[Exalted] Lords of Creation

[Tabby]

Well, here's the deal. Myself and a few (2) friends are all new to Exalted, and we have a general idea for a plot [tl;dr raise support, abuse Manses, conquer all creation, do assassinations and various other cool things, and carve a Third Age that's pretty much a (hopefully) better version of the First], but no ST to... you know, do their ST thing. We were hoping that we could find someone who's willing to deal with us being new at this - we're not retarded, not incapable of reading/following rules and systems, just new - and run a game for us along that vein. It doesn't look like any of the games in the sticky are both open AND Exalted (discounting Chronicles 'cause that's all martial arts-ey, and none of our characters could Jet Li a sickly child), so I figured I'd post a new topic and see if anyone's interested. Preferably going by the 'ST won't kill off our characters, and in return we'll act like we don't know that' rule.


If it matters, we're Solars, like any good noobs who had no idea what kind of players to start with and automatically gravitate to the most munchkin-esque variety of celestials. We're all decent writers and have varying (but generally fairly small) degrees of experience with tabletop RPGs in general, and are pretty big on character development rather than RAH RAH KILL EVERYTHING. ...I mean, Exalted is tailor-made for killing everything, but you get the idea; kill things and simultaneously develop characters!


Oh and if it actually matters, there's pretty much a melee tank+general, agile melee dude, and a sorcerer, all of them pretty serious characters though the sorcerer is pretty much the class clown at times.

 

[Haku1]

I might do that if no one else does.


That is run a game for new-comers who need to get a feel for the system.

 

[Persell]

I suppose I could do this if Haku can't and nobody else is up to it, but... you'd be better off finding someone else if you can. I'm new to Exalted, and not exactly good at running games in the first place.

 

[Sarky]

I'll throw my name in the pile. Haven't run a Solar game in ages, but it's like riding a bike. A solid gold bike that flies and shoots flaming mountains.

 

[NoisyCricket]

Well, I wouldn't mind running another game, and I think trying a Forum one might work out better than real life (I'm enjoying the stunts I and other characters are doing much more).


I'm not totally sure on inspiration yet, but I'm open to directions (probably not the Blessed Isle), as well as feel of the game.


The game probably wouldn't get rolling too fast until August (though I would want to start on characters, backgrounds, and any houserules/questions before then), as I have a bit of a heavy weekend commitment before GenCon.


If anyone is interested, please PM me.

 

[cyl]

1 sollicitation 4 STs... that must be first :lol:

 

[Tabby]

1 sollicitation 4 STs... that must be first :lol:

Yeah, I'm getting gooooooood vibes here.


Best of all, we got another fellow newb to join up, so there's 4 of us who get to start together. Good number, I think; more than that just gets clunky most of the time, going off my experience in other systems.

 

[NoisyCricket]

1 sollicitation 4 STs... that must be first :lol:

Yeah, I'm getting gooooooood vibes here.


Best of all, we got another fellow newb to join up, so there's 4 of us who get to start together. Good number, I think; more than that just gets clunky most of the time, going off my experience in other systems.

In regards to this...


Some STs prefer a 'Perfect Circle' for Solars (One of each of the 5 Castes).


For me, this is nice, but optional.


That being said, if you guys want me as a GM, I'll try to find a 5th if you want. And if you guys don't want me as a GM, I would consider being the 5th if you want.

 

[Tabby]

Perfect Circle: yeah, but then I kinda just get a 'normal' vibe out of it, like we're just going through the motions and finding our fighter, rogue, wizard, priest, and... bard?


...Wow, suddenly I just lost all respect for Eclipse caste.

 

[Feantari]

The mysterious 4th steps from behind the curtain.


>.> <.<


Since this group already has dawn, twilight, and zenith represented, I can work up a night caste of some kind as another twilight seems less than optimal. (Engineer of doom was going to be pretty sweet though NC ;-))

 

[cyl]

The first thing you gotta know about exalted is: the bard can send you to your ancestors as quickly as the fighter can... the caste are excessively fluid and any exalt can kick ass as bad as the best Dawn caste badass.


The castes are in no way an obligation of following "the path of ...".

 

[Tabby]

@Feantari: Honestly. I personally don't give a damn if a caste is repeated. It's really just character concepts that matter; if you have a Twilight that's way different than the other Twilight, I'm perfectly fine with you using him. Her. WHATEVER. Our current Twilight isn't at all engineer-ish so you're welcome to go for the engineer if you want. Got anything more on the character than "engineer?"


For what it's worth, we've...


Dawn Caste warrior/general, sort of a focus on being light/fast and doing damage.


Zenith Caste tank, the one who just stands there and lawlz at people trying to hit her. Then she kills them.


Twilight Caste sorcerer/deadweight, of the cowardly variety. Though it's kinda stupid to laugh at the guy who can turn you into a sculpture with a thought.


Cyl: yeah, I know. Cut me a bit of slack though, pl0x, I'm still coming to terms with the idea of the 'social' class actually being good. THIS IS SO CONFUSING.

 

[Witch]

Hello,


I'm not a complete newbie to the game, though I am to this site. I've been looking for a play-by-post Exalted game for a while though, and I'm wondering if it would be okay if I joined this game as the Eclipse member of the Circle.

 

[NoisyCricket]

I've got to second Cyl here, and I don't think it can be stated enough:


You have 5 caste abilities, but you also have 5 favored, which means you could, if you wanted to, be basically two castes for purposes of learning charms and abilities (this would generally not be the best idea I think, but you could do it).


For Example of some Eclipse awesome:


Silk Covered Steel, the Ambassador at the Front of the Army


Silk is an Eclipse who Exalted as a promising young officer in Lookshy. During a particularly brutal battle, his commander fell in front of him to the onslaught of the opposing side's commander. Silk stepped forward and challenged the enemy's commander to a duel to determine the fate of the battle. At that moment, he Exalted as an Eclipse, easily disarmed the man, and forced him to swear an oath, binding his army to Lookshy's aid.


Since that day, Silk has become an invaliable asset to Lookshy's leadership. While they may not normally trust anathema, he has proven time and time again that he is a Loyal Son, and all of his troops would give their lives for him...and in time, so will most of his enemies.


This eclipse could easily have the following as favored (and at least two of these at 5):


Favored: Melee, War, Performance, Integrity, Resistance


...and now I have a new Eclipse idea >.>


But that was a (rather longwinded) example of how an Eclipse can both be a diplomat and completely destroy lesser beings in combat.

 

[Tabby]

Yeah, I know that caste isn't all as important as class in D&D and really isn't all that important save for how many essentially-free abilities you get out of it that you wanted for the character anyways, I was just trying to make a joke at the Eclipse caste's expense. I'm new and have a questionable sense of humor, not unable to read and comprehend the system.

 

[Haku1]

Isn't Zenith the priest bards of the setting anyhow? ^_-

 

[NoisyCricket]

Yeah, I know that caste isn't all as important as class in D&D and really isn't all that important save for how many essentially-free abilities you get out of it that you wanted for the character anyways, I was just trying to make a joke at the Eclipse caste's expense. I'm new and have a questionable sense of humor, not unable to read and comprehend the system.

No problem, I also know there are several new players here, so I figured I would go ahead and give an example of what you could do with an Eclipse.


And I came from d20-based systems, so going from them to Exalted was, for me at least, a complete 180.


Certainly no offense was meant (and I hope none taken).


But I hear you on bards...I liked the concept...and hated the execution.


That said, you could definitely make a Zenith bard (since they have the performance ability) and give him the Martial Art Silver-Voiced Nightingale Style. This bard would actually be useful in combat though.

 

[Sarky]

One of the most horribly powerful close-combat characters I remember seeing in a game was a Twilight sorcerer who combined things like invulnerable skin of bronze and claws of the wood dragon with his celestial martial arts. Hit a tyrant lizard so hard the poor thing exploded.

 

[Tabby]

No offense taken. Just got a bit defensive.


As it happens, I'm the Zenith of the party, but probably more of a stereotypical 'fighter' archetype than the Dawn player... a fighter with a fair bit of skill in bureacracy, lore, and eventually war, but still a fighter. I find myself very much liking the caste system; hugely flexible, lots of options, but still gives just enough order that being a certain caste means something. It's cool that you get a fair bit of points at chargen too, so you can be pretty good at fighting, but still have some points to make your character more than just a combat junkie. Zenith just appealed to me a bit more than Dawn, and it had more abilities I was planning on using in the long-term anyways, so... might as well get them as free class abilities than paying for all of them as favored, eh?


(And on a side note: if I ever get around to it, vicious mocking aside, I really do want to try an Eclipse caste, maybe a combo mental/social support character with enough melee to stay alive as needed. Social combat intrigues me, though my Zenith isn't really a master of it - beyond Presence attacks, anyways - and I just kinda think it'd be fun to play a poison-tongued... something or other. Bonus points if I can start more than one war.)


(side-side-note: if you take, say, Melee (Swords +3) specialization, does that work for pretty much any sword (aka everything from long swords to Reaver daiklaves), or is it ONLY for basic swords, and daiklaves an entirely different specialty?)


EDIT: yeah, I'm already working on a Lunar martial artist for... uhhh... something or other. Don't really know WHAT yet, I just want one. Tiger and Lunar Hero forms both look really really fun, and I had a decent idea for a combat-focused one. Some of those charms are borderline TOO AWESOME FOR WORDS.

 

[Witch]

I'll just write down a character concept so you'd know what I'd play if I were admitted to the game:


It'd be a wealthy merchant, a guild factor living in Nexus, who's especially gifted at arranging contracts and frequently travels around the Scavenger Lands, the Blessed Isle and the East in order to arrange for more contracts. Due to arrangements with several spirits (or, some suspect, Fey) about new contracts, he exalted as an Eclipse caste - with a specialty in Linguistics charms and Socialize charms. Due to the Exaltation, he took a step back in the Guild (down from Backing 4 to Backing 3), in order to locate less easily found merchandise, such as ancient orichalcum artifacts. However, by no means is this a permanent retreat, as it is his goal to once become a hierarch of the Guild, and eventually subordinate all of the other hierarchs to him, becoming the sole Director of the Guild. (What little combat ability he has will likely be focused on daggerfighting with poison.)

 

[cyl]

Didn't know if this was a joke or not, better safe than sorry, wasn't trying to discredit your cognitive abilities. :mrgreen:


As for your specializations: I'd take / accept as a ST "blades" as per the category of weapons in the corebook p.366. This one would gather both regular and artifact version of the "blades".

 

[NoisyCricket]

(side-side-note: if you take, say, Melee (Swords +3) specialization, does that work for pretty much any sword (aka everything from long swords to Reaver daiklaves), or is it ONLY for basic swords, and daiklaves an entirely different specialty?)

Specialties are kind of odd. I know some GMs who want them more or less restrictive (I tend to be on the 'less' side myself). I would probably allow 'swords' to cover normal swords and daiklaves (straight, slashing, chopping, and the artifact equivalents). I'm not sure if I would extend that out past there, but I would think about it.


On a side note to this, a fun thread to read on the exalted boards about Specialties:


http://forums.white-wolf.com/cs/forums/t/8278.aspx


and my upcoming specialties for my character:


Martial Arts Specialty (Clearly Not Thought Out Scenarios)


Martial Arts Specialty (While Giving Advice to His Opponents)


Martial Arts Specialty (While Spouting Philosophical Comments)

 

[Tabby]

Hrm. Slightly more specific question on blades, then: my character has a fairly thin daiklave (by daiklave standards; it's still a decent-sized sword), and I'm hoping to eventually find, you know, a 5 star artifact version that looks somewhat similar (or craft it), 'cause it fits the image character and looks great, and I've never been much for giant Final Fantasy-sized weapons. If it's technically a daiklave but aesthetically similar, if not identical, to a normal (if very ornate) sword... how does that work? For that matter, can anything under 27 feet actually be a daiklave?


Also:


War 5 (+3 Xanatos Gambit)


Brawling 9 [Excessive Brutality +3]


...I'm totally using those, or something along that line, sometime. Xanatos Gambits, and my Lunar martial artist in the making is pretty much the poster child for the second one when she gets too far into a beating.

 

[Persell]

War 5 (+3 Xanatos Gambit)

...And now I want to play a character that specializes in mass combat.

 

[cyl]

The design of an artifact and its stats are two different things, though you can't really design a weapon doing the same damage as a great klave without the 2 tag.


And you can't forge artefact 4+ not before a veeeeeeeery long time according to the rules of the Codex (craft / lore / occult at 7dots each).