Ghosts of Exalts: Page ref?

[Flagg]

I was wondering if someone could point me to any text that discusses the mechanics for the ghosts of the Exalted.


I know the Abyssal book describes how to handle the hungry ghosts of Exalts, but what about their higher souls? Are they just regular, run-of-the-mill ghosts? Do they keep the Attributes they had in life? Arcanoi?


Thanks,


-S

 

[Persell]

On page 175 of the abyssals book is an abyssal endurance charm which ensures that the character comes back as a ghost when he gets slain.


there are some benefits mentioned there but that is the only source I could find. I hope that helps.

 

[Lotus1]

yeah when you die your balls get juiced for all they are worth, you end up being nothing more then a shell of what you once were. Some Fine Fluid Filled Thick Juicy Balls.

 

[Jukashi]

I don't know any precise mechanics, but ghosts draw power from the memories of the living, so I reckon an Exalt's ghost would be pretty damn powerful regardless.

 

[Fruan]

There is painfully little information on this in print. Musings about it for a previous game I ran led me to developing my own ideas, which I will now share with you all for the purposes of them being ripped to shreds.


Canonically, Exaltation lives in the lower soul. However, a higher soul that rides along in such a powerful vessel for a while is going to end up being changed by the experience - Maybe not directly, but certainly from circumstance. The soul in question will have learned much more in life, and this will be reflected in death.


So, mechanically, the ghost of an exalt will be essence 1 - All essence manipulation was previously handled by the lower soul, which is now gone. They'll have to learn to manipulate essence again in completely different ghostly fashion. All other traits will remain at the value held before death, with the exception of Attributes and Abilities above 5, which will be lowered to 5. All charms are lost, except for Martial Arts charms below the form (as per the players guide) and any arcaneoi the Exalt might happen to have learned. Essence pools, health levels, etc need to be recalculated, and passions and fetters come into being. As the Exalt is now becoming a Heroic Ghost a single one of their cast and favored abilities need to be chosen to become the new favored ability. Merits and Flaws will probably need to be delt with case by case.


These are purely my house rules, as noted above. The interesting thing comes from thinking about how many exalts would remain as ghosts, as compared to the general populace - A person remains in the underworld as a ghost instead of returning to the cycle of reincarnation when they have too many worldly concerns that they wish to hold on to. When your life span has been measured in millennia rather than decades you tend to set yourself up some pretty serious worldly concerns, you'd think that almost every exalt would meet this criteria. As this would seriously affect the nature of the underworld (Every Exalted Martial Artist would have a huge impact in the underworld upon their death, for instance). Indeed, the only canonically mentioned Ex-Exalted Ghosts are the Deathlords! I wanted to introduce another rule to help bring things back more into balance.


So: Remaining as a ghost in the underworld in an inherently unnatural act - It removes you (perhaps only temporarily, perhaps not) from the natural cycle of reincarnation, for what boil down to selfish and ugly reasons. It is my reasoning therefore that as your Essence score increases, and thus you become more aware of and in tune to the nature of reality, the likelihood of you allowing your attachment to this mortal coil to break you from reincarnation decreases - Exalts, especially powerful exalts, become ghosts only rarely.


Obviously that's a generalization - personal reasons, and more importantly, story reasons can and should overcome this. But the rule I've come to use is that when you die you must fail an essence roll to detach yourself from the cycle of reincarnation.


This leads to aproximately a full half of the mortal population having the option to become ghosts if their circumstances leave them so inclined. However, the number of Exalts sharply drops off with their power level. I feel this meshes nicely with how cannon has always portrayed the population of the underworld; I'm certain others will disagree.

 

[Hanat-Osul]

Actually, that sounds great to me.  Makes a lot of sense on all fronts.

 

[Solfi]

When your life span has been measured in millennia rather than decades you tend to set yourself up some pretty serious worldly concerns...

Not necessarily. Detachment is another viable survival strategy for those forced to watch everyone they love grow old and die. Not really a good thing for someone who's supposed to be a paragon of virtue, but there it is. Older Exalts would face that hurdle at one time or other; and being under the influence of the Great Curse would probably not help...


On to the main issue: I like your houserules, and the whole 'high Essence equals greater understanding of the natural order, equals easier time to let go'-thing though. And if ever I have to justify the lack of über-ghosts, that'd probably be it.


However. Being an Exalt for a long time; understanding the natural order of things and being a paragon of justice means a deep-seated sense of responsibility (that's pretty much the point of the Exalted after all). The Shadowlands is not really a part of the natural order. Not really. If anything, it's a pitstop on the way to the Great Cycle.


And the Deathlords/Malfeans are sure as hell not supposed to be "part of the plan". They should definitely not have their grubby paws on any part of Creation. What I'm getting at is this: if there's any "worldly concern" I see that could keep an Exalt as a ghost, it would be the generic concern that the Deathlords/Malfeans/whatever are messing with the Great Cycle and that they should be stopped (which, after all, is entirely appropriate in scope for being that once were demi-gods).


... having a couple of hundred ex-Exalted ghosts running around the Underworld (of which most would try to fuck over the Deathlords) would seriously mess up the game-balance though.

 

[Hanat-Osul]

... having a couple of hundred ex-Exalted ghosts running around the Underworld (of which most would try to fuck over the Deathlords) would seriously mess up the game-balance though.

I like that idea a lot - a "Hundred Heroes" company of mercenary/ vigilante ghosts, all Exalts in life, roaming the Underworld putting paid to conspiracies most vile, be they Deathlord or nephwrack in origin...

 

[Solfi]

yeah, it got my juices going as well... but man is it easy to overextend one's interests in Exalted. For each idea, there's a hundred more...

 

[Persell]

yeah, it got my juices going as well... but man is it easy to overextend one's interests in Exalted. For each idea, there's a hundred more...

Word, if you give it the chance it eats your spare time.

 

[Obsidian Soul]

You could always create a specific Arcanoi chain available to former Exalts or Ancients Ghosts.  This Arcanoi could allow them to the heroes that can craft powerful artifacts of the dead, beyond level three, and give them more latitude in their actions.