General Exalted Discussion: There's a God for that! Except for Sorcery, of course.

[Reynard]

This oddly contradicts the fluff, which says the Exaltation's host-seeking mechanism is still intact (it's what guides the host demon to the prospective Infernal) and that the Urge and Torment is managed by the Unwoven Coadjutor.

In MoEP: Infernals, the fluff itself contradicts other parts of the fluff. It's up to the ST to decide which part they prefer.

I forgot that Kimbery (and Szoreny?) has thrown her Charms in as well, but once you have a rogue Infernal I doubt he'll be getting any new Yozis to teach him Charms.

Once a Yozi opens their charms to be learned, they can be learned by any Infernal. They'll just need to put up with the doubled training time for learning without a mentor.

[Mr.Bookworm]

This oddly contradicts the fluff, which says the Exaltation's host-seeking mechanism is still intact (it's what guides the host demon to the prospective Infernal) and that the Urge and Torment is managed by the Unwoven Coadjutor.

I believe the general consensus is that in the event of Lillun's death, the effects spelled out in Swallowing the Scorpion (pg. 46 of the BWC) happen to every Infernal.

I forgot that Kimbery (and Szoreny?) has thrown her Charms in as well, but once you have a rogue Infernal I doubt he'll be getting any new Yozis to teach him Charms.

You could actually get Gaia or Autochthon to teach you their charms, though. Assuming you can somehow find and get to them.

You have at least seven published Charmsets to play around with in any case, you can create more Charms if you don't mind the Yozis learning them, and even that last restriction doesn't apply to Heretic charms.

[Yuki Akuma]

Green Sun Princes can learn Primordial charms - it's what they're designed for. A heretical GSP could seek out Gaia or Autobot and convince them to teach him their charms.

And probably Neverborn as well. Do they even have charms?

[golentan]

This oddly contradicts the fluff, which says the Exaltation's host-seeking mechanism is still intact (it's what guides the host demon to the prospective Infernal) and that the Urge and Torment is managed by the Unwoven Coadjutor.

That's not necessarily a contradiction. If the host seeking mechanism is intact but it finds a demon first, that's an extra step, not an explicit paradox. They added Lillun to keep the shard from going straight to the next host, and they added the demon binding to get the shard back from Lillun. Cutting lillun out doesn't change the second bit.

[Xefas]

And probably Neverborn as well. Do they even have charms?

Yes, though their actually useful ones, like "Make Deathlords" or "Talk to people via Whispers" are interspersed among "Oh god I'm completely immobile and in unspeakable agony" and "99% of the time, I'm completely catatonic and tortured by horrifying dreams".

[TheCountAlucard]

Yes, though their actually useful ones, like "Make Deathlords" or "Talk to people via Whispers" are interspersed among "Oh god I'm completely immobile and in unspeakable agony" and "99% of the time, I'm completely catatonic and tortured by horrifying dreams".

Knowing them, the latter is probably a prerequisite for the former.

[DragonSinged]

Happy New Years, Exalted Playgrounders!

Whelp, I am home from revelry, and still feeling a bit wired, so - Update on my first Exalted character!

Did some actual putting together of character sheet stat-type things today, didn't finish everything, but got a bit of a start, so I thought I'd toss it up here, just in case it turns out I'm doing something horribly wrong, and also, because I like sharing.

I'm thinking of naming her "Thousand Jade Feathers", by the way. I don't have any reason, beyond for some reason that name comes to mind when I think about the character. Works for me, may see modification.

Anyways, she boils down to dots in various things thusly:

Zenith Caste

Str 1, Dex 4, Stam 2, Cha 3, Manip 3, Appear 5, Percept 2, Int 4, Wits 3

Caste Abilities: Performance 1, Presence 3
Favored Abilities: Melee 2, Socialize 3, Investigation 2, Lore 2, Occult 3
Other: Linguistics 2

So far in backgrounds she has 2 dots in Cult, and 3 in Influence.
I am not sure what I'm going to do with the remaining 2 dots for background, possibly actually give her some kind of possessions or something so she's not walking around naked? Maybe a weapon for that melee ability she's got? Though I was thinking there might be a charm to handle that, so she doesn't have to worry about lugging a sword around all the time - I have not looked into this yet, or memorized all the charm trees or whatever.

So, again, does anyone have suggestions for changes to make or.. things? She's not finished yet, clearly, but I loves me some advice/criticism/inputs!
Input! Need Input! No disassemble Johnny 5!

[Teln]

Since we're talking about games, I'd like to inform you all of a game that is can get underway, if we can get a replacement storyteller. Ours seems to have vanished.

Help?

[Avalon®]

You have at least seven published Charmsets to play around with in any case, you can create more Charms if you don't mind the Yozis learning them, and even that last restriction doesn't apply to Heretic charms.

Who's the seventh yozi? I'm counting Malfeas, Cecylene, SWLiHN, Adjoran, ED and Kimberry. That's 6 to me.

Also I'm thinking of doing an Abyssal game where a perfect circle under the First and Forsaken Lion are on a mission to retrieve Sun Dragon from the depths of Malfeas.

[Yuki Akuma]

The silver forest guy whose name I can't spell.

[The Rose Dragon]

The silver forest guy whose name I can't spell.

Szoreny, though I'm pretty sure his Charm set is not published.

[Reynard]

Yuki: Szoreny?



Also, hilarity.

[The Rose Dragon]

Who's the seventh yozi? I'm counting Malfeas, Cecylene, SWLiHN, Adjoran, ED and Kimberry. That's 6 to me.

Also I'm thinking of doing an Abyssal game where a perfect circle under the First and Forsaken Lion are on a mission to retrieve Sun Dragon from the depths of Malfeas.

Do iiiiiiiiiit.

[DeadManSleeping]

Happy New Years, Exalted Playgrounders!

Whelp, I am home from revelry, and still feeling a bit wired, so - Update on my first Exalted character!

Did some actual putting together of character sheet stat-type things today, didn't finish everything, but got a bit of a start, so I thought I'd toss it up here, just in case it turns out I'm doing something horribly wrong, and also, because I like sharing.

I'm thinking of naming her "Thousand Jade Feathers", by the way. I don't have any reason, beyond for some reason that name comes to mind when I think about the character. Works for me, may see modification.

Anyways, she boils down to dots in various things thusly:

Zenith Caste

Str 1, Dex 4, Stam 2, Cha 3, Manip 3, Appear 5, Percept 2, Int 4, Wits 3

Caste Abilities: Performance 1, Presence 3
Favored Abilities: Melee 2, Socialize 3, Investigation 2, Lore 2, Occult 3
Other: Linguistics 2

So far in backgrounds she has 2 dots in Cult, and 3 in Influence.
I am not sure what I'm going to do with the remaining 2 dots for background, possibly actually give her some kind of possessions or something so she's not walking around naked? Maybe a weapon for that melee ability she's got? Though I was thinking there might be a charm to handle that, so she doesn't have to worry about lugging a sword around all the time - I have not looked into this yet, or memorized all the charm trees or whatever.

So, again, does anyone have suggestions for changes to make or.. things? She's not finished yet, clearly, but I loves me some advice/criticism/inputs!
Input! Need Input! No disassemble Johnny 5!

1. Under core rules, you can't start with an Influence above 2.
2. If you're a Zenith, you want lots of numbers in those Zenith abilities. Presence and Performance should never be less than three, and Integrity and Resistance are extremely necessary. Nobody cares about Survival, so don't waste time on it.
3. Make sure you have a couple dots in Athletics and Awareness. No matter what.
4. Melee Charms are a good route to a solid defense, so build that up early. Melee 4 will last you your entire Exalted career if you want, so just get it up to that level and never worry about it again. Acquire Heavenly Guardian Defense ASAP, at character creation if possible.
5. If you're a Melee character, you need either Resources 2 or Artifact 2 to start off with sufficient weaponry. Don't forget it.

[Reynard]

5. If you're a Melee character, you need either Resources 2 or Artifact 2 to start off with sufficient weaponry. Don't forget it.

With Str 1, the best he can do is a Short Daikliave.

Don't bother getting two, you won't want the extra Rate.

[a_humble_lich]

Do iiiiiiiiiit.

I'm so surprised. You like Abyssals? I would have never guessed.

As to DragonSinged, I would recommend putting more skill points in you Caste abilities, but your skills should represent what your character knows and is good at. There are many different archetypes for each Caste. On the otherhand if most of your skill points are out of Caste that can be a sign you'd be better of with a different Caste (although not always, my Eclipses in particular often have few Caste skills).

[The Rose Dragon]

I'm so surprised. You like Abyssals? I would have never guessed.

I intend to marry Abyssals and have their murder-child and die due to the resulting Resonance outburst.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Who's the seventh yozi? I'm counting Malfeas, Cecylene, SWLiHN, Adjoran, ED and Kimberry. That's 6 to me.

I was counting Heretical charms as their own thing.

Also I'm thinking of doing an Abyssal game where a perfect circle under the First and Forsaken Lion are on a mission to retrieve Sun Dragon from the depths of Malfeas.

Who is Sun Dragon?

[Yuki Akuma]

I was counting Heretical charms as their own thing.

They're not, though. They require other Yozi charms as prerequisites - they're more like Hero Style expansion charms.

[DragonSinged]

1. Under core rules, you can't start with an Influence above 2.
2. If you're a Zenith, you want lots of numbers in those Zenith abilities. Presence and Performance should never be less than three, and Integrity and Resistance are extremely necessary. Nobody cares about Survival, so don't waste time on it.
3. Make sure you have a couple dots in Athletics and Awareness. No matter what.
4. Melee Charms are a good route to a solid defense, so build that up early. Melee 4 will last you your entire Exalted career if you want, so just get it up to that level and never worry about it again. Acquire Heavenly Guardian Defense ASAP, at character creation if possible.
5. If you're a Melee character, you need either Resources 2 or Artifact 2 to start off with sufficient weaponry. Don't forget it.

Thank you for the feedback! I am a little unclear on a few of your points, though, and have a couple questions.

1: I caught that you can't start with the Cult background above 2, as it says this in a note under the description, but upon going back and looking through the Influence background I am seeing no such note. Where does it say this?

2: In general I guess I just don't understand the reasons for the point you are making here. Could you perhaps clarify a bit, bearing in mind I haven't actually played the game before? I've got Presence at 3, but why should Performance never be less than 3? And what makes Resistance and Integrity extremely necessary?

3: Awareness makes sense, I suppose. What makes Athletics so vital?

4: Are you suggesting that I need to get Melee up to 4 at character creation? This is going to be the first Exalted game for all players involved, so I am hoping that it won't devolve instantly into a "Use a perfect defense or die!" type of situation. If it does, then I'm thinking I probably won't be interested in playing anymore anyways, so.. meh? I'm not saying I won't try to get a perfect defense eventually, but is it really necessary to get it at character creation?

5: I was running out of points assigning things as they are already, should I be using most of my bonus points in Abilites? Or re-arrange them in some way? I recall reading that it was more efficient to spend your bonus points in character creation in a certain area, due to XP costs later, but I don't recall which area that was.


@Reynard - Do you think it would be a good idea to find a way to get my Strength score a bit higher? I didn't have any particular reason for her to have 1 point in Strength, I just pictured her as being more Dexterous and ran out of points.

Thank you for the feedback!


EDIT:

@a_humble_lich - I suppose Twilight Caste would work equally well for the character concept, but I'm curious: Is there a reason why I should try to have more points in my Caste abilities? I mean, with my points array as-is, switching Castes would allow me to re-allocate one Favored ability, so I guess that's a plus? But, then again, if I follow DeadManSleeping's suggestions, I get the feeling I'm going to have a vastly different setup anyways - I'm just not exactly sure what that setup is.

[Reynard]

4: Are you suggesting that I need to get Melee up to 4 at character creation? This is going to be the first Exalted game for all players involved, so I am hoping that it won't devolve instantly into a "Use a perfect defense or die!" type of situation. If it does, then I'm thinking I probably won't be interested in playing anymore anyways, so.. meh? I'm not saying I won't try to get a perfect defense eventually, but is it really necessary to get it at character creation?

Better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

@Reynard - Do you think it would be a good idea to find a way to get my Strength score a bit higher? I didn't have any particular reason for her to have 1 point in Strength, I just pictured her as being more Dexterous and ran out of points.

It's really up to you. I'd say wait and boost it with XP, or stick to a mostly out of combat role. Str1 is fine if you just need a sword as something to defend with.

[DeadManSleeping]

1: I caught that you can't start with the Cult background above 2, as it says this in a note under the description, but upon going back and looking through the Influence background I am seeing no such note. Where does it say this?

I guess it doesn't. I wonder how I missed that for four years...

2: In general I guess I just don't understand the reasons for the point you are making here. Could you perhaps clarify a bit, bearing in mind I haven't actually played the game before? I've got Presence at 3, but why should Performance never be less than 3? And what makes Resistance and Integrity extremely necessary?

Strictly speaking, Performance is your oratory skill. You use it for big crowds. That's pretty important for a Zenith.

3: Awareness makes sense, I suppose. What makes Athletics so vital?

It is very likely that, at some point, your character will have to jump or balance. Athletics. It also has some really low-level (1- or 2-dot) Charms that are super good. Graceful Crane Stance and Lightning Speed are super great.

4: Are you suggesting that I need to get Melee up to 4 at character creation? This is going to be the first Exalted game for all players involved, so I am hoping that it won't devolve instantly into a "Use a perfect defense or die!" type of situation. If it does, then I'm thinking I probably won't be interested in playing anymore anyways, so.. meh? I'm not saying I won't try to get a perfect defense eventually, but is it really necessary to get it at character creation?

Not "need". It really depends on your ST. They're great panic buttons, though, so it's not a bad idea to at least make it easy for yourself to get one soon.

5: I was running out of points assigning things as they are already, should I be using most of my bonus points in Abilites? Or re-arrange them in some way? I recall reading that it was more efficient to spend your bonus points in character creation in a certain area, due to XP costs later, but I don't recall which area that was.

You should be using a LOT of your BP on Abilities if you're a Solar, because you get discounts on 10 of them. And the optimal way to do it is spend them on getting some Abilities really high, because buying low Abilities is cheap, but high Abilities are expensive once XP time hits. And having an Ability at 1 is a better idea than having it at 0, if you plan to EVER have any dots in it.

[TheCountAlucard]

Isn't Performance also used for prayers, though? Thought that was why he was suggesting a 3+ in it...

[DragonSinged]

Oy.. I've really got to get used to this whole... looking at Abilities as not just abilities, but also the charms that are tied to them.. thing.

Anyways, so I get 15 bonus points.

Following your suggestions (I think) I would be spending:

• 2 to boost Melee to 4
• 2 in Athletics
• 2 in Awareness
• 2 to boost Performance to 3
• 2 in Integrity
• 2 in Resistance

Which would leave me with 3 remaining BP. Unless that is not what you were suggesting?

Or were you suggesting more along the lines of re-arranging the points I had to begin with?

I am not saying that this is what I will do, but just trying to gather suggestions to further my knowledge of the way the game works, so that I can make these kinds of decisions on my own.
I really do appreciate the advice, thank you again.

[a_humble_lich]

I wasn't necessarily suggesting you should switch to Twilight. But rather that after allocating points you have few in your caste abilities you might want to think about whether your concept really is best suited for the caste you choose.

As to where you put your points, I still hold that your concept should dictate your choices. If you are a priest type Zenith who wants to lead the masses than you should get Performance. If you are more of a holy warrior than Integrity and Resistance. If you want to be more of a Druid than Survival is good.

[Exachix]

As an unusual question, and because I don't have MoEP: Lunars with me, I can't look at this for myself, so I pounce it upon the playground.

The Lunars lost their castes and use moonsilver tattoos to fix it. If a lunar exaltation happens they become casteless, and then have a new caste assigned to them.
Does this mean, if a lunar shard is reborn into someone, can their caste change? So for example; if someone was a No Moon, died, and then was exalted again, is it possible for them to be a Full/Changing Moon.

[TheCountAlucard]

...can their caste change?

To put it simply, yes.

[Yuki Akuma]

Lunar Exaltations have no set caste, like Solar Exaltations and Sidereal Exaltations do. They can be anything. It even worked like this in the First Age, although back then castes would settle without the need for the tattoos.

They can even make new castes, as shown by the Breaking of the Castes.

[Cyborg Mage]

So, just to confirm-Jokasti, do you have any idea when you might set up that Alchies game? And does anyone else besides want to ST one?

[Jokasti]

So, just to confirm-Jokasti, do you have any idea when you might set up that Alchies game? And does anyone else besides want to ST one?

No idea. Probs when the CoCD's come out for Autobot, as there is no such thing as too much fluff. If I do one. I'm bringing my game back first if there's still interest... I know Tacky and Reynad do, still need to get Yuki, Gan, and Revlid's take.