/exg/ - Exalted General

Remind me what's next? The Artifact book?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Arms of the Chosen is next. Then Dragon-Blooded and the Realm.

You can do a google search of local gaming stores, but as always the best way to find a game is to run a game.

Either that or ignoring people every time they ask you for a favor.

That's just life as normal

Wow your life must be shit

Friendly reminder, if you need a Martial Arts teacher you should definitely head to Wu Jian.
They've got the best.

Who is in Wu Jian?

Are you tzer?

>Click link
>CIA bursts through your door because you accept to exchange sexual favor with underage girl(male)
>get sent to prison
>1 year later get out
>The next book of Exalted is still not out

I don't think I am?

A bunch of martial arts gangs and/or schools that like to have kung fu fights of the city's streets.

What styles are popular there?

No idea, since all we know about the place is based on a short description in the 3E core.

Just a reminder that Dragon-Blooded book is going to be kickstarted.

But why

You know, user, I could've done without that reminder.

I thought they'll just kickstart a premium edition or something like Miracles, but already have the book itself written?

I need pictures of Immaculate Monks. Help me, /exg/, you're my only hope.

So... how the fuck does socialize work in 3e?

What do you mean? You use it to read people and social situations, and to hide your intentions. Is there something confusing about it?

The Socialize ability specifically, or social influence in general? Socialize is basically the ability you use to read people, avoid being read, and to keep from fucking up etiquette stuff. You can also use it for various social influence actions in formal situations.

...

...

...

...

Too much hair for an Immaculate monk.

Thank you, kind user. If anyone needs some character pictures as well, I could try and dump some from my folder

True. OTOH, the devs seem to acknowledge that the core KS has been a fucking disaster, so when the DB Kickstarter comes that should *hopefully* have that thing sitting in Art Direction or some shit rather than First Draft.

Hopefully.

Hope™

The whole persona charm thing.
I can't wrap my head around it.

persona charm thing?
wasn't that larceny?

Think of a persona as a disguise for your thoughts.

A normal disguise is a change in how you look right. You might be a law abiding dude but you're trying very hard to look like a criminal so that you can go undercover. However you still think its wrong to be a criminal so someone skilled at reading subtle clues might notice that you're not exactly the hardned criminal you pretend to be.

A persona is a step further than just a disguise, you become a different personality. You are no longer just a detective diguised as a criminal, your entire mindset, your way to look at the world, changes. All the subtle behaviours of a hardned criminal are there because that's what you are. All your intimacies are as you chose them to be as to mirror those one would expect a hardned criminal to have.

Is demon summoning a forbidden art; like no matter where you are you will be run out of civilized society for summoning up a demon or two?
Would a guild of half-demons be out of the question?

Different guy, but was struggling over this a couple of threads back, but how far down does the Persona reach? In your example the detective is presumably super deep undercover to break some case, when the opportunity presents itself to turn them all in how do you do that when you at that point in time probably have "Major Intimacy: Fuck the Police"?

Basically, would you take actions contrary to what your current Persona's Intimacies would show because you have a core character you still are?

Except its much more than just a diguise right.
Once you think like a criminal you're not far away from being a criminal. So your character would be perfectly undercover, doing things he'd never do if it weren't for this persona.

So if you use a persona to change into a death cultist you literally start thinking like a death cultist. All those glorious solar ambitions are gone and replaced by whatever Intimacies you selected for your persona.
You could of course act against the personas intimacies but as long as you're in the persona you would gain Limit as if they were your own Intimacies that you're acting against (because the are your own Intimacies at the moment).

So what are personas good for? Well they can be used when just lookling like you belong is no longer enough. No matter how skilled someone is at reading your true intentions he won't find anything suspicious if you use a persona because you can freely chose the personas intimacies.

There's another use case for personas, and that's overcoming your characters flaws.

For example:
1) You play a staunch pacifist that doesn't want to kill people but you know that sometimes things have to be done.
You create a Persona that will do what must be done so you don't get Limit when you change into the Persona and go'a murdering.

2) You play a generaly unlikable guy, you're brash and headstrong but there's a really important meeting coming up and you need to be shrewd or at least even-temered. You create a persona that no longer has all those problematic intimacies such as "I'll fight anyone that insults my glorious biceps".

I don't think there's a perfect answer for that in the book but here's my take on it:

The book's uses some choise words when describing the effects of a persona:

>the Solar can act against her true Intimacies
>The Solar may use her persona’s Intimacies to void social influence against her,

So the key words here are "can" and "may".

So I would say that it works roughly like this:
The Solar can decide to which extent his character acts on the personas intimacies. In case of the undercover detective how far he goes to "Fuck the Police".
He doesn't have to do so but acting against the personas (now his) intimacies would still force him to roll limit like normal.
Since the personas intimacies are now his these intimacies could be the target of social actions. So Lawless Citizen #1 could approach our persona'd Solar and say "Hey, you know what you should do? Burn down the guard post over there". And since the solar has the Intimacy "Fuck the Police" that would be a valid persuade action.

Our law-abiding solar without his persona would not have an intimacy that would allow for such a persuade action without creating some sort of intimacy first.

Now the book doesn't say anything on switching out of a persona. It mentions how long it takes to take on a persona but not that it also takes the same amount of time to switch out of it. Maybe it's intended to also take 4 hours as it does with activating the persona but I really odn't know.

So long story short:
>would you take actions contrary to what your current Persona's Intimacies would show because you have a core character
You could, the same way a character could act against his Intimacies in the first place (beware that Limit though).

>Is demon summoning a forbidden art; like no matter where you are you will be run out of civilized society for summoning up a demon or two?
No, demon summoning is an important part of most sorcerous educations and the Realm has detailed laws on the number of demon slaves a sorcerer may keep.

Mechanically it's pretty clear, Limit gain and persuade actions, my confusion comes in how I should roleplay the Personas, that's the weird part.

I mean you can go against your normal intimacies, so why shouldn't you be able to do so with persona intimacies?

I think normally the persona would act along the lines of the intimacies, the same that a character would normally act along the lines of his intimacies.

It gets kind of meta. You, the player, are roleplaying your character, your character, in turn, is roleplaying a persona. You can shoot for the "this character is playing a role but is still recognizably herself" angle or you can just pretend you're playing a totally new character.

Oh is this "Does Anyone Still Play This" Edition?

Gonna ask here because I don't want to add randos to my discord...

What sort of campaign are you hoping for? Themes, locales, objectives, etc.

I'm actually more interested to see how the rules hold up in a 1v1 than anything else.

>currently in one year-long very good game
>also planning DB game with same, very good playgroup

Just because people don't want you in their games doesn't mean they don't exist.

What about outside of the Realm?
And the demon blooded guild?

There's definitely kingdoms in Creation that consider demon summoning a crime, but that's more because Creation is big and varied.

As for the 'guild', in general there shouldn't be enough demon-blooded in one place to form an organisation of their own, unless there's a specific reason for it. You might get such an organisation in Nexus or a place with a Yozi cult in the past that lead to lots of Demonblooded.

Add me instead, I'll run a game for you so we can try.

Locales? I'm fine anywhere in Creation, though I prefer the West and the North.

As for theme and tone, I'm open to whatever the GM likes to run. I'm fine with grimdark interpretations of the setting- Creation is a very awful place, after all. Or something more hopeful.

My characters are generally leaders. No disrespect to all the great individual spies or warriors, but I'd be kicking myself in the head if I had all the potential of a Solar Exalted and didn't use it to forge empires or perhaps great works of sorcery.

I like a mixture of kingdom building (as specific or abstract as you'd like), large scale warfare, roleplay/character development, court intrigue, and individual combat. My characters typically build a strong home and power base.

Ultimately, I make characters suited for the game the GM wants to run. In my opinion, if the ST doesn't have a strong vision and desire to run the campaign, it's probably doomed to failure. I respect their considerable effort by tailoring a great character that fits their game.

East and the North, not the West.

Thanks, Patrick.

There could also be an organisation that draws demon-blooded from a wider area. Maybe a rumoured hidden community that provides a safe haven for the often persecuted demon-blooded, maybe a sinister organisation that's keen on getting its hands on people with a bit of suernatural oomph and plenty of incentive to set themselves apart from normal society, something like that.

I just finished running a game tonight.

So, I'm making a group of dragonblooded to serve as antagonists in my game, all part of a wyld hunt. All of them (save their mentor) are relatively young and eager to prove themselves, and have joined the wyld hunt for various different reasons. I wanted to run their concepts past /exg/, just to hear some opinions on if these sound potentially interesting. They are as follows:

>Fire aspect swordswoman - From house Cathak. Quick temper, kind of a bitch, but if she considers you a friend she'll risk your neck for you. Fights with paired short daiklaves, think I'll stick to DB melee (using clutch of dragons homebrew) but I've considered Steel Devil style. Joined the wyld hunt because she pissed off one of her uncle's somehow and has been sent to "get some experience out in the world". Essentially, to get her out of her parents' hair.
>Wood aspect musician - From house V'neef. Nice guy, not really a pacifist but not a fan of needless violence either. Loves to play the lyre. Debating whether or not to have him use Silver Nightingale or DB archery with the performance charm that lets DBs make archery attacks with music. Sent by his Sesus mom because she thinks he's a little too gentle to survive in Realm politics (let alone an actual fight), so she sent him to get some real-life experience hoping he'll shape up, since she's certain his mentor will keep him safe.
>Water aspect sneak - From house Iselsi. His father became an anathema and he faced a lot of stigma (even for an Iselsi) because of it, so he joined the wyld hunt to prove his loyalty and take out some aggression on anathema. Sneaky, smart, and kind of a stick in the mud, the type that's serious to the point of being kind of a dick. The Mouth of Peace knows him and once owed his father a debt of gratitude before he became anathema, so she repayed it by making sure this guy ended up with the mentor I'll mention last to keep him safe and make sure he learns the ropes.

(1/3, cause I'm a long-winded motherfucker.)

>Earth aspect juggernaught - Either house Mnemon or Nellens, not sure yet. Quiet girl, hardly ever speaks, but big on loyalty and protecting her allies (usually by putting herself between them and the thing trying to hit them). Uses a grand goremaul, heavy artifact armor, and a lot of resistance charms. Joined the wyld hunt in the west because her brother was out west when he disappeared, so she's using the wyld hunt as an excuse to go look for him. She doesn't know that her brother is currently a rogue abyssal.
>Air aspect sorceress - From house Ledaal. Top of her class at the heptagram, knows Sorcery and can defend herself using thrown weapons. Kind of flighty and has a short attention span, but somehow manages to notice things nobody else does. She has a habit of starting a new project, getting really deep into it almost to the exclusion of everything else, then burning out and giving up on the project saying she'll "finish it later" only to forget it and eventually repeat the process with something else. Signed up for the wyld hunt because she wants to get off the Blessed Isle and learn more about the world, particular about some of the ancient first age ruins located underwater and on isolated islands.

(Next post is the last, I swear.)

>Water aspect mentor - From house Peleps. The one teaching this band of misfits how to fight anathema and not getting splattered all over the walls. Old even by DB standards, essence 5 compared to the others who are starting at essence 1. Used to be a very famous member of the wyld hunt, nicknamed "The Black Dragon of the West" by the west. Used to be an authority on hunting wyld hunt, but ended up retiring after a certain traumatic incident that left him disillusioned with the immaculate faith. Couple hundred years later and most have moved on and forgotten about him, save for old associates on the Blessed Isle and some thankful islanders out west. Lived for the past century or so as a hermit, only agreed to help the others as their mentor because the Mouth of Peace called in a personal favor with him. Not taking any kind of life-extending drugs, is very much ready to just move on. Despite this, he can still kick a lot of ass, but only agreed to go so long as he didn't have to kill anyone again, just keep the young ones safe and show them the ropes.

Sorry for the long post, character limitnis bullshit. Do these sound like okay recurring antagonists? They won't be an every-session occurrence, not by far, but I'm planning for them to re-appear multiple times and they'll be playing a part in the overall plot as well.

Thoughts? Ideas for styles or fighting methods any of them could use to present somewhat of a threat to a solar circle? Some suggestions for the mentor would be particularly appreciated, I was thinking of going melee + Single Point (ignoring the terrestrial tag for him because he's very experienced and spent a long time training with immaculates), but I'm told Single Point isn't nearly as good without access to mastery effects. Would it be worth it for an essence 5 DB that ignores the terestrial tag?

Will any of that backstory matter, if all they're going to do is enter combat with the PCs? Will they survive?

The antagonists in the core aren't exactly optimized, but you've got 11 MA styles to choose from for each guy. The mentor should have War and a small army of mortal and have the other DBs protect him. Single Point is powerful but lacks in defence, be careful he doesn't get disarmed or overwhelmed with Onslaught. DBs are allowed to ignore the Terrestrial keyword under certain conditions, but you might want to keep his Essence to 3 or so.

Is agelessness a valid Working?
Would it need deficiencies, since you'd die with a stab as normal?

I think with some slight deficiencies its fine. Like maybe you require some fancy potion ever dozen year or you can only sustain yourself off of the highest quality food that exists in creation.

Yes, because you can still die. Aren't Solar Exalts ageless already, until they fit the 3,000 year mark?

So, anyone made/making an Artifact waifu a la Adorei?
How did/do you thing it (will) turn out?

Signs of age start in the last centuries of a celestial, the onset is strongest in the last decades, when they start getting old as we understand is, though never really frail.

Yeah but past that time.

yeah sure, as long as it's not for a Sid

Eh, they aren't -just- going to be fighting them. The wyld hunt will actually start off hunting a different anathema, another NPC that they'll run into. They'll bump into each other a couple other times as the DBs do their thing while the circle does theirs, sooner or later I'm certain the wyld hunt will figure it out because A.) The elder has investigation, and B.) Knowing my group they'll probably out themselves sooner or later, for whatever reason. Besides, my players tend to favor story and roleplay over fighting stuff (though fighting stuff's also fun), so I wouldn't put it past them to try and talk their way out of a fight if they can.

I was considering the idea of a battle group, but I'm wondering if 5 DBs and a battlegroup are overdoing it a bit. The elder won't actually have War though, because I don't even plan for him to get in a fight with them unless the rest of the DBs are down and will die if he doesn't, in which case he's intended to be a Really Big Threat, not enough to 1v5 the whole circle, but enough to take down one or two of the non-combat focused ones (incap, not dead) so he can be like "Now leave, go take care of your wounded, I'll take care if mine. Or we can keep going and I'll take a good chunk of you with me before I die." Hence why he's at essence 5, so he can present enough of a threat that they'll probably win if they go all the way fighting him, but not without serious consequences. I plan to hint at him being kind of a secret badass before they ever even get to a point where that would come into play though, so it's not like I'm just springing an elder DB on them out of nowhere.

So can't sids now EVER prolong their life?
As I recall many people asked Ketchup Carjack to try and prolong his life only for him to rejectthe notion, going so far as turn someone with the five dot earth stone away that keeps you from dying from old age.

Sids can't prolong their life except through the use of -very- potent items and artifacts, and even then I imagine doing so wouldn't make the bureau of endings or their Maiden (was it Saturn or Jupiter?) very happy. Chejop turned down said artifact after the ones who got it for him went through no small amount of trouble to get it, probably including some adventures and a lot of favors. Which kind of enforces the notion that he's just ready to fucking die already, cause keeping Creation together is an endless headache and constantly having to justify the Usurpation to himself doesn't help with that either.

I thought they were fate-locked to die at exactly 5000 years old, unless killed to death before.
Like, something'll happen and they die on the day, no matter what?

Saturn was endings, which is ironic considering his caste.
Also, as I recall, people are talking about even worse shit happening if he'd actually try and prolong his live. Worse then the Usurpiation.

>implying Usurpation wasn't the best thing ever

I don't think they can prolong their life at all, at least going by 1e sidereals

Well, they DID also kill the twilight researching researching limit breaks.
I'm okay with killing elders like the damn Hierophant and everyone in the Wyld Cauldron subfaction trying to make sixty mini creations and succeeding UCS as their gods..

So, did the horrible pattern-spider abomination exalted get some more information yet, or did they scrap the idea?

No word on Getimian Exalted yet. We don't even have much on DBs.

Rather than just having a personal and peripheral mote pool, they have yin and yang mote pools of equal size. Charms can have entirely different effects depending on which pool you pay for them with

Sail or Ride?

That depends, user. Are you going to sail a ship or ride a horse?

Knew the first part, butthe last part has gotto be a writing horror. especially since they have bloated the core book with every damn charm they could conceive and then some.

West Sail, east, north and south ride, Isle and river both
That's what worked for me.

Maybe by 2030 when they start working on the Getimians they will either know how to write more efficiently or they will abandon the idea out of practicality

maybe they'll learn from core and not fuck up charms again?

I sure hope they won't learn to "write more efficiently" in the sense of writing less Charms. They could improve their skills with both crunch and telling people how that crunch actually works, but having lots of Charms is one of the good things about Ex3 core.

I agree, I just meant writing in such a way that it doesn't take 3 years to write the charm set

Well, not scrapping things to start over when they're almost done would help with that.

Why did they do that?

Ah, thanks fellow exaltedfags, you're giving me hope. Our one and a half score fellowship spanning the internet is truly amazing.

How good are the charms?

They do their job.
A few a narratively interesting, one or two really cool things per tree, but the rest is poorly flavored (I think I heard someone cry in the distance) dice tricks, but as I said, they are doing their job and playwise make you feel a little more awesome than just rolling. Initially.
I believe Athletics and Dodge are my favorite trees, even though dodge gets kinda strange and athletics high end charm 'Faster than self Technique' is very new kinds of weird for me, as the name might already suggest.
Props for Divine Mantle though, talk spirits into submission and usurp their domain. Awesome.

Ever seen a movie where the main character- as part of a plot or through some coincidence- gets mistaken for someone they aren't and decides to try to play the part?

And they find that they have to be careful because they actually start to find that pretending to be that person really is turning them into that kind of person?

That's what's going on. You're basically roleplaying the plot of movies like Rango, Avatar, Breaking Bad, or Training Day.

Though props for the (unintentional) self-reference with that Athletics charm.
¨Once there was a Maiden...
Who found that the faster she run,
The faster she could run...¨

This is a really solid analogy, thanks.

So why didn't people like the Locust War scenario in 1e? I might wanna do an Autochthonian invasion for my next game, and I wanna avoid the pitfalls of that.