Monday, July 25, 2016

Exalted 3.0 Beta character (willpower plus 1)

Johnny Solar, Dawn Caste Ascendant

Caste Abilities: Melee, Martial Arts, Resistance, War, Archery
Favored Abilities:  Awareness, Athletics, Ride, Survival, Integrity

Primary:                      Secondary:                  Tertiary:
Strength 4                    Wits  3                         Charisma 3
Stamina 3                    Intelligence 3              Manipulation 1
Dexterity 5                  Perception 3                Appearance 3


Melee: 5 (specialty daiklave)
Martial Arts: 4
Resistance: 5
War: 2  (specialty against mortals)
Archery: 3 (specialty firewands)
Awareness: 3
Athletics: 4
Ride: 2
Survival: 2
Integrity: 2
Investigation: 1
Linguistics: 1
Stealth: 1
Presence: 1

Merits: Cult 1, Ally 3, Artifact 3, Artifact 3

Essence 1: Personal essence – 13, Peripheral essence - 2
Willpower 4 temp
Resolve: 3
Guile: 1
Parry Defense: 7
Join Battle: 6
Medium Artifact Armor: 7 Hardness, 11 Soak, -2 Mobility Penalty
INITIATIVE: 7-3=4+3=7-10= -3-3 = -6 +20=  28
Weapon: Flashing Ascendance
Accuracy with 3 dot daiklave: 14,
Damage: 16
Overwhelming: 4

Health: -0,-1,-1,-2,-2,-4, Incap

Charms: Phantom Arrow(62), Fiery Arrow(63), Graceful Crane, Monkey Leap, Foe Vaulting (pg 69), Increasing Strength (72), Thunderbolt Attack, Durability of Oak (112), Sensory Acute Prana (pg 75), Excellent Strike (102), Hungry Tiger, Fire and Stones, Call the Blade

Exalted Play Test Notes (3rd edition Beta)

            I noticed, during our first test of the 3rd edition system, that many things remained the same, where one would expect them to change. Naturally, the promises regarding the overhaul of the combat system were mostly true, but I anticipated more of a shift with the charms than I noticed. To follow is a comprehensive review of the new combat system, and a blow for blow retelling of the test fight I ran with my roommate.

            To begin, I must express my satisfaction with the cinematic feel captured by the new edition. The stunt system, here revised and improved, coupled with the new 'withering vs decisive attacks' system accomplishes the creators' goal of creating a unique, movie-like fighting system. To explain, we will look at a snippet of what one player will experience while their character engages in a duel with another:

            Johnik, a newly risen and aimless Dawn Caste Solar Exalt, walks into a bar, where another Dawn Exalt is already drinking. The two exchange greeting, but know not that either are god-children. Their conversation becomes aggravated after a mistimed joke about Johnik's mother, and followed by another regarding the size and usefulness of his manhood. Johnik, quick to anger, lashes out physically. He shoves the other exalt back and draws his medium artifact daiklave. The other Solar does the same, and their shirts hang loose showing medium artifact armor. They square off... and Join Battle is rolled. Johnik happily obtains a 7, while the other Solar sits at 6. Johnik is first. Still unsure that this other man is like him, he decides to quickly start and end this duel. He uses monkey leap to quickly get into position, and foe-vaulting technique to strike at a surprised (-2 defense) opponent. His opponent is caught off guard, but begins to glow as well and, while he is struck, it is for no damage, due to the use of a resistance charm called spirit strengthens the skin. Their rage grows, and the battle truly begins.


            To explain the system, I fear I must get quite technical. The other solar then attacks Johnik. He stunts this attack, spends a willpower point, and uses a few charms. Specifically, he describes a 2 point stunt, giving himself 2 extra dice and one free success, spends a willpower for a free success, and uses excellent strike, hungry tiger, and fire and stones strike. His dice pool is thus: 3 (dexterity) + 5 (melee) + 1 (daiklave excellency) + 2 (stunt) + 3 (medium artifact accuracy)

Exalted Story 2: The Legend of the Cursed Citadel

The manse felt particularly cold today. Wind from the North swept through the cracks in the stone, whistling as it chilled the inhabitants of the great citadel. The servants immediately became a blur of motion, carrying heavy blankets of finest wool and silk to the topmost room. A serving girl tripped on the steps while juggling a pale of hot water and three towels. Scalding hot water sprayed across the stairway, and an audible 'hiss' echoed throughout, a precursor to her scream. A butler turned from giving his orders to the girl and snapped at her.
           
            “Stand up and clean up this mess quickly!” he scolded. “Master will have all of our heads if she sees this.”

            The girl stood, red burn marks starting to form on her otherwise pale body. She quickly gathered the bucket, and through tears, ran to the hot spring to draw more water. The butler shook his head and went back to barking orders.

            Scamp watched all of it transpire over just a few minutes. Master was indeed getting impatient as of late. It had been truly difficult seeing her grapple with this darkness that has crept into her manner. Yet, he serves her all the same. One day, he thought, I am certain I will see the glorious being of light once more. He squeaked out a noise that almost sounded like the word “hope,” and ran to the hole in the wall. As he entered the darkness, the tiny golden mark on his furry brow lit up, illuminating the dark mouse hole. His legs pushed against the stone ramp that his master had carved for him. Scamp ran quicker than any normal mouse could, eager to get to his master. Finally, he stopped at the exit in the tallest room in the citadel. He saw giant feet move just passed him, nearly knocking him against the stone wall. His little cheeks puffed out in joking aggravation, and he skittered up the reclining seat in which lay Azure Falcon, master of the citadel and she of the Solar Exalted. He felt her mind with his, and spoke directly through the bond they shared.

            “Master, how does the day find you?” It was his customary greeting.

            “Ah, Scamp, I was wondering when you would get here.” Even her mental voice was filled with anger. “These mortals grow more and more forgetful of their place.”

            Falcon waved her hand, and the servants attending her took one step back in near unison and bowed their heads. The Solar Exalt was the picture of physical might and health. Her tan skin caught the rays of the sun and gleamed, while her dark hair moved perfectly as the wind rustled it. Her eyes were fierce and powerful, as if just a single look could make a peasant a king, or cause the halest of laborers to die of fright. She was named for those eyes, in fact. Nothing escaped her deep blue gaze.

            “So, little friend,” Azure intoned with her mind, “what shall we do to instruct them on how to serve a demonslayer?”

            Scamp swallowed hard. What should he say, that might save the poor mortals who attend her?
           
            “W-well, Master...” Scamp hesitated, “perhaps just a stern speech would fix it?”

            Azure Falcon scoffed at this, out loud for all to hear. She shook her head slowly. She then spoke aloud, turning to face her attendants, their heads still bowed.

            “I think not, little one. I have no interest in long speeches. My father is the Sun, and his children speak through their actions. As such, I will teach this rabble how to properly run my citadel, in the manner befitting one of my station.”

            She snapped her fingers twice in quick succession, and the butler, who Scamp knew as Toran Farfield, moved to Azure's side. He had served for most of his life, brought up from a simple waiter to head of the house through years of faithful obedience. Scamp watched as Falcon reached out and touched his cheek, smiling ruefully.

            “Ah Toran,” she said calmly. “Have I not been good to you over the years? Have I not treated your family well?”

            She let the question hang in the air, and Toran stood there wordless. He clasped his hands together, and Scamp saw them tense in fear. Finally, he broke the choking silence.

            “Yes... of course, my lady.” His voice was filled with trepidation.

            “Then why would you betray me? Why would you let this band of ingrates continue to make mistake after mistake? Do you know what my peers in the Deliberative have been saying?”

            Her last question sounded more like a threat, and the words cut like orichalcum blades through the silence. The butler shook with fear as she approached him. Every step she took forward was a promise of violence, Scamp knew. He saw this gait when she slew Auroch, her Lunar Mate who she accused of high treason to Creation. He witnessed her fierceness as she slaughtered the Menacing Eight, a group of Terrestrial Exalted who sought to claim power in one of the cities beneath her watchful eyes. The small mouse watched as the lithe, powerful woman took one final stride towards her manservant. She raised her hand up high, palm open and fingers outstretched. A small cry escaped the lips of the young serving girl who had fallen earlier, as a shimmer of Essence appeared and took shape, finally coalescing into a golden Daiklave. She grasped the hilt tightly, and spoke again to the mortal before her.

            “I can feel the others... the other Sun-blessed. I see their eyes watching me... judging me. Why do you cause me such pain, Toran? Why can't you just be a good boy?” She shook her head decisively. “Get on your knees!”

            Scamp began to move towards his master, but jumped back as a droplet of salt water hit the floor, just in front of Azure's feet. The small mouse looked up, and saw that she was crying. Streams of tears ran down her perfect cheekbones. They came together at her chin, joining together just before falling.

            Azure Falcon wept as she brought the blade down upon the man kneeling before her. Blood sprayed across the polished stone in a long streak. A few crimson droplets landed on the furry cheeks of the Solar Exalted's small companion. Scamp's tiny hands scrubbed and scrubbed, but it would not come out. Instead, he covered his eyes, shutting out the light so that all was dark, and he could only hear the multitude of servants dying around the bedchamber. The screams penetrated the thick stone, and joined with the sounds of the wind passing through the cracks. Soon, all that was left was an echo, and the soft sobs of the woman who once championed virtue, as she sat in the corner. Azure Falcon felt her little friend's tiny feet on her shoulder, and she turned to look at him.

            “Oh, Scamp...” she said through choked sobs. “Why has the Sun forsaken me?”

            The little mouse nuzzled his blood splattered cheek against his master's chin. She could almost hear the tiny familiar sigh, as he spoke in her mind.

            “No, master,” he intoned, “it is you who have forsaken Him.”

            Azure felt a sharp bite on her cheek, marring her perfect features with a tiny mark. Scamp leaped off of her and ran for his hole. The Solar sat in silence. She knew what this meant, for she had seen Scamp administer this same bite to the various enemies of Creation, and watched them suffer a terrible disease as the light of the Unconquered Sun turned from them. She knew even her mighty physique could not fend off this contagion, for it was a disease of the soul. Almost instantly, the streaks of sunlight coming through the window began to cause her discomfort, and she drew upon herself the nearby bloody tatters of the servants she had slain.

            The Lieutenant and his cadre found her like this, one full day later. Azure Falcon was enshrouded in brown rags, the festering corpses of her victims still laying about the room. They called out to her, asked her what had happened, demanded an explanation. She said nothing. The Chosen only stood, raising her head to reveal a shadowed, haunted visage. She leaped upon them like a wild animal, thrashing about with her mighty arms and her heaven forged blade. It took the whole cadre to bring her down, to knock the Daiklave from her grasp and put her at spear point as she lay beaten upon the crimson stone.

            The tiny mouse listened from his hole as his master spoke again, her voice trembling.
           
            “Oh father, please forgive this child of yours. For while my soul is passed redemption, let others who come after me remain on your sunlit path.”

            At that, she grabbed the jade spear the lieutenant held at her throat and pulled it down into her flesh, and deeper still. The fierce blue of her eyes faded then, becoming a soft gray as the last rays of sunlight left the chamber.

            A small mouse crawled from its hole at that moment. He strode slowly, mournfully towards his old friend. As he lay down upon her chest, nuzzled against her neck, he wept. And this is first and only time a rodent has ever cried.

            Or, at least, that's how the legend goes. 

Exalted Story 1: The Tale of the Ancient Spirit of the East

The Tale of the Ancient Spirit of the East

            Long ago, before the fall of the Anathema and the rise of the mighty Dragon-Blooded Shogunate, the East was a place of verdant opulence. Great ivy covered towers of the Demon Gods rose high above the endless forests, each a monument to the might of their patrons. It is said that the Anathema slew or subjugated all of the eastern gods who displeased them, using their demonic powers to manipulate the terrestrial and celestial bureaucracies at the slightest whim. The mightiest deities who dared oppose them were utterly annihilated before they could so much as gather a single follower to their cause. The great expanse of life in the wondrous East could not flourish under the weight of such oppression. Nay, like a plant with no light, it began to wither and die, and the spirits and gods fled their homes in droves. Yet, there was one spirit, hidden and powerful, that stayed behind while its brethren were forced to the Wyld.

            The ancient spirit once had a proper name, inscribed proudly on the Roll of the Divine. Yet, because of the stifling and maniacal rule of the Anathema, even its most devout worshipers eventually abandoned it. The name, and much of its power, started to fade from Creation. In its shame, it fled to the darkest cavern in the East, said to be at the entrance to the bordermarches of the eastern Wyld. It diminished there, until it became nothing by a dark cloud in an even darker cave. One day, a party of wood elementals fleeing the wrath of one of the demon-kings of the East came upon the lonely cave. There they met the ancient spirit.

            “Who is there?” said the youngest of the elementals. “Who waits in the darkness of this forgotten place?”

            “Leave me be,” came the response, echoing through the cavern.

            “But, you must be so lonely. How long have you been hiding?” inquired the little elemental.

            Silence permeated the air. After many long moments, the spirit within answered.

            “I do not know. It feels like an eternity since I have seen my brethren.”

            The wood elementals all spoke with one another. The oldest, a gnarled old oak, scratched his mossy beard and proclaimed their decision.

            “We are fleeing the evil of the Anathema, just as you have, ancient one.” The old oak creaked as it leaned to one side. “We too have lost many of our kin to their wickedness.”

            The spirit within the cave waited, then with a heavy sigh, continued.

            “It pains me to know there are still others suffering as I do.” The spirit exhaled, and a gust of wind blew out of the mouth of the cave. “I wish to help you. I once gave council and aid to all of my children under the morning sun. I would give what little I have left to make your existences better, if I can.”

            The wood elementals all chuckled together, leaves rustling in a melodic, trilling cadence.

            “No, great one,” spoke the eldest. “It is we who shall be aiding you this day. And through our power, you shall take back what was stolen from the children of the forest.”

            Suddenly, out of the great woods surrounding the dark cave, all manner of spirits and little gods strode into the light. They collected, large and small, old and young, and bowed low before the ancient spirit in the cave. Their essences began to mingle, as the strong autumn breeze carried leaves and petals into the cave. The ancient one felt their power, their passion, fill him with new life and identity. The darkness that he was gave way to light, casting shadows all about the cave. The cloud that was his form grew, until it could no longer fit in the cave with the light. As they split, forever joined by the sacrifice of the East, the light became the head and heart of the ancient one, and the cloud became his fury and form. He sent out the cloud to bring the rains of change to the East, and ushered in the Dragon-Blooded champions of old, guiding them to the homes and towers of the Anathema. Together, the ancient one's fury and the Dragon-Blooded's honor banished the demon-kings. They brought down the great towers, and set up holy bastions to honor and venerate the Eastern spirits.

            The dark cloud returned to its master in the cave, the empowered Light of the East, and halted just outside of the entrance. Its form conceals its master in fog so that no malice will ever find it, yet... it also stays for another reason. The dark cloud stays so the ancient one will never be alone ag

CoC Module: Angel's Embrace

CoC Module:

Angel's Embrace

The city is Richmond, Virginia. The setting is variable, either 1920's or Present. The story is a murder mystery.

·         Scene 1: The PCs are called to a murder scene. A woman is murdered, her eyes wide open, her pale skin cast in full moonlight.
     People in this scene:
     Officer Jon Tulasky, first on scene. He describes another sad death, another girl dies alone. He hasn't had much of a chance to interview the witness, of which he claims there is only one.
     Drunk Joe “Namath,” local hobo. He saw a guy cloaked in shadow, carrying something. He'll spill all if a PC wets his whistle, or if they manage to threaten him with something more potent than a free night at the lockup. If they can get him to spill, he tells them the guy, or gal, or whatever, was humming a strange tune, “sounded like nothin' I've ever heard 'efore.”
     The secret witness, Margaret Shoemaker, Elderly busybody. She saw the man in the trenchcoat kneeling in the alleyway. He moved, and she could see the body of the woman. Girl was already dead, she thinks. She shudders at recalling more, but can be pressed. If so, she says he moved the body slightly, arranging it, almost. He was wearing gloves and a hat as well as the coat.
     Available Evidence:
     A white, crystalline powder, which a medicine or pharmacy roll will identify as the drug known as Angel's Embrace, a new designer which only recently hit the market.
     The body, with prints on the sleeve that match no listed records. Cause of death: nothing visible. After the coroner gets there, cerebral hemorrhage, within the frontal lobe. Matches the other two victims.
     A torn piece of clothing, like that of a khaki coat.
     One muddy bootprint, placed as a red herring. Size 10 hiking boots that can be found in a nearby dumpster.
·         Scene 2: Following the drug. The PCs can check that local police are beginning an investigation into a nightclub called Silver Heaven in the city with rumored connections to the substance. The drug is so new, that's all there is on it.
     People in the scene:
     Party goers Jennifer Thompson and Alex Noth. Both are very high on ecstasy and will say that they believe they overheard the owner talking about some 'A' coming in.
     The manager, Henry Harrison. He is curt and unfriendly, claiming to be very busy, especially if there are any cops. “Just do your job and move on, I have a club to manage.”
·         If he's pressed sufficiently, or if the PCs find means to secure a warrant, he'll fold and provide a client list, but all the product is gone. Most recent buyers are William Botswain (our man) and Anya Fenris (a student at VCU and dead end).
     This is the earliest opportunity to catch our guy. If they case the joint with a description of William, they can follow him home. He shows up in 2 days to snag some more A.
·         Scene 3: Following the evidence. The Coroner's office and the lab. It is much easier to gain access if a PC has direct ties to law enforcement.
     People in the scene: Annalese Blanche, the coroner. She's an older woman, very matter of fact. She indicates that the frontal lobe of the brain ruptured, but no bruising was visible due to heavy application of coverup. The rupture is akin to an aneurysm, but it explosive, as if a microchip exploded in her brain. There is no remnant of any explosive or residue of any kind. Most unusual.
     The fingerprints don't pull up anyone on file, but there's a partial match to an old man brought in 10 years ago for trespassing in a condemned building and was found worthy of the asylum. His name is Charles Botswain.
     The man is crazy to a serious fault, but will babble out things like, “The hunger of the deep” and Glaaki, though these sound like gurgles or hisses. “Don't go back... can't go home... too dangerous to go home...”

     This can lead the protagonists to the ancestral home of the Botswains, now cordoned off by condemned signs. If the PCs brave it, they find a cellar door leading downward, and can even find William lurking about if they're lucky.