[Exalted] Does this character work?

[Weimann]

Hi there. I've just gotten to grips with the Exalted core book, and I thought I'd just create a character to get a feel for the process. This is what I came up with. He's not yet finished, in that I actually have more points to spend after I've covered what I want with him, with 4 Bonus Points remaining. Any ideas on where they can be put?

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Name: Jack of Unraveling Stories
Caste: Night
Concept: Swashbuckling charmer and thief.
Motivation: Make his story the most epic of tales told on Creation.
Intimacies: ((Not sure yet.))

Attributes
Strength 2, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4
Charisma 3, Manipulation 3, Appearance 3
Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 3

Abilities
Melee 5 (favoured)

Performance 4 (favoured)
Presence 5 (favoured)
Resistance 4 (favoured)
Survival 2

Lore 1

Atlethics 5
Awareness 4
Larency 5
Stealth 5

Linguistics 3 (favoured)

Defenses
Dodge DV 4
Parry DV 5 (without weapon bonus, see weapon)
Dodge MDV 4
(Highest) Parry MDV 4

Soak 4B/2L/0A

Weapons
Reaper Daiklave (Speed 4, Accuracy +4, Damage +4L, PDV +1) called Nightsong.

Virtues
Compassion 2, Temperance 1, Conviction 3, Valor 3

Virtue Flaw: That one in core when you can't retreat and will always be at the front, whatever it's called.

Willpower 6

Essence 2
Personal 12, Peripheral 29

Charms
Ox-body Technique
Durability of Oak Meditation
Iron-skin Concentration

One Melee Excellency
Call The Blade
Dipping Swallow Defense

One Atlethics Excellency
Strength-increasing Exercise

One Presence Excellency

Easily Overlooked Presence Method

Background
Artifact 2 (Reaper Daiklave, see weapon)
Contacts 3
Resources 2

How does it look? I'm worried I'm trying for too much with both a strong fighter, a stealthy thief and assassin and a charmer. Any comments on the choice of Charms, or on what to use the last 4 Bonus Points on, would be great :)

[BobVosh]

Needs more defenses. Either find a way to raise the PV/DV or get more defensive charms. Also...4 stam? Why?

[Artanis]

What artifacts/hearthstones/etc. does the character have? I don't see any of those dots spent yet.

For a weapon, you can go with a Reaper Daiklave. It's small and light by daiklave standards. Only +1 defense though.

[Terraoblivion]

That will still give him a base DV of 6 which isn't bad. It won't protect you from a direct hit from another exalt, but that is generally hard to do. If you avoid getting into too many battles, which will be expensive with this set up, you should be fine for a while, though you should probably make defensive charms a priority if it is a combat focused game. I will also second Artanis suggestion of a Reaper Daiklave, it is basically an artifact rapier as it is.

[Friv]

If you've got everything you want bonus-point-wise, I would say that a fourth dot of Valor is always fun, plus it gives you more Willpower. Only three bonus points - a bargain at any price.

As far as the build, it should be great as long as you aren't in a highly combat-focused group. If you are, I suggest swapping Call the Blade for Foe-Vaulting Stance, and then spend most battles popping out of hiding to sneak attack people and then vanishing again. Who needs DV if the enemy can't find you?

[Weimann]

Needs more defenses. Either find a way to raise the PV/DV or get more defensive charms. Also...4 stam? Why?

I think I already have the highest PDV I can get, at least that I can think about, and getting more DDV seems a waste. As for stamina, I wanted him to be rather resilient. A good stamina would be useful for his line of work. Besides, Dexterity is maxed already, and Strength-increasing Exercise would put Strength at 4 anyway. I imagine he'll get Essence 3 at some point, and then he'd waste part of it if I put Strength higher.

But yes, I've been thinking about defense charms. I suppose I could switch the Larency one for Iron-skin Concentration. That should raise the survivability a bit.

What artifacts/hearthstones/etc. does the character have? I don't see any of those dots spent yet.

For a weapon, you can go with a Reaper Daiklave. It's small and light by daiklave standards. Only +1 defense though.

I updated with an idea for Backgrounds :) And thanks for the tip on weapon!

That will still give him a base DV of 6 which isn't bad. It won't protect you from a direct hit from another exalt, but that is generally hard to do. If you avoid getting into too many battles, which will be expensive with this set up, you should be fine for a while, though you should probably make defensive charms a priority if it is a combat focused game. I will also second Artanis suggestion of a Reaper Daiklave, it is basically an artifact rapier as it is.

This character does have a big flaw: he isn't created for one particular game. He's more of a character that I'd like to play, perferrably in a game that suits him. So he won't be optimised, most likely. Furthermore, I know he is pretty spread out. His name is Jack for a resaon.

I do find it strange that people seem to deem him low-combat, however. I was worried he might be all to focused on that aspect :P

If you've got everything you want bonus-point-wise, I would say that a fourth dot of Valor is always fun, plus it gives you more Willpower. Only three bonus points - a bargain at any price.

While he is supposed to be brave and reluctant to flee, I'm not sure he's likely to be that stubborn. He's a thief, in the end; not a warrior.

As far as the build, it should be great as long as you aren't in a highly combat-focused group. If you are, I suggest swapping Call the Blade for Foe-Vaulting Stance, and then spend most battles popping out of hiding to sneak attack people and then vanishing again. Who needs DV if the enemy can't find you?

That does sound like a cool thing! I might use the last 4 Bonus Points for that charm.

[Friv]

Nnnn.

I would advise against spending bonus points on Charms. I know that minmaxing isn't good, but serious, it gives a terrible point ratio, far worse than anything else in the game. Just spend your first 8 XP on Foe-Vaulting - it will take a session and a half, and be way less awful. If you don't want Valor 4, use the four points to boost your Charisma or Wits to 4 - that would cost 12 XP, and take insane amounts of training time, and they're both stats that fit your character concept.

[Weimann]

Thanks for the tip :)

I believe I'll be spending my last Bonus Points on Abilities, after all. I notice that, for example, Foe-Vaulting Method require Atlethics 5 (and also have a prerequisite of Monkey Leap Technique), so it seems I need it a bit higher. I'll probably use the rest on assorted Abilities.

On the subject of defensive charms. Is it wise to go deep into the defense trees of both Resistance and Melee? I mainly took Dipping Swallow Defense so I could get Ready In Eight Directions Stance later on, but then I noticed Fivefold Bulwark Stance. I already have quite a few Resistance charms though. Is it worth the investment with Fivefold Bulwark Stance?

[Friv]

In the long run, as a Meleeist? Absolutely. Fivefold Bulwark is one of the best Charms that Solars have access to up through Essence 3, because it lets you spam attacks and miscellaneous actions and still be able to use your defenses, and it doesn't have a heavy cost attached. Plus, as a Reflexive, non-Obvious Charm, it's not hard to pull it up before a fight.

Immediately, though? Only if you have a very combat-heavy group. Generally, if you aren't a heavy-duty fighter, you only need to push into one defensive tree. For Resistance, Iron Skin Concentration and Adamant Skin give you a very good defensive spread.

[Weimann]

Great. Then I'll get it in time. It's seems a lot his style.

Another question, any idea what skill I could favour as the last one? I seem to have a hard time picking a good one for that one >.>

[Jerthanis]

Yeah, the DV is a little low, but it really depends on what kinds of monsters you're going to be starting the game fighting.

If you're going to be fighting Mortal Soldiers (even elite ones), Hobgoblins or one or two Buck Ogres at a time, you can probably depend on your DV to save you. If you're fighting Blood Apes make sure it's never more than one at a time. If you're fighting Dragonbloods or other exalts, you're going to need a lot more defense to survive.

Not every game requires you begin with impenetrable defenses. That said, if you've got the bonus points left, can I suggest getting Resistance 5 and at some point taking the Iron Skin Concentration Charm? It's an amazing little charm that you can activate on step 7 (That means you don't need to choose to use it until after they've beaten your DV) If you make a roll, you take no damage from the attack, and even if you fail, you boost your soak by a reasonably large amount. In addition it costs a mere 2 motes. My players have found it amazingly useful, and the player who was originally going to go for Adamant Skin Technique right away after character creation has had such luck with it that he hasn't felt the need for the Perfect Defense that costs twice as much to activate.

Oh yeah, and I'd suggest favoring Linguistics for this guy. A charming swashbuckler thief doesn't seem to be the type to want to run a Creation-spanning trade union (with bureaucracy), and Ride is kind of an all-or-nothing skill, since like War it caps your available Ability Dice to its rating while using it. (I think, jeez, I can't remember if this is a houserule of our group's right now!) This means if you have Ride 1, while riding a horse, you're limited to 1 die from your Melee Ability to your Weapon Attack rolls. Favoring Linguistics would let you learn new languages for this character, to be able to charm people in Nexus, Chiaroscuro, or the Coral Archipelago and spread your story further. Also, there are Linguistics charms that let you put up signs that appear to all appraisal to say, "Please don't litter", but every person with red hair who reads it is compelled to take off their pants.

[Weimann]

Also, there are Linguistics charms that let you put up signs that appear to all appraisal to say, "Please don't litter", but every person with red hair who reads it is compelled to take off their pants.

I'm so sold!

[Weimann]

Hm, I just noticed something. Is it only me, or does Strength-increasing Exercise in fact only amout to +2 raw damage? That seems very bad, compared to for instance Thunderbolt Attack Prana, that doubles raw damage. Still Thunderbolt Attack Prana has only one more prerequisite charm than Strength-increasing Exercise.

What am I missing?

[Cubey]

+2 damage for one scene, or x2 damage for one attack. Both charms have their uses.