Teal
Certifiably Political
After consultations with my players, I've decided to kick the rulebook to the curve and make it freeform. Wish me luck!
You may assume that this game will be entirely freeform, and will seek to emulate the human condition as much as possible in writing. Bleeding, for instance, will very much be a dangerous factor (it isn’t in Exalted). In an effort to keep things simple, rather than enumerate all the elements of ‘life’, I’m going to try and unsystem as much as possible. Assume that life in Creation is much like life here – and play on that assumption.
Excellencies: As we’re gonna hit freeform, the three Excellencies are gonna get a makeover (so will all charms, but these are central to the game, so I’ll put ‘em in the primer).
To contrast the First and Second: The Second allows the Exalt to strike the bull’s eye of a target in an archery contest without fail. The First does this as well, but also destroys the target.
Virtues and Willpower: Mainly, these are kept in the game for the purposes of mote-pool calculation – I do not want players particularly preoccupied with how to use them.
Languages: For language purposes, High and Low Realm are treated as one language – Realmspeak. Riverspeak is no more (Scavanger Lands speak Forestongue). Cursetongue is the language of Demons. Raksha without Staff Graces speak in nonsensical tongues of Chaos – utterly useless for communication. Players who speak multiple languages had best designate it on their sheets in the Skills section or have a background that logically leads to it.
Martial Arts remain classified as distinct disciplines with distinct approaches to combat. Read their write-ups and look at their charms to get an idea of what each ‘style’ entails. For simplicity, treat First-Pulse as the untrained Mortal Hero-style.
Essence Regen in combat is equal to (Essence)m, but is limited to the number of ambient motes present in the air at a time rather than static numbers derived from stunts. Essentially, you can take-back in what you spend. Yes, this means Elder essence-users are blackholes of Essence. I’m sure it’s a coincidence that Chejop Kejak rarely leaves Yu-Shan.
Exaltation: As before, the blessed benediction of Exaltation heals all infirmities, wounds and revitalizes the mind and spirit. While this does not provide the power to restore lost limbs, it does heal virtually anything short of this. Mechanically, Essence still increases by 1. Exalts learn their choice of the First, Second or Third Excellency, appropriate to their in-Caste abilities and Favored abilities.
As noted above, Celestial Exalts learn as many Terrestrial Martial Arts charms as they qualify for upon Exaltation. They also learn a handful of their natural charms to reflect their existing talents. Some Exalts will also pick-up skills from their dominant incarnation upon Exaltation – usually in the form of charms.
Past Lives: This will be important as the game progresses. Celestial Exalts should have an idea what the ‘dominant’ personality within their Shard is like, as they will end up interacting with this force.
Abyssals and Infernals: Effectively no longer exist as distinct races of beings. Infernals are Exalted who have been backhacked by the Yozi and aligned to one of the levels of Hell, while Abyssals are Exalted who have been aligned – often by Deathlords – to the Underworld. The former will not be playable at character generation.
The old stuff here's been moved elsewhere!
You may assume that this game will be entirely freeform, and will seek to emulate the human condition as much as possible in writing. Bleeding, for instance, will very much be a dangerous factor (it isn’t in Exalted). In an effort to keep things simple, rather than enumerate all the elements of ‘life’, I’m going to try and unsystem as much as possible. Assume that life in Creation is much like life here – and play on that assumption.
Excellencies: As we’re gonna hit freeform, the three Excellencies are gonna get a makeover (so will all charms, but these are central to the game, so I’ll put ‘em in the primer).
- First Excellency: Essence Overwhelming (4m) – Pouring raw Essence into a compatible action, the Essence-user gains supernatural skill and power for an instant – often with awe-inspiring results. Generally not very subtle.
- Second Excellency: Essence Triumphant (2m) – A well placed infusion of essence allows the Essence-user to complete a single compatible action to perfection, while acting on auto-pilot. The results are still entirely within natural limits. Subtle, compared to the First Excellency, but not as powerful.
To contrast the First and Second: The Second allows the Exalt to strike the bull’s eye of a target in an archery contest without fail. The First does this as well, but also destroys the target.
- Third Excellency: Essence Resurgent (4m) – If circumstances for whatever reason conspire against the user while performing a compatible action, a well-placed infusion of Essence corrects the action – saving them from failure. This activates automatically if the user would fail. Very useful if the character would slip on some ice!
Virtues and Willpower: Mainly, these are kept in the game for the purposes of mote-pool calculation – I do not want players particularly preoccupied with how to use them.
Languages: For language purposes, High and Low Realm are treated as one language – Realmspeak. Riverspeak is no more (Scavanger Lands speak Forestongue). Cursetongue is the language of Demons. Raksha without Staff Graces speak in nonsensical tongues of Chaos – utterly useless for communication. Players who speak multiple languages had best designate it on their sheets in the Skills section or have a background that logically leads to it.
Martial Arts remain classified as distinct disciplines with distinct approaches to combat. Read their write-ups and look at their charms to get an idea of what each ‘style’ entails. For simplicity, treat First-Pulse as the untrained Mortal Hero-style.
Essence Regen in combat is equal to (Essence)m, but is limited to the number of ambient motes present in the air at a time rather than static numbers derived from stunts. Essentially, you can take-back in what you spend. Yes, this means Elder essence-users are blackholes of Essence. I’m sure it’s a coincidence that Chejop Kejak rarely leaves Yu-Shan.
Exaltation: As before, the blessed benediction of Exaltation heals all infirmities, wounds and revitalizes the mind and spirit. While this does not provide the power to restore lost limbs, it does heal virtually anything short of this. Mechanically, Essence still increases by 1. Exalts learn their choice of the First, Second or Third Excellency, appropriate to their in-Caste abilities and Favored abilities.
As noted above, Celestial Exalts learn as many Terrestrial Martial Arts charms as they qualify for upon Exaltation. They also learn a handful of their natural charms to reflect their existing talents. Some Exalts will also pick-up skills from their dominant incarnation upon Exaltation – usually in the form of charms.
Past Lives: This will be important as the game progresses. Celestial Exalts should have an idea what the ‘dominant’ personality within their Shard is like, as they will end up interacting with this force.
Abyssals and Infernals: Effectively no longer exist as distinct races of beings. Infernals are Exalted who have been backhacked by the Yozi and aligned to one of the levels of Hell, while Abyssals are Exalted who have been aligned – often by Deathlords – to the Underworld. The former will not be playable at character generation.
The old stuff here's been moved elsewhere!
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