Dice Shadows of the Setting Sun (OOC)

[Random Word]

I agree with what I think you've said earlier that the real problem with having your original concept in a campaign that keeps touching base in Whitewall is that of thematic redundancy.

Yuuuuup, I have not fixed that, have I? I've gone full circle. WlfSamurai was like 'multiple locations' and D.Rex suggested halfway between Whitewall and Fortitude and that seemed to solve redundancy - doesn't really matter what the Syndics are doing a million miles away. That caused other problems and Rykon helpfully solved those with the Marama's Fell angle, but that puts me right back where I started close to Whitewall.

Okay, let me go back to the drawing board and take this from the top. Alternative pitch (Slightly complicated now that Jaydude has picked infiltration - welcome! - , but they're going to be, uh, different approaches to problem solving, so I don't think it will be an issue):

We have a whole lot of people who want to move fast and break people and have no fixed address. They don't need a location, they need something that solves problems that stand between them and murder. What caste creates solves problems? Night Caste. What does an Icewalker Night Caste Supernal? Athletics of course. Do you need an audience with the king? She will disappear and five minutes later drop him, terrified and still sitting in his throne, at your feet. Need to enter the city but it's night and they won't open the ten metre tall steel gates? She'll tear them from the hinges and leave them by the side of the road. Need the MacGuffin, but it's inside a sorcerously warded vault inside a noble's estate? She'll tear the vault clean out of its housings, carry it out to the street, smash it against the ground, find the Jade box containing the thing you want, open it with a touch, pick out the MacGuffin and leave everything else lying in the street when she vanishes to bring it to you. Nephwrack's fortress walls got you down because they're preventing you from murdering? She'll tear a huge section of outer wall out, and use it to smash the inner wall.

She does not care about private property or currency. If you're part of her tribe, she won't take your stuff. Otherwise, if you aren't strong enough to prevent her from taking it, it's hers, whether that's land or stuff. If brought to an urban centre she will just pick the house she likes the most in a city and live there, regardless of the objections of the current occupants. She will get arrested a lot, but is effectively an unstoppable force of nature that can't be jailed or prevented from going anywhere she wants and thinks brawling half the city is an entertaining idea. If she can't personally use something, doesn't know someone she can gift it to for favours, and doesn't know someone she can trade it to for something she wants, it has no value to her.

This, I think, much better leans into and facilitates the maximum chaos and destruction angle of the rest of the cast.

 

[Esbilon]

Well, that's quite a different concept

I should warn you that Zoya is probably technically part of Whitewall's police force

 

[jaydude]

(Slightly complicated now that Jaydude has picked infiltration - welcome! - , but they're going to be, uh, different approaches to problem solving, so I don't think it will be an issue)

Eh, I saw that you were designing a Twilight, looked at the rest of the characters, and decided to pick an area of expertise that I thought no-one else had.

This, I think, much better leans into and facilitates the maximum chaos and destruction angle of the rest of the cast.

I was not aware that this was a thing.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Eh, I saw that you were designing a Twilight, looked at the rest of the characters, and decided to pick an area of expertise that I thought no-one else had.



I was not aware that this was a thing.

Well, I’m sad you felt forced to ditch the old concept, character, and work.

But this new one sounds amazing, too!

 

[jaydude]

Well, I’m sad you felt forced to ditch the old concept, character, and work.

But this new one sounds amazing, too!

Er, I think this is meant to be for Random Word , not me.

 

[WlfSamurai]

LOL. Yes it was. Sorry. Hit the wrong “reply”.

 

[Random Word]

Eh, I saw that you were designing a Twilight, looked at the rest of the characters, and decided to pick an area of expertise that I thought no-one else had.

You can't be expected to be psychic! That idea just turned out to be really complicated to fit into what everyone else was doing.

I was not aware that this was a thing.

We have two Full Moon combat monsters, a showy Zenith combat monster who wants to create a spectacle wherever she goes, and a Dawn combat monster who was too terrifying for Fortitude. None of them really care where they go, but they all clearly dressed for the sort of party where someone loses a limb, and woe betide anyone who stands between them and their destination.

Well, I’m sad you felt forced to ditch the old concept, character, and work.

But this new one sounds amazing, too!

It's okay! It can live on in my back pocket for another day. This will be funny, and more in theme, and Whitewall can assign Zoya as the only person strong enough to make sure this character behaves herself if we visit.

 

[Epiphany]

11 pages in, I'm finally speaking up.

At the moment, I'm aiming for a No Moon Sijanese Mortwright who will be an expert in Medicine and Crafting (particularly Necrotechnology, unlikely as it is to come up in play) while also being a competent Sorcerer (would go Necromancer but alas no rules). Will be pairing up with Esbilon's Solar. More details to follow, as I make them.

 

[jaydude]

We have two Full Moon combat monsters, a showy Zenith combat monster who wants to create a spectacle wherever she goes, and a Dawn combat monster who was too terrifying for Fortitude. None of them really care where they go, but they all clearly dressed for the sort of party where someone loses a limb, and woe betide anyone who stands between them and their destination.

Hmm. I'm starting to feel honour bound to have my spy use their impersonation abilities to cause all manner of pandemonium now.

Also, what's Fortitude? I'm guessing it's something intense, if a character being too terrifying for it is a big deal.

Disregard. Just found out from the corebook.

 

[WlfSamurai]

11 pages in, I'm finally speaking up.

At the moment, I'm aiming for a No Moon Sijanese Mortwright who will be an expert in Medicine and Crafting (particularly Necrotechnology, unlikely as it is to come up in play) while also being a competent Sorcerer (would go Necromancer but alas no rules). Will be pairing up with Esbilon's Solar. More details to follow, as I make them.

❤

 

[WlfSamurai]

So, just based on what Rykon listed for us (thank you again), it looks like we’re starting in Whitewall after all. Or right near it, in some cases Yay!

So I had a question about the “allies” thing.

jaydude , as background, a requirement is that you all start out as allies. Not friends, necessarily, unless that’s what you want.

Allies means: you will aid each other and tentatively not get in each other’s way.

That doesn’t mean you have to all do the same stuff or work toward a goal unless we decide that’s what we want in or out of game.

You’re all CELESTIAL EXALTED concentrated in area, with threats all around. You’ll need each other. Until you don’t. And then we’ll see what happens.

 

[jaydude]

Yeah, I'm aware that the plan is for all of us to start as allies.

Hmm. I'm kind of stuck in a rut with regards to my character's backstory. All I've really got so far is that he spent some time prior to his Exaltation swindling and thieving to survive after his parents died in some manner, and then a bit of time studying under another Lunar, but I'm not quite sure where to go from there.

My main issue, I feel, is deciding on my character's personal goal. Once I've got that out of the way, I reckon I can work that into his backstory/merits/related jazz. Problem is that I've got quite a few ideas knocking around in my head for the character concept I have in mind - namely a spy who can both sneak around and hide in plain sight - and I want to pick one that synergizes with the Storyteller's ideas and those of the other players, or at least some of them. Most of all, I don't want a goal that's going to cause major problems for everyone else.

That in mind, here are some possible goals I've come up with:

1. Drive the Realm and the Immaculate Order out of Pneuma, whether out of loyalty to the Silver Pact, or because one or both of the first two factions were somehow responsible for the deaths of his parents. (This seems a bit ambitious, and while that is par for the cause when it comes to Exalted, I'm not too sure if anyone else wants the full might of the Realm bearing down on them, as opposed to the Realm just considering us low priority enough to ignore.)
2. Destroy the fair folk and undead that plague Whitewall, after his parents were among those given away in the yearly sacrifice. (I think most people would sympathize with this one, but I don't know how well it'll tie in to my concept.)
3. Overthrow the Syndics for the same reason as above. (I don't know how sympathetically the Syndics are portrayed in any edition of Exalted, and I'm not entirely comfortable with them being made unsympathetic just so that my character can be a good guy. I'm a bit of a stickler for canon, or at least canon from before my characters are in a position to start changing things.)
4. See the goals of the Silver Pact come to fruition, out of loyalty to them or another Lunar. (This one I feel can be a bit open-ended, as long as my character serves the Pact's overall goal of "Defeat the Shogunate Successors". I know that the other two Lunar players here are planning to have their characters fight with the Icewalkers, but I'm not quite sure what the plan is beyond that. On the other hand, if anyone's planning to create their own dominion, my character can help out, since such dominions are by their very nature Realm enemies.)
5. Maintain a position of power, wealth and/or influence in Whitewall, for the sake of either the Pact or my character's own self-interest. (I feel I could get a good degree of flexibility out of this one, and perhaps even use it to support option #2.)

 

[Esbilon]

Destroy the fair folk and undead that plague Whitewall, after his parents were among those given away in the yearly sacrifice.

This is very close to my character's goals, so that'll mesh quite well.

Overthrow the Syndics for the same reason as above.

The Syndics are generally portrayed favorably in 2nd edition which is where I've read most of it. If they weren't keeping things together in Whitewall, the dead and the Raksha would take a lot more than a doze each every year.

 

[Epiphany]

I highly recommend this OOC group of players come up with a collaborative goal everyone can contribute something to or be able to invest in.

Otherwise, we're going to wind up with Wlfsamurai functionally running 2-3 Exalted games made up of 1-3 player characters out of the same thread, where we'll all be 'allies' in the same way that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is (yes, we're all in the same setting but we could potentially never see each other ever again after the first group leaves Whitewall to go do something).

If you need suggestions, a few obvious pitches are:
1. Destroy the Shadowland endangering not only Whitewall but much of the North (as a staging ground for Deathlord invasion, if not for the insane ghosts inside).
2. Team up to undermine, dismantle and destroy the Bull of the North/Icewalker Horde menacing everything.
3. Wyldfog Wars. A thing that happened in the past of the North, where Wyldfog blew into Creation, carrying with it hordes of Fair Folk that endanger the Direction.
4. Dungeon crawl Gethamane and figure out what's going on there.
5. Insert your own scenario.

 

[Esbilon]

I think Marama's Fell is a good start. The combat-focused part of the group has a lot of ghosts they can fight there and the less combat happy can wade in after them investigating whereever said ghosts congregate, maybe get information from any prisoners?

The Bull is also a good target ,but we don't actually know where he is at the moment. He certainly has designs on Whitewall just because it's one of the biggest cities in the North and yet fairly isolated diplomatically.

 

[jaydude]

The Syndics are generally portrayed favorably in 2nd edition which is where I've read most of it. If they weren't keeping things together in Whitewall, the dead and the Raksha would take a lot more than a doze each every year.

Haven't looked at 2E North for a long while, but I'm happy to take your word of it.

From what little I've read of Whitewall in 3E so far, one could argue IC that the yearly sacrifice of two-dozen is a necessary evil, especially when murderers and other criminals are among those prioritized as victims. That's why I was a bit hesitant about this option.

 

[jaydude]

I highly recommend this OOC group of players come up with a collaborative goal everyone can contribute something to or be able to invest in.

As players, yes. But I think that the plan is for our characters to have a bit of leeway when it comes to goals and ambitions (though these can certainly coincide with those of other players).

If you need suggestions, a few obvious pitches are:
1. Destroy the Shadowland endangering not only Whitewall but much of the North (as a staging ground for Deathlord invasion, if not for the insane ghosts inside).
2. Team up to undermine, dismantle and destroy the Bull of the North/Icewalker Horde menacing everything.
3. Wyldfog Wars. A thing that happened in the past of the North, where Wyldfog blew into Creation, carrying with it hordes of Fair Folk that endanger the Direction.
4. Dungeon crawl Gethamane and figure out what's going on there.
5. Insert your own scenario.

Out of these, I'm more inclined towards 1 and 3. I could even frame it as my character trying to build up Whitewall as an anti-Realm bastion. Don't know about 2 though; I know next to nothing about the Bull, aside from him being a Solar Icewalker and enemy of the Realm. In all honesty, he sounds like the kind of guy we should try to win over to our side, or at least direct against the Realm. Then again, I am thinking of playing a Lunar with some involvement in the Silver Pact.

 

[Sherwood]

I like taking out the Shadowland. It is a very Full Moon Lunar kind of thing.

 

[Rykon]

Don't know about 2 though; I know next to nothing about the Bull, aside from him being a Solar Icewalker and enemy of the Realm. In all honesty, he sounds like the kind of guy we should try to win over to our side, or at least direct against the Realm. Then again, I am thinking of playing a Lunar with some involvement in the Silver Pact.

This is just my opinion, but I'm wary of potentially damaging player agency by making an NPC peer the primary actor in the story rather than the circle.

Outside of that, Toun does intend to become a ruling divine figure in the north and sees the Bull more as an obstacle than an Ally. My current understanding of player backstories is that an Icewalker tribe that once enslaved Tyree and butchered Toun's original Icewalker tribe will be under the Bull's banner.

If the group really wants to join his Icewalker dominion, I won't ruin everyone else's fun, but I'd personally prefer going to war against the Bull rather than for the Bull.

I like taking out the Shadowland. It is a very Full Moon Lunar kind of thing.

I concur. Taking on the dead will be a nice change of pace for me as a player and there's plenty of ways the Circle can benefit if we play our cards right.

 

[Teh Frixz]

I’m all for taming the shadows, if we could get that land under our yoke, it would be a great place to encourage migration. I’m sure the dead aren’t likely tilling soil.

I’m also fully in favor of the Evervictor taking any excuse to grab the proverbial bull by the horns and slaughter him for the spectacle of it.

 

[Epiphany]

As players, yes. But I think that the plan is for our characters to have a bit of leeway when it comes to goals and ambitions (though these can certainly coincide with those of other players)

Oh, totally. My girl's main thing for example is fighting against the threat of the Deathlords. While closing the Fell indirectly plays to that objective, by no means does it directly speak to it. But it doesn't have to. We should have some leeway with goals and ambitions because there will very likely be opportunities for each of us to follow up on our ambitions in the course of play. Nonetheless, having an overarching ambition we can all rally behind in some way is a good, necessary element to pulling a group together and keeping them together.

Again, to use the Marvel Cinematic Universe as an example, there's no question that Iron Man, Thor and Captain America have different Defining Intimacies and very different areas they spend most of their time on. But all have some kind of a Major or Minor Intimacy (if you will) that runs something like "The Avengers" or "Defending the Earth against nation/planet-level threats" where teaming up comes naturally and creates a good reason to spend some time with the group as well.

 

[Sherwood]

Sounds like the shadowlands are the target for our bunch to take on.

 

[jaydude]

Rykon
I mean, I'm not trying to insist we team up with the Bull, or even somewhat like him, especially considering that, in addition to Toun and Tyree's grievances, the Silver Pact doesn't universally consider the return of the Solars a good thing. But with the way things are going for me right now, I do think that Kettu will consider the Bull the lesser of two evils for the region (though he can certainly understand Toun and Tyree having issues with him).

And yeah, if most of us are for it, I'm fine with doing something about the Shadowlands.

 

[Rykon]

Rykon
I mean, I'm not trying to insist we team up with the Bull, or even somewhat like him, especially considering that, in addition to Toun and Tyree's grievances, the Silver Pact doesn't universally consider the return of the Solars a good thing. But with the way things are going for me right now, I do think that Kettu will consider the Bull the lesser of two evils for the region (though he can certainly understand Toun and Tyree having issues with him).

And yeah, if most of us are for it, I'm fine with doing something about the Shadowlands.

Oh for sure, there are far more immediate problems in our midst right now than picking that fight presently. If we take that stand it will be after we put in the work to be a big deal in our own right.

 

[Sherwood]

Well, if any of you Solars start to get out of line, Toun and I can lay down some 'education' on your thick heads.