Krendal/BurningQuestions

On this page I will ask the advice of the kind members of this Wiki to help me aleviate my confusion on various issues.

Crossing Over

In what ways can a ghost or other creature cross between the Underworld and Creation?

My Issue

In both the Exalted main book and E:Ab it is implied that a ghost can potentially pass back and forth between the Underworld and Creation without needing to go through a Shadowland, however I have never been able to locate any hard rules on how this is done. As I am running an Abyssal centered game, this issue is a very important one to me. So if anyone can tell me more about how ghosts (or others) can cross between worlds away from Shadowlands, it would be very helpful to me. Also, simliarly, are there ways one can communicate with a being in another realm?

Responses

I wouldn't mind being wrong here, as I play a ghost, but I don't think there are any canon ways for a ghost to do that on it's own. Summon Ghost could pull a ghost into Creation though, but a ghost can't use sorcery. Also, there are a couple of ways to enter the underworld without a shadowland (death, necromancy, being pulled into oblivion, etc). A good question though, and who knows...it may change when the necromancy book is released. -- DarkWolff

While I don't have my books handy, I believe there's a simple Occult ritual allowing mortals to summon ghosts into Creation. I would also think it reasonable to posit an Arcanos that permitted ghosts to cross between the worlds. - Quendalon

The reason I though there was a way is because I saw several references in the Abyssal book to it being cheaper to cross the shroud under certain circumstances. Specifically E:Ab p. 25 says "During Calibration, the costs for moving between the Underworld and Creation are halved. This apples to all Arcanoi, sorceries, Charms and Artifacts that have a cost in mots to pass from one realm to the other... [snip]" also on p. 36 of E:Ab it says "It is easier to pass between the Underworld and Creation in the presence of a Fetter... [snip]". It was these two bits that made it really REALLY look like there were definate, clear cut ways for a ghost and possibly others to cross back and forth... But apparently not? Is there anyone out there who knows of a canon way to do so? --Krendal

You could always adapt the Arcanoi from the old Wraith: The Oblivion. Embody, specificially. I'd say it's also trivial for Abyssals to develop Charms (probably Occult or Lore related) that allow them to manipulate the Shroud or cross it at will. -LiOfOrchid

Abyssal vs Dragon-Blooded

How do they compare?

My Issue

So far in the short time I have been STing, my players have only fought humans, ghosts, and zombies. They have never had any problem dispatching large numbers of these extras. Obviously in the near future I will need to introduce more powerful opponents and even long term "villians" and antagonists. Some may be more powerful ghosts, and some will certainly be the Abyssal servants of other Deathlords. However, I don't believe I will have any trouble judging the relative power of the 2 PCs compared to other Abyssals or ghosts. However, I've also been thinking about introducing a DB or two, but I'm not sure how they compare. I have the DB fatsplat, and of course I'm well aware that in terms of general power they are much weaker. However, I'm wondering if anyone could give me any guidelines as to how advanced a DB would need to be in order to be comparable or even more powerful than a nearly beginning Abyssal who is fairly combat oriented. Any suggestions or ideas are appreciated.

Responses

The answer is : It depends. If they're lone dragonbloods, then without lots of artifacts they can find it hard to compete, though failry combat-centric and specialised builds can do very well. For ambushers the air charm of hidden chakram method adds a very nice boost to the first turn of combat. A group of Dragonbloods, especially with access to the various enhancing effects can be very nasty, since they can get persistant boosts to most stats letting then save essence for defences and nifty tricks. The immaculate martial arts open up interesting options too, since they are celestial level charms, capable of quite a variety of effects. Depending on just how combative your players are and how much xp they have, you can probably get by with equalling thier xp, if you let the DB go all out combat, more if they have to stuff other than hit things. - Kraken

Well, since I only have 2 players in my game, I strongly encouraged a certain amount of diversity in their abilities. However, they are both fairly good at combat. Neither have spent xp but they are slightly more powerful than normal starting Abyssals (I gave them the number of starting points as a starting Siddereal) though they don't have all their backgrounds (as I'm assigning those solely through roleplay). But so here is a slightly more concrete question... would Wood-aspected Immaculate Monk who is a master or near master of the Wood Dragon Path likely be an equal to one or both of my Abyssals? Or would such a DB even be too powerful? --Krendal

Such an Immaculate Monk will eat them alive, if he is sensible, though wood dragon is one of the less scary paths to face alone, I think. If they can close with him then they might win, though remember that while all wood dragon charms can be used with a bow, they are also effective unarmed. Also bear in mind the essence nessesary to master the style gives him (if you use PowCom) a large dodge bonus, and a large ping too. I would probably advise you to start with normal DB and graduate to Immaculate Monks and Masters - Kraken

Ha! Maybe I should have mentioned that I would WANT that Monk to be able to thrash them.  :) That would be one of the NPCs that they shouldn't be able to beat yet. I plan on having a few regular DBs involved as well that will be of a much lower power level. So yeah, I asked that question more to make sure that the Monk could take THEM on rather than the other way around. Still, thanks for answering me.  :) --Krendal

Bear in mind, the monk still needs to be cautious. It's almost always the case in exalted that massive power but bad tactics will lose you the fight in a few rounds.
-- Darloth