[3E] The Artifact and Evocation Workshop

[Aranfan]

Phalanx of Creation
White Jade Warstrider

After the fall of the First Deliberative, many factions and Solar Warlords vied for control of creation. One of those was a Chosen of the Sun named Ten Million Stars. Talented in War, his strategems saw victory over army, behemoth, and warstrider alike.

At a parley diner he got into an argument with his host, over the value of having an army at all. His host claimed that a warstrider alone was worth any number of mortal men. Ten Million Stars, having taken down warstriders with mere mortals before, took the opposite position.

The parley ended in disaster as tempers flared and unwise words were said in anger.

Yet the argument had sparked an ember of inspiration in Ten Million Stars, and he built Phalanx of Creation to prove that any creature or war machine is stronger when properly supported than when left to fight alone.

Fittingly, he and Phalanx were only defeated four centuries later when he was cut off while covering his army's retreat.

Even after his death, Phalanx of Creation found itself doing better in the presence of allied armies than alone on the field of honor. Such as the tale of Shogunate officer Shu Len who lost to Ling Chu in a warstrider duel only to crush him in battle two months later.

Phalanx is a soldier warstrider it seems, not a warrior warstrider, and other soldiers fight all the harder in it's presence. In appearance, Phalanx of Creation is a gigantic man of white jade and marble with a soldier's physique, carrying a shield and spear, and clad in Lamellar armor.



Attunement: 15m
Soak: 15; Hardness: 10
Damage track: −0x5/−1x5/−2x10/−4x10
Speed bonus: +2
Hearthstone slot(s): 3
Era: Falling Stars Interregnum

Standard Armaments:

Shield (Medium Weapon)
Spear (Medium Weapon)


Evocations of Phalanx of Creation:

When fighting alongside Phalanx of Creation, allied battle groups gains +1 Might. If they are already Might 3, they instead gain +1 Defense.


Power of Teamwork
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None

Phalanx of Creation supports it's allies, and is supported in turn. When fighting alongsize an allied battle group, the pilot may pay 1 mote to add the [Size] rating of the largest such group to her [Melee or Martial Arts] rolls. Alternatively, they may add [Size/2] to their Defense.

Special Activation rules: So long as the Pilot is not Dissonant with Jade, she awakens Power of Teamwork at no cost upon atonement with Phalanx of Creation.


Shields Overlap
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Resonant
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Power of Teamwork

Phalanx of Creation and any Allied Battle Groups in close range of each other may reflexively take Defend Other Actions to protect each other. This does not count as their combat action for their turn.

Resonant: Whenever an attack is successfully defended against because of this Evocation, the attacker loses 1i. If the attacker is a battle group, it instead takes 1 level of bashing damage.


A Hundred Spears At Dawn
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: ??
Duration: One Round
Prerequisites: Power of Teamwork

For the rest of the round, Phalanx of Creation gains Double 10s on Decisive damage rolls. Additionally, allied battle groups gain Double 10s on their own damage rolls.


The Chain of Command
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration:
Prerequisites: Shields Overlap, A Hundred Spears At Dawn

The Pilot may use Phalanx of Creation's devastating action to take command actions.



I'm not sure on 100 Spears at Dawn, either name or effect. And I'm not sure where to go for the rest of the charmset.

[Accelerator]

Question. Can we ask about 2E style artifacts? I'm wanting to make weaker, utility artifacts.

[Croakamancer]

Well.... it's been a while. And we have Arms of the Chosen! Huzzah!

My fellow Artifact Crafters! I seek to design a Warstrider whose evocations are based around supporting, and being supported by, a battlegroup.

Edit: I am just not sure what the evocations should be. Like. Should there be buffing an allied battle group? Just reflexive defend others? Granting Might? Or should it buff the morale rolls by it's mere presence?

What's its armament? That's probably gonna affect how it supports the Battlegroup. If it's a ranged 'strider, you'll want evocations based around covering fire, some strong withering AoEs that'll help your Battlegroup do max damage when it attacks. If you're going for a melee, front of the line inspiration figure, then yeah buffs are in order. I'd reccomend maybe a charm that lets you reflexively give orders, perhaps with some sorta speaker system or by implication: your strike on a foe is so cool it draws them onward to make the same attack. Are you looking to skew offense, defense, mixed....?

[Croakamancer]

Phalanx of Creation
White Jade Warstrider

Attunement: 15m
Soak: 15; Hardness: 10
Damage track: −0x5/−1x5/−2x10/−4x10
Speed bonus: +2
Hearthstone slot(s): 3
Era: Falling Stars Interregnum

Standard Armaments:

Shield (Medium Weapon)
Spear (Medium Weapon)

Ehehe... didn't catch that you were the same guy. Sorry. Well, I'll try and give some feedback. Expect the words 'personal preference' a lot.

Evocations of Phalanx of Creation:

When fighting alongside Phalanx of Creation, allied battle groups gains +1 Might. If they are already Might 3, they instead gain +1 Defense.

*hums* Personal preference here, but I'd give Drill, not Might. It's badass and inspirational, can rally troops ect. Might feels more like something it'd bestow through a charm. And 'all battle groups'? *hums* If that's gonna come up, that's pretty crazy. But it is a Warstrider....I'd lean towards 'the Battlegroup Phalanx of Creation stands within' or something like that, but it's your call.

Power of Teamwork
Cost: 1m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: None

Phalanx of Creation supports it's allies, and is supported in turn. When fighting alongsize an allied battle group, the pilot may pay 1 mote to add the [Size] rating of the largest such group to her [Melee or Martial Arts] rolls. Alternatively, they may add [Size/2] to their Defense.

Special Activation rules: So long as the Pilot is not Dissonant with Jade, she awakens Power of Teamwork at no cost upon atonement with Phalanx of Creation.

... That is seriously undercosted. I don't mind the effect itself, but most Battlegroups will be at least size 3, and if you're getting to the point where 'multiple battlegroups' comes up, you're likely looking at Size 5. 5 bonus dice, or 3 defense, for 1 mote?

Perhaps instead a Supplemental Charm to let you use a special Order action? Instead of attacking, you order your battlegroup to spend the turn mucking with the enemy and getting them off balance enough to nullify the standard -4 penalty for Phalanx having to target an individual?

Shields Overlap
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Resonant
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Power of Teamwork

Phalanx of Creation and any Allied Battle Groups in close range of each other may reflexively take Defend Other Actions to protect each other. This does not count as their combat action for their turn.

Resonant: Whenever an attack is successfully defended against because of this Evocation, the attacker loses 1i. If the attacker is a battle group, it instead takes 1 level of bashing damage.

Mmm.... Decent effect, but again undercosted and I'm not a fan of it being reflexive when it's a scenelong. I'd say bump it 2m, 1wp, and make it a Simple Action to activate: Phalanx and a Battle Group syncing up their defenses for the fight. Or leave it as is, but drop the duration to one round. Compare this to the Crane reflexive defend other, which is 3 motes per activation, provides a parry boost but doesn't go both ways.

A Hundred Spears At Dawn
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: ??
Duration: One Round
Prerequisites: Power of Teamwork

For the rest of the round, Phalanx of Creation gains Double 10s on Decisive damage rolls. Additionally, allied battle groups gain Double 10s on their own damage rolls.

Wouldn't this be a Supplemental?

And this doesn't do anything to battlegroups since they make Withering damage rolls which already double 10s. AFAIK. May need to go read that to see if there's an exception for 'em.

The Chain of Command
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration:
Prerequisites: Shields Overlap, A Hundred Spears At Dawn

The Pilot may use Phalanx of Creation's devastating action to take command actions.

*hums* Like the effect. I'd argue this makes sense as an 'attune to the Warstrider' charm: it's a memorable effect and affects how you fight more than a small buff. But personal taste. Good charm.

[Solar]

Anyone got a good name for a Starmetal-based Trireme with Evocations based around the inevitable reaching of its Captain's goal through the twisting of Fate?

Something poetic and perhaps even light with darker undertones I'm thinking. I've written the Evocations and the background, but names are hard!

[The Unsung Hero]

Question. Can we ask about 2E style artifacts? I'm wanting to make weaker, utility artifacts.

Since the thread is titled "3e artifact workshop" I'd probably say a 2e artifact would be out of place here. Def start a new thread tho.

[Aranfan]

Here is second draft, I have changed the name to a better one.

The Upright Soldier
White Jade Warstrider

After the fall of the First Deliberative, many factions and Solar Warlords vied for control of creation. One of those was a Chosen of the Sun named Ten Million Stars. Talented in War, his strategems saw victory over army, behemoth, and warstrider alike.

At a parley diner he got into an argument with his host, over the value of having an army at all. His host claimed that a warstrider alone was worth any number of mortal men. Ten Million Stars, having taken down warstriders with mere mortals before, took the opposite position.

The parley ended in disaster as tempers flared and unwise words were said in anger.

Yet the argument had sparked an ember of inspiration in Ten Million Stars, and he built The Upright Soldier to prove that any creature or war machine is stronger when properly supported than when left to fight alone.

Fittingly, he and Soldier were only defeated four centuries later when he was cut off while covering his army's retreat.

Even after his death, The Upright Soldier found itself doing better in the presence of allied armies than alone on the field of honor. Such as the tale of Shogunate officer Shu Len who lost to Ling Chu in a warstrider duel only to crush him in battle two months later.

The Upright Soldier is not a warrior warstrider it seems, but a team player, and other soldiers fight all the harder in it's presence. In appearance, The Upright Soldier is a gigantic man of white jade and marble with a soldier's physique, carrying a shield and spear, and clad in Lamellar armor.

The Upright Soldier still stands, having died on it's feet fighting the Balorian crusade. A backwater threshold town has sprung up around it, believing it to be a statue of some great warrior.


Attunement: 15m
Soak: 15; Hardness: 10
Damage track: −0x5/−1x5/−2x10/−4x10
Speed bonus: +2
Hearthstone slot(s): 3
Era: Falling Stars Interregnum

Standard Armaments:

Shield (Medium Weapon)
Spear (Medium Weapon)


Evocations of The Upright Soldier:

The Upright Soldier counts as exceptional equipment for Command Actions, giving them the usual non-charm bonus die.

Example of the Upright Soldier
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: None

When fighting alongside The Upright Soldier, allied battle groups gains +1 Might. If they are already Might 3, they instead gain +1 Defense.

Special Activation rules: So long as the Pilot is not Dissonant with Jade, she awakens Example of the Upright Soldier at no cost upon attunement with The Upright Soldier


Shields Overlap
Cost: 3m; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Resonant
Duration: One Scene
Prerequisites: Example of the Upright Soldier

The Upright Soldier and any Allied Battle Groups in close range of each other may reflexively take Defend Other Actions to protect each other. This does not count as their combat action for their turn.

Resonant: Whenever an attack is successfully defended against because of this Evocation, the attacker loses 1i.


A Hundred Spears At Dawn
Cost: 2m, 1wp; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: ??
Duration: One Round
Prerequisites: Example of the Upright Soldier

For the rest of the round, The Upright Soldier gains Double 10s on Decisive damage rolls. Additionally, allied battle groups gain Double 10s on their own damage rolls.


The Chain of Command
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 2
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration:
Prerequisites: Shields Overlap, A Hundred Spears At Dawn

The Pilot may use The Upright Soldier's devastating action to take command actions.


Power of Teamwork
Cost: 2m; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: The Chain of Command

The Upright Soldier supports it's allies, and is supported in turn. When fighting alongside an allied battle group, the pilot may pay 2 motes to add the [Size] rating of the largest such group to her [Melee or Martial Arts] rolls. Alternatively, they may add [Size/2] to their Defense.

[danelsan]

Anyone got a good name for a Starmetal-based Trireme with Evocations based around the inevitable reaching of its Captain's goal through the twisting of Fate?

Something poetic and perhaps even light with darker undertones I'm thinking. I've written the Evocations and the background, but names are hard!

Well, without knowing better how the Evocations go about achieving that, these suggestions might be waaaay off base, but here is what I got:


Saturn's Blessing? It helps you reach your ends and if there is one thing that is inevitable, well..."There is always an ending". As for light with darker undertones: blessing implies benefits...but of course a "blessing from Saturn" might be an euphemism for something sinister.

Star Crosser? Star-crossed lovers are certainly the subject of countless poetic writings. This name might be good if the Artifact twists fate to cause trouble to your opposition instead of aiding you directly, as if they are being thwarted by a malign star. Would be especially appropriate if the Ship is a creepy thing that dooms your enemies as it falls in love with them under the sign of the Descending Ewer (or Descending Lover if you want extra creepy). Yes, a ship that "ships" itself with your opponents and ruins them in the process XD

Admiral's Treasured Arrow? While the ship likely does "cut through the seas like an arrow through the air", the name is actually a reference to this vessel being enchanted under the ascending portents of the constellations of the Captain, the Quiver and the Treasure Trove. In this case, the twisting of fate should be less obviously "things turning unlikely in your favor" and more of a subtle "the captain sure is displaying a lot of determination, organization, quick-thinking and wisdom while leading this ship, huh?"

Do any of these fit the Evocations you have in mind at all?

[Synapse]

Anyone got a good name for a Starmetal-based Trireme with Evocations based around the inevitable reaching of its Captain's goal through the twisting of Fate?

Something poetic and perhaps even light with darker undertones I'm thinking. I've written the Evocations and the background, but names are hard!

Proper Adventure

[Solar]

You're right danelsan, I should probably put up some info about the Artifact! Thank you for the ideas though, and yours too Synapse! I like them all, but it needs to be just right you know?

Anyway, this ship is an Artifact for a player who wants to be an Odysseus-style trickster, tomb robber, occasional pirate etc who is in the Dreaming Sea. I wanted to tie the character inspiration of Odysseus to the Greek mythological concept of Fate, so a Starmetal ship made sense to me. I feel like this was a vessel made in the First Age by a Sidereal who wanted to find something more than anything else in all of Creation. What it was, and why, is a mystery I want to leave unsolved in the sense that you get the impression it might have been something virtuous, like rescuing a loved one, but it might have been a Moby Dick style situation where they were consumed with a need for vengeance and wanted to hunt down a Leviathan or some such creature, maybe even an innocent person.

I have done a first draft of its Evocations, which use the name "Pathseeker" as a placeholder. Please note this is absolutely a first draft and some of the costs are off, the wording needs sorting etc.

Evocations

Between the Moments Course

Cost: 2m, Mins: Essence 1, Sail 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Resonant
Prerequistes: None

The Pathseeker moves as if all the world were directed to grant it haste, and all things seem to fall into place perfectly. When making a Pursuit or Naval Strategem roll, the use of this Evocation grants Double 9s to the roll. If Double 9s has already been granted by Immortal Mariner's Advantage it grants Double 8s instead. Furthermore, if the Stratagem succeeds and grants Naval Strategy Momentum, add +1 to the Momentum gained.

Resonant: A Stratagem enhanced with Between the Moments Course has it's Momentum cost reduced by 1.

Crashing Waves of Fate

Cost: 3m, Mins: Essence 1, Sail 2
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Prerequisites: Between the Moments Course

When the Pathseeker's Ram strikes, it is as if all the oceans of Creation surge to add their force to the attack, directed by the Exalt's cunning spirit. This Charm adds (Essence) bonus dice to a roll to carry out a Ram Stratagem. If the Stratagem is successfully executed, cause an additional point of damage for every two successes past the opponent's Naval Maneuver total rather than three.

Two-Strand Mirage

Cost: 5m (+1wp) Mins: Essence 2, Sail 3
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Prerequisites: Between the Moments Course

A strange cast of light causes the Pathseeeker to reflect itself, an otherworldly double-vision which confounds the most deadly attack. If the Pathseeker would be dealt Hull damage by any attack (typically a Naval Stratagem, but not always), the Captain may roll Sail + Wits + Maneuverability at Difficulty 3, with every two net successes negating a point of Hull Damage. If the Damage is reduced to zero, then the Captain may pay 1 Willpower as an additional cost to either gain 3 Naval Momentum or immediately succesfully use the Escape Stratagem. Once per week.

Leviathan-Strangling Grip

Cost: 5m, 1wp: Mins: Essence 3, Sail 4
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: None
Duration: Scene
Prerequisites: Two-Strand Mirage, Crashing Waves of Fate

When the Pathseeker's Starmetal Ram strikes home, the eyes of it's Captain blaze with the violet starlight of inevitability, as a noose of destiny lashes the Pathseeker to it's prey. When the Pathseeker successfully rams another ship, or a creature with the Legendary Size Merit, the target cannot activate the Escape Stratagem or leave combat unless the Captain of the Pathseeker allows it. Halve the Momentum cost (rounding up) of all future Ram, Broadside and Boarding Actions against the target for the remainder of the engagement. Once per scene.

Infinite Ocean's Passage

Cost: 6m, 1wp Mins: Essence 3, Sail 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: Resonant
Duration: Scene
Prerequisites: Two-Strand Mirage

The Pathseeker takes it's way with it, if need be. When this Evocation is Activated, the Pathseeker reduces the difficulty of all checks based on the temperament of the water beneath it by 3. Further to this, it always counts as having favourable currents for the purposes of determining speed, and can treat any body of water (so long as the surface is physically large enough to allow the Pathseeker to pass) as suitable to sail upon regardless of depth clearance, angle of flow, speed of current etc. The Pathseeker can sail up waterfalls or across mere inches of water, so long as there is sufficient breadth for it to fit.

Resonant: The duration of this Charm is week-long, and it may be reflexively renewed without paying the willpower cost.

I Will Not Be Defied

Cost: 10m, 2wp, Mins: Essence 4, Sail 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: Resonant
Duration: Special
Prerequisites: Infinite Ocean's Passage, Leviathan-Strangling Grip

What has been taken can always be returned, and what has been marked can never escape. The Captain of the Pathseeker declares undying love or terrible, creation-searing vengeance, and the Pathseeker sets upon it's unstoppable journey. Specify an intimacy. Any terrain between the Exalt and that Intimacy's location (which may be an identity, the source of an aggravation, the location where a goal may be fulfilled etc, subject to the Storyteller's Discretion) is counted as open water for the purposes of the Pathseeker sailing over it.

Solid ground, mountains, cities, stormclouds, strands of fate and other such terrain are effortlessly sailed over, and even the barrier of other realms and realities are bypassed. The Pathseeker can skim through the doors of heaven and breach the gates of hell, as long as they are closer to reaching their goal. Once they have reached it and their Oath is fulfilled, they may travel back to an origin point, which is typically the place where the Oath was sworn (but may be another location, subject to the Storyteller's approval), and similarly all terrain on the return journey is always open water for the Pathseeker.

Resonant: Upon completing their Oath, at their moment of triumph, the Exalt receives 1 wp as they feel a surge of great and focus.

[Croakamancer]

I Will Not Be Defied

Cost: 10m, 2wp, Mins: Essence 4, Sail 5
Type: Simple
Keywords: Resonant
Duration: Special
Prerequisites: Infinite Ocean's Passage, Leviathan-Strangling Grip

What has been taken can always be returned, and what has been marked can never escape. The Captain of the Pathseeker declares undying love or terrible, creation-searing vengeance, and the Pathseeker sets upon it's unstoppable journey. Specify an intimacy. Any terrain between the Exalt and that Intimacy's location (which may be an identity, the source of an aggravation, the location where a goal may be fulfilled etc, subject to the Storyteller's Discretion) is counted as open water for the purposes of the Pathseeker sailing over it.

Solid ground, mountains, cities, stormclouds, strands of fate and other such terrain are effortlessly sailed over, and even the barrier of other realms and realities are bypassed. The Pathseeker can skim through the doors of heaven and breach the gates of hell, as long as they are closer to reaching their goal. Once they have reached it and their Oath is fulfilled, they may travel back to an origin point, which is typically the place where the Oath was sworn (but may be another location, subject to the Storyteller's approval), and similarly all terrain on the return journey is always open water for the Pathseeker.

Resonant: Upon completing their Oath, at their moment of triumph, the Exalt receives 1 wp as they feel a surge of great and focus.

...

Ok, I'm sorry Solar, I don't have a great name for your ship (closest I've got is the 'Morning Tide' which... yeah, that's not great). I just chimed in to say.... wow. That is twenty seven kinds of frecking metal. Fits the theme, is badass and memorable... I really like it as a capstone idea. Nice job!

[danelsan]

Hmm...perhaps something like Golden Amethyst for the ship? Or, if you are fond of long names, Golden Amethyst in Waters of Cerulean and Crimson? Amethysts are usually violet, referring to the Violet Bier of Sorrows/Saturn, but this one is golden in a reference to the Golden Barque of Heaven/Mercury. The ship is all about you inevitably reaching your goal and completing your journey, but it is also about relationships of undying love or vengeance and likely to get into conflicts upon finding their goal and during the journey there and back, thus additional references to the Cerulean Lute of Harmony/Venus and the Crimson Panoply of Victory/Mars.

Amethyst is also a stone, which are usually associated with hardness and this ship sure likes ramming XD Plus reflection of light from a gemstone can be pulled as a reference for the illusory trick.

[Synapse]

The ship is all about you inevitably reaching your goal and completing your journey, but it is also about relationships of undying love or vengeance and likely to get into conflicts upon finding their goal and during the journey there and back.

Funny enough, to me that makes the ship almost entirely about the journey. There's always one after the other, only ever ending with the owners themselves.
Heck, I'd call it Ode to Questing if Odes weren't offensively asymmetrical compared to Odysseus' hexameters.

[GrayWalker]

So what rank would one give an artifact that could turn whatever object it was attached to into a specific magical material (as long as it was attached)?
It's inspired by combination of the fivefold harmonic adapter from Wonder of the Lost Age and an Inkmonkey Hearthstone that gave the object it was slotted into all the properties of soulsteel.

[Solar]

Now I like the idea of using an Amethyst in the name, that's very good! Plus it ties into the reflections like you say, and the wood of the ship is supposed to be almost pearlescent, so the whole Artifact is this almost ethereal, jewel-like vessel held together with Starmetal Filligree. Definitely the path I am going to go down, might come up with a few and see which ones take my fancy. Amethyan Star? In Amethyst Set? That's totally a steal from "In Amber Clad" but then that's a fantastic ship name :P Flowery I don't mind, Culture-style ship names are my favourite. Perhaps, "In Anticipation of Amethyst?" There's a vaguely sinister sense to it, given the meaning of Amethyst...

Also Croakamancer thanks! It's supposed to create this idea of inevitability and it's ambiguity, like the capstone charm on the one hand means that someone will never lose you, but at the same time it means that you can never really escape that person unless they let you go. Whether an inevitability is good or not depends on perspective and the act itself, and from a gameplay point of view I wanted to create a way for stories to grow out of the player developing intimacies for things that are taken and he can then return. Also there's something suitably poetic about it, given that it feels very much like the ship one would use to hunt a White Whale... plus it's a very powerful Charm in some ways but not in others, which feels suitable for Starmetal. If you can sail there anyway, the capstone doesn't do anything, but it's incredibly strong when needing to sail somewhere else!