Personal Canon

Thanqol

Thanqol

Elder Member
Since we're having a lot of relatively argumentative threads on this forum, I'd like to steal an idea elsewhere from the internet to get some positive ideas flowing. Post the cool, awesome, or interesting minor rules and features from your campaigns here.


To get started:


The Incarnae used to look like Dragon Kings. Creation was originally designed with them as the one true master race, and the Incarnae reflected that - as did the jouten of the Primordials, and quite a few of the original Primordial souls. It was only after the Great War, and even then until significantly after the Unconquered Sun had spent a long time eating human prayer generated Ambrosia (without the intercession or direction of Dragon King clerics) did he finally adjust his shape.


Since this was the only recorded effect of anything changing the Unconquered Sun's nature - even though it was voluntary - First Age savants speculated that if they controlled the Sun's prayer supply they may be able to further change his nature. Whitewall was an experiment with this in mind.


On that note, Dragon Kings can Exalt. I feel reasonably sure that if the Incarnae had a species of terrifyingly powerful lizard-kings who already ruled the world and worshipped them with unquestioned loyalty they'd give them their divine power first. The Exaltation overwhelms and subsumes all DK paths, though (mechanically, they're just people with mutations). They did, however, make sure that humans could be Exalted as well as a backup - just as well they did, come Malfeas' genocide of the Dragon King race.
 
Jukashi will love you for that post. Honestly.


My own personal touches:


The Empress is usually still on her Throne in my games, mainly because I like the Empire quite a bit. Our infallible Yozi masters need not some redhead hussy who the Dragon has a hard-on for to free themselves! Not at all! And the Empire doesn't usually thrash my players unless they really get up on the radar. They have more than enough on their plate. That and I'm a big Dragon-Blood fan.


Because of said Empress being on the Throne, the Bull almost always dies in my games. His rebellion is crushed under the full grinding wheel of Rome's--er, the Realm's mighty Imperial Legions. *spits on the House legions* Don't get me wrong, the Bull is cool and all, and fully capable of showing what a War-centric Dawn can truly do, but...eh. Not my cup of tea, though I do love his empire in the new North book and the fleshing out of his Circle.


My Abyssals, at least the Loyalists, make their book counterparts usually look like puppy petting happy people. Renegades are usually much more the tragic anti-hero that we all know. There's a scale of how I generally use my Abyssals as NPCs, PCs can do whatever they wish. I don't force the extreme brutality and evil down their throats. They play as they wish, of course.


I usually have pockets of true Lintha sprinkling the Southwest and the West, because the inbred fuckers of Bluehaven need SOMEONE worth a damn to look up to. I love the Primordial races as a whole. I usually up the numbers of Dragon Kings in existence, because Creation is large enough to support them.


I usually involve the 'remaining' Primoridal outside Gaia and Autochthon, and sometimes lay hints about the others deep in the Wyld.


Primordial ruins are a must, there are usually some remaining in the world.


More as I think of them.
 
Jukashi will love you for that post. Honestly.
My own personal touches:


The Empress is usually still on her Throne in my games, mainly because I like the Empire quite a bit. Our infallible Yozi masters need not some redhead hussy who the Dragon has a hard-on for to free themselves! Not at all! And the Empire doesn't usually thrash my players unless they really get up on the radar. They have more than enough on their plate. That and I'm a big Dragon-Blood fan.


Because of said Empress being on the Throne, the Bull almost always dies in my games. His rebellion is crushed under the full grinding wheel of Rome's--er, the Realm's mighty Imperial Legions. *spits on the House legions* Don't get me wrong, the Bull is cool and all, and fully capable of showing what a War-centric Dawn can truly do, but...eh. Not my cup of tea, though I do love his empire in the new North book and the fleshing out of his Circle.
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These are interesting for me in particular because I'm just starting a Dragon Blooded game set 200 years before the rise of the Bull. The premise is that they've got 200 years to build a nation capable of withstanding the Bull's onslaught when he finally Exalts.


The players all think that their 230 year old DB legends, with their nations and their legions will stand exactly no chance.


Yes, the Realm is Rome. But the Bull is Ghengis Khan, Attila the Hun, the barbarian tide that will sweep all civilization away.
 
More interestingly, the Realm is Rome-Tang Dynasty with a touch of the Mongol Empire for its sheer size. Not just the Blessed Isle itself which is just larger than continental Russia, the whole thing is much larger than the Mongol's even had, which I love.


And the Bull, eh, I just never cared for him. There's not hook or zing to him. He really is one of the most bland NPCs in the whole game. Even in the old caste book, Demetheus and Dace were far more exciting. Just a conquering warlord because he finally got a spark and decided he somehow knew better, which is like everything in the setting--highly debatable. Woohoo, he did an earthshattering war against the Realm, granted he killed a shitload of people and completely upset the spirit pacts (a number of which were Lunar brokered) but...he just bores the shit out of me most times.


I prefer the line of thought that Red herself had been around, she, along with a good few legions and her closest great-grandchildren marched off to war to smack his sorry ass down. And mommy had her nice little mantle with her to teach the little Witch Samea a nice lesson. As well as an abject lesson for her upstarts back home (Mnemon) that Mom can still easily kill and maim with the best of them even at 800 years.


And truly, if your 230 year old DBs can't kill the Bull, they're doing it all wrong :P
 
Another contribution to this thread:


One fifth of the Threshold population is beastmen.


It's a vast number. But I think that's reasonable when the Lunars as a collective put their mind towards the creation of beastmen and have the threshold as their undisputed stomping ground. This statistic comes as a genuine shock to most Realmites.


On the Bull: I plan to add more flavor to him by filling him with all sorts of prophesied nonsense. I agree that the post-victory Bull is boring 'cause he's not doing anything, the rise of the Bull has potential to be fascinating. To see if it's even possible to reason with him. He doesn't really need a complex personality because he's a conquering hero.


230 year old DBs may be able to kill the Bull in a whiteroom, sure, but against him and his circle and his colossal barbarian hoard it's harder to tell. Especially with the difference between Solar and DB War charms. Solars are playing a Real-Time Strategy Game while DBs are running a Play-By-Post with relays and shit. It does mention that "the Bull wielded his legions like a surgeon's knife against the Realm's greater numbers".


Plus, if Red busted out the Legions, the Bull would draw back into the ice. And his Icewalkers have every conceivable advantage there. That is how he dealt with the Wyld Hunt, after all.


EDIT: Oh and the Bull rose before the Empress vanished.
 
First, a reply to your beastmen numbers. Dear Lord, have they been doing nothing but humping recently? :P
 
First' date=' a reply to your beastmen numbers. Dear Lord, have they been doing nothing but humping recently? :P [/quote']
Yes.


It helps that 9/10 of Creation was dead when they really started the project. Their numbers grew exponentially from that.
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Thanqol said:
On the Bull: I plan to add more flavor to him by filling him with all sorts of prophesied nonsense. I agree that the post-victory Bull is boring 'cause he's not doing anything, the rise of the Bull has potential to be fascinating. To see if it's even possible to reason with him. He doesn't really need a complex personality because he's a conquering hero.


230 year old DBs may be able to kill the Bull in a whiteroom, sure, but against him and his circle and his colossal barbarian hoard it's harder to tell. Especially with the difference between Solar and DB War charms. Solars are playing a Real-Time Strategy Game while DBs are running a Play-By-Post with relays and shit. It does mention that "the Bull wielded his legions like a surgeon's knife against the Realm's greater numbers".


Plus, if Red busted out the Legions, the Bull would draw back into the ice. And his Icewalkers have every conceivable advantage there. That is how he dealt with the Wyld Hunt, after all.


EDIT: Oh and the Bull rose before the Empress vanished.
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Indeed, I know he did. I usually have her just stomp his ass beforehand. I can't truly understand WHY she didn't march out instead just trust her Tepet boys to just go kick his face in. He was pretty goddamn effective beforehand, even if it was against 'boony armies'.


Their Russian School of Retreat, doesn't save them from precision strikes as well. I imagine she'd pull out the rare artifacts to handle him. A manta for example. The legions keep him tied up on the ice, she flies in with a few squads of seasoned shikari and goes sick house, I keep it simple. It's rare for me to absolutely loathe an NPC that much, but the Bull brings it out so much.


Regardless, I do respect your position, I just absolutely despise the Bull. Recall this though from Aspect Book: Air. Arada did surprise the Bull by speaking to him in his own language. That alone shows the Bull has certain viewpoints about the Realm, even if you never read the Caste Book. I imagine he can be reasoned with after the bluster and blood and thunder talk dies out.


It depends. And I never do the white room battles. Not a fan of those. But really, 230 year old DBs are killing machines, even if most fans refuse to believe such. Even on an open field of battle, if they can work their way to him and past Mors and keep Fear Eater pinned down, they can lay down the hurt.
 
Thanqol said:
First' date=' a reply to your beastmen numbers. Dear Lord, have they been doing nothing but humping recently? :P [/quote']
Yes.


It helps that 9/10 of Creation was dead when they really started the project. Their numbers grew exponentially from that.
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Actually, this is another of mine. I usually pump up the population just a smidge so I can give the areas a bit more life. There are still massive stretches the size Iran that are uninhabited, but there are more people where it counts. Though I may take those Beastmen, even if I rarely do use them. I'm more of a Fae and hob sort of man.
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Indeed, I know he did. I usually have her just stomp his ass beforehand. I can't truly understand WHY she didn't march out instead just trust her Tepet boys to just go kick his face in. He was pretty goddamn effective beforehand, even if it was against 'boony armies'.


Their Russian School of Retreat, doesn't save them from precision strikes as well. I imagine she'd pull out the rare artifacts to handle him. A manta for example. The legions keep him tied up on the ice, she flies in with a few squads of seasoned shikari and goes sick house, I keep it simple. It's rare for me to absolutely loathe an NPC that much, but the Bull brings it out so much.
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The Empress went on a few Wyld Hunts in her time, but they were all on the Blessed Isle. If she flies in personally to fight the Bull and his Circle, there's a very real chance there's going to be a succession struggle after all.


The Empress is very powerful. But she's still a Terrestrial. She doesn't have real Perfects. One lucky shot from the Bull and bam. The Empire is decapitated and goes into the published death struggles and civil war. This is the primary reason why people don't make assassination strikes on Celestial Exalted - anyone powerful enough to attempt the assassination is also valuable enough to be a big loss if they go down.


Still, you're making that change 'cause you don't like the Bull rather than 'cause you don't get the rules or risks, so I respect that.

Regardless, I do respect your position, I just absolutely despise the Bull. Recall this though from Aspect Book: Air. Arada did surprise the Bull by speaking to him in his own language. That alone shows the Bull has certain viewpoints about the Realm, even if you never read the Caste Book. I imagine he can be reasoned with after the bluster and blood and thunder talk dies out.
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Thanks for that. That's a nice little touch I'll steal.

It depends. And I never do the white room battles. Not a fan of those. But really, 230 year old DBs are killing machines, even if most fans refuse to believe such. Even on an open field of battle, if they can work their way to him and past Mors and keep Fear Eater pinned down, they can lay down the hurt.
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Since he is the Big Bad of the campaign, yes, they probably will win. But I'm going to make it hard.


One more thing: The Realm Defense Grid doesn't work through giant glowy soldiers or whatever. It works by summoning the Yozi.


The Yozi are Creation's minefield. The Defense Grid summons all of them up from Malfeas, and all their demon prodigy, to fuck whatever is attacking Creation. In the case of a Yozi incursion, should such a thing actually occur, the Defense Grid activates all their oaths and forces them to stand down. It makes the Realm a touch more demonic, a flavor change I quite like.
 
An intriguing change, indeed.


Makes Auto's reason for building it all the more amusing. :P


And oh yes, I get the risks. I understand the Empire could fall right then and there, but I imagine the Empress along with one or two Fate Ninjas could do the job. But this is semantics and bullshit best saved for WW Forums or RPG.net just so I can watch Jon Chung explode in rage.


I just usually mentally wish the Bull never born in my settings and my brain is willing to oblige me.


A small setting change I like to do is with Nexus. Nothing dabbling with the laws or Council, they're fine as they are. I give Nexus a bit more of the urban squallor in Firewander, bit of eastern slope of Sentinel Hill, but the rest of the city is very much London by gaslight. I like the feel of the yellow fogs, the smell of the gas lamps, and besides, the setting is so damn schizo on individual city tech level it doesn't matter. It adds another layer of charm to the City Between the River Harlot's Legs.
 
Oh, that's the other one. Fuck Autochthon. In my Exalted, most of the stuff attributed to him was actually done by the other Primordials, he just got the credit because he was the only 'politically correct' one - and because he was a lying asshole who took the credit for other people's achievements. He built the Loom, Exaltations and came up with the principle of tools, he didn't do shit like come up with a God For Everything, or the Defense Grid, or build the Incarnae or whatever.


My post on the Other Side of the Story captures this fairly well though.
 
Indeed.


I generally have a personification of Essence floating about. It's...not really a god, though it could be considered such. More like Essence itself sort of willed it into being. I had a really fun scenario with that being come up in one game long ago, it was fun. Metaphysics fucking around is grand. The PCs and this thing talked for hours. The PCs just came away far more befuddled.


And who said Auto built the Incarnae? I was under the distinct impression the others willed them into existence.


Shite...I had another...I lost it. Blar.
 
Thanqol said:
The Empress is very powerful. But she's still a Terrestrial.
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Yeah, a Terrestrial that has somehow lived roughly 2 to 3 times longer than she should have. Obviously something has upped her pay grade a touch.

Thanqol said:
Oh, that's the other one. Fuck Autochthon. In my Exalted, most of the stuff attributed to him was actually done by the other Primordials, he just got the credit because he was the only 'politically correct' one - and because he was a lying asshole who took the credit for other people's achievements.
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Careful there, your Yozi-fanboy-ness is showing. :wink:


In my games I always double, if not triple, the number of Dragonblooded. 10k for the Realm, plus a few thousand more for Lookshy just doesn't make sense to me.
 
I should probably put a disclaimer in my signature warning all of my massive pro-Primordial tenancies (Primordials, not Yozis. The Yozis are horrible monsters - the fact that they were made into horrible monsters doesn't stop them being horrible monsters. I wouldn't want to release the Yozis; the Primordials, however...)


On the Empress: I think that any solution to the Empress that has her not be a Dragon Blooded destroys all the cool things about the Empress. I'd prefer her eating a really delicious Peach or getting a 4 dot manse to most of the other solutions.
 
I trimmed this down a lot because I got onto a serious rant, so forgive me. This isn't due to Thanqol really, but a larger issue at hand with the fandom. I apologize now.
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I've always used her as she is. A DB. There's a serious backlash against the Terrestrial within the fandom. And I don't know why, truly. Their book is a bit goofed, but errata are coming and the modern charms in DotFA are superb. A dragon-blood is a beast. Their sheer numbers made the massacres of yore work in their favor and they were instrumental in bringing down the Primordials as well. The Aftershock War wasn't ALL Solar and Lunar and Sidereals charging gloriously toward death.


Aside the roiling amount of crazy that's on other forums, my own group in Florida had this issue. Only myself and Jake saw that Dragon-Bloods were phenomenal. The others couldn't stand them for their weak excellencies and shitty case of 'having no perfects'. My God, the blood that shot from mine eyes...


And this is a tangent really, Thanqol, but a needed one. I really don't get the loathing and pissiness that the term Dragon-Blood evokes. This is like the guy on WW Forums a few weeks back asking if you can buy Alchemicals as retainers like Dragon-Bloods, even Holden said, "...What?"


They're not upjumped extras. And one of these beasts that's eight hundred years old will most likely make that shiny Dawn her bitch in open battle, and his perfect is the only thing that'll keep him standing for most of that time.


It's just very frustrating to hear "x is ONLY a DB" while the argument has some validation only for the effects of perfect defenses and charm differences, that's seriously undercutting an effective exalt class.


Hoo, I'm done.
 
I agree with all that! Which is why I'm dead set on having the Empress still be a Terrestrial, even in my Creation where everyone suspects her of being an Akuma due to the nature of the Defense Grid. I agree that she's one of the most terrifying people in Creation, and a force worth fearing.


But I still stand by the point that she doesn't have real perfects, and that is the reason why it would be a bad idea for her to fight the Bull mano-el-mano. I'm not a systems nut, but I still think the Perfect Defense is the thing which lets you see the Bull whip out his Accuracy Without Distance shot and take it to the face. The Empress can't do that (unless she's mastered Water-Dragon Style). I concur that she should be one of the most powerful figures in Creation, and Dragon Blooded should be more than pawns (one of the themes of my DB game). But I think that every fight she engages in should be a risk.


I think that's the nature of Terrestrials, though. Even their greatest paragon, their uber-NPC, is still uncomfortably on the side of human frailty. And I think that's a feature. Not a bug.


Edit: This is probably new thread material at this point though.
 
Yeah, which is why I hemmed and hawed about posting it. :P


I'll just switch it over in a bit.


BACK TO PERSONAL CANON:


The Eye Of Autobot is, of course, not an Eye of the great Primordial but something else. Something long forgotten that has existed since the great Creation artifact was birthed from the constricted Shinma and the Engine. It has always been and will be. It waits as it sits in the tangles of Fate, raging at this prison it is now inhabiting always ready to give, but more than willing to take at the highest price.
 
Also: I have moved the numbers of Solars and Lunars up to 425 of each - one for every day and night of Creation's year.
 
Thanqol said:
The strange layout of the seasons in the world of Exalted meant that every year started at it's coldest point and gradually heated up until the sweltering month of Descending Fire. Then Calibration came, and Creation's weather was instantly, magically reset to early winter in the month of Ascending Air. This was as natural as the twenty five hour day to the residents of Creation.
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I found this in the Ruins of Rathess thread.
 
What did you do with the number of Abyssals/Infernals?
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There are 125 Abyssals and 75 Infernals. That gives Solars a 25-man lead over the others, which is mostly filled with the absolutely crazy ones.
 
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