SolarMelee/IsawaBrianOldComments

Comments

• coughs* So- um. Yeah. This is Bored During Class Inspiration Prana's effects. I was theorizing about perfect damage effects, and then I started to expand the perfect attacks, and that sort of moved me into other directions of how Charms integrate, and... yeah. So, I only need one more Charm to double the initial tree. Yow. - IsawaBrian

Okay, lotsa charms.. The top stuff I liked and thought was well balanced, so no big comments there. A few comments on some of the lower charms...

• Total Annihilation Method - OUCH. But, I've always maintained that Solar Melee is the ultimate combat tree - look how scary Iron Whirlwind is, and it's only Mel5, Ess 3. I'd pit high essence solar melee against high essence Sidereal MA any day. Frighteningly, this is 'only' an essence 7 charm, imagine what's above this!

• Elegant Defense Method - I'm not sure if you want to clone SSE exactly here, but SSE's cost is 2 motes more than EDM. On the other hand, this has more prereq charms, so maybe you are factoring that in?

• In the Shadow of the Sun - I like how you tweaked the cost a bit from Blade of the Battle Maiden - assuming a) that's what you did and b) I remembered the charm name. I might add a small cost for the reflexive parries though (1 mote per), or add another will to the total cost.

• Flooding River Strike, Tornado Assault Technique, and Thousand Cuts Prana - It seems to me that TCP should be before the other two. Really, it's about the same power as IWA, you just get actions instead of attacks and it's based on Essence and not Dex, where as FRS and TAT give you a potentially great number of attacks than IWA.

• Weapon Reinforcement Meditation -- I have an idea for a charm that would have a prereq of Summoning the Loyal Steel and this which would make the character's favorite weapon unbreakable and reflexively summonable.

-- Qaphsiel

Added a few more. Addressing your points as they come...

• • EDM is designed to be less expensive than SSE because you have to have a weapon in your hand. SSE can dodge any dodgeable attack if you're sitting naked in the middle of the snow- in fact, I'd rule that you could dodge something while in manacles using SSE. So- it costs more because it's got a greater amount of utilitarianism.

• • In the Shadow of the Sun already has a larger cost, versus BotBM already. The persistent defense I'm treating as a perk of Being a Solar. I might up it to 5 + 1 + 2/per, but I'm leaning against it.

• • Actually, TCP is much, much more powerful than IWA. IWA has to be used every round, after all. TCP is a scene-long effect. :) And, after all, since they're /extra/ actions, you can invoke a Charm of *any* type, every turn...

• • Sounds like a good idea, on the WRM/SLS thing. Permanent Charm, or long-term investment?

- IsawaBrian

• • • EDM, duh, yeah, makes sense.

• • • BotBM is 2m + 2w + 2m/per (at work, so I could be misremembering), which if you use the standard coversion of 1w = 10m translates to 12m + 1w + 2m/per. As Solar melee, it should definitely be more powerful than celestial MA, but lowering the cost and upping the effect seemed too much to me.

• • • I think I missed that TCP was scene-long. :-p

• • • Hmm, how about permanant, take it up to valor (or Ess or Mel, valor just seems fun here and caps it at 5) times, and it takes you a week to 'attune' a weapon a new weapon to it (if you loose the current one, or just want to replace it with a spiffier one)? Not sure how to deal with de-attuning a weapon... but I think it shouldn't be too easy. Cost could be temp will? XP? limit break? A slot of valor channeling?

-- Q

• • • • Ah, so BotBM *is* 2WP. Heh. Small error there. Changed!

• • • • Actually, I'd keep it with just one weapon. I mean, at best, I'd note that perfectly identical weapons should be counted as just one, but otherwise, like SLS, I'd say it's just not the sort of thing that you can do for more than one weapon. As for changing- I'd make it just a result of attuning a new weapon

-IsawaBrian

Blinding Rush Method - Ahh, very cool. A nice analogy to Arrow Storm Tech as well as a follon to MotS. I'm not sure I'm sold on it begin permanant though. I'd prefer a scene long with a modest cost, 5 motes maybe. Reflexive, obviously.

Peony Garden Meditation - I think I'd add a per cost of a willpowe to this too. Just a straight 4m and 1w per FIA, and ever odd one taken must be Melee specific.

Iron Hurricane Assualt - Sweet jeezus. Bring on Chejop Kejak... and remind me to stunt to regain some willpower. Scary as hell, but what else can you at these essence levels? It's gonna be scary.

-- Q

• • Blinding Rush Method is actually based on Secrets of Future Strife. I figure, if a Celestial Martial Art, which is supposed to be weaker than normal preform can do it for *everything*, it's not too out of the ordinary if I change the flavor text, requirements, etc., and limit it to melee stuff.

• • Changed. I'd originally intended IHA to be only 2 WP, and I wanted it to be competive.

• • Heh. Well, yes, and no. Remember, Chejop's got to have at least Essence 10. I imagine he has FIAs of his own. However, based on the evidence, it /looks/ like he either only /barely/ has perfect anything, or doesn't have any. So... maybe. Personally, I wouldn't go after him- assuming Essence 10- unless I (a) had a custom-made Artifact 5 suit- one that combines the nifty perks of the Dragon Armor with the power of Orichalcum Superheavy Plate *and* the Outside of Fateness of the ... whatsitsname... the one that Crimson Banner Executioner uses, (b) had Essence 9 at least, 10 to be guaranteed, and (c) a pair of artifact 5 end-of-the-world weapons. >.>

And, well, some more Charms. *shrugs* Came to me last night when I was thinking about Jane Yolen's Sister Light, Sister Dark series. The last one, directly inspired by that series, was the hardest to write.

- IsawaBrian

Har, I badly misparsed BRM - I read it as long as he goes first, he keeps getting the bonus (and hence my strange leap to AST). Read correctly, it makes sense as a permanant charm. :-p

Re SLS+WRM: I'm thinking a group of charms: 1 - a basic SLS + the unbreakable for a scene; 2 - A bump to SLS which lets you have up to Mel weapons in elsewhere; 3 - one which is basically a combination of #1 and #2. Then you can start adding in Initiative effects somewhere along the way too. FWIW, there is a precedent for multiple weapons in elsewhere, it's either DB thrown or Air Dragon MA - you can load a bunch of thrown weapons into elsewhere and then attack quasi-reflexively (not an action, but has to occur after init) with them - pretty nasty really. So, anyhow, now I have something to do after aikido this evening. I'll list WRM as an optional prereq where appropriate.

The Shadow charms look cool, though I haven't thought about them a lot yet. I would charge a permanant Essence for the last one though. Think about it as splitting of a bit of your shard.

Lastly, you might want to split this comment section off onto its own page, it's getting pretty big. (Sorry!)

-- Qaphsiel

Moved these here. Anyway- on the Shadow one, yeah, changed that. Let's see... on the increasing number of weapons, I don't think I would. It doesn't feel right to me, you know? It just feels out of character. I still encourage you to do so, just to see how it looks. - IsawaBrian

The melee charm that uses the craft-charm mechanics, Careful Warrior Technique, or similar - I like the mechanics and the description, but this is either overpowered, under costed, or under requisited... The non-combat charms are specifically made more powerful (or rather, more certain, thus more autosuccess effects) than the combat ones. While I do definately like the way this charm works, and I think you should keep it, auto-combat successes -on top- of rolls seems a little high for melee 1 essence 1, and perhaps the cost should go up a little. Just a suggestion, but it can easily make excellent strike a little pointless (not totally, as Excellent Strike still lets you expand pools for multiple actions... but much less useful.) Anyway, I like all of your quite vast collection of charms! - Darloth uses the Sandwidge Criticism Technique for 7 motes. (Socialise 1 Essence 1?)