I AM II.β

I AM II.β is something built by the Mice of the Sun that mimics the Great I AM of the First Age.  It however is not the same thing.

While the original “I AM” was an sentient automaton that forms a network all across Creation.  I AM II.β is actually an amalgam of Magitech and Organics.  I AM II.β is a beautiful 5’ coral like tree of pink living crystal with circuitry capillaries of orichalcum and amalgamated with an frame of magitech clockworks and monotonic capacitors.

By itself I AM II.β is just a repository of knowledge that responds to voice and it is simple enough to construct with nothing more than inorganic materials.  It’s true wonder is that it is a living being – and designed to be possessed by the City God of Rathess – Long Zi Sen.

 

Functions of I AM II.β

Central Hearth Interface

I AM II.β is designed to be geomantically in sync with the Central Hearth.  This allows I AM II.β to interface directly and enhance the basic functions of the Central Hearth.  It arguments the Glorious Halo of Hesieth Function (3-D display of fire) with audio.  And allows real-time visual/audio monitoring of everything within the Central Hearth’s zone of control.

Communication

Chief among I AM’s functions is easy communication across the City.  No longer are the special alcove necessary for visual communication.  I AM II.β can send the visuals with audio to any place within the Central Hearth’s Zone of Control.  

An individual can relay a statement to I AM II.β, which can then relay the recorded statement, verbatim, to another individual.  As I AM II.β speaks Earthtongue, Skytongue, Flametongue, Seatongue, Forest-tongue, Riverspeak, and Old Realm, it also add translation commentaries to the message.

Public Library

I AM II.β has the eidetic memory merit and can perfectly recall anything it sees or hears.  This perfect retention of information serve as a primary form of library for the City of Rathess. 

Librarians have been working diligently with I AM II.β to store books that should be allowed for general consumption and anyone in Rathess can request these books displayed via the Glorious Halo of  Hesieth.

Books that are more specialized and possibly dangerous, such as covering the topics of occult, are still maintained in the standard library and must be checked out physically.

The All Seeing Eye

I AM II.β is also used for security purposes.  If I AM II.β was already online then the death of Megabotuatak may not have occurred.  Because of the existence of I AM II.β there is no privacy in Rathess.  Everything everyone does within the Central Hearth’s zone of control is monitored by I AM II.β.  Because of I AM II.β’s Perfect Recall it is also permanently recorded.

This knowledge however is strictly controlled and can only be accessed in formal court session in the Hall of Justice.

The difference between Prayer, Prayer and Prayer

In Exalted when one sys Prayer there are actually 3 separate types.

First is the Bread and Butter of the Gods, the measuring stick for their might and status.  This is the simple prayer in which one humbly show devotion and makes entreaties to the Gods.  Such as “please keep xxxxx safe”, or “please make yyyyy fall in love with me”, or “dear god we like to thank you for this meal”, and such.  Gods have the natural ability to both hear and process these prayers. 

The Standard Rule Book mentions that Prayer action requires a difficulty 7 roll of Charisma+Performance with each dot of resources sacrificed lowering the difficulty by 1.  That makes little to no sense in the fact that humans are designed to provide prayer as fuel for the inhabitants of Yu-Shan.  With these stringent requirements all of Yu-Shan would starve.  There for it must mean a separate form of prayer.  This roll will now be called “Invoke Miracle” as opposed to “Prayer.”  Success in this action means this special prayer not only sounds special in the ears of the God, it also creates an link between the two.  The God is able to use a single Charm through the person or on the person.  Failure in this roll means little, the God would still hear it as a basic prayer and may still intercede, and, like basic prayers, he would have to physically arrive at the invoker to utilize his charms.  Thus it is best to do these rituals at/near the God’s sanctum or domain.  Thus you have these story of Merlin arriving at the Lake (Lady of the Lake’s Sanctum is near by) to beseech her help (thus whether he succeed or not, the Lady may still aid him.  Should he do so elsewhere the Lady can only provide aid if he succeeded in his Invoke Miracle roll.  It is unlike the Lady will physically travel to his location and provide aid should he fail.)

The third type of prayer is the Thaumaturgy Religious Rituals.  These are holy processes that invokes an aspect of the God’s power and nearly always use Charisma+Performance instead of Intelligence+Occult as per normal Thaumaturgy rules.  Like all methods that taps a god’s aspect, the god in question cannot stop someone from gaining bonuses from a correctly performed holy rite.  However, these rituals may be Thaumaturgy but they are still prayers.  So a God is aware when it is performed and still get his allotment of Ambrosia.  Thus most do not care when it is put to a inoffensive purpose.  One might want to think twice about invoking a Religious Ritual against the God’s interests however.

Abyssals and Solars Charm Trading

I briefly mentioned it on Saturday.  I am putting it in official record for reference.

Abyssals can learn any Solar Charm without Holy Tag.  Even their Eclipse counterpart cannot learn it.  Their corrupt nature simply cannot channel Holy energy.  If they should try to channel the body would automatically convert it to Abyssal Essence – which means the Charm does not function.

Solars cannot learn ANY Abyssal Charms, even though Solars Charms and Abyssals Charms have Mirror Relationships.  Solars simply do not have the corrupted Spark that facilitates the Abyssal Charms.  Eclipse Castes, however, can learn them.  However, they are still governed by the rules for non-solar charms and abyssal charms.  Meaning, it cost 2 motes more, and they have to meet all requirement – some Abyssal Charms have the Whisper Background requirement.

For those who can learn the other’s Charms – Mirror Charm Relationship is maintained.  Thus they can use them for meeting pre-requisites.

Greeting the Sun

From “Glories Most High, Unconqured Sun” Page 40

The Art of Husbandry (0, Charisma, 1, Five minutes)

First Age Solars mandated a schedule of worship wherein all mortals made five daily prayers to the Unconquered Sun: once at sunrise, then at noon, midafternoon, sunset and midnight. These prayers were not simply shows of respect to the Most High, they enabled the sun’s righteous blessing upon the people.  A successfully completed daily prayer to the Unconquered Sun obviates one botch between the time of the prayer’s performance and the next scheduled prayer in the cycle, making it a normal failure instead. (A prayer at sunrise would alleviate the first botch that occurred between dawn and noon.)

By the end of the First Age, the Solars had allowed most mortals to grow lax in their devotions, and the majority of individuals did not awaken to make a midnight prayer.  As a result, the small hours of the morning became widely associated with misfortune and disaster, an association that has persisted into the current day.  Only a very few communities still greet the sun according to the old methods, though the Cult of the Illuminated has recently revived the practice among its training camps.  This procedure uses Performance in place of Occult.

[My Adjustment]

It is now just a normal prayer ritual, it is no longer a Thaumaturgy Rite that uses Performance.  However, it now requires a Week of the scheduled prayer (Charisma + Performance, Difficult 1) before it start to take effect.  Once broken for whatever reason, it will need another week before it takes effect again.

The Ritual be started within a 10 minutes window at each phase.  It does not matter why it was missed, the person has to start anew.

It also only negates 1 Botch between Sunrises, not Once every 6 hours.

Otherwise the ritual is unchanged.

Keep in mind it is a Religious Ritual/Prayer.  Akin to the rites of Islam.   It is not a quiet silent thing one does under one’s breath in secret.  It is the reciting of the Unconquered Sun’s Litany while prostrating oneself towards the direction of the Sun (or lifting hands in prayer towards the middle of the sky should it be noon or midnight).  The ritual last 5 minutes.

Mass Combat: Heroes, Sorcerers and Relays

Heroes

Heroes are better visualized as the Vanguard of the Army.  Like Marcus Antony to Julius Cesar, or Achilles to Agamemnon.  They are pretty much a “mini” commander.

• Heroes can assume commander’s role if the Commander dies.  If there are no Heroes within the army then the unit immediately undergoes disbandment.
• Heroes must be in the front.  If the Special Character are not leading from the front then they are Sorcerers.  It also means even of the Hero is using a range attack he cannot commit to “snipe” action.  He can only “duel” other Heroes.  Since he is deep in the thick of the battle and doesn’t have the luxury to patiently wait for the perfect opportunity to attack an opposing special characters.
• Heroes are under the command of their generals, and there for use the General’s War or their own War as ability caps.  Under no circumstance will a Heroes War Ability be used as Cap for the Unit.  To do so he has to usurp command of the Unit and replace the Commander.
• Heroes because they are right in the thick of it are the edge of the unit’s blade.  A unit can rally around the Hero and use HIS Close Combat Rating instead of the Units.  Thus even the lowliest of peasants will be emboldened by Achilles heroism and push deep in to the enemy line at every attack – getting effective Close Quarter Combat Rating of 7 (for Achilles).  This makes a good pairing of Heroes and Commander nigh invincible.  Which is the case of Kaneko and Nella.
• [My Changes] Heroes attached to a pure Range Attack Unit can lend the Range Attack Unit his Range Attack Score.  This is balanced out by the fact I am allowing Sorcerer’s to use Charms to benefit the Unit.
• They can make an additional attack that is separate from the Unit as a whole – as a Solo Magnitude 0 Unit.
• Heroes because they are fighting in the front cannot attack a target that the Unit is not attacking.  To do so he has to break away and form his own unit.
• Heroes can become a unit in his own right.  Becoming a new independent unit.  Standard split unit action rules apply.
• [My Interpretation] Heroes because of their limited focus (in the frontlines leading the charge) cannot use Charms to benefit the Unit.  They can use Charms to argument their solo attack to to raise his own Close Quarter Combat Rating, but he cannot use Charms otherwise to benefit the Unit.  E.g. he cannot use sorcery to teleport the entire unit to safety, he cannot use charms to defend the entire unit, etc.

 

Sorcerers

Sorcerers are those special character with skills that are deep behind the army lines.

• Sorcerers are not Heroes.  There for they cannot assume command in the Heat of the Battle.  He can reform the army after its rout, but he is not at the focus of the fight to stench the bleeding wound should the death of the commander shatter morale.
• For rule purposes Sorcerers cannot split the Unit (no idea why, but that is the rules).  They however can split from the Unit independently and become a “commander” of his own magnitude 0 unit, and they under go merge/split action to gain more magnitude.  No idea why the game mechanics force it this way but I am honoring the rules.
• Sorcerers however cannot use their own War Rating.  They are always capped at the Commander’s War.  Even for their own independent range attack.
• Like Heroes, Sorcerers can also make independent attack as Magnitude 0 Units.  Because they are not in the frontlines they can only attack with Ranged Attacks.
• Unlike Heroes, the only Combat Rating a Sorcerer can impart to the Unit is Range Attack Rating.
• Because they are away from the action they have the luxury of using Sorcery.
• Because they are away from the action they can support the whole unit as opposed to marred to their knees in the bodies of the enemy.  Thus they can use Charms to aid the entire unit.  Such as Perfect Parry or Perfect Soak.

 

Relays

While Relays have no direct combat advantage they are vital to large units.  Relays are not necessary messengers.  It embodies the entire command structure.  The Co-Captain is a Relay, so are Lieutenants, Signallers, Runners, etc.

• Relays are abstractions, but they are also special characters.  Being such being a relay does not “remove” the person from being counted in Magnitude (just like Heroes and Sorcerers).
• Units with Magnitude 3 or higher must have at least 1 relay for every dot.  Since a Army can have 2 special characters for every Magnitude, it means for magnitude 1-2 they can have 2 and 4 Special characters respectively.  For every dot beyond that it really only adds 1 special character slot, since the other will be taken by a relay.
• For each relay that is missing the unit suffers -2 to its effective Drill.
• Since Relays are the Command Structure they can stand in for the Commander for Command functions.  Rolls such as Rally Checks, Hesitation Rolls, Route Tests, etc.  Thus a completely not likable commander may still function if his second in command is popular and charismatic.

Night Caste Anima Clarification

Here are some clarifications so we are all on the same page in regards to Night Caste Anima Powers

1. It allows Motes spent on charms to not add to anima banner.  Except those by sorcery.
1. When the Charm is normal it only cost 1 extra mote to not have it add to Anima Banner
2. When the Charm is Obvious it cost double to have it not add to anima banner.
3. It does not make an obvious charm not obvious.  It just stops it from adding to anima banner and nothing else.  So it pretty much just turns peripheral essence into personal essence (and thus there is no point using it if you are using personal essence already.)
2. When Iconic it makes the character unidentifiable
1. Think of it as if the character is donning a super hero costume.  When Batman puts on his suit no one knows he is Bruce Wayne.  But anyone who see him putting on knows it is Bruce Wayne.  Anyone seeing a person wearing the Bat Suit (anima banner) again knows it is Batman again.  There is nothing supernatural about it.  It is just a matter of the animal obscuring the character’s appearances.  Making him non-identifiable on physical appearance alone.
2. This only prevents identification by physical features.  It does nothing to hearing, smell, or texture.  Thus it is of little effect on Blind people.  The anima does not cover up smell or voice (aside from the muffling, see below) to any significant degree as to make detection thus impossible.
3. When Iconic it adds half the essence of the Solar (rounded up) to tracking attempts
1. Keep in mind this is an Anima Power.  Which means when this happens you are subjected to the Stealth is Impossible Rule of Anima Banner.  Thus it only affects people who are tracking you (without direct visual contact).  A person who can just follow the giant glowing source of light has no difficulty modifier.  It is only applicable when they lose sight of you and must track you by things you leave behind.

Rathess Society Information

Rathess is a draconian totalitarian theocracy though lead by a dogma of Compassion and Justice. 

There however is no privacy, IAM 2.1 is everywhere and monitors everything.  Making Criminal Careers short and painful.  Punishment is swift and certain. 

Unless the Crime deals with Rathess itself (such as treason, damage of public property, crimes against/involving a Dragon King) it is handled by the Courts of Humanity following laws outlined by Gladrien and Aata – reasonable and compassionate.

Crimes that fall under the governance of the Ecclesiastical Court are a different story.  The punishment for such crimes are almost without fail Ritual Sacrifice – since they only deals with matters of apostasy.

The Dragon Kings have been convinced by The Fair Lady, the Thunder God, and the Twilight, that the inherent spiritual difference between mankind and Dragon Kings require the adaptation of separate Codes of Law.  Thus unlike Dragon King Criminals, death sentence is rare for humans (except for Heresy) because it is a tenant of Compassion to give the criminal opportunity to redeem themselves in the scales of heaven.  Usual punishment involves fulfillment of debt to society and (re)education – sometimes via Hard Work, other times through religious indoctrination.  However, under no condition is mind control a legal course of action, because the goal is for redemption and not just a change in behavior.  Those deemed beyond redemption are executed.  These executions are just a matter of course and has no associated importance.  Thus condemned criminals are not paraded through the streets and publically executed, nor are their punishment hidden from the eye of the people.  Anyone can pay Homage at the Temple of Justice and have free access to the execution grounds.  Though their chance to witness such an proceeding is up to chance due to the lack of advertisement and rarity of capital punishment.

There are also no currency within Rathess.  Any barter done by Rathess to outsiders are done in Silver and Jade.  Dragon Kings does not consider Gold a currency, instead it is used for iconography and religious decorations. 

Residents of Rathess each are assigned responsibilities they must attend to.  It governs the lives of every Rathessian from the adult’s work hours in the Undercity to how many hours a child must play with other children in any given day.  These schedules however are very reasonable and give fulfilling and structured lives to the masses.  The residents of Rathess have no worry of food, shelter, and security, and receive education that is the envy of any city state.  Those who repeatedly renegade on their responsibilities are exiled into the Jungle and few wishes to throw away their utopian existence for sheer laziness.

Solars that chose to settle in Rathess have the right to pick an Estate in the Human Octave.  However, like all Humans they are not allowed to have estates/permanent residence in the non-human areas.  Rathess as it was, is dedicated to the Unconquered Sun and Dragon Kings – it is not for humanity to claim as their own.

The Solars are also provided with servants and guards and resources to the maintaining of their Dignities.  It is a great honor to be chosen by the Lawgivers and many hopeful place their name on the rosters for the chance of basking in the glory of the Unconquered Sun’s Children. 

Solars are individuals however and just what this dignity is differs from person to person.  It runs the gambit from the Tasteful Monument to his own Greatness that Dagnir calls his estate, to the small non-descript apartment of the Twilight that is unreachable without going through the Undercity.

There is no need to assign a resource value to each Solar, since only time and manufacturing speed limit their spending.  However, should they require resources outside of the City they can easily receive enough resources to be considered at 5 dots.  Since Rathess for all intent and purpose have Unlimited Resource (at least for any one Solar to spent by himself).

Rathessian Crystal Weapon

While Chiaroscuro Glass Weapons are the wonder of the south, the Dragon King’s mastery over crystals are a wonder of the First Age.  It is but Child’s play for Dragon Kings to product a better material. 

Unfortunately due to the lack of Dragon King’s its production are very limited.

Currently only few hundred weapons are made and they are used almost exclusively for Adeptus Astartes and Solar House Guards.

Rathessian Crystal can be made into any Slashing or Piercing weapon.  They have the same statistics as their mundane counterparts, except the Crystal Blades gains Piercing Tag if it does not already possess it and +1L of damage.   The crystal however are incredibly dense and is as heavy as the metal it replaces but nigh indestructible.

Cost: Not available for sale.  Should a weapon be smuggled out, it will cost +•• more than normal to a minimum of ••••

Note: The Adeptus Astarte weapons are all finished within the Altelier-Manse and Blessed by the Mice of the Sun.  Thus they are all Perfect Quality Weapons.  Those used by Solar House Guards are of the mundane quality.

Rathessian War Bow

Rathessian War Bow is of an ancient design and harvested from engineered plants that grown half a dozen every Season.  Incredibly rare only the Adeptus Astartes are using them currently.

The wood is scented and naturally forms a resilient composite with its natural resin.  It is light to pull yet stores an incredibly amount of energy.  It is no less effective than the mundane Wheelbow currently the guarded secret of Lookshy.

Speed: 5
Accuracy: +1
Damage: +1L
Rate: 3
Range: 275
Max Strength: ••••••
Cost: Worth •••• if available at all
Tags: 2, B

 

Rathessian Smite

All the trees currently grown in the Temple-Monastery of the Adeptus Astartes are ancient seeds preserved along with the Legacy.  As such they product Perfect Quality Rathessian War Bows.  These bows are known as Rathessian Smite and has became the Standard Sidearm of the Adeptus Astartes.

Speed: 5
Accuracy: +2
Damage: +3L
Rate: 3
Range: 325
Max Strength: ••••••
Cost: Worth at least ••••• if available at all
Tags: 2, B

Chiaroscuran Glass Blades

The ruins of Chiaroscuro constitute an enormous supply of hard yet resilient glass… but only a small fraction of the glass comes in shards large enough to grind into swords. Glass, however, can hold a sharper
edge than steel.  Blades of Chiaroscuran glass have the same statistics as their metal counterparts, except the glass blades gain the Piercing tag.  Glass weapons also have Strength Minimums one dot lower than a metal weapon, since glass is lighter than steel or bronze.

Cost: +• in Charoscuro, +•• elsewhere in Creation

गरुड (Garuda or Devourer)

Garuda is a primordial creation similar to the Juggernaut and the usual vehicle of the Primordial Jheel-Khan, who eventually became the Neverborn “Whose Laughter Turns the Skies to Blood”.

Originally just a oddity of Creation that was turned into a beast of burden it was modified into a war chariot by The Dragon's Shadow, the Ultimate Darkness (who would fall and become the Ebony Dragon) against the Usurpers.

Garuda was widely regarded as the deadliest weapon against the Exalted and was destroyed at great cost.

Mass Combat

From “Exalted 2nd Edition,” Page 160

Although it is theoretically possible to run a combat with dozens or even hundreds of active participants, such battles last
interminably and quickly stop being fun. As a result, Exalted uses the following rules to abstract mass combat into the existing
system by making battle a clash of units rather than individual characters. Units do not fight in the standard one‐tick increments of
individual battle. Instead, they track time with long ticks that last approximately one minute each. Storytellers should keep in mind
that these rules aren’t appropriate to every engagement, particularly if the clash of armies only serves as a dramatic backdrop to
smaller‐scale personal combat. Once protagonists become involved in the direction of mass combat or the Storyteller wishes to
leave a battle’s outcome to dice rolls and strategy rather than a plot device, use these rules. Moreover, mass combat in Exalted
assumes that unit Commanders fight at the vanguard, leading from the front rather than the safety of the rear. Those who wish to
direct a battle from the rear are not unit Commanders. Instead, they take the role of generals, using relays and standard bearers to
communicate orders to the unit Commanders under their command. Therefore, a distant general can direct an entire force but
cannot personally rally troops to victory through her own prowess.

“YOU WEAR THEM”

The metaphor of the rules that the military apparatus of mass combat is merely an enhancement to the commander. Troops
comprise a bonus for their Commander, adding to his traits. In addition, troops marching in formation possess the ability to force
their context on individual they engage. Characters who come into contact with aggressive units of troops will be forced to fight
them as solo stacks in mass combat, not as heroes facing a large number of individuals in normal combat. This is a part of the nature
of Creation, and Storytellers shouldn’t let characters fight individual members of units once the unit is gathered together in the field.

It’s worth noting that units in mass combat are rarely destroyed through sheer damage unless they are set upon by a truly ferocious
supernatural power. More often, units are rendered ineffective by exhaustion and gradual loss of Magnitude by failed morale
checks, until their commanders stand alone and unaccompanied on the battlefield.

UNITS

Each unit on a battlefield falls into one of two broad categories. First, there are solo units, who are individual characters that are not
part of any group. However, most units are complementary units, made up of a commander and all those who directly follow her
orders. Statistically, a complementary unit is its commander, with trait bonuses awarded according to the numbers, equipment and
training of her troops. These special traits of complementary units include:

Magnitude: The size of a unit
Drill: The trained discipline of a unit
Endurance: The physical reserves of a unit’s member. Solo units also have this trait
Might: The overall mystical power of a unit, factoring in magical equipment
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Rating: The skill of unit members at attacking.
Close Combat/Ranged Attack Damage: The lethality of unit members when attacking.
Armor: The average protection provided by unit members’ armor
Morale: The overall bravery of a unit.
Special Characters: A non‐numerical listing of important characters within a unit’s ranks.
Formation: A non‐numerical trait that describes a unit’s current tactical arrangement.

Magnitude

When a unit attacks another, the larger unit applies the difference in magnitude as bonus successes to its attacks or subtracts the
difference from the successes of attacks by the smaller unit. This bonus/external penalty cannot exceed +/‐3.

My Modification: Keep track two Magnitude values.
“Actual”: Calculated based on raw number of troops in the unit. This will be used for maneuvers and rally rolls. This eliminates the penalty for a 100 Solar Exalted army being as clumsy and hard to manage as 700 men army.
“Effective”: This is the actual value used for attacks and such. So a 100 Solar Exalted fight just as well as a 700 men army.

Might

This value is added as number of successes to the Commander’s attack.  It is also added to the Commander’s Essence value to determine resistance and qualification against charms and spells

Close Combat/Ranged Combat Attack Rating

This value is added as successes to the Commander’s attack
This value is capped by Commander’s War Rating
This value is doubled for Close Formation
Half this Value is added to the Commander’s Parry DV

Close Combat/Ranged Combat Damage Rating

This is added to the Raw damage of the Unit’s Commander

My Modification: Unit does not use the weapon damage of the Commander.  Instead it only use the Skill of the Commander and Stats.  It is assumed the commander is “wielding” the Unit’s Abstracted Weapon.  So if everyone in the Unit is using a Reaver Daiklave, it is assume the commander is using the same.  If everyone gets the material bonus, it is assumed the commander does so as well.

Armor

This value is added to the Commander’s natural soak to determine the Unit Soak.

Morale

The lower of the “average valor of the unit” or the “Commander’s.”

Special Characters

• Maximum special characters in any unit is Magnitude x 2
• When attacking the special character uses the higher of the Heroes’ Close Combat (Attribute + Ability) or the Commanders, limited by Commander’s War ability.
• When attacking the special character uses the higher of the Sorcerer’s Range Combat (Attribute + Ability) or the Commanders, limited by Commander’s War ability.
• Units with Magnitude of 3+ must have at least one relay for every dot of magnitude, or suffer communication failure.

Hero: These characters are sub‐officers who are capable of assuming command if their unit commander dies. Furthermore, heroes may attack other units in close combat as if they were solo units, effectively giving their unit additional (but weaker) attacks.  Finally heroes can break away entirely and take part of a unit with them, transforming the breakaway group into a new unit under their own command. A hero can lead her Close Combat Rating to her unit, using her trait rather than the unit
Commander’s but the trait is limited as normal by the commander’s War.

Sorcerer: These characters might be actual sorcerers, skilled archers or neutral observers embedded deeply in the ranks for their own protection, but First Age tactical manuals such as “The Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier” use the designation “sorcerer” for all such individuals. Sorcerers can lead the unit in missile fire, lending their rating in the place of the unit’s. This is limited by the commander’s War rating, as normal. In addition, sorcerers have the capability to make ranged attacks independently of their unit, but they cannot assume command or lead troops to break away into new units as heroes can.

Relay: Possibly the most important special characters to organize military units, relay are the assorted drummers, buglers, standard bearers and signalmen who carry the commander’s orders through the ranks. Units with Magnitude of 3+ must have at least one relay for every dot of magnitude, or else, they suffer communication failure. This means the unit can only assume the unordered information and it suffers a penalty of ‐2 to its effective Drill. Besides passively maintaining order and communication, relays can stand in for the commander when the unit hesitates and tests for rout, and in other situations when commands are vital.

Formation

Unordered: Undisciplined Mob, add 2 to the difficult of hesitation rolls.

Skirmish: 2x shield/cover bonus against all attacks, additional +3 DV against ranged attacks. Enemy units attacking with close combat attacks 2x their Magnitude for purpose of calculating attack bonuses. If the attacker is in Close Formation, then 3x attacker Magnitude. Unit in skirmish formation add 2 to the difficulty of hesitation rolls.

Relaxed: Standard formation, no advantage of disadvantages. Double shield and cover bonuses against ranged attacks.

Close: vulnerable to AOEs. 2x unit’s Close Combat Rating, 2x their DV bonuses from shields/cover against Close Combat Attacks.
Enemies attacking with ranged attack bonuses 2x their magnitude. Subtract 2 from all hesitation rolls.

Combat Summary

• In mass combat, use the lower of the relevant combat ability or the commander’s War ability.
• When on horse, use the lower of the relevant combat ability or the rider’s Ride ability.
• The commander adds her unit’s Close Combat Rating and her Unit’s Range Combat Rating as bonus successes to close and
  ranged attacks.
• The Bonus successes added cannot exceed the commander’s War Rating, before applying modifications from formation.
• Add an additional number of successes equal to the unit’s Might value.
  • So a crack unit of young Dragon‐Blooded archers with Range Combat 5 and Might 2 commanded by a character with War 4 would add 4+2=6 successes to range attack rolls.
• If a unit attacks another and those units have different Magnitudes, the larger unit applies the difference as bonuses successes
  to its attack or subtracts the difference from the successes of attacks by the smallest unit. This difference cannot exceed +/‐ 3.
• Besides Improving Attacks, Might also adds to the commander’s Essence Rating to determine if particular effects can target the
  unit and/or to help him defend against the effects of hostile Charms.
• One half a unit’s Close Combat Rating adds to the Commander’s Parry DV. This is not modified by formation.
• A Unit’s Close Combat/Range Combat Damage adds to the raw damage of the commander with his weapon, respectively.
• A Unit’s range and its range increment are based on the range of the Unit’s weapon, not the Commanders.
• A Unit’s Minimum damage is not equal to the commander’s Essence or the Minimum damge of the weapon. It is equal to the
  Magnitude of the Unit, including Formation Modifiers.
• A Unit’s Armor adds to its Commander’s natural bashing, lethal and aggravated soak.
• A Unit’s number of health level is equal to the Commander’s full health levels.
• A Unit does not suffer wound penalties.

Common Outlaws

Just to give you guys a rough idea of what you can expect from the Bandit Opposition.  These do not represent army deserters turned banditry.  These are the commoners who have no future and thus turned to banditry out of lack of conviction or weakness of moral character.

Attributes
Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 1
Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 3

Virtues
Compassion 2, Conviction 2, Temperance 2, Valor 2

Abilities
Athletics 1, Awareness 1, Craft (Water) 1, Dodge 2, Integrity 1, Larceny 1, Martial Arts 1, Melee 1, Resistance 1, Stealth 2, Socialize 1, Survival 1, War 2

Join Battle: 3 (4 for Outlaws)

Attacks:
Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 4, Damage 2B, Defense 5, Rate 3
Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 3, Damage 5B, Defense 1, Rate 2
Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 3, Damage 2B Defense –, Rate 1
Knife: Speed 5, Accuracy 4, Damage 4L, Defense 3, Rate 3
Short Sword: Speed 4, Accuracy 5, Damage 5L, Defense 4,
Rate 2
Spear: Speed 5, Accuracy 4, Damage 6L/7L, Defense 5, Rate
2

Soak: 3L/6B (Buff jacket, 3L/4B, -1 mobility penalty)
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 3/2
Willpower: 4
Essence: 1
Other Notes: Often extras.

Mass Combat Stats

Overall Quality: Barely Disciplined
Magnitude: 3
Drill: 1
Close Combat Attack: 2
Close Combat Damage: 2
Ranged Attack: 1
Ranged Damage: 1
Endurance: 3
Might: 0
Armor: 1
Valor: 2
Formation: 100-200 Bandits in Skirmish or Relaxed formation

Some Members of the Second Cohort of Rathess

Each Cohort consists of around 500 units.  Currently the 100 Adeptus Astartes are split into 25 Unity (Groups of 4).  Each of the 5 Rathess Cohorts consists of about 1000 Triones lead by 5 Unity of Legionarii.

• First and Third Cohort is already engaged in the War of the North. 
• Of the Second Cohort 1 Unity is tasked with Escorting Supplies to the North and subsequently stayed in Angland awaiting reinforcements when they detoured to deliver Flawless Oak’s Message.  3 Unity with ~200 troops went with reinforcement troops to Angland.  The Last Unity moved on with the Next Northern Supply Escort.
• The Fourth and Fifth Cohort are still at Rathess.

 

These Astartes carry the standard equipment.

• Herenthid Gunshosa Commando Armor: Soak +11L/11B, Hardness 6L/6B, Mobility -1, Fatigue (N/A), Attunement 6 (4 with Talisman)
  • First Age Organic Symbiotic Gunshosa Armor of Exceptional Quality
  • Sensory Augmentation: +2 to Awareness, Negates all penalties from darkness less than pitch black
  • Enhanced Combat Reflexes; +2 bonus to all attacks; +1 Parry DV
  • Exomuscular Fibers: Double wearer’s ground speed; +2 to Strength.
  • Skin of the Chameleon: +4 bonus to Stealth
  • Blessed Regeneration: Wearer regenerates either 1 level of bash damage with every action taken during combat or all bashing levels per minute outside of combat. 
  • Endurance of the Forest: While the wearer feels physical strain and discomfort he automatically succeed all fatigue checks.  +2 to other Resistance checks.
  • Artifact •••••
• Adapteus Astartes Robe
• 5 have Jade Steel Daiklave with Matching Thunderbolt Shield
• Custodia and Rafael have Short Power Bow
• Custodia and Rafael have Reaver Daiklaves
• 3 others have Reaver Daiklaves
• All have the normal Triones Weapons if lacking Essence powered equivalent.
• All have Healing Orchid
• All have Breather Plant
• All have Green Eyes
• All have Rathessian Theater Badge
• Tiger Warrior Training Trained by Dace
• Further trained by the Dragon King Legacy
• Morale 5
• Drill 5
• Valor 4-5
• 4 Dots in Strength, Dexterity, Endurance
• 5 Dots in Melee, Archery, Thrown, Dodge, Integrity
• 3 Dots in Resistance
• 3 Dots in Survival with for Jungles Specialty at +3
• 3 Dots in War with +2 Specialty in Supernatural Combat
• 3 Dots in Lore and Occult
• Knows Old Realm, Holy Cant, and their normal languages
  

Mass Combat Stats

Overall Quality: Elite
Magnitude: Effectively 3 (2)
Drill: 5
Close Combat Attack: 7
Close Combat Damage: 4
Ranged Attack: 6
Ranged Damage: 4
Endurance: Does not tire
Might: 4
Armor: 4 (Hardness 6)
Valor: 4
Formation: 12 Adeptus Astartes in Close Combat Formation.

Members

Legionarii Amado (M)

The one that was sent to guide the Northern Supplies to Kaneko.  he was also asked Alabaster Hand of the Heavens and Flawless Oak to scout the Kingdom of Angland – their home kingdom.

He somehow managed to sent Word from the Far East informing the Solars that their Kingdom are in ruins and the Capital under siege by deserters from the various Wars of the East.

1. Legionarii Ramirez (M)

1. Jade Steel Daiklave

2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

2. Legionarii Custodia (F)

1. Short Power Bow

2. Reaver Daiklaves

3. Legionarii Rafael (M)

1. Short Power Bow

2. Reaver Daiklaves

4. Legionarii Fernanda (F)

1. Jade Steel Daiklave

2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

1. Legionarii Rodrigo (M)

1. Reaver Daiklaves

2. Legionarii Avinash (M)

1. Reaver Daiklaves

3. Legionarii Manu (M) 

   1. Jade Steel Daiklave

   2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

4. Legionarii Lupe (F)

1. Reaver Daiklaves

1. Legionarii Robertina (F)

1. Jade Steel Daiklave

2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

1. Legionarii Nieves (F)

   1. Jade Steel Daiklave

   2. Matching Thunderbolt Shield

2. Legionarii Pravin (M)

3. Legionarii Dara (F)

 

Adeptus Astartes Triones

Lead by the 12 Astartes are 192 Triones, organized into Unity of 4 – as per tradition.

While still labeled as “Triones” these are just as well trained as their elevated brothers.  The only difference is that they have not yet receive the blessing of the Unconquered Sun (Essence Enlightenment).  They are just as devoted and fanatical however and represents one of the most lethal fighting force in the East.

• Rathessian Adeptus Astartes Lamellar Armor (Quality, Mobility -2, Fatigue -1, +2 L/B Soak). Soak 8L/10B, Mobility 0, Fatigue 0, Cost •••••
• Adapteus Astartes Robe
• Wrath of Rathess (Standard Triones Secondary Weapon, Perfect Quality Rathessian Crystal Chopping Sword, +2 to Accuracy, +1 to Defense, +1 to Damage): Speed 4, Accuracy +3, Damage +6L/2, Defense 0, Rate 2, Str ••, Cost N/A, Tags O, P
• Spear of Rathess (Standard Triones Spear, Perfect Quality Short Spear of Ironwood tipped with Rathessian Crystal Spearhead, +2 Defense, +1 Accuracy, +1 Damage) Speed 5, Accuracy +3, Damage +5L, Defense +3, Rate 2, Str•, Cost •••, Tag P, R
• Aegis of Rathess (Standard Triones Shield, Perfect Quality Target Shield, Mobility -1, DV vs Melee +1, DV vs Range +1): Raise DV vs Hand to hand or ranged attack by 2.  Does not incur any mobility penalty.
• Rathessian Smite (Perfect Quality Rathessian War Bow): Speed 5, Accuracy +2, Damage +3L, Rate 3, Range 325, Max Strength ••••••, Cost N/A, Tags 2, B
• 60 Target Arrows (+0L Damage, Piercing)
• All have Healing Orchid
• All have Breather Plant
• All have Green Eyes
• All have Rathessian Theater Badge
• Tiger Warrior Training Trained by Dace
• Further trained by the Dragon King Legacy
• Morale 5
• Drill 5
• Valor 4-5
• 4 Dots in Strength, Dexterity, Endurance
• 5 Dots in Melee, Archery, Thrown, Dodge, Integrity
• 3 Dots in Resistance
• 3 Dots in Survival with for Jungles Specialty at +3
• 3 Dots in War with +2 Specialty in Supernatural Combat
• 3 Dots in Lore and Occult
• Knows Old Realm, Holy Cant, and their normal languages
  

Mass Combat Stats

Leader: Usually an Adeptus Astartes Legionarii
Overall Quality: Elite
Magnitude: Effectively 3 (2) when split into 64 each lead by a Single Unity (4) of Legionarii, or 5 (4) when fighting as a single unit.
Drill: 5
Close Combat Attack: 6
Close Combat Damage: 5
Ranged Attack: 6
Ranged Damage: 3
Endurance: 9
Might: 1
Armor: 3
Valor: 4
Formation: 64 to 192 Adeptus Astartes Triones in Close Combat Formation.

Item Index

Here is a index of the various entries about the items in [Exalted Past]

Albio’s Armor (Artifact •••••)

Aata’s (Artifact ••)

Belt of Aerial Mobility (Artifact •••)

Celestial Cocaine (Resources •••••)

Celestial Wine (Resources •••••)

Chiaroscuran Glass Blades (Resources +•/+••)

Cup of Flowing Blood (Artifact •••)

Dactylothecoe, The (Legendary Artifact)

Daiklave of Conquest, Dance’s (Artifact •••••)

Domnica's Mantle (Legendary Artifact)

Dragon Tear Tiara (Artifact ••)

Fans of the Sweet Courtier, The (Artifact ••••)

Heart, The (Unknown Artifact)

Ironic Jest (Soulsteel Grand Daiklave, Artifact•••••)

Mask (Artifact ••)

Mecca (Legendary Artifact)

Metasorcerous Phylactery (Artifact ••••)

Nadir of Inauspicious Fortune, The (Artifact ••••)

Pale Pain’s Mirror (Unique Artifact)

Peach of Immortality (N/A)

Perfection of the Ascending Sun (Legendary Artifact)

Rathessian Crystal Weapon (Resource +••, no less than ••••)

Rathessian Smite (N/A)

Rathessian Theater Badge, The (Artifact •) 

Rathessian War Bow (N/A, Resources ••••)

Rod of Cleansing the Body (Artifact ••)

Scepter of Peace and Order, The (Legendary Artifact)

Seven Bounties Paste (Resource •••)

Songbirds of Atlantis (Artifact •••)

Sweet Cordial (Resource ••••)

Tears of Incomparable Misery (Artifact •••••)

Third-Arm Glaive (Artifact •••••)

Translation Crystal (Artifact ••)

Yasal Crystal (Artifact • or ••)

 

War Strider

Battlelusting Lightless Shadow (Noble, Artifact ••••)

 

Others

Nemissary Honor Guards: Maiden of the Mirthless Smile

 

Legacy of of Auspicious Plume

Herenthid Find, The (Military Science)

Hidden Library of Chikmayiz, The (Medicine)

Hidden Workshop of Methexis, The (Metallurgy)

GM’s mistake on Adaptus Astartes

GM made the mistake remembering more suits than there are.  After checking the list only 141 Suits were recovered.  49 is used already (at that point).

Once growth is accounted for here is the break down of current suit distribution

The suit The Twilight used was returned to Rathess.

The 100 Astartes of the Rathess Chapter are completely equipped – so that is 100 Suits.  About 60 went to the War of the East, and 40 remain in Rathess as Elite Shock Troopers.

Dagnir’s Adepta Sororitas is another 20 Suits.  That is 120 Suits accounted for.

The Kirighast Chapter is another 20 Suits, that is 140 suits Total.

With 1 for Kai, that is the entirety of 141 suits.

This means Alabaster and Flawless Oak have at most only a handful of Adaptus Astartes with them.  Including the 1 sent to scout Angland, that means they probably have total of 10 Astartes leading maybe 15x that number in Triones  (Tiger Warriors yet unblessed with full rank).

It also means the travel times are significantly slower, and that the players will not be given Gunshosa Commando Armors.

Dactylothecoe, The (Legendary Artifact)

The Dactylothecoe is also known as the Ring of Victory or more commonly as “The Trophy.”  It is made from the core of the freshly murdered Primordial “Ramethus;” who escaped the initial primordial wars into the Wyld and eventually returned after reinventing himself purely for combat.

That Battle was long and bloody and claimed the life of such Solar luminaries such as Brigid, Unconquered Shield and Righteous Guide.

Like the War before, it was Guiding Hand that Smite who landed the killing blow and Mecca who sealed the victory.  Guiding Hand that Smite, already manipulated by Mecca, deeply under the influence of the Great Curse refuse to yield the carcass of the Primordial for seal into Malfeas and claimed it as his spoil of war.  Thus another Neverborn was created.

The Deliberative tried to force him to yield by passing a motion, but Guiding Hand that Smite simply left the proceeding in mid-session and refused to return till the Deliberative swore to declare the carcass as his rightful gain.  This contest effectively disbanded the Solar Deliberative for more than a Century – for no session can be recognized without the Proctor present.  While irked the callous Solars did not see this as anything more than minor inconvenience to their governance of Creation.  However, as time grew the increasing dissenting Solars grew irked.

In secrecy that would shame Sidereal in Perfection, the 5 Deliberators unanimously voted to remove Guiding Hand that Smite as Proctor and install the more agreeable and equally respected Aofe as his temporary replacement.

The same playbook for Merela’s “removal” was used and after his “peaceful and natural” death Guiding Hand that Smite was given a funeral deserving of a Hero of the First Age.

Mecca then passed on to Aofe conditioned upon his temporary post as Proctor.  During this time he gained the epithet “The Golden Blade” on his many campaign into the Wyld and expanded the Reach of Creation greatly. 

The Ring passed on to the next incarnation of Guiding Hand that Smite.

Aofe’s temporary assignment lasted till the Usurpation since none of Guiding Hand that Smite’s incarnation ever lived long enough to gain enough recognition to assume his rightful position.  “Misfortune” seems to follow the ring bearer yet none of them can resist the power it grants and all wore it to their untimely deaths.

 

Power

Forged from very essence of a Primordial’s Essence as he straddled between his unkillable self and transformation into a Neverborn.  This ring grants the Wearer the certainty of existence that is the basis of Creation.   It affirms and protects its wearer’s identity and nature.  Only things of Creation proper can affect the character – the Dead, Fair Folk, Demons, Gods and the Wyld cannot even target the character with their magic.  They may use physical and social attacks, but none of their exo-creation properties can touch the bearer.  Any such actions enhanced by Charms/Special Effects will have the effects nullified.

Elementals and Gods, however, are of Creation, and thus are unaffected by this protection.  Charms that belong to Creation, such as Solars, Lunars, Dragon-Blooded, Spirit Charms of Gods, and Sorceries, are all native to Creation and thus will take effect – even if they are used by beings not-of Creation.

Similarly while Abyssal Charms are corruption of Solar Charms they are none the less still Solar Charms and thus are also outside the ring’s protection.

Green Sun Princes' charms however are Charms of the Yozi, thus cannot affect the wearer of the ring.

The Ring has 3 Hearthstone settings and functions as a Hearthstone bracer.  However, the Ring cost 15 motes to attune and is considered native material for all Magical Beings of Creation.  Though this is rather moot since only very specific people can attune to this awesome artifact.

While the Ring looks like it is made of Common Gold it is not.  It is the very essence of Will and Existence.  Thus those who attuned gains all 5 of the material bonus for Hearthstone Bracers.

• Orichalcum: All of the character’s attack gains +2 dice.
• Moonsilver: Increase the character’s lethal soak by 2 dice.
• Jade: Gain a -1 bonus to their Speed ratings for H2H or ranged attacks.
• Starmetal: Add one to the character’s weapons’ Accuracy and Defense rating.
• Soulsteel: Decrease the target’s lethal and bashing
  soaks by two against the character’s attacks. This effect cannot reduce a target’s soak below 0.

It is commonly assumed that the Ring will only function for Guiding Hand that Smite’s incarnations, but this is not entirely true.  The Ring will also function for whoever attuned Mecca – for she has tainted it with her corruption even during its creation.

Eclipse Oath and Objective Truth

The way we are handling Eclipse Oath is too broad.  The ability to swear Eclipse Oaths on Objective Truth opens too many ways for it to be abused.

E.g. Have an Extra swear an Eclipse Oath that “Plan A” is the best plan to destroy Death Lords.  If the oath fails then you know “Plan A” is not the best.  Then you move on to the next Extra who swears “Plan B” is the best course of action.

Thus from now on the Eclipse Oath is no longer able to be used for Objective Truth.  In the above example the Oath would become that the Extra absolutely believes that Plan A is the best course of Action – thus making it a Subjective Truth.

The rest of how we handle Eclipse Oath should not need any modification.

Secret Achievements and Epithets

There will be secret achievements in my game.  Successfully achieving the objective will Grant the character an Epithets.  Some Epithets will have no bonuses, but some will have significant bonuses.

Some NPCs will also have Epithets.  Some can be gained by PCs, others are Unique to the specific NPC.

[List of Epithets]

Rhianna of Marukan Alliance

Here is the image I picked for Rhianna of the Marukan Alliance.

Rhianna has the Unique Merit “Heavenly Spear.”  It is a modification of the Prodigy Merit.  Her merit, instead of adding +1 to Melee, adds +2 to Spears.  Like Prodigy Merit, this Merit also raise her Charm Dicepool Cap.  It’s most potent ability is that this Unique Merit also allows her to consider her Essence to be 1 point higher when using a Spear.  Thus even before she Exalted she would use Enlightened Being’s dice pool when wielding a spear, since her Essence would be 2 while doing so.  Now she would be Essence 6 when it comes to Charms regarding Spear Use.  It however, does not allow her to learn Charms she does not meet the pre-req for, it only improves the functions of the Charms she already know.

She is Solar Night Caste Essence #40.  Originally in 1st Edition she is Eclipse Caste, but I think that makes her too powerful.  So I changed her to Night Caste.

The image is Balsa from Seirito Moribito, and yes Rhianna was the finest mortal Spear User in Creation before her Exaltation.

I was debating between Balsa or Rider, but Rider is just too sexy for someone as serious as Rhianna.  Plus Balsa has this picture.

As a side note Rhianna is the one that gave Dagnir his horse.  The Marukan Steed was a foal from Rhianna’s own steed – Balsa.