Heroic Mortals and Half-Castes in the Realm

[Obsidian Soul]

I was wondering, how would you'll deal with a group who wanted to play a group of mortal Dynasts or Half-Caste Dynasts (or mortal or Half-Caste patricians for that matter) doing good in the Realm.  I was thinking that, if faced with that situation, I would give them Experience 2 and Knowledge 2 to acount for the extreme amount of training they experienced in childhood, at primary school and at the various finishing schools across the Realm.

 

[Jakk Bey]

So, they get a good amount of literacy. And you give them a little bonus for freebies.  Nothing wrong there.


I would probably let them just have extra Freebies at the beginning, and let them sort out how they'll distribute them--be they God Blooding themselves up, getting all wise and sagacious, investing in all sorts of Abilities--I'd waive the starting cap to let them be Heroic in stature, at least where some things are concerned.  Yes, that might mean a Melee 4 or Martial Arts 5 starting character, but since they aren't laden down with a lot of Charms--or, if they do go for the God-Blooded options, that will still give them an edge for a time over other Mortals and weaker Dynasts, who'd they'd have to be tough enough to stand up to.


If you want to give them all an edge, I would, rather than giving everyone a set amount of goodies, tweak the characters individually. Look at the concept and give the character a boost that is apropos, and that helps define them, beyond just being Dynasts.


Yes, they are Dynasts, but in world where the DB's are real nobility, these characters should be special enough to rate--or at least have the potential to.  I would avoid giving them lots of Artifacts, those can be taken away--give them things that make them special in their own right, even if that thing is an ASS load of Willpower, it puts them at an advantage from the get go. They won't be as powerful, but you can get some stories as they prove themselves capable.

 

[Dulio Giovanni]

Might I recomend Thaumaturgy as a viable path to power. Though it means little to Exalted, the Realm is still 90% mortal and gifts of potions that turn men into killing machines and blades that are decent substitutes for Daiklaves(I myself prefer to use weapons made of exotic materials instead of artifacts made of magical materials such as swords made from Red Mantis Madibles and Glass Steel) will make one popular among the people and wealthy at the very least.


Mutations are also a good avenue of progression especially those that are not so overtly abberrant like Tough, Berserker or Giant are well suited as they set them apart from the common run of mortal. Better yet let them buy these as merits without have to take the corresponding mutation point penalties to simulate them naturally have such traits.


As for character cap let them go wild with Inheritance, Patron, Experience or Knowledge. They'll need all the edge they could get with the fucked up world they live in but I must agree with Jakk that artifact and manse are too fragile to have in great numbers since they can be easily taken away unless the characters have someway of securing it well such as a powerful Patron or Ally.

 

[Maryuoh]

They should use the basic requirements of all Dynasts to graduate from Primary school as found in the DB hardcover. I'd add to that, however, if they attended a Secondary school. Give some freebies to compenate for those requirements, too.

 

[Dulio Giovanni]

Why not just give them the skill requirements for free.

 

[Obsidian Soul]

You could, but you have to take it all in account to make sure that you keep game balance.  15 or 20 extra Ability Points can make a bit of a difference, especially with beginning characters.  Remember, when Exalted run out of Essence, there is not that much difference between them and a heroic mortal and only a hairsbreath between them and a God-Blooded.

 

[Dulio Giovanni]

True but comparing Exalted and mortals, Exalted a have hugh essence pool to draw from and their charms would have slaughtered any dozen mortals before they'd ever run out, the only case I've this ever happen was during my younger days in this game when one of my less well thought oout combos ran into a brick wall and depleted me of my essence but aside from that an Exalt who rations his essence well or has a way of regaining it in battle can pretty much hold off an army. So I think mortal really should get higher skill points since it would take some exceptional training, confidence and skill to even work up the gall to challenge say a Solar or Death Knight.

 

[Maryuoh]

Why are you arguing comparitive power levels when everyone in the game will have the same base stats?


In terms of what's realistic, Exalted excel over mortals in Abilities, not only in using them to shred a pack of demons with a spatula, but just in general learning the same tricks of the trade as mortals. So making them DB's minus the Essence/Charms doesn't seem quite as flavorful. But if you want to kick them up a notch to go against whatever antagonists you've got planned, sure.

 

[Dulio Giovanni]

Well if the the game is set in the Blessed Isle then 9 times out of 10 they'll be running into whole gangs of charm wielding bigots who more or less will want to take advantage of theiir unexalted status. If they're going to survive the first encouter they're going to have to be very skilled to do so since assholes travel in flocks in the Realm.

 

[Maryuoh]

If they're in the Realm, they should be working for the Dynasty, the Legions, the Thousand Scales or one of the Great Houses. If they're going to get in fights with gangs of DBs, they're not going to survive, period, so it seems like a dead end to go down that route.