gatherer818
One Thousand Club
Alright, I've been playing around with some game ideas for a while, and I think I've got it narrowed down to my favorite two. Here they are for your consideration.
#1 is a light Mixed game where everything is allowed and Rule of Funny is the new Rule of Cool. Called shots with bows will always target the knee, and Social Charms might require the activation phrase "Assuming direct control." Half-Castes, Mountain Folk, mortals, any Exalt type you can get your hands on, whatever is fine to play. The game will likely start in the Scavenger Lands but is welcome to roam wherever. Destroying Gem is assumed but not mandatory.
Storylines in this game will usually be less-than-epic, focusing on personal goals and personal problems of the PCs. Working out family issues, negotiating parties, and fighting ridiculous creatures can all have their place. Alternately, storylines may occasionally be overly epic. "Ending slavery" is too normal of a goal, so maybe "ending slavery before Calibration of this year" is better. Resolutions should be suitably esoteric: if your answer to a Rubik's Cube is six colored markers, you're probably well-suited for this game. Antagonists and recurring characters will be over-the-top or just a background, depending, as the spotlight will remain clearly trained on the circle and their exploits.
#2 is the complete opposite of the previous game. Starting off as vanilla Exalted, a circle of Solars and/or Lunars will find themselves newly Exalted in the Second Age. The Empress never returns, and the infighting in the Realm gives the Anathema an extraordinary amount of time to act. Long-term experience awards will happen regularly, and your characters can expect to see decades or centuries of play time - if they don't get themselves killed. Wyld Hunts will be infrequent, but Dynasts in the Threshold will be searching for their own power - or power for their House or their cause - so discretion will still be an important part of Valor.
Storylines in this game will usually revolve around traditional Celestial motivations, defending or altering Creation in a way that makes it better, at least in the eyes of the PCs. Player motivations will largely guide the development. Depending on the players, this game could include establishing guilds, cults, or societies, integrating into a town and currying favor with landowners to into a leadership position, and dueling powerful opponents that threaten your plan to restore Creation could all be common tropes. Antagonists and recurring characters will be believable, with their own sets of Intimacies and Motivations, and things will move behind the scenes to advance the plans of these side characters whilst the PCs march on with their own schemes.
If at all possible, this game will be largely run as a live game in the new Pattern Spider Teamspeak channel, as I've promised to put one together if I can. For now, though, you should vote on the story idea that you like best. I'll pick one based on the votes and comments, and develop it a bit more before I start taking players.
#1 is a light Mixed game where everything is allowed and Rule of Funny is the new Rule of Cool. Called shots with bows will always target the knee, and Social Charms might require the activation phrase "Assuming direct control." Half-Castes, Mountain Folk, mortals, any Exalt type you can get your hands on, whatever is fine to play. The game will likely start in the Scavenger Lands but is welcome to roam wherever. Destroying Gem is assumed but not mandatory.
Storylines in this game will usually be less-than-epic, focusing on personal goals and personal problems of the PCs. Working out family issues, negotiating parties, and fighting ridiculous creatures can all have their place. Alternately, storylines may occasionally be overly epic. "Ending slavery" is too normal of a goal, so maybe "ending slavery before Calibration of this year" is better. Resolutions should be suitably esoteric: if your answer to a Rubik's Cube is six colored markers, you're probably well-suited for this game. Antagonists and recurring characters will be over-the-top or just a background, depending, as the spotlight will remain clearly trained on the circle and their exploits.
#2 is the complete opposite of the previous game. Starting off as vanilla Exalted, a circle of Solars and/or Lunars will find themselves newly Exalted in the Second Age. The Empress never returns, and the infighting in the Realm gives the Anathema an extraordinary amount of time to act. Long-term experience awards will happen regularly, and your characters can expect to see decades or centuries of play time - if they don't get themselves killed. Wyld Hunts will be infrequent, but Dynasts in the Threshold will be searching for their own power - or power for their House or their cause - so discretion will still be an important part of Valor.
Storylines in this game will usually revolve around traditional Celestial motivations, defending or altering Creation in a way that makes it better, at least in the eyes of the PCs. Player motivations will largely guide the development. Depending on the players, this game could include establishing guilds, cults, or societies, integrating into a town and currying favor with landowners to into a leadership position, and dueling powerful opponents that threaten your plan to restore Creation could all be common tropes. Antagonists and recurring characters will be believable, with their own sets of Intimacies and Motivations, and things will move behind the scenes to advance the plans of these side characters whilst the PCs march on with their own schemes.
If at all possible, this game will be largely run as a live game in the new Pattern Spider Teamspeak channel, as I've promised to put one together if I can. For now, though, you should vote on the story idea that you like best. I'll pick one based on the votes and comments, and develop it a bit more before I start taking players.
