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General Exalted Thread

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Expanding off @Revlid's Metagaos stuff, to cover the very, very tiny amount of RE7 that isn't already covered. And by "very tiny", I mean it - Metagaos already covers pretty much everything that Eveline and the Moulded can do.

CHEWING THE COGNITION
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Stackable
Duration: One story
Prerequisite Charms: Mind-Eating Assimilation

Metagaos cares little for book learning. He prefers to scoop knowledge from the brains of those he infects.

When the character is presented with a challenge or problem - however mild - he may activate this Charm and gain one temporary dot of an Ability or Speciality that is known by a character he has infected with Self-Seed Infestation and which would help him with his problem. The character must have the Ability or Speciality rated at a higher level than he does. This dot lasts until the end of the current story. Specialties granted by this Charm do not count toward the maximum number she can possess, but the maximum dice that specialties can add remains +3. The Exalt may permanently internalize any of these specialties or Abilities as a Training effect, ending this Charm early. This Charm can be purchased up to (Essence) times, and can be stacked a number of times equal to (number of purchases x 3). Abilities count as 3 specialities for the purposes of stacking.

In addition, upon learning this Charm the Infernal is permanently modified and treats any character he has infected with Self-Seed Infestation as a trainer for any Ability, Speciality or spell that they know that is rated at a higher level than he has. This psychic parasitism does not require the character to be present, instead being conveyed as intuition and gut instinct. Metagaos spreads constantly without compunction, and so characters infected with his Self-Seed also gain this benefit.

THEY LIVE
Cost: — (1wp); Mins: Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Desecration
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Chimeric Corpus Cultivation, First Metagaos Excellency

Metagaos must be extracted root and seed from his infected - else he'll be back.

This Charm permanently upgrades characters the Infernal has infected with Self-Seed Infestation. Infected heal as if they were Exalts, even if they are mortal. In addition, once per scene when reduced to their -4 health levels or lower, the infected may spend one willpower and take a Miscellaneous action and take up to (Infernal's Essence) points of negative mutations with a Metagoyin theme as a Desecration, healing that number of levels of bashing or lethal damage as long as they were not caused by fire or Holy damage. The XP from these negative mutations may be spent immediately on positive mutations with a Metagoyin theme which manifest at the same time.

When purchasing this Charm, the Infernal should devise a "default" package of negative and positive mutations that extras will manifest, which serves as a personal signature. Infected extras will manifest this package, even if levels of healing are "wasted". Extras may not use this Charm to heal if they already have the package. This default package may be changed when the Infernal raises his Essence. This does not retroactively alter characters who have already made use of it.
 
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EarthScorpion said:
CHEWING THE COGNITION
Cost: 1wp; Mins: Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK, Stackable
Duration: One story
Prerequisite Charms: Mind-Eating Assimilation

Metagaos cares little for book learning. He prefers to scoop knowledge from the brains of those he infects.

When the character is presented with a challenge or problem - however mild - he may activate this Charm and gain one temporary dot of an Ability or Speciality that is known by a character he has infected with Self-Seed Infestation and which would help him with his problem. The character must have the Ability or Speciality rated at a higher level than he does. This dot lasts until the end of the current story. Specialties granted by this Charm do not count toward the maximum number she can possess, but the maximum dice that specialties can add remains +3. The Exalt may permanently internalize any of these specialties or Abilities as a Training effect, ending this Charm early. This Charm can be purchased up to (Essence) times, and can be stacked a number of times equal to (number of purchases x 3). Abilities count as 3 specialities for the purposes of stacking.

In addition, upon learning this Charm the Infernal is permanently modified and treats any character he has infected with Self-Seed Infestation as a trainer for any Ability, Speciality or spell that they know that is rated at a higher level than he has. This psychic parasitism does not require the character to be present, instead being conveyed as intuition and gut instinct. Metagaos spreads constantly without compunction, and so characters infected with his Self-Seed also gain this benefit.
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Amusingly enough, the way Self-Seed Infestation can spread means this also lets you model Starfire's ability to learn languages by kissing someone.

Just, y'know, with more alien tumours.
 
Accelerator said:
Problem with that is that the words 'charms are extensions of your natural abilities' is only really accurate for Solars. I fail to see how 'extensions of your natural abilities' lets you shoot bolts of elemental power, shapeshift, manipulate the elements, and such.
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Incorrect- Solar Charms are learned techniques that at a glance look like human expressions of skill.

A solar learns how to wrestle, and in so doing, can develop Dragon Coil Technique. Solar Medicine never stops looking like a doctor prescribing medicine, performing surgery or giving sound, in-context setting advice.

Dragonblooded, by contrast, learn how to express and emulate the elements in various ways and situations. They don't learn how to wrestle like a gladiator, they learn how to crush and twist their opponents like a raging river. This is also why a lot of DB charms are in quirky abilities, like the Wind Carried Words being in Linguistics, as it is an Air Aspect Charm, and uses the themes and associations of that Element in addition to their splat-theme of soldiers/military.
 
Revlid said:
Amusingly enough, the way Self-Seed Infestation can spread means this also lets you model Starfire's ability to learn languages by kissing someone.

Just, y'know, with more alien tumours.
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"And so Robin discovered the hard way that the way that Tamaranians reproduced was by implanting their brood-host - also known as a rarfblorker - with a parasitic clone (a bemelarkah) that consumes their insides, supplanting their organs and wrapping its hair-tendrils around their spinal column as it takes over all motor function and controls them as a meat puppet."

Robin: "... wait, what?"

Starfire: "Congratulations! You are to be the mother! I will cherish our last few days, and remember you fondly when our child has burst from your chest! I think he will have your eyes!"
 
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EarthScorpion said:
So what if one of the ways the Dragonblooded Great Curse operates is that the cursed power lets them steal Breeding from other DBs by killing them, if they have higher Breeding than you. Slay an enemy general in a duel? Well, you're clearly a better soldier and you get to snatch his Breeding. Murder a political rival with a knife to the back? Reap double rewards. Drown your better-bred sister because you've had enough of your parents favouring her? Ding! Breeding++!

After all, weren't most of the great heroes of the past horrific murderers by modern standards? This way, your DB can become a great hero too! :V
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This is a terrible idea which runs contrary to all the Dragonblooded thematics and would alter the setting so drastically as to make it unrecognizable. First off, in a thematic sense the idea of Drsagonblooded Charms is that they encourage teamwork and cooperation and this runs entirely counter to that as it turns every single Dragonblooded with lower Breeding than you into a potential threat which needs to be controlled and defanged as quickly as possible rather than as a valuable ally to be protected and exploited. In a setting history perspective it would turn the history of Dragonblooded governance into a series of assassinations and pogroms rather than dynasties and empires. It turns the children of Dragonblooded from treasures to liabilities.

I hate this idea with such an unabashed loathing that I find myself incapable of fully articulating how awful the idea of this being a default Dragonblooded experience is to me.

I can see ways for Dragonblooded to increase their Breeding, but they should be transgressive and dangerous, the kind of thing that drives great villains to seek out Third Circle demons, forbidden gods, rogue elementals, unshaped Raksha and undead horrors to accomplish.

Far better to just... not lock Charms and other effects behind Breeding. At best Breeding should give a minor mechanical benefit (1 peripheral mote per dot say) and a bunch of social benefits (high breeding means high social standing as everyone wants your Generic Harem Protagonist Seed) and as a useful Authority/Background for tying Dragonblooded sorcery to.
 
EarthScorpion said:
"And so Robin discovered the hard way that the way that Tamaranians reproduced was by implanting their brood-host - also known as a rarfblorker - with a parasitic clone (a bemelarkah) that consumes their insides, supplanting their organs and wrapping its hair-tendrils around their spinal column as it takes over all motor function and controls them as a meat puppet."

Robin: "... wait, what?"

Starfire: "Congratulations! You are to be the mother! I will cherish our last few days, and remember you fondly when our child has burst from your chest! I think he will have your eyes!"
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I know that this was intended as a joke but I actually really like the idea of having the Tamaranians be a race of parasites that reproduce using captured prisoners or clones. Any chance of you writing them up as a fully fledged race for Exalted or a different setting?
 
...now you have me thinking of Raven as a immature third circle demon from Trigon (her primordial father). I mean she already has Second Circles (based on her emotions aka Anger, Pride, Fear etc).
 
Bel said:
...now you have me thinking of Raven as a immature third circle demon from Trigon (her primordial father). I mean she already has Second Circles (based on her emotions aka Anger, Pride, Fear etc).
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Nah, Raven is clearly an Infernal Exalt not a Third Circle. Robin is a Solar, Cyborg an Alchemical and Beast Boy a Lunar. Starfire is the one you can't very easily swap into an Exalted archetype because "traditional Superman style archetype" is not a valid character concept for Exalted.
 
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I'll note that Breeding in Chiming Minaret game, gives two benefits:
  • A bonus to "rolls that are related to your children Exalting."
  • A pool of five spirit Charms for your Dynasty, of which you can access (Breeding).
This means that Dragon-Blooded Dynasties are quirky bloodlines with some fancy unique powers but nothing too extreme; it lets players have fun with fancy unique powers, that explicitly don't exceed what Dragon-Blooded otherwise are capable of while also not being broken as shit.

Of course; this version of Breeding also assumes that Spirit Charms are designed more like nWoD-style Numina than Exalted-style spirit Charms, so everyone doesn't just take Principle of Motion and laugh their way into infinity. :V
 
greensun said:
So, Infernal Azula? Infernal Azula.
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Why infernal Azula? Zuko is the infernal in Avatar the last airbender, not Azula.

EarthScorpion said:
After all, weren't most of the great heroes of the past horrific murderers by modern standards? This way, your DB can become a great hero too! :V
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Doesn't this like, actually break the really basic core thematic of dragonbloods, where teamwork is power, and by working together the whole can become greater than the sum of its parts? You're hardly encouraging teamwork if everyone's backstabbing each other.

I don't know if I'm just taking a very shallow view of things, but I think it's generally a bad idea to port over oWoD themes into Exalted because the tones clash pretty hard. In oWoD everyone is a bastard coated bastard with bastard filling degraded from the righteous glory that they once were. In exalted... well, it's the same but theoretically, since you are a great hero, you have the capacity to do great things and make the world better! Whereas in oWoD everything just gets worse.
 
Jemnite said:
Doesn't this like, actually break the really basic core thematic of dragonbloods, where teamwork is power, and by working together the whole can become greater than the sum of its parts? You're hardly encouraging teamwork if everyone's backstabbing each other.
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It's a not-really-serious suggestion for a Dragonblooded Great Curse which:
  1. is actually a curse
  2. does nothing to force you to do anything
It must be viewed in that lens. There has never been a good implementation for a Dragonblooded Great Curse, so... why not just get rid of Limit and give Dragonblooded an incentive to turn on each other which gets stronger the lower their Breeding is?

(It's also a bit of an in-joke to the Kindred of the East being the degenerate Dragonblooded - so we know they turn into vampires, even if they're not Kindred)
 
EarthScorpion said:
It's a not-really-serious suggestion for a Dragonblooded Great Curse which:
  1. is actually a curse
  2. does nothing to force you to do anything
It must be viewed in that lens. There has never been a good implementation for a Dragonblooded Great Curse, so... why not just get rid of Limit and give Dragonblooded an incentive to turn on each other which gets stronger the lower their Breeding is?

(It's also a bit of an in-joke to the Kindred of the East being the degenerate Dragonblooded - so we know they turn into vampires, even if they're not Kindred)
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I remember a post somewhere saying that was talking about the great curse, amd how suspicious that the exalt whose strength is unity and cooperation constantly breaks down into warring factions whenever they congregate in groups of hundreds or thousands.
 
EarthScorpion said:
It's a not-really-serious suggestion for a Dragonblooded Great Curse which:
  1. is actually a curse
  2. does nothing to force you to do anything
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Well, honestly, you could get rid of the Great Curse for everyone but Solars and no-one would notice.

  • Alchemicals already don't have a Great Curse. They have Clarity, which is different and interesting.
  • Dragon-blooded effectively don't have a Great Curse. No-one seems to know what their Great Curse is, or have any good suggestions for it, and it hasn't affected their history in any interesting ways. They can fuck up all on their own, and they do, so just leave them to it. Their current Limit is just "you gain Limit like a Solar, and when it hits 10 you uh something something shhhh".
  • Lunars have a Great Curse which is basically just "Solar Limit but with animal names", and has basically no effect on their perception as a splat. Instead, for them it's Chimerism that's the interesting "curse" hook, and that was the result of running into the Wyld for centuries, not the curse of the Primordials. So just give them that, and expand on it.
  • Sidereals have a coherent Great Curse based on hubris, which... in mechanical terms is shit, and in story terms amounts to groupthink from a group numbering 100 tops. They also have to juggle Paradox and the Broken Mask, which are both much more interesting and tie into their other mechanics. So just give them that. It's not like their Great Curse is necessary for their story role.
So the Great Curse could easily be a thing cast upon the greatest of the Exalted Host, leading them into madness and destruction.

Mind you, I say this as someone who'd be fine removing it from the game entirely except as a myth, or a theory of the Gold Faction.
 
I had an idea for a form of Lunar Great Curse - when a Lunar hit's Limit Break, they try and make other Lunars. This could take the form of sending their mortal followers on vision quests into the Wyld, great hunts to bring down the mightiest of prey and force the hunters to eat the hearts, horrific breeding programs with beasts, raksha and gods/elementals or any other activity that might resemble how the Lunar got their own Exaltation.

That's what I think should be the core of a 'Lunar Great Curse' - that they are unique, singular beings that long for a pack, a tribe, a brotherhood. Even other Lunars don't usually fulfill that need; they are different from the LBing Lunar, not their kin in some undefinable way. Lunar Limit Break should continue for longer periods than it's Solar counterpart, something that while it doesn't render them unplayable - a Lunar can still wage his war upon the Scarlet Empire while trying to make a Lunar out of his beastmen followers - should still colour all their actions and plans. They need to force their most loyal warriors out into the wilderness for days at a time, force acolytes to drink horrific poisons and fuck all the things because they just want a family.
 
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Gamerlord said:
I had an idea for a form of Lunar Great Curse - when a Lunar hit's Limit Break, they try and make other Lunars. This could take the form of sending their mortal followers on vision quests into the Wyld, great hunts to bring down the mightiest of prey and force the hunters to eat the hearts, horrific breeding programs with beasts, raksha and gods/elementals or any other activity that might resemble how the Lunar got their own Exaltation.

That's what I think should be the core of a 'Lunar Great Curse' - that they are unique, singular beings that long for a pack, a tribe, a brotherhood. Even other Lunars don't usually fulfill that need; they are different from the LBing Lunar, not their kin in some undefinable way. Lunar Limit Break should continue for longer periods than it's Solar counterpart, something that while it doesn't render them unplayable - a Lunar can still wage his war upon the Scarlet Empire while trying to make a Lunar out of his beastmen followers - should still colour all their actions and plans. They need to force their most loyal warriors out into the wilderness for days at a time, force acolytes to drink horrific poisons and fuck all the things because they just want a family.
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Or we could, like, not keep to the theme of making Lunars the worst Celestials? Just, you know, a suggestion.
 
Estro said:
Or we could, like, not keep to the theme of making Lunars the worst Celestials? Just, you know, a suggestion.
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How does that make them the worst? Sure it won't ever make a Lunar, and it kills off the meatshields, but the ones that survive will be true badasses, albeit only mortal. It also gives the Silver Pact a meta-reason to have elite 'inner circles' of warriors they've been working on for centuries as a hobby.
 
Gamerlord said:
How does that make them the worst? Sure it won't ever make a Lunar, and it kills off the meatshields, but the ones that survive will be true badasses, albeit only mortal. It also gives the Silver Pact a meta-reason to have elite 'inner circles' of warriors they've been working on for centuries as a hobby.
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The Great Curse of Solars makes them mad, hubris filled god kings, who rule the world and forge countries according to their whims

The Great Curse of Sidreals makes them paranoid conspirators, who trust few of their fellows and engage in massive levels of plotting and counter plotting.

The Great Curse of Lunas makes them kill all their followers.
 
Gamerlord said:
How does that make them the worst? Sure it won't ever make a Lunar, and it kills off the meatshields, but the ones that survive will be true badasses, albeit only mortal. It also gives the Silver Pact a meta-reason to have elite 'inner circles' of warriors they've been working on for centuries as a hobby.
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Because it turns Lunar limit from something that screws with you personally for a short time into a week long psychosis that has the potential to kill off everyone and anyone you have under your command, including people you really care about, for not being Lunar enough to be part of your wolfpack.
 
Estro said:
The Great Curse of Solars makes them mad, hubris filled god kings, who rule the world and forge countries according to their whims

The Great Curse of Sidreals makes them paranoid conspirators, who trust few of their fellows and engage in massive levels of plotting and counter plotting.

The Great Curse of Lunas makes them kill all their followers.
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Xyzarach said:
Because it turns Lunar limit from something that screws with you personally for a short time into a week long psychosis that has the potential to kill off everyone and anyone you have under your command, including people you really care about, for not being Lunar enough to be part of your wolfpack.
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Maybe it's coming across as more intense/dangerous than I intended... Gonna have to rework the idea a little.
 
Revlid said:
  • Dragon-blooded effectively don't have a Great Curse. No-one seems to know what their Great Curse is, or have any good suggestions for it, and it hasn't affected their history in any interesting ways. They can fuck up all on their own, and they do, so just leave them to it. Their current Limit is just "you gain Limit like a Solar, and when it hits 10 you uh something something shhhh".
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Not true! I know!

So, when you reach zero points of Willpower, and ten points of Limit, and has spent enough Peripheral Essence that you have an active Anima Banner at the same time, you are hit with a Solar-esque Limit Condition defined by your element and your highest Virtue - so when your Fire Aspect with Valor 4 reaches these three requirements, he gets hit with something that's basically a discount version of Berserk Anger.

So uh, yeah this is redundant as hell.
 
ManusDomine said:
Not true! I know!

So, when you reach zero points of Willpower, and ten points of Limit, and has spent enough Peripheral Essence that you have an active Anima Banner at the same time, you are hit with a Solar-esque Limit Condition defined by your element and your highest Virtue - so when your Fire Aspect with Valor 4 reaches these three requirements, he gets hit with something that's basically a discount version of Berserk Anger.

So uh, yeah this is redundant as hell.
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...In 2e, it happens when you hit 10 Limit.

I have no idea where you got those other requirements from, especially the anima banner.
 
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