Lunars Preview!

[MoroseMorgan]

So, in case you weren't keeping up with the 20 page Lunar Playtest thread (that is upholding the storied tradition of Lunar Threads) a straight up Lunars Preview dropped! (I wasn't, I actually first realized this existed because of a post on FivePoles, but the playtest thread was the only place I saw it mentioned)

http://theonyxpath.com/lunars-preview-exalted/

It may be due to the fact that I still have the sense of humor of a 12 year old, but how succinct and nonchalant the flavor text for Heart-Drinking Allure is made me giggle.

The corollary that Memory-Drinking Meditation requires you to keep an intimacy of your targets to maintain their memories is flavorful and fun. Maintaining the memories of all of your victims carries a price on your personality and that is awesome.

Devil-Pleasing Chiminage is straight up a fun session hook, with weight in the social system, and also made me break out my dictionary.

I knew that there had been some cards tipped on Steel Paw Style, but I don't know if the fact that it could only be done with certain weapons was known. Regardless I think that's a smart move, although there is another Lunars Thread™ going on right now related to this style of charm that I also stopped following.

Stalking Nightmare Hunter is bonkers awesome. WOLFMAN FREDDY KRUEGER IS GONNA TAKE YOUR SHAPE. Am I missing something, or is this for permsies too?

So a nice taste of some of the alternative methods to steal human forms, and some nice displays of Lunar power. I was hoping for a peak at some of the beastman making, territory, or cache charms, but we have to save something for the actual book I guess.

All in all I would say they felt very Lunar-y, for whatever given value you have for that. I enjoyed them, and found they clearly presented their effects.

[Leliel]

I'm more interested for the sheer amount of conspiratorial fuckery Heart-Drinking Allure allows.

"What do you mean, I don't have an alibi, I was right at my post, ask the crew! Everyone saw me!" (Hoo boy, Sweet Thing's gonna be pissed I left the requisition orders to him.)

[Sunder the Gold]

I was hoping for a peak at some of the beastman making, territory, or cache charms, but we have to save something for the actual book I guess.

Pretty sure that "MAGPIE'S NEST RESOURCEFULNESS" is one of those Cache Charms, since Cache Charms are Wits-based, the name references a nest, and the effect is that you might always have something useful and relevant tucked away on your person.

Also, the prerequisite Squirrel's Cunning Technique sounds like the new "I store stuff in Elsewhere" Charm, like a squirrel stuffing a large nut into its cheek.

[MoroseMorgan]

Pretty sure that "MAGPIE'S NEST RESOURCEFULNESS" is one of those Cache Charms, since Cache Charms are Wits-based, the name references a nest, and the effect is that you might always have something useful and relevant tucked away on your person.

Also, the prerequisite Squirrel's Cunning Technique sounds like the new "I store stuff in Elsewhere" Charm, like a squirrel stuffing a large nut into its cheek.

Excellent point. I'll rephrase that to hoping for some of the more out there cache charms. This is a solid foundation, and cool and helpful power on its own, but I'm really curious to see what the heights of these powers are, especially because it has it's own tree.

[Isator Levi]

Stalking Nightmare Hunter is bonkers awesome. WOLFMAN FREDDY KRUEGER IS GONNA TAKE YOUR SHAPE.

I had an image of a Lunar (not Leviathan) who has gotten a bit of a reputation as a wandering deadly sea creature (not necessarily a monster, a large whale would do). One that people don't know is a Lunar, and strictly fear as something known to hunt ships. When the Lunar lets itself be sighted, stalking a ship and making the occasional pass at it, they can smell the fear of the sailors, and knows which ones are feeling it the most.

Over the next few nights, those sailors will have the worst kinds of dreams; really weird, abstract dreams, rendering their fear of the sea creature in surreal, abstract forms, things that don't correspond to the reality of being hunted at sea at all (everything's all inky and there are rooms with doors that don't go anywhere), or where other anxieties in their life are made analogous to it, and often ending with the person falling through some weird void into the waiting jaws of the beast.

The Lunar proceeds to use its new library of shapes to wash itself ashore on the various ports that the sailors had been visiting, spreading stories of their ship having been attacked by the beast, and being the only survivor.

Am I missing something, or is this for permsies too?

Unless there's going to be a blanket rule at the start saying that such powers have a time limit, it would seem to be.

[MoroseMorgan]

Neat. Although, looking at it, would Stalking Nightmare be compatible with Memory Drinking Meditation? MDM (eh?) calls out the Sacred Hunt specifically, so I wonder how much that is supposed to be mechanically binding, or if it is just fancy wording for taking something's shape.

[Isator Levi]

Neat.

Actually, looking at it again, I'm unsure. Both because it says that the duration of it is "One Dream", which really feels like a bit of a throwback in terms of designating Charm durations, and in the inference that you would use it repeatedly on the same person.

I mean, sure there can be the point of repeatedly using it to deny recovering Willpower, but at the moment it still feels a bit ambiguous.

The duration actually bugs me a bit, because the effects feel to me as though it should just be Instant; I'm pretty sure that there are already Instant Charms whose effects still take a while to unfold, and this thing of "the Charm's Duration is how long it takes to work, and not how long its effect lasts" has been a bad show every time that it turns up, in my opinion.

[The Wizard of Oz]

Excellent point. I'll rephrase that to hoping for some of the more out there cache charms. This is a solid foundation, and cool and helpful power on its own, but I'm really curious to see what the heights of these powers are, especially because it has it's own tree.

The charms they've previewed are pretty low-level: Essence 1+2, with I think just 1 or 2 Essence 3 charms. I assume that's deliberate.
My guess is this is near the beginning of the Lunar cache tree, and it may well go into things like making your own Elsewhere den higher up the tree.

[DrLoveMonkey]

Speaking of essence, I'm curious as to how they're going to handle the issue of no supernals. Starting at essence 1 without supernal your charm choice is pretty limited, even in a bottom heavy charmset. DBs do okay because they start at essence 2, I wonder what Lunars will do.

[Isator Levi]

I wonder what Lunars will do.

As I've said elsewhere, I think that being able to shapeshift will help with that.

[prototype00]

As I've said elsewhere, I think that being able to shapeshift will help with that.

Maybe they’ll have to go a bit wide like DBs but with more powerful charms and shape shifting?

[Greyman]

Actually, looking at it again, I'm unsure. Both because it says that the duration of it is "One Dream", which really feels like a bit of a throwback in terms of designating Charm durations, and in the inference that you would use it repeatedly on the same person.

I mean, sure there can be the point of repeatedly using it to deny recovering Willpower, but at the moment it still feels a bit ambiguous.

There is no ambiguity. The last line is explicit that you can not use it against the same target more than once per story.

The purpose of the charm is not to harrass someone, it is to attempt to steal their shape.

[Isator Levi]

There is no ambiguity. The last line is explicit that you can not use it against the same target more than once per story.

When I say ambiguous, I mean that the very idea that you would use it more than once makes whether or not the shape changing is permanent unclear.

The purpose of the charm is not to harrass someone, it is to attempt to steal their shape.

Okay, so how long do you keep their shape for?

If you keep the shape forever, why would you use it more than once against the same person!!!

If the Duration actually does mean that you only keep the shape for as long as the person is dreaming, then it sure seems like a very limited Charm.

And if the Charm grants you a shape permanently, then the Duration should be Instant, because Duration is supposed to be about how long the effect lasts for.

Like, we have Instant Charms that create simple actions that take a dramatic length of time to unfold, but create effects that are permanent. Why do we have something like this again?

[Gaara]

This question may already have been answered but how many month have passed between the first Dragon-Blooded previews and its Kickstarter ?

Just to get a vague idea of when we could hope the Lunar's Kickstarter

[Greyman]

When I say ambiguous, I mean that the very idea that you would use it more than once makes whether or not the shape changing is permanent unclear.

Okay, so how long do you keep their shape for?

When you steal their shape, it goes into your shape library.

If you keep the shape forever, why would you use it more than once against the same person!!!

You cannot use it more than once. You get one dream to attempt to hunt their shape. If it fails, you have to try something else.

If the Duration actually does mean that you only keep the shape for as long as the person is dreaming, then it sure seems like a very limited Charm.

And if the Charm grants you a shape permanently, then the Duration should be Instant, because Duration is supposed to be about how long the effect lasts for.

The duration clearly means you have to commit the 10 motes until the target next sleeps or lose the opportunity to hunt.

Like, we have Instant Charms that create simple actions that take a dramatic length of time to unfold, but create effects that are permanent. Why do we have something like this again?

More to the point, we have Indefinite duration charms, which last until the exalted disolves the effect or a trigger occurs. This seems to a variation on that, where the trigger is listed in the Duration field.