Hello everyone and welcome to "Adrift on the Dreaming Sea". This game will be my first (as well as many others, I imagine) foray into the new system of Exalted 3rd edition. As such, we'll be hewing pretty close to the book as written, but that is neither here nor there.

For this story, I'm aiming to gather a group of newly returned Heroes who've only recently taken their second breath (within the last year), finding themselves on the shores of the Dreaming Sea, one of the new areas of creation added in this edition of the game. In this game, I'm aiming to create a story that neither straitjackets you into a plot of my invention nor leaves you truly and fully adrift in a massive sandbox. As a results, I'm looking for a particular type of players and characters who will help me fill out the world and keep true to the themes of myth and pulp-fantasy adventure that I want to foster here. In order to create this sandbox world, though, I'm looking for characters who are committed to the setting. Creation is a vast place, vaster still in this edition than before, and in order to develop it well, I want the characters to be attached to adventuring within the region that we create together. Pouring so much time into developing this part of creation only to leave it behind would be a waste, particularly with so much to do and see on the countless isles and endless rolling waves of the wyldest sea in creation . . .

As a result, we need to address a few things for the RTJ

1) This game is NOT an adult game. While creation is a place that certainly acknowledges and includes a dizzying array of indulgences, this game is not a place for the graphic depictions of such. Lust and love are an integral part to the stories of many chosen, and while prostitution and slavery run rampant, we'll be depicting these things with tasteful vagueness and scene transitions to hide all the bits not suitable for young eyes. The extremes of violence present in creation will be treated with similar tastes.

2) Character - I need prospective players to give me a sense of the hero they want to play. Give me a window into their life, a glimpse into their troubled pasts, and a preview of their struggles to come. I don't need (or want) a novel here, but something with enough detail to tantalize and the brevity to keep me from getting bored will be the sweet-spot.

As additional details, I'd like to know what Caste you're looking for as well as your prospective character's supernal ability. This addresses an issue of party composition in exalted. In order to help everyone feel at home in a niche, I want to avoid too much overlap. I acknowledge the pre-eminence of violence in creation, so while I'm willing to accept a couple of dedicated warriors, I'd rather not see a circle full of them. Similarly, though, that inherent trend towards bloodshed means that every character should probably be at least a little prepared for it.

3) Filling out the setting - As this is a new edition and the setting material still relatively thin, we're going to do a bit of work to collaboratively flesh out our setting. As an addition to your RTJ, I want to see the following:

3a) A place you've been - Tell me about somewhere your character has been around the Dreaming Sea. Either detail a new location like a natural wonder, forgotten crypt, etc., or add color to an established city from the book. If your character spent a lot of time in Ysyr, tell me about a district or particularly important locale/group within the city. Detail the grand library arcana or the secret network of catacombs beneath the mountain faced city.

3b) A place you want to go - This should be treated just like the point above, but should cover a place your character hasn't been to yet. The same sorts of guidelines apply.

3c) A rumor you've heard - Secrets swim in the dreaming sea. Stories of far away treasures, ancient monsters, and stranger things beside circulate among the people like diseases in a dirty brothel. What have you heard?

4) No character sheet - I'm not looking for a character sheet at this time. We'll likely be following standard character creation, but I want to look at characters first and the numbers second. Don't waste my time and yours by including this from the start.

With that, you'll have addressed the important parts of the (initial) RTJ. Congratulations! I'm looking forward to hearing from all the people who love Exalted as much as I do.

P.S. Don't feel too pressured to have everything in your RTJ completely squared away before sending it in. I'm happy to look through things a bit piecemeal, especially if you'd like to talk some things over before committing. Still, I won't be adding anyone to the game who hasn't eventually finished all of the steps.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:01, Fri 05 Oct 2018.

Just to assuage concerns; RTJ will be open for at least a week while I talk to everyone, and there will be at least a twenty four hour notice before I close submissions. Feel free to let me know your planning to send something, but make sure that what you send is something you want me to see. Though I try to remain open minded, first impressions matter.

Updates! I've gotten a fair few RTJs, but there are still at least two days to send in applications, after which I'll be taking about a day or so to sift through them all and make my final selections.

Just to give any further potential applicants an idea of what I've already received, I'll try to summarize the current completed applications here:

Dawn
-Towering ex-ascetic and people's hero. On a journey to do good and bash skulls.

Zenith

Twilight
-Realm trained shipwright and engineer out to make a name for himself on the dreaming sea and establish his own shipping company.
-Sorcerer general of a lost kingdom

Night
-Cat-folk relic guardian on the hunt for the sacred treasure she failed to protect. White-reaper stylist.
-Loan shark out to explore new business opportunities across the dreaming sea. Exalted after financing a particularly risky tomb-robbing endeavor.

Eclipse
-Ex-cultist and black-claw practitioner who left their slave-trading, spirit-feeding masters behind when they found exaltation.
-Alligator man and dissident scribe sewing revolution and turmoil with clever manifestos. Also wrestling.
-Prasadian event planner and diplomat of necessity, on the run from dragonblooded. Looking to make peace by kicking all the terrestrials out of his home.

* * * * *

It's a surprisingly small selection of applications, actually, so there's still plenty of room and time to get in and be considered.

Update!

I've gotten a few more RTJs, and after a busy week, I'm a bit late announcing this, but consider this the 24-hour warning before I cutoff applications. I'll bump the Add one more time, just to see. If you haven't heard back from me in a while, don't worry, I've been busy with work and trying to make sure that everyone's applications are getting filled in, asking questions where I need or want more material. I'll take a look at everything I've got tomorrow and start sending out invitations to the game.

With this post, applications are officially closed. I have quite a few to sift through, and from there, I'll be picking out not just the best, but those that I think will form the best group. Thank you all for your interest. You'll hear from me one way or another over the next 24-36 hours.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:20, Sun 14 Oct 2018.