Renaissance Living: A call for concepts.

Sarodinian

Sarodinian

One Thousand Club
Hey guys. Been awhile since I last frequented these boards, and what better way to celebrate my return than to start up a game of Exalted?


This game will be taking place in and around Nexus, using the Vanilla Exalted timeline with the Seal of Eight Divinities having relatively recently been broken.


This game will be mostly player driven. NPCs will also have their own agendas, and the players actions will affect them.


As for concepts I'm after, I'll take just about anything. I'd encourage Solars, and possibly an Alchemical or two, since they will factor into the story. Lunars/Abyssals/Sidereals/Etc.etc. Are also welcome.


It's not the Exalt type I'm concerned about, it's a detailed concept and full character.


Crunch-wise, I'll be running the following rules:


We'll be running the character generation as detailed in the latest Scroll of Errata.


You will gain 3 additional bonus points for the following: Picture, Theme Song.


You will gain between 1 and 5 bonus points for your Backstory, depending on its detail.


You will also have 150 EXP to expend as you see fit. Your characters have been active for about a year and a half or so, flexible depending on dramatic appropriateness. Take that into consideration when making your backstory.


We'll also run the usual artifact corrections, Armor artifacts range between 1-3, not 1-5, special powers increase cost. Artifacts and magical equipment must be detailed in your backstory, and I reserve the right to edit and veto as necessary.


Craft is a single skill, each dot is an elemental craft as a specialty, other esoteric Craft abilities are also specialties.


You get a Free Ox-Body Technique or appropriate analogue with each dot of Essence, to a maximum of the lower of your Stamina or Resistance, whichever is lower, minimum one.


We'll use the standard Conviction Flaw fix. Betray motivation, defense fails entirely. Betray intimacies, defense is more expensive.


Ink Monkeys/Glories charms/other splatbooks are OK, so long as they mesh with the character.


Custom charms will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.


Further rules, I'll deal with on a case by case basis.


As for number of players: I prefer larger games. More the merrier, I tend to run multiple threads constantly, though if there's a glut of concepts, I'll cross that bridge if necessary.


As for intensity: I work retail, so free time tends to come in spurts. I'll try to update as often as I can.


I encourage prospective players to get in touch with me on various instant messenger systems, as well as posting questions here.


I look forward to the responses. :)
 
Should players at least try to be working together or do you encourage conflicting agendas? I mean if someone....certainly not me..... but someone made an infernal with a demonic game plan for work wide ruin would that be an issue with other people playing more other Exalts who might be less keen on a world ruled by the Yozi like...oh, everyone else in creation?
 
To an extent. I do encourage some level of inter-PC conflict, but if there's one concept way out of left field that I can't mesh into the greater story, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.
 
I'm still working out a few kinks in the idea but you know I'm interested. I'm running on the idea of "Oscar Wilde the Solar", with a Zenith Caste named Pearce; a playwright whose sarcasm, mockery, and venomous words are every bit as biting and dangerous as a riotous mob or assassin's dagger.


Naturally, he looks damn good in a suit.
 
I'd like to try a Sidereal, since I get so few chances to play them. My character is a Chosen of Venus who, rather than the usual "courtesan" or "socialite" concepts, runs a company of traveling actors that tours the Scavenger Lands, staging classical dramas, sometimes to great acclaim, and sometimes to a shower of tomatoes. They make do with very little, carting along their own costumes and props, fixing up the tumbledown local theatres with whatever they can, sleeping on the hardest beds at the inn with the oldest straw, and often leaving town one step ahead of angry mobs. Towns that follow the Immaculate Philosophy sometimes take a very dim view of plays glorifying the Unconquered Sun...


The truth, of course, is they're really members of the Cult of the Illuminated. The Joybringer is one of those Gold Stars who feel that the ordinary people who make up the Cult's rank and file are at least as important as the Solars they protect. She and her friends may look like an ordinary stock company, but they actually work to keep small Cultist communities in touch...and the Sidereal often performs the duties of priest for cells too tiny to have one of their own.


Of course, her job is much more than a cover to her. By fulfilling her own lifelong passion, she gets to inject a little beauty and wonder into the lives of others...and she makes sure they visit a few villages without a Cult presence as well, bringing their message of hope, change and possibility to those who have not yet received the Light. This can be quite dangerous...


Theme songs:


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and


[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvmMt_xG1tI[/media]
 
I have a Sidereal that I'd love to pull into this, if there is room enough for two of the Chosen of the Maidens in your game.
 
Well, I'm interested too. Trying to decide between a Solar or an Alchemical. The Solar remains fuzzy, but the Alchemical concept is from a previous different forum game, a Starmetal tactician... think Zhuge Liang Exalted. :D
 
I'm interested, since I'm in a bit of lull right now. I'm interested in an Infernal who nominally works for the Reclamation, but has trouble with authority and is easily sidetracked. She's egotistical, vain, witty but somewhat ignorant, but she loves nothing more than to kick ass with her akimbo swords and Cobra Style. Right now, she's tramping around Nexus vaguely pursuing her urge to do something or other, but got distracted by a chance to fight in the coliseum.
 
I am definitely interested.. I'll have to think on some concepts. The first one that comes to mind is a scourge who is a bit insane in a hopefully not overly evil way. Basically goes around trying to make people happy by freeing them of their worries and/or actually helping them. Most likely will carry an ophidian urge, but I'll tinker with it a bit and see where it ends up. My goal would be to have the character be a good guy mostly, though perhaps would have conflicts with other about methods. Probably rebelling from the Yozi depending largely on how much he knows about the plans. I know infernals aren't highly mentioned above so I'll think on some other ideas too. :)
 
Where do you want character submisions at? A PM, or wait for a forum?
 
I'm thinking about a dawn caste, former child soldier, with a comical lack of understanding of normal life and a very literal mind. Somewhere in between captain Carrot and Sousuke Sagara.
 
I'd love to play a Full Moon Sorcerer that's been kicking around in my head. A face like a buck-ogre and a yeddim had a lovechild. Sent to the Heptagram as a butler/bodyguard for a Dynastic scion, because when you're learning demon summoning, you want a couple of big dudes to get between you and the demon if things go wrong. Things went wrong, he punched out a demon, and then ran away.


Much smarter than he appears, and less violent than expected. I'd like to play somewhat against type.
 
Wow. Talk about a powder keg going off, interest wise. OK. I'd prefer a cursory character concept here, more detailed stuff in PMs, and if at all possible, please get in touch with me via some IM program, AIM/skype preferred.


AIM: leastinsane221


skype: Sarodinian
 
Okay,


Well here is the short version of my concept.

I'd like to play a Fiendish Infernal.


The book back version of my backstory is this individual was one of the Dowager of the irreverent Vulgate in Unrent Veil's children. She had an opportunity to aid a band of exalted in defeating her adopted mother. Instead however my character opted to betray the Exalted in hopes of stealing their obvious wealth to escape from the Dowager to a better life. Impressed with this selfish act of betrayal the Ebon Dragon offered her Exaltation or Death. After Exalting and massacring her own village for fear of them informing the Dowager of her she made her trip to hell. There the Yozi set forward a task they thought perfect for her, to sow discord among the servants of the Neverborn, (rather concerned the Neverborn might actually succeed in destroying creation), and bring them a Neverborn soul shard. Playing the roll of assassin and spy my character has walked the shadowlands of creation with lies ever at the ready to promise false deliverance and collecting pawns to employ against the deathlords. While at the same time using her own inside knowledge advance a treacherous alter ego closer and closer to the deathlords themselves. No green lady by far, but only for lack of power and experience not ambition or effort. Her personally motivation is to permanently kill the Dowager but she has a deep hatred of all servants of the Neverborn which conveniently works out with the Yozi's plans for her.


She would be something of a Ada Wong type I imagine. In league with the heroes against a great threat, yet at the same time working for a monster just as bad if not worse than what the heroes are fighting; with a lot of the bad spy girl femme fatal that goes with that. She would be carrying around a lot of fear and hate but buried under all the layers of lies and deception.
If that sounds good I'll PM you with an expanded story and character sheet, picture, song etc. etc. and if that seems good as well then we can talk on IM.
 
I already PM'd my background story in, and I'm working on the character. Should be done later today.
 
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trying to post my character's theme song. Lets see if it works. Also, I PMd my character to Sardonian.
 
I know this game is getting a lot of attention, but is there still a spot? Before I start working on a character concept, I'd like to know if you are still taking players. =p
 
To those I haven't gotten to yet: I've not forgotten, just RL is conspiring to take away my days off. I'll get to you guys soon.
 
Hm. A short character concept: A Solar of the Eclipse caste, whose main motivation is to foster harmony ("Can't we just get along?"). However, Lena is indiscriminate in her compassion and understanding to a naive fault -- she's all too trusting and, with enough persuasion, would even see fine points in the Reclamation and the cause of the Neverborn. Still, her ultimate obligation is humanity, so she'll try her darnedest to bring threats to it to more agreeable terms. After all, the Crowned Suns use diplomacy to destroy enemies of Creation.


She is utterly optimistic in her naivete and innocence and sees merit in all things and entities. It just would be better if they played nicer. Perhaps kind and wise (and also Essence-fueled) words will teach them the benefit of camaraderie. If it hasn't been made obvious yet, Lena depends on her social skills to diffuse hostile situations that are bound to come up with Exalted existence, but when they just won't listen, she will rely on martial arts to defend herself and others. Concussive arguments can be terribly persuasive with certain folks.


May or may not have the Hallucination derangement. That's up to how you feel about particular quirks.


Theme song-


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Aesthetic: http://meisan.deviantart.com/art/watery-47381212


How does that sound so far? I'll work on a fuller character concept once you've decided this is a good approach.
 
Ok.


I'll throw my hat in, since I had something left in the drawer which would fit very well...


Name Death Sudden and Unexpected


Concept Anarchist Assassin


Motivation Destroy Authority


Caste Day


Flaw Convinction


INTIMACIES


+The Humble


+Honour


-Orders and hierarchy


-Gods


Theme: [media]



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Pic: http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs48/i/2009/155/3/d/A_Moment_of_Madness__by_Em_j_akahana.jpg


As usual, I prefer describing my characters indirectly via scenes.


His background has a dead Silver Pact member, his Deathlord playing behind him, two Abyssals that sworn revenge, a powerful 1st Age Legacy, a curious Sidereal and a helluvalot other plot hooks.


Let me know if it is not what you want.

Manse oooo: Horovatos Biblioteque


(somewhere along the River of Tears)


The reclusive First Age Zenith Caste Horovatos built the Manse in the middle of a deep and lushious valley, where no Gods nor Exalts could bother him.


With Horovatos's death during the Usurpation, the Manse stood lost for centuries, and contains intact and inestimable information about the First Age.


The No Moon Lunar Moon-Howling Wisdom located it after years of research, but was ambushed and murdered by the current Heartstone bearer, the Abyssal known as Death Sudden and Unexpected, that claimed it on behalf of his Deathlord Liege the Walker in Darkness.


The Abyssal has no clue of the Manse's real value and leaves the Biblioteque entirely to the attention of his Deathlord.


Manse oooo: Twice-striking Lightning Prism


8 points:


-4 Outside Fate (Oadenol, p76)


-4 Archive x2 (Oadenol, p68)


[Note: Everything item refers to the First Age]


Craft: Cousine


Craft: Compendia of Origami


Linguistics: Horovatos's Collection of Children Stories


Linguistics: Horovatos's Love Poetry


Lore: Cartography of Creation


Lore: Flora of the East


Lore: Flora of the West


Lore: Review of Main Military Campaigns


MA: Philosophy of First Age Martial Arts Styles


MA: Scrolls of Crane Style and Crystal Chameleon Style


Medicine: Genesis: invertebrates and relevant Wyld protobiomes


Occult: Historical Reconstruction of the development of Sorcerous Theory


Occult: Chromatic Essence Theory


Performance: Prayers to Mela


Performance: Musical Theory


War: Fairfolk Warfare
 
Lorö.


Lorö the Just.


Lorö the Compassionate.


Yet, few would have called him the Glorious, as Glory belongs to those who kill.


And Lorö, alone among the members of the Deliberative, had always refused to apply his greatness to the martial arts.


Light like a summer breeze and pure as the Sunlight itself, Lorö was a peerless scout and infiltrator.


Never would he falter in front of danger, and never once he took a life.


Great among the Choosen scholars and the legislators, Lorö was loved and respected even when the other Solars had fallen victim of their hubris, even when the Dragon Blooded rose to slay them all.


Not even Lorö was spared, for this was the Usurpation, and mercy was to be saved for better times.


Ten Dragon Blooded came for him.


Ten desperate, war-hardened veterans of many horrible wars were ready for everything, but not for for what they saw when they entered his room.


He could have disappeared, he could have ran away, he could have endlessly evaded and mocked their pitiful attacks.


Yet, there he lied, on the floor, weeping for Creation.


Jade encountered his flesh, without resistance but from those who wielded it.


Thousands of Dragon Bloods paid the Usurpation with their lives.


But ten of them paid it with endless guilt.


Ashamed to Creation, they scattered far and away, to pay each alone an impossible atonement.






Hidei Tsurugi.


Nassahrem Sand.


Asli Sahin.


Blue Sword.


Oylduvai.


Lea Hwa.


Many were the names that Lorö's Exaltation seeked, yet all of them perished at the hand of the Dragon Blooded, their destiny choked by the Sidereal Exalted within days from its revelation.


Would have been of comfort, to them, that the last vessel would have been far, far less lucky than they had been?


Yozei was born in Tarcise, a little town close to Cherak.


A brave girl whose great destiny was soon to be shattered.


The stars aligned, Calibration was close... In a sudden glimpse of awareness, the Neverborn could see clearly Lorö's Exaltation preparing to descend on Creation once more.


Nightmares of madness crept in the souls of two Deathlords, for their sleeping masters wanted another hated Solar Exaltation reclaimed to them.


So, even before the Wyld Hunt was dispatched, the Lover and the Walker had each sent to Tarcise one full Circle of Deathknights.


Yet, the Walker instructed his Deathknights to intercept their competitors, and attack first.


The Ambush of Marin Bay sent three Abyssal Exaltations straight back to the Lover's Moonstrances.


The owners of the other two, rather than facing failure and the Lover's punishment, fled away, swearing bitter revenge on the enemy Circle.


In the clash of the Circles, Marin Bay suffered great destruction, and the Walker's Circle had lost its Midnight.


They reached Tarcise just in time to save a newly exalted Solar from the Wyld Hunt.


Yozei was then easily convinced to follow her saviors straight back into the Walker's awaiting Moonstrance.


Her last meaningful words were "You Traitors!"






The man, in his early thirties, looks just dirty enough to be in such a filthy hole of a bar.


Goat stares at him, proud and drunk.


-So you know about that black patch on the Southern wall.


Or so I was told...


Goat smiles, and it's the toothless smile of a man that got too old too quickly.


He squints at the bottom of the almost empty beer mug in his hand, losing himself there for several long seconds.


-Yeah... I was there when it happened.


You... What's your name, again? You come from the shadowland?


-I do. My name is Six Shades of Grey.


Silence falls as Goat's gaze inspects the man.


-Justicar Maheka Araalu had captured this killer, and the hanging was up to us.


This guy didn't seem anything special, maybe a bit more of a freak, but he was kicking and screaming and crying like all the others.


We tied him tightly and pushed the bastard down the wall.


We Lookshyans know about our justice, so we like to hang people outside the walls to show the foreigners... It's a bit like saying "Don't fuck with us!"


Anyway, the guy went down and well, he should have snapped like any good men.


Instead... I'm not sure how to describe it.


It was night but... Have you ever seen something swallowing the light around?


-Would you believe me if I told you that, in fact, I did?


Goat stares at the stranger, suspicious, uneasy.


-So that was how the wall went black?


Goat smiles.


-Eh... Yeah.


The damn freak flared... Well, it was like a fire, but a fire made of shadows.


It was huge and dreadful... It... It burned the wall I think.


The stranger raises his eyebrows.


-And then?


Goat's expression dims down.


-Then we all died... Well, my comrades all died.


I... I didn't know what happened.


We were hit by arrows made of shadows.


I woke up days later, to learn that I alone had survived...


Once more, silence falls between the two; Six Shades of Grey seems lost in his thoughts, but Goat interrupts him.


-Ehm... dunno, is this story worth a beer?


The stranger grins.


-Oh, yes, it is.


The grin opens in a smile of satisfaction.


-It really, really is...






"Wouldn't you like to slay the Gods themselves?"


That's how it all started.


The Lunar had failed his last test and laid on the snow in front of the Biblioteque, his blood quickly spreading on the white.


A second quarrel ended his shame.


"We can work together. I will help you achieve greater things than you have ever imagined."


Yes, the Walker had granted him power, had trained him...


Two miles from the Biblioteque, on the high slope of the valley, Death Sudden and Unexpected trained his crossbow on the Terrestrial.


The Fire Aspect, running furious on a trail of flames, deflected the bolt with her jade daiklave, but a second bolt, a few moments apart, pierced the heavy armor, biting straight in her shoulder.


Nonetheless she continued charging the Abyssal.


Moon-Howling Wisdom had been talented.


So talented, in fact, that after strenuous research he had tracked Horovatos' lost Biblioteque.


And the spies of All Crows and Rats That Encompass Loathsome Creation had tracked him.


Cold, efficient and emotionless, the Deathknight hailed quarrels at the Terrestrial, one after the other.


Two had hit, but she was now only a few meters away, and in a final rush, her daiklave flickered several times against the Abyssal.


A terrible, hopeless idea.


Jumping with a foot on her forehead, the Abyssal tumbled in the air behind her, letting another bolt go.


He landed and turned quickly to the enemy, just in time to see her fall to the ground.


"One of my... associates, has found a powerful Manse... Think about it as some sort of magic building.


I am very interested myself in some of the knowledge it contains, but I think that its power would suit you perfectly..."


He looked around.


The volcano had been inactive since the beginning of the First Age.


The winds produced powerful, cold currents within the walls of the valley, and had made his unassisted shoots quite challenging.


"Finish me at least!" muttered the dying Terrestrial.


Death thought about it, then shot another bolt in her chest.


"There is just a Lunar to dispose of, a very influential and powerful member of the Silver Pact..."


The mortal spy, whom All Crows and Rats had nicknamed Dust, appeared from behind a rock and hastened to reach the Abyssal, that had already started to descend the slope, walking towards the small ice-covered shrine.


"These were all, Lord, the Ogre and his Dragon Blooded companion. They were travelling alone."


"This reminds me something, Dust. The Walker ordered me to kill you."


Death Sudden and Unexpected stood there, feet in the snow, his weapon aimed at the man.


Dust shivered.


The wind blew even stronger.


"But maybe you can run faster than my quarrels..."


Panic and desperation give good legs.


The Abyssal aimed slowly and pulled the trigger.


The crossbow clacked, empty, and Dust quickly disappeared, running beyond the chasms of the valley.


Death Sudden and Unexpected turned around, and continued towards the Manse.
 
Rising high above Nexus's streets is a glass complex called the Tower. Built from imported Chiaroscuran glass, and home to only the richest and most affluent of Nexus's citizens, the Tower cost mind-boggling amounts of silver and jade to construct. From it business decisions that shape the course of all four Directions flow, most slipped from underneath the doorframe of the Tower's owner, dreamer, and construction funder: Andrew Tower.


Born to an impoverished Nexus family, Tower dreamt of making something of his life, something he was abruptly forced to do by the death of his parents before his fifteenth birthday. With nothing but the clothes on his back, he hopped a caravan heading South. And from there he forged a legacy and a fortune. Over the next fifteen years he traveled Creation, learning the tricks of salesmanship and business, how to make a deal and how to fleece. He rode sandships across deserts of firesands, bartered with the Lintha for the lives of himself and his crew, jousted atop the back of a unicorn in a fae contest, and sailed a mighty skyship through the rough winds of the North.


Finally, he returned to Nexus. The money from his exploits had all flowed back there through his negotiations with the Guild, and now a changed man he felt he finally knew what it was he was meant to do: build a better world, through profit. He signed on with the Guild, and his business sense and management tripled their productivity in several niche markets, and saw him making six times back his initial investments. The rest was downhill, culminating in the completion of the Tower.


Mostly a recluse since, Andrew he administrated his business empire from his palacial penthouse at the Tower's apex, communicating through notes and servers. His exaltation came recently, shouting down a groups of Guild directors for vetoing his plan to back a recent push to further legitimize the silver standard by backing it with his personal purse (some stories contend it happened when he chased two Outcastes away from a jade mine he owned; this is false, as that happened years prior). Now he and the Guild both hold their breaths: he's yet to be stripped of his title--but it may only be a matter of time, depending on which way his loyalties lie.


Right now Andrew's attentions turn towards two things: how to reconstruct the Order-Conferring Trade Patterns (so as to eliminate fae influence in Guild affairs, an arrangement he has always loathed), and these strange new visitors from abroad. These jewel-headed visitors come with odd, convenient wares, in larger quantities than would seem possible given their apparent limited means and the small amounts they trade them for. Andrew wants to know their secrets: mass production could be an even more powerful tool for economic restructuring. Especially if he could use it to expand the Guild's potential services...


Motivation: Swell the Guild until it blossoms into its own society.


Inspirations: Howard Hughes, Scrooge McDuck


He'd be an Eclipse castes. Obviously. And he comes with a built in story hook: investigate how to obtain Alchemical production techniques. WE WILL HAVE INDUSTRY.
 
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