hours self-training).
* Once done, learn Embracing Life Method (pg. 164, 11xp, 112 hours self-training). Form a question while writing a prayer stip and plant a the strip like a seed. It grows into a tree the next day. Over the next five days, spirits are drawn to it and leave small gifts and information relevant to the question.
 
== The Way of Sorcery ==
 
Stag has Occult as a favored ability. If you want to take Stag in a whole new direction, he could become a sorcerer. His essence is already high enough to cast Celestial Circle Sorcery (Jorias, the only other sorcerer in the group, only has Essence 3, so he is at least three months away from being able to do this). Those bone lions you fought are an example of Celestial Circle Sorcery. The drawback to it is that spells require a lot of essence.
 
=== Goal: Terrestrial Circle Sorcery ===
 
To follow this path, you need to do the following (in order):
 
* Occult to 3 (3 xp, no training time needed)
* Find a trainer (Jorias would qualify, as would his trainer, Guen's friend Jaguan, also books from the tomb can act as tutors)
* Undergo a five-stage initiation
* Learn ''Terrestrial Circle Sorcery'' charm (pg. 171, 9xp, 24 hours training). This will also teach you a spell.
* Acquire written spells. (You have tons of books.)
* Learn spells from the writings (each spell 8xp, 48 hours self-training)
 
=== Goal: Celestial Circle Sorcery ===
 
One requirement for this circle for sidereals is that they must know a prayer strip charm. You already know one (Earth and Sky Bargain) and a number of others are suggested in these pages. To follow this path, you need to do the following (in order):
 
* Learn Terrestrial Circle Sorcery (see above)
* Occult to 4 (5 xp, no training time needed)
* Discover a method of initiation (some of Wyr'palja's books can help here)
* Follow the method of initiation
* Learn ''Celestial Circle Sorcery'' charm (pg. 171, 9xp, 64 hours self-training)
* Learn spells from the writings (each spell 8xp, 48 hours self-training)
 
=== Goal: Unweaving Method ===
 
A number of other Occult charms exist. Stag knows one already (Incite Decorum). Stuff to learn along the way:
 
* ''Mark of Exaltation'' (pg. 170, 9xp, 16 hours self-training). Your caste mark casts a light seen only by spirits and sidereal, by which unmanifested spirits can be seen. Also gives one automatic success in social dealings with spirits or in Yu-Shan (heaven).
* ''Innocuous Maneuver'' (pg. 171, 9xp, 48 hours self-training), must know Mark of Exaltation. Gain a spirit's support in some political matter.
* Once done, learn ''Unweaving Method'' (9xp, 64 hours self-training). Inflict unsoakable, undodgeable, unblockable aggravated damage on any object you can see.
 
== The Way of Fate ==
 
Stag has Craft (Fate) as a favored ability. This is good for working sidereal astrology. Astrology uses some involved dice rolling and planning to create long term bonuses and resplendent destinies. Because you are detached from sidereal society, many of the bonuses typically used in astrology tests will not be available to you. There are things you can do to get around this.
 
There are 25 constellations. Each one has a body of learning to manipulate it called a college. The college provides a base number of dice for some of the tests involved in astrology, so increasing your rating in a college improves your chances. You can only work astrology in a college you know. You can do astrology in a college to create some kind of bonus or penalty related to that college (for example a blessing using the Mask might reduce the target number of any tests the target makes to conceal themselves). The effect is long term, ranging from months to a hundred generations. The target can be anything from a single person to hundreds of millions. The larger the target and the longer the time, the harder to succeed and the more paradox it generates. You may target yourself with these effects, but not other sidereals or targets outside fate (Primordials, Deathlords, demons of the second and third circles). Beings with essence greater than one require additional successes to be affected.
 
Astrology may also be used to generate resplendent destinies on yourself, which can be worn as disguises. All destinies are “on” you at once, but only one (or none) is the “active” identity. The active identity will be remembered by people, but out of character acts generate paradox. Each identity has a number of “effect points”. These points can be burned to generate effects (based on college). Once all the effect points are gone, the identity vanishes, and people's memory of it along with it. Thus, sidereals usually have some destinies they only use as identities and others used only for effect dice. In a departure from standard rules, you may have multiple destinies from the same college on you at once, provided they are completely different identities.
 
=== Goal: Improve Colleges ===
 
Additional colleges will allow you you create different kinds of resplendent destiny. Increasing your rating in colleges you already have will allow more dice when generating effects. Some possibilities:
 
* Increase the Lovers to 3 (6 xp, 192 hours self-training).
* Learn the Captain to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
* Learn the Musician to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours), then 3 (6 xp, 192 hours).
* Learn the Pillar to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours), then 3 (6 xp, 192 hours).
* Learn the Peacock to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours), then 3 (6 xp, 192 hours).
* Learn the Ship's Wheel to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
* Learn the Banner to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
* Learn the Gauntlet to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
* Learn the Quivver to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
* Increase the Ewer to 3 (6 xp, 192 hours self-training).
 
=== Goal: Practice Astrology ===
 
You might want to spend some of the training time doing astrology instead. You could make a new resplendent destiny or provide a bonus for yourself of other members of the circle. Astrology can take many days to do well, and has a greater chance of failure than most things (failures simply generate no effect). Some possibilities:
 
* Invoke the Ewer to lower your target numbers for seduction attempts by 1.
* Invoke the Lovers to allow yourself (or party member) to gain a point of Willpower every time they have sex.
* Invoke the Mask to lower Varden's difficulty when applying a disguise.
* Invoke the Shield to curse someone such that their target number for parrying is increased by 1.
 
== The Way of Serenity ==
 
=== Goal: Greater Sign of Venus ===
 
You can already make the Lesser Sign of Venus (this is your anima effect: 10 motes to give 4 successes on Performance rolls to you or allies). The Greater Sign is considerably more devastating: spend 10 motes, 1 dot of permanent Essence and 1 dot of permanent Willpower to manifest a brilliant blue aura around you. Within four or five miles of you, all magical effects that are not Solar Circle Sorcery or the work of greater gods (like the Maidens) snuff out. This include spells, effects from artifacts, charms, etc. This is obviously a very drastic thing to do, but imagine doing it facing an army of undead. Since undead are all animated by magical effects, they would all simply collapse.
You don't need to spend xp to learn how to do this. All you need to do is have a rating of 3 in all of the Colleges in the House of Leisure (Ewer, Lovers, Musician, Peacock, Pillar).

Revision as of 19:02, 2 September 2009

In no particular order, some possibilities for Stag. These make use of the costs and training table.

Using the Mark

The Mark of Autochthon allows quite a bit of progress into the items below, particularly the Martial Arts stuff. A straight forward walk down that path would look something like this (and assuming you'd be working to reduce your Precision as you go):

  • Learn Conclusion-Pursing Approach (9xp, burn a dot of Source, gain a dot of Precision).
  • Four Magical Materials Form (10xp, burn a dot of Source, gain a dot of Precision, requires the previous step). You might want to gain another point of Precision, and spend 3 willpower to use the mark's Deep Resonance ability to compress the training for this into eight hours.

At this point, a totally different combat tactic becomes open to you. Many of your really cool abilities cost Willpower, but Conclusion-Pursing Approach basically lets you regain Willpower by punching people, and this changes the whole dynamics of your charm set. Prep for combat would basically go like this:

  1. Turn 1: (Optional) Reflexively spend 1wp to activate the "student's sutra" for Prismatic Arrangement of Creation Style. (You now can do this, because you have learned your first form of this style). The makes all charms from this style cost 5 motes less. Note that if you elect not to use this sutra, your Efficient Kata Bands reduce sidereal martial arts by 3 motes anyway. Unless you plan on using a lot of sidereal martial arts charms (i.e. those from Prismatic Arrangement of Creation Style), you might be better off using the bands.
  2. Turn 1: Activate Four Magical Materials Form (15 motes, -5 if you use the sutra or -3 using the Kata bands). You now have +12B/+12L soak, +7L damage from wicked claws, +2 to speed/accuracy/defense, can to parry lethal and ranged attacks with bare hands, convert any lethal damage you receive to bashing, can strike at distance and all the bonuses of Five Jade Fury.
  3. Turn 2: Activate Conclusion-Pursing Approach (10 motes, 1 wp, 1 health level). You can now regain a point of willpower any time you damage someone with martial arts. This happens any time an attack does damage, so it will pay to split your pool for multiple attacks if you need to restore willpower. This charm also has other effects (see below).
  4. Turn 3 (or 4): Activate Joy in Adversity Stance (5m). Now, any time you successfully defend against an attack (dodge or parry), you roll Essence dice, gaining two motes back for each success. This averages out to five motes each time an attack misses you. Note that this charm is Reflexive, so you can still act on the same turn you activate it.
  5. Turn 4 (or 3): Activate Defense of Shining Joy (5m, 1wp). Reflexively Dodge with Dex + Dodge or Dex + Performance.
  6. Turn 5: (Optional) Activate Blade of the Battle Maiden with as much essence as you can spare (up to 18m, 2wp). Every two motes spent buys an extra Martial Arts die for the whole scene, so you can double your base pool. This would give you 18 dice, even before additions from artifacts and charms. Note also: Five Jady Fury awards bonuses based on how many dice you actually roll, so pumping your pool makes those bonuses even better.

Assuming you do all of that, you'll be glowing pretty badly, having spent something like 50m, 4wp. On the other hand, your attacks would look like this:

  • +5 to initiative
    • +2 from startmetal claw's Speed rating
    • +3 from Five Jade bonus
  • 21 attack dice:
    • 9 dice from Dex + Martial Arts
    • 2 dice from Accuracy of starmetal claws
    • 1 die from kata bands
    • 9 dice from Blade of the Battle Maiden
  • Seven added automatic successes to the attack roll from Five Jade bonus using 21 dice
  • Serious damage
    • 3L base from Strength
    • +7L from claws
    • Five Jade bonus using 21 dice provides 7 added automatic successes to the damage roll
    • Five Jade knocks target back a yard for each level of damage inflicted.
    • Any damage dealt means you get back a point of willpower

The average result of this will be an attack roll generating 11 successes, plus seven added automatically, for a total of 18. Very few targets will be able to get these many defensive successes. Let's say they get none at all. That 18 successes then adds to the damage to deal 28L damage. Even if their soak is this insanely high, you still get your "ping" die, two which is added 7 automatic damage successes. So, if you hit them at all, your guaranteed to deal at least 7 points of damage. On an unarmored target that doesn't defend, you'd average something like 19 points of damage.

How about without the Blade of the Battle Maiden? That would only be something like 32m, 2wp, with stats like:

  • +5 to initiative
    • +2 from startmetal claw's Speed rating
    • +3 from Five Jade bonus
  • 11 attack dice:
    • 9 dice from Dex + Martial Arts
    • 2 dice from Accuracy of starmetal claws
    • 1 die from kata bands
  • Four added automatic successes to the attack roll from Five Jade bonus using 11 dice
  • Serious damage
    • 3L base from Strength
    • +7L from claws
    • Five Jade bonus using 11 dice provides four added automatic successes to the damage roll
    • Five Jade knocks target back a yard for each level of damage inflicted.
    • Any damage dealt means you get back a point of willpower

Pros: You are now not only combat effective (large dice pools, great damage), but also a master of regenerating essence and willpower. While it seems very costly to activate, you will have regained nearly all the cost within a few rounds.

Cons: Slow to activate. Loses the nice damage effect of Violet Bier of Sorrows Form (back to one die minimum damage), though this is mitigated by Five Jade adding automatic damage.

The Way of Charm Combination

The Way of the Ass-Kicking Martial Artist

Short Term Goal: Mastering a lesser martial art

Stag cannot learn sidereal martial art form charms (see following goals) until he learns every charm in a lesser martial art. Since he already knows many charms in the Violet Bier of Sorrows tree, it would be logical to finish the rest:

  • Conclusion-Pursing Approach (pg. 181, 9xp, 40 hours training). For a scene, gain a point of Willpower each time you do damage. Also, opponents wound penalties are tripled when attacking you or defending against Martial Arts attacks from you. You can also enhance this with a prayer strip to remove a point of Willpower from your target each time you do damage (this is one of the few charms in Exalted that can do this). Since this is the pinnacle charm for this style, learning it requires a trainer.

Medium Term Goal: Four Magical Materials Form

This is a sidereal form that Stag already has most of the prerequisites for. To finish:

  • Master a lesser martial art (see above)
  • Increase Essence to 5 (completed)
  • Find a sidereal teacher.
  • From the teacher, learn Four Magical Materials Form (pg. 191, 10xp, 240 hours training). When active, he becomes a living artifact (+12B/+12L soak, +7L damage, +2 to speed/accuracy/defense, ability to parry lethal and ranged attacks with bare hands, convert any lethal damage you receive to bashing, strike at distance and all the bonuses of Five Jade Fury).

Note that this also allows you to use the "student's sutra" for the style, which saves essence.

Long Term Goal: Games of Divinity Form

This form builds from God Ways. It isn't quite as impressive as the previous one, but isn't as difficult, either. You need:

  • Find a sidereal teacher.
  • From the teacher, learn at least one instance of (Type) Exalt Ways (pg. 193, 10xp, 192 hours training), where type is is a type of exalted. Your anima banner will appear as this type of exalt for five turns while active. You also get five automatic successes for every test using an ability favored by the type. For example, suppose you learned Earth Dragon-Blooded Ways. Your anima (if visible) would erupt into a mantle of white and yellow light, shifting like rolling sand. Earth aspect dragon-blooded favor Awareness, Craft, Endurance, Martial Arts and Resistance, so at the time of casting, you could choose one of these and get automatic successes in tests using it. Note that lunars favor attributes (e.g. Dexterity) instead of abilities. Hammer in the Woods knows the Eclipse version of this charm.
  • Master a lesser martial art (see above)
  • Increase Essence to 5 (completed)
  • From the teacher, learn Games of Divinity Form (pg. 194, 10xp, 240 hours training). When this form is active, attackers must fail a Compassion roll to be able to attack you, even if you are beating the crap out of them at the time. People who see this form may also become addicted to watching it.

Long Term Goal: Demesne and Manse Form

A short path to another form. It isn't quite as impressive as the previous one, but isn't as difficult, either. You need:

  • Find a sidereal teacher.
  • From the teacher, learn Demesne Emulation Practice (pg. 193, 10xp, 192 hours training). For a scene, each time you hit something, you also do a separate batch of aggravated damage.
  • Master a lesser martial art (see above)
  • Increase Essence to 5 (completed)
  • From the teacher, learn Demesne and Manse Form (pg. 194, 10xp, 240 hours training). When this form is active, a 5 dot hearthstone is brought into existence, with a power matching Stag's personality.

Long Term Goal: Soul Fire Shaper Form

A longer path to another form. It contains some extremely potent abilities for messing with other people's magic. You need:

  • Find a sidereal teacher.
  • From the teacher, learn Charm Redirection Technique (pg. 191, 10xp, 192 hours training). Use a parry action to either cancel or re-target someone else's charm as it is being activated.
  • From the teacher, learn Sequential Charm Disruption (pg. 192, 10xp, 192 hours training, requires Charm Redirection Technique). Expands on Charm Redirection Technique, allowing the cancellation or redirection of already running charms and Combos.
  • From the teacher, learn Spell-Shattering Palm (pg. 193, 10xp, 192 hours training). Attack a spell, countering it if successful.
  • From the teacher, learn Astrology Interruption Method (pg. 192, 10xp, 192 hours training). Attack astrological effects, canceling them if successful. This can even target the resplendent destinies of sidereals when they are not active.
  • Master a lesser martial art (see above)
  • Increase Essence to 5 (completed)
  • From the teacher, learn Soul Fire Shaper Form (pg. 193, 10xp, 240 hours training). When this form is active, your Essence rating becomes effectively 10 (e.g. effects that "add your Essence rating", will add 10 instead of your normal Essence). This also increases the size of your personal and peripheral essence pools, but does not fill them; effects that regain essence will fill them up as normal, though. In addition, each turn you can make one free use of one of the four charms mentioned in this section.

Ultimate Goal: Prismatic Arrangement of Creation Form

This is the pinnacle of the sidereal form Stag has started on. You need:

  • Learn Four Magical Materials Form (see above)
  • Learn Games of Divinity Form (see above)
  • Learn Demesne and Manse Form (see above)
  • Learn Soul Fire Shaper Form (see above)
  • Find a sidereal teacher.
  • From the teacher, learn Soul Fire Shaper Form (pg. 194, 10xp, 240 hours training). This form doubles initiative and you notice everything happening within 50 yards (though noticing hidden things requires a Perception + Awarness roll, which you make for free and get automatic successes). The form's main benefit, however, is that it allows you to wave the restriction on using only one martial arts form at a time. You can activate all of the forms of this style as well as any two others.

The Way of Virtue

Sidereals use the four virtues more than the other exalts. Among other things, for each virtue there is an "essence replenishment" charm that costs nothing to use (they are always on, like Ox-Body) that restore twice the virtue motes any time the virtue is rolled or a particular condition is met. Stag has one of these already (for Conviction) and have the prerequisites for two others (Valor, Compassion). Virtues can be rolled in two ways. First, you might roll them directly to defend against something (usually a spirit charm). More commonly, you can "channel" them. To channel a virtue, convince the GM that a virtue might come into play for what you are trying to do. For example, say you see a slave being beaten and want to smack the beater in the mouth. You could probably convince me that you could channel Compassion for your attack roll, since you are protecting the oppressed. You would then spend a point of Willpower to channel the virtue, which would give you extra dice equal to the virtue's rating for the roll. If you had Compassionate Essence Replenishment, you'd regain 2*Compassion motes.

Sidereals can milk this even further because they have charms that allow them to channel specific virtues even when they are not appropriate (that is, you don't need to convince the GM to let you use them). You have some of these already. For example, your charms that disintegrate zombies can always channel Valor. If you had Heroic Essence Replenishment, you'd gain 2*Valor motes for doing so.

Virtues are also important to sidereals because they provide limits or conditions to several charms. Optimistic Security Practice, for example, only works against targets with Essence less than your Compassion.

Lastly, the size of your Essence pool is calculated using virtues (among other things). Increasing a virtue increases your peripheral pool by one. Similarly, increasing your Willpower increases both your personal and peripheral pools by one (not to mention allows you to channel virtues more often). So:

  • Increase Compassion to 3 (6xp, 0 training time) to increase pool and make Optimistic Security Practice effective against low level exalts.
  • Learn Heroic Essence Replenishment (pg. 159, 9xp, 16 hours training). Regain 2*Valor motes anytime you roll Valor or make a Presence roll that bends an enemy to your will.
  • Learn Compassionate Essence Replenishment (pg. 149, 9xp, 16 hour training). Regain 2*Compassion motes anytime you roll Compassion or a Performance roll gives people a significant surge of favorable feeling toward you.

The Way of Motion

Stag has already spent some xp to bump Athletics. This allows him to learn several Athletics charms. In general, Athletics charms tend to be used both in and out of combat. There are only five charms in the whole tree, with the final charm being seriously useful.

Goal: Invisible Motion

This charm is the top of the tree and lasts for an entire day. This means you could theoretically cast it using peripheral essence in the morning while hidden somewhere, then wait for a half-hour or so for your anima banner to subside. To learn this charm, you need to learn its prerequisites. You can learn the following right away:

  • Burn Life (pg. 174, 9xp, 32 hours self-training). Roll Essence + Athletics. For each success, add a dot to Strength, Dexterity and/or Stamina for the rest of the scene.
  • Forgotten Earth (pg. 175, 9xp, 32 hours self-training). Triple your leaping distance for a single jump (i.e. Strength + Athletics in vertical yards, times three).
  • Raise Athletics to 3 (3xp, no training needed).
  • Inexorable Advance (pg. 175, 9xp, 48 hours self-training). Ignore wound penalties for five turns.
  • Hungry Touch (pg. 174, 9xp, 48 hours self-training), need Burn Life first. Become extra effective at destroying objects.
  • Raise Athletics to 4 (5xp, no training needed).
  • Invisible Motion (pg. 175, 9xp, 64 hours self-training). For the rest of the day (24 hours), you suffer no penalties for wounds or to running speed. You double your movement rate. Every turn, you get a number of automatic successes equal to your Athletics score that you can spend on any physical action.

The Way of Buffness

There are a couple of random increases Stag could make:

  • Increase Strength to 4 (12xp, 1536 hours self-training)
  • Increase Dexterity to 4 (12xp, 1536 hours self-training)
  • An additional level of Ox-Body Technique (11xp, 48 hours self-training).
  • Endurance to 3 (3xp, 288 hours of self-training)
  • Another additional level of Ox-Body Technique (11xp, 64 hours self-training).
  • Endurance to 4 (5xp, 384 hours of self-training)
  • Another additional level of Ox-Body Technique (11xp, 80 hours self-training).

The Way of Intuition

You mentioned wanting to increase your Lore ability. Since you do not have this as a favored ability, it will be more expensive and take longer. The Lore charms are a bit odd, even for sidereal charms. They largely have to do with either gaining bonuses for abilities or manipulating fate in some way. Some of these charms require the participation of additional sidereals, so may not be that useful to you. In addition, the final charm in the tree seems not worth the effort to me.

There are some useful things here, though. The first charm in the tree is needed for all that follow:

  • Systematic Understanding of Everything (pg. 166, 11xp, 32 hours self-training). Gain a +1 specialty until you sleep. This is basically an extra die for using specific ability in a specific way. For example, you might pick a +1 swords specialty. This would give you an extra dice to Martial Arts attacks, but only when using swords. You'd also get the die for, say, Craft rolls involving swords. You choose the specialty at casting time.

After learning it, you could do the following (in any order):

  • The Methodology of Secrets (pg. 167, 11xp, 64 hours self-training). Similar to Systematic Understanding of Everything, but using the specialty with a specific ability is at +3 dice instead of +1.
  • Avoiding the Truth Technique (pg. 169, 11xp, 80 hours of self-training). Convince target that a true statement you utter is a lie.

You could also/instead increase your Lore to 4 and learn these:

  • Increase Lore to 4 (6xp, 384 hours self-training)
  • Of the Shape of the World (pg. 168, 11xp, 112 hours self-training). Lower target number on astrology rolls.
  • Of Secrets Yet Untold (pg. 168, 11xp, 96 hours self-training). Bind a spirit to owe you a favor, chosen by necessity, not desire. While bound, spirit has penalties to initiate hostile action against you.

The Way of Knowing

Stag is on his way into the Investigation charm tree. These charms basically allow the harvesting of information the sidereal has never actually learned in various ways. Given that he is looking for answers to questions that others most others have never even considered, this could help him a lot.

Goal: Embracing Life Method

To learn this you need the following (any order):

  • Marvelous Inclusion of Details (pg. 163, 11xp, 32 hours self-training). Add automatic successes to an Investigation roll. Also helps locate type of evidence you want to find.
  • Raise Investigation to 3 (4xp, 288 hours self-training) then 4 (6xp, 384 hours self-training).
  • Once done, learn Embracing Life Method (pg. 164, 11xp, 112 hours self-training). Form a question while writing a prayer stip and plant a the strip like a seed. It grows into a tree the next day. Over the next five days, spirits are drawn to it and leave small gifts and information relevant to the question.

The Way of Sorcery

Stag has Occult as a favored ability. If you want to take Stag in a whole new direction, he could become a sorcerer. His essence is already high enough to cast Celestial Circle Sorcery (Jorias, the only other sorcerer in the group, only has Essence 3, so he is at least three months away from being able to do this). Those bone lions you fought are an example of Celestial Circle Sorcery. The drawback to it is that spells require a lot of essence.

Goal: Terrestrial Circle Sorcery

To follow this path, you need to do the following (in order):

  • Occult to 3 (3 xp, no training time needed)
  • Find a trainer (Jorias would qualify, as would his trainer, Guen's friend Jaguan, also books from the tomb can act as tutors)
  • Undergo a five-stage initiation
  • Learn Terrestrial Circle Sorcery charm (pg. 171, 9xp, 24 hours training). This will also teach you a spell.
  • Acquire written spells. (You have tons of books.)
  • Learn spells from the writings (each spell 8xp, 48 hours self-training)

Goal: Celestial Circle Sorcery

One requirement for this circle for sidereals is that they must know a prayer strip charm. You already know one (Earth and Sky Bargain) and a number of others are suggested in these pages. To follow this path, you need to do the following (in order):

  • Learn Terrestrial Circle Sorcery (see above)
  • Occult to 4 (5 xp, no training time needed)
  • Discover a method of initiation (some of Wyr'palja's books can help here)
  • Follow the method of initiation
  • Learn Celestial Circle Sorcery charm (pg. 171, 9xp, 64 hours self-training)
  • Learn spells from the writings (each spell 8xp, 48 hours self-training)

Goal: Unweaving Method

A number of other Occult charms exist. Stag knows one already (Incite Decorum). Stuff to learn along the way:

  • Mark of Exaltation (pg. 170, 9xp, 16 hours self-training). Your caste mark casts a light seen only by spirits and sidereal, by which unmanifested spirits can be seen. Also gives one automatic success in social dealings with spirits or in Yu-Shan (heaven).
  • Innocuous Maneuver (pg. 171, 9xp, 48 hours self-training), must know Mark of Exaltation. Gain a spirit's support in some political matter.
  • Once done, learn Unweaving Method (9xp, 64 hours self-training). Inflict unsoakable, undodgeable, unblockable aggravated damage on any object you can see.

The Way of Fate

Stag has Craft (Fate) as a favored ability. This is good for working sidereal astrology. Astrology uses some involved dice rolling and planning to create long term bonuses and resplendent destinies. Because you are detached from sidereal society, many of the bonuses typically used in astrology tests will not be available to you. There are things you can do to get around this.

There are 25 constellations. Each one has a body of learning to manipulate it called a college. The college provides a base number of dice for some of the tests involved in astrology, so increasing your rating in a college improves your chances. You can only work astrology in a college you know. You can do astrology in a college to create some kind of bonus or penalty related to that college (for example a blessing using the Mask might reduce the target number of any tests the target makes to conceal themselves). The effect is long term, ranging from months to a hundred generations. The target can be anything from a single person to hundreds of millions. The larger the target and the longer the time, the harder to succeed and the more paradox it generates. You may target yourself with these effects, but not other sidereals or targets outside fate (Primordials, Deathlords, demons of the second and third circles). Beings with essence greater than one require additional successes to be affected.

Astrology may also be used to generate resplendent destinies on yourself, which can be worn as disguises. All destinies are “on” you at once, but only one (or none) is the “active” identity. The active identity will be remembered by people, but out of character acts generate paradox. Each identity has a number of “effect points”. These points can be burned to generate effects (based on college). Once all the effect points are gone, the identity vanishes, and people's memory of it along with it. Thus, sidereals usually have some destinies they only use as identities and others used only for effect dice. In a departure from standard rules, you may have multiple destinies from the same college on you at once, provided they are completely different identities.

Goal: Improve Colleges

Additional colleges will allow you you create different kinds of resplendent destiny. Increasing your rating in colleges you already have will allow more dice when generating effects. Some possibilities:

  • Increase the Lovers to 3 (6 xp, 192 hours self-training).
  • Learn the Captain to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
  • Learn the Musician to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours), then 3 (6 xp, 192 hours).
  • Learn the Pillar to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours), then 3 (6 xp, 192 hours).
  • Learn the Peacock to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours), then 3 (6 xp, 192 hours).
  • Learn the Ship's Wheel to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
  • Learn the Banner to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
  • Learn the Gauntlet to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
  • Learn the Quivver to 1 (5 xp, 288 hours self-training). Increase to 2 (3 xp, 96 hours).
  • Increase the Ewer to 3 (6 xp, 192 hours self-training).

Goal: Practice Astrology

You might want to spend some of the training time doing astrology instead. You could make a new resplendent destiny or provide a bonus for yourself of other members of the circle. Astrology can take many days to do well, and has a greater chance of failure than most things (failures simply generate no effect). Some possibilities:

  • Invoke the Ewer to lower your target numbers for seduction attempts by 1.
  • Invoke the Lovers to allow yourself (or party member) to gain a point of Willpower every time they have sex.
  • Invoke the Mask to lower Varden's difficulty when applying a disguise.
  • Invoke the Shield to curse someone such that their target number for parrying is increased by 1.

The Way of Serenity

Goal: Greater Sign of Venus

You can already make the Lesser Sign of Venus (this is your anima effect: 10 motes to give 4 successes on Performance rolls to you or allies). The Greater Sign is considerably more devastating: spend 10 motes, 1 dot of permanent Essence and 1 dot of permanent Willpower to manifest a brilliant blue aura around you. Within four or five miles of you, all magical effects that are not Solar Circle Sorcery or the work of greater gods (like the Maidens) snuff out. This include spells, effects from artifacts, charms, etc. This is obviously a very drastic thing to do, but imagine doing it facing an army of undead. Since undead are all animated by magical effects, they would all simply collapse. You don't need to spend xp to learn how to do this. All you need to do is have a rating of 3 in all of the Colleges in the House of Leisure (Ewer, Lovers, Musician, Peacock, Pillar).