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General Exalted Thread

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Can Dragon-Blooded have mutations? That is, can someone with mutations exalt as DB (assuming they have DB blood relation obviously) and retain those mutations?
 
Alturangga said:
Can Dragon-Blooded have mutations? That is, can someone with mutations exalt as DB (assuming they have DB blood relation obviously) and retain those mutations?
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Yes. One of the Realm books talks about a parrotfolk DB, and that's mechanically a set of mutations. There's other beastfolk DBs across multiple editions, if not usually featured prominently. Anja in Heirs to the Shogunate has Unnatural Hide, though she's a numen. Outside of these examples nothing indicates that they generally can't, and if they couldn't, it would violate some of the extremely intentional design decisions that include stressing that humans are human and qualified for Exaltation regardless of a few physical differences.
 
Alturangga said:
Can Dragon-Blooded have mutations? That is, can someone with mutations exalt as DB (assuming they have DB blood relation obviously) and retain those mutations?
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The only requirements to Exalt are to be human (because humans were not given the geas that forces spirits, gods, and most other thinking beings to obey the Primordials), to be willing/able to use the power you'll be granted by Exaltation, and to fulfill the criteria of your specific Exaltation (in this case, you have the dragon's blood). Also you need to be a little lucky.

Are your mutations far enough along/strong enough to declassify you from the human species, ie have you been so ravaged you've become a fair folk somehow and/or a maddened unthinking beast (if you're just going by merit-based mutations, definitely not)? Have your mutations rendered you incapable of using the power of Exaltation in some way that getting the Exaltation could not fix (unlikely at best)? Do you have an ancestor that was a dragon-blooded, even one you may not be aware of centuries back (this is definitely not Realm propaganda that justifies them picking up Outcastes)? If not, then you can be a deeb.

I think the Realm frowns on mutations tho - they deal a lot with beastblooded and Lunars who love that stuff - so keep that in mind? (although this may also be me getting my wires crossed with Warhammer)

Sanctaphrax said:
Yes, of course, because the alternative would be lame.
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This too
 
VagueZ said:
Yes. One of the Realm books talks about a parrotfolk DB, and that's mechanically a set of mutations. There's other beastfolk DBs across multiple editions, if not usually featured prominently. Anja in Heirs to the Shogunate has Unnatural Hide, though she's a numen. Outside of these examples nothing indicates that they generally can't, and if they couldn't, it would violate some of the extremely intentional design decisions that include stressing that humans are human and qualified for Exaltation regardless of a few physical differences.
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It is generally advisable to inform players that if they try to stack Unusual Hide and armour, though, that they will be executed as an example to all. And I for one consider that a fair punishment for soak stackers. If only the executioner's blade could get through their neck...
 
EarthScorpion said:
It is generally advisable to inform players that if they try to stack Unusual Hide and armour, though, that they will be executed as an example to all. And I for one consider that a fair punishment for soak stackers. If only the executioner's blade could get through their neck...
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Yes, if your soak is above about 15, all withering attacks are delivered via the Storyteller striking the player with the corebook.
 
HalfTangible said:
The only requirements to Exalt are to be human (because humans were not given the geas that forces spirits, gods, and most other thinking beings to obey the Primordials), to be willing/able to use the power you'll be granted by Exaltation, and to fulfill the criteria of your specific Exaltation (in this case, you have the dragon's blood). Also you need to be a little lucky.
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Kind of a fine point of edition drift of note. 1e and 3e, the geasa didn't compel obedience. It prevented directed violence. The whole mechanical thing where spirits of different ranks could compel lower Essence ones, and the compulsion of the Geas stuff in the Infernals set, were kind of advents of that edition. We now the gods were geased against the titans. Dragon Kings and Jadeborn probably weren't, but were not powerful enough for the enemies of the gods to care like Exalted ended up being.

The gods chose humanity in part because they were mistletoe. Both not pwoerful enough for the ancients to do anything to prevent, and surprsing when they effing killed htem.
 
I finally getting around to read Ex3 books beside core, and I'm getting some urge to write in Exalted setting in area circa Dreaming Sea.

I have this urge of making it South East Asian styled. But yeah, I know that's more intended for Southwest and West. Now, of course, I should not feel beholden to what canon says and Creation is both big enough and gonzo hodge-podge enough to contain several regions who have similiar RL inspiration even while separated whole Direction apart.

But I'm wondering, if not SEA, what kind of cultural theme can be used for the Dreaming Sea region? What does other people use?

The Dis and gigantes seems imply something ancient greek but 'ancient greek' doesn't feel like it would match the rest of the region and feels like a waste using it just for one city. The Ysr to Y'danna maybe can use Irish influence?
 
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Volivat itself always felt more classical Greek to me, and Dis gave me mesopotamian vibes. I admit that to me the most Greek part of the setting is that part of the Southwest currently being ransacked by the Bronze Tide.
 
For homebrew stuff around the dreaming sea, both geography and culture wise, I've drawn on Egypt (both ancient and medieval), Brazil, Mesoamerica, Persia, Congo, Thailand, Vietnam, Ethiopia, South Africa, the Songhai/Malian empires, and the pre Colombian Mississippi valley. My regional Shogunate powers and their ruins mix some greco-buddhist aesthetics and the post-Alexander "Greek" successor states with the normal shogunate inspo. All this in addition to the South Asian stuff already drawn in by Prasad, the pure pulp of Ysyr, etc.

I think SEA is a good touchstone for Dreaming Sea stuff (and I've littered my notes with stolen bits from the Thousand Thousand Islands books, which are very SEA inspired) but exalted usually thrives when you add a strong second influence.
 
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Alturangga said:
I finally getting around to read Ex3 books beside core, and I'm getting some urge to write in Exalted setting in area circa Dreaming Sea.

I have this urge of making it South East Asian styled. But yeah, I know that's more intended for Southwest and West. Now, of course, I should not feel beholden to what canon says and Creation is both big enough and gonzo hodge-podge enough to contain several regions who have similiar RL inspiration even while separated whole Direction apart.

But I'm wondering, if not SEA, what kind of cultural theme can be used for the Dreaming Sea region? What does other people use?

The Dis and gigantes seems imply something ancient greek but 'ancient greek' doesn't feel like it would match the rest of the region and feels like a waste using it just for one city. The Ysr to Y'danna maybe can use Irish influence?
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One of the important things for me with the Dreaming Sea is that it has an ongoing vibe of "dynamic young empires expanding into the domain of crumbling old empires". I think a lot of SEA and Greek both can fit here! This is a huge place, but one thing you could experiment with is having specific fallen empires having different inspirations or different mix of inspirations.

Maybe places that were previously under the thumb of Dis in its heyday have more Greek to them. Maybe places that used to be connected to Y'danna have more Irish.

These options can work if you make them work, I feel, and the Dreaming Sea really is a wonderful place for exploring.
 
Alturangga said:
I finally getting around to read Ex3 books beside core, and I'm getting some urge to write in Exalted setting in area circa Dreaming Sea.

I have this urge of making it South East Asian styled. But yeah, I know that's more intended for Southwest and West. Now, of course, I should not feel beholden to what canon says and Creation is both big enough and gonzo hodge-podge enough to contain several regions who have similiar RL inspiration even while separated whole Direction apart.

But I'm wondering, if not SEA, what kind of cultural theme can be used for the Dreaming Sea region? What does other people use?

The Dis and gigantes seems imply something ancient greek but 'ancient greek' doesn't feel like it would match the rest of the region and feels like a waste using it just for one city. The Ysr to Y'danna maybe can use Irish influence?
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Prasad is india coded and I made Y'danna Constantinople (it will be Istanbul when it finally falls to one of the growing imperial powers in the region)
 
Anaja said:
So, how many books for third edition do we have altogether now?
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Someone can correct me if I'm missing any, but from the ones I can remember:

- Exalted Third Edition (corebook)
- Miracles of the Solar Exalted
- Arms of the Chosen
- Tomb of Dreams
- Across the Eight Directions
- Crucible of Legends
- Hundred Devils Night Parade
- Adversaries of the Righteous
- Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought
- The Realm
- Dragon-Blooded: Heirs to the Shogunate (DB companion)
- Lunars: Fangs at the Gate
- Lunars: Many-Faced Strangers (Lunars companion)
- Exigents: Out of the Ashes
- Sidereals: Charting Fate's Course
- Abyssals: Sworn to the Grave (Backer manuscript is out, final book pending)
- Alchemicals: Forged by the Machine God (Backer manuscript is out, final book pending)

Upcoming books include two Exigents companions, the Sidereals companion, the Abyssals companion, and the Alchemicals companion, in addition to at least one more jumpstart adventure. Infernals is the next splatbook to come out, with Getimians and Liminals at some unspecified point.

This is not counting the novellas and the books for Exalted Essence, which is like, half its own edition, theoretically a simplified version of Exalted compatible with 3e.
 
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Alturangga said:
But I'm wondering, if not SEA, what kind of cultural theme can be used for the Dreaming Sea region? What does other people use?
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I tend to go more South Asia for the Dreaming Sea. Mostly because of Prasad but also because Exalted's prior SA representation felt a bit spotty and culturally appropriative but that's a broad generalisation because something I really like about the region is that it speak two different directional languages (forest tongue and flame tongue) and apparently like to lean into that because the two PCs I've made from this region so far have had to struggle with learning the ways of another culture with a language barrier - one through marriage and the other as a refugee.
 
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