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General Exalted Thread

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I tend to think that children and people with crippling injuries can Exalt, but they're much less likely to, even compared to the tiny chance that anybody will Exalt. A child who Exalts or a one-armed warrior who Exalts or a blind archer who Exalts is A Thing That Can Happen, because those people can still be heroes - but they have to be that much more impressive to warrant consideration, and as EarthScorpion points out, even if they use magic to counterbalance their shortcomings they're still handicapped compared to the other Exalted who can use that magic to just be better.

Which, in Creation, usually means they don't last long...
 
EarthScorpion said:
You mean it's unfair for someone to not get it just because they're missing an arm? Good. They can join the crowd of people who did something equally deserving and didn't get one. Exaltation isn't fair. You can do something far more "deserving" than people who actually got it, and get jack-squat for your efforts because none were free at the time. It's why I'm so mocking of any idea that people earned their Exaltation, because to be blunt it's so disproportionate a reward and so random that it's not earning, it's winning a lottery. All your heroic deed does is buy you a ticket.
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also there's the times when someone does something worthy of a solar shard and because none are available die and/or fail, and end up becoming an abyssal or infernal
 
Hazard said:
I'll note that Sidereals attempt to trigger Exaltations as early as possible, and have been known to kidnap young children for training and indoctrination before throwing them into the kind of situation that would trigger their Exaltations.
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What? No.

Sidereals don't want to trigger a Sidereal Exaltation earlier at all because the Exaltation is fated.

Like its literally preordained and will occur when it should. It will occur in its own damn time.

This doesn't prevent them from kidnapping young children and training them, but that's because they want to prepare the Sidereal for their new life before it happens and even then they prefer to let the person's life play out unaltered because, well, there is a damn good reason the Exaltation picked this kid and this life and they don't want to fuck up the weave of Destiny to Exalt a kid a half dozen years earlier.

Yeah, it sucks being one man down for six years and everyone having to pick up the slack, but on the other hand maybe if they mess around with the kid the workload will double because now some demon of the third circle jumped through the crack in Fate and is laying havoc all over Gem.

Sidereals can trigger Exaltations earlier, it requires forcing the event that was supposed to Exalt the host earlier than it should. Its not the kind of thing I picture them doing in any but the most dire circumstances.

So yeah, just about the only child Exaltations you will get is Abyssals and that's supposed to be creepy and wrong and horrible.
 
Aaron Peori said:
So yeah, just about the only child Exaltations you will get is Abyssals and that's supposed to be creepy and wrong and horrible.
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To be clear, you can get young teenagers Exalting as other kinds, but it's exceptionally rare- to my understanding, Rakshi held the record at 12, I think (and honestly, someone Exalting as a Lunar at 12 isn't much less fucked up than an Abyssal, given the qualifications for Lunar Exaltation).
 
Aaron Peori said:
And look how she turned out.
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Well...

yeah.

Part of my point, to be honest- for someone to Exalt at that young an age, they've gone through stuff no 12-year old should ever have to go through (and yet which 12-year olds go through, even today, with depressing regularity). To be honest, a degree of fucked-upness is understandable.

(This is part of why I want Shoat of the Mire to get a redemption story because goddammit she deserves to get a chance. All the Dowager's children do)
 
horngeek said:
Well...

yeah.

Part of my point, to be honest- for someone to Exalt at that young an age, they've gone through stuff no 12-year old should ever have to go through (and yet which 12-year olds go through, even today, with depressing regularity). To be honest, a degree of fucked-upness is understandable.
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This seems a little bit unnecessarily grim, to me. Sure, Raksi turned out badly - but that's in part because she got dragged off to the Wyld with the handful of her surviving peers a few days after Exalting. The Exaltation itself wasn't the result of enormous trauma, unless I'm forgetting something; if anything, it was the other way around.

I don't think Ariana, say, works much worse as a character concept if she's ~13 at time of Exaltation. Many young Exalts would come from terrible backgrounds, in part because most people in Creation at large do, but it doesn't feel necessary.

(Making sure the character and player are in step with the rest of the game is still a concern, obviously, but that's a more meta consideration.)
 
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Aaron Peori said:
Sidereals don't want to trigger a Sidereal Exaltation earlier at all because the Exaltation is fated.
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I always read that as the Sidereals being able to predict with a high degree of accuracy who would exalt and join the Five-score Fellowship instead of knowing exactly who will exalt when. This allows an explanation for Ronin: They were people who were unlikely to exalt, or their shard's preferred host died or was made unsuitable and so they exalted instead when the complex essence patterns that make a Sidereal exaltation go "Not as planned! Not as planned!".
Sidereals can trigger Exaltations earlier, it requires forcing the event that was supposed to Exalt the host earlier than it should. Its not the kind of thing I picture them doing in any but the most dire circumstances.
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I'm pretty sure the only people that one can force to Exalt are high-breeding DBs. Infernals and Abyssals have a choice, though they might have been mind-whammied or in a situation where not accepting the Exaltation would result in their death.
 
samdamandias said:
I always read that as the Sidereals being able to predict with a high degree of accuracy who would exalt and join the Five-score Fellowship instead of knowing exactly who will exalt when. This allows an explanation for Ronin: They were people who were unlikely to exalt, or their shard's preferred host died or was made unsuitable and so they exalted instead when the complex essence patterns that make a Sidereal exaltation go "Not as planned! Not as planned!".

I'm pretty sure the only people that one can force to Exalt are high-breeding DBs. Infernals and Abyssals have a choice, though they might have been mind-whammied or in a situation where not accepting the Exaltation would result in their death.
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Well they have the choice of dying in the case of Abyssals, but then no one said that it could not happen because the servants of the death lord beat you to dead.
 
Would a pseudo-CMA that combines Solar Hero Style and Golden Exhalation Style be an acceptable thing? Not as personal charms for a splat, but as something anyone could theoretically learn (assuming they can learn CMAs).

I've got a handful of ideas for effects specifically for the combined style, but figured I'd get some feedback on where the charms would fit in before I get to work on the details.

(I'm thinking Burning Golden Daughter Style. The form weapons are obviously fighting gauntlets, firewands, a special gauntlet made for the style, and artifact equivalents.)
 
Irked said:
This seems a little bit unnecessarily grim, to me. Sure, Raksi turned out badly - but that's in part because she got dragged off to the Wyld with the handful of her surviving peers a few days after Exalting. The Exaltation itself wasn't the result of enormous trauma, unless I'm forgetting something; if anything, it was the other way around.

I don't think Ariana, say, works much worse as a character concept if she's ~13 at time of Exaltation. Many young Exalts would come from terrible backgrounds, in part because most people in Creation at large do, but it doesn't feel necessary.

(Making sure the character and player are in step with the rest of the game is still a concern, obviously, but that's a more meta consideration.)
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Given what the qualification for Lunar Exaltation in particular is in 2e, I feel confident in my statement.

Solar Exaltation, yeah, and things may be different in 3e, but in general the Exaltation doesn't go for people who haven't faced adversity.

Ariana, in particular, is not a good example to use here, at least going off her Scroll of Exalts writeup.
 
Sidereal Exaltations are governed by Fate.

Exalted Essence expenditures muck up Fate.

Sidereals train their future co-workers by spending lots of Essence near them.

I'm sure there were like 90 Sids at the planning meeting which came up with that particular methodology, but at least it does explain how there can be unexpected Sidereal Exalt PCs.
 
azoicennead said:
Would a pseudo-CMA that combines Solar Hero Style and Golden Exhalation Style be an acceptable thing? Not as personal charms for a splat, but as something anyone could theoretically learn (assuming they can learn CMAs).

I've got a handful of ideas for effects specifically for the combined style, but figured I'd get some feedback on where the charms would fit in before I get to work on the details.

(I'm thinking Burning Golden Daughter Style. The form weapons are obviously fighting gauntlets, firewands, a special gauntlet made for the style, and artifact equivalents.)
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In 3E, I'd simply represent that as Artifact Gauntlets that have Evocations that allow you to make Brawl-Attacks out to Short Range.

Volcano Cutter has example Evocations for that:
Wake the Flame negates part of the enemies soak, grants double 10's on a decisive damage roll and by spending a point of Willpower the attack can be made out to short range.
Grand Eruption is a Simple-action charm that can attack out to medium range and succesful attacks with it knock enemies prone. It also doesn't cost Willpower to use. It does prevent movement for the round, but that is mostly to set up later Evocations of the artifact.

Those two Evocations combined are already pretty good for representing Yangs fighting style. Simply put them onto a pair of Smashfists and you're good. Maybe remove the "can't move" clause from Grand Eruption, and probably change the later Evocations into other stuff than "turn the battlefield into a volcanic hellscape" and you're good to go. Heartflame (Artifact 4 Daiklave) has some nice Orichalcum-themed Evocations that you could steal.
 
Serafina said:
In 3E, I'd simply represent that as Artifact Gauntlets that have Evocations that allow you to make Brawl-Attacks out to Short Range.

Volcano Cutter has example Evocations for that:
Wake the Flame negates part of the enemies soak, grants double 10's on a decisive damage roll and by spending a point of Willpower the attack can be made out to short range.
Grand Eruption is a Simple-action charm that can attack out to medium range and succesful attacks with it knock enemies prone. It also doesn't cost Willpower to use. It does prevent movement for the round, but that is mostly to set up later Evocations of the artifact.

Those two Evocations combined are already pretty good for representing Yangs fighting style. Simply put them onto a pair of Smashfists and you're good. Maybe remove the "can't move" clause from Grand Eruption, and probably change the later Evocations into other stuff than "turn the battlefield into a volcanic hellscape" and you're good to go. Heartflame (Artifact 4 Daiklave) has some nice Orichalcum-themed Evocations that you could steal.
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She can do everything but fire Dust rounds with turkeys.
I mean, Evocations are one way to do it, but not necessarily the best way to represent the character.
 
So I'm down a guy this Saturday for the weekly Exalted game that I run. I'm looking for a fifth player anyway, so if you're looking to see you be a good fit for our group please PM me and will set up the details.
 
So, I've been thinking about a Martial Art centered around hammers in the way that Single Point is centered around slashing swords.

What I've realized is that it would be, in a strong but not total sense, "Solar Hero Style, but with a weapon".

Heaven Thunder Hammer or some variation is a Must for this style, as are cousins of Sledgehammer Fist and Shockwave Technique (the "knock a muthertrucker into another muthertrucker" Charm).

Of course there are no grappling Charms, but instead it draws a few concepts from Earth Dragon Style. The 3rd Edition versions of Force of the Mountain and Shattering Strike, definitely. Weapon-Breaking Defense Technique would be great for a clashing Charm, especially since this Style would be really weak on defense. Earthshaker Attack is a given, though it won't have the finesse that 3rd Edition's version gains (with its follow-up decisive attack against one target), since the hammer-style doesn't manipulate the element of Earth.


Right now, the metaphorical concept is hovering between "lightning bolt" or "meteorite", with a definite concept of "the heavens are throwing something to the earth that shatters a fucking mountain in one blow".

It's "Thor and Mjollnir, the Style". It's Nora Valkyrie before factoring in her weapon's "Rocket-Propelled Grenade" launcher half.

Speed and grace are not this style's strong point. It's all about hideous damage, unstoppable collateral destruction, "the best defense is a brutal offense", and a great big final "fuck you and everything around you".

There WILL be a Charm to throw the hammer. This is absolutely vital to the Style's image, but also obviously not conducive to continuing to use the Style, since it can't be used without a hammer. The balance point is making it very obviously the LAST move; the attack you hold in reserve to finish the fight. Thus, throwing your hammer may be the capstone. Using it when you have the form Charm active will cancel the form, but in return it will enhance the throw.

I envision a spinning flurry attack that potentially hits EVERYONE in close range of the martial artist, including his allies. Taking a cue from how Steel Devil Style has Charms "chain" into other Charms, the spinning attack will allow the martial artist to use the throwing Charm as a second attack within one turn, and the throw will gain strength based on how many previous, consecutive turns the martial artist was spinning the hammer. (With a cap, of course.)

The earthshaking attack will also affect allies as well as enemies. To quote Starcraft's Siege Tank, "Time to drop the hammer, and dispense some indiscriminate justice". This style is unrestrained and wildly destructive. You will be a threat to everyone you can reach.

The earthshaking attack will ALSO be compatible with the throwing Charm, so that you can "shatter the mountain down on earth" from a distance, just like the wrathful god the style emulates.


At present, I'm allowing one-handed hammers, but this style will either reward two-handed hammers or penalize one-handers, or outright drop one-handed hammers.

Mjollnir was one-handed by accident; its haft was meant to be longer, but Loki fucked it up. It would also be nice to allow users to use the style with a one-handed hammer in one hand and a shield in the other; they've have to use Melee Charms or a Shield-oriented Style to kung fu with the shield, but at least this hammer-style wouldn't outright shut that down.
 
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azoicennead said:
She can do everything but fire Dust rounds with turkeys.
I mean, Evocations are one way to do it, but not necessarily the best way to represent the character.
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Which is why you take Brawl-charms (which in 3E basically ARE Solar Hero Style) to represent most things - her hard punches, her knockbacks, explosive shockwave punches and whatnot.

The Evocations would just be there to represent her Dust round punches, which she clearly can't do without them. And if she at any point learns how to do them without them, well the Innate-keyword is a thing.

Remember, those two stack. Evocations can be used with Charms (even MA-charms). Wake the Flame is a supplemental Evocation that just happens to also increase the range of the attack, it can thus be used with every Brawl-charm, even Simple charms. Want to make an Ox-Stunning Blow at range? Works just fine with it. Any attacked enhanced by it or Grand Eruption can benefit from everything that enhances your Brawl-charms because they ARE Brawl-attacks, just ones that happen to be made at range.

At character creation, take a bunch of Brawl-Charms. Remember, Brawl in 3E basically does what Solar Hero Style did. Add in some Athletics-charms.
Then take Artifact 4 to get a pair of Smashfists, and take the two Evocations I mentioned.
Bäm, the character can now do everything Yang does, including enhancing her punches with dust rounds to give them extra kick and range.

Waay easier than building a completely new martial arts and pretty much a perfect match.
 
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Serafina said:
Which is why you take Brawl-charms (which in 3E basically ARE Solar Hero Style) to represent most things - her hard punches, her knockbacks, explosive shockwave punches and whatnot.
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I should have mentioned I'm playing 2.5e, so 3e stuff doesn't necessarily apply very well.
Once 3e is actually released, that might change, but I'm still working with 2.5e stuff, and it's probably going to remain my primary focus for a while.
 
I would like some advice on my Hammer Style.

All hammer weapons are capable of Smashing attacks.

"Smash attacks sacrifice one Defense until the character's next turn, and cost two Initiative to attempt. If successful, they knock the opponent back one range band, or knock them prone. Targets may be knocked back into dangerous or deadly threats, like lava pits or steep cliffs."

I could very easily write every single Charm in the Style to enhance only Smash attacks (if Supplemental or Reflexive) or to mimic Smash attacks (if Simple). The character of the style is all about playing aggressively and Hulk Smash.

Can you think of any Charm concept that both fits the Style AND would function better if it allowed a "half-hearted" normal attack?


Keep in mind that if this Style uses nothing but Smashing attacks, I can design the Form Charm to capitalize on that; maybe all of the Initiative that martial artist loses is actually conserved inside the hammer, where it is then added to the next decisive attack?

This helps represent the odd grace of someone who knows just how to use the unwieldy mass of the hammer, using each swing to set up the next swing, and perhaps even dodging by using her hammer as a counterweight to pull her out of the way.


I could also have the Form Charm allow the martial artist to use all the other Charms of the Style with normal attacks, at the cost of not generating whatever resource the form might give you for using a smash attack.
 
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