Trusk'our

Now, didn't they also use Iyatil's Inkspren's Elsegating to get to the Cognitive Realm? We didn't see the action itself on screen, but they must surely have used that Surge to travel there. I feel like there's more and more evidence hinting to Enlightened Spren gifting their first Surge largely or completely without change, and their second Surge is altered significantly.

So, I got to try out the Cosmere/Stormlight RPG yesterday evening. It was a lot of fun! I helped get together a group of three people, myself included, and I acted as one of the players. Actually, this was the first time any of us had played this particular TTRPG system, so we began in a dream-sequence where our characters still knew each other, but where we could test drive the combat system without risk of our characters truly dying. Both me and the other player were level 2, I playing as a strength-oriented Horneater warrior and them as a speed-oriented Nimbleform Singer hunter. The combat system is a whole lot of fun! We had to try a number of different things against our opponent- a Flowing One. Even with some of the lowest stats of a Fused NPC, their ability to move quickly and divide that movement between striking actions makes them tricky to fight. They'd get in close, strike with a Raysium knife, then skate backwards so we had to spend at least one action on movement if we wanted to attack (I specked purely into melee and the other player- I'm just going to call him Hunter- hadn't fully written his inventory yet and so took a bit to get his bow ready). Very clever tactic. We countered this in part by Hunter using his surprising attack talent to occasionally weaken the Fused as it got close, while I primarily used a warhammer I had expertise in, so moving and then striking actually gave me advantage in most of my strikes. When they got moving though, they really moved. They had a speed of 40 feet while ours was 30 each, so at one point they retreated briefly to recover some extra HP. We both used that opportunity to separate a little (making it so the Fused would only have the movement to go after one of us as it attacked) and both used the ready action to prepare an attack should it charge us. In any case, this went back and forth for a while (about 2 1/2 hours, though we were all learning while doing so, and it should be a lot faster next time), and we kept spending our reactions to dodge. We both almost died in the test battle, but we managed to play our cards right and come out on top. It was a very satisfying experience. The combat is far more dynamic than D&D, at least in 5e where me and my players when I DM typically only do basic attacks and use a few spells and that's about it. Our options really felt like they mattered there, and with some simple but versatile combat options available even without specific talents or Surges we stayed engaged the entire time. In any case, after the dream-state we got to introduce our characters for real- Hunter's Nimbleform Listener had been a boy on the Shattered Plains when his family and tribe had been killed while he was away. He had been taken in by a Ghostblood agent and trained to be an assassin of sorts. He played his character in a deliberately edgelord way, as he put it, which was a lot of fun when we both roll played our characters' interactions with each other. My guy was nicknamed Teeth, so called because of his awful crooked set. He was the eighth son, and so was a very low-ranking soldier in his household. He had left the Peaks so he could gain experience through challenges and grow stronger. He mostly drifted from fight to fight, mostly sticking around Hunter's character and occasionally challenging him to friendly death-duels, as that was Teeth's way (we all got a good kick out of this). I played him as a chaotic-stupid/oblivious (nevermind the fact that I had above average intellect and awareness) but good natured dude who just liked to find things to destroy and kill. Kind of a weird combo, but it's a lot of fun to roll play. Our real beginning to our quest was when Hunter's hunter got a message from his personal Spanreed to meet up in a Ghostblood safehouse in Aladar's Warcamp (timeline wise post RoW, but Odium didn't set a date for the contest of champions). We both headed over there, his character going in and speaking to Mraize, who was toying with some caged rats with a Painrail (my guy stayed outside as he wasn't an actual Ghostblood agent and just sort of tagged along Hunter's character since he was always getting into fights). Mraize told us to go to the occupied city of Kholinar and sneak into the palace, where Ghostblood agents had located a Suppression Fabrial- something they wanted for its obviously useful properties. After agreeing, Hunter and I traveled to the nearest Oathgate on the Plains and a Radiant loyal to the Ghostbloods activated the smaller section of the Oathgate, transporting us secretly into Vedenar (though occupied by Odium, that side of the Oathgate had not yet been locked, hence the reason we could still access it). We snuck out and my guy pretended to be the slave of Hunter's character so we wouldn't be suspicious as we travelled in Odium-aligned territory. Funnily though, I was the one with expertise in Veden culture, so my guy would keep correcting Hunter's character on his behavior despite poorly pretending to be his subordinate. We got a lot of laughs out of that. We managed to get set up with a Singer caravan heading to Kholinar city, one primarily transporting crates of documents to their new capitol, though they also had a wagon with at least two sets of Shardplate surrounded by a host of Fused, including several Magnified Ones and half a dozen Heavenly Ones overhead. Aaaaaand that's about it! It was fun first game, and I'm sure I've left out a few details here and there, but if anyone is curious about anything, please ask!

Wouldn't the large amount of aluminum in the front get in the way of Lurching from that direction? Not saying they couldn't just tap zinc and steel to avoid it, but I don't think telekinesis is available in any practical way in this scenario to stop the spike.

So, do you mean an Invested Hemalurgic spike stapling something on, or a regular piece of metal used in a deliberate attempt to rip something off? As far as I'm aware, a pre-made spike should function mostly as normal, though the Spren may not like its influence. If you're trying to take the Radiant's Surgebinding, you must steal the bond between the Radiant and their Spren- the Spren is where the power actually resides. Once you do so the Spren can choose to break its bond between it and the Spiritweb fragment in the spike however, so it's recommended that you spike the power out of the Spren thereafter.

Now, to be fair, you cannot gain a Bondsmith bond as a PC. I would consider that as filling a similar niche that the Fullborn fills on Scadrial. Resonances too. Though, it looks like they've gone the cheap route and made it a generic "use one power and the other gets advantage" than coming up with a more canon and unique concept. Still interesting, but narratively feels less like a Resonance and more using your powers together synergistically. Didn't they do a similar thing with the Skybreaker "Resonance"? Honestly glad they're not going with a path route, though I'm not entirely sure why. I just like the idea of it being more of something anyone could do with the right knowledge, perhaps. Probably for similar reasons GMs aren't supposed to take Sphere management too seriously, except when narratively applicable. I like the way Radiants cannot be made at level 1, as if forces them to have structure separate from the Surges. Allomancy and Feruchemy really feel like they could pull it off though, since it's something you're born with. Basically, I like both directions for different reasons. Yeah, it feels a little weird. It seems to me like it should be more of a material process like Hemalurgy in that it's a reward- you could get Metalmind implants by getting in good with a well-connected nobleman, for example, who is buddies with a surgeon who does that sort of thing. It's probably there for the same reason Metalminds are supposed to be a process to get though. Feruchemy is kinda busted for gameplay, since a PC's only limiting factor to sitting around hoarding attributes is the limited number of Metalminds. Or at least that's my take.

Thanks friend, I really appreciate it!

Okay, gonna be real, my computer must just be total garbage, because I literally cannot make out any of the small text in any way. I'd be most interested int 1:51, 1:53, 1:56, 2:00, 2:02, 2:04, 2:05, 2:07, 2:10, 2:12, 2:14, if that is okay with you.

Lol, it's only been two days and Transformation makes up almost half of everybody's favorite.

Well, I mean, we've got hints for all of them. I guess the Stormlight RPG can fill in the gaps, at least until truly canon answers are given.

You know, I realized recently that I don't have a way of knowing which Radiant Surge is the most popular to the community. Except- I do actually! So, which Surge that the Knights Radiant use is the one you like most (and if you don't mind saying, why)? Personally it's a close one, but I think I'd have to go with Transformation. The huge number of creative things you can do by transmuting matter is just staggering. Bondsmith Adhesion might be my second most favorite due to its ability to rewrite Connection.

I like it! It would open up options for players in a believable way, but not be too rediculously powerful (no Blade, Plate, or second Surge). I would probably rule out Adhesion as one of the options though, since that is supposed to be of Honor alone. But I doubt that would be an issue- I can't imagine it's one of the more popular Surges.

WUT. Okay, I'm definitely checking it on my laptop then. Thank you for that info and the offer, I appreciate it.

Tempting clip, but I can't read most of the fine text because it's just far enough away from the camera to be blurry. Still took about thirty screenshots. I'll have to try it on my laptop, see if that helps the resolution.

Guys- more info! At about 30 seconds in, he says the adventure revolves around protecting a powerful artifact, keeping the Eternity Spike out of the hands of those that would abuse its power. I feel that this cuts out the hypothesis of it simply holding a charge that can exist indefinitely (though for it to continue being of importance between Eras it must be preserved descently anyway). Probably not about longevity either, since while it's useful that hardly seems worth keeping out of the hands of others, at least in my mind. So I'm thinking it does have to do with great raw power (as they themselves say), or perhaps it functions as a key to a great power (Dawnshard Connection?) Still not sure how that's supposed to manifest, though we have much better clues now.

An interaction in my Hijo thread caused a thought pass through my mind again yesterday that hasn't prodded me in a while. When an Invested entity is summoned into physical, metallic form (be it a Shardblade or a Hijo construct), their size can vary dramatically in the Physical Realm. A Radiant could summon their Blade as a tiny scalpel in one moment, then change it to a hulking seven-foot slab of overly ornate death the next. So, where does this extra Investiture go when not turned into metal? I suppose the easiest and most intuitive hypothesis is that the Spren (or Hijo, or other similar being) simply branches over into the CR since Spren already do that to an extent normally, but I'm curious- does anyone have other ideas as to what happens to that extra Investiture, or perhaps a canon answer I missed somewhere? As a side thought, if you were to turn your Spren into a spike (let's just assume for the sake of the argument that it can splice something into you as long as it's there and that it's not too attached to being a Blade conceptually to prevent it from working as a Hemalurgic spike in this situation), would the physical size matter as it would with regular Hemalurgy for determining its Investiture? My guess after thinking about it is actually no, since that Investiture should still be present and attached to the metal in some way, just not in physical form. It would matter for mundane metals, since the size determines how much Investiture can be captured within them, but I think the Spren metals are a different matter. And, with that thought, it now makes me think that you could potentially overcome the physical restrictions on Hemalurgic spike storage and Metalmind storage as long as you could mimic the principles that Spren metals use (assuming, of course, that this is in fact the way that things work. It's all just a maybe right now).

Weeeeell, I was thinking more of the railroad-sized spikes that you ram into your guts, but I suppose smaller ones could be more practical.

If I recall (it's been a while and I don't keep the books on me, so someone correct me if I'm wrong), the scholars' prototype rock-stacker fed on a portion of the Hijo's Investiture to function when summoning them. The resulting constructs made from those Hijo were weaker, and disappeared more quickly. So I think the Bloodmaker could reasonably siphon off the extra health into Goldminds, but it would drain the Hijo faster. Hmm, Artlight in exchange for mundane materials? Sounds like a good trade, especially for Worldhoppers. I'll admit that Abrasion is my least favorite Surge, but these actually sound pretty slick. Your wholesomeness is staggering. I guess I might be able to share one of my spikes with a future spouse, but something tells me she wouldn't be too pleased with the idea. Just a hunch. In any case, the rings seem like a pretty useful tool for interpersonal relationships.

So, you mean composition as in what percentages of the Spiritweb are dedicated to its various attributes, including the part dedicated to the Allomancy gene? If so, then I'm sorry to say I'm not aware of any specific measurements. Most interactions with Investiture in any way are fairly vague right now. It won't be until a bit later in the Cosmere that the concept of BEUs and the scientific method will be introduced to magic (though Era 3 Mistborn will begin doing this).

It doesn't sound like an Allomancer burning a Hemalurgic spike would give them access to powers within them (unfortunately). Sounds like from another WoB that some sDNA gets spliced in, but it probably isn't a functional ability. Not a bad idea. There are nobles in TFE like Vin's father who have high Allomantic potential they can pass to their children, but they themselves aren't even a Misting. So. . . burn multiple spikes to add the power to the Allomancer, which will hopefully increase their Allomantic potential beyond normal? I don't think I understand what you're saying here. I assume this is a continuation of stacking, just taken a step further where you try to enhance the piece of Spiritweb for your second spike by having an Allomancer burn the first? I mean, dumping a spike in blood or a cut of meat prevents continual decay (or at least is implied to do so as long as the organics are fresh enough to confuse the spike for them being alive), and aluminum can likely do better. Under this method, you'd need to kill or at least seriously damage the Allomancer at a later date, in the meantime you cannot use the powers of the spike. Plus, there should be a second guaranteed decay in the power since you need to excise it not just from one donor, but from two. My own thought process is that when a Hemalurgic spike is created using Ruin's system, it corrupts a portion of the Investiture, aligning it with Ruin. This would explain how spikes add a direct Connection to Ruin despite- in the vast majority of cases- stealing fragments of Preservation's Investiture from Spiritwebs. Furthermore- TSM spoilers: In other words, I have a strong feeling that most Hemalurgic spikes will have a portion of Ruin's own Investiture in them.

The Hijo in YatNP can be used to create all kinds of things, be it a kind of repeller Fabrial (to make floating islands), powerful fan-like constructs to herd their floating plants and repel threats, Invested lights, or seemingly simple saws. You use art to summon a Hijo, give it a picture of what it's supposed to be along with a mental projection of what you want, and they can choose to fulfill your wish. This makes me think, it seems like their limitations are mostly limited to what you can imagine (and obviously their Intent and amount of Investiture), and that they come in pairs. They can even perform tasks specifically with Investiture it seems, not just mechanical motions. So, assuming that you managed to conjure up a Hijo with your robust artistry (and that they are actually as versatile as I've suggested), what would you first think to ask them to become for you? Personally, my first thought was a pair of Hemalurgic spikes that could Invest a bearer, making them better in some way. Shouldn't even need a donor, and the Hijo is free to go after a few years (just make sure that you have a healing device in place for when they do). More longevity and power. Since the spikes should be linked you could perhaps share one with your buddy and gain a Nahel bond or something similar with them, helping you be partners in crime.

Lol, close enough.

LET'S MAKE IT EIGHT!

You know, you're probably right. That would be a much more elegant solution to Shai's wording.

I question whether Flesh Forgery uses the Spiritual template to the same extent as the other known forms of healing. Mostly because it is the only example where it's been called out as being deadly if you get it wrong. Elantris spoilers: Most healing magics don't do that. They auto-correct the body to match the Spiritweb filtered through the person's own perception. People aren't going to die from that because they can't- the Investiture simply won't make the changes necessary to bring that about by itself. This is the real crux of my second point, where if one has the freedom to make changes to the body with Resealing that could bypass what the Spiritual template usually hard locks into place, I believe there is a very strong chance someone with great skill and knowledge could make beneficial changes to the body as well. This is of course an extrapolation of a few tidbits about the system but ultimately I really like the idea and think it's fairly sound.

My thoughts exactly. I think it's a type of Investiture that can be expended to transform a body in some way, but unlike with a Soul Forgery there isn't a continuous effect that needs to be maintained (else Ashravan's Resealing would probably have interfered with Shai's Soulstamp). It should be a one-and-done.