[Exalted] Shadows of Nexus

Alazair

New Member
The glories of the First Age are lost. The architects of such wonders trapped for over a millennia are finally returning to find their world shattered and broken, ruled by their usurpers, the Children of the Dragons. Their mates are scattered to the four corners of Creation, fighting both for survival and to hold back the chaos of the Wyld. The advisors of the once-great Lawgivers are nowhere to be found.


What's worse, the Solars and their Lunar mates are now considered Anathema... Demons in human form intent on destroying or enslaving the world for their own ends, or so the Immaculate Faith of the Dragon-Blooded say. And so they Hunt. What choice do they have? They must protect Creation from the Golden and Silver monsters... Or so they believe.



The dead of the Underworld claw at the surface of Creation, scheming and plotting before they pour through the blighted lands to wreak destruction and drag all that exists into Oblivion. The Fae dream up fanciful ways with which to unravel what is shaped, returning it to the chaos of the Wyld so that it may be clay in their hands, allowing them to weave such exciting stories as have never been told.



This is the world the Chosen of the Sun return to. And now they must fix what has been broken, purify the blight, and reshape the world. But they are scattered and young, not yet powerful enough to confront the forces arrayed against them. Alone, they are often found by the Wyld Hunt and slain. So they are drawn to each other to join forces and solidify their strength, making them a much more difficult target to kill.



One such circle of Solars finds themselves in Nexus for reasons of their own. Some may live there, others were drawn to the city. Though they do not yet know each other, they are destined to bring the light of the Unconquered Sun to the shadows that have fallen upon Nexus, forcing those shadows to flee from such holy brilliance.



Gameplay


Exalted 2.5 Extended: This game will be using the Exalted 2.5 update as found in the Scroll of Errata, in addition to the Ink Monkeys collection. Most of the content in the Hundredfold Facets of Enlightenment will also be used.


New Players: This game is designed to introduce new players to Exalted. As such, there is no need to worry about making mistakes or playing poorly. I intend to help with any problems and answer any questions I am able to. Hopefully by the end of this story, the players will have a firm grasp of the concepts and system used by Exalted.


SAS Adventure: I will be running this game from one of the premade campaigns. As the game continues, I may diverge from what is written in the adventure. If you happen to have the adventure books and know which I am using, it would be in your best interest not to read it.


Requirements


Exalted 2nd Edition Core: This book is required to play as it contains all of the rules and systems of the game. If you're wanting to play Exalted, however, you probably already have this.


The Scroll of Errata: This book is the update from Exalted 2.0 to Exalted 2.5. Everything in this book will be used as written, barring the few houserules I have (I believe). Therefore, this is required as well. It can be found here.


The Ink Monkeys Collection: This books has a large collection of additional Charms that are all but canon anyway, and most people seem to use it as it has many nice additions. This book isn't actually required, but as it is free, there really is no reason not to have it. It can be found here.


Hundredfold Facets of Enlightenment: This book also has a large collection of additional Charms that can be quite useful. However, it is not canon (though, since Charms can be created by Exalts, it could technically still be considered canon by the loosest definition of the term) and was released before the Scroll of Errata. Therefore, some of the entries in this book are out of date and would need to be revised for use. This book is also not required and choosing not to use it wouldn't really detract from your play experience. However, it is also free, so there's no reason not to at least have it, even if you don't intend to use it for this game. It can be found here.


Character Sheets: These are very useful to help keep track of the stats and other non-mechanical aspects of your character. While they certainly aren't actually required, they are definitely recommended. They can be found here.

Attacking


You may choose to use Strength when attacking if your character's approach to combat is aggressive or forceful. Obviously, this does not apply to attacks with certain types of weapons. For example, how would one feasibly be "forceful" with a firewand? And a needle simply isn't going to do any extra damage no matter how hard you throw it.


Flawless Defenses


Perfect defenses no longer have a Flaw of Invulnerability. Instead, whenever they are used to defend against an attack for which the relevant trait would be inapplicable, increase the cost by 1wp. For example, parrying an unblockable attack with Heavenly Guardian Defense would increase the cost by 1wp.


Also, Adamant Skin Technique increases the cost by 1wp whenever it is used to prevent any secondary effect that would apply upon hitting.


Social Appearance


In Social Conflict, Appearance is compared to your target's Temperance (rather than his Appearance), and only adds a single die to your dice pool for every rank in Appearance you have higher than his Temperance, rather than affecting MDVs.


Singular Crafting


Craft is now a single ability with specialties for each of the individual types of crafting. It now specifically ignores the maximum number of specialties that are allowed in a single ability, though the maximum bonus to any single roll is still +3.


Sorcery


Use Limited Reagent's Sorcery revision, found here. Ask me about each spell specifically before selecting it.


Excellencies


Excellencies are now merged by Caste. For example, instead of purchasing the First Melee Excellency, you'd purchase the First Dawn Excellency which counts as the First Excellency for every Dawn Caste Ability.


Also, rather than referring to the Excellencies as the First, Second, or Third, their names should be used. Examples follow:


Overwhelming Excellence of Dawn


Triumphant Excellence of Twilight


Resurgent Physical Excellence (For our Lunar)


The name obviously isn't very important and if you can't remember them, don't worry about it. But if you can, it sounds much more epic than simply saying the First Dawn Excellency. And epic is good.

Players


HolyFireX - Dawn


Lord-Leafar - Zenith


ayetherebobbyu - Night


Wolf Rawrrr - Twilight


Foolish13 - Eclipse


PirateLexi - Changing Moon


All character slots are currently full and I am not searching for any more players.


Interest Check thread is here.


Tagging players from other thread: @HolyFireX, @Lord-Leafar, @ayetherebobbyu, @Wolf Rawrrr, @Foolish13, @PirateLexi
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Confirmed, I will be playing a Changing Moon. Will have the concept and possibly the beginnings of a sheet by tomorrow.
 
Eclipse confirmed on all points good sir. Here's to an interesting and fun game ^^


Edit: Felt out of place with everyone else shouting out their ring elements Castes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Awesome! It's amazing how fast these threads have progressed and become what is already almost a game. Guess it just goes to show how many more people are interested in playing Exalted, but don't feel confident enough in the system to try joining another game where they're expected to know how things work.


Also, it was brought to my attention that "Though they do not yet know each other, they are destined to..." may both not be clear enough that I intend the characters to meet at the beginning of play, and that it may be unwise to start the game with the characters not knowing each other first, as conflicts of that nature can be a pain to deal with.


I agree entirely, and though I'm not altering the starting conditions, I am presenting an expectation that all the characters like each other well enough to continue working together throughout the course of this campaign, despite any differences of opinion they may have. The reasoning behind this is that, while I want each character to have their own personality and goals, this campaign is designed to help players get a feel for the Exalted system, and I can't ensure that is possible if I'm too busy trying to deal with personal vendettas between the characters.
 
If that's the case, maybe we should post up our character concepts so that we have an idea of what each person is bringing to the plate and how to adjust our roleplaying.


Oh, also, Lexi? Is your Lunar going to be anyone's mate in the game? And Alazair, are there any banned Martial Art Styles we should know about?


Edit:


Almost forgot, my character concept.


Skies Above - Laughing Rogue, Drunken Fool, Incensed Lord


I like laughing and drinking...a lot, but what you know, I would really love to kick those bastard Dragonblood back to their place, on their knees beneath me- no, I just want to live somewhere nice, with plenty of food and drink and entertainment, yes, such as seeing the whores of Mnemon naked befor-NO! Let's find a nice place here in Nexus, maybe even find a way to enter the Council of Entities and show those children what it means to ru-No! No! No! I want a peaceful life! Boy, you are destined for a life greater than the mere mortals of Creation, you will know no peace.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
No one has approached me about it so I'm currently dropping my point in solar bond. Though that doesn't mean I can't rearrange and add it in if someone has a good idea. Concept to be added to this post later today
 
It's been ages since I've looked through all the MA styles, so I'm not sure. Present what you might want, then I'll tell ya if there's any reason I don't want the Style. As for the character concept, it sounds like a very conflicted individual, and that can be fun haha xD


As for a Solar Mate, if anybody is yours, it should probably be Lord-Leafar's char. That way it would be able to introduce how a bonded pair could interact without burdening the newer players with yet another stat modifier and reaction changer to worry about. If you do decide to have points in Solar Bond, you can get up to 2 free because the Background is as much burden as it is boon, depending on the Solar in question. Slightly conflicting personalities between pairs can often be quite entertaining and provide for some good roleplay.
 
Wolf's not yet sure about his character concept. I'm reading up some general info on Nexus so I have something to work with in the first place. By the time the forums are up and everyone starts submitting sheets, hopefully so should I be *bark*
 
Awesome! All the players are checked in and we're all ready xD


No need to rush, Wolf. If you guys rush, then I'll have to rush to get the rest of the stuff all set up, and I'd not like to rush because I want to do a good job for you guys.
 
Alazair said:
Awesome! All the players are checked in and we're all ready xD
No need to rush, Wolf. If you guys rush, then I'll have to rush to get the rest of the stuff all set up, and I'd not like to rush because I want to do a good job for you guys.
If that's the case, then you can now proceed to the Storyteller's Forum, read the advice given there and submit your forum requests.


Captain Hesperus
 
Okay, so I had a few questions as to how this will work. One- How do we submit characters on here, two-How will this work when we all have characters created and the story/campaign actually begins?
 
oh and 3-when would you like us to have characters approved and created by? and lastly 4-Is there going to be a regular time that we all sign on? Or how does this work? Sorry I'm a newb :-p
 
Avexi Ninetail, The Alluring Silverfox


(Name is a work in progress :tongue: Any suggestions are welcome)


A white fox slipped through the window, stopping to stare longingly at the trappings of the room he had entered. The opulent bed was covered in silk and down, the walls painted with gold; the entire scene reeked of inheritance and money spent without regard. A sudden breeze blew the curtains across the bed and a shiver ran down the spine of the woman in its throes. She awoke, and pulling the bright red silk across her body, stood and moved towards the window. A quick glance out the window was all she gave before pushing the windows into place, sliding the simple lock down.


Behind her, a slow change was happening, and by the time she turned, a tall, beautiful man with silver hair down to his waist, barely recognizable against his pale white flesh was in place to take her by the shoulders. A deep grin crossed his face and then hers was covered as he placed it against his.


FADE TO BLACK


Hours had passed, and the man stood just beyond the window, a puff of smoke crossing the distance as he shook the free hand, blood spraying against the glass. A finished job was always messy, but the Silverfox had never been caught in his many years in Nexus. The window opened slowly, and from it flew a white raven, the slightest hint of dark red spilling from its beak. As the window slammed shut again, the woman's body lay sprawled across the bed, her throat as wide as the grin left on her face. A note was attached to her chest with a thin needle, the writing in gold ink.


The Silverfox Comes To Those Who Dream


The night is no stranger to his deed.



When power corrupts and furies steam



Freedom wins when you slay the greed.



 
@ayetherebobbyu

  1. I believe they are submitted into a Characters subforum within the Roleplay forum that has yet to be created. I'm not sure if there's any other steps involved because I'm not that far in the process yet.
  2. There will be a Roleplay forum where we will all be able to make posts in character. I may split it into multiple threads, roughly one for every scene or major plot development.
  3. I'm not setting a specific date at this time as I wouldn't want to require you guys to be ready by then and still be waiting for me to get everything set up. There's no need to rush as long as everybody's level of interest is still high.
  4. That's the beauty of Play by Post. No specific time is required, which means you needn't clear spaces in your schedule just to be able to play. Everybody will be posting at least once a day (or so, though exceptions may obviously occur), detailing the actions of their character. There is no specific order that players are required to post except in combat. Even then though, one could post slightly before another whose turn it is and the game can flow around when people post and progress as necessary.


No worries about any questions you may have. Answering them is a large portion of why this campaign is being created :)


As for the Lunar, I believe he would have a bit of good interaction with some of the aspects of this story, though based on the impression I'm getting so far, he may need to be... Urged by his Solar Mate to actually follow along with the very beginning of the campaign haha.
 
Haha, he's pretty stubborn. But he's got a lot of potential, lol. I'm actually kinda done making him aside from details about the solar bond.
 
PirateLexi said:
I'm down with that if leafear
Sure thing! I have not finished my character concept yet, but I'll send you the details once I have them.


Which begs the question, how do you feel about the Lunar Taming charms in Glories???
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top