[Exalted] So I'm finally running this...

[Swooper]

Ok i am assuming 2nd edition.

Correct! Forgot to mention it in the OP.

For the army there are mass combats rules which is where your characters with the dots in comand will want to go. So instead of fighting just the wildhunt dragonblooded they fight them and their small army both parties stand on the same placing and the victory will feel sweeter. the are rules there for dramtic duels and the like so study it and enjoy.

Yeah... I suppose I will have to learn the mass combat rules. Would have preferred to save them for later, when I'm at least used to the regular combat rules, but oh well...

Now if you dont want every battle to be a mass combat give them a base of operation (that pergaps they have to defend as well so they will have to leave the army) and go for recon missions and "dungeons" that an army cant join them. If they care about their army you could suggest a highly dangerous mission where the army would safer lots of losses so they better stay behind will you deal with this ( the digsite is surrounded by wild energy and mortals could get mutated or poisonus fumes or viruses that dont affect solars etc).

Excellent, this is exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for. *takes notes*

You know that old D&D saying about how a 5th level Wizard can destroy an entire railroaded campaign/plot just by casting Fly on everyone? That's x1,000 for Exalted. Entirely basic and weak charms can and will destroy any preconceived plot you're trying to force them to follow. The good thing, though, is that since Exalted is such a well-defined setting already, you don't need a preconceived plot. They make Motivations, you throw them in the world, and they'll get stuff done and have fun doing it. Solars are all about conquering every obstacle in their way, and truly, the players are given the tools to overcome any possible obstacle within the setting given enough time and thought.

So, in short, don't DM like you would something like D&D. If there's a mountain range, a demon army, and the First and Forsaken Lion riding a Hellstrider crafted from the burning husk of Ligier himself between the players and what they want to do, and a peaceful meadow between them and your plot, it's just as easier for them to go either way.

Yeah, I kind of expect this to happen. You'll note that my "plot" takes the form of "this is what's happening in the general area, what are you going to do about it?". I'm not a railroady DM ST anyway, so I'm mostly just excited about what they're going to do to mess things up!

Don't listen to the Core Rulebook when it says "Thou Shalt Always Choose Ox-Body Technique!" Ox-Body is a terrible charm. What it should really say is "Thou Shalt Always Choose Seven Shadow Evasion!"

What I like to do is just give one free Ox-Body to everyone per point of Stamina they have. Ox-Body is weak, and even if it weren't, it would just be a charm-tax, rather than an interesting choice.

The Dragonblooded game I played in had the houserule: "Everyone gets a number of -2 Health Levels equal to their permanent Essence dots." I kind of approve of it, because I'm with you on how giving everyone low health and then forcing them to take a charm to make up for it is bad game design.

A major mistake I see/hear/read a lot of first-time Exalted GMs make is to use too many Exalts. There are about 10,000 Dragonbloods, 150 Solars, 100 Abyssals, 50 Green Sun Princes, 300 Lunars, 100 Sidereals, and a non-committal-yet-still-small amount of Alchemicals.

Creation is big. At least 1.5x as big as Earth. I'm not sure on the exact dimensions, but that's a guess from me (it *is* bigger than Earth though, no doubt). And then factor in Malfeas, the Underworld, Yu-Shan, and the Wyld (which are, if I'm not mistaken, in order, the size of the Realm, the size of Creation, the size of the Realm, and infinity).

The Game World is friggin' big. You should not run into Exalts all that often. Make them big deals. For other supernatural opponents, use minor gods, demons, godbloods, fairfolk, necrotech creations, etc. Having every challenge a matter of Abyssal 'this' or Abyssal *that* kind of cheapens how epic and rare Exaltation is supposed to be.

Very valid point here. I'm rather concious of this fact, but a reminder was good. Are there any particular sourcebooks I should check for stats I can use, or will the ones given in the core book be enough? I'm thinking spirits/small gods/elementals mostly, the chapter the core book has on that looks like it could use expanding.

Don't worry if you're not 100% on the fluff. Or hell, even if you're not 100% on the mechanics. The #1 thing - Do Not Open a Book After Play Starts. Don't know? Make **** up on the fly and pretend you know. Look it up after the game, and if you were wrong about a mechanic, then just take note for the future, and if you were wrong about a bit of fluff, who gives a damn? It's your game world and it can be as different as you want.

Making stuff up is a lot harder for a world I didn't create personally in a system I'm not used to, but I'll do my best!

One thing I forgot to mention in the OP. The Twilight player mentioned he might drop out of this before it starts. If he does, I have another plot point to stick in and make it more personal for them. The Twilight caste who used to be part of their circle in the First Age? Abyssal now. And they killed him. Should make for a nice recurring villain.