[Exalted] Playing a Zenith

[Archpaladin Zousha]

A friend of mine is starting a freeform Exalted game on another forum, using Exalted's fluff but not the crunch, and suggested I play a Zenith caste. I don't know that much about Exalted, because I was scared away when I heard the backstory of the setting and politicking that happens in it is inscrutibally complicated.

Here's the bit he's given in his recruitment about it:


The game will be set in the far West of Creation, around a island chain far removed from the Scarlet Empire of the Dragon-Blooded. The islands are populated by small kingdoms, savage tribes, and the occasional Scarlet stronghold. The sea is populated by various tribes, minor Gods, and Ancient Leviathan, the most powerful Lunar Exalted ever born. The PCs will have their own ship, a lost wonder of the First Age, restored to working order by the painstaking efforts of my Twilight Caste engineer. The ship, a Whirling-class courier, known for reliability and speed more than it's abilities in combat. Very few ships of the First Age survive, and even fewer travel far from the mainland. The ship alone will make us a target of pirates, theives, and opprotunists, and if we get to free with out powers a Hunt will be sent out to find and exterminate us.

I was wondering what the ins and outs of playing a Zenith were, as far as roleplaying is concerned. I'd thought to playing him as a straight-up Apollonian paladiny-kinda guy, but I also had another character idea that my friend said would be a cool idea for the Zenith, but I'm wondering if it might be too silly for the game. Any advice you can offer would be extremely helpful. Thank you. :smallsmile:

[The Rose Dragon]

Zeniths are pilgrims and priests. They endure conditions that would fell lesser men, just to bring the word of the Solars and the Unconquered Sun to people who live at remote places so Creation can be a better place.

Also, they hate creatures of darkness and their anima power is based on destroying them.

They are also the secondary combatants of their circles for some reason. So be sure to have some kind of combat ability.

Finally, they are the glue that keeps their circles together. If there is a problem between two Solars in a circle, the Zenith will smooth things over. Unless the Zenith himself has a problem, in that case you're screwed and your Circle will fall apart. Well, unless the Circle has been sanctified by an Eclipse. In which case they will stay together, begrudgingly though it might be.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I see. That IS helpful. So more like a battle-ready cleric than a paladin. Also here's a rundown of the party, in case that changes things:

Zenith Caste Solar (me)
Twilight Caste Solar (the GM)
Siderial Exalted of the Maiden of Serenity (the GM's girlfriend)
Full Moon Caste Lunar (our forum's resident wolfman fan)
Siderial Exalted of the Maiden of Battles (...I don't know what to say about this last guy. He's pretty much normal.)

[The Rose Dragon]

I just thought of another way of putting it.

Zeniths are mountains. They may be intimidating or they may be comforting, but they are reliable, impressive and enduring no matter what happens.

Though with two dedicated combatant Castes, you should probably focus more on the social aspects of the Zenith instead of the physical ones.

[The Demented One]

Don't feel too limited by your caste, though. A Zenith can fight just as well as a Dawn, cast sorcery as well as a Twilight, sneak as well as a Night, and bargain just as well as an Eclipse. Caste is really just an archetype that you build your character on.

[The Rose Dragon]

Don't feel too limited by your caste, though. A Zenith can fight just as well as a Dawn, cast sorcery as well as a Twilight, sneak as well as a Night, and bargain just as well as an Eclipse. Caste is really just an archetype that you build your character on.

Everyone can cast sorcery as well as a Twilight. That's pretty much the point of Sorcery - it's universal.

In fact, Creation's most famous sorcerer was a Zenith.

EDIT: I do kind of disagree on sneaking as well as a Night, since 1) Night castes have an anima power that is solely dedicated to sneaking, and 2) many stealth and disguise artifacts function better for Nights.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

This was the crazy character idea I had that my friend suggested I use for my Zenith:

An adventuring chef, who travels the world seeking exotic and dangerous creatures to kill, cook and eat. The kind of guy who ate fugu and said "Not dangerous enough." Whenever the group encounters a new monster, he begins dissecting it and examining the corpse to see what parts, if any, are edible, then experiments with different ways of preparing them until he finds a good dish. Obviously he has the party try out his experiments, which can be an unpleasant experience until he gets it right. He won't prepare humanoids though, to avoid the possibility of cannibalism.

I was inspired by a manga called Toriko, wherein the protagonist is a musclebound warrior who wanders the world looking for new, exotic and dangerous ingredients to collect and eat.

It's a fun idea, but I don't think it sounds...dignified enough for an Exalt. It seems to silly for a game like Exalted.

[Kylarra]

This was the crazy character idea I had that my friend suggested I use for my Zenith:

An adventuring chef, who travels the world seeking exotic and dangerous creatures to kill, cook and eat. The kind of guy who ate fugu and said "Not dangerous enough." Whenever the group encounters a new monster, he begins dissecting it and examining the corpse to see what parts, if any, are edible, then experiments with different ways of preparing them until he finds a good dish. Obviously he has the party try out his experiments, which can be an unpleasant experience until he gets it right. He won't prepare humanoids though, to avoid the possibility of cannibalism.

I was inspired by a manga called Toriko, wherein the protagonist is a musclebound warrior who wanders the world looking for new, exotic and dangerous ingredients to collect and eat.

It's a fun idea, but I don't think it sounds...dignified enough for an Exalt. It seems to silly for a game like Exalted.It's homebrew but... Orichalcum Chef Style (http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Orichalcum_Chef_Style) might be what you want.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I said in the OP that this is gonna be freeform. And there's no guarantee I'll play this concept in the game anyway. Like I said, it seems to silly for a serious game like Exalted. I was under the impression Exalted was all about politicking and deception, but with gods instead of vampires.

[Kylarra]

I said in the OP that this is gonna be freeform. And there's no guarantee I'll play this concept in the game anyway. Like I said, it seems to silly for a serious game like Exalted. I was under the impression Exalted was all about politicking and deception, but with gods instead of vampires.Uh... Exalted is as serious as you want it to be. Really. There can be politics and deception. There can be straight up over the top ridiculous concepts. There can be brainwashing enemies into doing your bidding because you are just that awesome at giving speeches.

[The Rose Dragon]

There can be brainwashing enemies into doing your bidding because you are just that awesome at giving speeches.

You can punch someone into obedience if you want to. Usually, punching solves most of your problems. I once heard of a character who punched the ground to form manses.

[Kylarra]

You can punch someone into obedience if you want to. Usually, punching solves most of your problems. I once heard of a character who punched the ground to form manses.True. You can also punch someone so hard they turn into a duck.

[Tengu_temp]

Zenith is probably the most versatile Solar caste - for starters, almost all Dawn archetypes work well for Zenith as well, and many Eclipse ones. I assume that's because inspiring people to greatness with your presence is a shtick many Solars like, and this is what Zenith is all about.

Some sample Zenith concepts include:

A warrior-monk.
A knight in shining armor leading by example.
A total pacifist who fixes the world's problems one by one without harming a fly.
A bard, fighting evil with the power of rock.
An inspirational hot-blooded hero, who kicks reason to the curb and goes beyond the impossible.
A leader of a nation, bringing crowds to their knees with awesome speeches.

And there are many, many more. I'd say your chef idea fits a Twilight more, though - they focus much more on finding new knowledge like that.


I was under the impression Exalted was all about politicking and deception, but with gods instead of vampires.

Depends. Most of Exalted games are heavy either on adventures, or on nation building. The latter usually have much more politicking, while the former are more like classical RPG games, only much more epic.

[The Rose Dragon]

True. You can also punch someone so hard they turn into a duck.

I've never quite understood that meme. I mean, that Charm allows you to turn people into a lot of things. Why focus on the duck?

[Draxar]

Things that are important for playing a Zenith:

You are the Chosen of the Chosen – not only were you chosen to be a Solar but the Unconquered Sun himself spoke to you as you were exalted. What did he say to you, this likely is a major influence on your character from his exaltation onwards.

You count as a priest of all gods. Thus, if you put some points and/or charms into performance, you can do prayer rolls fairly effectively, which can get you aid and advice from many gods.

You are Kung Fu Jesus, Vampire Slayer. You are Jules Winnifield, wandering the creation as you seek your purpose. You are moses yelling "Let my people go!". You are Caligula, mad god-emperor.

[absolmorph]

I've never quite understood that meme. I mean, that Charm allows you to turn people into a lot of things. Why focus on the duck?
Ducks seem to be inherently amusing (or scary, depending on the person; I know at least two people who're scared of 'em). Personally, I'd just turn people into llamas :smallcool:
(Assuming I can, of course; I don't think I've read the charm, and I definitely don't recall how it works)

[Ravens_cry]

I've never quite understood that meme. I mean, that Charm allows you to turn people into a lot of things. Why focus on the duck?
Duck is a funny word. D is a funny letter and duck rhymes with a certain expletive. Also, ducks are just funny looking, the bills, man, the bills, and are rather clumsy on land and even look ungainly when a dabbling (up tails all!) in the water. Their call is goody to human ears.
In short, they are very silly animals with a silly name. Hence, anything connected to them is also silly. Besides, your missing the point. You're PUNCHING someone, SO HARD, they turn into a DUCK.:smallbiggrin:

[absolmorph]

Duck is a funny word. D is a funny letter and duck rhymes with a certain expletive. Also, ducks are just funny looking, the bills, man, the bills, and are rather clumsy on land and even look ungainly when a dabbling (up tails all!) in the water. Their call is goody to human ears.
In short, they are very silly animals with a silly name. Hence, anything connected to them is also silly. Besides, your missing the point. You're PUNCHING someone, SO HARD, they turn into a DUCK.:smallbiggrin:
I want to punch a pair of llamas so hard they turn into a duck, now.
CURSE MY INTERNET-TAINTED MIND FOR MAKING THESE CONNECTIONS!

[Ravens_cry]

I want to punch a pair of llamas so hard they turn into a duck, now.
CURSE MY INTERNET-TAINTED MIND FOR MAKING THESE CONNECTIONS!
Is THIS how it's told now? Is it all so old? Is it made of lemon juice? Doorknob? Ankle? Cold?!

[Draxar]

Chances are the duck thing comes from an early example or forum discussion. Like the fact that any example melee focused Solar will be referred to as Invincible Sword Princess.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Chances are the duck thing comes from an early example or forum discussion. Like the fact that any example melee focused Solar will be referred to as Invincible Sword Princess.

Guess that means mine will be named that too. I'm probably gonna go for Big Freakin' Sword and Big Freakin' Shield.

[absolmorph]

Is THIS how it's told now? Is it all so old? Is it made of lemon juice? Doorknob? Ankle? Cold?!
I think this song is getting thin; we've run out of luck. It is time to retire, now, and become a duck.

-gives you a cookie-

[Archpaladin Zousha]

So I'm considering playing a Zenith as an Apollonian-like paladin. How does a person become an Exalted? Is it something that happens at birth?

[The Demented One]

So I'm considering playing a Zenith as an Apollonian-like paladin. How does a person become an Exalted? Is it something that happens at birth?
For a Solar, you Exalt at a moment of extreme heroism. When you take up arms to fight against an army alone, when you decipher the secret spellbook of ancient Salina, when you negotiate a peace between two warring nations.

For other types, it's a bit different, but that's not too relevant here.

[The Demented One]

Uh... Exalted is as serious as you want it to be. Really. There can be politics and deception. There can be straight up over the top ridiculous concepts. There can be brainwashing enemies into doing your bidding because you are just that awesome at giving speeches.
And there can be all three, at the same time!

[The Rose Dragon]

So I'm considering playing a Zenith as an Apollonian-like paladin. How does a person become an Exalted? Is it something that happens at birth?

It happens at a moment of heroism, where few others would rise to the challenge. It usually happens at the third decade of one's life, but can happen between 12 and 65 (and rarely beyond).

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, so how do I figure out my motivation? I know that I want this guy's adventures to illustrate the conflict between the Apollonian and Dionysian, but I'm not quite sure how to set it up.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm starting to wonder if I should go with this character. The GM has told me he's using PDFs that he buys on CD-ROM from a friend of his who bought the books. That's piracy, isn't it?

[The Demented One]

I'm starting to wonder if I should go with this character. The GM has told me he's using PDFs that he buys on CD-ROM from a friend of his who bought the books. That's piracy, isn't it?
*blink* Yeah. And ridiculously old-school piracy, at that.

[Indon]

It's a fun idea, but I don't think it sounds...dignified enough for an Exalt. It seems to silly for a game like Exalted.

That sounds like a fun quirk, but you might want to make that more of a hobby for the character, rather than their defining feature... well, unless you really want to crank it up to 11 and start actively hunting powerful gods, demons, etc to eat them.

Exalted isn't necessarily serious, and many powerful Exalts have all-consuming interests like that. But those Exalts tend to be more of the NPC type because such a powerful being with such a narrow interest can ultimately be a potential danger to everything that exists ("OM NOM NOM THE FABRIC OF THE UNIVERSE IS DELICIOUS").

[The Rose Dragon]

"You know, the Maidens of Destiny could use slightly more ketchup on their otherwise delicious samsara flavor."

[Sanguine]

It's a fun idea, but I don't think it sounds...dignified enough for an Exalt. It seems to silly for a game like Exalted.

Like others have said Exalted can be as serious or silly as you want. In fact one of the campaign styles mentioned in the Storytelling chapter is a silly campaign, the suggested plot hook for such a campaign was getting The Mask of Winters a date for the Calibration Dance. Also Ma-Ha-Suchi's motivation in the first age was to sleep with every Exalt if I'm not mistaking.

[Weimann]

Also Ma-Ha-Suchi's motivation in the first age was to sleep with every Exalt if I'm not mistaking.Every Celestial Exalt, luckily; limiting it to only 700 people instead of tens of thousands.

I am still surprised at how changed he has become >.>

[The Rose Dragon]

Every Celestial Exalt, luckily; limiting it to only 700 people instead of tens of thousands.

I am still surprised at how changed he has become >.>

699. He is a Celestial Exalt himself, after all.

Though there are Lunar Knacks that allows for creating duplicates of oneself.

[TheCountAlucard]

699. He is a Celestial Exalt himself, after all.

Though there are Lunar Knacks that allows for creating duplicates of oneself.Y'know, in our Exalted game (there's a thread about it around here somewhere), the party went to talk to him at one point, and Ma-Ha-Suchi ended up trying to seduce one of our two Eclipse Castes. Thank goodness for Sagacious Reading of Intent, eh? :smallwink: Of course, his response to Ma-Ha-Suchi's attempted seduction resulted in the Lunar attempting to crush his skull like an egg. We had to put a stop to that...

[Tengu_temp]

699. He is a Celestial Exalt himself, after all.


Nah, 700. The first one of them was just very easy to accomplish.

[The Rose Dragon]

Nah, 700. The first one of them was just very easy to accomplish.

I don't know. Without that knack, it would be incredibly difficult to have sex with oneself. Especially if you don't count biomotonic replicants.

[Kylarra]

I don't know. Without that knack, it would be incredibly difficult to have sex with oneself. Especially if you don't count biomotonic replicants.Multiple limbs abomination? :smallwink::smalltongue:

[Archpaladin Zousha]

In any case, should I play in this game despite the GM using pirated materials? And if I do, what would be a good motivation for the character, given the Apollonian theme I'm working with? Do I need to define "Apollonian" and "Dionysian" to better communicate what I'm trying to say?

[Tengu_temp]

In any case, should I play in this game despite the GM using pirated materials?

If that's your only issue with the GM, then play in this game. Just because someone is using a pirated book doesn't mean he's the worst scum to ever live on Earth, you know. Going deeper into the discussion would probably be against the forum rules though.


Do I need to define "Apollonian" and "Dionysian" to better communicate what I'm trying to say?

That'd help.

[Cubey]

Motivations and Apollonian personalities go very well together. Just boil it down to "create X", but make that X epic enough since it's a Solar Exalted. As in, setting up a new and successful kingdom is NOT epic enough - an empire might be though. And if you want to create a work of art, make your motivation that it'd be beautiful enough to make the Unconquered Sun cry.

Also, not a motivation: Temperance virtue. Focus on that. Goes well with Apollonians.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

If that's your only issue with the GM, then play in this game. Just because someone is using a pirated book doesn't mean he's the worst scum to ever live on Earth, you know. Going deeper into the discussion would probably be against the forum rules though.
It's just that I've heard scary rumors about newer, more repressive copyright laws coming, and I don't want it to get to the point where it gets hard for new works to get published because it's so easy to accuse someone of copyright infringement for even minor similarities.

That'd help.
Okay, it's a distinction Nietzche made in the 19th century in regards to ancient Greek culture. Most scholars at that point considered the Greeks, specifically the Athenians, to be the pinnacle of culture, reason and justice, that kind of thing, and Nietzche basically said in his book, The Birth of Tragedy, "No, it isn't. Look at their drama. There's chaos, extremism, excess and craziness too."

Nietzche characterized this dichotomy using the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus as examples, hence the terms "Apollonian" and "Dionysian."

Traits associated with the Apollonian include:

Day/Light
Order/Law
Balance
Reason/Wisdom
Moderation
Civilization

Traits associated with the Dionysian include:

Night/Darkness
Chaos/Anarchy
Extremism
Madness/Instinct
Excess
The natural world

I was thinking of basing my Zenith on Apollonian virtues, and was thinking my motivation could involve some sort of rival, maybe an Abyssal or Terrestrial or something, who represents Dionysian virtues.

[Jerthanis]

In any case, should I play in this game despite the GM using pirated materials? And if I do, what would be a good motivation for the character, given the Apollonian theme I'm working with? Do I need to define "Apollonian" and "Dionysian" to better communicate what I'm trying to say?

If the piracy bothers you, don't play it, but I will say that when I'm considering purchase of an RPG related material, I think of it as a purchase for the group. If the electronic format were to prevent me from sharing the materials with my group, it would be worthless to me. So pdf sharing isn't always a bad thing. Friend-of-a-friend shouldn't charge for the CDs though in this case though.

Your motivation should be "Reform the pirates to a society/belief set where they no longer depend on piracy to support their way of life"

And yes, I have no idea what "Apolloian" means if you aren't talking about going to the moon or being a giant glowy sun-dude (which you kind of have to be if you're a solar)

[Kylarra]

Abyssals are definitely your dark mirrors, but perhaps if you really wanted your Motivation to have something to do with that, it would be to destroy the monstrances and recover/restore the abyssal exaltations.

[Drascin]

Exalted isn't necessarily serious, and many powerful Exalts have all-consuming interests like that. But those Exalts tend to be more of the NPC type because such a powerful being with such a narrow interest can ultimately be a potential danger to everything that exists ("OM NOM NOM THE FABRIC OF THE UNIVERSE IS DELICIOUS").

...I swear I will use this as a BBEG idea someday. Consider it yoinked.

As for the piracy arguments - not touching it because rules. But if you feel he could run a good game, I wouldn't see a problem here. If anything, tell him to stop being dumb and either buy his damn books or get them for free himself, because that thing he's doing with buying pirated copies (god, I never thought that phrase could be usable) is only benefitting one intermediary pirate.

[Tengu_temp]

I was thinking of basing my Zenith on Apollonian virtues, and was thinking my motivation could involve some sort of rival, maybe an Abyssal or Terrestrial or something, who represents Dionysian virtues.

"Beat my rival" is too small-scale as far as Solar motivation goes, unless your rival happens to be something really powerful and influential, like a Deathlord. Surely not a Terrestial, these guys are wimps in comparison to Solars.
Kylarra's idea sounds good, but in order to pull it off you need to be knowledgable enough to:
1. know about the existence of Abyssals, which is easy.
2. know that they're fallen Solars, whicj is just as easy.
3. know about the monstrances, which is much trickier, because it's not exactly open knowledge.

Another idea is to create, protect and lead to glory a society led by Apollonian virtues. Just remember, you're aiming high, a small kingdom is not enough. And this might not be fitting well if you're joining an adventure-oriented game, not a nation-building one.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Abyssals are definitely your dark mirrors, but perhaps if you really wanted your Motivation to have something to do with that, it would be to destroy the monstrances and recover/restore the abyssal exaltations.

Could you elaborate please?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"Beat my rival" is too small-scale as far as Solar motivation goes, unless your rival happens to be something really powerful and influential, like a Deathlord. Surely not a Terrestial, these guys are wimps in comparison to Solars.
Kylarra's idea sounds good, but in order to pull it off you need to be knowledgable enough to:
1. know about the existence of Abyssals, which is easy.
2. know that they're fallen Solars, whicj is just as easy.
3. know about the monstrances, which is much trickier, because it's not exactly open knowledge.

Another idea is to create, protect and lead to glory a society led by Apollonian virtues. Just remember, you're aiming high, a small kingdom is not enough. And this might not be fitting well if you're joining an adventure-oriented game, not a nation-building one.
I'm sailing on a ship with a group of other Solars, at least two Sidereals, a God-Blooded and possibly a Dragon-Blooded.

[Kylarra]

you need to be knowledgable enough to:
1. know about the existence of Abyssals, which is easy.
2. know that they're fallen Solars, whicj is just as easy.
3. know about the monstrances, which is much trickier, because it's not exactly open knowledge.
Well, really you only need to be trying to recover/restore the Abyssal Exaltations. The monstrance part is simply a step that's required to do it, so it's a valid Motivation, I simply went into more detail than a starting exalt is likely to have.


Could you elaborate please?
Abyssal Exaltations don't go back to Lytek (the god of exaltations) when the Exalt they empower is killed. They return to their Monstrance, think of it sort of like a Lich's phylactory or a respawn point. In order to "free" the exaltation, you'd have to go to the Underworld and destroy its associated monstrance so that the exaltation won't be forced to return to it. Interestingly enough, if you manage to somehow free an abyssal exaltation, Lytek, or a powerful sorcerer-type, would then have access to an Exaltation untouched by the Great Curse.

[The Rose Dragon]

Interestingly enough, if you manage to somehow free an abyssal exaltation, Lytek, or a powerful sorcerer-type, would then have access to an Exaltation untouched by the Great Curse.

Of course, it would 1) still have the Dark Fate, and 2) still be an Abyssal.

Since Abyssal Exaltations are not as easy to purify as Infernal ones.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Interestingly enough, if you manage to somehow free an abyssal exaltation, Lytek, or a powerful sorcerer-type, would then have access to an Exaltation untouched by the Great Curse.
And this is interesting how?

[Kylarra]

Of course, it would 1) still have the Dark Fate, and 2) still be an Abyssal.

Since Abyssal Exaltations are not as easy to purify as Infernal ones.Well yeah, but it's a start. I'm not so sure about Infernals being easier to purify though. What makes you say that?


And this is interesting how?
It'd be a potential place to start for researching a cure for the Great Curse. Of course, you'd need to know what the Great Curse was in the first place.

[Tavar]

And this is interesting how?

The Great Curse is represented in game with the Limit/Limit Break system. IC, it makes the celestial exalts go crazy every so often, how they do so depending on their type of exalt and their virtues. It's one of the prime reasons First Age Exalts went completely bonkers, and thus it's why the Usurpation was planed. Without that, you have Exalts as they were meant to be.


Also, I though Infernals were harder to 'fix' than Abyssals. For the latter, Lytek can clean it up, or something, and you have a solar shard. The former were reworked by the Yozi, and are therefore harder to fix.

[Lapak]

It'd be a potential place to start for researching a cure for the Great Curse. Of course, you'd need to know what the Great Curse was in the first place.This is something way too many people forget - almost no one knows why the Solars go nuts. They just assume it's part of being a Solar.

[The Rose Dragon]

Well yeah, but it's a start. I'm not so sure about Infernals being easier to purify though. What makes you say that?

The changes made to an Abyssal are simple, but it also makes them harder to break externally. The changes made to an Infernal are extensive, but very fragile if you have the right tools. For the former, turning into a Solar requires an epic quest for redemption. For the latter, it pretty much requires dying and having your Exaltation captured by Lytek or the Unconquered Sun.

If you don't believe me, you can check page 213 of the Infernals book. :smalltongue:

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, trying to figure out my exaltation now. I know it has to be an act of great courage, and I'd like it to exemplify his main Virtue of Temperance, but I'm at a bit of a loss. How DO humans live in this world anyhow? The Exalted seem to overshadow them completely.

[The Rose Dragon]

How DO humans live in this world anyhow?

Poorly.


The Exalted seem to overshadow them completely.

They do, but that doesn't mean mortals can't be heroic. Not nearly as heroic as Exalts, of course, but heroic nonetheless.

Also, in the First Age, the Solars had built an infrastructure that meant excellent living standards for everyone, using their awesome Charms and magitech building skills. When the Usurpation happened, without Solars to take care of the infrastructure, everything fell apart, and the Dragon-blooded started becoming self-absorbed tyrants instead of servants of the Celestial Exalted. That's why Creation is such a mess.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I thought the reason Creation was so screwed up was because of the Games of Divinity. The gods overthrew the primordials just because they wanted to play the Games, and that resulted in a whole lot of crap, including the Neverborn, the Yozi AND the Great Curse, which in turn causes Abyssal Exalted, Infernal Exalted and the Usurpation.

And because they're so hooked on the games now, the gods don't do ANYTHING to fix what's going on.

[The Rose Dragon]

The gods are usually not in a very good position to fix things, lacking Exalted Charms.

Of course, the Great Curse was the reason behind the Usurpation, but before the Usurpation itself, Creation was going on relatively well. It's just that the Sidereals decided to look into the future and saw that Creation would be doomed if they did nothing, and it could be doomed if they explained their fears to the Solars, so they just decided to go the "safest" route and get rid of the Solars altogether.

[Tengu_temp]

It's more like the Incarnae rebelled because they wanted to be free, and then they discovered the Games of Divinity and got addicted. Some of them didn't do so willingly, either - TUS wouldn't start playing if not for a Primordial curse that forced him to do that.

The GoD certainly don't make things better, but they're far from the only factor that screws Creation up.


How DO humans live in this world anyhow? The Exalted seem to overshadow them completely.

Remember that Exalted are rare - there are 700 Celestial Exalted total and around 10.000 Terrestials, in the whole Creation. And Creation is larger than any single continent on Earth.

[Lapak]

Okay, trying to figure out my exaltation now. I know it has to be an act of great courage, and I'd like it to exemplify his main Virtue of Temperance, but I'm at a bit of a loss. How DO humans live in this world anyhow? The Exalted seem to overshadow them completely.Hmm. Well, first of all, mortals DO do a lot of stuff in the world. The Exalted are so limited in number that percentage-wise, most of the people in any given organization are going to be mortals of one stripe or another. Also, Exalted (the mechanical system) does provide stats for Heroic Mortals, so there ARE non-Exalted heroes. They just don't last long if they go up against anything out of their weight class, but there's plenty of room for heroics in mortal life: a savior of the downtrodden slaves who fights against a large-scale slaving organization might easily be a Heroic Mortal.

As for a Temperance Exaltation... hmm. Let's toss ideas out there. Your character had a great wrong done to them, that gave them an extreme reason to seek revenge - their whole family slaughtered, their True Love killed in a robbery gone bad, something like that. Let's say that your character already had their basic tendencies (safe to assume) and that you were functioning as some level of local law enforcement. Oh! Let's say the great wrong was your partner being killed. The entire [city guard/police force/whatever] is out for blood for the killer. You tracked the villain down and found that the person ultimately responsible was the key to toppling a major crime organization in the city you were protecting - but only if he was brought alive to the local Exalted governor and forced to testify. Half the Guard was with you when you brought him down. They wanted his death. YOU wanted his death. And really, bringing him in wasn't certain to bring down the organization and would almost certainly end up with him walking free. Your blade was in your hand. Your companions were waiting to help chop him to ribbons. Your partner had died in your arms, and died hard.

But there was a chance that bringing him in alive would be the greater good. And you said no. You would not kill him. And you would not let your friends kill him either, as they desperately wanted to. They came at you, not to hurt you but to hold you aside, convinced that you had snapped and that you'd be glad of what they were doing. And truth be told, you would be glad. And you couldn't stand against half the Guard alone. But before they could restrain you, you said no again. Or rather,

NO.

For you had Exalted. You had chosen the greater good over your own aims, chosen Law over vigilante justice, chosen Order over your own wants and needs in the most extreme circumstances, and opposed yourself and those closest to you to do it. And the Unconquered Sun saw your act and seized upon it, and gave you the strength to see it through.

Of course, that means you had to flee the city and abandon your work afterwards, but you had cowed the Guard sufficiently that they did what you commanded instead of what they wanted.

It needs more Epic, probably, but the basic idea is one to build on. You chose to promote your ideals against overwhelming opposition and your own desire.

[Kylarra]

The changes made to an Abyssal are simple, but it also makes them harder to break externally. The changes made to an Infernal are extensive, but very fragile if you have the right tools. For the former, turning into a Solar requires an epic quest for redemption. For the latter, it pretty much requires dying and having your Exaltation captured by Lytek or the Unconquered Sun.

If you don't believe me, you can check page 213 of the Infernals book. :smalltongue:Mmm delicious fluffy fiat. I'll agree that the subtext does say it would be easier, but considering that it's ST determined either way, it's still an unknown variable.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Hmm. Well, first of all, mortals DO do a lot of stuff in the world. The Exalted are so limited in number that percentage-wise, most of the people in any given organization are going to be mortals of one stripe or another. Also, Exalted (the mechanical system) does provide stats for Heroic Mortals, so there ARE non-Exalted heroes. They just don't last long if they go up against anything out of their weight class, but there's plenty of room for heroics in mortal life: a savior of the downtrodden slaves who fights against a large-scale slaving organization might easily be a Heroic Mortal.

As for a Temperance Exaltation... hmm. Let's toss ideas out there. Your character had a great wrong done to them, that gave them an extreme reason to seek revenge - their whole family slaughtered, their True Love killed in a robbery gone bad, something like that. Let's say that your character already had their basic tendencies (safe to assume) and that you were functioning as some level of local law enforcement. Oh! Let's say the great wrong was your partner being killed. The entire [city guard/police force/whatever] is out for blood for the killer. You tracked the villain down and found that the person ultimately responsible was the key to toppling a major crime organization in the city you were protecting - but only if he was brought alive to the local Exalted governor and forced to testify. Half the Guard was with you when you brought him down. They wanted his death. YOU wanted his death. And really, bringing him in wasn't certain to bring down the organization and would almost certainly end up with him walking free. Your blade was in your hand. Your companions were waiting to help chop him to ribbons. Your partner had died in your arms, and died hard.

But there was a chance that bringing him in alive would be the greater good. And you said no. You would not kill him. And you would not let your friends kill him either, as they desperately wanted to. They came at you, not to hurt you but to hold you aside, convinced that you had snapped and that you'd be glad of what they were doing. And truth be told, you would be glad. And you couldn't stand against half the Guard alone. But before they could restrain you, you said no again. Or rather,

NO.

For you had Exalted. You had chosen the greater good over your own aims, chosen Law over vigilante justice, chosen Order over your own wants and needs in the most extreme circumstances, and opposed yourself and those closest to you to do it. And the Unconquered Sun saw your act and seized upon it, and gave you the strength to see it through.

Of course, that means you had to flee the city and abandon your work afterwards, but you had cowed the Guard sufficiently that they did what you commanded instead of what they wanted.

It needs more Epic, probably, but the basic idea is one to build on. You chose to promote your ideals against overwhelming opposition and your own desire.

I like this idea. What do you mean it needs more Epic though?

[Lapak]

I like this idea. What do you mean it needs more Epic though?You can probably ignore that. One way my brain tends to fight me when I'm working with Exalted is by protesting that I'm not over-the-top enough no matter how over-the-top I am already going. It's like the Genie in Aladdin muttering 'Not enough... STILL not enough..." while creating ever more exotic transformations.

[Weimann]

Frankly, I think that's epic enough. Look at Scroll of Exalts, and you'll notice how little of the Exaltation moments actually contain charging an army on your own, because doing that would be bloody stupid. Mirror Flag Exalted while she revealed her crooked carnival manager to the public, despite it costing her job. That's good enough for a mortal; later, when you've Exalt, you can go for the 'charge an army' deal.

Still, it could be described in more detail and with more points on how everyone was awed and moved by your pathos and dignity, but the basic action is quite alright.

Edit: In fact, one problem with the Exalted setting is that it's easy to lose perspective. There was a thread on the White Wolf forums pertaining the question if, in the event that a house was thrown at you, stunting a perfect defense as batting it away like a baseball would protect the people that stood around you. Technically, the defense only protects you and the action Defend Other allows for defending for one person other than yourself.

A developer came by and pointed out that it was really hard to throw houses around, so he didn't think it was a worthwhile discussion. Somehow everyone had just assumed Exalts could do that, just because. They CAN do it, no doubt, but not as a matter of course, and the effective strength required is not easily achieved.

[Indon]

A developer came by and pointed out that it was really hard to throw houses around, so he didn't think it was a worthwhile discussion. Somehow everyone had just assumed Exalts could do that, just because. They CAN do it, no doubt, but not as a matter of course, and the effective strength required is not easily achieved.

You could totally make a starting Exalt that could throw a house as a weapon.

However, it would require a point of Willpower expenditure to raise your Str+Athletics for the purposes of a Feat of Strength, and possibly also use of an Excellency, as well as high initial stats.

Str 5 + Ath 5 + Spec (Throwing Stuff) 3 + 10 from an Excellency + average 3 from a Willpower roll = 26, enough to throw anything that requires up to Str+Ath 13 to pick up.

And I'm pretty sure wagons are like 8, so 5 more onto that probably gets you to at least smaller houses, though mansions may still be out of your grasp.

[Lapak]

So yes, anyway, the consensus is that my suggestion is around the right level of heroism. Anyone else want to throw an idea out there? I'm curious about how many examples of heroic Temperance we can come up with. :smallsmile:

[Talkkno]

Hell there's a Essence 6 charm in Glories of the Most High that lets slice and dice hills and placeses with ease.

[Weimann]

You could totally make a starting Exalt that could throw a house as a weapon.

However, it would require a point of Willpower expenditure to raise your Str+Athletics for the purposes of a Feat of Strength, and possibly also use of an Excellency, as well as high initial stats.

Str 5 + Ath 5 + Spec (Throwing Stuff) 3 + 10 from an Excellency + average 3 from a Willpower roll = 26, enough to throw anything that requires up to Str+Ath 13 to pick up.

And I'm pretty sure wagons are like 8, so 5 more onto that probably gets you to at least smaller houses, though mansions may still be out of your grasp.Again, no doubt you can make a character that can throw a house, but it's not something that follows from your Exaltation as a matter of course. Even Exalts has to be Beefy McStrongstrong, as you show. Besides, there's no telling how the word "house" was interpreted; he might have thought that you ripped a villa from it's foundation with your arms alone. 13 seems like enough to throw a shack or so, but bigger would need more.

Anyway, we aren't here to discuss real estate's application as improvised weapons.

[Drascin]

The gods are usually not in a very good position to fix things, lacking Exalted Charms.

Of course, the Great Curse was the reason behind the Usurpation, but before the Usurpation itself, Creation was going on relatively well. It's just that the Sidereals decided to look into the future and saw that Creation would be doomed if they did nothing, and it could be doomed if they explained their fears to the Solars, so they just decided to go the "safest" route and get rid of the Solars altogether.

Well, in truth, right before the Usurpation things were already going really, really bad. "Solars creating false life out of the pieces of live mortals as a basic science project" and "people casting spells so big the fabric of Fate keeps snapping" and "People starting to be freaking terrified of Solars" bad. It's not that the Sidereals foresaw things going badly. It's that things were already going horribly and so they pooled the resources of every Sidereal to make the biggest prophecy ever and see how it could go.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, now I'm building my character and I don't have the book...so I have no clue what I'm doing.

[The Rose Dragon]

I suggest getting the book.

Well, let's briefly go through the steps of Exalted chargen.

1) Choose Caste, Motivation and Concept. I think you already have that one down, but just to recap: Caste is the divine role you are appointed to by the Incarna of your Exaltation. Motivation is your biggest goal at the moment, which is subject to change if certain events make it unfeasible, complete or unimportant to you.

2) Choose Attributes. There are 9 Attributes, divided into three as Physical, Social and Mental. First, you have to prioritize these three groups. The Primary group gets the most "dots", while the Tertiary gets the least. Since this is free-form, I will assume that it doesn't matter much how you divided the "dots" among your three Attributes.

3) Choose Abilities. Abilities are learned skills, as well as the root of your Charms. You can't be the best at everything at chargen, at you can maximize 9 abilities out of 25 at best at this point. So, define your character's abilities accordingly.

4) Choose Advantages. There are three types of Advantages. Backgrounds are either external qualities of your character, such as his wealth, social contacts and such, or internal qualities specific to his Exaltation type. Solars have none of the latter, so define your belongings and social status at this point. You can also have a familiar, a cult and such if you want to. Charms are your supernatural abilities rooted in your Abilities allowing you to exceed most everyone because you're Exalted and your Charms are awesome. Solar Charms increase their innate abilities rather than give them Gigeresque special effects (with a handful of exceptions). Virtues are your character's personality, of which there are four: Compassion, Conviction, Temperance and Valor. The highest of these determines your core as well as how your Great Curse manifests, which is an extreme subversion or inversion of your virtue.

5) Finishing Touches. This is the point where you determine all the derived statistics, such as Willpower and Essence pools, as well as your Intimacies, which are what your character really cares about. You also get to increase your previously mentioned traits, as well as your Essence, which is the depth of your mythical prowess.

6) Spark of Life. This is where you define your character as a person, rather than a set of mechanics. Since you don't have any mechanics, just combine the previously mentioned parts into a coherent whole and you'll be alright.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

So how do I know how much of each bit I'm allowed to have?

[The Rose Dragon]

So how do I know how much of each bit I'm allowed to have?

Since this is freeform, I suggest discussing the chargen limits with your ST. The exact mechanics are not mine to give, so I can't exactly divulge the numbers here.

[Kylarra]

What you can do though, to get an idea of what a character sheet looks like, is download the quickstart module (http://www.white-wolf.com/downloads.php?category_id=20) and/or the associated pregenerated character sheets. From there a little reverse engineering should get you the approximate numbers you need.

Note that there will be some discrepancies in the numbers as each character gets a certain number of bonus points to customize their traits.

I'll also give you the list of questions that the book gives to keep in mind for your character's personality, since it's not mechanical, but rather pure fluffery, I think it's okay to share them. If not, I apologize in advance.:smalleek:


How old are you?
What was your family life like?
Where are you from?
How were you Exalted?
When did you meet your companions?
How has power changed you?
What do you think of mortals?
What motivates you to be a hero (if anything)?
Who or what do you worship?
What would drive you to commit murder?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

How old are you?
25 years old

What was your family life like?
I had just moved out of home and started my own life, though I was a loyal son, brother and uncle.

Where are you from?
A big city in the Western Archipelago, but I'm not sure what it should be called. I'm thinking "Five Tons of Flax."

How were you Exalted?
As was originally suggested in the thread, I was a city guardsman whose partner was killed in action. I had a chance to kill the perpetrator, and all the other guards wanted to kill me, but I showed extraordinary temperance and chose to show mercy.

When did you meet your companions?
This is going to happen in-game.

How has power changed you?
Before becoming Exalted, one thing that frustrated me was the insurmountable job the guardsmen have trying to clean up crime. Now that I'm Exalted, I feel like I could singlehandedly stop injustice. I've become even MORE altruistic, kind of like Superman.

What do you think of mortals?
While I was one once, I look at them more like children than anything else. Weak, innocent and in constant need of protection.

What motivates you to be a hero (if anything)?
Justice.

Who or what do you worship?
After my exaltation, I became a devout worshiper of the Unconquered Sun.

What would drive you to commit murder?
I'm not sure. What would drive Superman to homicidal rage?

I've also decided on a name. He will be "Eagle Lifts The Mountain."

[The Rose Dragon]

I've also decided on a name. He will be "Eagle Lifts The Mountain."

No, not Eagle! Tiger! Tiger Lifts the Mountain!

Cookies for the reference.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Jade Empire, one of the stage names you may take when you join the Arena. It's because of that reference that I picked the name in the first place. I just felt that Tiger was more suited to a Lunar than a Solar.

[The Rose Dragon]

I just felt that Tiger was more suited to a Lunar than a Solar.

Why? After all, Lunars can have all sorts of spirit shapes, including eagles.

Also, the most traditional War Charm for Solars is named Tiger Warrior Training Technique.

So, go with Tiger.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Tigers just seem so savage though. So Dionysian. It's true! Tigers were commonly shown among Dionysus' entourage.

[Tengu_temp]

Tigers are considered fearless warriors rather than savage brutes in many Eastern mythologies, though, and it shows quite often in Exalted. Tiger Warriors, for example, are disciplined elite crack troops, not crazed berserkers.

Also, not all Lunars are savage barbarians. They used to be in 1e and still can be in 2e, but they have more depths and a much wider array of roles now.

[Yuki Akuma]

Erm... you know, Dawn Caste Solars are known as "Tigers", right? So, no, Tiger totally fits a Solar.

(Zenith are Bulls, but you can totally be a Tiger if you want.)

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Hmm...in that case, maybe it should be Bull Lifts the Mountain. Would make more sense with my caste.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm trying to figure out how to distribute my background points. I've kind of got some cheesy ideas after seeing Clash of the Titans, but I know I'd like some sort of magic sword (which I assume is Artifact), but I'd also like to have a giant scorpion to ride. I'm not sure if I'd want a cult or followers. Should I go for temporal power, becoming a warlord of some sort, or become a god? Which would be better for an "Apollonian paladin" type character?.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Giant Sword is Artifact.

Giant scorpion to ride is Familiar, probably. If you have access to Scroll of Heroes, I'd say go for it. If not, then Familiar dots are a waste.

I would go with Cult, personally. It gives you more benefits (essence regeneration) than Followers, IMO, and provides an easy justification for picking up the Followers background later if you still want it.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I never said I wanted a GIANT sword. Just a silvery sword whose blade only appears when it's in my hand.

What makes Familiar dots a waste without this "Scroll of Heroes?"

How would a city-guardsman-turned-Solar-Exalt assemble a cult? I've got some sort of idea of him living in the desert after fleeing his home city following his exaltation, but that's about it.

[TheCountAlucard]

What makes Familiar dots a waste without this "Scroll of Heroes?"Because the first Exalt it fights will kill it in one hit.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Please elaborate for someone who does not have the books to check and learn this. :smallredface:

[Kylarra]

Please elaborate for someone who does not have the books to check and learn this. :smallredface:
Essentially a familiar is a mundane animal that's bonded to you. The problem is, mundanes tend to go splat very fast when faced with something at Exalt level, even if "only" a Terrestrial Exalt.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I see. Besides that, you say mundane animal. I don't think a scorpion big enough to carry a howdah like an elephant would count in that respect. Perhaps I'll skip the scorpion mount, and also drop Ride and replace it with Occult. Sorcery sounds way more tempting than a mount that gets squished easy. Besides, the Twilight in our circle already has a First Age boat.

[Kylarra]

Well I used mundane as in not-supernatural and not enhanced by charms. Even something like Tyrant Lizard will go splat against an Exalt because it has no charms to protect it. Most beasts of creation are merely roadbumps by themselves against Exalts.

And yes, go for sorcery. It is an excellent tool to have on hand.

If you have some free time, read Keychain of Creation (http://keychain.patternspider.net/). It's a great intro into Exalted mechanics in the same lines as OotS is into D&D.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

And that's not what I want. I'm thinking that I'll go for the artifact and a cult, but instead of scorpions, I'll have a snake motif, like Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian, but benevolent. I'll command a cult out in the desert that helps rescue people who get lost and guide them back to civilization, and kills bandits to protect the people living there, sort of like my old life as a guardsman.

[Lapak]

If you want a 'sword that appears from nowhere', I'd think that the Charm 'Glorious Solar Sabre' would be just the ticket. Shaping a sword from pure Essence feels about right for your character, too.

Then again, you can always just get the Artifact and pull it out of thin air with a different Charm, so...

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm not sure how to distribute my Background points. If I can't think of other ideas, I'll just sink four points into Artifact and three into Cult.

[Kylarra]

Ally or Mentor is a pretty good one to have if you plan on going into sorcery. Manse could represent your base of operations/fortress of solitude. You probably have Resources of some sort, possibly income from your cult?

Contacts are always useful to have as well. It's rare that people don't know where to put their Background points. More often than not, I find people buying more of them.

Also note that 2 artifact 2s are 2 instances of artifact 2, not artifact 4.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Ally or Mentor is a pretty good one to have if you plan on going into sorcery. Manse could represent your base of operations/fortress of solitude. You probably have Resources of some sort, possibly income from your cult?
Good points.

Contacts are always useful to have as well. It's rare that people don't know where to put their Background points. More often than not, I find people buying more of them.
Hey, I'm new at this, remember?

Also note that 2 artifact 2s are 2 instances of artifact 2, not artifact 4.
Eh? So artifacts are only 2?

[Kylarra]

Good points.

Hey, I'm new at this, remember?

Eh? So artifacts are only 2?What I meant is that Artifact 4 would usually be used to represent an exceedingly powerful/rare artifact. You were probably thinking of having multiple smaller artifacts, which means that you'd have multiple instances of the Artifact background, each with their own respective rating.

For example, you could have a Daiklave (artifact 2) and hearthstone bracers (artifact 2).

This is two instances of artifact 2.

Artifact 4-5 represents an artifact whose crafting was lost from the first age and is the stuff that whole nations go to war over.

Also note that you can't buy backgrounds above 3 without spending bonus points, although since this is freeform, not so relevant.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, so three points in artifact to get a Grand Daiklave. Should I just put the remaining four dots into Manse, Mentor, Cult and Resources respectively?

[Yuki Akuma]

One dot each in those four backgrounds won't get you very much - it'll mostly just be flavour.

But then this is a freeform game so go right ahead. Just remember, Resources 1 is not very rich at all. You can barely afford clothes.

Also, a Mentor 1 is only just barely more skilled than a starting character.

Cult 1 is like a few guys who built a shrine to you.

[Talkkno]

I recommended throwing some background points in either Backing(Cult of the Illuminated) or Allies(Gold Fraction), since the Gold Fraction already has a decent solid power base for newbie Solars to jump start from(and they help a lot not getting jumped by the Wyld Hunt:smallamused:), and allow access to Yu-Shan without needing to negotiate with the celestial lions.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I understand that. I'm thinking Artifact 3, Manse 2, Cult 1, Resources 1. The Resources is mainly to support myself in the desert. The reason the Cult is so small is because the GM told me that if my cult was too big it would draw the attention of the Dragon-Blooded.

[Talkkno]

I understand that. I'm thinking Artifact 3, Manse 2, Cult 1, Resources 1. The Resources is mainly to support myself in the desert. The reason the Cult is so small is because the GM told me that if my cult was too big it would draw the attention of the Dragon-Blooded.

You could probably get away with Cult 2, saying that are the Solar worshiped by the local Cult of the Illuminated cell in a major city...the Cult tends to very discreet in its operations.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

What if I dropped Resources and just went with Cult 2 instead? And what's this Cult of the Illuminated?

[Talkkno]

The Cult of the Illuminated is a Gold Fraction Sidereal front to recruit and train Solars, they want the entire threshold under the thumb of the Cult of the Illuminated(Replacing the Immaculate Order) and from their launch a invasion on the Realm and restore Solars to there Creation Ruling Mandate(With Gold Fraction Sidereals as advisers of course....)

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I see. Perhaps they could be a reason as to why he was able to avoid the Wyld Hunt for all this time?

[Tavar]

Another option for the cult(one I'm using) is to have it be spread out, so a couple guys+a shrine spread out over the country side. Works best in areas with little Realm penetration, but the south could definitely work with that. Plus, if you do it right, you can always use the explanation that he's a relatively minor god. Wyld Hunt isn't wild about them, but in areas with little penetration, they can't do much.

Also, keep in mind, that with your current resource rating, you have the artifact, the manse, and some clothes.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Resources 1 or 0?

Also, I didn't set up my abilities yet. Here's what I'm thinking:

Melee 3
Integrity 2
Resistance 2
Presence 3
Performance 2
Survival 3
War 2
Occult 3
Linguistics 2
Lore 2

How's that look?

[Tavar]

Rescource 1. 0 means you literally have nothing.

On your abilites:

One thing you probably want to do is look at the charms you want to get, to make sure you have enough dots to get them. Also, remember that you do have some bonus points(15, if going by the core rules), so you should also try and factor that in. If you want to be good at melee, you probably want to raise the relevant stats a bit; there's 2 ways to do this. First you can spend bonus points to raise the general skill. Or, you can spend points on a specialty. It's cheaper, and gives a nice boost early on. On the downside, they don't count for prerequisites, and only apply to a subsection of the skill(e.g. Melee has spear, swords, mauls, and the like as it's specialties).

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I have no idea what Charms I want. What are Charms anyway? Are they like feats? Spells?

[Kylarra]

I have no idea what Charms I want. What are Charms anyway? Are they like feats? Spells?
Yes.


What is a Charm?

A form of Essence manipulation that focuses Essence through a character's Abilities. Charms allow Exalts to perform superhuman feats and are the most basic form of supernatural powers the Exalted wield.
http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Charm

[Archpaladin Zousha]

This is incredibly confusing. I'm not entirely sure WHAT charms I want.

[Kylarra]

This is incredibly confusing. I'm not entirely sure WHAT charms I want.Well, since this is freeform, we can give you some general hints. Let's go with the basics, what sort of superawesome things do you want him to be able to do?

[Tavar]

I have no idea what Charms I want. What are Charms anyway? Are they like feats? Spells?

Both, and neither.

Okay, the entire world has this stuff called essence flowing through it. Most beings can't manipulate it, but those who can do wondrous, terrible things with it. The smallest amount of Essence is called a mote.

It's pretty much like Mana, and all Exalts, as well as various other beings, can use it. Now, charms are fulled by motes. There's also Spells proper, which is what Sorcery deals with.

Charms, though, well, we can divide them into 2 basic camps; excellencies, and the other stuff. Excellencies give bonus dice/straight bonuses/rerolls, plus at higher essences, some useful stuff. They're very powerful, and you'll want to get a one for each of your major abilities. Then we have the other stuff. This is the fun things, like jumping miles at a time, or making arrows out of essence, the perfect attack/defense ,etc. These are important and useful to have, but don't forget to get some excellencies as well. Here's a post that goes a bit more in depth on excellencies, from a game I'm applying to.


More Essence is always good or you could buy some more Charms. Also the following is a break down of which Excellencies are best for which abilities which I thought might be helpful since everyone is relatively new to the system.

To determine which Excellency is the best to choose for each Ability, consider the situations that you'll typically be in when making rolls for that Ability.

First Excellency is best for those times when your threshold of success (that is, the number of extra successes you get) is important. Combat is a perfect example. If you get a massive number of extra successes on an attack, you get to do a massive amount of extra damage.

Second Excellency is best for when you're making a roll against a set difficulty and it doesn't matter how many successes you beat that difficulty by. Social combat is a good example here. It doesn't matter how many successes you beat your opponent's MDV by, the result is the same: they agree with you or they have to spend a Willpower to disagree. Second Excellency is also good for those times when you absolutely can't afford to botch. Rolls to resist poison are a good example, Athletics rolls to avoid falling to your death are another.

Third Excellency is best for those times when you don't want to spend Essence unless you have to. Stealth rolls for instance, if you spend too much Essence, your anima will flare up and make Stealth impossible anyway. Third Excellency is good for rolls that you'll be making all the time and that you'll usually succeed without help from Charms, but you want a safety net just in case you botch. Awareness or Lore rolls could be examples of this. (Keep in mind you can often accomplish a similar level of subtlety using Infinite Ability Mastery and 2nd Excellency in combination.)

Here's an Ability by Ability breakdown:

Archery, Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown: 1st Excellency - You want the possibility to get huge numbers of successes on your attacks, so you're willing to risk a little inconsistency on defense.

War: 2nd Excellency (+ Infinite War Mastery!!) - The paradigm case for War rolls is a Charisma + War check at a difficulty of your unit's (Magnitude - Drill). Threshold doesn't matter, you just want to beat the difficulty. Also, 2nd Excellency is awesome to combine with Infinite War Mastery because you can use reflexive Charms at any time in Mass Combat and the scene lasts for the entire battle no matter how long it is. Commit some motes at the start of battle and you can effectively beat those Charisma + War checks automatically!

Integrity: 2nd or 3rd Excellency - It depends on how high your Integrity score is and your opinion on defense strategy. Would you rather spend more motes to make sure your opponent's argument doesn't penetrate your Dodge MDV, or would you rather be mote efficient and/or see how many successes your opponent rolls first?

Performance, Presence: 2nd or 3rd Excellency - 3rd if you don't want to glow because you're worried about attention from the Realm, 2nd otherwise.

Resistance: 2nd Excellency - Resistance rolls are always against a set difficutly and failures or botches are usually pretty disastrous. If you plan on spending a lot of time walking through bonfires or something, invest in Infinite Resistance Mastery and/or some natural soak Charms.

Survival: 1st or 2nd Excellency - Threshold matters for predicting the weather and tracking. When finding food or shelter, on the other hand, you just have to beat a set difficulty and you don't want to botch. It's a toss up.

Craft: Combo 1st and 2nd Excellency - High threshold improves your final product, but botching could spoil the whole project. Don't worry about spending that Willpower; Craft rolls are usually made weeks apart at least. That's more than enough time to recover the Willpower before the next roll.

Investigation: 2nd Excellency - Remember how awesome Ten Magistrate Eyes was in 1e. 2nd Excellency is a bit more expensive but gets the same sort of results.

Lore: 2nd and 3rd Excellency - You need two Excellencies to unlock some of the higher level Lore Charms, so use 3rd for the routine academic knowledge checks and 2nd when it's all on the line (like when you're trying to figure out how to defuse the First Age Essence Nuke).

Medicine: 2nd Excellency - Botching can mean losing your patient, take 2nd Excellency and use it.

Occult: 2nd Excellency - It would be nice if you could use 1st Excellency to boost the attack roll on spells like Death of Obsidian Butterflies, but you can't. Take 2nd for those set difficulty thaumaturgy rolls and occult knowledge checks.

Athletics: 2nd Excellency - For the purposes of lifting and jumping, 2nd Excellency is just as good as 1st for boosting those static ratings. For climbing or falling, you can't afford to botch. For keeping your balance, just take Graceful Crane Stance.

Awareness: 2nd or 3rd Excellency - It depends on your ST's style. If he has you make Perception + Awareness rolls all the time, take 3rd. If he only asks for a Perception + Awareness roll when there's an ambush, take 2nd.

Dodge: 2nd or 3rd Excellency - Like with Integrity, it depends on your defense strategy. 2nd for maximum defense boost, 3rd for mote efficiency.

Larceny and Stealth: 3rd Excellency - Glowing is worse than botching in these cases, and you can't afford to commit a bunch of motes to Infinite Ability Mastery because you might need those motes to power other Charms.

Bureacracy: 2nd Excellency - Threshold doesn't matter when pricing goods, probably doesn't matter when filling out paperwork, and haggling/negotiating/dealing with ornerry bureaucrats is handled by Social Combat. If you need to price a whole market full of goods in a single scene, take Infinite Bureaucracy Mastery. (By the way, you should probably be using Frugal Merchant Method or Insightful Buyer Technique to price goods anyway. Bureaucracy Excellencies just aren't that useful.)

Linguistics: 1st Excellency - Codes are the only thing I can think of that you actually roll Linguistics for. Huge amounts of successes can make your codes nigh-impossible to break, and allow you to crack nigh-impossible codes.

Ride: 3rd Excellency - If you make the roll to control your mount without magic that frees you up to use a combat Charm this action. If you don't make the roll, you've got 3rd Ride Excellency to fall back on.

Sail: 1st Excellency - Threshold matters for predicting weather and sea chases. It probably doesn't for navigating reefs or storms though. I'd be willing to risk failure for the chance of overwhelming success. Botches could probably be fixed with some stunted Craft (Wood) rolls.

Socialize: 3rd Excellency - Subtlety matters more for Socialize than the other social abilities since you use it to read other people's intentions and veil your own. It's also important for mass social combat, but you won't actually be rolling it.

There you go. Keep in mind this is just one man's opinion. I don't claim to be the final word on any of this.

[The_Snark]

Picking Charms is going to be tricky if you don't know the game, and especially so if you don't have the book yourself—it's sort of like being new to D&D, being introduced to the 100-page chapter full of spells in the PHB, and then realizing you have to look through these and pick some. (Exalted's chapter on Charms is only about 50 or 60 pages, but more of them are available to you right from the start than D&D spells.)

To expand on what the wiki said: Solar Charms are divided into categories based on Ability. A Charm that lets you do Sherlock Holmes-style deductions would be an Investigation Charm, one that lets you sprint faster than a horse would be an Athletics Charm, one that lets you rally a defeated army would be a War Charm ... you get the idea. In general, Solar Charms let you do things that a mortal could do—if only technically—and takes them to an almost superhuman level... or sometimes just plain superhuman, when you get to the type of Charms that let you leap miles, parry meteors, or become invisible. Even those, though, would be keyed off Athletics, Melee, and Sealth, respectively.

Out of curiosity, didn't you say that this was a freeform sort of game, using the Exalted setting? I wouldn't think you'd need to do things like figure out exactly how your Abilities are allocated if you're not using the rules. Unless your GM is requiring that everybody come up with a complete character sheet, I suggest you just pick a few Abilities that are particularly important to your character and note that you'd have superhuman prowess in those...

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Well, since this is freeform, we can give you some general hints. Let's go with the basics, what sort of superawesome things do you want him to be able to do?

I'm not certain, to be honest. I originally thought I wanted to just try and replicate a D&D paladin, but then someone recommended a Zenith instead of a Dawn, which seemed to work better since Zeniths are more religious oriented, whereas Dawns are military. Then I was sort of stumbling for other ideas and asked for help, which led to the guardsman backstory, and I've been fumbling through the character creation process with next to no idea how everything works, since I can't afford the book and have had my GM walking me through the process but offering next to no advice, which is why I'm here. And I saw Clash of the Titans last week, which was where my idea for the magic sword and riding a giant scorpion came from. Then when I found out the familiar rules sucked I scrapped the scorpion idea. And then I was inspired by this picture:

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs44/f/2009/071/3/0/Thulsa_Doom_by_JohanndeVenecia.jpg

I honestly am not really sure what I'm doing. Everyone else has already made their character and started playing. They're going to pick my character up as soon as I finish making him.

[Kylarra]

Well... generic paladin charmset of 10 I guess

First (Melee) Excellency -> Dipping Swallow Defense -> Bulwark Stance -> Heavenly Guardian Defense (Melee4)

Second (Presence) Excellency -> Enemy Castigating Solar Judgment (Presence 4)

Sagacious Reading of Intent (Linguistics 1)

3 other excellencies of choice

---------------
The first one is a tree to a perfect parry
ECSJ amplifies your attacks against creatures of darkness
SRoI basically allows you to read between the lines when people tell you things.

[Talkkno]

You probably want to pick up either Armored Scout Invigoration if you plan on wearing your armor a lot, fatigue pentlies suck and that charm negates that. (Or wear Jade armor....)

[tonberrian]

For a reference, here (http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=List_of_Solar_Charms) is a listing of most official Solar charms, as well as quite a few homebrew ones as well. The official charms have only a brief description with them (no mechanics), but since you're playing freeform, that shouldn't be that much of an issue. The homebrew charms obviously have the entire charm. If you click on the ability name in the "Canon Charms" section (official charms), then you shoulc get a handy flowchart of prerequisites for the charms in the Core rulebook.

[Tengu_temp]

Would it be too much to ask the DM to lend you the book?

[Kylarra]

Would it be too much to ask the DM to lend you the book?iirc the DM has a less than legal .pdf copy of the book.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Yes, that's correct. Besides that, the DM and I are in different states. This is an online PbP game.

What's an Excellency, by the way?

[Tavar]

It's a type of charm. They're listed at the beginning of the charm section, as they're the same no matter what ability you purchase them for.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

What types of charms are there?

[The Demented One]

What types of charms are there?
Well, it's not really a "Type," proper. Excellencies are just charms that add dice or successes to your rolls, or let you do rerolls. Some types of Exalted have weirder ones, like Sidereal target number-altering, but Solars just have those base three.

Actual "Types" of charms, as referenced in layout:

Simple: This Charm is a single action that does something special, and tells you what to do. You can never use more than one Simple charm at a type.

Extra Action: This Charm lets you take multiple normal actions (like "attack") at once. If you put an Extra Action and a Simple charm in a combo, you can activate the Simple charm multiple times.

Supplemental: These charms enhance an action.

Reflexive: These charms can be used at any time. They don't have to enhance actions, although some do.

Permanent: This Charm is always active.

[Tavar]

What types of charms are there?


Both, and neither.

Okay, the entire world has this stuff called essence flowing through it. Most beings can't manipulate it, but those who can do wondrous, terrible things with it. The smallest amount of Essence is called a mote.

It's pretty much like Mana, and all Exalts, as well as various other beings, can use it. Now, charms are fulled by motes. There's also Spells proper, which is what Sorcery deals with (in dnd terms, these start at about 9th level, and only get more powerful, but they're hard to do).

Charms, though, well, we can divide them into 2 basic camps; excellencies, and the other stuff. Excellencies give bonus dice/straight bonuses/rerolls, plus at higher essences, some useful stuff. They're very powerful, and you'll want to get a one for each of your major abilities. Then we have the other stuff. This is the fun things, like jumping miles at a time, or making arrows out of essence, the perfect attack/defense ,etc. These are important and useful to have, but don't forget to get some excellencies as well. Here's a post that goes a bit more in depth on excellencies, from a game I'm applying to.

Here's a post I wrote on the subject. Can you tell me what's unclear?

[Ganurath]

Charms are based on the 25 different abilities, with Excellencies being "universal" charms that you choose to apply to a specific one when you get it. It's too much information to put into meer posts, so you're going to have to narrow your line of questioning to specific abilities, such as Resistance Charms, Melee Charms, or Bueracracy Charms.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Well... generic paladin charmset of 10 I guess

First (Melee) Excellency -> Dipping Swallow Defense -> Bulwark Stance -> Heavenly Guardian Defense (Melee4)

Second (Presence) Excellency -> Enemy Castigating Solar Judgment (Presence 4)

Sagacious Reading of Intent (Linguistics 1)

3 other excellencies of choice

---------------
The first one is a tree to a perfect parry
ECSJ amplifies your attacks against creatures of darkness
SRoI basically allows you to read between the lines when people tell you things.

Okay, this looks like a good way to start. Do I need to get the first presence excellency to have access to the second? I'm not exactly sure how the trees work here.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Here's a post I wrote on the subject. Can you tell me what's unclear?

I didn't see this post. :smallconfused:

[Tavar]

Okay, this looks like a good way to start. Do I need to get the first presence excellency to have access to the second? I'm not exactly sure how the trees work here.

Each excellency is separate....

You know, you might try downloading this program (http://anathema.sourceforge.net/).

It should help.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Okay, this looks like a good way to start. Do I need to get the first presence excellency to have access to the second? I'm not exactly sure how the trees work here.

No, you don't need the First Presence Excellency to have the Second. Here's the Solar Excellency tree:

First [Ability] Excellency - add dice
Second [Ability] Excellency - add successes
Third [Ability] Excellency - reroll (can't be used in combination with the first two)
Infinite [Ability] Mastery - use your Excellencies for free, sort of. Requires two of the first three Excellencies, IIRC.
[Ability] Essence Flow - your Excellencies don't count as Charms anymore, so you can use them whenever you want. Also requires two of the first 3, and can't be used in combination with I[A]M, IIRC.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Each excellency is separate....

You know, you might try downloading this program (http://anathema.sourceforge.net/).

It should help.

Will that work on a public computer? I don't have a computer of my own, y'see.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, I've used the Anathema program and almost got it all assembled. I have a few more questions.

What's a Periphrasis?

[The Demented One]

Okay, I've used the Anathema program and almost got it all assembled. I have a few more questions.

What's a Periphrasis?
No clue. I've never seen it used before in Exalted. What context is it showing up in?

[Tavar]

Okay, I've used the Anathema program and almost got it all assembled. I have a few more questions.

What's a Periphrasis?

Where'd you see it? From a quick google search, it's a rhetorical device, or a linguistics device.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Where'd you see it? From a quick google search, it's a rhetorical device, or a linguistics device.

The Anathema program is asking for one on the Description page, accompanied by things like "Characterization" and "Phyiscal Description."

Also, upon further examination, should I drop Occult? I apparently don't have enough essence to get access to spells.

And I need to pick three languages. Which would make the most sense for this guy?

I also had an idea of encountering and beating a small god who takes the shape of a giant snake to earn my artifact.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I was also wondering if I should reduce the number of dots I have in the Artifact background. I honestly don't want a two-handed sword. I want the closest thing I can get to an average sword, which seems to be the smallest daiklave. I believe that only requires one dot, right? My GM just recommended a 3 dot one for Hearthstones or something. I'm really not sure what to do with my backgrounds.

[Yuki Akuma]

You could just use a normal sword. You don't need an artifact sword.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

But I'd like a magic sword. Just not a very big one. Do I need a manse? My GM only recommended it because of something about Hearthstones. What's so important about Hearthstones anyway?

Here's sort of the idea I had. Instead of fleeing the city after becoming Exalted, a Gold Faction Sidereal involved with the Cult of the Illuminated pulled strings to simply have me banished. Then he/she gave me instructions to travel into the desert until I find a place ruled by a small god called the World Serpent. I was to face the World Serpent in battle to fulfill a "prophecy" the Sidereal had made to manipulate the denizens of that region. Basically, I was to be these peoples' messiah, saving them from the depredations of the World Serpent, and the Gold Faction would use me as a puppet to direct them towards their ends. I ended up slaying the World Serpent with one of his own fangs, which was made into the sword I now bear, and the people whom the World Serpent had oppressed now treat me as their god.

It's through the Sidereal that saved me that I, a simple guardsman, learned the ways of the Occult and the secret things that go on behind the fabric of everyday life in Creation.

What background setup would work best for that?

[Yuki Akuma]

Hearthstones are magic stones that have cool effects. There's... lots of different hearthstones and they can do practically anything.

You need an artifact with a hearthstone socket to use them, though. But you can get that with a normal daiklave (Artifact 2), or a hearthstone amulet (Artifact 1).

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, so definitely Artifact 2 for the Daiklave. That leaves 5 left to work. I've narrowed it down to some spread among these:

Resources (for practical purposes)
Mentor (the Gold Faction Sidereal)
Manse (A temple-fortress in the desert that the World Serpent was occupying)
Cult (the desert folk who started worshiping me after I killed the World Serpent)

Where would it make sense to put the most points? I was told I get a free Hearthstone if I have at least Manse 2.

[Yuki Akuma]

You get a hearthstone if you have Manse 1, actually. For free. Because that's one of the points of the Manse background.

A Manse 1 hearthstone isn't really that good, but...

[Arcanoi]

Okay, so definitely Artifact 2 for the Daiklave. That leaves 5 left to work. I've narrowed it down to some spread among these:

Resources (for practical purposes)
Mentor (the Gold Faction Sidereal)
Manse (A temple-fortress in the desert that the World Serpent was occupying)
Cult (the desert folk who started worshiping me after I killed the World Serpent)

Where would it make sense to put the most points? I was told I get a free Hearthstone if I have at least Manse 2.

You always get a free hearthstone with Manse, at the dot rating of the background. Generally, for a great deal of your initial adventures, the manse itself gives no benefit, since you're not actually there. The hearthstone, however, travels with you. I generally wouldn't recommend Manse for Solars unless there's a particular Hearthstone you have in mind.

The only reason to take the Mentor Background for a member of your party is if you want to start with Sorcery or a Martial Art that you shouldn't reasonably expect to have.

Cult is a solid choice, but generally, Artifact is better in the beginning.

Resources is also solid, but again, anything more than 3 dots is a waste compared to Artifact in the beginning.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

You get a hearthstone if you have Manse 1, actually. For free. Because that's one of the points of the Manse background.

A Manse 1 hearthstone isn't really that good, but...

That's WHY my GM suggested Manse 2, because Manse 1 Hearthstones aren't that great.

Speaking of which, I've invested heavily in Occult, but don't apparently have the Essence for Sorcery.

Should I just get rid of Occult and put the points into something different? If so, what?

How much does Resources 1 or Resources 2 represent? I know having 0 meant you had nothing, but I've also heard 1 means all you have are the clothes on your back. I don't have much in the way of wealth, living in the desert and all, but I don't want to starve to death before the boat comes to pick me up.

What are the three best languages to speak?

[Talkkno]

What are the three best languages to speak?

Defiantly Old Realm, most of the 1st age stuff is written in that, and it is also the official language of Yu-Shan

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, Old Realm. What else? I've got room for two more.

I think I've finally figured out my Background setup:

Artifact 2
Cult 1
Mentor 2
Manse 2

I'm justifying the low Cult rating and the low degree of Resources because my worshipers are a small group of desert-dwelling nomad peoples who don't have much contact with the Realm, and even though I'm their god, I'm hiding in my Manse and rely on offerings from my worshipers to supply food and drink for me.

[Lord Iames Osari]

What are the three best languages to speak?

Assuming this is in addition to your native tongue (which should be the language of the area your character comes from)... I would take Rivertongue or Riverspeak (can't remember the exact name) and either Low or High Realm.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, I think I got it now:

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs44/f/2009/071/3/0/Thulsa_Doom_by_JohanndeVenecia.jpg

Basic information

Name: Akesios
Player: Archpaladin Zousha (Me!)
Concept: Apollonian desert warrior-priest
Title: The Striking Fang
Characterization: Akesios is solemn and quiet, but he can't stand injustice or immodesty, which stirs him to anger. He throws himself fearlessly into battle, knowing he can defend himself from almost anything. He's more humble than some Zeniths from his past as guardsman and partly because he is aware that the Gold Faction Sidereals are using him as a pawn.
Physical Description: Akesios has dark skin and scraggly hair. his slim, athletic form belies his strength and power as a Zenith. He dresses with a snake motif, because his main claim to fame is his slaying of the World Serpent, a minor god.
Notes: Akesios' name comes from an epithet for the Greek god Apollo that means both "healer" and "averter of evil." This is to signify Akesios' motivation of purifying the Abyssals.
Caste: Zenith
Motivation: Purify the Essence of an Abyssal Exalt.

Intimacies

The Guide: A minor Gold Faction Sidereal involved with the Cult of the Illuminated who rescued Akesios from execution and guided him to his current state as a "god." She's his Mentor, and may eventually teach him Sorcery.
The Desert Dwellers: A tiny band of nomadic tribes that formerly lived under the tyrannical rule of the World Serpent. Akesios freed them when he slew the god, and now they worship him as some sort of messiah.

Attributes

Strength 4
Dexterity 3
Stamina 4
Charisma 3
Manipulation 3
Appearance 3
Perception 3
Intelligence 2
Wits 2

Abilities

Melee 5
War 3
Integrity 4
Performance 3
Presence 4
Resistance 4
Survival 4
Linguistics 2
Lore 2
Occult 5

Languages

Old Realm
Flametongue

Advantages

Compassion 2
Conviction 2
Temperance 3
Valor 2

Willpower 5
Essence 3
Personal Pool 14 (14)
Peripheral Pool 35 (35)

Artifact 2
Cult 1
Mentor 2
Manse 2

Charms

First Melee Excellency
Dipping Swallow Defense
Bulwark Stance
Heavenly Guardian Defense
Call the Blade
Summoning the Loyal Steel
Iron Raptor Technique

Sagacious Reading of Intent

Second Presence Excellency
Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgement

Backstory

Akesios was born to an unassuming family in one of the cities in the South. After a relatively uneventful childhood, Akesios became a guardsman, working very closely with his partner, Sagacious Crane. One night however, Sagacious Crane was murdered in cold blood. The entire watch was furious, but Akesios most of all. Crane had been his friend, and was a fellow officer of the law. He would not let this greivous offense go unpunished. The hunt for the killer took weeks, until finally Akesios and a number of the other guards had him cornered. During his investigation, Akesios had been warned that this criminal may do more good alive than dead, as his testimony could help expose a powerful criminal organization and put away its leader. But if that happened, the killer would walk, leaving Crane's murder unavenged. All the guard was calling for the man's death, but Akesios hesitated. He realized that while killing the man might avenge Crane's death, Crane was already dead, while putting away the bigger criminal might make life better for the whole city. So he refused to kill the man. The guard tried to grab him, so they could do the deed themselves, but Akesios fought back, which caused him to become Exalted. The display brought the local authorities down on Akesios' head, but unlike many Solars in this situation, he voluntarily surrendered. However, he was saved from execution by a mysterious woman who whispered something to the local ruler, that Akesios has never figured out. The killer gave his testimony and was released, allowing the sting to happen and a great blow to be struck against crime in the city.

Partly as a reward and partly because of the mysterious woman's influence, Akesios was only banished. As he went into the desert, he met the mysterious woman again, who only called herself "The Guide" and told Akesios everything he needed to know about being a Solar Exalted. She only dropped vague hints as to her own identity, but Akesios now knows she's a Sidereal involved with the Cult of the Illuminated, and had chosen Akesios as one of her "pet projects." In order to pay back The Guide for her help, Akesios was sent deep into the deserts of the south, where he was told he'd find the lands of the World Serpent. Akesios was to slay this serpent to be freed from his debt.

When Akesios arrived, he learned from the tribes that the World Serpent was actually a minor god known for its massive appetite, massive ego and massive cruelty. It ruled the tribes of the land as a tyrant, picking off nomads whenever it pleased and revelling in their fear. When Akesios asked where to find it, they pointed him to a small mountain range. As Akesios approached, he saw what looked like some kind of temple or fortress in the distance. And curled across the threshold of the place was the World Serpent. It was a terrible battle that shook the area for ten days, Akesios winning during the day and the Serpent gaining strength during the night, until finally on the last day, Akesios broke off one of the World Sepent's fangs and stabbed it through the head. He had won.

After Akesios' victory, The Guide appeared to congradulate him. She explained that Akesios had acted as her pawn in a prophecy the Sidereals had made to manipulate the tribes opressed by the World Serpent. Now Akesios was the "god" of this region. The Guide took the fang Akesios had used to make the final blow and fashioned it into a sword for Akesios, who wields it to this day.

Today, Akesios lives in the now renovated manse the World Serpent was hiding in. The tribes in the desert below the mountain visit regularly to worship him and give him food and supplies. The Guide has visited him to teach him the secret truths about Creation. Eventually, she told him, she would teach him sorcery.

[Yuki Akuma]

What's his Anima Banner look like?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

His...what? :smallconfused:

[Lord Iames Osari]

Exalted have animas. Basically glowing auras of power that show up when they spend enough peripheral motes. Once they spend 16+ motes, their banner, heretofore a diffuse glow, coalesces into an image iconic of their personality.

[TheCountAlucard]

Exalted have animas. Basically glowing auras of power that show up when they spend enough peripheral motes. Once they spend 16+ motes, their banner, heretofore a diffuse glow, coalesces into an image iconic of their personality.As a for-instance, for the Zenith in the game I've been playing, his anima banner coalesces into a golden pheonix, its head bowed in supplication. For my martial-artist Dawn caste, a translucent golden fist descends from heaven and impacts the ground. For our crafting-focused Twilight caste, two Tesla coils spring up out of nowhere and nail him with a thunderbolt.

Stuff like that. Make it flashy, awesome, and iconic to your character, and you're good. :smallcool:

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I don't know. What SHOULD it look like. His personality is basically one of a servant, and people associate him with snakes because of the giant snake god he killed. So...a giant snake wrapping around a sun as if to protect it?

[Kylarra]

I don't know. What SHOULD it look like. His personality is basically one of a servant, and people associate him with snakes because of the giant snake god he killed. So...a giant snake wrapping around a sun as if to protect it?Sure, that works.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Or just a giant snake by itself. Or, since he's called the Bull, maybe it looks like a bull.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I scrapped that name. He's Akesios, aka The Striking Fang, now.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Oh, okay then.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, my GM says everything looks fine. Now all we need to figure out how I'm going to meet the rest of the group. I suggested that I pick a fight with another giant snake that carried me towards their ship as we were fighting in the water, me having left my Manse to go on a Journey to prove to The Guide that I can learn Sorcery.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Well, even though I have the character creation bit out of the way, I still have a few unanswered questions.

I know this is a freeform game, but I'd like my advancement as a character to at least appear realistic in terms of conguency with the actual game. How does experience work in Exalted? Is it possible for me to learn spells? I apparently have a good Occult Score, but not enough Essence to learn "Sorcery."

How exactly does Sorcery work anyhow?

[Yuki Akuma]

Experience works like in most point-based games - you spend it on acquiring new abilities or improving your current ones.

Sorcery is separated into three circles - Terrestrial Circle, Celestial Circle, and Solar Circle. Terrestrial spells can, for example, kill dozens of people. Celestial spells can kill armies. Solar spells can kill cities.

For a Solar Exalted, Terrestrial Circle Sorcery requires Essence 3 and Occult 3, Celestial requires Essence and Occult 4, and Solar requires Essence and Occult 5. Each circle of sorcery is a charm, and you buy spells just like you buy charms.

Spells are similar to charms, although they take longer to use in most cases and can be interrupted while you're casting them. Being interrupted while casting a spell is not a good idea - they have a tendency to explode.

So, in conclusion... your Essence is high enough to learn Sorcery, because you have Essence 3. o.O

[Lapak]

Though especially BECAUSE it is a free-form game, learning each tier of Sorcery is supposed to require a significant sacrifice by the one doing the learning IIRC. From something small but significant for Terrestrial Sorcery, like a finger, to something massively life-changing for Solar Circle Sorcery, like a child or your vision or something.

[Yuki Akuma]

Learning Sorcery requires you to undergo five Ordeals: to go on a Journey, to understand Humility, to overcome Fear, to receive Tutelage and to make a Sacrifice.

The Sacrifice has to be repeated for every circle of Sorcery, but the others only have to be done once. They can be done in any order, except the Sacrifice always comes last.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

This I know. I believe I've already learned Humility, since I spent most of my adult as a guardsman, dedicating my life to serving and protecting others, and my Exaltation hasn't really changed that, since now I'm a willing servant of the Guide, my Sidereal boss.

The Guide, likewise, could provide Tutelage.

My Journey is basically the justification I have for leaving the South and travelling to the islands in the West and meeting up with the rest of my Circle.

Fear, I'm not sure. Maybe I can come to grips with it by facing the Abyssal rival me and my GM have been collaborating on. Maybe seeing her fills me with fear about the fact that I could have become an Abyssal like her upon Exalting, or worse, I could become like her even as a Solar, thus becoming very strict with myself and tolerating no breach of my conduct. Overcoming that fear would mean I'd need to learn not to be so hard on myself, that despite the fact that I'm an Exalted, I'm not perfect, and I'm going to make bad decisions sometimes.

And the Sacrifice? I have no clue. What kind of sacrifice is considered acceptable?

What are the Circles of Sorcery?

[Tavar]

There are three circles of sorcery; Terrestrial, Celestial, and Solar. The first is usable by dragon-blooded(terrestrial exalts) and celestial exalts, the second only by celestials(Sidereal, Lunars, and Solars), and the third only by Solars.

For the first, something as minor as cutting off a finger is acceptable(one character that I'm applying to a game with sacrificed an Intimacy, plus a finger), and the sacrifice just keeps going up.

[Yuki Akuma]

The circles are Terrestrial, Celestial and Solar.

Terrestrial Circle Sorcery is the weakest, and can be learned by anybody with an awakened Essence - even enlightened mortals. This is the highest level Dragon-Blooded Exalted can learn.

Celestial Circle Sorcery is the middle, and can be learned by most 'celestial' beings - Celestial gods and exalts, mostly. This is the highest level Lunar, Abyssal and Sidereal Exalted can learn.

Solar Circle Sorcery is the stuff of legends. Only Solar Exalted can learn it.

A valid sacrifice for Terrestrial Circle Sorcery can be as simple as your relationship with your best friend, or a finger. The sacrifice for Celestial Circle Sorcery requires something more - say, your relationship with your family, or the loss of your eyesight. The sacrifices for Solar Circle Sorcery is generally obscene - the death of your family, or the loss of your limbs.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I see. Once these sacrifices are made, can they be "reversed?" Say I removed a finger. If I got an artificial finger later, would that nullify the Sacrifice I'd previously made? Say I cut myself off from my family. Could I find family elsewhere, like marrying and becoming a father, while no longer contacting my parents or siblings?

[Yuki Akuma]

You still lost your finger. Just because you have an artificial replacement doesn't mean you didn't sacrifice your finger.

Although try to come up with something a little more creative than cutting off a finger. :smallwink:

Sacrificing your Intimacies and making new, unrelated Intimacies to replace them is also perfectly acceptable. You've still lost those loved ones.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I have some other ideas, but they may involve me losing things from my backgrounds, like sacrificing the desert tribe that worships me (which would mean I no longer qualify for the Cult background) or my relationship with The Guide (thus forcing me to find Tutelage elsewhere, losing the Mentor background and forcing me to act on my own, rather than having someone to instruct me like the good little pawn I am).

[Yuki Akuma]

Well, giving up your relationship with the Guide would just mean you lose him as a Mentor - once you learn the Terrestrial Circle Sorcery charm you don't need a teacher anymore.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Oh right, you only need tutelage once. That'd make for an interesting scene.


The Guide: "Don't turn your back on me, Akesios! I made you, I saved you from death!"

Me: "And I'm going to do exactly what you saved me to do. I may have been content to be your pawn once, but when you ask me to give up my principles, that crosses the line."

So if I lose the guide as a Mentor, does that mean I would need to redistribute the two points I have in Mentor, or are Background points set in stone once you distribute them?

The Guide's a she, by the way.

[The_Snark]

That's generally left up to the Storyteller in question. Some Storytellers charge XP for gaining more Backgrounds and will make sure you're compensated if you lose them during the course of play; others let you gain and lose them freely throughout the game. Since it's freeform, my advice is not to worry about it.

Do keep in mind that...

a) the sacrifice should be something the character would prefer not to lose. If your mentor is trying to manipulate you and force you to go against your principles such that you'd be leaving in a huff anyway, that probably doesn't count as a sacrifice. If they were a friend, surrogate parent, or otherwise close to you, and their goals were starting to clash with your principles, then leaving them and upholding your morals at the cost of friendship would be a rather neat sacrifice.

b) Learning the more advanced circles of sorcery will require further sacrifices, which should build on the same general theme. Just something to keep in mind.

[Aquillion]

Remember that the sacrifice is meant to be a sacrifice for your character. It does not have to be and, in general, is not intended to be a 'mechanical' sacrifice; of course, since you're playing freeform, that doesn't matter quite so much... but you don't have to weaken yourself to learn Sorcery. It's not intended to be a balancing factor; it's intended to be a thematic factor.

One useful way of looking at the sacrifice: What do you want to change about the character? What do you want them to give up? It should be something difficult for your character, but something that also enables them to grow, in the long term. Or, at least, something that makes them more fun to play.

For instance, canonical sacrifices often include giving up aspects of their old way of life. Brigid, the first Sorcerer, gave up her doubt and self-pity, if I recall correctly. Ayesha Ura gave up her love for Kejak Chejop and her allegiance to the Bronze Faction, which eventually allowed her to accept her past incarnation and become the leader of the Sidereal Gold Faction.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm not exactly sure what would work then. A big thing about Akesios is his dedication to Apollonian principles. I don't want him to have to give those up, since without them he's no longer the character I want to play.

EDIT: Wait! What about his servile attitude? He's spent most of his life serving others, first in the city watch, and then becoming a willing servant of the Gold Faction through the Guide. What if his sacrifices involve him giving up his desire to follow, forcing him to acknowledge that he is a Zenith, someone meant to be a leader.

[Jerthanis]

EDIT: Wait! What about his servile attitude? He's spent most of his life serving others, first in the city watch, and then becoming a willing servant of the Gold Faction through the Guide. What if his sacrifices involve him giving up his desire to follow, forcing him to acknowledge that he is a Zenith, someone meant to be a leader.

That's a good sacrifice, I'd go for that.

But don't write off a physical maiming completely just because we're jaded to it. The sacrifice thing as part of Sorcery is probably inspired by (a lot of things but also...) Odin tearing out an eye to learn wisdom and magic.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I figured that was an inspiration. But I'm not too keen on physical maiming anyhow, since I figured by the time I had to make a major sacrifice I'd have to give one or more limbs, and that would likely mean being unable to fight, since I'm a swordsman.

I even thought of the possibility of sacrificing my heart, with our Twilight caste player making a prosthetic, but then I thought that there would likely be some sort of transition period where I'd literally be heartless, and that would probably kill me.

[Lapak]

Giving up your heart would be a pretty cool symbolic sacrifice, actually. Giving it up and flavoring that by saying that with it the ability to form strong emotional bonds (and maybe Intimacies) was lost is something I'd probably go for in terms of a Celestial-circle Sacrifice. Giving up the ability to have emotions altogether in the process is something that I'd probably think was a Solar-circle-level Sacrifice: you'd still retain your Virtues and basic outlook and so on, but you'd carry out your goals (and even Limit Breaks) in a mechanical, robotic fashion. Making yourself into an Apollonian automaton of sorts. :smallwink:

Not saying you should go down this road, just saying that it sparked ideas in my head.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I spoke about these ideas to my GM, and he told me that he had an idea too but he said it's going to be a surprise.

Incidentally, I had previously asked about how I get more Essence. How DO I get more essence?

[Kylarra]

I spoke about these ideas to my GM, and he told me that he had an idea too but he said it's going to be a surprise.

Incidentally, I had previously asked about how I get more Essence. How DO I get more essence?You spend EXP or bonus points. Also you go off and meditate in the mountains for a while for 3->4 and 4->5

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Why is meditation mandatory for those two transitions?

[Kylarra]

Why is meditation mandatory for those two transitions?To be honest, there's no given reason beyond "it just is". You basically go onto a pilgrimage to somewhere that's strongly related to the sun and meditate for a number of months equal to your rating.

[Tavar]

I believe that there are also age requirements for some of the higher essences.

Edit: Found them. Without external means, exalts can't raise essence above 5 till they reach 100 years, and each additional set takes time.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Can it be my manse? My manse is in some mountains in the desert.

[Kylarra]

Can it be my manse? My manse is in some mountains in the desert.That'd probably work. It's mostly arbitrated by your storyteller, but I see no reason why you couldn't seclude yourself in your manse for a few months to refine (read:raise) your Essence.


I believe that there are also age requirements for some of the higher essences.Yeah, 6 requires you to be over 100.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Ooh...considering I'm only in my late-twenties/early-thirties, that would take a while. :smalleek:

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Something else I've been wondering. The main reason I'm interested in Sorcery is because eventually I want to be able to unleash disasters of Biblical proportions. I was kind of inspired by the Prince of Egypt soundtrack as I was developing this guy. Can Sorcery do that sort of thing? Rain burning ice on entire cities, send locusts to consume entire countries-worth of greenery, summon darkness so heavy it actually makes statues crumble?

[Talkkno]

Something else I've been wondering. The main reason I'm interested in Sorcery is because eventually I want to be able to unleash disasters of Biblical proportions. I was kind of inspired by the Prince of Egypt soundtrack as I was developing this guy. Can Sorcery do that sort of thing? Rain burning ice on entire cities, send locusts to consume entire countries-worth of greenery, summon darkness so heavy it actually makes statues crumble?

Adement Circle Socercy can do that, hell even with Sapphire circle, you can summon armies of demons as well.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Adamant Circle? Sapphire Circle? I thought there were only Terrestrial, Celestial and Solar. :smallconfused:

[Tavar]

Something else I've been wondering. The main reason I'm interested in Sorcery is because eventually I want to be able to unleash disasters of Biblical proportions. I was kind of inspired by the Prince of Egypt soundtrack as I was developing this guy. Can Sorcery do that sort of thing? Rain burning ice on entire cities, send locusts to consume entire countries-worth of greenery, summon darkness so heavy it actually makes statues crumble?

Yes. Especially Solar Circle. One such spell has you summoning what in DnD terms would be Arch-fiends(though they can and will fight you for control once called). Another calls a hellish rain that dissolves anything in the area, and prevents anything from growing for decades. The following is a homebrewed one, but I think it's accurate in the portrayal.

Burning the Hearts of Man and Woman - Second Edition Version
In the offices of the Division of Serenity, in Heaven, there is a library of immense size filled with row upon row of carefully catalogued adamant-sheet scrolls scribed with moonsilver ink. These are the names of everyone in a generation who shall fall in love, and with whom they should become enamored. Near the end of the First Age Solar sorcerers would experiment with Essence patterns simply to see how far they could take some idea or task. Burning the Hearts of Man and Woman is the end result of one of these experiments, and is in many ways one of the worst powers ever executed by the Chosen of the Sun.
From midnight to dawn (about five or six hours) the sorcerer alternates each hour between meditating on the nature of Fate and Destiny, and slicing her palm open over a clay vessel holding a silk prayer strip with the single word “love” written on it. Collecting this blood and prayer in the clay bowl, as the Sun rises the sorcerer offers up the amalgamation to the Ebon Dragon.
In the offices of the Bureau of Destiny the vast shelves of scrolls that record the loves of Creation are engulfed in wicked green flame. The scrolls dealing with the loves of a single Terrestrial Direction are completely destroyed; the gods of Serenity must set to the task of restoring this information as best they can. This takes approximately a day, but it is arduous and constant work for the entire Division of Serenity. This can cause immense difficulties for the Bureau of Destiny, as fickle or distant lovers may simply give up on their relationships, suddenly ending their commitments and departing their love or spouse, making reestablishing the Intimacy difficult or impossible without a great deal of work.
For a month (or more if the Bureau is hampered), every being capable of love in that Direction becomes incapable of that emotion. Any romantic Intimacies they possess are immediately destroyed and can not be regained until a month has passed, unless their Intimacy benefits from magical reinforcement through Charms or other effects. These Intimacies must be regained in the normal way, generally, but there is no inherent hindrance to reestablishing these commitments.

[Talkkno]

Adamant Circle? Sapphire Circle? I thought there were only Terrestrial, Celestial and Solar. :smallconfused:

Adamant is another name for Solar Circle, Sapphire circle is another name for Celestial.

[Tavar]

Adamant is another name for Solar Circle, Sapphire circle is another name for Celestial.

In fact, the counter magic spells draw their name from the alternate titles.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Adamant is another name for Solar Circle, Sapphire circle is another name for Celestial.

What's the alternate title for Terrestrial?

[Tavar]

What's the alternate title for Terrestrial?

Emerald, if I'm not mistaken.

[Yuki Akuma]

Emerald, Sapphire and Adamant. (Adamant is basically super-diamond - it's a crystal, not a metal).

The countermagic spells use the alternate names for the circles. Emerald Countermagic counters (and explodes) Terrestrial Circle Sorcery with an opposed roll, Sapphire Countermagic counters (and explodes) Terrestrial Circle Sorcery without a roll and Celestial Circle Countermagic with a roll, and Adamant Countermagic... well, you can probably guess.

Note the exploding. The caster of the Countermagic is unaffected. His allies... not so much.

The banishment spells also take their names from the alternate titles - Emerald Banishment sends back First Circle (read: lemures) demons, Sapphire sense back Second Circle (read: pit fiends) demons and Adamant sends back Third Circle (read: Mephistopheles) demons.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I see. Can Sorcery be used for more positive things, like healing people?

[Tavar]

I see. Can Sorcery be used for more positive things, like healing people?

Kinda. It can't be used to heal, but that's because nothing really can. It can be used for constructive things.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

There's no healing magic?

[Jokasti]

You can make a Dragonball Z cloud among other Things.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

You mean a Sun Wukong "Cloud-As-Steed" technique?

[Kylarra]

You mean a Sun Wukong "Cloud-As-Steed" technique?Yes, you summon a cloud to fly you around.

You won't get the full details, but this page (http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Exalted_209_Spellcraft) gives you a good idea of the capabilities of each circle.

[Tavar]

There's no healing magic?

Nope. Well, there are Medicine Charms, and if you combo enough of them together, it can simulate a healing touch, but at it's basis, it's more like highly speed up medical practices.

[Yuki Akuma]

Honestly I don't see why there couldn't be a spell to heal - there's a spell that creates life from nothing*, after all.

Sure, Solar charms can't do it, because Solar charms are based on natural abilities and nobody has the natural ability to heal with a touch, but why not sorcery?

*Benediction of Archgenesis (Solar Circle), if you're interested. Makes plantlife spring up within an area of several miles.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Nope. Well, there are Medicine Charms, and if you combo enough of them together, it can simulate a healing touch, but at it's basis, it's more like highly speed up medical practices.

Hmm...Maybe I should invest in Medicene...I should have taken that in the beginning, I think.

[The Demented One]

There's no healing magic?
There's no healing magic, but Solar medicine will let you do things like curing any disease or poison with a touch, or closing wounds, or re-attaching severed arms.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

So it can be like a paladin's Lay On Hands? Damn, now I NEED to invest in it!

[Talkkno]

Err, I'm pretty Wood aspect Dragon blooded have healing effects don't they? And Sidereal archery has healing magic effects also.

[Yuki Akuma]

A "healing touch" ability would be a combo, not just a simple charm. Combos require a lot of training and are expensive to pull off - and, while it may be a touch that cures grievous wounds, it's not 'magical healing'. It's very fast medicine with Essence.

And yes, other exalt types have magical healing. Solars do not, because Solar charms are based on being awesome at mundane things.

[The Demented One]

So it can be like a paladin's Lay On Hands? Damn, now I NEED to invest in it!
Like that, but so much more.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I figured that was true of everything in Exalted. "Like D&D but much more AWESOME!!!"

I'm wondering exactly how I'm going to get along with the rest of my group. Most of us will be Solars, but there's also at least one Dragon-Blooded, a Godblooded, a Lunar, and potentially a Sidereal and an Abyssal. :smalleek:

[Tavar]

It really depends. I mean, Solars are chosen for greatness, not goodness. Most exalt types it really depends on the character in question. The Abyssal is a bit more troublesome, as they literally are gateways for oblivion no matter what. But the're ripe for that Atoner theme(look at Keychain of Creation (http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0001.html)).

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I read Keychain of Creation all the way through the first time it was suggested in the thread, but thank you all the same.

I don't think this player's Atoner material though. He's got a superiority complex and feels the need to create unassailable characters or else we'll all gang up on him because he irritates us so much. And the sad thing is that Exalted is probably the only game where he'd actually get away with an unassailable character, given the possibilities of a perfect defense. And nothing he ever says makes any sense to me.

[Tavar]

Ah. Well then. You may have a problem, but most of the other characters might as well. Either that, or they'll all have a problem with you, but that's a rotten thing for a Storyteller/DM to due without warning you, so perhaps your fears are unjustified.

[Talkkno]

Don't worry, Abyssal's really suck in creation, they have extra mote surcharges and and have to spend willpower to use perfect defenses in Creation.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Ah. Well then. You may have a problem, but most of the other characters might as well. Either that, or they'll all have a problem with you, but that's a rotten thing for a Storyteller/DM to due without warning you, so perhaps your fears are unjustified.

I know the Lunar player certainly will. The Abyssal player has constantly insulted him for his less-than-perfect spelling. All I know is, the GM (who is also playing a Twilight Caste Solar) has promised to keep him in line.

It's one Abyssal against three Solars, a Lunar, a Dragon-Blooded and a God-Blooded after all. And possibly a Sidereal of the Maiden of Battles.

I've sort of taken to advising the potential Sidereal player, linking him to Keychain of Creation and specifically the point where Nemen Yi shows up, since that's the kind of Sidereal he wants to be. He doesn't really know much else though. All he knows for sure personalitywise is that he wants to be snarky, and I think the Sidereals kind of have a monopoly in that department.

[Yuki Akuma]

Also note that perfect defenses actually aren't. Every perfect defense has a flaw you can exploit.

[Talkkno]

Also note that perfect defenses actually aren't. Every perfect defense has a flaw you can exploit.

Not really for the Conviction flaw, unless you are using the revised one in Glories in the Most High.

[Yuki Akuma]

Conviction requires a bit of work to accomplish, but it is totally exploitable. Just maneuver yourself in such a way that fighting you would run contrary to his motivation.


It's one Abyssal against three Solars, a Lunar, a Dragon-Blooded and a God-Blooded after all. And possibly a Sidereal of the Maiden of Battles.

One of these things is not like the others...

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Yeah, I know. She's being played by the Storyteller's girlfriend.

[Yuki Akuma]

...Strange. Usually the GM's girlfriend gets given a powerful character.

God-Blooded are basically the equivalent of enlightened mortals, with a few native charms.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Meh, she never really plays powerful characters. She prefers playing Ms Fanservice (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MsFanservice) characters. First thing she did when she showed up on the boat was go with the Lunar character below deck "to get to know each other better."

[Aquillion]

Why is meditation mandatory for those two transitions?Technically it is not. You can bypass the meditation time to increase Essence when you complete your Motivation.


Something else I've been wondering. The main reason I'm interested in Sorcery is because eventually I want to be able to unleash disasters of Biblical proportions. I was kind of inspired by the Prince of Egypt soundtrack as I was developing this guy. Can Sorcery do that sort of thing? Rain burning ice on entire cities, send locusts to consume entire countries-worth of greenery, summon darkness so heavy it actually makes statues crumble?Solar Circle Sorcery includes one spell that makes it rain destruction (although it's fairly hard to use because you have to encircle the area first by traveling around it), one to send an entire nation into endless fog, one to banish a city outside of time, and one that can curse an entire group of people to have nature rise up and destroy them.


Kinda. It can't be used to heal, but that's because nothing really can. It can be used for constructive things.
Sorcery can totally be used to heal. The only things it absolutely can't do are travel through time and bring back the dead, which are just impossible in the setting. It can do almost anything else if you're willing to pay a high enough price and accept necessary drawbacks. Solar Circle Sorcery is specifically called out as being capable of curing Gremlin Syndrome in Alchemicals, say, which almost nothing else can do.


Sure, Solar charms can't do it, because Solar charms are based on natural abilities and nobody has the natural ability to heal with a touch, but why not sorcery?Well, a combo of Solar medicine charms can heal with a touch, basically... Solar medicine is generally better at curing the most horrible incurable diseases that resist everything else than it is at instantly recovering wounds in combat, though.

Other splats have somewhat better 'combat healing', but in general outside of a few regeneration-builds (which have flaws themselves), Exalted doesn't have much support for combat healing. Healing is more about dramatically curing the plague that is threatening a city, not so much running up to your ally and restoring their HP while a deathlord is attacking them.


I'm wondering exactly how I'm going to get along with the rest of my group. Most of us will be Solars, but there's also at least one Dragon-Blooded, a Godblooded, a Lunar, and potentially a Sidereal and an Abyssal. :smalleek:
You need to talk to the rest of your group. As long as the DBs don't want to play fanatical Immaculates and the Sidereal isn't Bronze Faction, those should be fine.

If the Abyssal isn't playing a redemption-seeker, that's a much much bigger problem. Your character is going to conflict hard with someone like that. If you want to avoid having the group fall apart and the other guy is completely unreasonable, I guess your only option would be to try and make your character pragmatic... but you should talk to them first and see what they're thinking.


I don't think this player's Atoner material though. He's got a superiority complex and feels the need to create unassailable characters or else we'll all gang up on him because he irritates us so much. And the sad thing is that Exalted is probably the only game where he'd actually get away with an unassailable character, given the possibilities of a perfect defense. And nothing he ever says makes any sense to me.It's really weird for him to play an Abyssal, then. Solars are more about being unassailable. Abyssals are more about killing things. Abyssal perfect defenses in particular are weak in Creation because they tend to cost WP due to the Spectral keyword.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Technically it is not. You can bypass the meditation time to increase Essence when you complete your Motivation.
Considering my Motivation is to purify an Abyssal, that'd take a while.

Solar Circle Sorcery includes one spell that makes it rain destruction (although it's fairly hard to use because you have to encircle the area first by traveling around it), one to send an entire nation into endless fog, one to banish a city outside of time, and one that can curse an entire group of people to have nature rise up and destroy them.
Yeah, that's Biblical all right.

Sorcery can totally be used to heal. The only things it absolutely can't do are travel through time and bring back the dead, which are just impossible in the setting. It can do almost anything else if you're willing to pay a high enough price and accept necessary drawbacks. Solar Circle Sorcery is specifically called out as being capable of curing Gremlin Syndrome in Alchemicals, say, which almost nothing else can do.
I see.

Well, a combo of Solar medicine charms can heal with a touch, basically... Solar medicine is generally better at curing the most horrible incurable diseases that resist everything else than it is at instantly recovering wounds in combat, though.

Other splats have somewhat better 'combat healing', but in general outside of a few regeneration-builds (which have flaws themselves), Exalted doesn't have much support for combat healing. Healing is more about dramatically curing the plague that is threatening a city, not so much running up to your ally and restoring their HP while a deathlord is attacking them.
Okay, I think I understand.

"It's just a flesh wound!"

You need to talk to the rest of your group. As long as the DBs don't want to play fanatical Immaculates and the Sidereal isn't Bronze Faction, those should be fine.
Well, we have enough time to explain this to the Sidereal player, and I'm pretty sure he'll agree. The Dragon-Blooded is definitely not a fanatical Immaculate. She just snuck aboard the boat to hitch a ride. Upon talking with the player a bit, she likes the idea of having a backstory kind of like Ten Winds, a Dragon-Blooded who hunted anathema and has now changed sides for some heretofore unexplained reason. I think the Storyteller and me are really the only ones who've put any real detail into our characters.

If the Abyssal isn't playing a redemption-seeker, that's a much much bigger problem. Your character is going to conflict hard with someone like that. If you want to avoid having the group fall apart and the other guy is completely unreasonable, I guess your only option would be to try and make your character pragmatic... but you should talk to them first and see what they're thinking.
Most of the rest of us just ignore the guy. The Storyteller has promised me he'll keep him in line. Part of the problem is the guy has access to source material that the rest of us don't. But he never stops to consider that the GM has changed things, so he assumes what's in the books is Word of God. But Exalted is a Storyteller game, it cares more about dramatic action than crafty rules manipulation, so he can't quote something out of a book and say he's right.

It's really weird for him to play an Abyssal, then. Solars are more about being unassailable. Abyssals are more about killing things. Abyssal perfect defenses in particular are weak in Creation because they tend to cost WP due to the Spectral keyword.
It's more the style really. He likes playing off-the-wall things like blind savants who paint bizarre pictures of the future and whose god tortures them for inexplicable reasons, ageless ex-crime-lord superheroes with terminal lung cancer and insane spiders for friends, or bodiless telepaths who mind-control hapless New York citizens and escort them into the sewers for his mind flayer cohort's lunch. He was originally going to play a Sidereal Blessed of the Maiden of Endings, but according to the Storyteller has apparently changed his mind.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, the Storyteller kind of let me in on his secret plans. He's actually masterminding something and the rest of us are basically backup to keep others from interfering. He's got two plans:

One of them involves tracking down the lighthouse, Oliphem, and repairing his lens, allowing all ships to navigate effortlessly once again. In the confusion of this, we use our mighty First Age ship to slip past the blockade around the Blessed Isle, break into the palace and seize the Imperial Manse, allowing us to...you guessed it, take over the world (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8u7px_GzWQ&feature=related).

The other plan is basically the same thing, but instead travelling South to locate the Five-Metal Shrike, and use that to get to the Blessed Isle instead of the regular ship we already have (as regular as a First Age artifact ship can be).

I'm honestly cool with either plan, but I think I'd prefer going to the South myself, since that allows me to have more roleplay moments with my Mentor, my Manse and my Cult.

EDIT: HOLY CRAP IT'S MORE THAN I THOUGHT! THE STORYTELLER'S PLANNING ON PUTTING ME ON THE THRONE!!! :smalleek:

Apparently his character is making a huge Xanatos Gambit to put me, the group's Zenith, in charge, effectively making me the Scarlet Empress' replacement. And when I say Xanatos Gambit, I mean he's trying to out-Sidereal the Sidereals.

[tonberrian]

You know what you have to do.

Make a campaign log, and post it here.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I've never done one of those before. How does it work? I'd probably just end up recycling the posts of the thread it's taking place in.

[tonberrian]

Well, it's entirely up to you (I was only being half-serious when I suggested it), but it seems like the basic idea is to introduce the characters with a sentence or two. Then, each session (if this were a standard game of Exalted) or whenever a major plot development occurs, you make a post summing up the important things that happen, giving special attention to emotional significance, funny things, and awesome stunts.

I've never done one either, though, so my advise might be suspect.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Well, here's my big entrance:
Before the dust cloud becomes clearer, they can already see the city being overrun by snakes. The guards are sticking them and crushing them, and civilians fleeing as much from the reptiles as from the chaos of the battle. Soon, however, the dust fades, revealing a gigantic serpentine being.

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs48/i/2009/181/c/5/Snake_of_Millenia_by_XVIISideris.jpg

The serpent has someone wrapped in its coils, but its writing and shaking, along with the many wounds it has sustained already show its prey isn't completely trapped. Soon it shrieks and uncoils, dropping a man to the ground.

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs44/f/2009/071/3/0/Thulsa_Doom_by_JohanndeVenecia.jpg

The man stands his ground as the serpent lashes out at him with fang and scythe, but each time the man seems to effortlessly parry the blow, no matter where it's coming from. Then he hurls his sword at the creature, wounding it in the eye. The serpent shrieks in pain again, and the man charges, the sword somehow coming loose from the eye and returning to the man's hand. The creature dives for him, trying to swallow him whole, but the man suddenly drops low, sliding beneath the creature's head with his sword upraised, cutting a large furrow in its lower jaw and throat, causing it to rear back and roar again before collapsing on the ground. The man looks over the fallen creature, and then raises up his sword with a defiant cry, and then slams it into the beast's skull. A bolt of light streaks up into the sky as the creature's body shudders in its death throes, until finally there's a sudden burst of power, as the beast's life finally leaves it.

The other snakes, somehow organized by their master's power, suddenly lost all their strange bravery, turning and slithering away, the guards picking off as many stragglers as they could, until the city was snake-free.

The man pulled his blade from the serpent being's head and began to polish it, then sheathed it and looked towards the harbor.
Epic enough?

Also, judging by how the other characters have reacted to me so far, I feel I'm quickly going to become the straight man for the rest of their weirdness.

[NeoVid]

Trust me, there's a lot you can get out of having the reputation of being The Sane One.

Also, I'm surprised that this long after you've mentioned your Mentor is a Sidereal, no one has suggested seeing if the GM will let you get a bit of training in Sidereal Martial Arts.

You'll have to ask someone more in the know about Exalted than me for specifics, but if most of Exalted is beyond insane, Sidereal Martial Arts is beyond insane². If the GM already wants to make your character ruler of the world, he might not have objections to this. Hell, the Arts are likely to give you a much better chance at surviving being ruler of the world.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I specifically ignored Martial Arts. I don't have any points in it anyway. I wanted to be a paladin, not a monk.

Incidentally, the GM's Twilight character has mentioned he dated my Sidereal mentor. :smallbiggrin:

[Aquillion]

Also, I'm surprised that this long after you've mentioned your Mentor is a Sidereal, no one has suggested seeing if the GM will let you get a bit of training in Sidereal Martial Arts.Truthfully, Sidereal Martial Arts are less powerful than native Solar charms.

(Well, they're supposed to be, but Scroll of the Monk s infamously badly-balanced...)

They're weird, and are good for doing weird stuff if that's what your character likes. But if you just want to be a heroic Paladin-type, Solar charms are much better at that.

[Sophismata]

Truthfully, Sidereal Martial Arts are less powerful than native Solar charms.

(Well, they're supposed to be, but Scroll of the Monk s infamously badly-balanced...)

Not just supposed to be, they are. Even the most powerful SMA charms have an essence minimum that'd let a Solar shatter planets really big things. The only thing I'd call unbalanced about SMA is the lack of decent keywording, and a few oddball combinations.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

It doesn't really matter, since I'm ignoring Martial Arts in favor of Melee anyway. And now that I'm looking at some of the other abilities, I'm really interested in other things. It looks like Occult has some charms that can effectively simulate Turn Undead.

[Yuki Akuma]

Might want to look into some thaumaturgy, then. Specifically, the Art of the Dead. It includes zombie-warding rituals and such.

Thaumaturgy is a lesser magic, but it is incredibly useful to know.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Where's that at? I don't recall seeing anything marked "Thaumaturgy" on the Wiki. :smallconfused:

[TheCountAlucard]

Not just supposed to be, they are. Even the most powerful SMA charms have an essence minimum that'd let a Solar shatter planets really big things.Wait, you're saying that once I hit Essence 7 or so, I can shatter even bigger things? (shudders)

[Talkkno]

Where's that at? I don't recall seeing anything marked "Thaumaturgy" on the Wiki. :smallconfused:

It is a specality of the Occult skill, it basically lets you do minor magical effects by coaxing essence patterns rather then brute forcing way that Charms and Sorcery does to achieve their effects.

[Yuki Akuma]

It is a specality of the Occult skill, it basically lets you do minor magical effects by coaxing essence patterns rather then brute forcing way that Charms and Sorcery does to achieve their effects.

Note that it doesn't actually follow the rules for ability specialities at all. Each art has three levels, and each level grants a bonus die on rolls to perform rituals in that art, but that's really it. You can know as many arts as you have experience points for.

[absolmorph]

Not just supposed to be, they are. Even the most powerful SMA charms have an essence minimum that'd let a Solar shatter planets really big things. The only thing I'd call unbalanced about SMA is the lack of decent keywording, and a few oddball combinations.
But you can punch someone so hard they turn into a duck, can't you?

[TheCountAlucard]

But you can punch someone so hard they turn into a duck, can't you?You could use a perfect defense, or spend Willpower to negate it, or be a Lunar (or a Solar with Integrity-Protecting Prana) and just plain not care.

Most (if not all) of the Sidereal Martial Arts are extremely situational, even the stupidly-overpowered ones.

Plus, Pattern Spider Touch (i.e., "duck punch") even says that a martial artist can't "use this Charm to affect a target under the direct protection of a Primordial, Yozi, Neverborn or Incarna," which includes pretty much everybody important enough for you to want to bother with the Charm in the first place.

[Aquillion]

Most (if not all) of the Sidereal Martial Arts are extremely situational, even the stupidly-overpowered ones.
No, the stupidly-overpowered ones are stupidly-overpowered. Read Obsidian Shards of Infinity or Scarlet-Patterned Battlefield again. There's nothing situational about Mirror Does Not Lie, Draw Forth One Shard, Without Strategy Arrangement, or Great Thinker's Defense Maneuver. They're just utterly game-breaking.



Anyhow, for destroying undead: Don't use Occult (well, you will need Ghost-Eating Technique for intangible spirits, perhaps.) Use Holy charms. As a Solar, your native charms are better for fighting Creatures of Darkness than any Thaumatergy or Sorcery, and essentially all undead are Creatures of Darkness.

Glorious Solar Saber, say, is Holy and will do aggravated damage to Creatures of Darkness (including all Undead.) Rising Sun Slash (from Glories: The Unconquered Sun) also does nasty things to Creatures of Darkness. Most of the Holy stuff, though, is in Presence. See Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgment (which can enhance both physical and social attacks against creatures of darkness). Or Demon-Wracking Glory, from MoEP: Abyssals, which strikes Creatures of Darkness with fiery manifestations of justice.

[TheCountAlucard]

There's nothing situational about Mirror Does Not Lie...Gotta argue that one. If no one else is observing the fight, you can't use it. There are a-hundred-and-one situations in which that might apply. Worse yet, if the only observers around are members of your circle, I'm sure they're not going to be too happy with you for having an attacker switch to them.


Draw Forth One ShardMuch less useful in an area without a ton of reflective surfaces, but yeah, still stupidly-overpowered.

And yeah, those others you mentioned have a lot less "situational" to them than some of the other stuff.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Anyhow, for destroying undead: Don't use Occult (well, you will need Ghost-Eating Technique for intangible spirits, perhaps.) Use Holy charms. As a Solar, your native charms are better for fighting Creatures of Darkness than any Thaumatergy or Sorcery, and essentially all undead are Creatures of Darkness.

Glorious Solar Saber, say, is Holy and will do aggravated damage to Creatures of Darkness (including all Undead.) Rising Sun Slash (from Glories: The Unconquered Sun) also does nasty things to Creatures of Darkness. Most of the Holy stuff, though, is in Presence. See Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgment (which can enhance both physical and social attacks against creatures of darkness). Or Demon-Wracking Glory, from MoEP: Abyssals, which strikes Creatures of Darkness with fiery manifestations of justice.
Why would I need Glorious Solar Saber when I already have a Reaper Daiklave artifact that I can call back to my hand if I lose it thanks to charms like Call The Blade, which you need to get Glorious Solar Saber anyway? It seems a little redundant. I already have Enemy-Castigating Solar Judgment, it's the only non-Excellency Presence charm I have at the moment. The reason I was looking into Occult was because of Spirit-Repelling Diagram, because it reminds me of Dungeons and Dragons' Turn Undead class feature, and I figured I'd look into it since I'm already looking into Sorcery.

[Yuki Akuma]

Glorious Solar Saber is a Holy attack that doesn't require you to spend motes each time you use it. It's a scene-long.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Yeah but it summons a glowing sword made of magic. A bit redundant when I already have a weapon

[The Rose Dragon]

Yeah but it summons a glowing sword made of magic. A bit redundant when I already have a weapon

It makes for a good defensive weapon, however. A commonly known example of cheese in Exalted is using a reaver daiklave in one hand for offense and summoning a Glorious Solar Saber with all points put into defense in the other as a shield. Since you're not using it to attack, you can afford to have a ridiculously high Parry DV that way.

[Yuki Akuma]

Having multiple weapons is just good sense.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

If I wanted multiple weapons I'dve gotten a pair of short daiklaves at character creation. Having a pair of weapons that aren't identical just looks tacky. I'm a slave of fashion when it comes to roleplaying.

[Kylarra]

If I wanted multiple weapons I'dve gotten a pair of short daiklaves at character creation. Having a pair of weapons that aren't identical just looks tacky. I'm a slave of fashion when it comes to roleplaying.You could always have the GSS sword look like your other daiklave.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

You can do that? I thought it was a sword made of pure light, like a lightsaber but without the handle. :smallconfused:

[The Rose Dragon]

You can do that? I thought it was a sword made of pure light, like a lightsaber but without the handle. :smallconfused:

It is made of pure light, yes, but it fits the aesthetic sensibilities of the wielder.

[Talkkno]

It is made of pure light, yes, but it fits the aesthetic sensibilities of the wielder.

Actually their are lightsabers in MOEP: Alchemicals.

[The Rose Dragon]

Actually their are lightsabers in MOEP: Alchemicals.

They are not Glorious Solar Sabers, though. And beamklaves can also vary in their look, though most are straight three-foot long beams of light.