Thoughts on my campaign idea (Heroic Mortals)

[Persell]

So I decided to create my own campaign for Exalted, with players taking on the roles of a bunch of brothers and sisters.


Their parents happened to be soldiers in a Wyld Hunt and during a hunt their father returned, mortally wounded. The uncle to these siblings locked himself in with their father and came out with grim news -- their father had died after telling him how their mother had been killed by the Anathema they were hunting. The players will learn that their father managed to snatch the weapon from the Anathema and got a rather juicy reward from a Dragon-Blooded general (or something like that), leaving his children with a huge inheritance.


Many years later these children have grown up and become great warriors in their little village. Walking in their parents footsteps they have become mercenaries and will be hired to take down a demon for a neighbouring village. This demon happens to be an Anathema (or thought to be one, since it's actually a half-caste). When the players return they'll be revered as heroes for slaying an Anathema.


However, their celebration will be brief as a certain Dragon-Blooded general will march into the village, wanting to talk to the players. He'll reveal that their Anathema wasn't more than the weak offspring of a true threat and that the mission had been a test on his part. He simply wanted to see if the players lived up to their parents abilities and wants to recruit them. They'll be rewarded greatly (or if they, for some reason, refuse won't have to watch their petty village burn to ashes).


They'll get some pointers and will eventually (making a long story short) find the "true Anathema". A Solar named Sidalia (name taken from my first Solar character back in the 1st Ed. days ) who also happens to be -- gasp! -- their mother. From here the story can really only branch into two scenarios. Either they join forces with their mother, resulting in their village being burned down to the ground and the players being hunted by a Dragon-Blood's army or they'll be embraced by said army and revered as heroes.


---


The reason the Dragon-Blooded general wants the players, who are "mere mortals", to help him is simple. Sidalia is his nemesis and managed to escape his Hunt every time he manages to track her down. She also killed his wife way back, which turns this whole mess into a tale of revenge.


However, knowing Sidalia from her pre-Exaltation days he knows that her children are her most beloved things in the entire Creation, figuring she'd roll around and simply let them take her life instead of sacrificing their own.


What I want is some feedback and possibly some ideas for the campaign. Pretty please?

 

[Virjigorm]

It sounds like you've got a great idea and it looks to be scaled properly for heroic mortals. I do have a few questions...


1. What sort of Exalt is the mother? It sounds like Lunar to me. If so, maybe she has been hanging around often over the years watching her children grow up and protecting their village covertly. She could tell them details of their lives after she "died" and the characters would have to deal with the fact that she actually seems to love them.


2. What part of the world is this story set in? As the characters travel/hunt the anathema, they may pass through many towns/cities/tribes or vast tracts of wilderness. Fleshing out the travel time encounters and throwing in side-quests really fill out a game and make it last.


3. Are you using any unusual house rules that alter the way the power balance plays out? A half-caste and a few Dragon-Bloods are good opponents/allies for talented and resourceful mortals, but some of the house rules I've seen floating around these forums radically alter the relative power of different character types(usually in heavy favor of whoever is touting the rule as an "improvement").


4. Have you ever run a game before? Exalted is a bit different from most other games because of power level issues and the unique setting. If you have experience running Exalted, you probably know a lot of what I'd have to suggest.

 

[Persell]

It sounds like you've got a great idea and it looks to be scaled properly for heroic mortals. I do have a few questions...
1. What sort of Exalt is the mother? It sounds like Lunar to me. If so, maybe she has been hanging around often over the years watching her children grow up and protecting their village covertly. She could tell them details of their lives after she "died" and the characters would have to deal with the fact that she actually seems to love them.


2. What part of the world is this story set in? As the characters travel/hunt the anathema, they may pass through many towns/cities/tribes or vast tracts of wilderness. Fleshing out the travel time encounters and throwing in side-quests really fill out a game and make it last.


3. Are you using any unusual house rules that alter the way the power balance plays out? A half-caste and a few Dragon-Bloods are good opponents/allies for talented and resourceful mortals, but some of the house rules I've seen floating around these forums radically alter the relative power of different character types(usually in heavy favor of whoever is touting the rule as an "improvement").


4. Have you ever run a game before? Exalted is a bit different from most other games because of power level issues and the unique setting. If you have experience running Exalted, you probably know a lot of what I'd have to suggest.

1. I don't have any sourcebooks for the Lunars, so it'll be a Solar. I've got the mental image of her similiar to The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3/Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. This "all-knowing", logical being that feels like she's fulfilled her part of destiny, feeling quite indifferent to die if she dies by the hands of her children. She might have this powerful artifact or other kind of legacy that could be used as a story element if my players want to continue on another campaign, but I'm not sure about that one.


2. I'm thinking the Scavenger Lands, since it makes it extremely easy for me to create a bunch of off-the-record villages (even though that's not a problem at all in Exalted). The only problem being the few and far-between Wyld Hunts that takes place there, since the Dragon-Bloodeds foothold isn't as prominent there. Otherwise the North since I -love- snowy, cold settings. I don't want to turn this into a "travel-all-across-Creation" campaigns, since that happens far too often. It's better to take time and focus on a particular area since the world is... well... HUGE.


3. Not really. I've got the rules down, but we focus more on having fun and making dramatic scenes than following the rules blindly.


4. We've played before (as I mentioned, we played way back during 1st edition as well).

 

[Virjigorm]

just to keep the points in order...


1. I'm not familiar with the MGS3 characters, but it sounds like you might want to consider that most new Solars are epic heroes by nature, or else they would not receive a Solar exaltation. If she's an older Solar, how did she elude the Hunt long enough to have a mortal family(for a while anyway). A solar doesn't really come into her power until essence 6 at around 100 years of age, so an elder would have been hiding for a while. Another possibility is that she appears on the surface to be a heroic demigod who is also the characters' loving, long-lost mother...but she's really an akuma servant of She Who Lives in Her Name. The cold logical detachment is characteristic of these akuma and it allows a deeper villainy to lie beneath the surface. If she has already fulfilled her destiny, what was it? Did she perform some great deed to save a particularly important facet of Creation? Did she lay the foundation of an unspeakable atrocity that may come to pass if the characters don't take action to correct it (possibly the next adventure in the series) .


2. Scavenger lands are a great place to set a new story. There's a ton of flexibility and you can pretty much invent regions and local history as you please. You might consider the density of First Age ruins in the Scavenger Lands and try to incorporate them into the game, just to convey regional continuity (the north has ice, the east has trees, the scavenger lands have ruins). It would also make a great sequence to stage an important scene in a ruined manse or fortress (maybe the Solar's hiding place). Confronting the "anathema" in the epic ruins of the old "demonic tyrannical empire" could lead to a memorable encounter. You may consider setting it near Greyfalls if you need good DB presence. They have a pretty respectable garrison there. You could also make the DBs involved a part of a long range expeditionary force. Maybe they are not normally in the area, but for some reason the Empire (or Chejop Kejak) saw fit to station a mobile field force on long-term patrol of the entire region.


3. Good. I doubt I need to tell you why houserule-hounds are dumb.


4. Play experience is half the battle. If you haven't run before, the only way to learn is to give it a shot. I'll offer a couple suggestions, take them if you like. Number one and most important is to remember what you like as a player. No one likes forced onto a path by the ST or arbitrarily denied options for their characters for no apparent reason. Opportunities to look cool and demonstrate a character's strengths are like a drug for the average Exalted player. The more they get to be awesome and do it their way, the more fun they will have. The other thing I'll say is that you aren't running the game for the NPCs. I've seen games fall apart because the ST was too attached to his NPC characters and would fudge rolls and hijack scenes to spotlight how awesome their pet NPC was. This is really frustrating for players and is basically an abuse of the best storytelling tool you have as a ST. Good NPC support and opposition makes a game more than any other factor. It gives the game depth and makes the world feel more real. The best way to check yourself on this is to never, ever "play" a ST character. The NPCs are only relevant as they relate to the PCs.I hope you can use some of this. I'm not sure of your experience level, but these are my most basic rules to run a good Exalted game. They are also the most common mistakes I see new STs make and they wreck otherwise good games. If you've run before and I just misunderstood your last post, sorry for the sermon.

 

[Persell]

1. Might be hard to explain the characters (and probably unnecessary since I just use some character quirks for inspiration), but she's done great things. I've been thinking for a bit and decided that she actually wants to die by her childrens hands so that they will gain some respect with this particular Dragon Blooded faction. But even though she wants this, she doesn't want her children to think she left the world as some kind of monster.


And I know that the Solars are heroic -- but heroes die. In fact I think that heroes who die for a greater cause (you could say martyrs, I guess) are the greatest heroes, especially if it happens in some tragic manner.


Her death will be part of her destiny as it will get unwanted attention out of the way for a greater scheme.


2. I've also decided to set the story near the nortern borders of the Scavenger Lands so I can use the winter theme without putting the players on a huge-ass mountain and then resolve the conflict a bit more to the south-east (not too far away though).


4. Oh, I've run some games before. I've been playing and storytelling for nearly ten years now (with some gaps, both smaller and bigger in-between) and I do have a few Exalted sessions under my belt. I know that it's tempting for many to create boat-ride adventures revolving around NPC's, but that's a really bad idea since... well, players generally never do what you expect them to do. With my experience I think the best games are the one with a rather loose storyline and without too much details in the overall adventure, rather having some story-hooks at the ready if the players decide to sidetrack. Keep It Simple Stupid really applies to storytelling.


My main problem is usually that I have a story and resolution that is a bit too complex. I'll try to stay away from that.

 

[Virjigorm]

Sounds like all you need is mountain dew. Good luck with the game, I'd like to hear about how it goes.

 

[Persell]

Too bad we don't have Mountain Dew here. I guess we'll have to make due without.


Anyhow, I'm thinking of trying out this idea with my regular group of players and take my books with me when I move later in August. Hopefully I'll find some other roleplayers there and if they're unfamilliar with Exalted I'll use this adventure to introduce them to the world as Heroic Mortals and later let them go through their Exaltation.


Just a thought, though.

 

[Virjigorm]

I always prefer to start characters off before Exaltation, like the prelude idea mentioned in the mainbook, except I usually make this last a few sessions and award experience as usual, so when they do Exalt, they already have a bit of exp. As an intro to the game in general, I'd be careful about running a mortal game as a first experience for your players. Being a super-powered exalt is what draws a lot of people to the game.

 

[cordimus]

1. I don't think you need to come up with an in depth explanation for how the Mother eluded the great hunt. Her power as a Solar is going to be incredible compared to the strength of her children, so the fact that she obviously has been successful over the years suggests she's powerful/savvy enough to survive.


2. Building off of that - don't spend time explaining how she eluded the Wyld Hunt, but how she has consistently put herself at risk in watching over and protecting her offspring. Don't underplay her loss and sacrifice and focus first and foremost on how anyone would feel to suddenly find out the mother they thought they had lost was still alive, albeit an anathema.


3. Enshrine both the parents in the lore of the village. Perhaps the whole family, through the Father's line, are patricians and deceased daddy has become something of a fabled figure who epitomizes the roll of the common-man in the Immaculate religion. The mother might have been enshrined as everything right and good for a woman and mother to become in this world. If you have any female players, having their mother used against them as a lesson to be more "feminine" might irk them tremendously and then appeal to them when they actually meet her and she's totally badass. Decide for each of your players though whether the legacy of the parent is going to help them or hinder them, either reinforcing their personality or judging their actions. Try and foster a different opinion in each of your players about their deceased parents.


4. I'm really not keen on the idea of the mother dying. A mother dying to protect her children CAN be poignant, I suppose, but it falls really flat if her meddling is what puts those children in danger in the first place, especially if her death result in them continuing on living in a society that would shame them for what she is. A character willing to just fall over and die is a little hard to understand or be interested in. The mother NEEDS to impart a significant change over her children before she dies, and needs to illustrate in clear terms what exactly her "part of destiny" was. "Well kids, I just decided to enter your life after years of emotionally-scarring abandonment, only so I can shame you all to know that your mother is a whore anathema, and without making your lives better at all, I'll expose you to the violent hatred of the dragonblooded as powerful individuals maneuver to use you as pawns against me, and in the end I will fall off a cliff citing vague prophetic fulfillment and leave you to your shattered lives so you can continue on in your miserable little society and hate me as a demon rather than love me as a devoted mother."


5. The beauty of the story is in gripping your players with a terrible question and getting them all to feel something about that question. Give the mom some bite, make her a huge question mark for everyone, but also assert her opinions and philosophy over the group - she's a powerful solar, not a wussy exalt that uses her powers to do dishes and bake delicious stereotypes about the role of the woman in conventional society. You want to push the players towards the right answer, which is FAMILY, so make it easy on them and turn Sidalia into a strong-minded woman with the fortitude to DEFEND her family, stomp the crap out of the wyld-hunt and make up for some seriously lost time.

 

[Persell]

1. I don't think you need to come up with an in depth explanation for how the Mother eluded the great hunt. Her power as a Solar is going to be incredible compared to the strength of her children, so the fact that she obviously has been successful over the years suggests she's powerful/savvy enough to survive.
2. Building off of that - don't spend time explaining how she eluded the Wyld Hunt, but how she has consistently put herself at risk in watching over and protecting her offspring. Don't underplay her loss and sacrifice and focus first and foremost on how anyone would feel to suddenly find out the mother they thought they had lost was still alive, albeit an anathema.


3. Enshrine both the parents in the lore of the village. Perhaps the whole family, through the Father's line, are patricians and deceased daddy has become something of a fabled figure who epitomizes the roll of the common-man in the Immaculate religion. The mother might have been enshrined as everything right and good for a woman and mother to become in this world. If you have any female players, having their mother used against them as a lesson to be more "feminine" might irk them tremendously and then appeal to them when they actually meet her and she's totally badass. Decide for each of your players though whether the legacy of the parent is going to help them or hinder them, either reinforcing their personality or judging their actions. Try and foster a different opinion in each of your players about their deceased parents.


4. I'm really not keen on the idea of the mother dying. A mother dying to protect her children CAN be poignant, I suppose, but it falls really flat if her meddling is what puts those children in danger in the first place, especially if her death result in them continuing on living in a society that would shame them for what she is. A character willing to just fall over and die is a little hard to understand or be interested in. The mother NEEDS to impart a significant change over her children before she dies, and needs to illustrate in clear terms what exactly her "part of destiny" was. "Well kids, I just decided to enter your life after years of emotionally-scarring abandonment, only so I can shame you all to know that your mother is a whore anathema, and without making your lives better at all, I'll expose you to the violent hatred of the dragonblooded as powerful individuals maneuver to use you as pawns against me, and in the end I will fall off a cliff citing vague prophetic fulfillment and leave you to your shattered lives so you can continue on in your miserable little society and hate me as a demon rather than love me as a devoted mother."


5. The beauty of the story is in gripping your players with a terrible question and getting them all to feel something about that question. Give the mom some bite, make her a huge question mark for everyone, but also assert her opinions and philosophy over the group - she's a powerful solar, not a wussy exalt that uses her powers to do dishes and bake delicious stereotypes about the role of the woman in conventional society. You want to push the players towards the right answer, which is FAMILY, so make it easy on them and turn Sidalia into a strong-minded woman with the fortitude to DEFEND her family, stomp the crap out of the wyld-hunt and make up for some seriously lost time.

This is a great post and I will definitely use some things.


I figured that the father'll be hailed as a hero for bringing not just his family riches as a sign of gratitude from the Wyld Hunt's general, but instead bringing wealth to the entire village. The mother, though, will be revealed to be alive after they've hunted down the Half-Caste.


I disagree about the death, though. She won't just "drop down and die", she'll simply want to make sure that her children will be safe before passing on with her Motivation. That requires her own sacrifice, since she's doing this epic ritual in her manse, either turning her into a weapon against a Deathlord or simply sending her down there to do battle with him (or something like that, which'll be the setting for the follow-up).


The backstory should probably be a session or two, though, to let the players experience the characters parents and what-not.


I feel a bit disappointed that my group's familliar with Exalted, actually, as I think the choice they'll have at the end will be much harder to do if you're actually thinking Anathemas are monsters.

 

[Persell]

So I had my session and it went great:


I gave them their background, telling them a bit about their upbringing, how they got to meet the Dragonblooded general (or captain, back then) who praised their parents and what-not. That captain also made sure their village prospered and grew rich and the players grew quite fond of both their parents and the General.


Then I threw them right into the action where they had already beaten up a bunch of thugs and were in middle of a battle on a rainy night, they freed a village elder's granddaughter and saved the day. This went just as planned as they easily took care of the first wave of bandits before meeting up with the leader and his "elite" bandits, which injured the poor characters a bit... enough to make them worry for their own well-being, making them think outside the box and trap the bandits with lamp oil and fire instead of going in head-on.


They went home, reveled in their victory and planned on taking a few days off when a monk from a nearby temple rode into their village with fatal wounds, saying something about an Anathema attacking the temple.


The players went out and cowered a bit outside the temple and spied on it from afar, snuck close a bunch of times, only to retreat when they saw any movement. Then they decided to go back to the village, but I managed to lure them back inside (goddamn players...) by making a mother walk into the temple garden with her children just to get caught by the supposed Anathema (a rather powerful Half-Caste). They freed the family and took some really massive damage before unleashing hell on the poor half-caste.


With one of them knocking on death's door, they patched up in a nearby village, went home for a few days to rest before going to a giant festival set up in a nearby city in their honor. When they got back home an army had set camp outside their village, so they went in, wondered what the hell was going on and stormed up to their house.


When they learned a one of the Dragonblooded had occupied their house they went in, showed great respect and felt honoured by his presence, which set a great tone. Of course they questioned why he wanted -them- and not greater warriors, so I decided to spill the beans and he told them they were related to this particular threat. A true Anathema -- their own mother. They accepted his request to join his wyld hunt.


Then we stopped there. I kind of regret the fact that I flat out told them who they were after, but on second thought it really spiced things up and it was apparent that my players weren't expecting that turn of events. They thought they were simply being recruited for a wyld hunt since... well, they were following in their parents' footsteps.


I also have enough meat left on the plot to keep things interesting until the end. On their way to her Manse they'll have visions where she indirectly talks to them, telling them how she's been watching over them and all that stuff. I think it'll wrap up quite nicely.

 

[Virjigorm]

Wow, looks like you crunched right on through it. Sometimes I wish my players could get that much done in a session. Do you plan to wrap the story up in one more session?

 

[Persell]

Yep. Mainly because I move out of town August 16th.


And yeah. Alot happened. More than usual. We had a really great flow and everyone enjoyed themselves.

 

[cordimus]

Excellent to hear =)