GreenLantern/TheThirdAge

Notes for the author

Autochtonian Society, the Locust Crusade, and the Mechanized Exalted

The locust crusade had not gone well. With supplies of the magical materials at an all-time low, and Yugash slowly moving again, the Tripartite of Yugash was in no position to barter, nor to ensure their own survival. In yet another emergency meeting, the various figureheads discussed, once again, what could be done.

"Trading other resources?" one piped up. From across the room, a subordinate, bustling with papers, looked up "We have nothing of value." Illuminator Jergash could not - would not - believe this. "But what of the Locust Crusade? Have we obtained nothing of value?" Another subordinate, this time much older, spoke up "Nothing, sir. For every ounce of material brought home, another was used to fashion more Exalted, more troops, and more weapons. For every slave brought in, another member of the populat was lost in combat. We've spent the last few years playing a zero-sum game." The room once again fell silent. For years, the rumors of falsified reports had persisted, but always someone stepped up to discredit them. Make some claim that grand accountant Bernkitt had once again forgotten some key detail. Now, after years of fruitless effort, none stood forth to dispute him. After almost a minute had passed, the younger bureaucrat spoke up once again, drawing attention. It was not his turn to speak. He was violating policy. "But Bernkitt - I've asked you before - why aren't you including knowledge? We know aspects of existence that the other kingdoms of Autocthonia can only imagine. We know of the Creation-born Exalts, their sorceries, their techniques, their agriculture - how can we not exploit this knowledge? How can our massive factories work as they always have, in light of all the information we've brought home?" As this young bureaucrat was removed from the room, already on his way to a position two ranks lower for speaking out, he at least had the pleasure of hearing Illuminator Jergash begin "The boy does have a point..."

Now, almost two years later, the face of Autocthonian society has changed greatly. Rather than focusing on the old ways, the grand nation of Yugash has instead focused on the new. Bringing replensishable techniques into Autocthonia, the Illuminators have gained new standing as the providers of sacred light to the crops of Yugash, as they now feed their people not only with the blood of Autocthon, but also the fruits of Creation, cultivated in large chambers. No longer satisfied with the great bureaucractic overhead of providing for those who refuse to operate within the confines of Autocthonian society, old, unused areas are cordoned off for the use by exiles and refugees, where the 'capitalist' model of society is practiced. Allowing new theories to be tested, improved, and discarded without risk to the Tripartite, these sub-economies serve both as incubators and prisons, where people such as that young bureaucrat from long ago may flourish or fail by their own hand. Able to eventually buy their way back into society, Yugash is experiencing a renewal never imagined a decade ago. And yet this speaks nothing of their greatest accomplishment - the Mechanized Exalted.

In a bold display of initiative, the surgeons of Yugash, poring over the old manuals written by the eight founders themselves, have re-translated them, this time with much more precise knowledge of Exaltation, in particular that of Creation's Exalted. To their surprise (and delight), they have found something far more marketable than simple goods - a technique that can reduce the cost of manufacturing an Exalt by nearly 80%. While the original translation of the sacred manuals called for the infusion of a soul into a body, the diagrams seemed to indicate that this body must meet certain exacting specifications, replete with essence-stores and a pumping engine. Experimentation on terrestrially-Exalted prisoners, however, has shown that the heart and lungs of these Exalts serve nearly identical functions to the devices used in Alchemical construction. More scientifically, the surgeons have found that during the process of Exaltation, it seems that a mortal's organs undergo a transformation, able to process not only organics, but also metaphysical fluids. This discovery has revolutionized the understanding of the sacred manual, and with it, the process of Exaltation. No longer requiring a totally artifical body, it is now possible to operate on a living Autocthonian citizen (of suitable standing, of course), pulling the soul out of his body, and storing it in the soulgem for a short time. As his body begins to shutdown, the surgeons sustain it through thaumaturgical ritual and mechanized assistance. Quickly working to install the remaining 'necessary' components - a matter-organic interface, nerve-augmenting starmetal, and a few 'node points' of the appropriate magical material - the surgeons provide the means for the body to create and integrate it's own Alchemical charms. As soon as this is complete, the soulgem is re-inserted into the body, and the gem shattered by a jolt of electricity directly from the core of Autocthon himself. Surging back into the only safe haven available, the body spasms as the newly Exalted mortal takes his second breath, the organs undergo the planned transformation, supporting the newly-installed hardware, and allowing it to not only function, but integrate with the mortal form. Basing on the infinite Jade Chakram, the new matter-organic interface core allows the new being to convert their own internal organic components into the five magical materials over time, allowing them to develop and integrate their own new charms without the use of vats. The resulting Exalted have been deemed "Mechanized Exalts", and are currently being recruited through a rigorous training process throughout Yugash. Undertaking lessons in many areas, the Sodalites allow lumpen, laborer, and scholar alike to take the entrance exams, and have found suitable candidates among all walks of life. As Yugash once again joins with the other Autocthonian nations, they stand upon the brink of a new age. What tales will be told of this day?

Notes on Mechanized Exalts

• Not using an "Essence" score, Mechanized Exalts have a score called "Integration" denoting how well integrated their mortal and Alchemical parts are.
• Integration functions as a sort of 'tell', with things like Neo's implants, Borg eyepieces, thin lines on your skin where the secret panels are, plasticy hair and skin similar to Data's, and robotic motions of your joints. For now, assume Mechanized Exalts have taken DBT a number of times equal to their (Integration-3), and use the tell-rules for shapechanged Lunars (not in their true forms).
• Mechanized Exalts favor at least 3 attributes - those of their bonded material. They also favor 3 more attributes, of their choice.
• Mechanized Exalts do not normally increase in size as their Integration score goes up.
• Mechanized Exalts learn Alchemical charms.
• Mechanized Exalts may learn the protocols, as well as Creation-based sorcery. As beings of crafting and creation rather than death, they may not learn necromancy.
• Essence pools calculated as per Alchemicals.
• Die cap is as per Lunars and Alchies.
• No requirement for vats - 'training time' required instead - things build as you sleep, train, etc.
• There is no concept of 'installation'. Once the XP has been spent, and the training time completed, the Exalt is capable of 'manifesting' the charm at will.
  • Manifesting a charm is the process of making it functional, in some fashion. Examples include a panel on your wrist popping open, and the charm sliding out, into position (even if its size would indicate that it could never fit in your wrist), or a large Essence-cannon simply fizzing, popping, and fading into existence from Elsewhere, directly over your arm. Similarly, moonsilver-caste Mechanicals are often known for having liquid moonsilver flow out of pores, ports, and such, coagulating into the charm as needed. If not manifested, a charm cannot be used, nor does it have any passive effect.
  • In general, for all cases of the phrase "installation cost", replace with the phrase "manifestation cost". Unless manifested, a charm is essentially not installed, and not visible. Even if manifested, as long as personal essence was used to manifest, and the charm isn't blatantly obvious, it will probably go undetected. For example, a personally-manifested biosight reticle might be seen as a glimmer in the eye, as the lens slides into place in your retina, while a peripherally manifested biosight reticle might actually pop out of your forehead, and slide into position as a monocle.
  • When charms are purchased, they must be purchased as either persona-manifested, peripherally-manifested, or both. Charms which may be manifested using either personal or peripheral essence are the norm, but a charm that may be manifested using only one type of essence costs 2XP less to learn.
    • If a charm does not necessarily require it to be visible, and it is manifested and paid for using personal essence, it is not visible to bystanders. However, using peripheral essence to manifest a charm means it is immediately and readily visible as built into the character. Using personal to manifest and peripheral to power a charm implies that for the brief moment that the charm is powered, the effect is visible, fading as the charm effect dissipates. In the example of the biosight reticle implanted in the lens of the eye, this might be seen as a dim glow, or perhaps a rotation of the iris itself, as it focuses on different aspects of the target (think Geordi LaForge's new eyes in the later ST:TNG movies)
      • Example of personally manifested, normally hidden charm - targeting engine
      • Example of personally manifested, normally visible charm - a repeating pneumatic bow, leaving a hole in the character's palm when manifested, through which the projecticles are launched.
      • Example of peripherally manifested, normally hiddem charm - the targeting engine engaged, the character's eyes glow slightly, with beams of light whipping out to track multiple targets. Dim traces of energy can be seen running through the character's hair.
      • Example of peripherally manifested, normally visible charm - The pneumatic bow, fully deployed, almost 2 feet long and 3 inches in diameter, attached to the character's arm like some sort of portable bazooka.
    • This allows many character archteypes to be realized, such as the 'Robocop' or 'Borg' type, with many many peripherally manifested charms, or the 'Data' type, with many many personally manifested charms. Similarly, 'Inspector Gadget' characters can use personally manifested charms, powered by peripheral essence, or simply use peripherally manifested charms, only powering them up (and manifesting them) when needed.
• Any number of charms many be manifested reflexively, without a charm usage, however, un-manifesting a charm may only happen at the end of the turn (just before stunt-motes are returned). Thus, you can pop out your finger-laser in an instant, but it will remain manifested for at least 3 seconds. (In 2E, you may only unmanifest a charm 5 ticks after it was manifested).
• Arrays are entirely re-worked. Putting charms in an array means that they must be manifested simultaneously, however, the manifestation cost is reduced by 15%+(5%*Integration) for all charms in the array.
• Combos work normally, like Lunar combos.
• Mechanized Exalts have a clarity track that begins at (-2) Clarity - the presence of a proper, recent, and active human soul (that has not been filtered) gives the Mechanized Exalts a much more clear view of humanity.
• Mechanized Exalts may roll Compassion to reduce their clarity automatically once every time they sleep, as long as they sleep for at least (Integration) hours. If successful, reduce temporary clarity by one point.
• Sustained Augmentation of <Attribute> may be purchased once for every point of Integration beyond 1.
• If a Creation-born is Mechanized, he remains within fate. Thus, a high-clarity Creation-born Mechanized Exalts would be a great study-toy for the Sidereals, as a possible route to tracking Autocthon's thought processes through astrological means.
• Mechanized Exalts have no soul-gem, and do not require a special charm to learn supernatural martial arts. It is unknown if they may learn Sidereal martial arts.

Character Creation

Start with mortal creation, using 6,4,3 for attributes (P,S,M allocated as per player choice), 5 points of virtues, Integration-slash-Essence 1, 15 points of abilities, and 5 background points.

Then Exalt, by adding 3 points of attributes to the Caste Attributes, 3 to the Favored Attributes, and 2 to the non-caste, non-favored attributes. Increase Integration to 3. Add 15 points of abilities (to a max of three, as always), 15 freebies, and 8 more background points. Next up, you get 12 charms. For now, XP and freebie costs are as per Lunars or Alchemicals, whichever is lower. (Except charms, which cost as per Lunars only, as there's no concept of charm slots). Mechanized Exalts purchase backgrounds as Alchemicals, but may not purchase the "panoply" background, as they have no need for charms on retainer - they generate and internalize their own charms.

The "Mary Sue"

Note that there is nothing preventing in this ruleset preventing an Exalt from being Mechanized, gaining clarity, and an Integration score (separate from their Essence score). One of the aspects of the Third Age is the conversion (sometimes by force) of Existing Exalts (such as, say, Lunars) into Mechanized Exalts (such as Mechanized Lunars). This does serve one key point, however, in that it removes the Great Curse, replacing it with Clarity, which is both understood and more easily controlled. This will separate the bond between Abyssal and Deathlord, eliminating resonance, but does not return the Shard to its former configuration. Thus, you end up with a quite happy and reasonable person that happens to have horrible death-aspected charms, much as a Soulsteel alchemical, while creepy, can easily fight for the forces of good. Such a Mechanized Exalt (ME) may activate one Exalt-charm per turn and one Alchemical charm per turn, each powered by the appropriate Essence pool. For the purpose of internal effects based on Essence or Integration, use whichever is appropriate (Solar charms would use the Essence score, while Alchemical charms would use the Integration score). For incoming, external effects, such as those requiring a contested Essence roll, use the higher of the two.

Also note that Mechanized Lunars may turn into giant robots, and other mechanized things - such as, say, a car. Or a plane. Or a gun. I'm just saying, is all.