Difference between revisions of "ExMod/SoulCrucibles"

Revision as of 18:17, 1 September 2005

Soul Crucibles- Modern equivelent to Powerbows

I've got no real comments here, but damnit, I want a Golden Desert Eagle.  :)

Soul Crucibles should clearly be bigger than a standard version of their firearms- so we've got Pistols and Rifles, both of which can be Crucibled.

Going by Powerbows, they should better range, rate of fire and accuracy than a normal weapon. The problem being, a modern automatic is hard to beat for rate of fire. ;)

Mm.

Orihalcum Soul Crucibles are The Golden Guns. Heavier than a normal weapon, the better absorb the impact of the bullet firing. With a roar of thunder like a god, they're hard to miss. Acc +2, Damage +1

Moonsilver Soul Crucibles are as protean as their masters. They tend to have highly adaptible, ammo intakes- a Moonsilver weapon can use any sort of ammo the Exalt provides.

Starmetal Soul Crucibles are the assassin's tool. Unseen and unheard, the Sidereal's weapons are used in the dark of night, cutting threads that have reached their end. They never miss, but are always missed. Accuracy +2, automatically silenced.

Jade Soul Crucibles partake of the quick natures of their snakelike masters. They never jam, and never need oiling- they operate as one single, smooth device. Speed +3, no penelty for automatic/sweep firing (Or something).

Soulsteel Soul Crucibles are as black and heavy as the grave. They are the heralds of the final darkness, and the tortured faces on their weapons reflect this. The air seems to moan in agony when split by the light from their barrels. A shot from a Soulsteel Soul Crucible that hits can convert two post-soak damage die to a level of damage automatically.

- DariusSolluman

This I like. I'll be back to say more later, when my boss isn't so near! - Balthasar

Okay, that didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Here we go! Suppose that Crucibles were called that because they transmute ambient Essence into ammunition? It would put them more along the lines of blasters, but I'm okay with that. They definately need to be stronger than normal firearms - I'm suggesting they all have a lessened penalty for delivering multiple-target attack options, and that damage be the primary improved factor; also, knockback could be useful. A normal .50 caliber can split a human in two with one well-placed shot; a .50-cal orichalcum crucible ought to leave nothing behind, and if it does, fling that back a few yards! :-D Balthasar

Mm. As far as the power of firearms goes...

For once, I think Exalted would actually be better served by toning down that power. Yes, a real gun has a tendency to distingrate people when it strikes home. Guns are deadly deadly lethal.

But that's not how they work in stories- especially epic gunfights. Look at the modern action movie- people are shot without having limbs blown off, and so on. In a rare reversal, it is more epic to be less deadly than reality.

Exalted is an epic, and the modern epics are our cinematic action flicks, cranked up to ten.

Now, that said, I /do/ like the idea of Soul Crucibles inflicting knockback. They could all do so, and then damage bonus from Orihalcum be transformed into a knockback bonus instead, which fits my conception better. - DariusSolluman

On that note, generally allowing you to perform 'unarmed combat maneuvers' in general at range with Crucibles would rock; you might want to restrict it to stunting (Hold by pinning to a wall, etc.), but it would be mad fun. - FourWillowsWeeping

... Screw Crucibles, I'm stealing that for mine Exalted Archers. :) - DariusSolluman

I had an image of there being an alternative to special ammunition, using normal gun ammunition, with crystals or gems... sorta like soulfire or Essence gems, in that they hold essence, just it's a specific flavor. They wouldn't be needed to shoot normally, just for special effects. Obviously the Elemental types, Solar, Oblivion, but also things more like... Maybe things that could simulate a single Charm (though it requires 1 charge for each shot) like a ghostly shot, or one that can strike spirits. I was thinking that they could even be made for the non-Exalted to use, but then a crystal of the right sort is always needed for the "attunment" bonus. One charge spent per scene of use, plus one per special shot. I also saw it that slower guns, like revolvers and older rifles (or maybe breech-loading shotguns) would be able to fit like two crystals, because due to their slower nature, they can better channel different energies together. Gives those retro characters a bit of a chance... - haren

Here's a few crystal ideas. They are formed in a mixture of occultism, craftsmanship, and Sorcery (or Necromancy for those with more ghostly or Oblivion energies.) In many ways they are similar to Hearthstones, but they don't have the regular energies of a Manse to keep them powered so they have limited uses. There are the Celestial and Elemental crystals. Elemental often have two abilities, one that functions for a scene for one charge, modifying all shots from that gun (though if the crystal is removed, that modification is lost) or they can fire a single elemental bolt for one charge per shot. Bullets are still required. Celestial crystals tend to be more powerful for attacks, but also far more rare, since the costs to make them are higher, and the energies spent far faster than their Elemental counterparts.

Elemental fire imbues it's bullets with heat and flame. They add 3 damage to the gun's attacks and the bullets are capable of causing fires. Elemental air makes the bullets light as air, yet still solidly holding to their line of fire, they increase the gun's range by 3 times. Elemental earth makes it's bullets solid and strong, becoming capable of piercing the hardest materials. The soak of inanimate objects is cut in half. Armor based soak is reduced by two. Elemental water turns it's bullets into incredibly strong ice. While it is unchanged in it's ability to do harm, the bullets quickly melt away leaving no evidence of what caused the blow.

That's what I've got for now. I'll probably put the Celestial up later. Figuring that the crystals are a 2 (for like... 3 charges) to 4 (for 10?) artifact rating, but that's just an idea. - haren

... I'm not sure I'm so wild about that idea, Haren. It seems like a lot of bookwork without overmuch gain. Why not just let Soul Crucibles have Hearthstone slots like every other artifact weapon, and then create Hearthstones with those effects- thereby more neatly following the established stuff? - DariusSolluman

Eh, simple reason really. Because running out of ammo and having to reload (even if it's a magic crystal) is darn dramatic. I can't name the number of movies I've seen where the main character and villan/rival stand looking at each other, realizing both are out of ammo and quickly reload. Hearthstones wouldn't have that limitation, and something about a gun that never, ever runs out of ammo somehow just doesn't sit right with me. Anyway, while it's a new system... the whole gun idea, and a good chunk of ExMod is alot of new stuff. - haren

I'll definitly grant you, running out of ammo is darn dramatic. But why not just rely on regular ammo for that purpose?

And I'll warn again- I'm mostly a blackhat. I come up with new ideas rarely, but question any that I haven't personally thought up. ;) It's nothing personal- I challenge by nature :) - DariusSolluman

No problem :) But I came to realize after going to work that there is a "magic" gun in regular Exalted, the Maggot Caster from Abyssals (read, the Maggot Revolver from Wraith). It requires two special forms of bullets, the maggots and soulfire crystals or essence gems. Both soulfire and essence gems can be created fairly easily by someone with the right skills. I just don't see many Exalted wanting to "waste" a perfectly good Hearthstone on just a gun. They're just a little too valuable for that. On the other hand, developing a way to create something similar to soulfire or essence gems seems right up their alley. But, again, just my opinion. :) - haren

While you have a point, I dislike maggot caster's precise because they require those two types of ammo be tracked. ;)

I just don't see the gain in inventing new types of a limited resource while disposing of the original stuff that serves the same purpose. Count bullets, not motes! ;)

Mm. Maybe we should just write up various potential Firearms systems, with their own Charm trees...

- DariusSolluman

Eh, don't think they need different Charms really. I just figure that most Exalted would rather work out Hearthstones for either more general use, or something they'll be using alot. Just my opinion though. I just figure since I'm not really blazing too much ground, it would work. Anyway, I want to see someone shooting flaming solar bolts from a gun while a foe fires black oblivion back, to meet and... *Click* ;) - haren

Which is a underba image, but can be handled just fine with Hearthstones and Charms. :)

Dancing Flame Rock
Level 3 Hearthstone of Fire
Activation: Enter Combat

The Dancing Flame Rock is a bright crimson that feels almost painful hot to touch, like a blacktop under the full blaze of a summer sun. It distorts the air around itself slightly, like a mirage. When placed in a weapon, the Dancing Flame Rock wreathes that weapon in a blaze of orange fire. This fire can not be extinguished while the stone remains in the weapon, and any blow that strikes home with the weapon inflicts an additional 1L damage. If slotted into a Powerbow or Soul Crucible, it instead wreaths the fired shot with fire until it strikes home, to the same effect. - DariusSolluman

I like the idea of hearthstones that cause normal bullets to do cool stuff, but I also like the idea of magic bullets too. It occured to me that a modifyed form of the Crucible of Tarm (Bo3C pg 24) that, instead of refining spells into potions, refined spells and charms down to a pure crystaline state, could be used to create the magic bullets. The images that I keep getting are things like the casters from Outlaw Star or possibly even the angel arms from Trigun.
--BrilliantRain

I think Beyond the Grave's handguns in Gungrave work well as an example of how big and bad a Crucible could be. They've got built in knuckle guard things that would be nice for hand-to-hand stunts or blocks. Alucard's guns from Hellsing are good examples too, to my mind, even if they look relatively normal beyond their increased barrel length. ~ Andrew02

These modern day artifacts are extremely rare in the campaign I am going to be running. I plan on making up for that with a firearms charm tree (much like archery I will most likely post it later on my user page). But I think that the hearthstone in the gun thing would be the best idea for covering special effects in Soul Crucibles. Keeping track of ammo really stinks. I played Shadow run for years and always played as a mage because imagine firing of 20 rounds every 20 seconds of combat and see how quickly your pencil’s eraser gets worn down :p. Any way I am working on my custom rules now and I will post them later for everyone to help me balance them. Insanewizard