General Exalted Discussion II: No Longer Mortal

[WalkingTarget]

Originally Posted by Xefas

Given the Ebon Dragon's fascination with antagonism, it doesn't seem a huge leap to have his fetich defined as the purest possible antagonism to himself. He is a shadow, and his core is light to cast that shadow.

It's still unlikely; but kind of a cool theory.

It was the assumption made by my old 1e ST, back in the day. I don't know if there was anything canonical to back it up at that point.

[Xefas]

Originally Posted by The Rose Dragon

The Unconquered Sun was created by he who became Malfeas, at the urging of the Dragon's Shadow.

No, The Sun was created by the Empyreal Chaos at the urging of the Dragon's Shadow. The Unconquered Sun was created directly by the Dragon's Shadow.

Here is the exact quote:

The creation of the Daystar gave him the context he needed to focus on the shape of his non-extant nemesis; to capture his derisive, self-righteous sneer and war-machine magnanimity and make them real. From the depths of his empty, wicked darkness, the Shadow of All Things synthesized his absolute polar opposite: a being of light, justice and hope, to be the spirit of the Daystar.

[Urpriest]

So I've heard it said that a Lunar is fine just using their claws with Claws of the Silver Moon, and that this is generally equal to most available artifact weapons. I'm probably missing something, but it looks pretty straightforwardly inferior to most options. Comparing to, for example, the Razor Claws, a starting Lunar will have less accuracy and pretty much equivalent damage. And the Razor Claws aren't that uber of a weapon compared to all the Grand-Gore-Whatsits, which seem to just straightforwardly outclass Lunar claws. Am I missing something? Clever application of mutations or the like?

[Tavar]

At the start they simply give +2 to accuracy and you add your strength twice for damage. That's pretty big. At essence 3(which is probably one of the first things you want to get), you instead add your dexterity to accuracy. That's really good. Even before elder essences that's probably +4-5 to accuracy. The next upgrade isn't anything special, just adding another 2 damage/1 to you minimum damage, but I think the absolute best thing about them is that they don't require you to carry around a big honking 'I'm an exalt' sign'. Plus, for 3 motes, they're dirt cheap. Well, 4m,1wp if you aren't using DBT, but really, who does that?

[ShadowFighter15]

Here's what I managed to work out for a Night Caste version of Ezio last night. Got stumped when I reached the charms and then realised it was ten past eleven at night. Didn't use Reynard's lists from the first page for simplicity (easiest to leave calculating DVs and such til last IMO). Also, I decided to leave most of the fluff aspects blank for now.

Spoiler

Attributes
Physical:
Strength ●●●
Dexterity ●●●●●
Stamina ●●●

Social:
Charisma ●●
Manipulation ●●
Appearance ●●●

Mental
Perception ●●●
Intelligence ●●●
Wits ●●●


Abilities
Caste:
Athletics: ●●●●
Awareness: ●●●●●
Dodge: ●●●●
Larceny: ●●●
Stealth: ●●●●

Favoured:
Melee: ●●●●
Thrown: ●●
Linguistics: ● ("There were a couple of French girls in Firenze.")
Lore: ● (Because of the stupid idea of characters being illiterate without a single dot of this)
Investigation: ●● (Possibly un-needed but he roughs a few people up for information in Brotherhood and eavesdrops on conversations in both games)

Specialities:
Stealth - Blending into crowds: ●●
Larceny - Pick-pocketing: ●●


Virtues (Not sure about Conviction, Temperance and Valor)
Compassion: ●● (He can't have any more than that or he'd have to constantly fail Compassion rolls to kill anyone, but he's still too caring to have only one dot)
Conviction: ●●●
Temperance: ●●
Valor: ●●

Willpower: ●●●●● ●●
Essence: ●●

Backgrounds
Artifact - Hidden Blades: ●●● (still haven't worked out the mechanics for them, but since switchklaves are two dots, I figured a pair of blades based on them would be three dots at least)
Artifact - Reaper Daiklave (Threw this one in because I had a spare background dot left after the Blades and this next one)
Resources - The Auditore Villa at Monteriggioni: ●●●● (maybe change this into a manse?)

Seven bonus points spent so far, some in Abilities and a few in Backgrounds. As I said, I got stumped when it came to Charms beyond the obvious (Stealth and/or Melee Excellencies).

Anyone disagree on some points or feel I messed up somewhere? This was done with Anathema, namely the new Solar template for the Dawn Solution's character creation rules.

[horngeek]

To be honest, the one dot of Linguistics as a Favored ability, or the dot of Lore as the same seems a bit of a waste. You don't put all your dots in Caste and Favored abilities, you know.

[ShadowFighter15]

Fair point, but I got stumped on what else to make a Favoured Ability.

EDIT: Plus I was already spending bonus points to get the dots in those. Might've put too many in the Caste Abilities but I wasn't sure how far to go without going overboard.

[Jokasti]

Originally Posted by ShadowFighter15

Abilities
Lore: ● (Because of the stupid idea of characters being illiterate without a single dot of this).

It's really not. Many of Creations mortal residents don't go to school, or have standardized learning. Sort of like medieval Europe, the commoners got by with simple math and memorizing things as opposed to writing them down.
Mask of Winters is fantastic at memorizing things.
I've thought about making a traveling scholar-tutor character whose Motivation is to increase Creations literacy rate.

[The Rose Dragon]

I wish someone would run a Dragon King game now. Preferably in the South or North, but East and West would also be acceptable, as long as I get to play a Dragon King.

[Kyeudo]

I once ran a "anything is allowed" game, but it died from lack of interest. Given the way that most games die, it would seem that people enjoy making characters more than playing them.

[Xefas]

Originally Posted by Kyeudo

Given the way that most games die, it would seem that people enjoy making characters more than playing them.

I think a game with a predetermined weekly time played over Skype voice chat would do well. The problem is getting five (that is, the full retinue of six people minus one for me) people without crippling social phobia on the internet. (<---this is my disapproval of your phobia)

It might also involve convening beforehand to discuss themes and build characters together so that they mesh easily and have all their bases covered.

[The Rose Dragon]

Originally Posted by Xefas

I think a game with a predetermined weekly time played over Skype voice chat would do well. The problem is getting five (that is, the full retinue of six people minus one for me) people without crippling social phobia on the internet. (<---this is my disapproval of your phobia)

Also, having all players in a single timezone, rather than scattered across different longitudes, so everyone can participate without having other issues come up.

[Kyeudo]

I do mostly PbP games here on the forum, and those you don't even need to coordinate schedules. I've got one game that is going for the long haul and all that it requires from my players is a willingness to post an update once a week. Yeah, the pace is slow, but real life gets in the way and you have to deal with that. We've been going for almost two years now.

For some reason, though, it seems that many people try a PbP game and can't deal with the slow pace and don't even bother to tell anyone they are dropping out. It kinda bugs me.

[Drascin]

Personally, I've found that most games I'm in die from sudden ST Existence failure. The ST just stops posting, and everyone is kind of left wondering "uhhh... so what do we do now...?" and the thing dies.

[The Rose Dragon]

Originally Posted by Kyeudo

For some reason, though, it seems that many people try a PbP game and can't deal with the slow pace and don't even bother to tell anyone they are dropping out. It kinda bugs me.

One thing I've figured out (after some painful experience) is not to demand too much, and not to make the players expect too much if you're the ST. As long as you post, the pace of posting doesn't matter as much as the quality of posting. And if you can post more often than usual, hey, bonus!

[IcarusWings]

Originally Posted by The Rose Dragon

I wish someone would run a Dragon King game now. Preferably in the South or North, but East and West would also be acceptable, as long as I get to play a Dragon King.

I second this motion, Mountain Folk too.

[Kyeudo]

Originally Posted by The Rose Dragon

One thing I've figured out (after some painful experience) is not to demand too much, and not to make the players expect too much if you're the ST. As long as you post, the pace of posting doesn't matter as much as the quality of posting. And if you can post more often than usual, hey, bonus!

Well, yeah, but when someone just suddenly stop posting, doesn't bother to tell anyone why they aren't posting, and then the game then goes a month without update because I was waiting for their character to respond, it kinda kills the game.

[Urpriest]

Originally Posted by Kyeudo

Well, yeah, but when someone just suddenly stop posting, doesn't bother to tell anyone why they aren't posting, and then the game then goes a month without update because I was waiting for their character to respond, it kinda kills the game.

From my limited PbP experience I get the impression that it's because they're waiting for you to do the same. In person social pressure and nonverbal cues determine who talks. In PbP whoever speaks up talks, and if you feel your character would be better served by responding to what someone else says nobody can make you speak first. So no one does. The same seems to go for plans.

[Lix Lorn]

My biggest failing is that I'm reactive, not proactive. Most of my characters are based on me, so I rarely talk without good reason...
But I have never dropped a game after it started. Not once!

[Tavar]

Originally Posted by Urpriest

From my limited PbP experience I get the impression that it's because they're waiting for you to do the same. In person social pressure and nonverbal cues determine who talks. In PbP whoever speaks up talks, and if you feel your character would be better served by responding to what someone else says nobody can make you speak first. So no one does. The same seems to go for plans.

Oh, this it very true. Though sometimes, I think it's because they're unsure of what to say, and while in person they would be attempts to talk, stuttering, and the like, in text it's more likely to just end in silence. For instance, in a nation-building play by post game I'm running, an NPC basically said "hey, here's the kingdom, what do you want to do?". No movement in the thread for awhile, and I asked what was going on. One player said that his character wouldn't respond to this at all.

It got me to thinking, and it's made me a bit more proactive in some of the other games I'm in.

[Weimann]

I would very much like to play a PbP/MSN/Skype game of Exalted, but it's hard to get there. The reason is that Exalted as it is now is, not to put too fine a point of it, a bloody hassle. Character creation alone takes the better of a day if I want to do it properly (most of that time is spent looking at Artifacts and coming up with backstories and personality), and of course, after that much time you are quite invested in your character.

The problem is that games where your players have been essentially recruited are prone to fall apart. If friends get together, even if they end up not playing, they can still do something else, but people off a forum? It's the game they're there for. Add the impersonal atmosphere of the Internet and bam, you got great grounds for a failing game.

I'd totally love a Terrestrial game. Got ideas for a ex-Dynast Water Aspect inspired by Haley Starshine and Nami. My characters tend to take space, sometimes be silly and often act rashly, so I'm sure she'd stir the waters up a bit (pun intended). But I'm hesitant to put her to paper at the first offer, because my character ideas tend to be one use only. Like wave functions, once observed they collapse, and the way I see it, I don't want to waste so much time, or more importantly so much inspiration, on a game that is more likely than not to run 2 session or less.

[tonberrian]

Just out of curiosity, is there any characters that are more universally reviled than a GSP with Gremlin Syndrom?

[Kris Strife]

Originally Posted by tonberrian

Just out of curiosity, is there any characters that are more universally reviled than a GSP with Gremlin Syndrom?

A sparkly, high appearance abyssal?

[Xefas]

Originally Posted by tonberrian

Just out of curiosity, is there any characters that are more universally reviled than a GSP with Gremlin Syndrom?

This is kind of an easy question.

Would the Neverborn, the Yozi, the Fair Folk Nobility, every faction of the Sidereals, the Silver Pact, the Realm, the robotariat of Autochthonia, and every free man, woman, and child all put aside their differences and come together in a genuinely concerted effort to murder a Green Sun Prince with Gremlin Syndrome at all costs without absolutely any plans of betraying their temporary allies because it might undermine their plan to kill him (in which the term "all costs" was quite literal)?

If not, then the Ebon Dragon.

[Urpriest]

Anyone else have trouble downloading the Scroll of Errata? The file keeps failing to download.

[tonberrian]

Originally Posted by Xefas

This is kind of an easy question.

Would the Neverborn, the Yozi, the Fair Folk Nobility, every faction of the Sidereals, the Silver Pact, the Realm, the robotariat of Autochthonia, and every free man, woman, and child all put aside their differences and come together in a genuinely concerted effort to murder a Green Sun Prince with Gremlin Syndrome at all costs without absolutely any plans of betraying their temporary allies because it might undermine their plan to kill him (in which the term "all costs" was quite literal)?

If not, then the Ebon Dragon.

Probably.

Especially if he went Heretical.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Originally Posted by tonberrian

Just out of curiosity, is there any characters that are more universally reviled than a GSP with Gremlin Syndrom?

The Ebon Dragon during the end of RotSE. I think that literally almost every single faction in the entire canon hates him or wants him dead for various reasons at about that point.

If we're talking PCs, though, probably not. Though it heavily depends on the character in question. We all know how the Lawgivers, Champions of the God of Virtue turned out back when. Nothing stops a GSP with Gremlin Syndrome acting like he's a D&D Paladin sans gilded brass green-flaming stick or being a friend to all living and unliving things (WITHOUT any mindrape involved).

Though Fair Folk are pretty universally reviled too.

[Xefas]

Originally Posted by tonberrian

Probably.

Especially if he went Heretical.

I doubt it.

Originally Posted by Urpriest

Anyone else have trouble downloading the Scroll of Errata? The file keeps failing to download.

Here, I just uploaded my personal Scroll of Errata file to mediafire, so that should definitely work. Enjoy.

[Urpriest]

Originally Posted by Xefas

Here, I just uploaded my personal Scroll of Errata file to mediafire, so that should definitely work. Enjoy.

Thanks much. Does this include the new character creation guidelines I've been hearing about?

[Xefas]

Originally Posted by Urpriest

Thanks much. Does this include the new character creation guidelines I've been hearing about?

Absolutely. Page 7.