Space Opera Exalted

[Ooky Spooky]

This is the world of Exalted, but instead of setting it in Creation it is set in infinite space. Each city is a full blown Planet. The Fair Folk are beings coming from the edges of the known universe.
The Dragon Blooded are the rulers of the Blessed Sector. The Lunars are 'barbarians' at the gates of the Empire, and the Solars are the reborn heroes of the world.


Within the world, the dead have a dimension of their own, occasionally slipping over into the Universe. In another dimension the ancient battleships of the Yozi and their servants lurk.


The Gods are also in existence, beings of energy living on yet another different dimension, much closer tied to the Universe.


This is the world of Exalted, where massive spaceships, warstriders, and heroes do battle against a plethora of enemies.

I brought this up in the Play-by-Post section of the site and people liked it. They liked it enough that I needed a world building thread to get my thoughts in order.


So that's what this thread is for. I'm not worried about mechanics really that much, I'm more interested in setting pieces to make this setting shine.

 

[magnificentmomo]

Possibly just attempting to directly translate Creation's locations into Galactic locales and hazards.


Gem could be a city in the hollow interior of an asteroid in an asteroid field. etc.


Some hard interpretations would be Halta- Other than it just being like the moon of Endor, how could you metaphorically put the planet itself in some sort of "tree".


The Wyld- Would it just be the chaos of untamed space. Radiation abound. Fair Folk being insane creatures formed in the madness of space no man can comprehend?


This is a cool premise.

 

[Ooky Spooky]

Let's start with Space travel


Back in the First Age, there were amazing engines built that made traveling from one end of Creation little more than an extened vacation. For emergencies, they had the Gates of Auspicious Passage that could take you from one end of Creation to the other instantly. Except for a few examples hidden away in the Blessed sector and the Fortress Planet of Lookshy, those miracles are now lost to Creation (well, except for the Prisons Hulks of Hell, the countless examples kept in immaculate condition in Heaven, and anything the Deathlords have built...).


Now, it seems that Creation must make due with thamaturgy-based travel. It gets you where you are going, but it's the equivalent of riding an old horse and cart to market. It also the least harmful to Creation itself, since it's hardwired into the Loom. The Ship's Navagator Thaumaturge consults his charts and orrey and divines the proper time and place to start the Journey, and when the ship gets there He performs the proper ritual at the right time, and then they dissappear from where they were and appear where they want to go. It isn't instantaneous, travel between systems takes about a day, sometimes more or less depending on a bunch of factors. You can't jump from one end of Creation to the other this way, you have to make skipping jumps from one system to another. If you were trying to get from Nexus to Great Forks, you might have to jump between half a dozen systems or so.


Then there would be Charm-based Travel. Ships that use them go faster because they override the Loom and make paths that basically take less time to travel or paths that go farther. If you were trying to get from Nexus to Great Forks, you could skip half the jumps that you would normally need and get there faster.


Then there's Sorcery. Terrestrial spells would just override the Loom and make a pathway between one system and another, necessitating only that one jump. Of course, you'd need a sorcerer on every ship to get a fleet anywhere, since it only affects one ship. Celestial spells would apply to a great many ships, and Solar spells could do something orders of magnitude greater.


There would be ways around these. If you bound a demon into your engine and you weren't worried about sailing through hell, you could abuse the odd time rules there and get anywhere in five days. Travel through the Labrynith and you wouldn't even need to go into space.

 

[Gryffon]

Is space going to be an air-less, irradiated vacuum? Are we journeying into the depths of space in magical galleons, or in Magitech-clad, airtight vessels with phasers and Transwyld Engines? Are the Elemental Poles still around, perhaps as the final planets in their respective Quadrants before you hit the untamed Wyld expanse beyond the Galaxy of Creation? How does the scale of Creation change if every city's a planet? Are the numbers of the Exalted greater? Is every sun a manifestation of Sol Invictus? Is every moon Luna?


...I like questions. They prompt answers.

 

[Ooky Spooky]

Is space going to be an air-less, irradiated vacuum?

No, I'm thinking it's going to be pure Air Essence. You could go wandering out in it, except the only source of Earth Essence (and therefore gravity) is going to be the Jade in the ship you got out there on. And you'd start to freeze to death.

Are we journeying into the depths of space in magical galleons, or in Magitech-clad, airtight vessels with phasers and Transwyld Engines?

You ever see Serenity or Firefly? It would be kinda like that. The Blessed sector has ships that look like the alliance craft, and Lookshy has some of them too. Most others make do with what they can cobble together and keep working.

Are the Elemental Poles still around, perhaps as the final planets in their respective Quadrants before you hit the untamed Wyld expanse beyond the Galaxy of Creation?

They are spread out over their respective directions (see picture below). Livable planets are more in tune with the element of the direction they are located in. Desert planets are more common in the flame quadrant, jungle planets are more common in the wood quadrant, ocean planets are more common in the water quadrant and cold worlds are more common in the air quadrant. The Blessed sector has more planets that are balanced between the elements than any other. Real world earth would probably be found in the water quadrant, but fairly close to the blessed sector. The void outside the galaxy would be the Wyld.

How does the scale of Creation change if every city's a planet?

The systems are in roughly the same place on this map as if you were looking at the map in the core book. I'll point some of them out when I get a chance to edit the map

Are the numbers of the Exalted greater?

Only if you're talking about the Terrestrial Exalts

Is every sun a manifestation of Sol Invictus?

When you are on a planet (or somewhere that is nurtured by the sun), the sun is a manifestation of him, yes. If you actually go to a sun, it's a source of pure Fire Essence.

Is every moon Luna?

Again, if you are on a planet, it's Luna. When your in space it's a smaller source of earth essence.

...I like questions. They prompt answers.

bring on more then.

 

[cyl]

I have a question for you:


Considering the Wyld is everywhere and ever changing, and the primordial created Creation out of it. Creation can be considered as a "planet", but I have a problem with space.


Because space is like the absolute nothing (technically it is wrong, but whatever)... the Wyld isn't quite the appropriate way to define space. Oblivion would be much more appropriate :wink:


We have a few examples of bubbles of Creation throughout the Wyld, so I guess we can start with a post apocalyptic story where indeed the solars have boosted Creation to an unprecedent size, using powerful artifacts (that could become the core of the planets... I think: Reality Engines of Kyrhal -> Ruins of Rathess) to stabilize whole regions of the wyld and exploit the lands.


Most of the "cores" were sufficient to maintain large dominions stable... then one day all hell broke loose and the mouth of the void awoke, and ate all the parts between the cores, letting Creation "whole" in a bubble state (planet) while Yu Shan send itself away in an alternative dimension to protect itself.


The Void devoured the lands that weren't close enough from a core, leaving small bubbles of reality (planets) in the middle of the wyld.


Now about the Wyld: I think it could be struggling with the Void as it's eating the Wyld away (like a whole universe slowly swallowed by a black hole) interesting to make them at war with Oblivion, because these guys would be the best "aliens" to play !


Vat do ye tink ?

 

[Gryffon]

I was under the impression that this was more an Alternate Creation rather than a continuation of Canon, and I honestly think I like it better that way. It seems like there'd be more room to work from, given that Creation already has so much material associated with it. Tacking on a third layer...doesn't appeal to me as much.

 

[Ooky Spooky]

Basically, instead of creating a big flat place out of the infinity that is the Wyld, the Primordials made another infinite space. The space part is not "nothing", it's air. People could survive between planets if they could keep warm enough and had food and didn't mind smashing into Earth Essence-based objects if they got too close.


Other than the place being bigger and having spaceships, it's pretty much exactly the same as regular Exalted. But it has space ships, so it's different enough for me.

 

[Brickwall]

I was under the impression that this was more an Alternate Creation rather than a continuation of Canon, and I honestly think I like it better that way. It seems like there'd be more room to work from, given that Creation already has so much material associated with it. Tacking on a third layer...doesn't appeal to me as much.

You wouldn't happen to go under the name "GryffonDurime" anywhere, would you? I gamed with someone by that name who would have that opinion (which is, by the way, one I agree with).

 

[Quchu]

I've been working on a sci-fantasy modification of Exalted for a while with similar premises. Though, in the one I'm working, I've had the outer space be occupied by the Wyld and the Shadowlands. At one point, you'll be exposed to a tremendous amount of the purest form of Essence, which will either kill you or mutate you beyond plausibility. In another, you'll stumble into the utter black world of the dead, which will kill you if you are not properly protected. This allows Wyld monstrosities to randomly appear near inhabited planets and invade them and give the armies of the Deathlords the they-are-everywhere feel, since the Underworld remain as small as the old Creation.


Also, on a random note, I had the Celestial Incarna be the gods of concepts rather than actual celestial bodies--the Unconquered Sun as the god of stars, Luna the god/dess of orbiting bodies and the Five Maidens the goddesses of solar systems and constellations.


And such.

 

[Gryffon]

You wouldn't happen to go under the name "GryffonDurime" anywhere, would you? I gamed with someone by that name who would have that opinion (which is, by the way, one I agree with).

I was wondering if you'd noticed, Brick.


Additionally, I'd say a sun could be both Fire and Solar aspected, just as a moon could be Lunar and either Earth or Water/Air depending on its composition. If any given world can have elements drawn from all five natural and the Celestial aspects, I'd say the same should generally apply to any celestial body.

 

[Persell]

Like the idea, but its kind of already been done... and badly. Ever watched Andromeda?Solars:high guard leaders, Terrestrials:nietzschians, etc... the old highguard warships can even be interpreted as alchemecal exalts. lol.


Anyway, now to be constructive: Wouldn't the Siderials be almost all powerful in this setting?


and: The galactic core would have gravity and radiation at such extremes that that could be considered the wyld. Just a thought.


edit: went over astronomy textbook: supermassive black hole at galactic core. Still good for the abyss though.


The most inhabitable region of the galaxy is probably the spiral arms. Just one spiral arm, though, is milions of stars and billions of planets *more than likely*


Also, nebulea are wonderful analogues for the Wyld/wyld pockets. That's where stars are born after all.

 

[Kyeudo]

I suggest taking Warhammer 40K and fusing it with Exalted, then running amok. The Tau get the Dragon-Blooded, the Necrons get the Abyssals, the Eldar get the Sidereals, the Orks get the Lunars, the Chaos Space Marines get the Infernals, and the Space Marines get the Solars. The only real question is where to stick the Fair Folk in the 40k universe, since you'd want to leave the Warp to the Demons.


If you are going to do Exalted in space, increase the number of Celestials. 700 Celestial Exalts might cut it for Creation, but once you start dealing with a galactic scale Celestials will stop having as much of an impact as the legions of Dragon-Blooded to the point of getting ignored. I sugget 700 Celestials per system in whatever universe you decide.

 

[Persell]

I suggest taking Warhammer 40K and fusing it with Exalted, then running amok. The Tau get the Dragon-Blooded, the Necrons get the Abyssals, the Eldar get the Sidereals, the Orks get the Lunars, the Chaos Space Marines get the Infernals, and the Space Marines get the Solars. The only real question is where to stick the Fair Folk in the 40k universe, since you'd want to leave the Warp to the Demons.

hey, just look at the background of the Solars. They were all a bunch of tweaked out, blood thirsty, immortal(esque) psychopathes near the end. Sounds alot like... SPACE MARINES! FOR THE EMPEROR!

 

[Mempo]

Seems to me, if you were going to put Creation into a Sci-Fi theme, you'd make it a Dyson Sphere. Or, perhaps, a partially-constructed one, with the Wyld spilling in on one side.


The Underworld, naturally, would be the *outside* of the Sphere. Malfeas, Yu-Shan (and perhaps Elsewhere) would be lesser satellites outside the Dyson orbital shell.


Or - wait. This fits a little too well. Perhaps that's what Creation is now.


:shock:


Crap.

 

[wordman]

You should probably take a look at the Wyldspan setting. It's pretty close to what you want already.

 

[Brickwall]

That was already mentioned, wordman, though it might have been in the thread that caused this one. Gwuuu~

 

[Requiem of Forgotten Lore]

Seems to me, if you were going to put Creation into a Sci-Fi theme, you'd make it a Dyson Sphere. Or, perhaps, a partially-constructed one, with the Wyld spilling in on one side.
The Underworld, naturally, would be the *outside* of the Sphere. Malfeas, Yu-Shan (and perhaps Elsewhere) would be lesser satellites outside the Dyson orbital shell.


Or - wait. This fits a little too well. Perhaps that's what Creation is now.


:shock:


Crap.

I like the idea that Creation is really a Dyson Sphere, you would have 1 AU of Creation and Wyld to play with; however, I think I would put the Underworld as a sphere surrounding the sphere of Creation.
As far as Malfeas and Elswhere, I think I would just "cut" holes in space-time because that's what the game already sounds like to me. I do agree that Autochthon would pretty much have turned himself into an orbiting satellite (if he wasn't one already) and once they open the 8 seals it would just be some sort of teleporter.


My only question is how do you have normal astrology or even Sidereal Astrology normal if the what you are standing on and surrounded by is keeping you from seeing the stars? Even if you have some huge rotating object ("Luna") between the sun and Creation creating the illusion of night you still have no stars.


Oh, and if you want a Reality Engine for whole planets here you go:

You can also scale it down for a regular game if you don't like the current look of the Reality Engines - which I'm not sure if there is even a picture of them (if someone could verify that for me I would be appreciative).

 

[Joni-san]

The only real question is where to stick the Fair Folk in the 40k universe, since you'd want to leave the Warp to the Demons.

Eldar?

 

[Kyeudo]

The only real question is where to stick the Fair Folk in the 40k universe' date=' since you'd want to leave the Warp to the Demons.[/quote']
Eldar?

Na, the Eldar aren't ravening soul-eating entities of chaos. Their schtick has always been planning and forsight, which is why I suggested they get the Sidereal Exaltations.

 

[Gryffon]

Na, the Eldar aren't ravening soul-eating entities of chaos. Their schtick has always been planning and forsight, which is why I suggested they get the Sidereal Exaltations.

Ewww....you got Grimdark in my Rule of Cool.


:lol: I suppose GitP's already turned me off to mixing 40k and Exalted, what with the legendary VS thread.

 

[Kyeudo]

Warhammer 40k has this ability to do incredible things to anything. Just look what happened to Shinji Ikari.


I've always wondered what would happen if you let Exaltations loose in the 40k universe. I mean, one of the reasons that universe is so Grim Dark is because there is no change. Everything is locked on a course for eternal, pointless war between raging badasses of various stripes. Exaltation is fundamentally a force of change. A Solar Exaltation grips some slave's soul on some death world somewhere and practically forces him to rise to greatness and defy the established order. The onslaught of the Tyranids and the Necrons, once nigh unstoppable for all but the most hard-core of Space Marine chapters, become a threat that can be beaten back to the edge of space. Heck, someone could even fix the God-Emperor of Mankind with a few Solar Medicine Charms and a couple of hours.


Exalted + Warhammer 40k is a system that I would very much like to explore in depth.

 

[Joni-san]

I seem to have trouble noticing things on this forum...


Shinji and Warhammer 40K... Gods, that fanfic is filled with epic win.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Warhammer 40k has this ability to do incredible things to anything. Just look what happened to Shinji Ikari.

You should be enthusiastically and vigorously beaten, KGB-style for putting that here.

 

[Haku1]

Quite... I am on the forum it started out in and that fic still leaves a bad aftertaste in my mouth. :roll: