Dice Into the Ruins - Exalted 3e OOC

[Purr]

I have all the physical books along with the PDFs, but I am an Exalted fanboy that has backed several projects on Kickstarter. That bundle will do you good, though, and just the PDF is sufficient to get the job done.

Is it through the PDF that you're able to copy all of the information down for your PCs? Copy/Paste perhaps from a program you use? I can't imagine you're typing that in - are you?

 

[Sherwood]

Yep. I copy/paste all my Charms and stuffs to keep from having to go and look in the book all the time.

 

[Purr]

Cool! I just tossed a little brainstorm I had in the hour or so between Psychie inviting me in and our chat here. As a new player, what do you think I should know about Exalted (and please don't get too complicated)? Are there things you wished you knew prior to playing this 3rd Edition?

Spoiler: It begins.

"Once upon a time, two girls lived in a dark place: a place of stagnant water at the bottom of the world." (Sound familiar? Heh! I haz the Bundle now! Woo!)

 

[Sherwood]

Well, we are all playing Solars, so you will fit in that way. Depending on what you wish to play, there are many different routes you can go down. Can you narrow it down a bit? Looking for a ranged attacker? Melee? A sorcerer? None of the above?

 

[Purr]

Well, we are all playing Solars, so you will fit in that way. Depending on what you wish to play, there are many different routes you can go down. Can you narrow it down a bit? Looking for a ranged attacker? Melee? A sorcerer? None of the above?

I have no idea what you call anything in this game because I am as new to Exalted as it gets (minus the White Wolf dice experience). So... I'm not sure what I'm allowed to play. In short, I don't know what's possible.

Psychie Psychie, do you want me to go into that here or might it be better to have interested parties like Sherwood join our Conversation or... what's best for you and your game here?

 

[Psychie]

He can join us in the PM. I'll add him to our chat.

 

[Purr]

Woo! We kin haz a Sherwood in there! =)

 

[Chowlett]

Hi and welcome!

From my point of view, the one thing it's really worth knowing is that the combat system is different from... well, anything else I've seen, including earlier editions.

Initiative order isn't fixed. "Most" attacks will be Withering attacks, which steal initiative from the target (potentially changing the order of battle), but do no health damage. These are flavoured as gaining advantageous position, or forcing your opponent off-balance etc.

Then you can make a Decisive attack to spend your accumulated Initiative to deal actual damage.

 

[Chowlett]

Btw, in case it's not clear, I'm in the UK so all that flurry of IC posts happened while I was asleep .

I'll catch up and post in a little bit.

 

[Purr]

Chowlett No worries and I thank you for the welcome! You must be good people for Psychie to have invited you to her game (as she has Sherwood). Any buddy of Psychie's is a buddy of mine! =)

Initiative order isn't fixed. "Most" attacks will be Withering attacks, which steal initiative from the target (potentially changing the order of battle), but do no health damage. These are flavoured as gaining advantageous position, or forcing your opponent off-balance etc.

Then you can make a Decisive attack to spend your accumulated Initiative to deal actual damage.

While I've played "old" White Wolf (Werewolf: the Apocalypse mostly) and get the general dot system Exalted seems to use, I find I'm mostly intrigued on why people play Exalted in the first place. It sounds like a great place for over-the-top fun and I've always liked how good or great writing adds to Stunts (though I've forgotten what Stunts do! Hah!). =)

 

[jaydude]

(OOC: not to mention the timezone...)

I feel your pain, bud. I'm in the GMT region, which means that the rest of these guys get to have epic conversations while I'm asleep.

jaydude (You realize, of course, that it is because of the Avatar: The Last Airbender game of yours coming to a halt that I can come here and join you as a fellow PC, right? Between Avatar and Exalted, hanging around with you is opening up doors to RPing that weren't open before! I give you the credit. It's like our Jay is a lucky charm or something! Ooh! They have "Charms" in this game, right? Can we haz Lucky Jay Charms? 8D Just being silly! See you in the Conversation!)

Heh. Welcome to the game, bud. Let me know if you need any help, and I'll help however I can.

 

[Chowlett]

Chowlett No worries and I thank you for the welcome! You must be good people for Psychie to have invited you to her game (as she has Sherwood). Any buddy of Psychie's is a buddy of mine! =)

Heh, actually, this is all my fault! I played 1st ed waaay back in, oh, 2001ish when I was at Uni. I've had the 3rd ed PDFs around for a while, and I ran a small adventure (Daughter of Nexus from 2nd ed) for some work colleagues, but I've been longing to play it. So I saw that Sherwood was a regular Exalted guy on this site, pinged him a PM asking if he knew of anything, and I think he talked Psychie into running this.

 

[Eonivar]

Purr Welcome to the game! It is nice to meet you. I too am one who has always loved Exalted (I have most of the first edition books), but I have never played it until now. I love the Realm and the concept of the characters being powerful elements that can change the world.

I play a lot of TTRPGs (and own many, many more) and I would say this system is probably one of the "crunchiest" I have played, it seems like it has even more sub-systems than some of the regular World of Darkness games. Of course this game is a massive contrast to the other two games I am playing at the moment Masks: A New Generation and Monsterhearts 2, which are vrey rules light compared to this one.

I did not realize that we had some folks in other more distant timezones, so I will try and contain my excitement and be a little more patient for responses. This is my first Play By Post Group Game I have played so please be patient with me and tell me if I need to do something. (I have done many one on one RPs here for many years)

I am debating whether to purchase either the Dragonblooded book or the Lunars book currently. I probably will get the Lunars book and get the Dragonblooed one at laterdate. I have always loved the Lunars...and if I had had the book when I started a week or so ago I probably would have made a Lunar, but I have always also wanted to play a Twilight Caste Exalted Sorcerer and I already had the 3rd Edition Core book so that is what I went with. If Mercy is killed or leaves the group for some story reason I will probably make a Lunar next.

 

[Chowlett]

Personally, I like the Sidereals. We got up to so much mayhem in 1st ed with them. Of course, the 3rd ed book doesn't exist yet, AFAIK.

 

[jaydude]

Personally, I like the Sidereals. We got up to so much mayhem in 1st ed with them. Of course, the 3rd ed book doesn't exist yet, AFAIK.

There's always Exalted Essence (i.e. less complex 3E). That's got stuff for playing all kinds of Exalted.

 

[Eonivar]

The Siderials are fun, I almost wondered if the TVA from the Loki series was inspired by the Siderials. I would love to play a Siderial or an Abyssal. If Abyssals were an option Mercy would probably would have been an Abyssal. Ok, I just want to play all of them!

 

[Sherwood]

Both the Abyssals and Sidereals are a load of fun. I was hoping that the next book out was going to be for one of them, but Onyx Path chose to do the Exigents next. Ah, well.

The Siderials are fun, I almost wondered if the TVA from the Loki series was not inspired by the Siderials. I would love to play a Siderial or an Abyssal. If Abyssals were an option Mercy would probably would have been an Abyssal. Ok, I just want to play all of them!

That is a thought that strikes me as very valid. Hadn't thought of it like that before now.

 

[Purr]

I feel your pain, bud. I'm in the GMT region, which means that the rest of these guys get to have epic conversations while I'm asleep.

Right? Some of my longtime good buddies here on RPN live across the pond. Having gamed here with them for years, I'm happy for the technology that makes this all possible, but the living in different time zones means someone is staying up somewhere if we're having a good old back-and-forth chat like last night. =)

Heh. Welcome to the game, bud. Let me know if you need any help, and I'll help however I can.

You're always so helpful, Jay! =) Psychie has opened a Conversation at my request so I don't side-track ("side rail?" "Sidereal?" Heh heh!) the O.O.C. channel too badly. Sherwood's in it and it's a festival of Exalted shop talk if there ever was one (at least from my perspective). I could really use it too; I know next to nothing about Exalted (any edition), just the White Wolf basic dot-based system.

This is my first Play By Post Group Game I have played so please be patient with me and tell me if I need to do something. (I have done many one on one RPs here for many years)

Heya Eonivar! Thank you for the kind welcome! =)

For what it's worth, I think every Play-by-Post game has its own feel as directed by those who play it. In the two games I run here on RPN, I largely decide when to keep typing or stop depending on the content and topic at hand. For example, I'm waiting to hear back from one our Gang (a busy PC who doesn't always have the opportunity to post due to Real Life). Since he is in both games, one has slowed and the other has virtually stopped in-game at my request while I give him time. Can we talk about the games or anything else that fills our fancies? Certainly! So yeah. Every game has its own rhythm, its own dance, you might say. =)

If Mercy is killed or leaves the group for some story reason I will probably make a Lunar next.

I am under the impression we are allowed to play Solars only? Psychie Not that I know the differences between any of them yet (just bought the PDF bundle for Exalted v3.0 yesterday! Nice writing and artwork!).

 

[jaydude]

("side rail?" "Sidereal?" Heh heh!)

And yeah, it sounds like Psychie and Sherwood have you covered. But I'll help out however I can if necessary.

I am under the impression we are allowed to play Solars only? Psychie Not that I know the differences between any of them yet (just bought the PDF bundle for Exalted v3.0 yesterday! Nice writing and artwork!).

Nah, you're allowed to play either Solars, Lunars or Dragon-blooded, since they're currently the only ones with official 3E stuff out there. In terms of differences, Solars' powers are based around simply being the best at everything, Lunars' powers are based around animals, shapeshifting and trickery, and Dragon-blooded powers are based around the elements, which in this setting are Air, Earth, Fire, Wood and Water. The Solars and Lunars are rare - numbering around 150 and 300 respectively - and considered corrupt monsters by the major factions in the setting, while the Dragon-blooded number in the thousands and generally aren't pariahs.

 

[Purr]

Here's something that should both show just how new I am to Exalted while answering a question that's important to me: In layman's terms... what, specifically, is an Exalted? (If the answer is too lore-heavy, I'll get lost and quick.)

All I concretely understand is that a higher cosmic power sees a mortal and, bam!

Spoiler: Bam!

Not temporarily, but until that mortal perishes, and that's what we are playing - cosmically-improved mortals who have lost a position among Creation and are itching to get it back all the while being chased down and killed by those who want to stop them.

Yes? No? Maybe? Fuggeddaboudit? (New Yorker for "Forget about it.") Ha ha!

The Solars and Lunars are rare - numbering around 150 and 300 respectively - and considered corrupt monsters by the major factions in the setting, while the Dragon-blooded number in the thousands and generally aren't pariahs.

Oh! But... I thought we were being chased by these... Dragon-blooded (not to mention the Wyld Hunt)? Yet we can play one?

 

[jaydude]

About to have diiner; will try and answer when I can, unless someone beats me to it.

 

[Purr]

Enjoy your meal, Jay! =)

 

[Eonivar]

Oh! But... I thought we were being chased by these... Dragon-blooded (not to mention the Wyld Hunt)? Yet we can play one?

It would be an intersting story of a Dragonblooded who is allied with a bunch of Solars who the Dragonblooded has been told since they were children that Solars are BAD. Maybe a case of the enemy of my enemy is a friend for now type of scenario?

Although I know the overall power level of a Solar vs a Dragonblooded is large. Lunars are closer in power to the Solars. (Lunars actually get more attribute points starting off interestingly enough..I literally just got the Lunars PDF today..). From what I have seen Solars get really crazy at High Levels of Essence (the Exalted equivalent of levels) where the Solar level Sorcery can level whole regions with a spell. Solar's charms are more powerful than the others charms.

 

[jaydude]

Here's something that should both show just how new I am to Exalted while answering a question that's important to me: In layman's terms... what, specifically, is an Exalted? (If the answer is too lore-heavy, I'll get lost and quick.)

All I concretely understand is that a higher cosmic power sees a mortal and, bam!

An Exalted is pretty much a champion of one of the setting's many powerful deities, who's been empowered to demigod level by said deity. So this part is pretty much true, with the kind of Exaltation you get based on what kind of person you were beforehand.

Not temporarily, but until that mortal perishes, and that's what we are playing - cosmically-improved mortals who have lost a position among Creation and are itching to get it back all the while being chased down and killed by those who want to stop them.

Most of this is true. Not necessarily the part about "itching to get [the former position] back", since the PCs' goals are largely up to the player.

Oh! But... I thought we were being chased by these... Dragon-blooded (not to mention the Wyld Hunt)? Yet we can play one?

The majority of Dragon-blooded in the setting belong to the Scarlet Empire, also known as the Realm. Without getting into too much detail on the lore, the Scarlet Empire is essentially the most powerful faction in Creation, and has long been opposed to the Solars and Lunars, hence why they hunt them down via the Wyld Hunt. Not every Dragon-blooded is a member of the Scarlet Empire though.

 

[Sherwood]

Oh! But... I thought we were being chased by these... Dragon-blooded (not to mention the Wyld Hunt)? Yet we can play one?

At the beginning of character creation, Psychie did say that we were able to play Solars, Lunars or Dragon Blooded. It just happened that everyone made up a Circle of Solars all on our own.