Talk:Christopher Westin

Current Identity

Robert Nishida, Japanese-American LAPD SWAT.

Medium-Term Goals

• Learn how to drive again. It's been a long, long while.
• Reintegrate with humanity maybe. Maybe. Of course, it's nice to have a distance from them considering your job. Attachments are harsh when you know all things must end in time. Maybe you could fake it?
• Stop putting it off, raid the Pharos's library and bone up on your Occult. Gotta pass the Chalice written exam (they do have a written exam right? The recruitment flyer is awfully nonspecific.)
• Follow Cathy on an "archaelogical expedition" to find a mummy. Maybe she'll be marginally more sane after she does so.
• Confront Tom Oneeagle. Guy needs some talking to.
• Brawl 4, Occult 4, Enigmas or Melee 4. Start working on that omnicompetence!

Long Term Goals

• Entropy 4, bless self to be lucky forever!
• Life 4.
• Firearms 5.

Fun With Spheres

• Entropy is naturally subtle. Remember this in emergencies.

Entropy

• Entropy 3/Mind 2 may be able to affect predictable responses to actions. (Requires Mind 2 but I kind of want to get it anyways.)
• Entropy 3/Life 3 could affect autonomic physical reactions.
• Entropy 2/Life 2 can alter random chance as applies to life (i.e. meeting strangers, etc.) to increase probabilities of certain results.
• Entropy 3/Life 2: Affect predictable actions of living things. Guard movements, office shifts, et cetera.
• Entropy 2/Forces 2: Random forces effects-target lightning and shrapnel, direction of the wind to blow fires in?

Life

• Life 2 allows minor adaptations to mundane climate extremes, Life 3 can do it to other people.

Chalice XP Costs

5 skills required of: Dodge, Subterfuge, Stealth, Melee, Firearms, Technology, Enigmas, Occult at 4+.

Firearms 4 (0 XP)

Stealth 4 (0 XP)

Enigmas 4 (1 + 2 + 3 = 6 XP)

Occult 4 (3 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 9 XP)

Dodge 4 (0 XP)

Melee 4 (4 + 3 = 7 XP)

Technology 4 (3 + 2 + 4 + 6 = 15 XP)

Subterfuge 4 (2 + 4 + 6 = 12 XP)

PROGRESS: 3/5

Achievement

Cheapest method: Occult 4 (9), Enigmas 4 (6) for 15 XP cost, 7 skills raised (7 sessions or downtime needed).
Shortest method: Melee 4 (7), Occult 4 (9) for 16 XP cost, 5 skills raised (5 sessions or downtime needed).
Most roundabout method: Technology 4 (15), Subterfuge 4 (12), Occult 4 (9) for 36 XP cost, 12 skills raised (12 sessions or downtime needed).

Probably best to choose Occult/Enigmas/Dodge. Technology and Subterfuge are nice but totally extraneous.

Final Evaluation

Without Mentor/Library Discounts, Spirit 2 costs 10+8 (18) XP. 25 XP remains to fulfill Chalice requirements and any miscellaneous attributes/abilities desired.

Chalice Requirement skills/XP cost after any guaranteed discounts:

• Melee 4 (4+3) [7] XP
• Subterfuge 4 (4+6) [10] XP
• Enigmas 4 (1+2+3) [6] XP
• Occult 4 (3+1+2+3) [9] XP
• Technology 4 (3+2+4+6) [15] XP

Miscellaneous Desired abilities and attributes:

• Brawl 4 (3) [3] XP
• Strength 4 (6) [6] XP
• Stamina 5 (8) [8] XP
• Appearance 4 (6) [6] XP
• Perception 4 (12) [12] XP

Potential Combos

• Stamina 5 + Occult 4 + Melee 4 (8 + 9 + 7 = 24 XP)
• Enigmas 4 + Occult 4 + Technology 3 (6 + 9 + 9 = 24 XP)
• Strength 4 + Melee 4 + Occult 4 + Brawl 4 (6 + 7 + 9 + 3 = 25 XP)
• Perception 4 + Occult 4 + Enigmas 4 (12 + 6 + 9 = 27 XP, requires at least 2 XP saved from Mentor/Cathy's Library).

Spheres desired

Correspondence 2 (go into the internet, remote use of Mind 2/Entropy 2/Forces 2)

Mind 2 (mental shield, multitasking, affect predictable mental responses)

Matter 2 (conjunctional with Corr2 to teleport small items such as weapons, see through walls, etc)

Prime 3 (anti-magick)

Rotes

Aspect of Achilles (Life 3/Forces 2)-Anointing oneself with water as a sympathetic link to the River Styx, Life 3 is used to harden the skin against blows while Forces 2 saps their energy. Adds armor soak.

Blessing of Athena (Entropy 1/Forces 1/Life 3)-Life 3 to deaden autonomous responses like shaking hands and unsteady limbs, Entropy 1 to sense and anticipate the currents of destiny (i.e. how to move without getting your face shot off), Forces 1 to precisely sense the movement of objects. Long-duration combat buff.

Blade of the Fates (Life 3/Entropy 1)-Life 3 for lethal damage, Entropy 1 for seeking out weak points.

Ares's Mercy (Life 2/Entropy 3)-By calling upon the god of war and civil order, Westin damages the order of a predictable social construct, such as a guard patrol, causing delays and weakpoints to open up. Life 2 allows Entropy 3's ability to slay complex machines and dissolve unliving objects to slay the metaphorical machinery of society.

Ricochet (Entropy 2/Forces 2)-Forces 2 to increase projectile velocity, Entropy 2 in conjunction to control the angle of ricochets. Bullets may penetrate a target, bounce off objects, and hit others or hit the same target multiple times.

Hephaestus's Disfavor (Entropy 1 or 3/Forces 2)-Forces 2 to deal damage, Entropy 1 to seek weak points, or Entropy 3 to assist in causing systems damage.

Aegis of the Fates (Entropy 1/Forces 1)-Entropy 1 senses currents of probability, Forces 1 allows precise estimation of movement-evade and attack more precisely and efficiently.

Ultima Ratio (Entropy 1/Forces 1)-Entropy 1 senses weak points, Forces 1 allows precise estimation of lead times and movement, increasing the accuracy and damage of a gunshot.

Maneuvers

Or: How to end fights quickly and horribly maim people.

Neck Snap (Difficulty 9, Dex + Brawl, Damage Str + 3, opponent may add Strength to Stamina to soak, any unsoaked damage means the opponent's neck is broken: Instant death/incapacitation.)- C:tD 239

Joint Break (Difficulty 8, Dex + Brawl, Damage Str + 2, any unsoaked damage means the joint is shattered and limb is made useless)- C:tD 239

Tendon Slice (Difficulty 9, Requires Melee 4 + Dexterity 2, Dex + Melee, Damage [As Weapon], 2 HLs or more of damage mean a critical tendon is cut and a limb is rendered useless, is considered dishonorable by faerie nobles but who gives a shit about them?)- C:tD 240

Philosophy

The Ascension Warrior
To understand the methods of creating change is to understand the world. All things end in time. Empires crumble. Heroes and villains die. The physical is never absolute. What is absolute is history. Dead heroes become legends. Dead villains become bogeymen. Dead empires become ideals. But to lose yourself in these is to suffer from nostalgia. Legends and ideals are not what we should strive for, but what should be exceeded. Stasis and complacency are the enemy-there is no "good enough". Once perfection is reached, once the wheel has turned to that point, then Ascension will come.

Change
Embrace change in all its means. Those who refuse to use the advances of the enemy are denying themselves an asset. Adaptability is strength. But to embrace change does not mean to go with the flow. The Wheel must be tended by the elimination of the corrupt.

Death
Death is a new beginning. Those who die are sent to Acheron, cleansed of their sins in the river. Their virtues are reinforced, their souls ready for another chance at Ascension. Do not hate those who you kill, and remember that by killing the corrupt, you are doing their souls a favor, as well as serving the greater good of the living. Even in the Technocracy's paradigm, they recognize that the world is a cycle. Creatures which die are recycled to greater heights. The Wheel exists in all things.

Casualties of the Righteous
Good men can serve bad ends. A soldier who follows orders may fight for the Technocracy, or a corrupt government, because of his honor and virtue demanding nothing less. Those who are virtuous may be fighting on the other side. In this case, kill without hesitation but not without remorse. There will be time to mourn the death of the just later.

Arete
The enlightened Ascension Warrior understands the nine spheres, but also understands his human body and mind. "Arete" is not merely mystical knowledge. It is excellence. Strive to be excellent in all your doings. Learning the ways of those who cannot harness their divine heritage is advantageous. Sleepers can change the tide of nations, alter the fates of millions, change history drastically and irrevocably. Those who strive for excellence in even the most mundane will eventually achieve excellence in all areas.

Sacrifice
Sacrifice is self-sacrifice. If one kills a dozen to accomplish an objective, calling it "collateral damage", it is not a sacrifice, but rather an action undertaken when pragmatism overrules idealism. Pragmatic action may be necessary, but one should look into living to be their ideals. As a soldier on the front lines of the Ascension War, we are prophet, soldier, and diplomat in one. Our example reflects on our ideals. If we throw away the lives of others and refuse to follow our own ideals, we show that our ideals are weak, such that we are unwilling to stand by them. Hold your ideals up without fear, as they are more important than your life.

Ideals
The true crucible for contested ideals is the field of warfare. We are fighting a war based on a philosophical question, one which may only be settled by the greatest of conflicts. We define ourselves as what the Technocracy is not. Ideals must not be taken to excess. The Technocracy commits atrocities because it believes it is firmly in the right, and anything is justifiable in its quest to prove its philosophy correct. Those of us who lose ourselves to this become no better. The war will not be won or lost by body counts, it will be won or lost on the battleground of the mind and the media.

Magic
Man is a creature with the blood of gods, diluted in his veins from a million dalliances across untold centuries. These blessings are the source of magical power. Each harnesses them in their own ways.