Ask the Devs

[Robert Vance]

Paired short daiklaves: 5 motes to attune the set or 10 motes, five for each blade?

5m for things that were made as a matched pair.

[Nilihum]

One of the things that I've noticed about some artefacts, specifically Warstriders, is the sheer amount of Evocations gated behind certain Solar charms, which kind of force you into a certain build. On one end of the spectrum, there's Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation and Karvara, both of which have a single Evocation building off a thematically appropriate Solar charm and that Evocation doesn't seem to branch out into other Evocations. On the other end of the spectrum, you've All Conquering Colossus (5 of its 10 charms require you invest in Solar Brawl) and Ascendant Nova Phoenix (8 of its 12 charms require investment in charms spread over three abilities).

Getting the resources to get a Warstrider in the first place is though enough before realizing you didn't favour the abilities needed to master its Evocations, and as more Exalts come out in the future, they'll be locked out of those Evocations completely, though I appreciate that only Solars were out when Arms dropped. Going forward, will Warstriders be more like to former end instead of the latter?

While I'm here; how do Warstriders interact with the Anima Banner? The chapter fiction implies that it's constrained to inside the fuselage, does that mean that the Warstrider won't bear my caste mark on its forehead when I light up or be surrounded by my iconic when I go bonfire?

When a Warstrider is broken to the point of needing a Working to get it going again, does that count as the working needed to create it no longer being relevant and the XP being refunded? What about XP from previous repairs?

[Kyman201]

Forgive me if this was answered... But many were surprised and delighted (Myself included) at Dragonbloods getting five Favored Abilities.

I know they're a ways out, but what are the odds of Sidereals getting five Favored Abilities as well?

[Robert Vance]

Forgive me if this was answered... But many were surprised and delighted (Myself included) at Dragonbloods getting five Favored Abilities.

I know they're a ways out, but what are the odds of Sidereals getting five Favored Abilities as well?

Extremely good.

[Robert Vance]

One of the things that I've noticed about some artefacts, specifically Warstriders, is the sheer amount of Evocations gated behind certain Solar charms, which kind of force you into a certain build. On one end of the spectrum, there's Cathedral of Sublime Annihilation and Karvara, both of which have a single Evocation building off a thematically appropriate Solar charm and that Evocation doesn't seem to branch out into other Evocations. On the other end of the spectrum, you've All Conquering Colossus (5 of its 10 charms require you invest in Solar Brawl) and Ascendant Nova Phoenix (8 of its 12 charms require investment in charms spread over three abilities).

Getting the resources to get a Warstrider in the first place is though enough before realizing you didn't favour the abilities needed to master its Evocations, and as more Exalts come out in the future, they'll be locked out of those Evocations completely, though I appreciate that only Solars were out when Arms dropped.

Remember that the written Evocations are only a suggestion. If a warstrider fits your concept but the Charms it builds off of don't, or if you're playing a different type of Exalt, that's a great reason to come up with your own divergent set. That is additional work, and I appreciate the labor requirement, but we can't write every artifact to be all things to all players.

Going forward, will Warstriders be more like to former end instead of the latter?

Difficult to forecast at this point. I think it'd depend on the context the warstrider appears in. If it's showing up in the artifacts chapter of, say, Getimians, it's probably going to have at least a fair few Evocations upgrading Getimian Charms. If it's showing up in a more universal book, it's got better odds of being more generally accessible.

While I'm here; how do Warstriders interact with the Anima Banner? The chapter fiction implies that it's constrained to inside the fuselage, does that mean that the Warstrider won't bear my caste mark on its forehead when I light up or be surrounded by my iconic when I go bonfire?

I don't think caste marks would shine through it, although anima banner eventually will, limning the entire warstrider.

When a Warstrider is broken to the point of needing a Working to get it going again, does that count as the working needed to create it no longer being relevant and the XP being refunded? What about XP from previous repairs?

Sure, although I primarily expect that to come up in the context of finding a ruined warstrider built in the First Age and having to rebuild it.

[ale137]

I want to confirm if Craftman needs no Tools also covers the need for time.
If i have Craft(Wine), can i grab some grapes and make wine in a few minutes, or for Craft (Cooking) to make cake in seconds?

[Robert Vance]

I want to confirm if Craftman needs no Tools also covers the need for time.
If i have Craft(Wine), can i grab some grapes and make wine in a few minutes, or for Craft (Cooking) to make cake in seconds?

A surprisingly complicated question! Craftsman Needs No Tools won't do away with the need for raw materials. Turning grapes into wine with your Glorious Solar Vinting seems perfectly fine to me, but if you were to try and do the same thing with just a handful of grape seeds, I'd shoot you down, because you don't have the raw materials. That distinction is intuitively sensible to me, but I'm not sure if I can articulate why one is acceptable under the rules and the other is not. Ultimately, I'm not too concerned, as I think Storytellers are well-positioned to make common sense adjudications, but I may be able to provide a better answer after thinking on this a bit.

[Maltry]

Do you think we might see an in-depth exploration of elemental theory in Creation in a future book at some point? Alternately, do any of you have a previous source for elemental theory that you particularly favor?

In addition, do you think we might see a fan-created content site such as Canis Minor set up for Exalted? The logistics seem a lot more iffy to me due to Onyx Path not holding the license... but if there were a game for it I imagine Exalted would be ideal for that sort of thing.

[Anaximander]

The Wavecrest Archipelago, which Eric mentioned, is the first example that comes to mind.

So is Wavecrest more Wyld influenced than previously? Because aside from the Wyld zones in the volcanic calderas, I never have thought of Wavecrest as a particularly Wyld-y part of the West. Quite the opposite, given its population and importance.

Do Lunars ever lose control of Dominions? Not have them destroyed by the Realm, but by circumstance that leaves a Dominion with no Lunar in charge?

[Saur Ops Specialist]

So is Wavecrest more Wyld influenced than previously? Because aside from the Wyld zones in the volcanic calderas, I never have thought of Wavecrest as a particularly Wyld-y part of the West. Quite the opposite, given its population and importance.

Do Lunars ever lose control of Dominions? Not have them destroyed by the Realm, but by circumstance that leaves a Dominion with no Lunar in charge?

Scavenger Sons noted that there were a lot of Wyld zones around it, and the largest was right smack on its largest volcano, which often changed shape over the course of the day.

[Measure of Hope]

In the new Charms being written for Heirs to the Shogunate, can we expect more Charms being written for the non-dominant elements of each Ability? Like, Air Dodge Charms? Or anything-but-fire Melee Charms?

As it stands, there are some Abilities, such as Thrown, which have a good mix of elements in accessible Charms, making it possible to create distinctly different elemental styles. And then there's Melee, which is Fire Fire Fire and a scant handful of other Charms, most of which aren't available at Essence 2. I know a lot of the Melee Charms are Balanced so it's still possible to use Aura effects on Charms of other elements without handicapping yourself, but it still means that it's basically mandatory that Melee means fire effects for everybody all the time. I think when I heard that Abilities were no longer hard-wired to specific elements I just assumed that Dragonblooded Cool Sword Guys could now come in flavours other than fire, and this appears to be ... not the case. Don't get me wrong, flaming swords are all sorts of awesome, but ...

[ReshyShira]

On shapeshifting again, can a Lunar use their evocations whilst shapeshifted into an animal form (Even if only for brawl-based weapons)? If not will there be a charm for that? If both are no, is that the sole domain of Moonsilver weapons; or evocations whilst shapeshifted flat out not permissible?

[Robert Vance]

On shapeshifting again, can a Lunar use their evocations whilst shapeshifted into an animal form (Even if only for brawl-based weapons)? If not will there be a charm for that? If both are no, is that the sole domain of Moonsilver weapons; or evocations whilst shapeshifted flat out not permissible?

Only for artifacts that are compatible with their animal form, which usually means moonsilver armor.

[Robert Vance]

In the new Charms being written for Heirs to the Shogunate, can we expect more Charms being written for the non-dominant elements of each Ability? Like, Air Dodge Charms? Or anything-but-fire Melee Charms?

As it stands, there are some Abilities, such as Thrown, which have a good mix of elements in accessible Charms, making it possible to create distinctly different elemental styles. And then there's Melee, which is Fire Fire Fire and a scant handful of other Charms, most of which aren't available at Essence 2. I know a lot of the Melee Charms are Balanced so it's still possible to use Aura effects on Charms of other elements without handicapping yourself, but it still means that it's basically mandatory that Melee means fire effects for everybody all the time. I think when I heard that Abilities were no longer hard-wired to specific elements I just assumed that Dragonblooded Cool Sword Guys could now come in flavours other than fire, and this appears to be ... not the case. Don't get me wrong, flaming swords are all sorts of awesome, but ...

Yeah, that's something I'm playing around with.

[Robert Vance]

In addition, do you think we might see a fan-created content site such as Canis Minor set up for Exalted? The logistics seem a lot more iffy to me due to Onyx Path not holding the license... but if there were a game for it I imagine Exalted would be ideal for that sort of thing.

That'd be entirely up to White Wolf.