>What is Exalted?
An epic high-flying role-playing game about reborn god-heroes in a world that turned on them.
Start here: http://theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/exalted/
>That sounds cool, how can I get into it?
Read the 3e core book (link below). For mechanics of the old edition, play this tutorial: http://jyenicolson.net/exalted/. It'll get you familiar with most of the mechanics.
>Gosh that was fun. There were a lot of lesbians though. How do I find a group?
Roll20 and the Game Finder General here on /tg/. With the new edition, though, chances are more games will crop up.
Resources for Third Edition
>Final 3E Core Release
https://mega.nz/#!ctgxyJaC!ygkrLnFsrnBJzIUZY-dJsMfyFrhFQgDsQuuo52fcW0I
http://www.mediafire.com/download/q51qw8skdw1rg15/Exalted_3e_Core.pdf
>3E Backer Core (Old)
https://mega.nz/#!E1dRBBIa!ZbQG4IasYCJRli2bhgE2MOdWeFAeV3N1rqL9kAIGbNE
>Frequently updated Character Sheet with Formulas and Autofill https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pfjmZKzcUqAX9mB58IAEUIFkZr8rq4CvdRRM4kzwwgU/edit?usp=sharing
>General Homebrew dumping folder: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByD2BL6J89NiQzdCWWFaY0c5Mkk&usp=sharing
>Collection of old 3e Materials, including comics and fiction anthologies https://www.mediafire.com/folder/t2arqtqtyyt28/Exalted_3Leak
>Charm Trees:
>Solar Charms: https://imgur.com/a/q6Vbc
>Martial Arts: https://imgur.com/a/mnQDe
>Evocations: https://imgur.com/a/TYKE4
Resources for 2.5 Edition:
>All books with embedded errata notes, as well as some extras: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/253ulzik1j9s5/Exalted
>Chargen software: http://anathema.github.io/
>Anathema homebrew charm files: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/pka3nz3vqbqda/Anathema_Files
>MA form weapon guide: http://www.brilliantdisaster.net/dif/ExaltedMA.html
>http://www.mediafire.com/view/ua7tanepy2jfkdp/Exalted_2nd_Ed_-_Return_of_the_Scarlet_Empress.pdf
Resources for 1e:
>https://www.mediafire.com/folder/9vp0e9id3by6m/Exalted_1e
>>47283614
Have we talked about the non-human races of Creation yet? Because I'm kind of curious about whether Dragon Kings and Jadeborn will be changed in any way.
Re: Half-castes, from last thread's discussion.
On a thematic level, Lunars and Solars are disconnected from the natural process of reproduction. Their mythic place is equivalent to a reincarnated bodhisattva, or a prophet of God, or similar figures. They are a mortal who is empowered by a mixture of luck and merit, specific and unique to them as an individual, with an element of divine favor tied up in that.
Half-castes are residual magic from mommy and/or daddy carrying on to the child. They turn the focus away from "empowered by the Incarnae" to "has a magic machine in his chest." If Exalted was about being a man with a magic machine in his chest then half-castes would fit and be thematic; but it is about being returning god-kings, the Chosen of the Unconquered Sun.
As such, half-castes are stupid and don't fit and shouldn't be in the game.
>>47284024
Those are valid opinions, anon, but it is important to recognize that they are opinions rather than insights into the fundamental themses of the Exalted. Firstly, Half-Castes - not Half-Castes as they were in 2E, but Half-Castes as people with some extra oomph - aren't powerful or significant enough to turn focus away from anything. Secondly, children of the Exalted being just regular plain humans would imply a clear distinction between the Exalt and Exaltation. I mean, there would obviously be a part untouched by the Exaltation, as if Exaltation was something that changes and permeats everything about the Exalt, it should also have some effect on their children. This is not something I like or consider appropriate, and if anything, it makes Exalts seem more like people with magic machines in their chests.
>>47284239
>I mean, there would obviously be a part untouched by the Exaltation, as if Exaltation was something that changes and permeats everything about the Exalt, it should also have some effect on their children.
Why? What is the mechanism by which it should "have some effect" on their children? What is, in practical, specific terms, the thing that will give the child magical superpowers? Magic radiation? Genetics? Some kind of ability that awakens baby essence and automatically activates whenever you knock a girl up/get pregnant?
>>47284550
Does there need to be anything more specific to it that Exalts aren't human? Their bodies aren't completely like those of humans - Exalted healing is an example of this - and there's Essence flowing through them. Why should they procreate exactly like regular mortals?
>>47284601
>Why should they procreate exactly like regular mortals?
They shouldn't. They should have easy pregnancies, eternal fertility, few-to-no accidental miscarriages, and give birth after a short labor that's not premature.
That doesn't mean that the baby should get magic superpowers. THEIR bodies aren't like those of humans - but if you accept that their children's aren't either, why shouldn't half-castes go down the line for all eternity?
>>47284024
>Half-castes are residual magic from mommy and/or daddy carrying on to the child. They turn the focus away from "empowered by the Incarnae" to "has a magic machine in his chest."
This is wrong on so many level.
The Exaltation permeates everything that makes a human, making it better, stronger. It is a deep rush of essence that should be uncountable for. Believing that this rush of essence is seemingly impossible to affect how your procreate is a very stupid belief.
When gods, ghosts, feys, or demons procreate, the end result is a child with weak supernatural abilities. When a divinely empowered superhuman procreates, the end result should be a perfectly normal human? What are you smoking?
An exaltation that magically would be able to empower everything in a man BUT his offspring would be alike a magic machine in his chest. You can call upon the magic power for everything but it doesn't suffuse YOU, because when you procreate, evidently, your children are perfectly normal humans.
Basically, he's 100% right >>47284239
>>47284671
>why shouldn't half-castes go down the line for all eternity?
Because they're too weak, dingus. Being born of an awesome Solar exalts will give you some measure of power - being born of someone who has some weak measures of power will give you a 100% normal human.
Again, I can't even begin to fathom how you can have an opinion so opposite to what is proper and logical.
>>47284765
>When a divinely empowered superhuman procreates, the end result should be a perfectly normal human?
If the Dalai Lama has a child, is that kid going to have special magic? If Moses has a kid, does that kid get special magic of his own just for who his dad is? No. Because Exalts are not gods, ghosts, fair folk, or demons; they are humans, blessed by Incarnae. That blessing is specific to them, not to their children.
>>47284800
>Because they're too weak, dingus. Being born of an awesome Solar exalts will give you some measure of power - being born of someone who has some weak measures of power will give you a 100% normal human.
Why? Why would two Solar half-castes having a baby not give birth to another Solar half-caste? This suggests that Solar half-castes exist because of something happening during the process of conception, because some intrinsic element of your Solar Exaltation alters every single sperm you shoot into your wife. That's fucking retarded.
>>47283614
>What is Exalted?
Lies, half-realized concepts, and the lying liars that tell them.
>>47285069
>This suggests that Solar half-castes exist because of something happening during the process of conception
No, it suggests that Half-Castes happen due to some quality of the Exalted, such as the quality of being Exalted and being filled the Essence of an Exalt.
>>47286541
So my cum is filled with the "quality of being Exalted and being filled with the Essence of an Exalt"?
That's the thing about this. You say, "there should be something about their children that's special," I say, "how," and you can't give a non-stupid explanation because all the possible explanations are stupid! A Solar Exaltation doesn't alter you on a genetic level, it doesn't infuse your cum with magic, it doesn't irradiate a baby in the womb with essence. There's no place for the transference of power to occur, because it doesn't fit with what Solar/Lunar Exaltations are.
>>47284024
>On a thematic level, Lunars and Solars are disconnected from the natural process of reproduction. Their mythic place is equivalent to a reincarnated bodhisattva, or a prophet of God, or similar figures. They are a mortal who is empowered by a mixture of luck and merit, specific and unique to them as an individual, with an element of divine favor tied up in that.
What? No they aren't lol. Solars are the best at fucking and Lunars were literally created to be fucked by Solars in part. There are probably plenty that regularly partook of Maiden's tea but there are also probably some that didn't bother. Being pregnant is no hindrance to an Exalt, so having kids is only a problem if you don't want to raise them.
>Half-castes are residual magic from mommy and/or daddy carrying on to the child. They turn the focus away from "empowered by the Incarnae" to "has a magic machine in his chest." If Exalted was about being a man with a magic machine in his chest then half-castes would fit and be thematic; but it is about being returning god-kings, the Chosen of the Unconquered Sun.
what
No, it has nothing to do with magitech. Let's walk back from your pit of stupidity here. The Dragonblooded don't necessarily pass along the magic to their children, but they do pass along superior capabilities than "common" mortals typically have. The same model can easily apply to other Exalts without anything getting hurt.
>As such, half-castes are stupid and don't fit and shouldn't be in the game.
You're stupid and shouldn't be playing the game. That sentence has all of the same weight of evidence as yours, to be clear.
>>47286588
The thing is that your subjective, not objective, not obvious, not universally accepted, opinion is that all possible explanations are stupid. Explanations provided are perfectly reasonable and appropriate in the context of Exalted, even if you don't like them. Because yes, an Exaltation does indeed alter you on a genetic level, infuse your cum with magic, and irradiate a baby in the womb with essence, or something close to that. It permeates everything about you, which means there is nothing about you untouched and unaffected by it. This is not in any way, not even slightly, not even arguably in conflict with what Exaltation is and how it works. You trying to phrase it in a particulary silly way does not change things.
>>47286588
Are you trying to win this argument by sciencing Exalted. You either don't get Exalted or are trying to cover up retardedness
>>47286860
>Are you trying to win this argument by sciencing Exalted. You either don't get Exalted or are trying to cover up retardedness
Yeah I take back what I said. Anon is providing weight of evidence to the "stupid and shouldn't be playing the game" statement.
Half-castes should definitely be unable to use Solar charms. I'd be fine with a weak excellency, or high Attributes, or something obviously supernatural but very weak, like the ability to shed light.
>>47287297
>Half-castes should definitely be unable to use Solar charms.
Yeah, I think pretty much everyone agrees with that.
Game of Thrones s6e4I can't believe Dany used Element-Resisting Prana and sets fire to a building, that was gonna be my plan.
>>47286776
>It permeates everything about you, which means there is nothing about you untouched and unaffected by it.
I don't necessarily disagree, but that doesn't mean my kids get magic powers. You can restate over and over that "it permeates everything about you" but that doesn't lead to "therefore half-castes," since, after all, my children are not me.
Let me try a different tack: do you think that a Solar's corpse, resurrected as a Liminal, should be a Solar half-caste? Should a redeemed Abyssal be an Abyssal half-caste?
>>47289534
Don't know about Liminals but Solar Ghosts and Hungry Ghosts ARE particulary powerful. That's why there are so many First Age tombs, because the last thing DBs wanted was a bunch of raging, extremely powerful undead.
And no, redeemed Abyssal ceases to be Abyssal on every level. That's why it's called redemption.
I think you firmly entrenched yourself. While Half-castes are kinda controversial and I do understand why some people wouldn't include them in their games you are obviously reaching hard for every reason to call them stupid.
>>47288514
Why doesn't hardness apply to environmental damage any more? I thought the only point to the Twilight anima hardness was to allow them to walk through fire and other hazards as puzzle solvers and sorcerers. It's got fuck all use in combat.
>>47289735
>While Half-castes are kinda controversial and I do understand why some people wouldn't include them in their games you are obviously reaching hard for every reason to call them stupid.
If I was truly reaching for every reason to call them stupid I would've pointed out that they encourage retarded breeding camp crap.
>>47290337
Im not sure the book ever specifies it doesn't. If someone was wearing artifact armor and got a big rock dropped on them id usually say they're fine.
>>47290611
I wouldn't. I don't know why having hard armor would stop your neck from snapping like a twig if a boulder was dropped on you.
>>47290611
Sadly, it does. p230
An environmental hazard’s damage is the number of dice
rolled against characters subject to the hazard, as well as
what kind of damage is being inflicted. This damage ignores
soak and hardness, and is applied directly to the charac-
ter’s health track, like a decisive attack.
Unrelated, anyone have any ideas for combining Brawl and Melee? Other than just taking Thunderclap Rush Attack and calling it a day on punching people, I mean.
>>47290691
Brawl offense, Melee defense. You immediately neuter Brawl's biggest drawback (being outnumbered) and Melee's efficiency frees up motes to open the throttle on Brawl's offense.
>>47290337
>I thought the only point to the Twilight anima hardness was to allow them to walk through fire and other hazards as puzzle solvers and sorcerers.
Why would you ever think that.
>>47290691
I can tell you what not to do, because it's horrible in this game. Don't take brawl for grappling and melee for melee. In other words don't try to emulate real world HEMA, because it won't work well. You'll end up with two incompatible kinds of offense.
>>47290691
Supernal Brawl, get the charm that lets you make a free full brawl excellency 1/full anima. Take melee defensive charms and Peony Blossom to reset the brawl charm. Laugh.
>>47290691
>Unrelated, anyone have any ideas for combining Brawl and Melee?
More broadly, if making a Dawn that isn't taking War, what two combat abilities should you take for the best synergy?
>>47293799
Awareness and Thrown fucking love each other.
Thrown and any melee ability are friends, since you can always just lead off with Thrown and use it for back-up range if you have to.
Brawl and Melee have an offense/defense synergy, as mentioned.
Resistance goes well with Brawl.
Archery and Dodge like each other almost as much as Archery and Ride.
Honestly you're going to really need to narrow down your use conditions to identify a "best" synergy, since there's tons, all at different purposes.
>>47293831
Assume that Dodge, Resistance, and Awareness are favoured, and War isn't. Of the four remaining abilities, Archery, Brawl, Melee, and Thrown (but not Martial Arts), which two work the best with each other. To narrow it down further, assume either Brawl or Melee is the Supernal ability.
What kind of adventures are possible with mortals? I'm so used that the player are demigods in Creation, I have problems with a mortal campaign (So fragile...)
>>47293920
- Any adventure with mundane opposition, like clearing the countryside of bandits, unseating a wicked judge, winning someone's hand in marriage.
- Any adventure with a single supernatural opponent, like exorcising a demon or ghost, forcing an ifrit to see the error of his ways, bribe a god to heal your loved ones.
Get more permissive with stunts, use critters with low stats (zombies and hobgoblins instead of nephwracks and cataphracts), focus on the drama of saving individuals and neighborhoods instead of the world. To borrow a superhero analogy, it's like the difference between Daredevil and Captain America.
>>47293888
Exclusively with each other, Thrown+Brawl or Melee+Brawl are probably the "best" synergies.
So how do twlights fit into the whole sun cycle allegory?
Rays of the dawn are the ones that drive back the darkness, like how dawns fought back the evils threatening creation
The sun standing at its zenith inspires and leads others, just like zeniths do
Night offters concealment and is often used for secrecy, like the nights
And the eclipse is an event that brings all the forces of heaven into accord, just like eclipses do.
But how do twilight factors in? The only explanation ive heard is that it gives man time to record what they have seen before the sun leaves for the night
>>47294664
Twilights are downtime wizards.
>>47294664
Twilight is associated with weird shit coming out of the woodworks and strange occurences. Twilights are the people who investigate weird shit coming out of the woodworks and strange occurences.
>>47296775
Twilights are investigators - whether that's uncovering a crime, discovering a new invention, investigating the human body or plunging into the source code of Creation. They stand between the darkness and the light, bringing knowledge and order out of one, and into the other.
>>47291396
Probably a combination of the first place I encountered Exalted and the fact that Twilights aren't combat-focused in terms of their caste role.
>>47294664
They're at the edge of what is known (the light) and what is unknown (the darkness), existing in perpetuity at that verge.
>>47296877
Yeah I actually agree--I always thought it made sense because a Twilight sorcerer was kind of like being Gordon Freeman. Sometimes the shit you're doing causes a resonance cascade, and when it does you better have your anima HEV suit on.
On the argument about half-castes and magical radiation, I would like to note the semi-precedent that several Biblical figures left residual magic on everything they touched.
> 20 Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. 21 So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
> 41 And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. 43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
> 11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.
>>47297748
Why do you have to bring that evil back into this thread?
Can't you just let dead horses lie?
>>47297748
Of course. Magical Essence permeating everything does not magically stop before your womb or sperm. Magical Essence permeating everything permeates everything, it's kind of in the job description. The idea that you can be elevated to the status of a god and yet not have any transcendental nature is laughable at best.
>>47297924
Does my spit heal people now too? Do blood transfusions from Solars give people magic? When I come in a girl's mouth does she get Exalted healing for a week? After a hard workout, do my clothes gain magical properties from my sweat? After all, "magical essence permeates everything."
exaltation attaches itself to your soul, which empowers your body. your children share a bloodline with you but do not in any way share your soul, and thus do not recieve any benefits from your exaltation. thematically they'd likely be a heroic mortal but only that: the peak of what a human being can be without magical assistance.
>>47298577
Honestly, half-castes are unnecessary. If you want magical, glowy children, then Sorcerously work them into something. Or chuck them in the Wyld for a bit. Or Lore-train them into peerless savants. Or uplift them with Presence. Or Craft artifacts that empower them. Whatever. If you want super-powered kids, you can have them without half-castes.
>>47299230
Honestly, I think this is way more interesting. If Half-Castes don't happen then you either get stories about the perfectly ordinary mortal child of a Solar exalt OR the story of what a Solar puts their child through in the pursuit of making them special.
>>47294318
More like the difference between pre-eclipse guts and post-eclipse guts
>>47299569
Only if you really want to. Our group would narrate all that stuff in downtime, we wouldn't march the whole group through it.
Other than being huge, and the rules written in it, what're the general reviews of the core book like?
Is it sturdy, is the print quality good?
>>47299996
I would absolutely want to, even if it was someone else's story. I hate doing interesting things in downtime.
>>47300121
Write a novel, then. I mean, do you really do stuff at the table that just involves a single character and nobody else? Or would you integrate the rest of the Circle into your child-rearing tale?
>>47300145
>I mean, do you really do stuff at the table that just involves a single character and nobody else?
Not that guy, but yes? How else are you supposed to make sure that the occultist, the radical, the vigilante, and the king's wife all get scenes that focus on them? Shoehorn everybody into everybody else's thing?
>>47300145
>Write a novel, then.
You're a bit of a cunt.
>>47300145
>I mean, do you really do stuff at the table that just involves a single character and nobody else?
Not him, but sometimes things absolutely happen in games that mostly just involve one character. There's nothing wrong with this, as long as these things don't make up the majority of the campaign.
>>47300145
>I mean, do you really do stuff at the table that just involves a single character and nobody else? Or would you integrate the rest of the Circle into your child-rearing tale?
>>47300177
We usually have problems that require multi-discipline approaches to be solved.
I mean, sure, everybody can't be in the limelight every scene, but over the course of a session, the occultist should call on the spirits to find the true cause of the problem, the radical should be solving the problem by shifting the attitudes of the masses, the vigilante should be taking out the key players opposing the resolution, and the king's wife should be running interference for them all at a political level. Everyone's involved, even if everyone's not involved simultaneously.
But if I opened a session at our table with "ok, today's going to be the story of how Joe Blog's Sorcerously enhanced his kid", everyone would be slowly drifting off into their own conversations, or hanging out with the food 20 minutes in. It'd end up just being the ST and Joe Blogs running through what he does to his kid, and everyone else not even being there. I find wasting people's time like that rude.
I mean, if your whole Circle's on board, and it becomes a group effort to enhance your kid, then it's obviously a story everyone wants to be told, and that's a-ok. But if it's just something one character wants to do as a personal project, then I see no reason to drag everyone else along as an observer. Just hash it out with the Storyteller off-line, and fill everyone else in on the outcomes next session.
>>47300323
It's not the whole session, just some scenes.
>>47300345
>>47299569 doesn't seem to think so. Or at least, if the "story of what a Solar puts their child through" extends to just a couple of scenes in a single session, then they're making a mountain of a molehill in terms of what difference the existence of half-castes make to their stories.
If the only thing half-castes accomplish is mean you get to skip the "I make my kid magic" scene (which you could cover in downtime if you really wanted to), then yeah, they're probably not worth the pagecount.
>>47300399
Or maybe it's a ton of scenes over a lot of sessions. That seems like the more sensible option here unless you regularly timeskip like, eighty years.
>>47300399
I don't think any of the options I listed would take more than a season - other than Craft if you're going for NA tier stuff, and haven't got your charms all sorted.
And even then, if you were wanting to direct that amount of table-time to your character's specific project, I'd want at least some buy-in from everyone else.
>>47298577
So you're on board for the 'magical reactor' explanation of Exaltation? That's fine, but it's not 3e canon any more. A 3e exaltation is a deep, metaphysical change that affect body and soul, and yes, your children is made from your body and your very own essence. It is only logical that the life born of You would have something when you are so much more than a mortal.
Gods, Rakshas, Ghosts, Elementals, beings of Essence give some measure of their own to their children. If an Essence 1 elemental can do it, an Essence 9 Exalts should be able to do it. It's not rocket science.
>>47299230
By the same token, you should have only one way to create magical children. Sorcerous working, wyld, lore-training, uplifting them with presence? Why so many ways to have magical children when only one canonical ways would be so much better?
If you can't understand the thematic niche of having some of your own powers going into your children because you are so much *more*, then you're either really stupid, or shitposting.
>>47301322
when you die, your exaltation disappears entirely. it is tied to both your body and your soul - this is why methods of immortality that involve leaping from body to body dont work - it is not a "magical reactor" as you put it. it is a gift of power bestowed upon YOU, and only you, and as long as you live your body and soul will be uplifted by its power, and when you die it finds a new champion to exalt. your children tangentially share a fragment of your body and no part of your soul, so they get jack shit.
an addendum: gods, raksha and elementals are not human in any way. ghosts are a soul missing from its original body. neither of these are anything like the solar exalted, who are physical embodiments of the apex of humanity. this is why i said earlier your children would make sense to be heroic mortals - after all, that greatness would logically be inherited in some way. but they do not get your essence, as that is fundamentally tied to both your body and soul.
>>47301322
>>47301322
>By the same token, you should have only one way to create magical children. Sorcerous working, wyld, lore-training, uplifting them with presence? Why so many ways to have magical children when only one canonical ways would be so much better?
If all Sorcerous Workings, Wyld Mutations and Lore charms were good for was for making glowy spratlings, you'd be right. But they're not, and you're wrong.
>If you can't understand the thematic niche of having some of your own powers going into your children because you are so much *more*, then you're either really stupid, or shitposting.
Oh wait, you mean that thematic niche that' explicitly called out as part of the Dragon-Blooded shtick, to the point that their whole society revolves around it?
If you can't understand that just because something is a valid theme, it doesn't mean Solars should automatically get it, you've been sucking too much golden wang.
>>47301489
If it is tied to *both* your body and soul, how does it make sense that the children born from your body aren't touched by that essence in any way?
>>47301736
Because essence isn't some sort of radiation that mutates anyone it touches? The whole world is permeated by essence - you just have the ability to manipulate it.
>>47301736
i dunno how to explain this in simpler terms, but both body and soul means BOTH, body and soul. your souls does not retain the exaltation when seperated from your body upon death, and neither does your body. it goes elsewhere. your children dont even have your body, at best you could say they sort of have half, but they definetely do not have your soul in any way.
as a simple example, dragonblooded who maintain exalted bloodlines still have to actually exalt, in life. they dont get their parent's for free.
>>47301824
>i dunno how to explain this in simpler terms, but both body and soul means BOTH, body and soul. your souls does not retain the exaltation when seperated from your body upon death, and neither does your body. it goes elsewhere. your children dont even have your body, at best you could say they sort of have half, but they definetely do not have your soul in any way.
I don't see how that is in any way relevant to the discussion of Half-Castes, so I hope you could explain it in simpler terms.
>as a simple example, dragonblooded who maintain exalted bloodlines still have to actually exalt, in life. they dont get their parent's for free.
Neither do Half-Castes. They are, if anything, further away from 'getting their parent's Exaltation' than the children of the Dragon-Blooded, who at least get the potential for Exaltation. Dragon-Blooded also work pretty differently from Celestials, so I guess I also don't see how they're relevant to the discussion on Half-Castes.
>>47302134
i mean i dont know how to explain it any simpler without being outright condescending, but okay, ill try.
the concept of a half-caste is, as far as i can tell, the child of a solar that inherits a small measure of their essence-related powers. perhaps a longer lifespan, or superhuman strength, or an aptitude for sorcery normally beyond mortal means. the problem is that this makes no sense with what an exaltation is.
before exaltation, we have a mortal. a heroic mortal, almost certainly, but a mortal. the exaltation is a fragment of the unconquered sun's power that attaches itself to them and empowers their actions. their body, mind and soul are able to go far beyond their limits by harnessing essence. so their body is, yes, full of essence. the proposition by you and other people pushing this half-caste idea is that logically, this essence extends to their sperm/egg and any child born from them will also have this. the problem is that this is not how an exaltation works. the example i gave before: an exalt dies, moves his soul to a new body, comes back to life but is no longer an exalt. this is because the exaltation is tied to ONE SPECIFIC PERSON, and is so intertwined with them that changing bodies is enough to remove the spark of power from them permanently. your child does not inherit this power because it is yours and yours alone. it fills every inch of your body, but the most it can be passed on is uplifting a mortal follower with a small essence pool.
i dont know what youre not getting here.
What do you think of the Lunar in the third edition? Better or worse than in the previous editions?
>>47302415
Better in that their book isn't shit, worse in that they don't have a fucking book you tool.
>>47301736
A Solar's Exaltation is analogous to a mortal's soul (thus, "second breath"). Mortals are ALSO animated by essence, which suffuses their body and provides them with everything that they are; without their hun or po, they're fucking dead, a zombie at best.
Saying that a Solar should have half-caste kids is, therefore, akin to saying a mortal should have ghost-blooded kids.
>>47302462
>Lunar book at the earliest in five years.
Kill me
>>47302358
>i dont know what youre not getting here.
What I'm not getting is why you think that the fact that, as you say, "an exalt dies, moves his soul to a new body, comes back to life but is no longer an exalt. this is because the exaltation is tied to ONE SPECIFIC PERSON, and is so intertwined with them that changing bodies is enough to remove the spark of power from them permanently" matters. I mean, it's not like anyone is suggesting that Exaltation is in any way heritable, except for the Dragon-Blooded, merely that the Exalted, while they live, are not on any level regular mortals, and that it makes sense for this to have some effect on their descendants. What Exalts are when they sire or bear children matters, not what Exalts were before they Exalted or what they will be once they die. The fact that Exaltation is tied to one specific person has no bearing on the fact they are indeed filled with Essence, and why on Earth would a child born from or sired by someone like that be exactly the same as a child of a plain old not-Essence-filled mortal? The way you view this thing just fundamentally doesn't make sense to me.
>>47302463
Well, okay. I mean, the people writing any edition of Exalted obviously haven't agreed with that. Grabowski presumably had some say when Half-Castes were introduced in 1E, for instance.
>>47302537
yiou are a fucking idiot my man
>>47302603
Not that guy, but why would that make it a difference in whether or not it's a good idea?
>>47302650
When one of the arguments for it being a bad idea is that "Exaltation doesn't work like that" and canonically Exaltation does indeed work like that, then it definitely makes a difference.
>>47302603
>>47302672
So what? Canonically, every god thinks that the DBs are chumps deserving of more contempt than the lowliest street urchins. Even if you're going to kick 2e out of the setting's canon, there are still things that are really stupid and undermine the setting, like Regent Fokuf and Lytek. Nobody is arguing that half-castes aren't canon, since they obviously are, they're arguing that they don't make sense.
>>47283628
>Have we talked about the non-human races of Creation yet? Because I'm kind of curious about whether Dragon Kings and Jadeborn will be changed in any way.
So, does anyone have any opinion on this?I just want to discuss something other than Half-Castes.
>>47303011
Nothing known yet. Thing I've been pondering is that Dragon Kings are old users of sorcerous workings, but not sorcery. They take to alterations easily and are good at using them. Prehuman working, lizards with stone scales, outright fire breathing, etc. Primordials made them, but left them mystically "open source" or still in beta.
>>47303011
There was an interesting idea I saw that Ixtaoctl or whatever the eastern beastman empire is called had a relationship to the Dragon Kings like the Romans to the Greeks, idolizing them and patterning themselves off them in a lot of ways.
>>47303485
Oh, that sounds pretty interesting. Was that an idea presented by the devs or by fans? Either way, a culture like that would be neat to have.
>>47303403
>Primordials
Do you mean the enemies of the gods?
>>47303555
Found the quote:
Isator Levi:
>I think we're being distracted from the matter at hand here, namely the position that the amazing new beastfolk empire is just a rehash of the Dragon Kings.
Stephen Lea Sheppard
>There may be a bit of deliberate cultural appropriation on the part of Ixcoatli there, much the same way that the Romans idolized the Greeks. Or maybe Holden or John might decide that's dumb and not go anywhere with it, I dunno.
>>47303693
Well, I kind of hope Holden and John do go somewhere with that, because I like the idea.
>>47303617
Yeah. Had a bit of an idiot moment there where I forgot my lore. Replace wirh "Gods". The gods did the thing.
What kind of evocations would you say are appropriate for a suit of Soulsteel Articulated Plate?
>>47304000
Depends on the rest of the artifact.
Just asking about [material] [weapon/armor-type] is like asking "What Charms would be appropriate for a Twilight caste?"
Same with Exigents. It's going to be a long time before it's really hammered into people's heads that "The Exigent of Fire" is not what they'll be making. Not even "The Exigent of a Volcano God," but "The Exigent of Boreus, the Volcano Maestro."
>>47304000
Spawn's razor-edged chain attacks. Spikes that drink the blood of those who dare to try to clinch you. Elevating the moaning of the metal into deafening screams of horror that freeze the blood of all around you.
>>47304030
Agreed. Artifacts need a theme. I like the two potential themes from >>47304107, though. Blood-thirsting spiked plate or abyssal chorus plate. They could both be interesting.
Trying to come up with something else...
Heat-death of the universe plate. Attacks that hit it are drained of energy. Weapons lose momentum, attackers lose vigour, magical fire freezes and shatters on the ground... the user doesn't gain this energy, it's simply lost from existence. Forever.
Abyssal zeal plate. Made entirely from volunteers. Drives the user forward to greater heights of slaughter and destruction, strips its protection away when the user hesitates or acts to protect people.
Self-forged plate. Made from the soul of the wearer, in an agonizing cycle of forging and recuperation. Impossible to remove, doesn't count as armour for whichever purpose that might matter for. User progressively loses the advantages and disadvantages of a human body.
Three's probably enough.
>>47300179
>waahh cunt cunt cunt
Fuck off.
>>47304000
Ever read or watch Berserk? Yeah.
>>47302415
They're not out yet, and won't be for at least another half-decade.
That said, Lunars are fated to be shit in every edition, outside of a few very specific gimmick builds. They were shit in 1E, they were shit in 2E, and they'll be shit in 3E.
>>47304030
>>47304107
>>47305036
>>47305601
Sorry, think I should elaborate. I'm not asking for straight-up evocations, I mean like what sort of themes fit for a suit of Soulsteel artifact armor? Soulsteel's kind of weird to me, it's suggested themes in the book kind of strike me as more weapon-focused than armor focused, so I just need a general idea of themes Soulsteel armor might have in it's evocations. As for specific details about the armor in question, I'm still working on it. All I've got so far is that it currently belongs to an abyssal who once served The First and Forsaken Lion (and got his gear from him) before going rogue.
>>47306613
Oh yeah, while I'm on the subject, anyone have art for a male abyssal in heavy armor? The sort that looks like he could be a Resistance supernal?
>>47306613
>I mean like what sort of themes fit for a suit of Soulsteel artifact armor?
Well, like was said, it's going to depend *a lot* on the history you put out for the individual artifact armor suit, as well as the people who have worn it. >>47305036 I think has some good general themes as well as example Evocation possibilities.
>>47300177
sweet meatloaf
this is why exalted is a joke
>>47303726
Oh you said you like it on 4chan, so now they're guaranteed to never mention it again
>>47306649
Sure
>>47307399
>>47307408
>>47307418
>>47302415
Worse, due to the perception that only Infernals get to be eldritch shoggoth-beasts now. They will be more animalfaggy than ever before, and lose chimera stuff.
How is Vanishing from Mind's Eye Method supposed to work?
If I decide I don't want to work, use it, and get drunk at the bar for six days, do people at the bar remember my face at the end of the six days?
If I stab somebody and activate it after dropping the knife and stepping three feet to the side, do people know that I stabbed the dead guy?
If I'm the Queen of Oakland, and I activate it, do people remember there's supposed to be a monarch? Do they put my child on the throne, leave it empty, or does it fall to my brother (assume primogeniture)? Do they get suspicious that there's a six year stretch where they can't remember who the monarch was? What if there's no real succession mechanism - I've put myself up as the cesaro-pope, to rule over them for the next five thousand years? Do they get really confused about how their government works?
What about writing? If I've written an autobiography, do people remember its contents? What if I'm wanted and there's a sketch of my face going around, can people recognize me from the sketch? Do people suspect a forgery when they see "talk to Zanya at the Q about the serial killer" on their to-do list in their hand-writing?
>>47307446
I hate half caste because they interfere with the dragon blooded claim to fame and if a solar wants exalted kids he should just have his wife's son be of DB ancestry.
>>47307455
They decided that Lunars' shtick shouldn't be "all shapeshifting ever". And chimera are still in IIRC, they just changed to modyfing your spirit shape.
>>47307514
>fucking a DB
Please, that's practically bestiality.
>>47307515
I think that's all. The rest are either female or with light/no armor.
>>47307514
>exalted kids
That's not what half-castes are (or at least they shouldn't be). Half-castes rise form the belief that if you are Great and Magical then your kids should be extraordinary in some way. Like, maybe they just have high Attributes and sun-shaped mark on some part of their bodies that can cast small ray of daylight if they focus. Minor stuff like that.
>>47307465
Everything you've done while NOT under Vanishing from the Mind's Eye is still remembered as the actions of Bob the Solar, but you (while still under the effects of Vanishing) don't appear to be Bob the Solar, you're some other dude.
Everything you do while under Vanishing's effect is done by "some other dude," and remembered as a vague haze.
When you drop Vanishing or they succeed at their remembering roll, they remember that no, that dude was in fact Bob the Solar, and Bob the Solar is the one who stole the gem of karash.
That's my reading of it anyway.
>>47307614
Is this actually a thing in 3e? So long as half caste-ness doesn't interfere with being a DB or whatever, that's fine. If having a solar mom or dad (even if of higher essence) automatically disqualifies you from getting a terrestrial exaltation, though, I am greatly against it.
"Sorry babe, I can't do it, our kids will come out retarded. Have somebody else knock you up."
>>47307702
There's been all of 3 words set about half-castes in 3e. All we know is they'll probably still exist, in some form or another.
>>47307455
They'll be worse mostly by comparison to Infernals, who by dint of being solaroids will get better shit than other celestials, which will inevitably mean that Shintais will shit all over DBT, both in terms of flexibility and pure combat capability.
>>47307455
Are they at least getting rid of the Tell in 3E? At least as anything more then fluff?
>>47307515
>They decided that Lunars' shtick shouldn't be "all shapeshifting ever".
Which is almost certainly going to translate to "you're the animal exalted now." Oh well, I used to support Luna but now I am a #ScarletMissile.
>>47307809
The antagonist Lunars have one, but now that it actually makes sense rather than being a weird social attack it's damn well hidden.
Not that the antagonist-blocks can be taken as gospel for anything hardcover-wise.
Am I blind or do the QC raksha not have shaping abilities?
>>47307809
I'm just talking about the perceptions. Back in the days of 2.5 and 2.75, Infernal fanbois raged at me whenever I pointed out how lunars were great for playing an ever shifting horror of tentacles, and I particularly liked how as casteless usually have a half moon anima effect, they can create illusions of themselves as a peoples, a la Song of Saya.
>>47307844
Goddamnit. The one thing that Lunar shapeshifting is suppose to be really good for(according to the fucking devs anyway), stealth and infiltration, and it still gets kneecapped by a mechanic that should have been taken out behind a shed and shot 2 editions ago.
*sigh* Whatabout Form Lock? They keep that as well?
>>47308002
1) No mention of formlock.
2) Actually read the mechanic. You flat out don't even get to try unless you A) know that tells exist, B) what this particular Lunar's tell is (only visible in human form) and C) pass a difficulty 7 perception check.
They're just fine at infiltration.
>>47307962
Why would they? It's not a system PCs can interact with.
>>47308052
I adore the idea of Fair Folk being 100% comfortably usable without the weirdass shaping mechanics.
>>47308052
I'm not saying they had to reprint the entire system but it would have been nice to have a few words about it. IPP and DMM seem awfully useless without it.
Why is Octavian such a jerk?
>>47308203
You'd be a jerk too if your main relevance to the game was to be a Worfable doorguard.
>>47308188
They still do shaping, they just don't do shaping combat as a weird subsystem.
I distinctly remember each of the Raksha can turn you into something horrible or fuck up your brain if they try; that's what IPP and DMM are for.
>>47308188
They need to remain limber and unbound at the moment, as whatever abilities on the topic they gave them now would reinforce the idea that 3e raksha will have a similar minigame to 1e and 2e raksha.
>>47308243
>Worfable
He really is, isn't he? He's even statted in the core book now, so you can determine whether your combat Solar build is really "that strong" by seeing if he could white room solo Octavian.
>>47308500
It also means your GM can kill you with him.
>>47308555
Your GM can kill you at all times, in whatever fashion they wish. Stats for a big combat monster doesn't change that. After all, Octavian would lose to a 13 parry mortal or a Cosmic Exalted.
>>47308500
Yeah. I also call him Worfable not just because he gets dispelled casually in a comic, but also because as the most available 2CS, he's the most likely 2CS demon for the ST to sic on the PCs (and henceforth beat up) and the most likely 2CS demon for the PCs to humiliate via summoning, whereupon he will probably be the first "member of the party" to get his ass kicked by big tough antagonists.
>>47308624
>a Cosmic Exalted.
plz no
I'd just managed to forget
>>47308978
>>47308624
Cosmic Exalted? Please tell me more.
>>47309011
I don't have the screencaps, but they come from some anon's anecdote about his ST making up a beyond-Solaroid class of Exalts with magic that can bypass perfect effects and effortlessly overcome Celestials. Also they were like all women or something and made by some Essence 10 perfected mortal.
>>47309011
Oh good I found the cap. Here, enjoy your aneurysm.
>>47309100
>>47309110
At least the future is sexy
>>47308624
I think Octavian could beat a 13 parry mortal. It would be a slog, but I think he'd ultimately win.
>>47309330
Easily. Max Join Battle with Infernal Might Unleashed and a Willpower (~13 init). Principle of Motion. On the second attack, spend a willpower and max Infernal Might Unleashed. That's 6 successes + 14 dice, versus 12 parry (factoring in onslaught). That's got a decent chance of hitting, and Octavian can do it like 5 times a fight. On a hit, activate Horizon Hurled Star, to add falling damage.
Octavian only needs to hit once.
>>47308754
>he gets dispelled casually in a comic
Bullshit. I refuse to believe this. No way.
>>47308754
>Yeah. I also call him Worfable not just because he gets dispelled casually in a comic,
Good thing they removed banishment spells in 3e.
>>47309934
It was back when the Xth Circle Banishment spells existed; Arianna threw Adamant Circle Banishment at him, which dispels 2nd Circle Demons without a roll.
I really hope those spells stay gone in 3e. It's a lot more interesting to have to deal with demons the hard way.
have you guys made any more quick characters
>>47310683
You mean like demons?
>>47310706
or mortals or gods or anything else
Why is there so little art of the Yozi/their jotuns? I know they're supposed to be eldritch horrors beyond imagining but I sorta am curious as to what they look like, so I can get a better mental picture.
>>47311100
Let's go through a small list. Malfeas looks like a city, Cecelyne looks like a desert, Adorjan looks like wind, Kimbery looks like an ocean, and Szoreny looks like a forest. Are there any other specific characters you'd like to know about?
>>47310048
Which is hilarious because he should have been able to smash her flat in the time it took for her to complete all the shape actions necessary to throw out a Solar Circle spell.
Here's a weird thought I had. One of Adorjan's charms allows the wielder to make clones of his or herself and this explicitly allows the clone to exalt under the right conditions. What would happen if one of Adorjan's OWN clones exalted?
>>47311236
I want to say Banishment had the same reflexive timing as Counterspelling, but don't quote me on that.
>>47310837
Well I guess I could post one of the 2nd circle souls I made for a campaign as part of a 3rd circle soul structure if people were interested.
>>47311305
yes please do
>>47310683
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GbM09S8VS3otxhW8FTZffhxmhpYnmNR_CeWCC0O4a44/edit#heading=h.teax5mv2jim2
>>47311353
Woooo, pls no hate.
Sharanel, Reflective Soul of Nala
Essence: 6; Willpower: 10; Personal: 110
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3, Charisma 2, Manipulation 4, Appearance 5, Perception 5, Intelligence 6, Wits 4
Abilities: Awareness 4, Bureaucracy 5, Dodge 4, Integrity 5, Linguistics 4, Lore, Occult 6, Presence 4, Socialize 4
Specialties: (Occult) Workings, (Occult) Shape Sorcery, (Integrity) The Font of Inner Power, (Socialize) Hide Intentions
Soak/Hardness: 8/4 (Weave of the Progenitors)
Defining Principle: I will destroy any who stand in my way
Defining Principle: Those who would harm my charge will be as sculptures, or shattered glass.
Defining Tie: (Annoyed Obediance) Nala
Major Principle: Joy comes from conflict
Major Principle: Art comes in many forms/
Minor tie: (Enjoyment) Her Statues.
Sharanel remains quiet and stoic in comparison to the vibrant, excitable Nala, and in doing so allows Nala to fully understand her own happiness and self. Sharanel enjoys pondering the work of the Primordials and attempting to fully learn how best to imitate their ability to create. Her hair burns with a white and blue splendor with aqua colored smoke drifting off of it. She wears an onyx colored hat which is interwoven with weaves of demonic essence. The inside of the hat glimmers with the green sigils which grant a somewhat limited degree of understanding to how Creations essence weaves itself together in the patterns the Creators of the Universe chose. To those with the ability to see the essence of creation a more curious effect makes itself known. They can see that weaves of essence seem to dance and form themselves into half created spells before unweaving themselves without effect around Sharanel.
>>47311568
Oh hey look, the intimacies got mixed up with another soul. off to a great start. please ignore those.
Charms:
-Eyes of the Great Design (-, Permanent, Permanent, Essence 4; Keywords: Eclipse): Sharanel’s will to see and understand the work of the Primordials is made manifest with her innate ability to see the weaves of essence in the world around her. This functions exactly as All Encompassing Sorcerers Sight, save that it is active at all times.
-Glimpsing the Design of Creation (5m, 1wp, Reflexive, Instant, Essence 5; Keywords: Eclipse): Sharanel attempts to look into the meaning behind the work of the Primordials. She enters a calm, trance-like state and grasps at the half formed weaves of essence around her. With the use of this charm, Sharanel may make an intelligence + Occult check at difficulty 5 to use a spell from a circle she has been initiated into even if she does not know it. If she succeeds on the check she begins to shape the spell, all surplus successes are instantly converted into sorcerous motes to begin the spell (signifying the spell already being partially begun). She must still take the shape sorcery actions required to complete the spell. This charm does confer one final benefit: Sharanel may attempt to complete the spell instantaneously by paying motes from her own pool to fuel it at a 1 to 1 ratio of payment from her motes to sorcerous motes. She must pay for the spells cost in its entirety to take advantage of this benefit. NOTE: She may only fuel a spell with her own power once per scene.
>>47311585
-The Font of Inner Power: The hat that sits on Sharanel’s head contains within it sigils of the first words spoken into existence. With this power at Sharanel’s grasp, she gains an automatic amount of successes to Sorcery actions equal to her Essence. This hat is intricately bound to Sharanel’s essence, she can call it to herself with but a thought and is impossible to deattune from her. She may loan its considerable power to another for a full day if she wishes. After this day is over it appears on her head it a burst of azure flame. The hat also gives her access to her essence 6 charms, without it she cannot use them, this gives her reason to consider whether or not it is wise to loan out her hat
-Grasping at Echoes (2m/point, Supplemental, Instant, Essence 6;): Sharanel reaches out for scraps of knowledge left from those who came before all Creation. Doing so allows her to buy a number of non-charm occult dice to a max of Essence for 2m per die.
-Application of Knowledge (5m, Reflexive, One Turn, Essence 4;): Sharanel channels what she’s learned from the Creators of the world into her own form of self. Until her next turn she turns somewhat ethereal and her form drifts about. This charm allows her to use Intelligence + Occult as the base formula for her evasion, as well as giving her +1 to her evasion.
-Terrestrial and Celestial Circle Sorcery: Sharanel is initiated into both the Terrestrial and Celestial circles of sorcery. Her control spells are:
The Ravenous Flame [Terrestrial] – Burning the substance gives insight into how the object was formed, or created, letting the sorcerer know how it was made, and what procedures went into its construction.
Outside Worlds Within [Celestial] – Removes the limitation of the area having to be changed into a part of Creation. It can be a place from imagination, Malfeas, or even Autochthonia.
>>47311611
-Nexus of Infinite Power (15m, Reflexive, One Scene, Essence 6): Drawing upon the vast knowledge granted to her by The Font of Inner Power, Sharanel begins to constantly draw power from what is around her. This is extremely damaging to areas without large concentrations of magical power. A vast meadow will grant her power, but so too will the grass around her begin to wither and die as the energy is ripped from it. While this is active Sharanel gains 3 sorcerous motes per turn passively. Mortals begin to take 3 withering dice of damage per round they remain within short range of her as their breath is drawn from their bodies. The initiative stolen from them is lost, not gained by Sharanel. If crashed, these 3 dice become lethal damage that ignores hardness as the characters very life essence is ripped from their bodies. Exalts reflexively make an Essence roll at difficulty 1 to immunize themselves from this effect for the scene. If they fail they lose 3 motes for that turn, the motes stolen from them and turned into inchoate patterns of essence that dance around Sharanel. If an exalt fails they get another roll against it next turn. If the exalt cannot give any motes due to having none to give, they too receive 3 withering dice of damage. Should the exalt also be in crash they are subject to the 3 dice of lethal damage that also ignores hardness. Places of especially massive power, such as demenses or manses grant her sorcerous motes equal to 3 + (Demense or Manse Rating) every turn. In places such as that, the prior damage to the environment and withering damage does not happen as the very air is rife with power.
(cont.)
>>47311633
(finishing Nexus of Infinite Power)
Should the inconceivable happen, and Sharanel have access to a Demense or Manse of the N/A rating, she can cancel this power and activate Glimpsing the Design of Creation at the same time, while paying an extra point of willpower to temporarily ascend beyond her station and giving her access to a single spell of the Adamant Circle for the duration of the scene. Once this power is activated she no longer can activate Nexus of Infinite Power or Glimpsing the Design of creation for the rest of the scene. This can only happen again after a year and a day have passed, and after the scene is completed she immediately falls unconscious, filling all her remaining health levels and incapacitated level with bashing damage from the immense amounts of power having surged through her.
>>47311652
And finally, her FIXED intimacies.
Defining Principle: I will learn from the Primordials, I will learn all they knew
Defining Principle: Progress comes at a cost
Defining Tie: (Respect of Power) Nala
Major Tie: (Adoration) Learning and the pursuit of knowledge
Major Principle: Those who would destroy knowledge are not worthy of the life they have been given.
Minor tie: (Enjoyment) Creating new works of magic
How much time dies ahlat spend in creation vs in heaven?
>>47311876
He spends most of his time being killed in white room battles with Dawn castes.
>>47311876
Pretty much all in Creation, I would think? He's still very much a Terrestrial god, albeit one of the biggest and the baddest.
>>47311257
I leave the table because the ST is allowing for some bullshit to take place
>>47311144
You're a nigger.
>>47311938
It's just a thought experiment, I'm not suggesting anyone actually do it.
>>47311257
>What would happen if one of Adorjan's OWN clones exalted?
You would have the most special snowflake character that can be imagined.
>>47311876
More in Yu-Shan than creation.
can you wear armor with Invulnerable Skin of Bronze?
>>47311257
The real question is "would the clone be able to leave Malfeas?"
>>47312319
The control effect says it increases the soak and hardness bonus "as long as she is unarmored," which implies that you can, yes.
The hardness won't stack, but I don't see any particular reason the soak wouldn't.
>>47311144
What about the Ebon Dragon? Does he look like an Ebon Dragon, or is he just the shadows inside Malfeas and the like?
>>47312596
Both at once. From far away he might look like a dragon, a sinuous stretch of darkness in a city that doesn't know night.
But up close, he is the shadows. They deepen, melding together into a continuous blackness, swallowing up everyone and everything around you. And then a face peers back at you.
>>47312387
That's pretty crazy, Stamina 5, Heavy Armor with Invulnerable Skin of Bronze could get 22 soak out the gate.
A bit much.
>>47312687
If it's too much, the spell also says your'e treated as wearing medium artifact armor, as a general rule ("such as denying the use of MAs and other effects"), so an ST could lever on that and argue that it also counts for 'can't wear armor over it.'
It was only me noticing the unarmored clause in the control benefit that made me second-guess it.
>>47312596
The former. Used to be the latter.
>>47309934
Yeah...
>>47311260
Correct. Both the comic and the rules are from the White Treatise, 2e.
A DAMANT C IRCLE B ANISHMENT
Cost: 20+m
Target: A demon or demons within (Essence x 15)
yards of the sorcerer
As the Emerald Circle Banishment, the sorcerer
may use this spell to remove demons from Creation.
The Victory over Primordials Mudra, augmented by the
Calibration-Denying Sign, can expel a demon of the
Third Circle, making it as though the Calibration dur-
ing which it was summoned had never happened.
This spell has special timing rules. The charac-
ter can cast it as three reflexive Shape Solar Circle
Sorcery actions that take 0 ticks. It has a range of
(Essence x 15) yards.
Adamant Circle Banishment automatically casts a
Second Circle demon or a group of First Circle demons
back to Malfeas. It can banish a Third Circle demon,
but doing so forces a contest of wills, handled exactly
as for Emerald Circle Banishment (see p. 44). If the
demon wins, it remains in Creation and the sorcerer
cannot attempt to banish it again for fi ve days.
The spell can also banish a group of Second Circle
demons. This contest is handled as for a Third Circle
demon, but the group uses the most powerful demon’s
(Willpower + Essence) as the base pool, then adds +1
to the pool per additional demon. If the sorcerer de-
feats the group by accumulating successes equal to the
highest demon’s Essence, the demons are all banished.
If the demons accumulate a number of successes equal
to the sorcerer’s Essence, they remain. In that case,
the sorcerer may not attempt to banish any of them
(singly or as a group) for fi ve days.
In war, successful use of this spell can reduce a
unit of First or Second Circle demons by a single dot
of Magnitude.
>>47310048
>I really hope those spells stay gone in 3e.
I expect they will. If there are polarizing rules about not casually Jace Bellend-ing Sorcerous Workings out of existence then I doubt that demons will ever be that easy to defeat.
>>47314223
Octavian actually seems like a reasonable dude in that comic. People always like the character with the wittiest lines, and he definitely wins that comic. Especially when you compare him to this version of him. >>47308203
I mean, he clearly still wants to kill Arianna, but Solars are dicks. Good and Evil are relative etc...
any good way to get first circle demons from your ship to an enemy ship without them noticing? expecting to be about 100 yards out from them at night.
>>47315282
Find Demons that can breathe underwater.
Dematerialize them and send over a canoe that appears to only have an ambassador on it.
Swim them over, just like you would humans.
>>47315438
how would they get onto the ships from the water?
>>47315448
Same way people do, with even more advantages besides. Erymanthoi could probably just claw their way up, no need for ropes or grapples, and they aren't even one of the weird breeds.
>>47286693
>What? No they aren't lol. Solars are the best at fucking and Lunars were literally created to be fucked by Solars in part. There are probably plenty that regularly partook of Maiden's tea but there are also probably some that didn't bother. Being pregnant is no hindrance to an Exalt, so having kids is only a problem if you don't want to raise them.
Does this produce Solar children? Does this produce Lunar children?
No.
The mortal bodies of Lunars and Solars may procreate, and give birth to mortals, but
>On a thematic level, Lunars and Solars are disconnected from the natural process of reproduction. Their mythic place is equivalent to a reincarnated bodhisattva, or a prophet of God, or similar figures.
>>47315487
>claw their way up
first age hull
>>47315520
So then find a batch that have mutated to have suckers instead of claws, fuck, do I have to think through every possible step in this plan?
There are fuck zillion breeds of demon in malfeas and fuck zillion MUTATIONS of those breeds brought on by environment and intent. If you can't find a demon literally born for the job of clambering onto ships and murdering the people inside it's because you didn't even look down the street.
You might not like the way it does it or the catches that come with its nature, but that Demon exists, almost as a point of mathematical axiom.
Quick, I need art for a Dawn caste in heavy armor! Help me /exg/, you're my only hope.As a side note, would it be an okay idea to give orichalcum armor an evocation that lets the wearer fly?
>>47315628
>>47315508
>Their mythic place is equivalent to a reincarnated bodhisattva, or a prophet of God, or similar figures.
But that's wrong. Their mythic place is being mythic heroes like Hercules, Achilles, Cu Chulainn or Moses. Or even Conan. Mightier, better humans from more magical time. You can play a Zenith and explore prophetic themes but that's not every Solar as a whole. Also, you can expect that Hercule's kids would have some slight part of his greatness.
Would you play Doomguy as a SIdereal of Battles?
>>47316276
I don't see why he wouldn't be a straight up Dawn. Does he do some destiny/fate fuckery in the new game?
>>47316360
I blame the fact he literally cannot die, well can, it just doesn't stick.
>>47316390
>I blame the fact he literally cannot die, well can, it just doesn't stick.
The nature of the Exaltation in a nutshell. One Exalt dies, another mortal Exalts in his place. It's a different person with different memories, but there has always been a Crimson Banner Executioner working for Yu-Shan, right? Same title, same armor, same job.
>>47311910
He really doesn't. Even taking out his ability to ass-pull whatever he needs to win a fight removed like it usually is for white-room shit, everyone forgets that the Invincible South-Paw Empress build never worked and now works even less.
>>47316542
my dawn beat him in a white room battle without that crap
>>47316690
Reliably? With stunting and willpower expenditure on both sides?
>>47316723
yes. he did his big fight-ending attack and dealt 16 damage, putting me on my last -2, and i managed to barely eke out a win. solar melee is very very good at performing well on low motes, and excellent strike + HSP is a good way to win any clash.
>>47315628
>>47317809
>>47317848
I'm trying to create a dodge tank Solar inspired by the Scout.
What's the highest Dodge DV you've been able to achieve at chargen /tg/?
Right now I'm at a base 5 from 5 Dex and 5 Dodge.
If I take three general dodge specialities, can I raise that by another 3 to the my raw dodge score (ciel[5+5+3]=7).
Is there any other way for me to raise that raw dodge dv? Perhaps through charms?
I've taken Seven Shadows and it's prereqs, and dodge is my Sup, and of course, I have excellences in the dodge charms anyways.
The technical cap is 10 die at the moment but Reed let's you go past the cap with your pool.
I'm just trying to figure out all this crunch and see if I can get to that crazy high dodge DV that'd make the character live up to his roots.
>>47318861
Er, oops. Forgot to mention, I'm playing a 3e Dawn Solar.
>>47318861
>If I take three general dodge specialities, can I raise that by another 3 to the my raw dodge score (ciel[5+5+3]=7).
Specs don't stack. They just give you more versatility.
>>47318861
>If I take three general dodge specialities, can I raise that by another 3 to the my raw dodge score (ciel[5+5+3]=7).
I love reading /tg/, it makes me so glad that I have the group that I do.
>>47318861
Highest possible standing dodge is 6. Dex 5, Dodge 5, Specialty. Full Defence actions grant +1 defence. everything else is charms.
>>47318861
>>47318892
>>47318980
As these have mentioned you can have multiple specialties but they never can stack, you can just cover more and more situations.
So, with 3 specialties devoted towards Dodge you can have an Evasion of 6 (5+5+1)=11/2 round up in ia lot of situations.
Fourfold Shiver Binding for 1 more Evasion that doesn't count against cap for 7, and you should be able to reasonably get a 1 point stunt on almost everything so you could pretty solidly sit at 8.
Have Flow Like Blood up so you can burn 1i/Evasion which breaks the cap. You should be able to sit pretty and not get hit by shit.
>>47318861
>>47318872
Get Flow Like Blood. It is incredibly good, like holy shit. It's two different effects worth paying for, in one charm that lasts a whole scene and is reflexive. It's quite possibly the best charm in Solar Dodge.
To combo with FLB and Reed, you'll want to focus your offense on getting a lot of Initiative.
>>47319043
Speaking of, what are the best withering boosters? Every tree has awesome decisive smites, but withering seems to take a back seat when it comes to massive, show effects.
>>47319108
Single Point has Liquid Steel Flow which is really good for boosting a metric ton of withering attacks. Plus you attack twice per round which is also really good.
>>47312596
He isn't really a dragon made out of shadows, but more absence of light in the shape of a long, long and eternal dragon. You have to understand that in Malfeas its always bright and its only slightly darker indoors because enough demons pleaded Ligier to allow them to have brief respite from his brilliance so that they could better venerate his eternal brilliance. In this place of no night and no shadows to speak of, Ebon Dragon's passing brings with Him darkness and shadows, but this is not a nice thing in anyway, for in a place where shadows are unnatural suddenly having them means that unnatural things come forth. Things that frighten even the hardiest of the denizens of the Hell City.
At the passing of The Shadow of All Things comes Erembour, That Which Calls to the Shadows, who plays a doleful song on her silver horn. This song fills all who hear it with dark and deep feelings of melancholy and appreciation of the darkness. Some revel in this moment, some resist and some are drawn to Erembour and forever changed to things of utter shadows. Some just merely die. No matter the fate of those who succumb to the song forever live their lives lurking in the edges and fringes of Ebon Dragon.
When He crawls on the ground, the earth becomes dark. When He flies atop the clouds they dim to blackness. When he flies through empty air He darkens the whole sky and all the world beneath it.
Since he is the Shadow of All Things, Ebon Dragon's edges consist of smaller shadows blurred into one undifferentiated gray pall. Deeper in come the shadows of larger beings, humans, demons and spirits alike. None of these shadows have source, nor do they have absence of shadows between them yet they still exist in separation from each other. Further in the shadows fade to undifferentiated darkness and this darkness has a face. The face most likely will smirk at you, if a face larger than all the darkness in the world can be said to have facial expressions.
>>47318892
>>47318980
>>47319001
>>47319030
>>47319043
I've never played before so I'm winging it!
Right now, I've picked up the following in charms:
(Dodge)
Reed in the Wind
Searing Quicksilver Flight
Force-Stealing Feint
Seven Shadow Evasion
Reflex Sidestep Technique
Drifting Leaf Evasion
Shadow Over Water
Fourfold Shiver Binding
Flow Like Blood
(Melee)
Excellent Strike
Dipping Swallow Defense
War Lion Stance
(Resistan.)
Ox-Body Technique
(Presence)
Harmonious Presence Meditation
Is there anything else I should pick up?
Is Refinement of Flowing Shadows worth getting? Or Safety Between Heartbeats?
Should my next focus be on picking up more Melee charms, or should I dip into Athletics instead for the mobility/utility?I'm still completely confused on how Excellencies work in 3e.
>>47319580
If it's your favored ability, caste ability, or if you have any charms at all in the ability, you automatically have the Excellency for that ability. You can use an Excellency to boost your dicepool with a cost of 1 mote for 1 die, but with the use of charms, you can only double your dice pool for that action at most. This includes Excellencies. So if you had a dicepool of 7 dice and used some charm that gave you +1 dice for that action, you could then use the Excellency to buy 6 more dice for 6 motes.
It's not hard at all, it's just confusing before it's different. I've never played 1e or 2e so it's easy for me.
>>47314223
>that comic
Wow, that's just rude. Octie didn't deserve that.
>>47319703
>>47319580
Side question.
Do Hearthstone Bracers still exist in 3e?
Or was that removed since 2e?
>>47319580
Dipping Swallow seems redundant, given that you're focusing on Dodge as your defence. Likewise War Lion, given that you can only use your parry to Defend Other. I mean, you can do both, but you don't need to, especially since you have SSE to cover the undodgeable edge-case.
You seem to have gone broad in Dodge, rather than deep. That's ok, but it's not really making the most of your Supernal.
Refinement of Flowing Shadows is good (free initiative every round is never bad) but it's optimal use relies on blowing SSE early, which I don't like. I like Drifting Shadow Focus, Harm-Dismissing Meditation), and Vaporous Division. Unbowed Willow, Way of Whispers and Rumour of Form make for a good high-risk/high-reward play, if you're that way inclined.
I usually give my characters at least two shticks - an in combat, and an out of combat. I'd probably pick up some extra Presence charms to give your character something to do for the bits of the game that aren't combat.
>>47319802
They exist, but they don't add random little permanent effects anymore.
>>47319802
There is... Hearthstone Amulet (Tiara, Bracer, etc.), two dot artifact. So I guess they do, yeah.
>>47319580
You've gotta grab Athletics if you plan on being like the Scout, speed is great for rushes and disengages. The spider walk tree is pretty useful out of combat too.
>>47319857
>>47319847
Huh, so I could buy both Artifacts 2 and Hearthstone 2 merits.
Would that be enough to justify starting with a tiara or bracers that boost dodge?
Am I just butthurt or is Holden an asshole? Overheard today on the Exalted IRC:
> some person asks for advice on how to build an Infernal
> asks if it would be a mistake to start with Essence 3 since it eats a charmslot from buying cecelyne excellency again
> gets advice of varying degrees of helpfulness from peanut gallery
> Holden says the real mistake is playing 2e
> Holden adds ba-dum-tish to his own wit
> People point out that this is not very helpful since Infernals only exist for 2e
> Holden spits on 2e some more, asks if maybe the game happens to be a homebrew of infernals for 3e
> OP of the conversation says no, he is playing 2e, and would like advice for 2e
> Holden says to start with Essence 3 and also to pick various other things to avoid "XP taxes" and "speedbumps", which are terrible
And I just sit here thinking that 3e has pic related.
>>47320300
>Would that be enough to justify starting with a tiara or bracers that boost dodge?
Holy shit, ever more glad you're not in my game.
>>47320337
>> Holden says the real mistake is playing 2e
He's not wrong though.
>>47320355
Not him, but this is rare in your games? I have my players constantly pointing out how if you stack X with Y, Z and Theta that it gives you like 10 resting DV or something like that.
>>47320337
>is Holden an asshole?
Didn't even need to read the rest of the post before saying yes.
>>47320379
At my table, that's me. Except I only do it in my head, my Dawn Caste is Dex 4.
>>47320461
I don't think i've had a single member of any group i've played with (until my next campaign starts with some new players) have any character with under dex 5.
>>47320539
I keep seeing that, yeah. One guy online even started arguing that I was playing wrong and making the game worse for everyone.
>>47320379
>>47320461
My last Full Moon Lunar had only DV 5-ish, but enough soak and healing to whomp an overconfident Dusk Caste we came across anyway.
Silly Dusk, ping spam doesn't work so well on Lunars.
>>47320582
He was right.
>>47320614
Sure thing friend, the way you play is the only valid way.
>>47320368
So is this one of those "you're not wrong, you're just an asshole" things?
>>47320642
Yeah, basically. Holden's a toxic shitbag, but he's right about having made a better Exalted.
>>47311938
ok Holden
>>47320337
>is Holden an asshole?
Yes.
Stop supporting him financially.
>>47315508
>Does this produce Solar children? Does this produce Lunar children?
You're an idiot.
Do Dragon-Blooded produce Dragon-Blooded children?
If you can answer that question honestly, without contorting yourself into knots, you can post here again.
>>47320671
>better Exalted
Depends on what you consider better.
Less people playing it, less people paying for it, less people talking about it.
Maid RPG has a larger player base. MAID.
Don't even ask about actual game systems.
>>47320706
I'm not 'supporting him financially' I'm buying games I like. I'm not going to stop having fun just to spite him.
>>47320767
>Depends on what you consider better.
It sure as fuck isn't how many people are playing it, you donkey. Do you sit down for Transformers 18 and think 'finally, quality entertainment'?
>>47320626
The game is designed on the assumption that you're rolling 10 dex + combat. You are a bad player if you don't do this. Don't blame me.
>>47320737
Dragon-Blooded Exaltations are explicitly heritable, Solar and Lunar Exaltations are explicitly not.
>>47320907
>Solar and Lunar Exaltations are explicitly not.
Page and line citation, please.
Or just get out now. Whichever seems less embarrassing for you.
>>47320890
It isn't though. That's just how it goes at your table. The game itself is fine.
>>47320929
If I am a Solar, my kid doesn't get my Solar Exaltation, or a Solar Exaltation of his own (barring insane luck). What the hell are you babbling about?
>>47320929
What the actual fuck are you on about? Celestials don't pass on their exaltation, that's a MAJOR point of the setting.
>>47321283
>Celestials don't pass on their exaltatio
Sure they do, they pass on their exaltion to their next reincarnation :^)
>>47320997
>>47321283
My point is that it is not explicit. Even more to the point, DBs have kids who aren't DBs all the time.
I'm saying you couple of complete morons are complete morons.
Also, you need to learn the definition of 'explicitly,' because at best this is implied. At worst, you lied.
>>47321703
>because at best this is implied
Have you ever seen someone so concerned with being technically right that they become actually wrong?
>>47321703
Alone among the Exalted, the Dragon-Bloods are capable
of directly passing their power down to their children.
MoEP, Dragon-Blooded Page 105.
>>47321703
>My point is that it is not explicit.
Oh, so you're just being an unbearable pedant?
>>47321849
>>47321703
Oh just to nail in the coffin, I guess i'll also paste the next part too.
"While the
scions of powerful Celestial Exalts bear the mark of their heritage,
it is no more than an echo of power and has as little to do with
the Celestial’s purpose or design as do the mutations bestowed on
those who live too close to an untapped demesne."
I've been baited but I don't even care.
>>47320337
Nice story about boring and inoffensive conversation.
You're just butthurt, you're really digging deep for shit to be offended about just because you hate him.
And good job not posting the actual chat logs.
So how would you guys change Infernals in 3e? I might use one as an antagonist for a game.
>>47321849
2e
>>47321872
I am technically correct.
You are thoroughly rekt.
>>47321970
The blood of the Terrestrial Exalted spreads far across Creation, while the Celestial Exalted reincarnate endlessly.
