Dominion
Aug 12, 2018 19:12:41 GMT -6
Post by nob on Aug 12, 2018 19:12:41 GMT -6
Some words have power. Yours, much more so than anyone else. While any child may know about the power of magic, the mystic words, gestures and thoughts that allow one sufficiently trained to bend reality to their will, there are older and more forgotten forms of magic. The Way of the Voice is one of these methods, an ancient and powerful (if restrictive) form of magic not reliant on the Warp or words of arcane power at all. Instead, the will and charm of the speaker can be used against reality itself, with sufficient training. Such individuals are rare indeed, but the prospect of near-immortality and power at the cost of simply learning to speak in a strange new way means many seek this power out.
Tell: As the Dominion spends Tone, a crackling aura builds around them. At one or two levels of Tell, this is mostly unnoticeable as sparks of lightning over armor or clothing. At three or four levels of Tell, the aura has compiled into a set of archaic full-body armor that provides no benefit, but sure looks impressive. At five levels of Tell, not only the armor has formed but the Dominion's voice booms out for at least a mile, audible to anyone who has functional ears.
Crushing Words: Your words are fast, powerful, and can kill. You can use social combat actions in regular combat. Whenever an enemy chooses to lose Resolve instead of giving in to your social attacks, you may choose to have them take a wound, plus 1 wound for every two raises that you beat their Mental Defense by, with a maximum of 1 + half of your power stat, rounded up, wounds. Only one target per round may be affected by Crushing Words. This is treated as magic damage and does not work against targets who cannot hear you or are communicating remotely, and targets more than twenty meters away are immune. Targets can no longer become jaded to your social attacks.
Big Talker: Usually, Dominions are more interested in talking themselves up than actually being able to back that up. As a result, they suffer -2k1 to all physical tests, though this does not include Ballistics, Brawl or Weaponry tests.
Compelling Voice: The Dominion begins play with one free rank in Enchantment, and may purchase ranks in Enchantment as if it appeared in any class progression they possess.
Pathfinder Diplomacy: The Dominion may erode or build disposition by two steps at a time instead of one if two raises are reached on the social test.
Power Stat: Voice
As the Dominion gains more mastery over the Voice and the power they have learned to control, their Voice increases. A Dominion does not physically change as their Voice increases, but their arguments and words hold more weight. A Voice 1 Dominion may be able to throw a man to his knees, but a Voice 5 Dominion can make reality itself conform to their will.
Resource Stat: Tone. Tones are equal to twice your Voice. You regain all your spent Tones every time you succeed a Social test outside of combat and every time day breaks.
Voice 1: FORCE: You can spend Tone to Bull Rush multiple targets within a 10 meter cone at a 45 degree arc, using Charisma in the place of Strength for your roll.
Voice 2: WORD: You can ignore the Somatic, Material and Focus keywords when spellcasting, and can take your social characteristics up to six dots.
Voice 3: STORM: You may cast Storm Call with Voice+Fellowship. Casting this will never cause psychic phenomena but can only be Unfettered.
Voice 4: ROYALTY: You cannot be killed permanently unless your Resolve is broken beforehand. If you still had Resolve left when slain, you return to the mortal realm within 2d10 days, -1 day for each Tone you had at your time of death (to a minimum of 1).
Voice 5: REND: Targets injured by your social attacks are shoved back a meter and are Dazzled until the end of their next turn.. You can then spend Tone to force Exalted characters injured this way to test their Power Stat against your Power Stat, or become vulnerable to death, even if they have a Power that would remove that risk.
Style Assets:
Storm-Voice: Your voice is thunder, your arguments a hurricane. All attack spells and social attacks you make shove the targets in a direction of your choice by a number of meters equal to your Voice+1. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Additionally, the penalty from Big Talker is Mental, not Physical.
World-Singer: Your words can not only affect the minds and bodies of others, but even the world around you. Your social attacks can do damage to inanimate objects and have their damage doubled against them, and by spending one Tone you can convert regular terrain within a number of meters around you equal to your Tone * 2 into Difficult Terrain, or from Difficult to Arduous. Outside of combat, this ability can be used to reshape the terrain however you see fit, as long as the terrain could physically exist.
Insidious-Whisperer: The Dominion’s exaltation abilities and social attacks cannot be detected as being caused by them without a Perception + Wisdom test versus (5+5x Voice)TN, though their effects are still obvious.
Fascinating-Orator: When you speak, EVERYONE sits down to listen. As part of a Social test or Social Attack, you may choose to cast any Enchantment spell on someone who is listening for one Tone. In combat, this takes an additional half action to do, though the spell gains the keyword Subtle.
Perfect-Diplomat: You will let nothing stop you from making peace, especially not something as petty as language. You speak all languages, though you do not read additional ones gained by this asset unless you buy them normally or otherwise acquire them. You also gain a free raise on Persuasion tests to stop a fight.
Fluff: Later. Well, most of it. Here’s the brief summary -- Way of the Voice was founded by one ‘Jurgen Windcaller’ in a time lost to the sands of history. Users of the Voice, or Dominions, have learned either from those who have passed down his legacy or from texts detailing his methodology. It is one of the ways to reach heaven by violence, as a talented Dominion is capable of shouting down even Death and becoming immortal. Will definitely be noted that using Inflict Mortality is essentially a war crime, as far as other Exalts are concerned, so it is used sparingly if ever.
Inspirations: Entirely TES, with a tiny smattering of Eldar bonesingers. I understand if people don't want basically purely vidya stuff here, but I'd argue that TES is a /tg/ related topic.
Notes: This Exaltation is probably overpowered. I think the social attack as a combat action thing isn't overpowered (it's only two damage, usually!), but it does make them pretty strong in the early game, though less so in the late game when people will be wanting to use a special attack + a half-action spell, and won't have time to use a half-action Social Attack. Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first social exaltation in the game! Behold, the reverse of the normal 'penalty to social tests' negative power!
Overall, the Dominion is decently powerful but can be effectively neutralized with a Silence, the Silencer's Perfect Silence or other, similar effects. It doesn't work at a serious distance, either, though that's less of an issue. Anyone prepared for a Dominion can easily come and wreck their day, but otherwise the Dominion is strong enough to go through. The only thing I'm potentially worried about is
I'm considering adding a resource requirement onto all the new spells to prevent constant Unrelenting Force chaining on targets after ROYALTY, adding a bonus language onto one of the basic exaltation abilities to represent language training, and adding weaponry/ballistics/brawl to the physical penalty. That would further encourage a Courtier Dominion, but prevent a TLD Dominion, which is one of the major inspirations along with Vivec. I'm also considering weakening Inflict Mortality, but it's a suitably terrifying capstone. I'm not entirely sure about the replenishment on Tones, but I do like nonstandard resource point replenishment methods, as anyone who has read the Youkai would know.
I'm a bit concerned with most of the power stat abilities being spells (albeit entirely new spells) and as always, I am open to suggestions. At the very least, my Assets need some work, and one more Asset.
New spell for the Dominion:
Storm Call
Transmutation 5
Test: Transmutation + Wisdom.
Target Number: 30
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Attack, Verbal.
Duration: One scene.
Effect:
After completing the cast on this ability, a lightning storm starts in the localized area of about five hundred meters in any given direction, and indeed the spell cannot function inside or if the atmosphere is not one that would support a lightning storm. Every other round, starting with the round you cast this spell, on your initiative every hostile target within the scene is struck by lightning for 4k2 E damage.
Edit 1: Minor spelling and grammar changes, and a new potentially flagrantly broken asset.
Edit 2: Serious spelling changed, Exaltation renamed, change to World-Singer along the lines of the Demiurge's Asiyah asset. I wanted to represent Talos using CHIM to change the world around him.
Edit 3: Word-count saving changes.
Edit 4: Prevented Pushing Shouts/Secret Words/Utterances.
Edit 5: Changes based on Weredrago2's suggestions. Unrelenting Force and Inflict Mortality are now obsolete, and Storm Call is likely to follow. Also, fixed the Dragonborn archetype of Dominion being weak to Dragons by changing Big Talker from Physical to Mental for them.
Edit 6: Made Crushing Words optional damage rather than automatic damage. Removed spells other than Storm Call.
Edit 7: Fixed Magic Words to not be hideously broken.
Edit 8: Made Magic Words into WORD, to keep the pattern going.