Ysabel Hayfa

The enlightened mortal mercenary woman who pilots her own Scout Warstrider.  She was mentioned in the Scroll of Kings in the section about Gem.

Tachi-Kun, Central God of War

The god of war for the center direction, Tachi-Kun is also the god of Exalted warfare, the patron of the tumultuous clash between those imbued with the power of the gods. In ancient days, when the Exalted marched to war, Tachi-Kun was there, overseeing the clash of battle-Essence, savoring every shake of the earth and mountain toppled by these heroes.

To say that Tachi-Kun has been disappointed with the warriors of the Blessed Isle since the Usurpation is something of an understatement. He finds the Dragon-Blooded focus on unit tactics and dog-packing to lack the honor and glory of the ancient wars, when Solars took to the field against their foes, each a hero in his own right.

This isn’t to say that Tachi-Kun doesn’t support the Bronze Faction, of course. He is too wise to see the suspicious disappearance of Darunla, the wolf-goddess of the East who supported the Solars, shortly after the Usurpation as chance—especially given that Sunipa, who favors the Dragon-Blooded, was soon after elevated to the position of war-goddess of the East. Tachi-Kun acknowledges that the Dragon-Blooded are mighty warriors; they are simply not heroes, in his mind. But then, foot soldiers rarely are.

Tachi-Kun maintains a strong rivalry with Voharun, the crow-god of Northern war. Once, in the time of the Solars, Voharun and Tachi-Kun were strong allies, but they have not gotten along since the Usurpation. Neither, however, will reveal the reason.
The central god of war is nearly eight feet tall and powerfully built. He wears an incredible suit of starmetal and jade superheavy plate, with an impressive dragon-face helm. He wields Terrible Mountain Cutter, an impressive divine grand grimcleaver. He is a superb martial artist and soldier, excelling at the use of Charms to their best effects in combat.

Sunipa, Eastern God of War Constrained By Law

Sunipa, the East’s supreme god of war, governs all aspects of war in which soldiers follow rules.  She is the patron of soldiers who follow orders, from grunts in the field to generals who start and end their battles as their heads of state direct.  Her purview also covers truces and surrenders, exchanges of prisoners, battlefield challenges, military training, supply contracts, military police and indeed every military activity in which warriors act according to agreed-upon rules.  Sunipa works closely with her colleague (and reputed relative) Shield of a Different Day (see The Compass of Terrestrial Directions, Vol. I—The Scavenger Lands, pp. 142-144).  She also directs a staff of gods who oversee other aspects of professionalized warfare, such as military intelligence, logistics and chains of command.

The goddess herself looks like a fit middle-aged woman, handsome rather than beautiful, with short, black hair and jet-black eyes.  She wears a suit of green and silver magitech armor; a minor illusion makes it look like lightweight, plain gray breast-plate strapped over simple brown leather armor.  Sunipa carries a fire lance called Delicate Scarlet Blossom and a slashing sword called Neverfrost whose blade is carved from steel-hard, unmelting ice.  Thus does Sunipa balance pomp and practicality, heat and cold, the magitech of the Exalted and the blades of common mortal soldiers.

As Eastern God of War, Sunipa answers to E-Naluna, Queen of Warfare in the Bureau of Heaven, and Hu Dai Liang, Shogun of the Crimson of Battles in the Bureau of Destiny’s Division of Battles.  Sunipa enjoys extensive worship throughout the East.  Her cult is particularly strong among mercenaries, who fight according to the terms of contracts.  Somewhat ironically, the East’s large contingent of guerillas, partisans and insurgents also pray to Sunipa… to keep the regular armies they fight slow and hidebound.  In the planning sessions at the Division of Battles, though, Sunipa only backs rebels who feel they have just cause and follow rules about legitimate and illegitimate targets for attack.  Sunipa despises rebels who try to tear down a society without building something new in its place, and sees them as no more than bandits with slogans.

For all the power and prestige of her office, Sunipa does not consider herself safe.  In the First Age, Sunipa held a lower position in the Division of Warfare as patron of the concept of soldiers under orders.  As such, the soldiers of the Dragon-Blooded Host fell in her purview.  The wolf-goddess Darunla held the office of Eastern War God. When the Usurpation came, Darunla sided with the Celestial Exalted.  Sunipa felt immensely conflicted: she could not countenance mutiny, but wanted to help her Dragon-Blooded soldiers.  Eventually, she sided with the Dragon-Blooded, reasoning that most of the Dragon-Blooded who actually attacked and slew the Solar and Lunar Exalted were just following orders from their own commanders.

After the Usurpation, Darunla disappeared and Sunipa took her place.  Sunipa believes the Bronze Faction destroyed Darunla, and could destroy her too if they ever suspect her of working against them.  Sunipa does not work directly against Solars in the East (for she fears what the resurgent Gold Faction could do to her, too) but tries to prevent any of the gods under her command from assisting the new Lawgivers.

Dance’s Daiklave of Conquest

Dance’s Daiklave of Conquest was given to him as a gift from Arianna, who retrieved it from a Solar Tomb she excavated in the Deep South.  All Daiklave of Conquest are forged for the greatest generals of the Old Realm and thus designed exclusively for use by the Dawn Caste. No other Exalted can attune themselves to this weapon, nor wield its fantastic powers.

When used in battle, the daiklave glows with a bright, unearthly light. As long as this daiklave is unsheathed, all opponents and other hostile individuals within 10 yards of the bearer must make a Valor roll at +1 difficulty or flee in fear.

Those who hold their ground lose a number of dice from all attacks (even those not targeting the wielder) equal to the bearer’s Valor score.

So long as the bearer is using this weapon in combat, friendly troops fight with improved morale that gives them one bonus die to all combat-related dice pools. They also automatically gain one success on all Valor rolls.

In addition, all opponents suffer a –1 internal penalty to all combat-related dice pools and receive a +1 penalty to the difficulty of their Valor rolls.

Both of these powers affect combatants within one mile of the Exalt wielding the daiklave. These bonuses and penalties do not apply to civilians or neutral soldiers.

A Dawn Caste Exalt must commit 10 motes of Essence to attune to this blade.  Both known examples of this rare and deadly treasure act as standard orichalcum daiklaves in hand-to-hand battle, though each has a setting for three hearthstones.

Dance’s Daiklave has a Hearthstone setting on each side of the blade, and the last one is the jewel setting for the pommel.

Perfection of the Ascending Sun

This fantastic blade is also known as the Fomenter of the Ever Victorious Legion. It was forged for the greatest general of the Solar Deliberative “Solomon of Teir” by his Twilight Caste lover “Vicar of Origination Sublime” and is an awe inspiring symbol of power on the battlefield. This Daiklave is wide and single edged almost resembling a reaver daiklave, but is slightly longer and elegant in its plainness. It has 4 sockets for Hearthstones, lining the back of the blade from the Guard to a quarter the way up the blade.

This weapon can only be attuned by a Dawn Caste Solar costing 8 motes. No other castes can wield this weapon or utilize its fantastic powers.

The sword comes with an exquisite case like sheath that negates the entirety of the weapon’s weight and inertia. This effect is constant and does not require attunement, making the weapon easy to transport and carry. The sheath can be worn fashionably on the hip or strapped to the back. The Sheath also has an additional function as noted below.

The weapon is currently socketed with Gem of Acclimation (••), see page 230.

	Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Rate	Attune	Minimum	Tags
When Attuned	5	+3	+10L/2	+3	4	5	Str ••	O, P

• Indestructible: The weapon is night-indestructible; nothing in creation can end its existence.
• Piercing: The weapon is so sharp that it halves any armor’s soak value rounded down.
• The weapon doubles the wielder’s raw damage against inanimate objects of Earth and Fire. This includes Warstriders, Fortifications, Ships, Siege Engines, Mountains, Bridges, etc. It doesn’t include Undead or things built of once living things such as wooden structures and soulsteel. It also doesn’t include objects worn by living things, such as armor and weapons. Should another effect also double damage, this just adds 1 more factor to it and not doubles. So if a charm doubles damage, combined with this weapon the total raw damage is now 3x not 4x.
• As long as this daiklave is released from its Moonsilver sheath/case, all opponents and other hostile individuals within a radius from the bearer equal to 10 yards per dot of the wielder’s permanent essence must make a Valor Check at +1 difficulty or flee in terror. Those that hold their ground suffer an internal penalty on all “attack” actions equal to the bearer’s Valor score.
• As long as the daiklave is attuned and sheathed in its Moonsilver sheath/case the wearer can “ready” the blade as a Reflexive action up to number of miles equal to his Essence + Valor Score. Returning the sword back to the scabbard has to be done via mundane means, however, and the sheath/case is not teleported along with the blade.
• When the wielder of this weapon leads in mass combat he becomes a force of nature.
  • The weapon becomes the focal point of immense amount of Divine Essence blessing and strengthening the wielder’s troops. This effectively adds 2 to the army’s might rating, regardless of any maximums.
  • The focus of holy essence transforms the daiklave into a fragment of the Unconquered Sun. It becomes a blaze of sunlight. It will light the battlefield as if it was daytime dispelling even magical darkness from horizon to horizon. This divine glow is the true aspect of the Unconquered Sun, and should be treated as such.
  • As long as the bearer is engaged, all friendly troops fight with heightened spirits that gives them an additional bonus die to all combat-related dice pools.
  • These soldiers also automatically succeed any Morale checks (Perfect Morale) and cannot be placed under any fear effect.
  • In addition, all opponents shake with dread losing one die from all combat-related dice pools and receive a -1 external penalty to their Morale checks and Valor rolls.
  • All the Mass Combat bonuses only affect combatants within a mile of the Exalted wielding the daiklave. The relevant bonuses and penalties do not apply to civilians or neutral soldiers.
• The weapon cannot be placed in Elsewhere via Charms or sorcery. Any attempts to do so will automatically fail.

Mecca, The Lissome Halo of Golden Annihilation

This breathtakingly beautiful orichalcum great daiklave is decorated with Moonsilver and all 5 colors of Jade. Just the quality of the decoration is worth entire nations, the overall value of this artifact is beyond mortal imagination. Plus not only is this blade sentient, she (yes, she) is a survivor of the First Age and is none other than the proud weapon of the Solar Deliberative Proctor – the Guiding Hand that Smite of the Zenith Caste.

During the First Age, Mecca is perhaps the most famous weapon in Creation. Not only because her illustrious partner but also because they were the pairing that struck the final blow in the Primordial Wars. The Guiding Hand that Smite with his Circle ventured deep into the chaotic foulness that is the miasma of the dying Primordials and with their bravery made the binding of Malfeas possible. Of these heroes and their belongings, only this Grand Daiklave survived. Forever scarred by the intensity of that struggle – both on her surface and, more deviously, internally as well. The holiest of all blades became the symbol of Solar Victory – tragically a symbolism truer than anyone suspects.

Unknown to even the wisest Savants the indestructible weapon was damaged beyond the constraints of possibility when it plunged into the fetich soul of the Demon King and scourged the Primordial Masters into submission. The holy blade’s spirit was fissured when she contended against the reality defying power of the Fetish Soul before his diminishment into Ligier. As Malfeas’ soul’s suffering echoed across all existence, its intensity crept in to the invisible fissure. Overtime the echo of that suffering amalgamated with Mecca and the sword became inwardly twisted and corrupt.

It was she, and not the great curse, that was the main cause of the atrocities The Guiding Hand that Smite was attributed and ultimately the Deliberative used Mecca to carry out his execution. Thus this blade passed from Solar to Solar marking each with her infallible touch of corruption. Mecca is now a twisted sentience that delights in misery and subtly influences her owners into completely suffering and despair – a sentience with powerful on par to any third circle demon.

Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Rate	Minimums	Tags
5	+3	+13L/4	+2	2	S···	2, O, P, R
4	+4	+13L/4	+3	3	S··	O, P, R

• This weapon is sentient and has P/I/W of 8/6/7 and C/M/A of 6/10/9, though it can communicate via speech, telepathy, or empathy, it never does so. Instead it uses its empathy to subtly influence the emotional state of the bearer to entertain itself.
• The blade is in completely control of her powers and can grant all or none of the abilities listed to the bearer (attuned or not) – this control even extends to the material bonuses for attunement. Should the sword wish it, it can be as heavy as a mountain regardless of how much essence the bearer pumps into it. Thus all mention of “attuned” should read as “should Mecca allow it” though she normally masquerade as a non-sentient weapon and thus pretend to follow the normal rules governing artifacts.
• The Weapon has its own collection of charms subjected to the Storyteller’s decision, and has an Essence stat of 9 and has an Essence pool of 100, plus 10 for each dot of Hearthstone socketed. This pool of essence can be committed as personal essence to the bearer at a transfer rate of 2 sword essence for 1 personal. This Essence Allowance cannot be used as commitment Essence. The Sword regenerates Essence at the rate of 10 motes an hour in direct sunlight plus the combined socketed Hearthstone’s regeneration capacity. When not in sunlight the daiklave only regenerates 1 point an hour.
• In addition to her personal Charms the scars left by the titanic battle upon her body can be used to learn the following Perfect Charms. These charms can only be used in conjunction with her and can be mastered by any Solar with Essence 5 and Melee 7 with Swords. While she cannot prevent anyone from reading the charms, she can adjust her own weight and balance. Since the Charms only work with her, this in effect stops the wielder from training with, and should the charm already be learnt, the use of the charms.

Eight Direction Orichalcum Palisade

Cost: 8m, 1wp
Min: Melee 7 with this Sword, Essence 5
Type: Reflexive (Step 2) Combo-Ok, Obvious, Perfect
Duration: 2 ticks
Prerequisites: Solar only, no prerequisite Charms

This is the perfect defense form that allows the user to achieve a sublime unity with the blade and allow the wielder to defend without thought. The attacks must not be unexpected, and the character must have Mecca in hand. This Charm is a perfect parry that defends against any/all attack for the rest of the tick and the tick after.

This Charm has one of the Four Flaws of Invulnerability common to all solar perfect defenses. The flaw is unique to each person and is picked when the Charm is learned.

The Inevitability of Victory

Cost: 1m, 1wp
Min: Melee 7 with this Sword, Essence 5
Type: Supplemental Combo-Ok, Obvious, Perfect
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Solar only, Eight Direction Orichalcum Palisade

The Solar focuses and releases a single slash that materializes the Certainty of Inevitability, while just a plain slash from a third person point of view, the actual target(s)being assaulted sees infinite attacks from every direction and regardless of how he defends he cannot break the perfection of certainty - the inevitable slash will strike its mark without error.

This Charm supplements the player’s melee roll with Mecca and guarantees that the attack hits. The Charm can be used to argument attacks including trick shots and stunts. The attack is resolved normally, but if the attack would have missed without this Charm, then it hits, calculating its raw damage based on an assumption of 2 extra attack successes. This Charm does not change the normal rules for valid targets – stabbing the blade through “the gap in his armor” does not allow the Exalted to bypass armor soak, nor does this Charm allow the Exalt to perform impossible deeds.

Any perfect defense used against this charm will result in a Essence contest between the attacker and defender.  The result will determine which charm took effect.

• The weapon, regardless of attunement, does additional levels of aggravated and unsoakable holy damage equal to the wielder’s Conviction on Creatures not native to creation, being such as Creatures from the Wyld, Malfeas, Underworld, and even that of Oblivion. These damage levels are inflicted as long as the wielder hit and are separate from normal damage (e.g. need another invocation of any perfect soak charms).
• Requires 10 motes of Personal Essence to attune with the weapon. Orichalcum weapons when attuned are +1 to Accuracy, Defense and Rate. This specific weapon when attuned by a Solar becomes incredibly light, becoming naturally speed 4, and needing only 1 hand to wield and a strength requirement of only 2 dots.
• When attuned, the weapon hardens any flared anima with protective properties that provides a +2 DV Cover bonus against all attempts to penetrate it, be it material, immaterial, or essence/unnaturally powered mental effects. Being a cover bonus it is not cumulative with other cover bonuses – such as shields.
• The weapon for as long as it is attuned will perfectly shield the owner from Wyld Contamination, Possession, Shapping, Unnatural Mental Influences, and even the virtue draining abilities of the Fair Folks.
• Unlike most great daiklaves Mecca only have 2 Hearthstone sockets, one at the center of the blade, and one near the tip.

Peach of Immortality, The

Found a reasonably good image for the Peach of Immortality Aata ate.

Adamant Sadness

Abyssal, Dusk Caste (Dawn Caste Essence 52)

Intimacies: Hate Mask of Winters, Getting Ahead, Despise Failure

The Right Hand of the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile and Commander of Thorn’s 8^th Legion of Shock Troopers.

Favorite Skills: Archery, Awareness, Bureaucracy, Investigation, Linguistics, Martial Arts, Melee, Presence, Thrown, War

Adamant Sadness has the face of a melancholy angel moved by the sufferings of the world. Her smiles are enigmatic and rare and her voice seems to radiate innocent. This is often works to her advantage as her beautiful shell hides the heartless inner core that is fully dedicated to the cause of Oblivion. Adamant Sadness chaffs under the leadership of Mask of Winters. The Scavenger Lands are ripe for the taking and plans for their destruction drawn up decades in advance. Every day the legions of the dead swells with new recruits and the smithy in the Underworld ring with ghostly screams. Yet her master seems content playing his political games and shield these ants from the enlightening embrace of Oblivion.

When The Irreproachable and Golden Tyrant were punished, it didn’t lose its meaning to Adamant Sadness. In him she saw her own future. To protect herself against Mask of Winter’s piercing attention she uses one excuse or another to keep her troops constantly away from the city on maneuvers. Even as this prevented her return to the political death trap that is Thorns, it managed to hone her Legion into Super Elite Status. When the news of The Irreproachable and Golden Tyrant’s defeat reached her via the spy network she wept tears of blood. Not because the lost of an equal but for the lost of dignity and reputation to all Dusk Castes. How can a chosen of oblivion be stupid enough to suffer such humiliating defeat against the weaker Solars! By next morning all torture pits are filled and all tents packed away, the army was on the move due east – Rathess after all was not part of the Scavenger Lands and its razing would not be against Mask of Winter’s explicit orders.

Just when she was about to cross the Gray River she received a summon she could not ignore…

Jalith of Haltan

The Solar that accompanied the Haltan Army to join the Kaneko in his campaign against Linowan.

Young Girl about 16 years old.  Exalted about 3 years ago.

Solar, Dawn Caste Essence #33

Has 3 Sa-Animal Familiars.  The most famous being a Leopard.  She has the animal training equivalent of the Tiger Warrior Training Charm.

Mudiwa

Daughter of an War Auroch of Ahlat and blessed with divinity at birth.  It was no surprise that Mudiwa joined the Brides of Ahlat and raised through the ranks to become Chief Bride.  After her retirement she did not start a family.  Instead she continued her service to her god as one of his High-Priestess.

Mudiwa’s life is devoted to Ahlat and she never took another lover.  Even after retiring from Brides of Ahlat Mudiwa still consider herself married.

Mudiwa is chosen by Enu Kofi, High Priest of Ahlat to be Ahlat’s Governor of Chiaroscuro.

Glorious Celestial Invigoration Meditation

Cost: 30m, 3 wp
Min: Lore 5, Essence 4
Type: Simple (Dramatic Action) Enlightening, Obvious, Holy, Touch
Duration: Special
Prerequisites: Power-Awarding Prana, Soul-Enlightening Beneficence

[This is a brand new charm]

Carried within the each Lawgiver is the distilled perfection of heroism. This innate spark calls and resonates with those who are worthy. This charm allows the Lawgiver to share this innate purity of spirit with those whose souls are capable of receiving such gifts.

Extras and Mortals do not have sufficient destinies to be compatible with this extended ritual. Only those who are considered heroic mortals already have the proper balance of mortality and potential to receive the benefit of a Lawgiver’s endowment. The Charm is an extended action. During which the Mortal must constantly meditate, taking only occasional breaks to satisfy their physical needs and to sleep. The Exalted’s job is not any easier however, for he must channel enormous amount of his Essence through the mortal’s body acting as a catalyst for a profound physical and spiritual evolution. The 30 motes of Essence and 3 points of Willpower are committed for the duration of the ritual and the Solar is assumed to be constantly using this Charm (for the purpose of determining if he can use another Charm). Should the commitment end at any time before its completion, then the ritual automatically fails and all successes gained are lost. The ritual cannot be attempted again till after Calibration. The ritual also automatically fails should Calibration occur before its completion.

Each roll is an extended period of 1 day. The Heroic Mortal rolls a Willpower Roll at difficulty 2 and total number of success the ritual require is 20. These rolls cannot be botched. Should the Heroic Mortal be enlightened by solar essence already he then adds his Essence-1 in automatic success to the roll. Once the ritual is completed the newly created Solar Half-Caste’s anima awakens to full glory and remains iconic for 20 hours.

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid is a new god that came into being as the god of Adeptus Astartes.

Wun Ja

From “Compass of Celestial Direction Vol 3 – Yu Shan,” pg. 154

Wun Ja is god of the Shining Metropolis and Director of the Bureau of Humanity. She was once one of the most powerful gods of Yu-Shan in the First Age, but the destruction of the greatest cities of that era was a massive blow to both her spiritual and political power, and in the chaos following the Usurpation many of the gods of the Bureau were co-opted by the Bureau of Heaven. Despite her slide into the Fourth Rank of gods, she is still one of the most powerful gods in Heaven due to tithing by her subordinates, but she is incapable of appreciating that fact and sees it merely as a stopgap measure that has slowed her descent, not stopped it. As such, she is desperate to increase the power of her domain and the bureau’s influence and will break any of the laws of Heaven to do so.

Wun Ja has made overtures to both the Gold Faction and the city fathers and mothers of Creation. She is the lead proponent of the Bureau of Humanity providing aid to the Gold Faction and works tirelessly for its success. She funnels resources to the Gold Faction in exchange for promises that the cities of the Threshold will not be destroyed as the Solar Exalted regain their power, while working closely with the Sidereals of that alliance to cut the Realm off from the Threshold.

At the same time she pushes the gods of various cities to seize control of them. This is not just to boost her political power but her own personal resources, for the gods of the various cities all tithe prayers to her, and so growth in their worship means an attendant increase in her own.  Motivation: Wun Ja is desperately afraid that her Bureau will be diminished, and she will be politically destroyed.  To avoid this fate, she will do nearly anything.  Description: Wun Ja appears as a tall, slender woman made entirely of glass and metal, but she can take more humanoid shapes when the occasion requires it, especially when she walks Creation. She is a god of the Fourth Rank, although she believes she teeters on the edge of the third.  Other Notes: Wun Ja has made a concrete alliance with the Gold Faction and may call on its Sidereals and the Solars who study under them when the need requires it, although she would be surreptitious about seeking such help, as the Bronze Faction still dominates heavenly affairs.

Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 2, Temperance 3, Valor 4

Essence: 7

Exp Record: Story 04 - “Fires of the South”

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Player Characters

	Balan	Aata	Nejimaru
Total	161	161	149
Story 01	28	27	22
Story 02	58	59	52
Story 03	62	62	62
Session 22	7	7	7
Session 23	6	6	6

 

Session 22

---

• While the Session started late due to various other distractions, it was still around 8 hours long.  So Exp Reward of 6 point is in order.
• The Session is centered around exploring the inner motivation and morality of the character so it would be considered role-playing.   The participation warrant the 1 Exp bonus for Role-playing.

Balan

• 4/4 (1) Occult from 2 to 3 
• 6/10 (6) Excellency: Essence Triumphant (Occult) 

Aata

• (4) Paid Partial Exp Debt (14 Left) 
• 6/6 (1)  Raise Awareness from 3 to 4
• 2/8 (2)  War Charm: Mob Dispersing Rebuke

Nejimaru

• (3) Paid off Exp Debt (0 Remain) 
• 8/16 (4) Willpower from 8 to 9

Mea-Chan

• (6) Dexterity Specialty: Defensive Postured (2)

 

Session 23

---

• The Session is considered short, since we didn’t start till around 10:30.  While it did run for about 7 hours, it is not as long as my usual session.  Nonetheless I am granting the Normal Exp Reward of 6 points.

Balan

• ()

Aata

• (3) Paid Partial Exp Debt (15 Left)
• 5/8 (3)  War Charm: Mob Dispersing Rebuke 

Nejimaru

• 14/16 (6) Willpower from 8 to 9

Mea-Chan

• 6/11 (6) Shifting Knack: Emperor Ox Expansions

Exp Record: Story 03 - “The Odyssey”

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Player Characters

	Balan	Aata	Nejimaru
Total	148	148	136
Story 01	28	27	22
Story 02	58	59	52
Session 12	6	6	6
Session 13	4	4	4
Session 14	6	6	6
Session 15	7	7	7
Session 16	5	5	5
Session 17	8	8	8
Session 18	7	7	7
Session 19	6	6	6
Session 20	6	6	6
Session 21	7	7	7

 

Other NPCs

Gladrien Vanja
Session 05 (11), Session 06 (6), Session 07 (9), Session 08 (12), Session 09 (7), Session 10 (5), Session 11 (7), Session 12 (6)

 

Session 12

---

• The Session length is actually not that long, but still ran about 6 hours, so I am going to give the standard exp reward of 4 exp.
• I thought role-playing wise the game was very introspective, so giving everyone 2 Exp for role-playing.  

Balan
Saving Exp for charm purchase

• (1) Paid off Exp Debt
• (Free) Raised Valor from 3 to 4
• (3) Raised Medicine from 0 to 1
• (3) Raised Sail from 0 to 1

Aata

• (Free) Raised Willpower from 5 to 6

Nejimaru
Becoming ever more confident and sure of his purpose Nejimaru has become more and more at peace with his chosen path.

• (Free) Temperance from 3 to 4
• (1+1) Survival from 1 to 2
• (10) Willpower from 5 to 6

Mea-Chan
Purchased the next Charm in the Lunar Soak Tree

• (10) Wound-Mastering Body Evolution

Gladrien Vanja
Gladrien Vanja after her exposure to the real world and soul searching with Hanstha-seth and Panther has matured as a person and became more in control of her overflowing emotions.

• (6) Raised Temperance from 2 to 3
• (Free) Raised Temperance from 3 to 4

 

Session 13

---

• The Session length is actually not that long, only about 4 hours or so.  So I am going to give the lesser exp reward of 3 exp.
• Roleplaying wise it was fairly normal so an Exp Reward of 1 point is in order.

Balan
Saving Exp

• () 

Aata

• (7) Raised War from 4 to 5

Nejimaru
Nejimaru is saving his Exp to further increase his Willpower.

Mea-Chan
Mea-chan is saving her Exp to raise her Dexterity in the future.

 

Session 14

---

• The Session length is shorter than my usual sessions, 5 exp.
• Roleplaying wise it was fairly normal so an Exp Reward of 1 point is in order.

Balan

• (Free)  Flaw: Known Anathema (1)
• (5) Raised War from 3 to 4

Aata

• (-3)  Paid part of the Exp Debt
• (Free)  Flaw: Known Anathema (1)
• (3)  Raised Investigation to 1
• (3)  Raised Medicine to 1

Nejimaru
Continuing to raise his Willpower

• (12) Willpower from 6 to 7

Mea-Chan
Having enough Experience points, Mea-chan started to raise her Dexterity

• (12) Dexterity from 4 to 5

 

Session 15

---

• The Session length is that of my usual sessions, 6 exp.
• Roleplaying wise it was fairly normal so an Exp Reward of 1 point is in order.

Balan
Saving Exp

• () 

Aata
Saving his Exp

• () 

Nejimaru
Continues to save his Exp for Willpower

• None

Mea-Chan
Mea-chan continues to save her Exp to raise her stats

• None

 

Session 16

---

• The Session length is rather short with most of the day taken up with movies and other distractions.  4 exp.
• Roleplaying wise it was fairly normal so an Exp Reward of 1 point is in order.

Balan
Saving Exp

• () 

Aata

• (8) Athletics: Increasing Strength Exercise 

Nejimaru
Continues to save his Exp

• None

Mea-Chan
Having enough Experience points, Mea-chan started to raise her Dexterity

• (15) Dexterity from 5 to 6 

 

Session 17

---

• The Session is pretty standard length for me so grants 6 experience points.
• There is no bonus experience points or stunt rewards
• Story Reward of 2 experience points for surviving the Underworld.

Balan

• (2) Bought off Vice: Phobia of Monsters and Monstrosities (1)
• (8) Infinite Mastery (Melee)
• (6) Raised Compassion from 2 to 3
• (2) Raised Occult from 1 to 2
• (2) Raised Lore from 1 to 2

Aata
Saving his Exp

• () 

Nejimaru

• (14) Raised Willpower from 7 to 8
• (5) Raised War from 2 to 3
• (- 8) Lore Charm: Wyld Cauldron Technology

Mea-Chan

• (9) Martial Arts from 5 to 6
• (13+3) Survival from 4 to 6

 

Session 18

---

• The Session is pretty standard length for me so grants 6 experience points.
• There is no bonus experience points or stunt rewards
• The Session is heavily involved in role-playing, thus 1 exp point of Role-playing Reward.

Balan

• (8) Charm: (Dodge) Essence Flow
• (3) Athletics from 2 to 3
• (8) Charm: (Athletics) Triumphant

Aata

• (-24) Instantly raised Essence to 4
• (-3) Performance Specialty: Prayer
• (-2) Resistance to 2
• (4) Paid Partial Exp Debt
• (8) Melee Excellency: Essence Flow
• (2) Integrity to 2
• (5) Bureaucracy 3 to 4

Nejimaru

• (8) Terrestrial Circle Sorcery: Raise the Puissant Sanctum
• (-8) Terrestrial Circle Sorcery: Conjure the Azure Chariot
• (-1) Thaumaturgy Procedure: [Talisman]
• (-1) Thaumaturgy Procedure: Blessing
• (-1) Thaumaturgy Procedure: Demon Warding

Mea-Chan

• (3) Paid Exp Debt

 

Session 19

---

• The Session is pretty standard length for me so grants 6 experience points.
• There is no bonus experience points or stunt rewards

Balan

• (3) Raise Athletics from 2 to 3 (2 Days)
• (7 + 1 Exp Debt) Excellency: Essence Triumphant (Athletics)
• (-8) Athletics Charm: Thunder Bolt Attack Prana: "Auroa cadō" - Descending Dawn (latin)

Aata

• (3) Paid Partial Exp Debt (29 left)

Nejimaru

• (6) Paid Exp Debt (13 Remain)

Mea-Chan

• (15) Raising Strength from 5 to 6 (10 Weeks)

 

Session 20

---

• The Session is pretty standard length for me so grants 6 experience points.
• There is no bonus experience points or stunt rewards

Balan

• (5) Paid Partial Exp Debt (4 left)
• (2) Raised Bureaucracy from 1 to 2 (1 day)

Aata

• (3) Paid Partial Exp Debt (26 left)
• (4) Raise Awareness from 2 to 3 (1 Week)
• (2/6) Trying to Raise Awareness from 3 to 4

Nejimaru

• (5) Paid Exp Debt (now at 7)
• (1) Trying to Raise Willpower from 8 to 9

Mea-Chan
Saving Exp for 5th Lunar Excellency for Dexterity, 6/10 Currently

• (6/10) Trying to Learn 5th Lunar Excellency

 

Session 21

---

• The Session is actually relatively short.  Since we started at around 12 and ended around 5.  Granting 4 Experience Points for showing up.
• There is no bonus experience points or stunt rewards
• 3 Experience point to Everyone for Finishing Story 03: The Odyssey
• End of Story 03 – The Odyssey
• Start of Story 04– Fires of the South

Balan

• (4) Paid Exp Debt off, 0 Remaining.
• 3/4 (3) Paid Partial cost to raise Occult from 2 to 3 

Aata

• (4) Paid Partial Exp Debt (22 Left)
• 5/6 (3) Trying to Raise Awareness from 3 to 4

Nejimaru

• (4) Paid Partial Exp Debt (3 Remain)
• 4/16 (3) Trying to raise Willpower from 8 to 9

   

Mea-Chan

• 10 (4) 5th Flawless (Dexterity) Focus
• (3) Dexterity Specialty: Defensive Postured

Exp Record: Story 02 - “The Beginning is such Delicate Times”

Previous Story | Index | Next Story

Player Characters

	Balan	Aata	Nejimaru
Total	86	86	74
Story 01	28	27	22
Session 05	11	12	11
Session 06	5	5	2
Session 07	9	9	9
Session 08	13	13	11
Session 09	7	7	7
Session 10	6	5	5
Session 11	7	8	7

 

Other NPCs

Gladrien Vanja
Session 05 (11), Session 06 (6), Session 07 (9), Session 08 (12), Session 09 (7), Session 10 (5), Session 11 (7), Session 12 (6)

 

Session 05

---

Story Award is for Saving and in effect earning the eternal gratitude of the Dragon Kings and winning them as allies.  In doing so you guys discovered the true backing of Filial Wisdom and also gained another Ally to the Circle – Galdrien Vanja.

• 6 experience points for Everyone for showing up
• 1 experience point for Everyone for reasonable roleplaying
• 1 more experience point for Aata for good role-playing
• 4 experience point for Everyone for Story-Award

Nejimaru
Trying to maximize the use of the Vortex and to make up for the short coming of Aata, he has figured out a way to channel essence to another being.  Learning the Essence Lending Method Charm under Lore taking 8 Days of Research

• (8) Lore: Essence Lending Method

Gladrien Vanja
Feeling she is not yet spiritually enlightened, Gladrien is continuing her Spiritual Quest to be closer to the Unconquered Sun (saving Exp to improve her Essence stat, 14/40)

 

Session 06

---

Session is about standard length of 4 hours, so it did not warrant the bonus exp I usually award.

Since Nejimaru did not participate in most of the actions of the session he has reduced Exp award.

• 4 experience points for Balan and Aata for showing up
• 1 experience point for Nejimaru for showing up
• 1 experience point for Everyone for reasonable roleplaying

Both Nejimaru and Gladrien is banking the exp

Gladrien will offer to teach Everyone, specifically Aata, dodge both Charms she has and improvement of the skill.  However to learn Perfect Dodge you need to get Shadow Over Water first (Dodge 3 required) and Seven Shadow Evasion is (Dodge 4)

 

Session 07

---

Session is about medium length, so 5 instead of 4 for standard and 6 for long

• 5 experience points for Everyone for showing up
• 1 experience point for Everyone for reasonable roleplaying
• 3 experience point for Story-Award

Nejimaru is using the Exp to raise his Perception to 4, it will take 3 months

Mea-Chan and Gladrien are both saving their Exp.

 

Session 08

---

• My Standard Length Session so 6 points of Exp Reward
• Balan’s reaction to Aata’s “death” is very well done.  So Reward of 2 for Role-playing
• David’s seems to have put effort into attempt to realize Aata’s personality so also 2 points for Role-playing Reward.
• Everyone gain Story Award for resolving the Rathess arc of the game.  However, since the Circle was involved far more in the events you guys gain 3 points.  Gladrien only gets 2 point.
• A season will pass in abstraction time, so each of you gain 2 points of Long Term Exp Reward.

Nejimaru face with his own weakness of will against the infulences of others spent his time in quiet solitude of meditation and self-exploration.  Raising Integrity from 1 to 3 (4 exp 4 days).  In this time of self-examination and meditation into the meaning of existence he has a Eureka moment and created the Charm that would permanently open a Mortal’s sensitivity to the very life blood of creation – Essence.  Learning Lore: Soul-Enlightening Beneficence (8 Experience points, 12 days)

Mea-Chan raised Essence from 5 to 6 under the supervision of Nejimaru.  (45 Experience Points, 5 month training time)

Gladrien Vanja raised Essence from 4 to 5 by spending her time conversing with Hanstha-seth and long periods of meditative trances both to discover the secrets of creation and her affinity to her father the Unconquered Sun.  (40 Experience Points, 5 Months)

 

Session 09

---

• My Standard Length Session so 6 points of Exp Reward for showing up.
• Reasonable role-playing so 1 experience point for everyone.

Nejimaru continues on his path to strengthening his resistance to outside influences, raising Integrity from 3 to 4 (5 Experience Points, 3 days).  He also raised his War due to the fact he realize to properly help the group he has to actually refine some of his innate talents in the area, raising War from 1 to 2 (1 Experience Points, 1 day).

Mea-chan bought the first step of the Soak Series Charms for Lunars after seeing the utterly destructive power of the First Age. To better protect the heart of her hearts, she (being favored ability) started to focus her newly acquired skill towards refining her body to become a better shield (10 Experience Points, 3 Days).

Gladrien Vanja is saving her Exp, being still mentally stunted at her heinous crime of using a evil blade believing it was holy. The incident shocks her psyche still. Her recent timidity and indecisiveness is also a result of her shaken confidence.

 

Session 10

---

• The Session length is the standard length in the Rule Book instead of my usual length so 4 Experience Points for Everyone for showing up.
• Reasonable role-playing so 1 experience point for everyone.
• Brendo roleplayed Balan’s suddent discovery of the honor within him well so 1 more experience point for Balan

Nejimaru
Nejimaru double checked the Manse plans the Dragon-Kings have laid out for their Mistress God and gleamed some valuable insight into the principles of Stonework and Construction.  In fact Nejimaru has gained enough knowledge to be able to Design level 1-3 manses.

The majority of his effort however is devoted to the assistance of the Adaptus Astartes.  He hides from the rest of the Solars by sequestering himself within the Central Hearth.  During these times he works with Great Schema Mickey on methods to overcome the limited Essence of Enlightened Mortals.  Pouring over the libraries of Auspicious Plum they eventually figured out a minor way to enhance their Essence Pools.

The solution is an modification of the Skin Mounted Amulet and the Essence Power Crystal the Astartes use when they are in Rathess to power their equipment.  Similar in principle to the common artifacts during the first age that allow Mortals to activate Essence devices by having artifact that stores Essence.  This however is more profound and instead of being a separate Essence pool, it augments the bearer’s innate pool.  Adding only 4 motes and allow them to recover 2 extra motes of Essence per hour as long as they are in Rathess’ (specifically) Essence Grid.

• (3) Craft[Earth] from 2 to 3 (2 days)
• (3) Craft[Magitech] from 0 to 1 (3 weeks)
• (-1) Craft[Magitech] from 1 to 2 (1 day)

Mea-Chan
Mea-Chan is saving her Exp to progress down the Lunar Soak Charm Tree

Gladrien Vanja
Finding no answers to her absolution from the Unconquered Sun, she continues on her soul searching.  The months of constant prayer and her recently active role in as an religious icon has made her focus on her ability to influence others.

• (3) Performance from 2 to 3 (2 days)
• (5) Performance from 3 to 4 (3 days)

I assume Aata and Balan will be getting their Perfect Defenses?

 

Session 11

---

• The Session length is only little longer than normal, so Experience Reward of 5 Experiences points instead of my usual 6.
• Reasonable role-playing so 1 experience point for everyone.
• 1 more Experience point for Aata for the player’s realization that his character consistently abandon those he considers important to him in possibly dangerous situations.
• 1 Story-Reward Experience Points for Everyone for Starting the Odyssey Arc.
• End of Story 02 – The Beginning as Such Delicate Times
• Start of Story 03 – The Odyssey

Balan
Balan continued his training regiment under Gladrien Vanja and finally mastered the perfect dodge charm – Seven Shadow Evasion

His subsequent skin regeneration as response of being baked by his own Holy Armor as result of his temporary status as Creature of Darkness has caused his facial scares to be regenerated as part of the healing and is no longer so hidious as to warrent a –1 to Appearance.

• (8) Seven Shadow Evasion (4 Days Training Time)
• (6) Removed Diminished Attribute: Appearance (Massive Facial Scar with Missing Eye)
• (3,-1) Removed Flaw: One Eye

Aata
Aata after his confrontation with Golden Tyrant redoubled his effort to master the Heavenly Guardian Defense Charm and in just a week achieved mastery of this Perfect Defense.

• (-3) High Holy Speech
• (3) Paid off Exp Debt for High Holy Speech
• (-10) Integrity-Protecting Parana Charm

Nejimaru
Nejimaru is banking his Experience Points so he can raise Willpower Later.

Mea-Chan
Purchased the next Charm in the Lunar Soak Tree

• (10) Frenzied Bear Fortification (4 Days Training Time)

Gladrien Vanja
Gladrien Vanja finally achieved the plateau of Melee 5 after her her ineffective confrontation with the Irreproachable and Flawless Golden Tyrant.  With her expected duty of administer of Rathess she studied under Head Huntress Dharacya to learn the skills of statecraft.

• (7) Melee from 4 to 5 (4 Days)
• (3) Bureaucracy 0 to 1 (3 Weeks)

Exp Record: Story 01 – “The Road to Rathess”

Index | Next Story

	Balan	Aata	Nejimaru
Total	28	27	22
Session 01	5	5	-
Session 02	8	7	7
Session 03	8	8	8
Session 04	7	7	7

 

Other NPCs

Gladrien Vanja
Session 05 (11), Session 06 (6), Session 07 (9), Session 08 (12), Session 09 (7), Session 10 (5), Session 11 (7), Session 12 (6)

 

Session 01

---

• 4 experience points for Balan and Aata for showing up
• 1 experience point for Balan and Aata for reasonable roleplaying
• Start of Story 01 – The Road to Rathess

 

Session 02

---

• 4 experience points for Everyone for showing up
• 2 experience points for Balan for good roleplaying
• 1 experience point for Aata and Nejimaru for reasonable roleplaying
• 1 experience point for Balan for 3 dice stunt
• 2 experience point for Everyone for Story-Award

 

Session 03

---

• 4 experience points for Everyone for showing up
• 1 experience point for Everyone for reasonable roleplaying
• 3 experience point for Everyone for Story-Award

 

Session 04

---

• 6 experience points for Everyone for showing up
• 1 experience point for Everyone for reasonable roleplaying
• End of Story 01 – The Road to Rathess
• Start of Story 02 - The Beginning as Such Delicate Times

Stunts: and Perfection

From Exalted Core Rule Book, pg. 123 under “Stunts”

“A powerful Solar might not gain a stunt bonus for confronting back-alley muggers he could dispatch with both eyes closed and his hands tied behind his back, but his commitment to righteousness might net him a superior bonus when he gives a speech adjuring a deathknight to abandon her liege and the side of darkness to join his righteous quest to restore Creation.”

Thus Stunt bonuses are not applicable when a Perfect Charm is involved, since it innately has less risk than any action taken confronting a quadriplegic thug in the back allies of Nexus while blindfolded with both hands and feet tied behind his back.

Lunar Forms and Attribute Bonuses

All Lunars have 2 forms, with some having a 3^rd called the War Form. The first is their human form. The Second is their Spirit Shape (often called True Form). The Third optional form is the War Form, granted by “Deadly Beast Transformation.”

A Lunar character at the time of creation will be granted half their character creation charm as “native charms.” It is highly suggested the focus of these native charms be Knacks.

The other half will be considered “discovery charms.” They represent Charms that the character mastered as part of accustoming themselves to their new nature.

A Lunar can chose a totem shape from any shape his native charms allow him to take. This means a Lunar can theoretically be a species of ancient primordial monster as his True Form – but keep in mind Animal True Form is totemic to the character. It speaks volumes about a Lunar when his/her True Form is an alien monster beyond the realms of mortal men.

When a Lunar takes upon his normal 2 forms he gains the physical attribute of the form he takes. With Humans Form being his normal attributes and his Animal Form having the stats of that animal. When he raises his Human Form’s attribute beyond 5, his animal form’s physical attribute is similarly increased. E.g. when Mea-chan raised her Strength to 6 her Simhata animal form’s strength also raised by 1 to 8.

War Form, however, is a synergy of the 2 previous forms. Being as such it takes on the property of both. Normally it will use the higher physical attribute of the 2. This will be the baseline of the form’s attribute and then add in any modification via mutations and the +1/+2 dot from the War Form Knack.

This modification however does not override logic and reasonability. If the War Form of a Tyrant Lizard Lunar has is the size of a human child then he is not going to gain all 14 dots of his Animal Form’s Strength. By the same logic, if the War Form of the aforementioned Lunar is as large as a Tyrant Lizard then his Dexterity might suffer a 1-3 dot penalty.

Other qualities such as the ability to see at night, breath in water, armored skin, etc. are reflected via Mutations. They are not automatically gained. Kali’s War Form for example, cannot breath in water, even though her animal form is a Siaka.

Updated Exalted 2nd Edition Template and Font

Finally managed to find the Missive Font.  So Updated the Word Template and the Fonts Rar file.

Both can be found in the Live Work Space.  Under “RPG - Exalted Past” then “Templates” folder.

Dicer 1.9.3.4

Just updated Dicer to 1.9.3.4

Hopefully this catches the exception that crashes the program if the character file pointed to in the Registry is not present.

As usual it is uploaded to the Workspace.

[Exalted Past] Rule Changes

Additions

• Benefits of a Circle
• Character Generation: Unwanted Dots
• Getting Rid of Specialties
• Hardness and Touch Attacks
• Naval Combat Ability Ceiling

Changes

• Armor Soak and Hardness Changes
• Charm Activation and Patterning
• Dangers of Virtues Higher than 3
• Defensive Charm Updates
• Exp and Training Time
• Charm: Hauberk-Lightening Gesture
• Intimacy vs. Motivation
• Stunts: Essence Regain

Clarification

• Charm: Hauberk-Lightening Gesture
• Charm: Whirlwind Armor-Donning Prana
• Dice Pools, Dice Adders, and Automatic Successes
• Stunts: and Perfection

Reprints and Summaries

• Fate of Solar and Dragon-Blooded Unions

Benefits of a Circle

All the senses granted by the bonds of a circle are vague impressions. They are not clear and defined data; instead they are more intuitive feelings than measurable facts.

• When Circle mate are involved in coordinated attacks in battle they gain +1 automatic success to the Coordination roll for the maneuver. This is not applicable in Mass Combat.
• When Circle mates are involved in teamwork (and only Teamwork) the team work dice pool is increased by 1 die from synergy. This bonus is fixed and does not increase when more Circlemates gets involved. This bonus die is considered bonus die from Charms.
• Circle mate can reflexively sense the rough direction and rough distance (very far, far, somewhat far, fairly distant, close, very close, immediate vicinity, etc.) of their circle mates. These feelings are not constantly and they must concentrate, though reflexively, to sense them.
• Circle mate automatically sense when a circle mate is under extreme mental or physical duress. They also know which circle mate is happening to and the nature of the disturbance (physical or mental). Things such as dying, torture, great emotional upheaval, but not limit breaking, all fall under this category.

Keep in mind the Sworn Brotherhood of the Dragon-Blooded gain these bonuses plus the normal bonuses gained as part of their Sorcerous Bond.

Charm Activation and Patterning

I am changing the way Charm Costs work.

When you activate a Charm the first time you pay the full amount. To activate the same charm against or as a part of a Flurry has significant discount after the initial activation.

Any subsequent activation of the exact same Charm, with all optional costs and bonuses being the same, only cost 1 mote for each additional activation, or the full activation cost – whichever is cheaper.

Should the subsequent activation be in anyway different it is considered the new initial activation and cost resets.

This effect I call Patterning. It makes flurries more common and feasible. Instead of paying 5x5 = 25 motes, you actually pay only 5+1+1+1+1 = 9.

Example: Balan activates his Death Blossom Combo which includes Excellency and Magic Flurry. So he chooses to spent 10 motes for 5 attacks as the Magic Flurry Charm. On his 1^st attack he chose to spent 5 motes for 5 added dice, he missed. On his 2^nd attack he chose to repeat the attack so he pays only 1 mote for +5 dice on his 2^nd attack. He missed so he decide for his 3^rd he needs higher dice pool, so he adds 7 dice, since he change the bonus of the charm he has to pay the full price of 7 motes for the 3^rd attack, he hit. The opponent is near death. So for his 4^th attack he thought he would hit normally since the opponent is at -4, so he chooses to add no bonus dice, costing 0, and he missed. For his last attack he thought he minds well finish it. So he adds 5 more dice. However since he changed his bonus on the 4^th attack yet again (from +7 to +0) he lost the pattern, so he would have to pay 5 motes full price again.

This made his Death Blossom Combo a total of 28 instead of the normal 32, for a grand total saving of 4 motes. If he choose wisely and added 7 motes in the beginning, it would have only cost him 21 motes.

This rule favors total commitment for better or for worse. To accommodate this, the Essence regain for Stunts has also been lowered to half. See the “Stunts: Essence Gain” rule change.

Keep in mind this rule only accounts for actions or defense within a Flurry.

So attacked by 4 different person will cost the character 4 full cost for dodge charms. Then pattern cost of 1 mote each dodge activation if the attackers are using flurry. Should the player choose to not dodge any attack of that specific flurry sequence he losses the patterning and must start over.

Stunts: Essence Gain

With the changes to Charm cost activation within the same Tick the Essence gain from Stunts are halved.

So 1 die stunt only gives 1 mote, 2 die stunt grants 2motes, and 3 die stunts adds 3 motes.

The rules regarding Willpower, Experience points, and Virtue Channeling remain unchanged.

Exp and Training time

The game rule states you cannot start training before you pay the full amount of the Exp Costs, I say that is bad rule.

As long as you train towards something, it counts. It would simply prove fruitless if you do not eventually pay the exp for it.

However, these types of training investment can only be held for 6 month. So people can’t say, well I trained 400 hours in Melee 2495 Years ago, but now I have the exp to spent on it.

All other rules regarding training time and experience points expenditure remain unchanged.

Intimacy vs. Motivation

As it stands right now the game superimposes extreme values on Motivation. All commands that go against motivation are Unacceptable Orders.

This means a person will sacrifice their intimacies unconditionally in the face of their motivation.  E.g. the power hungry abyssal will always destroy the love of his life when faced with the alternative of abandoning his quest for power however temporary and brief.

The rule as it stands right now does not take into account severity. The slightest bend to Motivation is worth infinitely more than the most atrocious betrayal of Intimacies.

So I am changing it.

If the character is under social influence and Intimacies conflict with Motivations, he can choose to follow either as appropriate to the severity of the choices.  He is not automatically required to refuse any action that goes against his motivation.

Keep in mind this will severely weaken your character’s resolve in the face of social attacks, but I think it’s a bit more realistic than what the game has right now.

Armor Soak and Hardness Changes

The way the Current System works, as I understand it, is:

· A Child = 1 Str – 1 effective for being Child (so 0 for dmg purposes)

· With a Dull Knife +1L, minimum damage value of 1 (that is default, huge weapons like a Grimcleaver has min dmg of 4)

· The Child attacks a Knight wearing Super Heavy Plate: 12L/12B Soak

· The Knight actually is just a rich brat who bought his rank, thus has DV value of 1 [(2 Dex + 1 Dodge) /2 round down)]

Let say the Child rolled 2 Successes so he hit with 0 Threshold: 2 – 1 min success for successful attack and – 1 for the Knight’s DV.

From this point, regardless of the Soak Value of the Armor, the child will at least do 1 dice worth of damage

Exalted Core Rules Page 252: “Armor lets minimum damage through.  Players of attackers who hit you, no matter how heavy your armor, still roll their minimum damage – normally one die, two dice or their Essence in dice [In other section this is explained as capped at the weapon potential]”

So the child with Strength of 1 and a dull knife would essentially ignore 12 levels of soak to do his normal 1 dice of damage, because the knight wasn’t able to parry the attack.  A defensive act that has nothing to do with what armor he is wearing.

The Knight would suffer the exact same damage if he were wearing ANY other (non-magical) armor, from a leather jacket to super-heavy plate – since the weakest armor has a soak of 3 and only magical armor have Hardness rating.

I find that highly unrealistic.  There for I am changing it.

First thing that changes is Hardness

Hardness values are now this.  Any attack where the Damage Potential (as defined by Strength + Weapon Damage) is lower than the Hardness is ignored.  The amount of attack successes does not factor into the equation.  So no matter how successfully you overcame an opponent’s parry/dodge, as long as his Armor’s Soak value is in effect, you cannot hurt him unless your Raw Damage Potential is capable of puncturing through the Hardness of the Armor. 

So now Hardness’s function is no longer to stop minimum damage from occurring. It is now the ability to make the person wearing the armor invulnerable to low damage potential attacks. This effectively makes things like Warstriders, with their hardness of 8 to 15, nigh-invincible except against those with weapons designed for penetrating armor and/or superheavy and/or used by Strong Characters, which makes more sense.

Hardness is considered Armor Soak, so it is halved by Piercing Effects.

Note: appropriately spectacular Stuns can actually ignore Hardness value, like in “Ninja Scroll” where Jubei using his unexpected surprise to shoot the Stone Demon Guy in the Eye.  In normal combat situations he wouldn’t have hit.

The minimum damage is now this

As long as the attack overcomes Soak, i.e. the Post-Soak Damage is higher than 0, you get the highest of the following as Minimum dice rolled

Essence Stat: which is still capped at the Damage Potential (Dmg + Str).  Since Essence stat cannot give you damage that you are incapable of inflicting.

Minimum Damage of the Weapon: which is 1 unless weapon has the “Overwhelming” attribute and In the latter case use the appropriate value.

Character Creation: Unwanted Dots

If during creature there were unwanted dots that is not covered by Merit and Flaws already (such as Background Dots) then the dots can be transferred over at the rate of 1 for 1 experience points after the character is finished.

These experience points are then immediately allocated without training time. The training time is assumed to have been completed during the portions of the character’s life before the game started.

Dangers of Virtues Higher than 3

Exalted 2^nd Edition Core Rule Book – P. 102

A high Virtue score signifies passionate commitment to certain emotions and behaviors. A character with high rating in a Virtue can find himself unable to resist following his heart, even when doing so is unwise.

A character with a Virtue of 3 or higher must roll her Virtue rating in a situation where she wishes to act against the Virtue’s dictates. Any successes on the roll compels her to either adhere to her Virtue or spend a point of temporary Willpower to override her emotions and act freely for the scene. A Solar Exalt who suppresses his primary Virtue (associated with her Virtue Flaw) automatically add a point to his Limit. Suppressing other Virtues does not add to the Exalt’s Limit.

Example: Elias’s primary Virtue is Compassion, with a rating of 3. He’s trying to infiltrate the Realm when he sees an old woman being shoved and manhandled by two city guards. The Storyteller asks Phyllis, Elias’s player, for his reaction, and she states Elias will simply look away and keep walking. The Storyteller informs her that this denies Elias’s Compassion and that she must make a Compassion roll for him not to intervene. Phyllis rolls a 1, a 3 and a 10—two successes. The Storyteller says Elias must do something unless Phyllis spends a point of temporary Willpower. Phyllis grits her teeth, marks off a point of temporary Willpower and increases Elias’ Limit by one.

Rule Changes

I am changing the rule so that the character can roll a contested roll with the balancing virtue. If the Balancing virtue has higher number of successes than the Virtue in question then the character must act as the balancing virtue dictates.

If they both have the same number of successes the character may take the balancing route.

This override does not gain limit point since it is not a forceful override of one’s nature. It is also optional the character can simply chose to indulge his strong passions and act out recklessly instead of taking his inner voice into consideration.

Regardless of which Virtue won, the character can spent 1 Willpower point to override it. Doing so gains limit accordingly to standard rules – even if the Balancing Virtue won and is not the Primary Virtue.

 

For reference here are some of the Examples given by the Core Rule Book

Compassion

Compassion Aids in: Protecting or aiding the sick, innocent or oppressed. Fighting for justice. Bringing aid to the needy. Fighting for or engaging in romantic love.

Characters Must Fail a Compassion Check to: Slay a defeated foe. Ignore the pleas of the oppressed or impoverished. Ignore the powerful abusing the helpless. Publicly humiliate a friend or lover.

Conviction

Conviction Aids in: Withstanding hardship and torture. Making decisions where all options are horrific. Committing atrocities to accomplish a goal. Regaining Willpower.

Characters Must Fail a Conviction Check to: Abandon a committed cause. Give up in the face of hardship or disease. Abandon companions in their time of need.

Temperance

Temperance Aids in: Resisting temptation. Holding your temper when taunted or struck. Holding your tongue when intoxicated. Overcoming the effects of illusions, drugs, poisons and mind control.

Characters Must Fail a Temperance Roll to: Act dishonestly or show bias in a matter of importance. Overindulge in food or intoxicants. Act on thoughtless impulse. Break a sworn oath.

Valor

Valor Aids in: Heroism in battle. Withstanding magically created terror. Performing feats of daring and taking risks.

Characters Must Fail a Valor Roll to: Turn down a duel of honor or a call to single combat. Flee a battle. Receive an insult without seeking retribution. Turn down a dare or challenge.