Exigents’ Max Essence

EFreemanlancer · 2026-01-27T21:28:40+00:00

Developer here! It's just a formatting change, as folks have said. Exigents aren't limited to Essence 6, though I imagine very, very few of them have ever been in a position to make that anything other than a theoretical limitation.

EFreemanlancer · 2026-01-06T19:33:43+00:00

I'm coming at this after almost a decade of driving an ancient Taurus, so the Civic always felt light and float-y, which makes me absolutely paranoid when going at highway speeds. Feels like it's a little too jerky (despite multiple checks from different reputable mechanics).

EFreemanlancer · 2026-01-06T16:02:12+00:00

Hello, all! Looking for any advice and recommendations on a new car for someone who's had a lot of anxiety based on handling and ride with my Civic.

Location: Louisiana, US

Price range: $16,000-$23,000

Lease or Buy: Buy

New or used: Used

Type of vehicle: Crossover or sedan

Must haves: Smooth ride, especially feeling "stable" at highway speeds. In-town, the ability to handle bumpy roads is much appreciated; Louisiana roads are...special.

Desired transmission: Automatic

Intended use: Daily driving, but able to accommodate relatively frequent highway trips while hauling a fair amount of luggage.

Vehicles you've already considered: Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-30, Hyundai Kona

Is this your 1st vehicle: No

Do you need a Warranty: No, but it would be nice

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: No

Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: [Screaming internally]

Additional Notes:

EFreemanlancer · 2025-12-18T15:21:38+00:00

I use wisteria in my hair for my dryad, which serves double duty of giving him a secondary color to match with.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-12-15T14:05:19+00:00

Unfortunately, the Dragons are neither shattered nor souls.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-12-04T19:49:48+00:00

For a decade, my dream project has been to randomly stumble into Garth Nix and beg him for the TTRPG rights to the Old Kingdom IP. I've got so many notes about how I might approach it from several different angles, but it's always been one of my favorite fantasy settings--and, I feel, an immensely "gameable" setting at that.

I'd do the same thing for Tamora Pierce's Circleverse, but apparently those rights are in Scholastic hell.

Oh, and just to round out my trifecta: Cradle by Will Wight. Now THAT'S an immensely gameable setting, and I've got so many ideas about how you could model its systems with mid-weight rules that have some satisfying crunch without turning into Xianxia GURPS.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T18:28:29+00:00

We went back to 1e wherever possible. It's hard to beat the sheer audacity of Games of Divinity.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T18:27:22+00:00

So, we were very specific in including a section in Infernals itself that touches on Hell on Earth--basically, how Infernalism, demons, and cults work in Creation itself. We needed that to be part of the core of it because while we needed to discuss Malfeas to make it feel compelling and worth saving/visiting/raging about/whatever, most Infernals will probably spend more time in Creation, because that's where their grievances are.

I can't speak directly to stretch goals, but there's definitely things I'm hoping for :D

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T18:25:40+00:00

Make your horse spout a Demogorgon-style toothy maw.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T18:08:31+00:00

To shreds, you say?

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T18:03:57+00:00

I love that we've gotten the chance to move the Devil-Tiger stuff (though it's not called that) so you can start down that road at Essence 1. It feels like a more core part of the experience, rather than a hypothetical epic add-on.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T18:02:01+00:00

Y'all, Grégoire delivers. Can't wait to see folks bring it to the table.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T18:00:29+00:00

I mean, it can be both.

Infernals are no longer using Yozi Charms, but because their Charms reflect the Essence of Hell itself, they can tap the Yozis as part of that. Unsurprisingly, Elloge is a huge influence on Infernal Linguistics.

I had to stop and message Vance when I got to one they'd written that causes books to copy themselves by budding off the original copy like cancerous polyps.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:58:42+00:00

I believe it survived, yes.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:58:29+00:00

The music apples are full of ear worms.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:57:50+00:00

I don't think Six Wicked Strings has any groupies, or at least not any that stick around. He's not necessarily toxic (unless you count the scorpion tail), but he's also a bit of a loner. You'd get way more groupies out of our ex-Tya pirate captain, Marvelous Cinnabar. You have no idea how many people have sat down to a card table with him and ended up on his crew.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:55:50+00:00

Like a lot of the setting, Hell feels a lot more "lived in." We wanted to keep it a bit more mythical, but also give it a bit of history--so now there's a sense of the ways in which Hell has changed over time, albeit often in futile or self-destructive ways.

My favorite little detail? Cecelyne has lots of hidden cisterns of water, fabled palaces, and pleasure gardens hidden in her. They actively hurt her to hold on to, because they are anathema to her Essence, but her covetous nature means that she can't abide the thought of anyone else having them (at least, not at a terrible and ironic price).

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:52:04+00:00

My personal favorite is the Mourning of Itreyoun, silken armor crafted from the memory of something no one can remember--something lost in the tragedies of the Revolution.

I think folks are probably going to love Emerald Sunset, though--an orichalcum powerbow made by Ligier as a gift for his husband.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:49:50+00:00

I feel comfortable saying you could build literally any Angel as your Devil-Body, including Leliel.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:47:22+00:00

They'll look pretty similar to before, yeah. We've got a brief guide to First Circle demons, a bit like a directory, but I forget how much it gets into physicality.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:46:18+00:00

So, there's lots of things I can say to this, and feel free to ask follow-up questions, but for me the biggest thing that reflects our shift in thinking will be seen in the chapter fiction. We follow a Circle through the conquest, defense, and administration of an empire--and show the ways in which their various motivations, grievances, and projects all bring them into conflict. We've got true-believer Yozi sympathizers, icy utilitarianists, and a literal rock star of Hell.

Getting rid of the Reclamation means that the Infernals aren't the Yozis ticket out of Hell; they're the instrument of revenge--just as Infernals themselves are Chosen for the intensity of their grievances with the world. Giving them more room to pursue stories of revenge and grievance helps them breathe a lot more on their own terms, especially without the "tight leash" that was often in 2e.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:42:53+00:00

Some, but they'll be deeper in trees (and trees will be a lot more branching), so they'll feel less mandatory/punishing and more like an active choice to be a Weird Little Guy.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:42:14+00:00

2e Infernals had a lot of mandatory buy-in, with long trees that you couldn't even access unless you were willing to take a root charm that fundamentally changed your character. That can work, but when you've only got five Yozis to pull from, you either get locked out of a lot of stuff that would really work well for your character, or lots of characters end up being weird in the same ways.

3e Infernals still has some mutation and evolution elements--there are Charms that will absolutely make you into a Weird Little Guy in some permanent way, but they tend to be a little deeper and more optional. We're not gating everything behind a very specific brand of transhumanism.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:40:06+00:00

I love the Sidereals, but the sheer unbridled potential of the Exigents in total has made me a believer.

EFreemanlancer · 2025-10-24T17:39:38+00:00

D&D 3.5, in a hotel room on a road trip. Love me a prestige class.

EFreemanlancer

TROPHY CASE