Exalted newbie

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

I've just bought the Abyssals book, and I'm really interested in playing me some Exalted. The first step would undoubtedly be to make a character, already having a small group of friends who all have characters (who are all Solars, though) and I want to join them with a renegade Dusk caste.

The problems I'm having at this moment though, is what Primary, Secondary and Tertiary attributes are. Do I have a set amount according to my caste or do I pick 3 for myself?

The rest of the point distribution is a little clearer to me, but if I have any more questions I'll probably put them here.

[Zincorium]

You get to choose for yourself, deciding which set gets 8 points, which gets 6, and which gets 4 (primary, secondary, and tertiary, respectively).

Also- which edition of exalted are you playing? It makes no difference as far as the answer is concerned, but it's a good thing for you to know, and it'll help if you have any other rules questions.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

I think it's mostly second edition, but with a mixture of 1st since I'm using the Abyssals book from 1st edition. So far though I havn't seen any differences.

[Artanis]

I've just bought the Abyssals book, and I'm really interested in playing me some Exalted. The first step would undoubtedly be to make a character, already having a small group of friends who all have characters (who are all Solars, though) and I want to join them with a renegade Dusk caste.

The problems I'm having at this moment though, is what Primary, Secondary and Tertiary attributes are. Do I have a set amount according to my caste or do I pick 3 for myself?

The rest of the point distribution is a little clearer to me, but if I have any more questions I'll probably put them here.

If I understand what you're asking correctly...

The attributes are distributed into three sets of three: physical (strength, dexterity, and stamina), social (charisma, appearance, and manipulation), and mental (wits, perception, and intelligence). You choose one of Physical or Mental or Social as your Primary set, and you get 8 extra dots to distribute among the three stats in the set you chose. Chose a second as your Secondary, getting 6 dots to distribute among that set's three attributes, and the last set is your Tertiary, with 4 extra dots.


For example, Stabby McSolarGuy chooses Physical as primary, Mental as secondary, and Social as Tertiary. Each attribute automatically starts at 1. So he puts 8 more dots in his Physical attributes, and he decides to go with 4 (1+3) Strength, 4 (1+3) Dexterity, and 3 (1+2) Stamina. Then he takes six dots and adds them to his Mental scores, giving himself 3 (1+2) Perception, 2 (1+1) Intelligence, and 4 (1+3) Wits. Then he puts four dots into his Social attributes, buying 3 (1+2) Charisma, 2 (1+1) Manipulation, and 2 (1+1) Appearance.



Edit:

I think it's mostly second edition, but with a mixture of 1st since I'm using the Abyssals book from 1st edition. So far though I havn't seen any differences.

There's a few fairly significant differences in mechanics, but as far as I can tell, the fluff is effectively identical. It would be a pain to translate Abyssal mechanics (such as Charms) directly into second edition, BUT Abyssals have the advantage of being...well...being anti-Solars. So if all else fails, you can just build a Solar and rename everything to sound eeeeevil

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Here's another thing that's been bugging me and I need to ask, if I get the Shadowlands, Labyrinth and Void circle necromancies, do I instantly gain access to all the spells in this book?
It would make sense if it does, because each spell costs incredible amounts of essence, but then there's just... so much you can do with these few simple charms. I may just be too stuck in a D&D mindset, but just tell me what it does.

[Kyeudo]

You still have to learn the spells. Possessing the Charm merely makes you cabable of spellcasting, but does not entitle you to knowing even a single spell.

Spells can be grabbed like Charms during character creation, however.

[Artanis]

Here's another thing that's been bugging me and I need to ask, if I get the Shadowlands, Labyrinth and Void circle necromancies, do I instantly gain access to all the spells in this book?
It would make sense if it does, because each spell costs incredible amounts of essence, but then there's just... so much you can do with these few simple charms. I may just be too stuck in a D&D mindset, but just tell me what it does.

I believe Necromancy works more or less like Sorcery. If so, you have to pay for the charm that unlocks the level of spellcasting in question, and then you have to pay for each spell individually. For Sorcery, it costs a Solar 8xSpellLevel xp if Occult is Favored or Caste, and 10 if non-favored and non-caste. Since Abyssals are just anti-solars and necromancy is (more or less) Underworld Sorcery, I assume the costs would be the same as the Sorcery equivalents.

[Rutee]

A note: Resonance is going to kick you and your circle's ass. This will be entertaining and hopefully dramatic.

Also, as you're a newbie, I need to tell you about the rule no book covers: Appearance 8 is no excuse

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Been a while, and I have another question! I'm sort of stuck in a D&D mind set, and I'm having trouble coming up with stunts. My best ability is likely melee, with a little backing from my Occult. I'm wondering if anyone's done any particularly painful Melee or Occult stunts that an Abyssal might try to pull off? Once I get some good examples, I should get the ball rolling and make some fun ones of my own.

[Indon]

Hmm, a meleer, eh?

Well, you could always go for improvised weapons as stunts. No, not beer bottles or chairs. More like trees and stone columns, if you have a fair Str+Athletics, anyway.

There's pretty much always an awesome factor attached to uprooting a nearby tree and using it as a weapon. Of course, you don't get to use your weapon stats, but that's a price you pay.

Another good one is to bear in mind that your sword can cut through anything, meaning that if there's something that can be collapsed by cutting it nearby, you can probably collapse it on your enemies' head.

[Rutee]

Assuming you have a daiklave, you can cleave everything, yeah.

Honestly? I'm not sure I can give much stunt advice with out a few generalities.. is your character a nimble combatant, gracefully avoiding the enemy's strikes with nary an inch between your pale, alabaster face and the opponent's spear thrust? Or perhaps a walking juggernaut, resplendent in the finest of articulated armor, who's maniacal laughter echoes across the battlefield as your foes break their weapons upon you?

Your style matters! The best general advice I can give is to watch people who move in a wuxia manner (If you have Hong Kong Action flicks, Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess, or Kingdom Hearts 2, those are excellent places to start), and see what sort of tricks you like. Of course, that assumes a nimble combatant to begin with, and I dunno your thoughts on your character's style, so.. share! Best way to help.

Also, protip: Resplendent is a hugely important word in Exalted, along with Auspicious. Make judicious use of them when possible

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

One suggestion I actually got from the GM I'm with was to use Artful Maiming Onslaught with my daiklave to take off an arm, then sprouting the two short daiklaves I have and shoving them both into the stump and splaying them apart. That's the basic style I want, being an Abyssal and what not.

[Rutee]

Ah, right, Brutal evil. I don't think I can help with that at all, unfortunately. Um... watch the more violent and bloody wuxia and gore movies?

[Indon]

Also, protip: Resplendent is a hugely important word in Exalted, along with Auspicious. Make judicious use of them when possible

I'd have thought Resplendence more of a Solar thing, and Auspiciousness more of a Sidereal concept.

Abyssals may fare better with themes of death and destruction behind their actions.

[Rutee]

You'd think so, but the DB book makes use of both, and the Solars book /also/ has Auspicious. The words are iconic of Exalted..

[Artanis]

You might get away with an otherwise ho-hum stunt that has very vivid descriptions of blood and entrails flying everywhere mixed in

[Project_Mayhem]

Yeah, it's all about killing and maiming people in humiliating and amusing ways.

Oh right, we were talking about games?