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.
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.
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 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 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 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 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.
It seems Biggs and Wedge has been used already. Found them under the Wyld Hunt entry.
Biggs Darklighter Mnemon – Death at the hands of the Deceiver Anathema Nuri on Day 13 of Descending Wood, in Year 6 of the Fiery Ascend (Day 25,406) – 59/12/23, as witnessed by Prominent Willow, a Dryad in Serenity Valley.
Wedge Antilles Tepet - Death at the hands of the Forsaken Anathema Balan on Day 12 of Descending Wood, in Year 6 of the Fiery Ascend (Day 25,406) – 59/12/23, as witnessed by Prominent Willow, a Dryad in Serenity Valley.
Here are the pictures of the Neo-Rathessians costumes. Ignore the people wearing the cloth and focus on the fashion.
The Rathess Theater badge is given to all Astartes who have made the required pilgrimage to the Holy City. It is a badge of orichalcum and crystal suspended via a thick gold chain. The crystal face of the badge is a Dragon-Kings Crystal Book containing the holy scripture of the Unconquered Sun.
Aside from signifying the great honor and achievement for the bearer each badge is paws crafted by the Mice of the Sun and Blessed by Arch-Priestess Hastha-sth personally. It perfect construction and holy origin allows it to function as perpetual walk-away and forms an extremely potent ward against all creatures of darkness. The ward is equivalent to a 3 die ward, including all its bonuses and penalties.
Added 1.9.3.2 to http://workspace.office.live.com/
In case you guys want the Rapid Share Link: Link
It is under “RPG - Exalted Past” Project Folder, and “Tools” Sub-folder.
This version added the Statistic tracking ability. Now all die rolls rolled from WW Character Page will be kept track off.
It keeps track of total rolls, number of successes achieved, and how often each number is rolled (1-10).
Character files have also been updated to save the data. In effect each character’s “Rate of Success” is kept track of separately. So be-sure to save the character after each session to ensure the data is accurate.
To look at the stats just use the new “About” Dialogue. The button is added to the Tool Strip on top. It is the Windows Information Icon (Blue Circle with an “!” in the center).
The ComboBox let you select which stats you want to see.
The Clear Button Clear the Currently Selected Data, Resetting it to 0.
Incase you guys missed it, I added the “Math:” keyword in 1.9.3.0. The “Temp Holder” tab has the text box that is effectively an calculator. All you have to do is type in a math expression.
More information can be found on the 1.9.3.0 Post
The 1.9.3.2 Rar file contains the Exalted Template that uses the new Math: keyword if you guys want to see an example of how it is used. Just look in “Personal” and “Peripheral Essence Pool”.
Added the new version to both Office Workspace and Rapidshare.
Added the new “Math: “ Keyword for Specialties which allows parsing of math expressions.
You will need the 2 dll that is included in the rar.
The way the “Math:” keyword work is
In the Temp Holder Page, when you load a character, will be a list of Value Entries on the character sheet.
Clicking on the list will add it to the text box on top in the form of
@~|VariableName@~|
It adds to where the cursor is.
You can use it to form the math expression then you can copy the whole line, including the “Math: “ Part, and paste it in a specialty slot in the skill entries.
It is still a bit clunky and prone to errors, but it should make you guys life a little easier.
Uploaded the new Dicer to the Tools Folder of the Office Space and also uploaded it to RapidShare
http://rapidshare.com/files/260382474/Dicer__Visual_Basic__1.9.2.2.rar.html
MD5: 9D753A29FA3F76A5F9D88369F4AD8A20
The only thing I added (from 1.9.2.1) is a Calculator Function at the “Temp Holder” Tab of the program.
Haven’t decided on if I want to revamp the whole character sheet to use Evaluated Math Expressions instead of the clunky Func Format I am currently using yet. We’ll see.
If I decide to do it that way the character sheets will most likely be redone.
It will let you directly enter math formulas with Variables (probably enclosed in special characters, like “variable name” or @variable name@). This would solve the annoying limitation on DV calculation and Essence calculation of the current program.
Personal Essence: @Essence Stat@ * 5 + @Virtue: Compassion@ + @Virtue: Conviction@ + @Willpower@ * 2
Which is far more versatile, but it will take up a lot of time. So I probably won’t bother.
Prounced: E-mem Ad-joa
Emem Adjoa is Queen Azula’s Second in Command and the current leader of the Brides of Ahlat. She took over Azula’s old position when she was wed to Balan.
![Portrait-EmemAdjoa[1]](http://i555.photobucket.com/albums/jj471/JamesX007/Exalted%20Past/Original%20Images/e6906cef44c5761be66caf04430da0c9.png "Portrait-EmemAdjoa[1]")
Emem Adjoa is a Wood Aspect Dragon-Blooded in her late 20s. As an native of Harborhead Emem Adjoa can trace her lineage to over 20 generations of Warriors.
Emem Adjoa’s is born from an love affair between her mother and an young realm officer and was Exalted when she turned 14. Her father tried to claim her but she was already marked for the Bull God. The Horned Priest of the Bull God claimed her immediately after her Second Breath and anointed her into the harsh and ruthless life as a Chosen Bride of Ahlat.
While she stricken from all normal bonds of kin Emem Adjoa found kinship of spirit amongst her sisters. Even when some would consider it a tragedy to be separated from her family at such an young age she thought it the greatest honor she could ever receive.
Before the Battle of the Veldt of Fire and Grief Chiaroscuro had a population of around 1,000,000 residents and around another 100,000 to 200,000 visitors/trade caravans in any given season.
The Battle that took place on the Veldt of Fire and Grief eradicated roughly 50,000 of Chiaroscuro's finest. Including a sizable chunk of their nobility. The battle took place about a month after player’s departure from Harborhead and was handled by Bride of Ahlat.
Armed with their new weapons the 5000 Brides and about 2000 Varangian Irregulars managed to completely eradicate an Calvary army 10x their number. They somehow achieved completely strategic surprise and armed with the newly imported Perfected Boots the Brides slaughtered the straddlers.
By the time the Sun reach the Zenith it was over. It took only about 3 hours to slaughter 50,000 men and horses. Only ~4000 Delzahn riders survived and retreated to Chiaroscuro where they meet Dance and the Royal Company waiting. Those who surrendered were taken as slaves those who did not were allowed the option of turning over their weapons and mounts and be exiled, or be executed. Many chose the later.
As per the rights and laws of Harborhead, the properties and families of the 50,000 who died in combat were claimed by the Brides of Ahlat. The 2000 Varangian Irregulars were mainly wiped out and those who survived were handsomely rewarded with lands from those who deserted Chiaroscuro.
The Veldt of Fire and Grief is now Creation’s newest Shadowland, only 30 miles across but growly slowly.
Respecting the bravery and honor of men who would chose death rather than submission Dace allowed the City 2 days (before the arrival of Azula) to surrender. Those who remain and fight will be given very little leniency.
Hardened by the complete support of the Realm Legion the Tri-khan reorganized his army to defend Chiaroscuro to the death. He however loves his people and commanded those who are not involved in the war effort to vacate the city.
What followed is 3 days of madness as those who can get out to get out. The rich fled from Chiaroscuro onboard sea routes like rats. The poor escaped from the Sewers and at night. Of these Dance gave them no trouble. By Sunrise of the 4th day, only 450,000 people remained. The 40,000 Delzahn Riders are supported by 50,000 Garrison troops and another 60,000 citizen volunteers stood before one of the Finest Solar General of the 3rd Age and his 40,000 troops.
In the center of the Chiaroscuro Formation is the Dragon-Blood lead Garrison of the Realm – 5,000 strong, who is probably equal in military power to all the rest of Chiaroscuro combined.
Following the old customs Dance called for a battle of champions and beaten each in turn. Unfortunately the Chiaroscuroian troops were not shaken by his display of skill and only a small number deserted.
The battle was joint.
Dance’s personal guard with Panther acting as Hero drove straight through the Chiaroscuro formation and engaged the Realm Legion while the First Commandery under the Command of the Rathessian Astartes Ochieng Chiumbo and the 4th Commandery under the personal command of Nsonowa Farai, Harborhead General of the West, engaged the flank.
Dance crushed the Realm Legions and killed all the Dragon-Blooded commanders in single combat.
Ochieng Chiumbo broke through the flanks until he met with a Lunar and was soundly defeated. He was rescued by Dance and Panther and the Lunar cut a swath of blood and gore as he/she/it escaped into the City. Needing to stay with the Troops Dance and Panther did not gave chase.
Nsonowa Farai captured the Tri-khan and gave him the warrior’s way out. He claimed the Properties and families of the Tri-khan and presented the Sword of Chiaroscuro and the Tri-khan palace as gift to the Leopard Seat.
Chiaroscuro is a Ghost city now.
Hauberk-Lightening Gesture Charm is also not an instantaneous action. In the Charm description it has a speed value of 3. Meaning the Action to cast the Charm takes 3 ticks to perform.
It is also obvious and being a duration charm has a commitment cost equal to the casting cost.
So Balan normally have 1 mote committed for this Charm. If he un-commit the Essence, for whatever reason, the armor drops next to him from Elsewhere. This is different than Ending the Charm.
When he Ends the Charm he can then start to put the armor on from Elsewhere and the armor will appear directly on to him as he uses Armor Donning Actions.
Since the Charm is already ended he is free to use another charm – such as Whirlwind Armor-Donning Prana to put it on.
If he interrupts the Armor Donning Process it act as if the essence is un-committed directly and the left over armor pieces drops next to him.
I modified the Charm because I didn’t like the way it works. Now the difference is when the Charm is Ended, the Armor instantly reappears fully donned. Meaning there is no lost in time. The action over is still 3 seconds, and the armor appears at the end of 3 seconds, not before. This is incase there are attacks in progress, this also prevents ending the Charm to be used as a semi-soak charm use.
This however brings into one more conflict. I moved the armor donning time from the End of the Charm to beginning of the Charm. So that you will have to take the same amount of time to take off the armor so you can put it in elsewhere with the spell. The armor must be freshly worn so you can’t just default cast the charm on a suit of armor sitting around. The armor has to be freshly taken off.
This doesn’t change what happened last week, but I just want to make sure we are all on the same page.
It is up to you guys if you want to use the In Book Charm, or My modification. Either is fine with me.
Each invocation of Whirlwind Armor-Donning Prana turns an miscellaneous action into 1 minute worth of putting armor on. This is not 1 tick = 1 minute.
So in the case of Last Week’s Session, Balan performed 4 miscellaneous actions, thus it is a total or 20 ticks/seconds not 4 seconds.
Sunken Luthe – One of the 6 Lost Wonders of Creation
![Locations-SunkenLuthe[1]](http://i555.photobucket.com/albums/jj471/JamesX007/Exalted%20Past/Original%20Images/20656fa2cd28a3cb4869107ce6906155.jpg "Locations-SunkenLuthe[1]")
Deandra
![Portrait-Deandra[1]](http://i555.photobucket.com/albums/jj471/JamesX007/Exalted%20Past/Original%20Images/aad9993c9d702200b185b65a76774316.png "Portrait-Deandra[1]")
Adamant Sadness’ Anima
![Portrait-AdamantSadnessAnima[1]](http://i555.photobucket.com/albums/jj471/JamesX007/Exalted%20Past/Original%20Images/a3a3bdb075f93f7f71fdcc0fe98468c0.jpg "Portrait-AdamantSadnessAnima[1]")
Mist of Bloody Passage – Adamant Sadness’ Bonestrider
![Items-MistofBloodyPassage[1]](http://i555.photobucket.com/albums/jj471/JamesX007/Exalted%20Past/Original%20Images/cc5608e06edac7811d94e33df6c80282.png "Items-MistofBloodyPassage[1]")
Loathsome Osseous Shell – Necromantic Gunzusho Armor
Uploaded Dicer 1.9.1.11 to the Workspace.
Here is the section about Abyssal Limits from the Abyssal Book.
The Four Virtues are woven into Creation as tightly as the Five Elements, and the Neverborn could not sever their Chosen from that subtle quaternion. Abyssal Exalted can channel Willpower through their Virtues just like any other Exalted can, and they can find their Virtues challenged or conflicting. Still, the Black Exaltation gives deathknights a somewhat different interpretation of these fundamental concepts.
A player initially chooses whether his Abyssal serves a Deathlord or not, but this situation can change during play. Throughout the course of a series, a Deathlord might be destroyed, or a character might betray his master. An unscrupulous player might even ask to play a loyal Abyssal in order to gain the superior Abyssal Command, Liege, Spies and Underworld Manse Backgrounds, then have his character promptly betray his Deathlord as soon as the game begins. Once a deathknight goes rogue, though, he loses those four Backgrounds. After all, he no longer has access to his master’s armies, manses, minions or benevolence (such as it was).
On one hand, a generous Storyteller might allow the player to replace these Backgrounds with new ones. Perhaps the rogue Abyssal managed to keep one of the soulsteel gifts he gained from his Liege (changing his Liege dots to Artifact dots), or perhaps a portion of the Deathlord’s army remained loyal to the deathknight (replacing Abyssal Command with Followers). This approach is particularly appropriate if the Storyteller engineered the betrayal for the continuation of her chronicle.
On the other hand, a strict Storyteller might simply declare the Backgrounds lost. Most renegade Abyssals start their new lives with seriously diminished resources. This approach is more appropriate if the player initiated the betrayal himself (especially if the betrayal hampers the series in some way and diminishes the fun of the other players).
Should an Abyssal choose to return to a Deathlord’s service, he does not automatically regain Abyssal Command, Liege, Spies or Underworld Manse. He must earn back these Backgrounds through play, just as he would gain any new Backgrounds.
With their last spiteful gasps, the Neverborn cursed their murderers to an endless spiral of madness and betrayal. As the chosen weapons of the slain Primordials, the Abyssal Exalted no longer bear this curse. The slaves of Oblivion merely trade one burden for another, though, without even temporary insanity to excuse the atrocities their very presence inflicts upon the world. In the long term, Abyssals cannot make Creation a better place, for the unholy power of their Exaltation reaches out to poison and destroy the people they defend.
Instead of the Limit trait of the Great Curse, Abyssal characters possess a trait called Resonance. This trait tracks the displeasure of their malign masters and the accumulating force of death and destruction in their animas. Although Resonance resembles Limit in some ways, it functions quite differently in others. The most important difference is that Abyssal characters can reduce their Resonance at will… though not without cost.
The Abyssal Exalted gain Resonance in three ways:
The first time in a scene that an Abyssal transgresses against his fate as a servant of Oblivion, he gains points of Resonance equal to the successes of an Essence roll. The more powerful a deathknight becomes, the more closely the Neverborn scrutinize his actions and punish offenses. This progression extends to its ultimate form in the Deathlords, who deal very carefully with their masters for fear of appropriately high-Essence punishments—such as the First and Forsaken Lion’s eternal imprisonment within his armor.
Abyssal Exalted can sin against the Neverborn and the Void through inappropriate contact with the living world.
Storytellers can use these examples to identify other liferelated sins. Keep in mind that Abyssals can atone for certain sins, explaining how their questionable actions actually serve the greater interest of Oblivion as a stunt. Doing so gives them a small margin of grace as long as their loyalty does not falter.
The only thing the Neverborn punish more severely than supporting life is opposing Oblivion.
Abyssals can rid themselves of Resonance without a calamitous outburst—unlike other Exalts, who cannot mitigate their own Limit. Deathknights do this by reaffirming their loyalty to the Neverborn.
Atonement involves ritual prayers begun at sundown and ending at midnight, spoken in disturbing glossolalia. Magic cannot translate these words, though would-be translators can sense the malevolence beneath the inflections. When multiple deathknights gather in penance, their voices seamlessly join in eerie, spontaneous polyphony, though they do not understand their words any more together than alone. The deathknights also flagellate themselves and engage in other self-tortures.
At the conclusion of the ritual, the Abyssal’s player attempts a prayer roll to the Neverborn (Exalted, p. 132). The difficulty decreases by one for each level of lethal damage the Abyssal inflicted on himself. The Neverborn also accept human sacrifices or the senseless destruction of irreplaceable treasures whose loss diminishes Creation. If the prayer succeeds, the deathknight feels the Whispers of the Neverborn clawing through her soul. If the penance is sincere, the deathknight loses one point of Resonance per level of self-inflicted lethal damage. In case it even needs to be said, the Neverborn cannot be fooled, and attempting to trick them is a Resonance-worthy sin.
The simplest way for an Abyssal to reduce Resonance, however, is to suffer the punishment of the Neverborn. A deathknight can do so at any time with a reflexive Essence roll. Each success spends one Resonance point on black miracles such as Blight, Branding, Conduit or Stigmata. (Obviously, a player cannot spend more points than the character has accumulated.) Failing the roll, however, means the character suffers a Resonance effect with severity equal to the character’s Essence but gains another point of Resonance rather than losing any.
Although the character has no say in how or when a Resonance eruption occurs, his player spends these points and chooses their manifestation. The Storyteller can veto choices that don’t impose any actual drawbacks for the character or situation. Resonance effects are generally unpleasant enough, however, to make the selection an exercise in picking one’s poison. In addition, whenever a transgression raises a deathknight’s Resonance to 10+, the Storyteller spends 10 points on an eruption without needing a roll, choosing the most cruelly appropriate punishment(s) for the Exalt’s recent sins.
Whether under player or Storyteller control, a Resonance eruption cannot spend more points on Blight or Branding than the Abyssal’s Essence rating. A Resonance burst cannot allocate more Resonance on Conduit than the higher of the character’s Essence or Whispers. Stigmata is not limited in this way, so Abyssals who fail to provide loved ones or other buffers in the path of the Neverborn’s wrath run the risk of suffering terrible wounds if they displease their gods. A Resonance eruption can divide points among multiple effects, though, as long as each effect provides a disadvantage.
The Resonance effects listed here are cumulative, so spending three Resonance points on Stigmata makes all Essence peripheral for a scene and inflicts three levels of damage on the character. If the character already suffers from a particular Resonance effect, the same type of effect stacks to increase severity, resetting the duration from that point onward. The Storyteller can extrapolate higher-level Resonance effects for each of these categories to scourge wayward Deathlords or powerful Abyssals.
Step One: Player Controlled: Roll Essence. Count successes. Storyteller Controlled: Skip this step.
Step Two: Player Controlled: Compare successes to current Resonance points. Use lowest number. Storyteller Controlled: The number is automatically 10.
Step Three: Player Controlled: The player allocates the determined number of Resonance points among Blight, Branding, Conduit or Stigmata. Up to (Essence) points of Resonance may be spent on Blight or Branding. Up to (greater of Essence or Whispers) can be spent on Conduit. Stigmata has no limit. The Storyteller may veto any part of this selection that confers no real drawback, requiring reallocation of points until he approves the selection. Storyteller Controlled: The Storyteller allocates spent Resonance among effects as described.
Step Four: Player and Storyteller Controlled: The selected effects occur immediately, including all lesser effects associated with spending fewer Resonance points on each type of eruption.
Any of these effects might occur as the power of Oblivion streams through the Abyssal into Creation:
One natural animal toward which the Abyssal feels positively dies wherever it is, cut down by its brush with the Oblivion-tainted deathknight. The method of execution varies, but is always painful and rarely mistaken for natural causes. If no such target exists, this particular effect doesn’t apply, although other pertinent Blight effects resolve normally.
For the rest of the day, the Abyssal’s presence also puts out all natural fires of candle size or smaller and wilts natural vegetation. This effect has a radius in yards equal to the character’s Essence. Seeds are sterilized; cut flowers wilt. Plants larger than the Abyssal survive, but their foliage does not. Any recognizable, personal symbols of gods within the radius darken with a patina of soot, tarnish or mildew.
Besides being unsettling and revealing the character as a supernatural being, this effect makes it easier to follow a deathknight through environments containing plant-life. The effect imposes a -2 internal penalty to evade trackers (or -4 through forests, fertile grasslands or similarly dense vegetation).
The zone of destruction extends to (Essence x 10) yards. In addition, it puts out natural fires up to torch size, freezes standing water, spoils all food in the area and twists divine symbols into scrap. Together, these effects double the penalties to evade trackers through appropriate terrain. Natural animals exposed to the energies may develop a gruesome wasting sickness. (Check for leprosy as per p. 351 of Exalted, with a Virulence equal to the Abyssal’s Essence.) Thankfully, this disease is not contagious.
One mortal the Abyssal cares about dies. Mortals who share a reciprocal Intimacy with the deathknight are the most-favored target. Next come mortals who do not return the Abyssal’s Intimacy to them, followed by mortals whom the deathknight merely likes a bit, if only because he finds them useful.
The Abyssal’s zone of entropy—still (Essence x 10) yards—puts out natural fires smaller than a bonfire, burns divine symbols to cinders or slag and instantly kills natural animals of mouse size or smaller, carving a swath of dead insects and vermin. The energy also terminates all pregnancies and eggs, though miscarriages might not occur until days later. Mirrors that catch the Abyssal’s reflection crack.
The Abyssal’s zone of destruction extends to (Essence x 100) yards, quenching all natural fires. The deathknight suffers a -4 internal penalty to evade tracking through barren terrain and automatically fails to evade trackers through areas with any vegetation.
The weather around the Resonance epicenter grows unnaturally turbulent, with dense storm clouds, chill gales and sporadic rain that smells faintly of rot, blood or ash. Mushrooms and mildew grow wherever this rain collects, decreasing the output of farmland by half for the coming year. The clouds extend over a radius in miles equal to the Abyssal’s Essence, dissipating one day later.
The aforementioned zone of entropy lasts for a number of days equal to the Abyssal’s Essence, traveling with the Abyssal wherever she goes. Furthermore, mortals who come within (Essence x 10) yards of the Abyssal suffer one level of lethal damage per scene, causing them to bleed a thin trickle from the eyes, ears and mouth. These unfortunates also suffer a lingering -1 wound penalty while in the area from the agony of the Abyssal’s malignant presence.
A shadowland with a radius of (Essence x 10) yards opens around the Abyssal at the moment of Resonance eruption, halting any nocturnal travel through Creation until morning. Its radius contracts by 10 yards per day until it closes. While it lasts, it serves as a beachhead for hungry ghosts and spectres to rampage into the stormwracked Creation. Sensors in the Realm Defense Grid as well as instruments in the Bureaus of Seasons and Fate register such incursions of Abyssal Essence into Creation, though Yu-Shan lacks the resources to follow up on every incident.
The Abyssal’s mien assumes any number of minor spectral qualities for a scene, such as an inhuman rasping voice, glowing red eyes, deathly cold skin, audibly creaking bones or a noticeable scent of decay. The unnerving effect reveals the Exalt as a supernatural being and imposes a -2 internal penalty to all disguise-based Larceny rolls, Stealth rolls and social rolls not based on intimidation.
Spectral effects last for a full day and can manifest anywhere within (Essence x 100) yards. While unnerving, these effects have no real power to affect the world. Typical effects include animating people’s shadows as monstrous phantasms, creating chill winds that follow in the character’s wake or mirrors showing no living being’s reflection. Relevant internal penalties increase to a value equal to the character’s Essence.
For one day, the Abyssal’s unnatural presence upsets all natural animals within (Essence x 100) yards. Wild animals flee from the character and attack anyone who prevents them from doing so. Handlers can keep domesticated animals from bolting with a (Charisma + [Ride or Survival]) roll—Ride for mounts, Survival for other animals—at a difficulty equal to the deathknight’s Essence. Friendly animals are not exempt from this panic. The disturbance makes the character much easier to follow, applying spectral-effect internal penalties to evade tracking.
For one day, mortals find the Exalt’s presence unbearable. In this time, mortals must spend one Willpower per scene of interaction not to instantly develop an Intimacy of hatred and/or fear toward the Abyssal. Only those with existing positive Intimacies toward the character automatically resist this aversion, but each scene of interaction counts as a scene of weakening such Intimacies, regardless of what the deathknight does.
The preceding Branding effects follow the character for a number of days equal to his Essence.
The Abyssal forfeits one Intimacy that the Neverborn find objectionable. He remembers the severed attachment clinically like a half-forgotten dream, unable to understand why he felt attached to anything (or anyone) so irrelevant.
Rather than simply excising love, the Neverborn poison it, converting an offending positive Intimacy to an equally strong hatred.
For the rest of the day, the Abyssal must spend one Willpower to take an action that would offend the Neverborn enough to add to his Resonance. This compulsion applies even if the character already received Resonance from sinning earlier in the same scene. If the Exalt runs out of Willpower, he must submit to his Dark Fate and cannot take the offending action.
Once per scene for the rest of the day, the Neverborn can actively force the character to take any one action they wish unless the character pays one Willpower point to resist the compulsion. In conjunction with the Willpower drain associated with fighting Dark Fate in general, this effect often creates situations in which the Abyssal cannot stop himself from becoming the instrument of his own punishment. It is small comfort that an Abyssal who resists to the last cannot be made to use powerful Charms that require Willpower against his own will.
The Abyssal is fully possessed by the Neverborn for a scene, displacing and blocking any other forms of competing unnatural mental influence. The character might remain conscious but helpless during this time like a ghost in his own flesh, or he might black out and enter a fugue state, awakening later with no memory or explanation for the gore on his hands.
All motes the Abyssal spends for the rest of the scene are considered peripheral Essence for anima display.
The Abyssal suffers levels of unsoakable lethal damage equal to the Resonance spent, experiencing this injury in a blatantly supernatural and horrific manner. This damage will not reduce a character below Incapacitated, though falling unconscious at the brink of death in the middle of a battle usually results in a de facto death sentence.
Some part of the deathknight’s body withers and becomes as useless as if it were amputated. This Crippling effect lasts until the Abyssal heals all lethal damage.
The rules for gaining Resonance make it extremely difficult and arduous for an Abyssal to directly challenge his Dark Fate. Careful renegades can minimize the wrath of the Neverborn, however, by opposing them indirectly. Fighting the forces of death is a no-no, but the dead Primordials have no problem with their deathknights slaying demons, Fair Folk, violent criminals and other monsters. Indeed, such deaths often glorify Oblivion more than spilling helpless mortal blood does. Staying in one place and building relationships as the local defender causes Resonance buildup, but renegades who roam from place to place as vigilante antiheroes can fulfill their purpose as lonely death-dealers without building up more than occasional Resonance.
Players might wonder if their character can harm enemies by deliberately venting Resonance in massive blights. Why, yes, they can. If an Abyssal wants to poison the very Essence of Creation for the sake of victory in battle, that suits the Neverborn just fine. Keep in mind that invoking such powerful Blight effects necessarily involves killing someone the Abyssal likes (or at least values in some way). Any Storyteller worth her dice can easily turn this “power” against the Abyssal: a village destroyed in the course of saving it, irreplaceable allies slain (or captives the character’s Deathlord wanted alive, damn it!), a Wyld Hunt called against this highly visible Anathema, and so on.
Here is a Drawing of what modern Rathess looks like. It is not an exact match, but it gives the same feeling ancient mixed with ultra modern.
I think this is the map for First Edition. It is unofficial but is fairly detailed.
http://hd42.de/rpg_exalted_maps.html
Thought you guys might be interested.
Here is a list of Racial Stock in Creation that matches to Modern Earth Racial Stocks. This is purely just for fluff. That way you guys can envision the various ethnicities.
As far as culture is concerned, I will probably just use their architecture and culture as well just to make it less work for me.
| [Unlabeled Map | Labeled Map] |
Currently there is a Hard Cap of total of 3 +1 specialties for any given Ability. I think the cap is fine. Rising the cap will introduce more issues than it solves.
So I am writing this rule for make Specialties less permanent.
Specialties cost 3 Experience Points for a +1.
Everytime you upgrade a ability you can lower each Specialty in that Ability by 1 and get back 1 experience points.
E.g. Let say you have Melee 2 and +2 in Sword and +1 in Axes. You then raise your Melee to 3, you can lower Sword to +1 and Axe to +0 and gain 2 experience points back.
In the same situation if you raise Melee by 2 dots to 4, you can lower Sword by –2 to 0, and Axe by –1 to 0 and get 3 Experience Points back.
So yes with enough specialties you can actually get a skill for free. However, under no circumstance are you allowed to gain positive exp for giving up specialties when raising skills. The Extra Exp are simply lost.
E.g. Let say you have Presence as Favorite Skill and is at Skill 1. Let say you have +1 for Against all Odds, Inspire Confidence, Intimidation, and you raise the skill to 2, costing 1 exp. You can chose to give up all 3 Specialties but you will only receive 1 exp back not 3. The 2 other Exp are lost.
If you want to give up a Specialty for whatever reason you can as well. You can chose to lose a +1 from any number of specialties at the end of any session or when getting long term rewards. However, if corresponding abilities were not increased you gain no exp what so ever.
I think the above rule set makes it more flexible if you chose your Specialties wrongly. It is still heavy handed enough to prevent changing specialties from coming a whimsical endeavor.
Surgery: 30/5 hours/5/4This implant has a special attunement commitment of 6 motes of Personal Essence. The heart is permanently part of Aata’s anima so this attunement cannot be cancelled by the bearer. The heart made a fundamental alteration to Aata’s nature. For all intent and purpose the Heart is now Aata’s natural organ. All attempts to regenerate Aata’s original heart will fail since this mechanical wonder is now innate to him.
This whirling clockwork masterpiece of glittering vessels and gears is a mechanism of radiant green iron that literally holds Aata’s insides together. While this mechanism lacks a heartbeat, those who listen for it may discern that the heart whirs and ticks like a clock, its pace never changes even in the thrall of desire, wrath or terror.
The heart’s boundless power adds four dots each to its owner’s Strength, Stamina and two dots to Dexterity. While it’s unremitting drive increase Aata’s Integrity by two dots and his Conviction by one. Alas, a mechanical heart has little room for sentiment in its metal chambers. Thus, the owner’s Compassion rating drops by one.
Unfortunately the heart is a focus of malfean energy and corrupts both Aata spiritually and physically. Sickly green liquid now flows through his veins causing a slightly green tint to his skin. Spiritually, Aata is thoroughly desecrated. He is now a Creature of Darkness. He is now affected by the Zenith Anima, Wards against Demons, and is no longer able to learn holy charms. He also loses his Priestly status since Gods will instantly recognize the source of the prayer. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, he still retains the other powers that stem from the nature of his Exalted Essence.
Here are the 5 Trials of Necromancy
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