Heirs to Creation - Exalted 3e Recruitment and Pre-Game Discussion [CLOSED]

[Muse]

  I heard there were elementals in third editoin?  Have the Flame Ducks appeared yet? 

[Thufir Hawat]

Should I start creating the PC ;D?

Muse, it seems Flame Ducks are nowhere to be found, yet. That said, I have little doubts they would be available with any GM who has played the setting before >:)!

[Muse]

Meep!  No flame ducks?  Heresy! 

^_^;; 

[Winter King]

Should I start creating the PC ;D?

Muse, it seems Flame Ducks are nowhere to be found, yet. That said, I have little doubts they would be available with any GM who has played the setting before >:)!

Oh, please do!

Um, yeah. Everyone who can, please start putting your PCs together now! xD

Thanks for the reminder, Thufir.

[Vekseid]

Meep!  No flame ducks?  Heresy! 

^_^;;

Even nymphs only get a one-sentence offhand mention. The implication is certainly that they exist.

[Thufir Hawat]

Oh, please do!

Um, yeah. Everyone who can, please start putting your PCs together now! xD

Thanks for the reminder, Thufir.

Expect it tomorrow at the latest, then :). I told you, 24 hours after I see you asking about it, I can deliver a PC.

Just a quick question, can I persuade you to make all the XP costs except Merits flat? Willpower, Charms, Spells and the like already are flat, and I don't really see it as a good thing to penalize people for using a whole slew of character concepts. "Start with someone closer to mortals and specialise later" as opposed to "start with a hyper-specialised character and learn new skills" are definitely specific ways to view a character, why should any of them be penalised be losing XP?
It looks like one of the few remaining issues with the system, but in my book, it is an issue ;).

[Winter King]

Expect it tomorrow at the latest, then :). I told you, 24 hours after I see you asking about it, I can deliver a PC.

There's no rush, but I appreciate it. :D

Just a quick question, can I persuade you to make all the XP costs except Merits flat? Willpower, Charms, Spells and the like already are flat, and I don't really see it as a good thing to penalize people for using a whole slew of character concepts. "Start with someone closer to mortals and specialise later" as opposed to "start with a hyper-specialised character and learn new skills" are definitely specific ways to view a character, why should any of them be penalised be losing XP?
It looks like one of the few remaining issues with the system, but in my book, it is an issue ;).

Hm, while I admit your logic is good, I am, as I've mentioned over in the original thread, reluctant to jump on the house rule train before we even get started. I mean, if it gets in the way of our enjoyment of the story we're trying to build, then I'll probably do it... if not, well, I probably won't. Remember also that Essence goes up with XP (excluding Solar) so you do slow down your development with flat costs, I imagine.

[Vekseid]

The Official Reason (tm) is to try to convince characters to start one way (masters in a field) and grow in another.

I'm not sure the best way of doing it is to mess with xp costs. For my own campaign I'm handling it in chargen.

[Lockepick]

Not sure if there is still room in here! Was gone for the weekend and that's when this exploded! I'll do some further reading, but wanted to at least mention interest (if that's still useful).

[Thufir Hawat]

There's no rush, but I appreciate it. :D
Hm, while I admit your logic is good, I am, as I've mentioned over in the original thread, reluctant to jump on the house rule train before we even get started. I mean, if it gets in the way of our enjoyment of the story we're trying to build, then I'll probably do it... if not, well, I probably won't. Remember also that Essence goes up with XP (excluding Solar) so you do slow down your development with flat costs, I imagine.

Well, the RAW just leads to lopsided characters. The thing about it is, you can't fix that after chargen concludes, unless you decide to redesign the characters from the ground up.
And no, it doesn't stop or slow Essence advancement. You still get 5 XP per session and X Solar XP, with the value of X being irrelevant to Essence.  The question is what you could buy with it.
Let's say we both want to have a value of 5 in one Caste skill and 1 in 2 non-Caste/Favoured skil (doesn't matter if they're the same skills). We both have only 4 BP left. Soip you decide that you have 3 in your Caste skill, which is still exceptional, and 1 in the non-Caste skills. I decide I want to start with 5, buying 1 for only one of the other skills, reasoning that my PC is still learning the basics.
One session later, we both get 5 XP and no Solar XP. I spend 3 of them to finish my idea of the PC and spend 2 XP for future Charms. You?
You get 4th level of your Caste skill, and need 7 more XP to get the same rating I have already. If you get 2 Solar XP next session, you can get it then.
Meanwhile, assuming I'm on the same session, I have 7 normal XP, and whatever Solar XP I earn, too.

So yeah, the idea that we're starting with equal characters is just wrong. If inequality between PCs is your thing, keep the RAW. It was explicitly a goal, because system mastery should be rewarded, of course.
My character won't change much because of this decision. But I am going to optimise within his concept, because otherwise I'm wasting XP.

The Official Reason (tm) is to try to convince characters to start one way (masters in a field) and grow in another.

I'm not sure the best way of doing it is to mess with xp costs. For my own campaign I'm handling it in chargen.

But in practice, it achieves the effect of "take as many as possible skills and Charms from out of your field as you can with the basic points and the 15 Charms, at least those that you are planning to eventually get, because you'd have to pay extra for them later, and now you get a bonus excellency for it" >:)!

[Lockepick]

Caught up and realized that the party has already been selected. Sorry to have missed the boat! Happy hunting everybody!

[Winter King]

So yeah, the idea that we're starting with equal characters is just wrong. If inequality between PCs is your thing, keep the RAW. It was explicitly a goal, because system mastery should be rewarded, of course.
My character won't change much because of this decision. But I am going to optimise within his concept, because otherwise I'm wasting XP.

See, this is one of the things I still have trouble getting. Like, as a player, I take what I think suits the character, or what I feel like taking at the time I have the XP. Optimization never really matters to me. I get the feeling, however, that the constant drive to optimization was part of 2e's thought-culture to such an extent that we're still feeling it's affects now. In 2e, not optimizing meant that you would die against anyone who did optimize, meaning everyone was desperately looking to ensure they didn't "waste" XP on whatever was suboptimal. In 3e, I think that the idea of "wasting" XP is... false. Not that there aren't things that may not be as useful as other things, but categorizing them as "wasteful" is exactly the sort of thing that I feel runs counter to what I've seen both in the text itself and from the devs in the years prior to its release. I guess my point is... I think that if you're taking the things you want, when you want them? That's not a waste. I mean, in 2e it was, because you could end up with characters that were totally unworkable in any way, but I feel like a lot of those problems have been addressed.

At any rate, that's just my feeling, and why I'm sticking to RAW. If it seems like people who optimize are significantly better off than those who don't, well, next time I'll know.

Caught up and realized that the party has already been selected. Sorry to have missed the boat! Happy hunting everybody!

Yeah, sorry you couldn't make this one, lockepick!

[HairyHeretic]

See, this is one of the things I still have trouble getting. Like, as a player, I take what I think suits the character, or what I feel like taking at the time I have the XP. Optimization never really matters to me. I get the feeling, however, that the constant drive to optimization was part of 2e's thought-culture to such an extent that we're still feeling it's affects now. In 2e, not optimizing meant that you would die against anyone who did optimize, meaning everyone was desperately looking to ensure they didn't "waste" XP on whatever was suboptimal. In 3e, I think that the idea of "wasting" XP is... false. Not that there aren't things that may not be as useful as other things, but categorizing them as "wasteful" is exactly the sort of thing that I feel runs counter to what I've seen both in the text itself and from the devs in the years prior to its release. I guess my point is... I think that if you're taking the things you want, when you want them? That's not a waste. I mean, in 2e it was, because you could end up with characters that were totally unworkable in any way, but I feel like a lot of those problems have been addressed.

Well, you can have me as a test bed to see how that works out. I'm building my character with what looks interesting and what fits his background. Optimisation isn't high on my list of priorities :P

[Winter King]

Well, you can have me as a test bed to see how that works out. I'm building my character with what looks interesting and what fits his background. Optimisation isn't high on my list of priorities :P

Ooh, excellent. I appreciate it.

[Thufir Hawat]

See, this is one of the things I still have trouble getting. Like, as a player, I take what I think suits the character, or what I feel like taking at the time I have the XP. Optimization never really matters to me.

That's great, but it's not what we're talking about.
We're talking about having a concept that you don't yet have the XP for. Now answer me this: would you prefer being able to get to that imagined point in the character's development after earning 16 XP, or would you prefer to have to spend 36 XP for the exact same thing?

Like, imagine you want to get to a 3/2/5 Attributes in your Tertiary (you see your character as average-looking, but totally manipulative and more charismatic than usual). Would you prefer to spend 16 XP for that, 28 XP, or Sol Invictus forbids, 36 XP?
Because that's the difference between starting with the "right", the "wrong" and the "what in Malfeas were you thinking about" stat spread in your Tertiary, when you were planning to raise them in play to represent, of course, a character getting wisened.
Should we get to pay different XP amounts to get to the exact same place, after having devoted the same resources to the area in character generation?
IMO, no, but I think I said enough.

I get the feeling, however, that the constant drive to optimization was part of 2e's thought-culture to such an extent that we're still feeling it's affects now. In 2e, not optimizing meant that you would die against anyone who did optimize, meaning everyone was desperately looking to ensure they didn't "waste" XP on whatever was suboptimal. In 3e, I think that the idea of "wasting" XP is... false.

What is "paying 20 XP more than I should because my starting point was wrong" if not "wasting 20 XP"? Because you can get the same advancements for 16 or for up to 36 XP. One of us is spending 4 sessions worth of XP to get the same thing. He's being penalised for deciding to be well-rounded.
Obviously the need to have characters starting as specialists outweighed such concerns.

The same problem existed in 2e. It was solved the same way by anyone who cared. It was solved in NWoD.

Not that there aren't things that may not be as useful as other things, but categorizing them as "wasteful" is exactly the sort of thing that I feel runs counter to what I've seen both in the text itself and from the devs in the years prior to its release.

But we're not talking about different things. We're talking for the price of the exact same things.

I guess my point is... I think that if you're taking the things you want, when you want them? That's not a waste. I mean, in 2e it was, because you could end up with characters that were totally unworkable in any way, but I feel like a lot of those problems have been addressed.

Sure, but try this.
If you can't take the things you want now due to lack of XP, and you can either take them in 2 sessions or in 5 sessions (assuming some generosity with Solar XP), isn't one of us wasting quite a bit of time? Not to mention XP he could use to get other things he wants to have?

At any rate, that's just my feeling, and why I'm sticking to RAW. If it seems like people who optimize are significantly better off than those who don't, well, next time I'll know.

It's your call.
I had to ask, though. My home game switched to flat advancement before it started, due to the players knowing about this quirk of the system (and some of them threatened retribution if we don't houserule it now)!

Writing my Solar's stats now. Do you want them here, or sent on a PM?

[Vekseid]

Ooh, excellent. I appreciate it.

Wayward Sun is somewhat of an in-between example. Taking a Retainer is not exactly xp-optimal, since you don't pay for them in play. To say nothing of things like Giant. Half a Charm or worse for the price of a Charm.

Still fleshing out his background, at a couple thousand words now.

[Winter King]

Writing my Solar's stats now. Do you want them here, or sent on a PM?

Either works. :P

It's your call.
I had to ask, though. My home game switched to flat advancement before it started, due to the players knowing about this quirk of the system (and some of them threatened retribution if we don't houserule it now)!

I hope I won't offend you by saying that the emotional place to which these sorts of conversations take me is not a particularly constructive or useful one, so I'm going to just say here that yes, that's the decision I'm making right now, and while I understand why you're concerned and why you have acted the way you did in your home game, I would like to learn if this sort of thing will have a huge impact on what goes on in the chronicle.

Wayward Sun is somewhat of an in-between example. Taking a Retainer is not exactly xp-optimal, since you don't pay for them in play. To say nothing of things like Giant. Half a Charm or worse for the price of a Charm.

Still fleshing out his background, at a couple thousand words now.

Ooh. Very nice. :D

[Thufir Hawat]

Well, if you have the unoptimised one and the averagely optimised one, I should be the ultra-optimised example ;D! I'm not going to actually go full-power on this, though, since I want to remain within concept.

Krum sounds Delzhan enough to me.
Gender: Male
Caste: Dawn
Nationality: Chiaroscurian (Delzhan/Northerner-God-Blooded)

Attributes

Martial Artist 4
Language 1 (Whatever they speak in Dun-Lat)
Boundless Endurance 2
Ally 3 (Young Terrestrial - any ideas what House she might be from, and who she is?)

Physical Primary:
Str 2 (normal)/Dex 5 (reflexes of a fencer)/Sta 4 (Hello, ladies :P!)
Social Secondary:
Cha 1 (unexpressive)/Man 5 (inscrutable)/App 3 (Are you glad to see me, ladies >:)?)
Mental tertiary:
Perception 1 (can be distracted because of self-doubt)/Intelligence 1(not well-read, still learning the finer points of "book thinking")/Wit 5 (You call that thinking on my feet, I call it "what I'm doing"!)

Abilities

Caste: Awareness, Brawl/Martial Arts, Dodge, Resistance, War. Supernal: Martial Arts
Favoured: Presence, Performance, Socialize, Integrity, Athletics

Awareness 3
Athletics 4
Brawl 1
Craft 1
Dodge 4 (Unarmoured)
Integrity 4
Investigate 1
Martial Art: Crane Style 5 (Specialty: Unarmored)
Medicine 1
Lore 1
Occult 1
Presence 2
Performance 3 (Seduction)
Resistance 2
Ride 1
Socialize 3 (Hiding His Intentions)

Willpower 8 (6 BP)

Parry: 6 (7 Hook Sword)
Evasion: 6
Resolve: 5
Guile: 5

Intimacies:
Defining:
Principle: Some Things Are Not For Sale
Tie: Senseless Cruelty (Hate)
Tie: Betrayal (Despise)

Major:
Tie: Immaculate Doctrine (General Approval)
Tie: Ally (Friendship)
Tie: Cute Women (Lust)
Tie: Lost Love (Grief)

Minor:
Principle: I am no sorcerer!
Tie: Other Martial Artists (Like)
Note: Martial Artists here means anyone practicing a Martial Arts style, Brawling, Melee, Archery, Thrown Weapons, and even Stealth and combat-style Athletics or Performance!

Charms

Empowering Justice Redirection
Fluttering Cry of Warning
Crane Form
Crossed Wings Denial
Feather-Stirred Arrow Deflection
Wings Spread to Sky
Humbling Enlightenment Commentary
Kindly Sifu’s Quill
Mournful Crane’s Cry
Wisdom of the Celestial Crane
Harmonious Presence Meditation
Durability of Oak Meditation
Masterful Performance Exercise
Thousand Courtesan Ways
Sensory Acuity Prana

Background

Krum was born to a couple like those you can meet all the time in Chiaroscuro: A Delzhan warrior-poet, he himself with a Northerner mother - and a God-Blooded mother.
Well, maybe the God-Blooded part isn't all that popular.
Either way, he had a happy childhood, learning the Crane style almost to perfection (he overheard once his mother expressely forbidding his father to teach him "cruel moves"). From his mother, he learned not to be afraid of the girls, and that they don't bite; to talk before fighting; and that he hasn't inherited his father's skill in painting.
That was the beginning of the lessons in self-awareness she taught him, but far from the end.
All of this ended when he crossed a nasty cult. A girl he believed to love had joined, claiming it was her duty...somehow...and since this made her unsuitable for a bride, in his father's opinion. The cult agreed with him, forbidding marriage outside of its members.
So Krum opposed the man who had recruited her. After trashing him in public, he thought it was settled.
That is, until he was invited to a dark, gloomy place by the grateful girl. Alas, Krum had a friend read him her missive, and not his mother - letters weren't his forte, he preferred talking to actual people - and the friend didn't think it suspicious.
So the young man hurried right into the ambush, and confronted the dark, undead powers that served the cult.
Instead of submitting, though, as demanded the man he had beaten, he drew his hook swords, summoned the Dragons to give him ferocity - he didn't hope to survive, but hoped to take as many as possible with him. That's when a sun shone upon his brow.
He won that fight. But a glimpse of Solar Anima meant he had to leave Chiaroscuro.
"It was time for you to travel", his father smiled. "Traditions should be withheld".
"You might even find the time to learn to read", his mother added.
And so, Krum left for an unspecified length of time. He wonders, sometimes...what is he now? An Anathema? The god of heretics?
He has only one answer.
"I am Krum. My father is Omurt of the Delzhan, and my mother is Rainah, daughter of Shuhari, the spirit of trees that grow in the desert. I am no sorcerer, nor do I wish to be."

But now, he is looking for answers. Dun-lat seems like a good place to start: there are many other people there that follow the path of the martial arts, and the path of clarity. He might even learn things his father didn't teach him...the old man had only hinted that there are other styles that complement the Crane, but never showed them!
So what if the people ther might consider him a sorcerer, and try to kill him?

On the way, though, he met an interesting figure. (To be finished after the GM offers a Dynast ally).

[RSGAlex]

It took too many re-reads to find, but I found that about the quote; thus here's one that sums up his attitude to gambling, though he'd never say it. "If you can't see yourself being cheated, it's your own damned fault." More publicly, perhaps something like, "I have nothing against the smell of rot but something against what hides the smell of rot[...]" (paraphrased from Giannina Braschi) or something he'd say to a fellow bureaucrat "[Y]ou never come right out and admit you have stretched the rules for your own benefit. You do it and shut up about it, and hope you don't get caught, because if you are caught no one—or no one who has any sense—will come forward and say he has done the same thing himself." (Janet Malcolm)

Now to somehow get this transferred over with a minimum of effort. Also, append everything with an "Unless he's lying" if it's not in a spoiler box.

Tarno Quill Path

Gender: Male
Caste: Eclipse
Nationality: Eastern Tribesman (Court of the Divine Tree locally)

Attributes

Strength	3	Charisma	2	Intelligence	5
Dexterity	3	Manipulation	3	Perception	3
Stamina	3	Appearance	2	Wits	3

Ability Key

Bold = Caste, Italics = Favored, Supernal=Bold, Underlined

Notable Abilities

Brawl 1 / MA (Snake) 4
Integrity 3
Presence 3
Resistance 1
Lore 4
Occult 3
Athletics 1
Awareness 2
Dodge 3
Larceny 5
Stealth 1
Bureaucracy 4
Linguistics 1
Socialize 2

Specialties

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

• Bureaucracy: Obfuscation by detail.
  
• Integrity: By Citing Legalisms
  
• Lore: Legal History
  
• Presence: Talking Law
  
• Larceny: Dice and Cup Games
  
• Awareness: Cheating

Just a space break, certainly nothing hidden between other groups
Backgrounds

Solar Snake Manual

Artifact 5 dots, capable of use as a sorcery focus. Evocations to be hashed out. Contains Snake Style, some spells.

Martial Arts

Snake Style 4 dots

Resources

1 dot. Remains of his gambling winnings/thefts after buying the trip from there to here and buying food/water.

Languages

2 dots, Riverspeak and Firetongue, natively speaks Foresttongue

You've seen this before.

"In the far reaches of the east, where forest meets jungle, there is a great tree that blesses those that live beneath it. The shade of its leaves gives to the solders that live 'neath the thickest patches the courage to face the ravages of the fair folk, the wits to spear the bests of the jungle, so forth. The great knots of the ancient branches gave rise to great generals, the pulse of life around the trunk taught the legalists, and the secrets within the small habitable nodes inside the tree granted the rulers the divine ability to move essence.

And in this place was born a legalist whose talents far outstripped his station. He served from his young years through his youth, dutifully if not without attempts to alleviate his boredom. Then one day, among the middle ranks of the soldiers, among those who both obeyed and demanded obedience, came a gold glowing one. With fiery words, she took many who were dissatisfied, both of high stations and low stations, with her, carved a path through the hordes from beyond the world, and made her way to the greater world and to fame.

A few years later, when a guild caravan came, the bored legalist went with it, to find a place in the wider world that could both use and appreciate his talents. This is the story of the one that now goes by Tarno Quill Path."

And if you believed that was all to the story, check your coins and scripts. For while accurate, the tale completely leaves out that he'd managed to become the shadowy power that controlled the criminal side of the land, had chichaned a way towards technical legal approval of his actions, and only left because he couldn't get the station he desired in the way he desired, and didn't want to get it by the means he had.

And so a not inconsiderable amount of theft later, he was bound away on a guild caravan with an impromptu job, and a very impressive manual of sorcery and combat to really lay into. Unfortunately, as he'd found out, he'd hit a bit of a wall. Further techniques were beyond his current grasp, and what was in his grasp... was best saved for later.

Sorcery was quite showy, and right now he needed subtle. At least until he could carve out a new spot for himself. This place seemed a nice bit out of the way, and oh, dear. Perhaps a different place would have been better? No matter, the die was already cast.

And that wasn't a bad place to start. It was an old friend of his, and a way to restore his deeply depleted stores of money. And once he owned the gambling, he could work at controlling bigger things, and perhaps even offer his humble expertise to someone with power that didn't wish to bother with days upon days of pouring over legal histories.

But that was for later. The road had been long, and dry, and dusty, and if there was anything he wanted right now, it was rest and water.

Preliminary Stuff Beyond this point:

Charms

Serpentine Evasion
Striking Cobra Technique
Snake Form
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery
Sensory Acuity Prana
Deft Offical's Way
Measuring Glance
Reed in the Wind
Swift Gambler's Eye
Lightning-Hand Sleight
Living-Shadow Preparedness
Unshakable Rogue's Spirit
Master Plan Meditation
Saved up to Two for Evocations

Sorcery Known

Terrestrial Circle
Skin of Bronze - Control Spell

Celestial Circle


Solar Circle

In the Scroll

Terrestrial: Skin of Bronze (control), Mists of Eventide, Summon Elemental, Demon of the First Circle
Celestial: Blood of Boiling Oil (tentative, control), Impenetrable Veil of Night, Travel Without Distance
Solar: Rain of Doom(Control)

Limit Trigger: The Solar or his allies suffer a setback or defeat because of a mistake he made.

Useful Calculations

Join Battle   5
Evasion   3
Rush    4
Disengage 6
Withering    3
Decisive    3
Parry    2
Resolve    3
Guile    3

Intimacies

"My abilities outstrip my position in the world" (Defining, Belief, Principle?)
Laws are best bent but not broken. (Major, Principle)
Guildsman Saran Til [...] Nelens (Tie, Minor, Respect)
Court of the Divine Tree (Tie, Minor, Nostalgia)
"If you get cheated and don't see it, it's your fault" (Minor, Principle)
House Tepet (Tie, Minor, Grudging Respect)
That one Immaculate I ended up taking the last bit of the trip with (Tie, Minor, Jealous dislike)
The Circle? (To be defined based on the others)

Essence and Will

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Willpower   5
Perm. Essence   1
Personal   13
Peripheral   33

I wish I'd gotten here in time for Immaculate Chat.

[ChaoticSky]

Well! That was a interesting experience, apparently at some point in the last few years since i built my computer, my boot partition wandered off my ssd (which has my OS) to a old hdd, which failed.

Fun times.

So im abit behind, just letting you all know im still here. *stats working on character*

[Thufir Hawat]

It took too many re-reads to find, but I found that about the quote; thus here's one that sums up his attitude to gambling, though he'd never say it. "If you can't see yourself being cheated, it's your own damned fault." More publicly, perhaps something like, "I have nothing against the smell of rot but something against what hides the smell of rot[...]" (paraphrased from Giannina Braschi) or something he'd say to a fellow bureaucrat "[Y]ou never come right out and admit you have stretched the rules for your own benefit. You do it and shut up about it, and hope you don't get caught, because if you are caught no one—or no one who has any sense—will come forward and say he has done the same thing himself." (Janet Malcolm)

Now to somehow get this transferred over with a minimum of effort. Also, append everything with an "Unless he's lying" if it's not in a spoiler box.


Integrity 3

Wait, this guy has Integrity as Favoured ;D?

[Winter King]

So, purely so that everyone doesn't need to read these things, I'm gonna spoiler them for the ones who should read them. I think it's fine if you aren't the person they're intended for and do read them, though. (This won't be the case during actual play).

Thufir

Thufir, just a few quick questions & comments.

Name
I don't particularly mind, but the two main Delzhan I'm familiar with are Harmonious Jade and Prince Diamond - you may want to take cues from their naming senses, but if not, perhaps it's simply his family and/or Clan's tradition to do something that isn't that.

Attributes
See, I feel compelled to ask - Charisma 1 means that he finds it incredibly difficult to be appealing to others, (at least by my understanding of what it represents). Is that something you really feel suits his concept? Especially with Manipulation 5. I mean, he's very good at lying, but utterly unimpressive when it comes to "to express[ing] and articulat[ing] his beliefs or commands, [and] convincing others to see things his way or follow his orders." (from p.148). This would mean it's almost certainly the Attribute he's using to seduce people... which leads me to wonder whether you just got Manipulation 5 for the Guile, which I would have to ask you to consider more carefully. While I'm willing to let you optimize within your concept, this seems... highly odd, to say the least.

Merits:
You probably definitely won't need Language 1, because Delzhan speak Flametongue, albeit a different dialect than the one they do in Dun-lat. Sorry if that wasn't clear from my posts earlier.

Abilities
I'm not sure that performance is ideal for seduction, for all that the two sex charms are based in it, oddly enough. It speaks more to me as a thing done before crowds, an entertainment ability, something used to inspire groups. I think presence may be a more suitable fit for what you're looking for, because I can't really imagine a time when I would ask you to roll performance in an attempt to seduce someone rather than presence.

What craft, specifically, is he talented in? Remember that it should be specified because all Crafts are different abilities - I'll let you know if the one you pick is either too specific or too general.

Intimacies
It amuses me that he doesn't have an intimacy for his lover in particular, only for cute women in general. I applaud this. xD

Charms
I've been told that you may want Ox-Bodies. I'm pretty sure that you're more knowledgeable than I am here, though, so feel free to disregard this thought.

Background
Do you want a Dynast Ally or simply one who is a highly ranked Immaculate? Did you have any preference for which House they come from, if the former? I seem to recall you mentioning that he spars with an Immaculate sometimes, so I wanted to ask.

I think that is everything I've got right now, so let me know, hm?

Missing Stuff
I think you need a Limit Trigger specified, Thufir.
Ah, and of course! What's his anima banner when it goes Iconic?

RSGAlex

So, a few quick questions and comments.

First, given that he's an Eastern Tribesman, do you think he speaks a dialect of Foresttongue or a "tribal language" natively? I'm fine with either, because neither would be the language spoken in Dun-lat.

Abilities
You appear to only have four favored abilities. Did you intend for Brawl/MA to be your fifth?

Merits
You do know that you don't need to spend dots on an artifact a la the sorcery initiation one to receive it if you have the sorcery charm, right? (I don't know if you do yet, but just something that jumped out at me). I'm also not sure you did this, but if you did, you didn't need to. Also, we'll discuss what having the Solar Snake Manual means, yeah? I mean, which spells you could potentially learn from it.

Likewise, you need not specify the Martial Artist Merit's style - that just unlocks all of the individual martial arts abilities.

Resources is representative of an income and Resources 1 is actually rather significant compared to most of Creation - I imagine he still gambles (and wins) often enough that he gets a fresh infusion of cash every so often? Not a flaw, just a comment to help you build his character up.

Charms
Just as a courtesy thing (so that I don't go nuts looking for it) Can you separate spells and charms? I mean, rather, add a sorcery thing beneath charms, so I know what is what. I assume Invulnerable Skin of Bronze is Tarno's control spell, yes?

What does "saved up to two for artifacts" mean in this context? Did you mean Evocations? I'm pretty sure you did, but I want to be certain.

Intimacies
The first intimacy is indeed a principle. No need for a question mark there. :P
I like the second principle.
Who's Saran Til? And what does the "[...] Nelens" mean? It's not 100% clear.
You may also want to hold off on giving yourself an intimacy to the Circle, depending on whether we decide you've been together for awhile or not.
Missing Stuff
What's his iconic anima banner? :o

Other than that, I think you're mostly good.

Well! That was a interesting experience, apparently at some point in the last few years since i built my computer, my boot partition wandered off my ssd (which has my OS) to a old hdd, which failed.

Fun times.

So im abit behind, just letting you all know im still here. *stats working on character*

I understood only about half of that first part, but it sounds like it's kind of awful. Sorry to hear it. :( There's no rush, though, and I'm glad to see you're back. :D

[RSGAlex]

So, purely so that everyone doesn't need to read these things, I'm gonna spoiler them for the ones who should read them. I think it's fine if you aren't the person they're intended for and do read them, though. (This won't be the case during actual play).

RSGAlex

So, a few quick questions and comments.

First, given that he's an Eastern Tribesman, do you think he speaks a dialect of Foresttongue or a "tribal language" natively? I'm fine with either, because neither would be the language spoken in Dun-lat.

Abilities
You appear to only have four favored abilities. Did you intend for Brawl/MA to be your fifth?

Merits
You do know that you don't need to spend dots on an artifact a la the sorcery initiation one to receive it if you have the sorcery charm, right? (I don't know if you do yet, but just something that jumped out at me). I'm also not sure you did this, but if you did, you didn't need to. Also, we'll discuss what having the Solar Snake Manual means, yeah? I mean, which spells you could potentially learn from it.

Likewise, you need not specify the Martial Artist Merit's style - that just unlocks all of the individual martial arts abilities.

Resources is representative of an income and Resources 1 is actually rather significant compared to most of Creation - I imagine he still gambles (and wins) often enough that he gets a fresh infusion of cash every so often? Not a flaw, just a comment to help you build his character up.

Charms
Just as a courtesy thing (so that I don't go nuts looking for it) Can you separate spells and charms? I mean, rather, add a sorcery thing beneath charms, so I know what is what. I assume Invulnerable Skin of Bronze is Tarno's control spell, yes?

What does "saved up to two for artifacts" mean in this context? Did you mean Evocations? I'm pretty sure you did, but I want to be certain.

Intimacies
The first intimacy is indeed a principle. No need for a question mark there. :P
I like the second principle.
Who's Saran Til? And what does the "[...] Nelens" mean? It's not 100% clear.
You may also want to hold off on giving yourself an intimacy to the Circle, depending on whether we decide you've been together for awhile or not.
Missing Stuff
What's his iconic anima banner? :o

Other than that, I think you're mostly good.

I understood only about half of that first part, but it sounds like it's kind of awful. Sorry to hear it. :( There's no rush, though, and I'm glad to see you're back. :D

Reciprocity

Yes, that was supposed to be favored. I'm not sure how I managed to miss that I didn't get the formatting for that down, considering it was the first on the list.

Now, going back like me to the sheet post, his mother tongue is indeed a dalect of Foresttongue.

The Solar Snake Manual has points on it because I wanted it to be both more powerful than normal (which is pretty powerful), and also to develop some evocations for it with less sorcery oriented. I've got a partial list of the spells in there for him (as well as a Sapphire Circle shaping ritual, which boils down to poison people for sorcery motes), broken down into four Terrestrial, three Celestial, and one Solar spell.

And yeah, the Resources 1 was to represent his new standard of life. It was higher back home, but he also had plenty of time to build up. And well, this place looks ripe for making a new place to enjoy. Similarly, noting the style is in case I later on decide to buy up other styles, so I'll have a nice place to list 'em.

Will separate the charms like that. And yeah. I saved up to two for Evocations. If I don't need 'em both, I know exactly where the spare charm is going.

Hah. I didn't notice that I missed that question mark. It was part of a note to myself that I didn't wholly erase about how I was going to go arranging the intimacies. If I'd gone the other way, it would have been Ties first and then Principles. I went with order of strength.
Saran Til , etc, etc, Nellens is (Tarno feels rather sure) a person whose parents offended some god of naming or christening, because there are more then five parts to that name, how does anyone remember all of it? Tarno only recalls the first first two and the last. And no, he's not certain what's meant by the first first two, but doesn't want to know.

And I just would rather delete the intimacy if it's decided that the Circle's not been together long than add it in. Possibly less work.

Tentatively, I'm going with a great yew or ash tree of many branches and many roots.

Wait, this guy has Integrity as Favoured ;D?

Of course. Half his DNA is that of the bureaucrat. He needs to be able to reject pleas that don't carry sufficient weight. The other half his DNA is in that picture from before. :p

[Winter King]

Reciprocity

Yes, that was supposed to be favored. I'm not sure how I managed to miss that I didn't get the formatting for that down, considering it was the first on the list.

Now, going back like me to the sheet post, his mother tongue is indeed a dalect of Foresttongue.

The Solar Snake Manual has points on it because I wanted it to be both more powerful than normal (which is pretty powerful), and also to develop some evocations for it with less sorcery oriented. I've got a partial list of the spells in there for him (as well as a Sapphire Circle shaping ritual, which boils down to poison people for sorcery motes), broken down into four Terrestrial, three Celestial, and one Solar spell.

And yeah, the Resources 1 was to represent his new standard of life. It was higher back home, but he also had plenty of time to build up. And well, this place looks ripe for making a new place to enjoy. Similarly, noting the style is in case I later on decide to buy up other styles, so I'll have a nice place to list 'em.

Will separate the charms like that. And yeah. I saved up to two for Evocations. If I don't need 'em both, I know exactly where the spare charm is going.

Hah. I didn't notice that I missed that question mark. It was part of a note to myself that I didn't wholly erase about how I was going to go arranging the intimacies. If I'd gone the other way, it would have been Ties first and then Principles. I went with order of strength.
Saran Til , etc, etc, Nellens is (Tarno feels rather sure) a person whose parents offended some god of naming or christening, because there are more then five parts to that name, how does anyone remember all of it? Tarno only recalls the first first two and the last. And no, he's not certain what's meant by the first first two, but doesn't want to know.

And I just would rather delete the intimacy if it's decided that the Circle's not been together long than add it in. Possibly less work.

Tentatively, I'm going with a great yew or ash tree of many branches and many roots.

Hm, okay. I can accept the Solar Snake Manual as it's been presented here, but just be sure to run stuff about it by me before planning around it (this isn't a criticism for how you've done things so far, only a request for the future). Can you tell me how it came to be in his hands? Did he steal it from someone? I imagine that was implied, but I have a thought as to whom might be looking for this rather valuable book...

Also, how and when was Tarno Chosen? You may want to share these sorts of details with me, because otherwise I might decide on my own or make assumptions that turn out to be contrary to how you envisioned it going :P.

[Thufir Hawat]

So, purely so that everyone doesn't need to read these things, I'm gonna spoiler them for the ones who should read them. I think it's fine if you aren't the person they're intended for and do read them, though. (This won't be the case during actual play).

For Winter King

Well, this name actually does have a meaning, as far as I can tell without being linguist. Based on it, I presume his full name is something close to Crooked Crane. He keeps just the first part, since name that include Crane are considered a bit old-style among the Delzhan.
It's also an "ugly name", meaning his parents didn't want the spirits to envy him for being too pretty, and gave him a bad-sounding name.

Until he resolves his inner turmoil, yes, he finds it incredibly difficult to be appealing to others, as he has a hard time simply relating to them. That said, he might be able to do that as a logical process (meaning the skill points aren't lost). He just isn't a natural at it.
Manipulation 5 is the other side of it. He finds it easier to see what makes people tick and push that, than relating to them. At the moment, of course.
Seducing isn't part of his immediate plans...or rather, relationships aren't, one-night-affairs are fine. Read below when we get to his intimacies.
I was betting on it being Rivertongue, Tradetongue, or Flametongue, but wasn't sure. As it is, I believe knowing Tradetongue fits well with his concept, so no need to change anything.
BTW, if I wanted Manipulation 5 only for the Guile, why wouldn't I have Charisma 5 for the Resolve instead?

They're not "the two sex charms", there are Presence charms as well :P.
Performance is singing, playing music, acting and dancing. Does that explain how you can use it for seduction ;D?
And while Inspire is what I want for changing people's Intimacies...well, if I don't want to change their feelings, I want an Instill action (p.217). One of the example actions: instill lust. The ability usually used according to the text? Performance.
Presence is knowing what to say when talking. Performance is the dance that makes the chick so hot she wants to jump out of them clothes.

I'm not sure about his craft. Jewelery crafting, woodworking, something like that. If both of those are fine, I'd think some more and take one of them.
I don't expect to actually use it, mind.

Intimacies
It amuses me that he doesn't have an intimacy for his lover in particular, only for cute women in general. I applaud this. xD

Bingo!
And there's a very good reason why he doesn't have one: she betrayed the group - you know what the Chiaroscurian think of people who get in league with the undead.
Which lead to the other events.

A Tale Of An Exaltation

"I go according to the directions, as I had them memorized, and then bump into a dead end, reaching the wall of a tannery - between a smith's place and a tavern for people that can drink despite the stench of the tannery. It's unsure whether it's the unwashed drunks that smell worse, or the shit the tanner is using.
The laughter behind my back is telling me I might be right both on the dead and on the end parts of it. I turn to see the guy I'd trashed but a few days ago, sitting there and gripping my girl's breast.
"Kneel", he hisses. "Kneel and swear allegiance, and I might be merciful! I want to kill you, you know that, but the Master would rather have you as a servant."
His master is behind him, a dark cloak behind him, holding a sword of dark steel with screaming, damned souls in it. It nods. Oh, technically, it had breasts, but the undead? They're things.
It's not knowing to die that hurts my heart worse. No, it was the spear in my girl's hands. She's holding it without flinching, ready to defend the men who are planning to kill me - from me.
I have little doubts the note was authentic, too. I take out my multi-sectioned staff, and measure it against the spear in my mind.
Not good.
"Master", the man looks at the thing. "He chose to die!"
The thing is fast, real fast. It's next to me, swinging the great blade. I move my handles, parrying the first blow without thinking, not letting it split my wooden weapon. It presses me back, allowing no counter, and hisses.
"That's your last opportunity!"
"Go rot in a grave, and take her rotting soul for company", I answer. "Pasiap, keep me alive until I destroy the abominations! Mela, give me the ferocity of the warrior wind!"
That was the moment when a sun shone upon my brow, and its arrows came alive one after the other, like spokes in a wheel. Each one was accompanied by the hissing of snakes, screams of flying cranes, screeches of monkeys, and other animal sounds. Was that roar a dragon, or a lion, though?
And over all of this, the stench of blood and jasmine. Which, as I realised, was also emanating from me.
A single parry, made in an impossible way, disarmed it...literally - breaking his wrists. Then I moved, gripped its neck in the chains, and stepped in a half-circle, smashing its head in the wall.
I had to parry the spear. The light shone even brighter as I delivered a snap kick to my girl's temple.
My soul screamed. It was no longer my girl, I reminded myself, as I was spinning around and delivering an even more powerful second kick.
She fell, unmoving, and her fall pained me far more than it pained her, for I believe the spirit had already left her body. What can a man do, when his beloved betrays not just their people, but all people on the world? Can you say "joining a cult of filthy unliving creatures"?
Almost lost in these thoughts, I swung the three-sectioned staff, killing the guy instantly. If only I had done this outright, in our previous fight! Would I have been spared the previous moment, with the body falling softly and feeling nothing, that I would be living time and time again in my dreams?
Who knows? I am no philosopher, and I doubt they'd have an answer, either. Though they might wish they had one. But these people are, way too often, wrong in the head anyways.
After that, the staff sang its buzzing song, and the cult members who were there, fell down. The abomination rose again, and I broke its kneeecaps.
Only after it had seen the loss of all of its cultists did I turn towards it, and smashed its head almost level with the stone pavements.
The Crane doesn't kill...usually. But I didn't understand my new abilities at that point. All I knew that only the greatest warriors, even among the Dragon-Blooded can defeat a member of an armed group without killing - and I didn't consider myself one.
It was only later that I realised: I wasn't one, because I was already better.

As for Ox-Bodies, I might want them...but I'd rather have other Resistance charms instead. And we'll see how much fighting he would do, anyway.

Background
Do you want a Dynast Ally or simply one who is a highly ranked Immaculate? Did you have any preference for which House they come from, if the former? I seem to recall you mentioning that he spars with an Immaculate sometimes, so I wanted to ask.

No preferences. It's a 3-dot Merit, because I like allies, and someone as powerful as a young Terrestrial sounds neat. Doesn't even have to be a Terrestrial. I'm not even sure about gender or how they met. Feel free to surprise me!

Regarding Limit Trigger, is "seeing people suffering uselessly" broad enough?

Ah, and of course! What's his anima banner when it goes Iconic?

A battlescene with a crane, a snake, a monkey and a tiger, which quickly becomes a chaotic mess after the phoenix joins in, and ends up with the appearance of an armed man and a dragon, which are either ready to pounce each other, or are allies.
And of course, the sounds of thunder and the stench of blood covered with jasmine scent, as mentioned above.