General Exalted Thread

[notthepenguins]

I still wonder why there are so many charms for Brawl and so little charms for War.

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Brawl and Melee have always been their babies.

Here's a real spoiler then: by default, Lunars do NOT have a bond with Solars anymore. At some point it was broken, between the first and the second age.

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OR DO THEY?

The Solar's Lunar mate is always capable of insinuating herself into the Solar's graces and may ignore this Charm's effect.

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[Havocfett]

I just looked, and it does indeed say that the Lunars were slaves seconds and consorts in the first age.

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Oh, man, I hadn't even heard this one before.

I find it interesting that the game isn't even out yet and yet there's already homebrew in this thread to deal with flaws (Like that alternate Invocation system that got proposed).

Were they also high when they wrote down the distribution of Charms among the skill levels?

There are more charms at skill 5 than on all other levels combined several times over.

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I'm 90% sure that's a 'yes'. Can someone do a chart comparing the spread to 2E?

The more I hear about 3e, the less I'm interested.

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Have you heard the good word?

 

[Deations]

I just looked, and it does indeed say that the Lunars were slaves seconds and consorts in the first age.
Lets just say that the writers were drunk and/or high when they wrote that, okay? Just like Glorious Solar Doombot, the two charms that causes everyone who hears you play the flute to have the best orgasm of their lives, and the bloat of MA and Craft subset abilities.

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I'd really only see it as an issue if 3E were set in the First Age instead of the Second. And given the devs have no interest in using 3E to model the First Age, and that it's certainly not the position of Lunars in the actual game... I can more than live with it.

OR DO THEY?

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"That said, it does sound like there is a way to reestablish the Bond for individual Lunars, if they are interested."

 

[landcollector]

Have you heard the good word?

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Hmmm.

 

[notthepenguins]

"That said, it does sound like there is a way to reestablish the Bond for individual Lunars, if they are interested."

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Now, they may be shitty at writing clearly, and the text certainly needs another round of editing and rewording. But that clearly indicates that a Lunar Mate is expected to exist. There's no "If they have one" or anything of the sort.

 

[notanautomaton]

female Solar Eclipse.

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Why a female specifically? The game isn't going to go magic realm, is it?

Were they also high when they wrote down the distribution of Charms among the skill levels?

There are more charms at skill 5 than on all other levels combined several times over.

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I personally think that that makes sense with charms no longer being a thing. What I'm more peeved about it th distribution between abilities. Craft does not need that many charms compared to, say, War, or whatever other abilities got shafted.

Or, perhaps, the line is meaning that there was more than one mode the relationships took.

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I'm fine with the relationship having different forms, but I question the wisdom of having 1/3 of the roles mentioned being slaves. Even at the worst of 2e they were only slaves due to social-fu. (Why they didn't go more towards TAW I will never understand)

 

[Deations]

Now, they may be shitty at writing clearly, and the text certainly needs another round of editing and rewording. But that clearly indicates that a Lunar Mate is expected to exist. There's no "If they have one" or anything of the sort.

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Then maybe wait for the Lunars book to come out because:

Broken Bonds

The Lunar Exalted were created to be the Solars' seconds, their spouses, and the sacred guardians of the Old Realm. The bond defined the Lunars; it sang within their very Essence.

So too did the bond's destruction. The Old Realm fell; the Solars were murdered, their spirits banished beyond Lunar ken. The Lunars changed. They're still changing. A deep rage lives in their Essence, and a deep wound. Their sleep is tormented by visions of loss, of murder, of the past. The Lunars are compelled to shatter the chains binding them to the past—to tear down the stolen remnants of the First Age, to raze the Sidereal and Terrestrial hegemony that dares to wear the ancient name of the Realm. The Silver Pact exists to facilitate this.

Some Lunars resist the primal howl that shivers in their Essence. They harness their rage to fight for that which they cherish, or bend their powerful instincts to their own benefit as they walk another road. There is tension between these Lunars and the Silver Pact traditionalists, but also common bonds; the two trade favors and mark debts more often than they shed one another's blood.

The return of the Solars changes everything for Luna's Chosen. Neither Lunar camp seeks to turn back the clock, nor wishes to return to defining themselves as the shadows cast by the Chosen of the sun. Something stirs in the Lunars' hearts, but none can yet say what it is or what it means.

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According to what's written, by default, it's broken

I'm fine with the relationship having different forms, but I question the wisdom of having 1/3 of the roles mentioned being slaves. Even at the worst of 2e they were only slaves due to social-fu. (Why they didn't go more towards TAW I will never understand)

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Well they're not slaves when the game is actually set!

 

[Tahu1809]

Why a female specifically? The game isn't going to go magic realm, is it?

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Kind of a hindsight jock. I didn't realize it till we started playing last startday but all my PC's were female except one I can't say anymore lest I give away spoilers. Also "magic realm"?

 

[Deations]

I'm serious people, Jeebus. The slaves line is nothing more than thousand year old backstory, read the darned book before you fly off the handle at an out-of-context quote from Anondylar, or really anyone!!!

 

[Cosar]

I'm fine with the relationship having different forms, but I question the wisdom of having 1/3 of the roles mentioned being slaves. Even at the worst of 2e they were only slaves due to social-fu. (Why they didn't go more towards TAW I will never understand)

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Because the first age was kinda terrible? That's a pretty big plot point in the game, from what I remember.

 

[Deations]

Because the first age was kinda terrible? That's a pretty big plot point in the game, from what I remember.

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It's also several thousand years after it, and a considerable amount has changed. I want to belabor the point, sorry.

 

[Chloe Sullivan]

The fuck is this?
This is fucking ridiculously stacked toward higher dots. What the fuck.

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That's what 2e Sidereals had to deal with, you realize? half their charm trees start at "ability 3" if you want anything other than an excellency.

 

[azoicennead]

Kind of a hindsight jock. I didn't realize it till we started playing last startday but all my PC's were female except one I can't say anymore lest I give away spoilers. Also "magic realm"?

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Our circle kinda probably.

Now, they may be shitty at writing clearly, and the text certainly needs another round of editing and rewording. But that clearly indicates that a Lunar Mate is expected to exist. There's no "If they have one" or anything of the sort.

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The Lunars look upon the Solar Exalted's return with uncertain hearts—during the First Age, the Lunars were the slaves, seconds, and consorts to the Solar Exalted. Their bond to the Lawgivers has been broken, but many yet fear a return to servitude.

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That's what 2e Sidereals had to deal with, you realize? half their charm trees start at "ability 3" if you want anything other than an excellency.

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I mean, I'm not really surprised that the Sidereal charmset is fucked up. I've kinda been aware of that for a while.

 

[Chloe Sullivan]

So my fifth man had to drop out due to personal problems, and I find my self with something of a conundrum. My players are an Eclipse short of a full circle. Now normally I give more room to character generation, but right now I'm looking for someone interested in playing a female Solar Eclipse. The game happens weekly on Saturday from 7:00pm to 11:30 (eastern standard) PM me if you are interested.

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try pinging @It's Called Borrowing ze~ , he's always asking to be let into exalted games. Or @beowolf

 

[notthepenguins]

Because the first age was kinda terrible? That's a pretty big plot point in the game, from what I remember.

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The First Age was terrible because the Exalts themselves were great and terrible. Calling one of the core splats "slaves" as one of three descriptors kinda... cuts out one of those.

The Lunars look upon the Solar Exalted's return with uncertain hearts—during the First Age, the Lunars were the slaves, seconds, and consorts to the Solar Exalted. Their bond to the Lawgivers has been broken, but many yet fear a return to servitude.

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It's almost like I was pointing out that the book contradicts itself or something.

It's also several thousand years after it, and a considerable amount has changed. I want to belabor the point, sorry.

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They're fighting to avenge the destruction of a regime that had them strictly subservient, and often as slaves? I think it matters. And framing their first reaction to the return of the Solars as fear makes it seem like things haven't changed all that much.

 

[Cosar]

The First Age was terrible because the Exalts themselves were great and terrible. Calling one of the core splats "slaves" as one of three descriptors kinda... cuts out one of those.

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Except the point is usually the Solars were the most terrible. Since when is this news?

 

[beowolf]

try pinging @It's Called Borrowing ze~ , he's always asking to be let into exalted games. Or @beowolf

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Yeah...
I've been going through the actual Solar charms recently, but nothing particularly jumped out at me as something I'm interested in, unlike with TAW. Also, I've never roleplayed as the opposite gender before, and would probably be bad at it.

 

[Scia]

In regards to Lunars I find it interesting that the short glossary makes it sound like the change of the caste was not a rescue operation but instead a purpose change of there exaltation.

 

[shepsquared]

I can't wait for a 3e map with locations noted. It'll make choosing where my characters are from so much easier

 

[azoicennead]

Yeah...
I've been going through the actual Solar charms recently, but nothing particularly jumped out at me as something I'm interested in, unlike with TAW. Also, I've never roleplayed as the opposite gender before, and would probably be bad at it.

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It's like roleplaying a male character, except you (probably) have boobs.
Also, NPCs don't think you're as weird when you dance around declaring how pretty of a princess you are.

try pinging @It's Called Borrowing ze~ , he's always asking

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(Pst. The profile says "Female".)

 

[notthepenguins]

Except the point is usually the Solars were the most terrible. Since when is this news?

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It's not. It's simply no better (arguably worse) than 2E's depiction of First Age Lunars.

You may recall that this was not well-liked.

 

[Deations]

The First Age was terrible because the Exalts themselves were great and terrible. Calling one of the core splats "slaves" as one of three descriptors kinda... cuts out one of those.

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Were slaves. And it wasn't even the main descriptor. Here's the opening paragraph for Lunars:

The Chosen of the moon were forged in the chains of bondage, but Luna only chooses those with the power to free themselves. Like the moon, they represent a struggle against form and definition, and a primal connection to the unfinished world. They wear the stolen forms of their foes. They bravely walk the tattered edges of Creation, where horrors tread. But they remain caught on the fangs of the past, and until they escape it, they cannot truly claim the freedom Luna has promised them.

Though they may live as legendary thieves, peerless hunters, opulent scavenger princes, terrible living gods, seekers of the world's secrets, bloody-handed warlords, and more, all Lunars feel the weight of the past. Once the Lunars were the guardians of the Old Realm, matching their specialized guile to the raw magnificence of their Solar lords and spouses. That time ended in blood and flames, and now the Lunars wage a crusade against those who stole the world that was theirs to protect.

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It's almost like I was pointing out that the book contradicts itself or something.

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Maybe the idea of a Lunar Mate carries a different context in 3E? Maybe the bond is restorable? We don't know, and it's best to stop acting like we do.

They're fighting to avenge the destruction of a regime that had them strictly subservient, and often as slaves? I think it matters. And framing their first reaction to the return of the Solars as fear makes it seem like things haven't changed all that much.

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They're fighting for themselves, because they got shafted too! If you read the Lunar fluff further in the book, most of the people who Exalted as Lunars were Thresholders who were shafted by the Realm in their mortal lives. They have every reason to be angry, and they are not universally ecstatic that the Solars are back.

A lot has changed, and the thing I'm happiest about is that their section in Antagonists shows that Shapeshifting is now worth a damn.

 

[shepsquared]

Was Gloam a thing in earlier editions? The description reads like there's a second Deathlord causing shit in the region, with a behemoth they didn't have access to until they got an Abyssal to go break the seal. And the way the Dragonblooded have apparently been corrupted screams Underworld Aspected Dragonblood to me, which was a 2e homebrew I enjoyed reading about a few times.

 

[Deations]

It's not. It's simply no better (arguably worse) than 2E's depiction of First Age Lunars.

You may recall that this was not well-liked.

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Here's the thing: the glossary section called them slaves, their actual writeup in their own blurb gave us something altogether different:

The Lunar Exalted were created to be the Solars' seconds, their spouses, and the sacred guardians of the Old Realm.

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Was Gloam a thing in earlier editions? The description reads like there's a second Deathlord causing shit in the region, with a behemoth they didn't have access to until they got an Abyssal to go break the seal. And the way the Dragonblooded have apparently been corrupted screams Underworld Aspected Dragonblood to me, which was a 2e homebrew I enjoyed reading about a few times.

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Gloam is in fact a new location, yeah

 

[notthepenguins]

Were slaves. And it wasn't even the main descriptor. Here's the opening paragraph for Lunars:

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They're all important sources, dude. I know the opening paragraph; it is marginally less shitty. It still makes them subservient. If the writers called the Lunar Exalted slaves somewhere, it means something. It's not like that's a simple slip of the keyboard that could be chalked up to poor wording.

Maybe the idea of a Lunar Mate carries a different context in 3E? Maybe the bond is restorable? We don't know, and it's best to stop acting like we do.

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Where did you get the impression I was saying I did know? I just pointed out the book is contradictory on the matter.

They're fighting for themselves, because they got shafted too! If you read the Lunar fluff further in the book, most of the people who Exalted as Lunars were Thresholders who were shafted by the Realm in their mortal lives. They have every reason to be angry, and they are not universally ecstatic that the Solars are back.

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I did read it. And it is several times brought up that they're angry at the Realm, at times explicitly called out that they're angry that it takes the place of the Deliberative.