Pre-modern commerce and modern finance are two completely different things. Trade is moving goods from where there is a surplus of them to places where demand for them is higher. The implosion of the Guild in Nexus is not actually going to make (say) firedust any less valuable or in-demand in Great Forks. Merchants in the South who deal in firedust will find a way to get their wares to where it can make them a profit, Guild or no Guild. The Guild functions as an intermediary, really, which lowers barriers to trade by providing a standardized currency, mercantile practices, and protection of contracts; but commerce survived for thousands of years on Earth without any such intermediary.
Commerce in Creation becomes more difficult in their absence, less secure because there's no one overarching authority to enforce mercantile contracts but that just means the risks swing greater; which means greater potential for catastrophic losses but also creates the potential for greater profits, since the timely arrival of firedust in Great Forks can no longer be taken for granted and thus cargoes of it become more valuable.
Given the physical survival of Guildsmen, their practices, and their assets, mind, it might only be a matter of time before many competing Guilds emerge and battle to control regional trade like various East India Companies...
Creation doesn't have even the economic interconnectedness of 1600s Europe. 1600s Europe had a financial system which had already developed many of the things we think of as "modern", like share trading, commodity futures, reserve fractional banking, and other such financial devices.
If Creation possessed such interconnectedness and financial development, the place would look radically different.
(Likewise, if the Guild was really as unified as some materials depicted, it would be more unified and organised than the East India Company, and that was a legit megacorp which just went and conquered India for profit.)
EDIT: Spoiled away the error. Nothing to see here.
Noticed a mistake in the Decision Point example. Not a typo, a mistake.
According to the rules, when someone overcomes your Intimacy-backed Resolve with a Persuasion action, you can't spend a Willpower point to reject the influence without having another Intimacy of equal or greater strength as the first Intimacy.
The example has a character using a Major-level Intimacy to recover after using a Defining-level Intimacy. According to the rules above, this example shouldn't work.
I recall that EarthScorpion or someone else said something about "bargaining" playing a bigger role in social interactions than is represented by these rules.
In the recent Zero no Tsukaima / [Prototype] crossover ("Liquid Sample"), Princess Henrietta summons Alex Mercer as her familiar, and the captain of her personal guard, the traitor Wardes, wants Mercer gone because of the threat he poses to Wardes' treachery. But he has to persuade Henrietta.
Naturally, he starts by making a full bid; attempting to get as much of what he wants as possible. That is, he targets Henrietta's unwritten-but-universal Intimacy towards her own life, trying to convince Henrietta to kill Alex (or enlist him and his men to do so), on the pretext that Alex is a dangerous and unknown monster that cannot be trusted with her safety, and that she is best advised to replace him with another, safer familiar.
This is a Persuade action, rather than a Bargain action, as Wardes isn't offering an exchange in return for Henrietta's cooperation.
Henrietta refuses Wardes' suggestion. Perhaps she initially backed her Resolve with an Intimacy of "Murder is Wrong" and then had to fall back on a Decision Point with "The Founder's Ritual and Familiar Pact is Sacred", or perhaps she resisted him outright the first time. It is debatable, but also almost immaterial to the following points.
Wardes does not attempt a "Lengthy Debate" or "Retrying Social Actions" (the rules of which follow after those for Decision Points). He does not try to use another Persuasion action to make the same suggestion, using a different angle that targets another of her Intimacies.
Instead, he bargains. But he still does not use the Bargain action. Rather, he bargains in the sense that now he has accepted that he cannot persuade Henrietta to fully concede to his desires, and instead tries to persuade her to follow a less drastic set of his desires that she might find less disagreeable. A compromise.
His previous proposal could be rated a Life-Changing or Serious task, but his second proposal is merely an Inconvenient task.
If his initial failure was because the Intimacy he targeted was not strong enough to make Henrietta even consider the first proposal, the new proposal has a better chance of actually forcing a check to even happen.
If his initial failure did force a check and even pushed Henrietta to a Decision Point, then he already forced her to spend a Willpower point, leaving her with fewer resources to spend and a greater reluctance to spend them.
If he didn't push her to a Decision Point, then his second attempt at least should enjoy some stunt dice for the trick of "make an outrageous initial bid so that a follow-up 'compromise' seems more reasonable by comparison".
So he uses another Persuade action, presumably targeting the same Intimacy towards her life and health that he already used, but towards a sufficiently different and less drastic course of action. This time, he succeeds.
All of this bargaining and debate is fully possible with the core rules. The Bargain action never factors into it, as there is never a suggestion of exchanging one good, service or favor for another.
(There may have also been some Instill actions in there, as Henrietta tries to persuade Wardes that Alex deserves humane respect based on his human intelligence, Wardes tries to inspire paranoia in Henrietta with a cynical view of treacherous human self-interest, and Henrietta counters with her own more-optimistic views, and Wardes sneakily provokes Henrietta into trusting him more by reminding her that he's engaged and committed to her best friend while appearing to put himself down.)
I would be interested to see Charms that enhance Wardes' persuasive strategy -- that is "make an outrageous initial bid so that a follow-up 'compromise' seems more reasonable by comparison". Or "recover from a failed Persuasion attempt by enhancing a second Persuasion attempt to at least get SOME of what you wanted".
Also possibly "trick someone into trusting you more for the purpose of this social action by putting yourself down while simultaneously and subtly offering your target a reason to believe you are more trustworthy than you say".
Noticed a mistake in the Decision Point example. Not a typo, a mistake.
According to the rules, when someone overcomes your Intimacy-backed Resolve with a Persuasion action, you can't spend a Willpower point to reject the influence without having another Intimacy of equal or greater strength as the first Intimacy.
The example has a character using a Major-level Intimacy to recover after using a Defining-level Intimacy. According to the rules above, this example shouldn't work.
I believe you're misreading the rule/example, as I think you're confusing what determines the minimum strength of the Decision Point intimacy. It's based on what the persuader used as support, not what you used to defend. If the persuader targets a Minor intimacy, and you defend with a Defining and somehow lose, you can enter a Decision Point using a Minor or greater intimacy, even though a Defining was previously overcome.
In the example, the Sidereal's influence targeted a Major intimacy. The Solar first tried to defend with a Defining, then used a Decision Point to resist with a Major. If the initial influence targeted a Defining intimacy he could only use a separate Defining to resist in a Decision Point.
I believe you're misreading the rule/example, as I think you're confusing what determines the minimum strength of the Decision Point intimacy. It's based on what the persuader used as support, not what you used to defend.
Okay, quick question, what does high levels of breeding do to a Dragon-Blooded in terms of their appearance? Do they get scales, I know that they're colored close to their aspect (With a surprisng amount of variation, literal ruby-red hair).
But are the scales only for apperance, could I let one of my players get a couple of mutation points to represent their scales?
Okay, quick question, what does high levels of breeding do to a Dragon-Blooded in terms of their appearance? Do they get scales, I know that they're colored close to their aspect (With a surprisng amount of variation, literal ruby-red hair).
But are the scales only for apperance, could I let one of my players get a couple of mutation points to represent their scales?
Dragonblooded with higher breeding get stronger aspect markings, which is essentially any kind of suitably interesting or awesome physical expression of their Element.
Like, Mnemon, for example, literally has marble skin. Not 'Skin as smooth and polished as marble', but actual Marble Skin. Ragara Myrrun is another Earth Aspect, and he's basically fully covered in rocky plates. A hypothetical Air Aspect could always have a dramatic breeze tugging at their hair or clothes, or they could damn near be floating off the ground at all times. Wood Aspects could have leaves growing out of their hair, or bark textured skin. Water Aspects could look constantly soaked..
I believe @EarthScorpion's Dragonblooded game had a high-breeding Wood Aspect who would spontaneously manifest a backdrop of dramatic flower petals whenever the scene was appropriate, or something to that effect.
I believe @EarthScorpion's Dragonblooded game had a high-breeding Wood Aspect who would spontaneously manifest a backdrop of dramatic flower petals whenever the scene was appropriate, or something to that effect.
That... wasn't entirely serious. That was the end product of a discussion which decided that the bishieness of a given male Dragonblooded was directly proportional to their Breeding. Hence, the Breeding 5 Wood Aspect got spontaneous flower petals around him at dramatic or romantic moments, while my Breeding 3 Earth aspect "merely" caught the sunlight like a shiny rock and gleamed, especially his teeth and eyes. And the Breeding 5 Fire aspect got spontaneous torchlight spotlights on him, especially when catching someone's eye across the room.
That led to the conclusion that the Breeding 0 Air Aspect was basically the one sane woman among the male PCs who looked like the cast of a yaoi manga.
(two of the party members slept with Ledaal Kes, on separate occasions. I would say that it's not gay if it's Kes, but let's be honest, it is soooooo gay. And it was so worth it for my PC, after a sexy game of Gateway vs Kes. He lost, of course, because it's Kes, but let's be honest. You don't play sexy Gateway against Ledaal Kes unless you expect to be sleeping with him. Or you're female.)
That... wasn't entirely serious. That was the end product of a discussion which decided that the bishieness of a given male Dragonblooded was directly proportional to their Breeding. Hence, the Breeding 5 Wood Aspect got spontaneous flower petals around him at dramatic or romantic moments, while my Breeding 3 Earth aspect "merely" caught the sunlight like a shiny rock and gleamed, especially his teeth and eyes. And the Breeding 5 Fire aspect got spontaneous torchlight spotlights on him, especially when catching someone's eye across the room.
That led to the conclusion that the Breeding 0 Air Aspect was basically the one sane woman among the male PCs who looked like the cast of a yaoi manga.
(two of the party members slept with Ledaal Kes, on separate occasions. I would say that it's not gay if it's Kes, but let's be honest, it is soooooo gay. And it was so worth it for my PC, after a sexy game of Gateway vs Kes. He lost, of course, because it's Kes, but let's be honest. You don't play sexy Gateway against Ledaal Kes unless you expect to be sleeping with him. Or you're female.)
Personally, my favorite sign of high Breeding for Fire Aspects is an abnormally high body temperature, or minor things like paper charring and turning black at their touch.
I suppose things like burning eyes (literally, glowing firey pupils!) and steam constantly rising from their body could work, but honestly I'd say that Fire and Air Aspects are the castes with the aspects least associated with anything that can really be expressed by the human body.
What about a high-breeding water aspect? In all honesty, I don't find the idea of my NPC's dripping water with every movement to be all that intresting, funny maybe. Would him breathing out mist with every breath be a good one?
What about a high-breeding water aspect? In all honesty, I don't find the idea of my NPC's dripping water with every movement to be all that intresting, funny maybe. Would him breathing out mist with every breath be a good one?
How about having their hair floating around them like they were underwater? Or having skin that ripples ever so slightly. Maybe being a bit translucent? They could also glow like a jellyfish or have rough skin like a shark.
What about a high-breeding water aspect? In all honesty, I don't find the idea of my NPC's dripping water with every movement to be all that intresting, funny maybe. Would him breathing out mist with every breath be a good one?
What about a high-breeding water aspect? In all honesty, I don't find the idea of my NPC's dripping water with every movement to be all that intresting, funny maybe. Would him breathing out mist with every breath be a good one?
That was just one example, and honestly, DBs are used to these kinds of things. It's part of the reason they have stone buildings instead of wood- between aspect markings and full on anima flux, weaker materials simply don't endure. As for a water aspect, they could always have a cloud of mist hanging around them sure, or their hair could always look like it's wet. I think a canon example in the DB book was 'They move in a manner as if they are fully submerged in water', so that sort of 'walking underwater' gait. Not that it impacts their daily lives at all.
Fact is, Dragonblooded don't look like Dragons, or even animals. The whole evocative nature of Dragons in Exalted draws more from Chinese mythological tropes. DBs can definitely have mutations, but they really aren't from their Elemental Aspect/Breeding.
DBs have Elemental Special Effects
Lunars have Animal Features.
Sidereals have Stars in their Eyes and Sparkly Glowing Auras
Solars are well, sun-themed. As a Solar gets older, they actually start tanning their skin and their hair bleaches more within whatever range of their appearance suggests. This doesn't impact most Ess 2-5 games though.
Abyssals either go full undead tropes, or ultra-glam vampires. Their anima plays on the idea of anti-light as well. When an Abyssal's anima flares up, it actually makes the world around them darker, suppressing light from torches and so on. The Abyssal meanwhile actually looks brighter due to the contrast- they don't change their lighting at all.
Infernals are all about transhuman mutation and transformation. I don't know enough a bout their animas to say what it looks like.
( A sanguine whirlwind filled with flitting silver shapes that catch the light, through which Dulmea's music resonates. When totemic, a vast Kimberian once-angyalka rises behind her, playing a coral-and-razor-wire harp under a deep red moon at the center of an ocean-cyclone. Twisting spear-serpents fill it, along with great axe-cetaceans and schools of darting blade-fish. One leviathan in particular coils around her jealously, an indistinct silver shape seen through the wind-water, and a fleeting scarlet shadow can be seen in the space behind her movements. Silence is absolute within the light of her anima and walls are worn smooth by its soundless wind. Puddles form behind her as moisture condenses on nearby surfaces, and any water her anima-light touches becomes bitter and chill. )
In this version the evolution of the Infernal Anima seems to be functioning as a symbolic metaphor of the changes in the Infernal's soul structure. I think that this is a great way to show how learning new charms changes the Infernal Exalt on a fundamental level.
So the Exalted tag gets men in swimsuits, while the Nobilis tag is now getting wallpaper. You win this time, Exalted.
don't you know? exalted 3.0 is actually hunks in anima-colored speedos frolicking on the beach and splashing water at one another playfully.
"Okay, so SHIRT-CASTIGATING DAWN has challenged RIPPLING PECTORAL ZENITH and BARA BOMBSHELL ECLIPSE to some beach volleyball. Meanwhile, CURVACEOUS EXEMPLAR FULL MOON and ADONIC PRINCIPLED DEFILER are frolicking in the waves. You are all running low on mai tais. What do you do?"
This is a good example of a session prompt.
The Beach Hunk shard got shafted in Shards of the Exalted Dream.
We can always homerule it, right?
Beach Hunk Exalted: Where everything is the same, we cut the crap, and everything is inexplicably framed in the context of typical beach activities.
The Yozi? Kicked off the beach, only have Cecylene and Kimbery now. Challenge the Exalted annually to volleyball games to get back (they have a lot of practice), but are defeated each time. Doesn't stop demons from showing up to beach parties.
The Realm? They run the largest beach resort, owned by Scarlet Holdings Co. The CEO is missing, and her children are squabbling over it.
Heaven? Beach bureaucrats. Drink a questionable amount for bureaucrats on the job, but no one questions it. It's on the beach. The UCS can be seen lifeguarding sometimes by day, with Luna doing so by night. Use Sidereals to keep order and arrange various beach contests behind the scenes.
The returned Solars are looking for Beach Justice and a good time.
The Abyssals are those people who never tan but have perfect beach bodies so they /have/ to show them off.
Dragonbloods ousted Solars from having the whole giant beach to themselves, but they didn't had cash to repair infrastructure, so some of the showers are not working in the areas further of the Realm Resort.
Lunars are obviously the hottest people on the beach, all the time.
Alchemicals are on the S.S. Autochtonia, a state-of the art cruise ship, and are also robocommunists looking for a good time on collision course with the beach. Their hotness ranges from "hot robot person" to "that boat is making me feel strange and conflicting things".
Lookshy and Gem and whatnot are competing resorts and sections of the beach.
Occasionally Rakshasa wash up on shore from the depths of the ocean/wyld, or ride in from a nebulous "out of town" that no one's ever heard of or can confirm actually exists. You could challenge them to a party-off, but you will lose unless you are one of the Chosen, and even then it's up in the air. They throw the best parties though.
Infernals are those people nobody wanted to party with last year but then they went for the Yozis for sponsorship and now hang with their crowd.
Lookshy and Realm have this thing where the people that go to one resort talk shit at the people who go to another, despite Lookshy being a bit more affordable than Realm despite having the same standards. (Lookshy's a smaller stretch of beach to their name)
I am SO HERE for 60s Beach Party AU exalted, especially if Moray Darktide is the cute sailboat operator with a bitchy little sister.
(paging retroactivebakeries!)
Remember: grains of sand are just shards, worn by time
Solars are well, sun-themed. As a Solar gets older, they actually start tanning their skin and their hair bleaches more within whatever range of their appearance suggests. This doesn't impact most Ess 2-5 games though.
I'm a girl. And Keris's anima largely extends from: a) the Excellencies she knows (hence why it's an ocean-whirlwind) and b) her own personality themes (hence why there are silver blade-fish and mirrors in it). Her base anima is just that - a scarlet ocean-whirlwind with indistinct mirror-fragments of silver whirling around in it. It's only when it goes totemic (which does not happen often) that they resolve into weapon-themed marine and her souls show up to say hello.
And yes, effect-wise, it silences everything around her and leaves damp and sour water wherever the light touches. Once she gets enough Metagaoiyn Charms, she's going to start leaving brightly-coloured little flowers where she treads, too. And, uh. The blade-fish when she goes totemic are going to start eating each other as "carnivorous predator" stuff enters her anima themes.
Exalted 2E Storyteller's Companion p121:
"A young Solar Exalt looks much like any mortal one might come across. Exalted from the mortal ranks, many Solars do little to alter their style or image. After all, they were Exalted for the heroes they were, not for the heroes they would become. So, unless the Exalt bears an enormous sword, shining golden armor or some other fantastic item, there is no telltale sign that she is a Solar. The only definite way to identify a Solar Exalt is to see her invoke the might of the Sun. As she uses her Charms, her caste mark will blaze upon her forehead. This caste mark cannot be hidden, its light burning through headbands and helmets alike, and is the best indicator of a Solar's status.
As time passes, a Solar both gravitates toward a position of power and grows in puissance. As he rises in rank or influence, donning impressive or inspiring apparel may become necessary— for a Solar, the natural choices are golden regalia and themes of sunlight. As the Solar's connection with his god deepens, he begins to appear more like a sun god himself. He tans, his muscles grow larger and his body more shapely, his bearing becomes more regal and his gaze turns imperious yet compassionate. Some Solar Exalts change in only minor ways. Other Solar Exalts completely transform themselves."
And yet again we have people saying something happens - with the implication that it always happens - when in reality it's something that only happens if the player wants it to happen.
Just like with Solar animas damaging things.
Does anyone have any recommended house rules for Breeding as a background? As-is, it seems kind of mandatory, especially since you can pick up most others in play, but you can't exactly change your parentage? Maybe have it supply situational social bonuses and mutations instead if giving notes and being a prerequisite for charms?
I recognize that the decline of the Dragoblooded is important thematically, but I feel avoiding a one true option is more important than giving that factoid mechanical teeth
