Rise of the clans

[Gtroc]

that does sort of fall in line with my concept of first age battles. many times, I would guess, the hubris of the solars would demand a fight between champions, rather than have an expensive and ugly war.


as for the lost god idea...hmm...

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

You are wise ninja' date=' but perhaps one day, you shall be thwarted for the this plot yoinking? *floats*[/quote']
Your kung fu is strong  :shock:

*Gong sounds in the distance*

 

[Ker'ion]

You are wise ninja' date=' but perhaps one day, you shall be thwarted for the this plot yoinking? *floats*[/quote']Your kung fu is strong :shock:

*Gong sounds in the distance*

*sitting in the background, watching the battle (with popcorn, cheetos, and a ninja beer-hat of course), waiting to pick off the winner when they walk off the battlefield exahausted*

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

You are wise ninja' date=' but perhaps one day, you shall be thwarted for the this plot yoinking? *floats*[/quote']Your kung fu is strong :shock:

*Gong sounds in the distance*

*sitting in the background, watching the battle (with popcorn, cheetos, and a ninja beer-hat of course), waiting to pick off the winner when they walk off the battlefield exahausted*

*Uses the power of PWN to hit the loser sitting off field *

 

[Ker'ion]

Ninja Shuriken Flurry Strike!!!


On topic:

though it does shame me a bit that I did not think of the constant fighting with wyld monstrosities and such. I will have to consider that as well. the next questions after that are, how long has he had his scouts observing the realm? what does he know? and is he waiting for a specific instance? or perhaps, were I to go non canon, he has the empress hostage. I wonder what he would be doing with her?

All of his minions could have training equal to Crack Warriors (PG, Pp. 217) to show the effort for training and combating Wyld monstrosities.


Scouts in the Realm?


A few decades before the Shogunate ended.  Perhaps he was part of the cause of it's fall.


Waiting for something?


Perhaps the death or dissapearance of the Empress is what sets him off.


I'd leave the Empress in Malfaes as a wild card.

I think that the souls question brings up some interesting problems. what gods were payed off, or involved in the hiding of the clans, and their growth. also, perhaps the solar has already come up with a solution to the souls problem. what are the posssible fixes for that, though?

A Grand Spire in the middle of his bit of Creation that sends the Sould in the land directly to Lethe?

also, how would that dueling society be turned to the players advantage?

Perhaps the Dragon-Blooded Aspects are vying for the position of Warlord, setting each Aspect against the other (check out the Great Houses in Steven Brust's Drageara books for ideas).  The Twilight could be secretly condoning this activity to keep them busy as he slowly sinks into the madness of his Limit.

 

[Solfi]

A Grand Spire in the middle of his bit of Creation that sends the Sould in the land directly to Lethe?

... but here's a mind twister that I would be tempted to simply ignore: What Lethe would that be? If they reincarnate in the same Wyld-shard, they can't take part of Creation's reincarnation cycle, can they? They'd need some separate cycle mechanism. Or would that be inherent to the piece of Creation that broke off perhaps?

 

[Ker'ion]

It would make things simpler to just say it is inherent to that chunk of creation.


All souls of the area go directly to Lethe and there could be a spill-off from Creation's Lethe to deal with population growth.


I just thought that the whole deal could be dealt with by one huge Artifact to make game play run smoother.

 

[Gtroc]

I believe I will, just leave the souls issue alone for the moment. mostly now I am trying to figure out how the plot would proceed. first scouts, definitly. then small skirmishes to test the local powers and principalities. but all that is simple, I think that a first age solar would come at the whole creation thing sideways. you know, the PCs keep winning battles, and yet they continue to lose the war. something like that, unfortunatly I cannot think tactically like that. any sugestions on the strategy that would be employed by this ancient Solar?


on a side note, I do like the idea of the empress returning in the middle of all this. I think that would really muck about with all the stragies.

 

[Haku1]

Gtroc, may I suggest reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms for examples of such strategies?

 

[Solfi]

Sun Tzu's The Art of War... I know, I know. Beating a dead horse. But it just is that great.

 

[Gtroc]

sun tsu is very boring and not in keeping with real military strategy. it works in chess, provided both sides are versed in it. if your opponent has read his musashi, then you are hosed. there is no such thing as civilized war.

 

[Solfi]

Civilised? I don't think Sun Tzu was all that civilised. It's all in the application. I found easy to read, and it gave me plenty of ideas and interesting dilemmas to ponder.


A Book of Five Rings is definitely on my favorites list as well.

 

[Jakk Bey]

The Art of War isn't just about tactics, it's about strategy. And it's useful today, and recommended reading for OCS.  Boring? Depends on the translation.  


Sun Tzu is very much about practical application.


In sum, thre are five attacks by fire--


The first is called "setting fire to people."


The second is called "setting fire to stores."


The third is called "setting fire to baggage trains." [That's supply lines...]


The fourth is called "setting fire to armories."


The fifth is called "setting fire in tunnels."


Which we pretty much still follow today, even in mechanized warfare.


And so the sovereign brings adversity to the army in three ways--


Not knowing the army is unable to advanceyet ordering an advance,


Not knowing the army is unable to retreat yet ordering a retreat,


This is what is meant by "hobbling the army."


Not Knowing affairs within the three armies yet controlling the governance of the three armies,


The the army's officers are confused!


Not knowing the three armies' balance yet controlling appointments in the three armies,


Then the army's officers are distrustful!


GW might be served well to go through Sun Tzu...

 

[Solfi]

I found this site that seems to house a quite comprehensive take on the classic. I have yet to look it through, so I can't say anything as to it's quality, but it's certainly worth taking a look.

the site I mentioned[/url]"]1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to
the State.


2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to


safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on


no account be neglected.


3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant


factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when


seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.


4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth;


(4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.

These are the things you, as the commander, need to assess before waging war with your enemy. They are:


(1) The Moral Law - refers to the Way. Harmony between the people of a country and it's leadership. "Humaneness and justice are are the means by which to govern properly. When government is carried out properly, people feel close to the leadership, and thinks little of dying for it" - unknown chinese (I presume) political philosopher.


(2) Heaven - means the weather conditions.


(3) Earth - means the terrain (distance, difficulty of travel, dimensions, dangers). Knowing the terrain means knowing what troops to deploy, how many to use, when to use them, where to use them, and whether to use them at all.


(4) The Commander - I'm gonna quote Cleary on this one: "They Way of the ancient kings was to consider humaneness foremost, while the martial artists considered intelligence foremost. This is because intelligence involves ability to plan and to know when to change effectively. Trustworthiness means to make people sure of punishment or reward. Humaneness means love and compassion for people, being aware of their toils. Courage means to seize opportunities to make certain of victory, without vacillation. Sternness meams to establish discipline in the ranks by strict punishment".


(5) Method and Discipline - There must be organisation. A hierarchy to keep your army a well-oiled machine. Functioning logistics to keep it in shape and readiness.


... these rules might seem civilised I suppose (especially with the talk about humaneness), but it's actually pretty ruthless stuff. The chinese war-philosophers goes on a lot about discipline and morale, and how to manipulate the mood of your army, and that of your enemy, to achieve your goals.


War is deception.


Anyways, these five are probably what your Solar commander will want his scouts to find out about. Where the weaknesses are and how to exploit them.

 

[Sherwood]

When I was in the Army, we were taught how to do a SALUTE report.


Size of the unit detected.


Activity.  What are they doing?


Location.  Where are they?


Uniform.  Who are they and what unit are they a part of?


Time of observation.  Duh.


Equipment that they have.  Tanks, APC's, a few jeeps?  Artillery?


That is the basic stuff that any grunt is supposed to be able to gather while out in the field.  I find a lot of my Army training can apply to my Exalted gaming.  Grunts are pretty much the same no matter what time in history you look at them.

 

[Shicato]

I think that the most interesting reaction might come from the DLs as they see all their scheme's coming to naught if this Solar regains power.  They might just have the strength to resist him, espcially if they can persuade the Realm, "better the devil you know than the anathema you fear"...


and I'm just thinking that maybe the solar knows how to redeem abbysal exalts which could be a very cool idea for a group of pcs...

 

[DugCoffin]

3 thousand years old?  How has the great curse affected him?  Could the players use IT to defeat him?