Behold, a place in which to speak with one another!

Huzzah a place to lay our glorious plans before the ST that he might plot evil against them!

Hi, I'm playing Aiyana, a Zenith revolutionary and circus shill.

In reply to Aiyana Silverbow (msg # 2):

Hi all,

Happy to be aboard.  Have been looking at Exalted for years, but never had a chance to play, so super-excited to see how things go.  Playing Seven-Tailed Salmon, an entirely legitimate, not-at-all nefarious merchant, who in no way runs an influence-peddling ring that reaches into the highests levels of the land.  And is an Eclipse.

I have a reasonable handle on the background for Exalted, but this is my first time making a character, so may need to lean on y'all for a little advice.  The plan is for Salmon to be sufficiently competant at combat not to be a liability (probably Dodge and Archery), but to be mainly focused on the manipulation of social systems - so, Presence, Socialize, Bureaucracy, Linguistics, and Larceny.  Looking forward to it!

Hiya everyone!  Zephyr here, your (a?) resident Full-Moon Lunar pirate (of either sand or sea)!  Great with a weapon in hand, with a smattering of occult know-how (though she can't Sorcery her way out of a wet parchment scroll), and just in general trying to be a good little hellraiser for Luna!

Having been playing the Eclipse in my other long-running Exalted game, its good to see another merchant influence-peddler!

Being good at social influence will likely eat up a lot of your starting charmset and dots (there's never enough to go around) so I'd lean towards Melee as a good all-around combat skill that doesn't require a lot of investment to make you competent. Back it up with some resistance as Ox-Body really has come into its own this edition and you should be set for combat so you can explore being rich and influential.

Just a reminder to you all about my ST philosophy: If you want to start out as the greatest in all of Creation in one or more areas, I'll roll with it!  But you won't be punished for spreading the wealth.   The days of paranoia combos are looooong gone.

You mean I don't need to combo a surprise negator with two different perfect defenses and a counterattack? What has Creation come to?

Related point for anybody familiar with old editions but not third: There is a lot less that is unblockable or undodgeable. Depending on your build and charm needs, you probably don't need to stack for both Parry and Evasion.

Also...hi! Achol goes with Aiyana and the Spoke and Wheel Circus--she's the dance to Aiyana's music (and the Swaying Grass Dance to Aiyana's Silver-Voiced Nightingale). I am probably sticking with a full moon build unless we're without changing moons. We're revolutionaries! But, you know, quiet-like because Wyld Hunts are a thing.

Queen of a Hundred Kingdoms! Mistress of Spears! Right Hand of Mars! Terror of 7th Legion! Shohreh is the young general who has conquered dozens of minor kingdoms and principalities, and there seems to be nothing that can stop her as she continues her raids and wins battle after battle.

At least, that's what's spread around. The truth is Shohreh is a teenager who mostly enjoys winning and dislikes boredom. She and her rag-tag friends have somehow turned a petty street gang into an unstoppable force for conquest that chills the blood of the Dragons. But mostly it's an excuse to impress girls and maybe have something to do.

Shohreh is essentially Alexander the Great (or, as the Loom put it, Alexandra the Greatest). She's a kid who likes winning battles but isn't actually interested in conquest. She's young, arrogant, brash, and seemingly as invincible as she thinks. It's gonna be fun on a bun.

Out of curiosity, does anyone need (or want) a Lunar mate?  I don't shed too much, though I do have a nasty habit of leaving dead Dynasts on your shoes to show that I like you!

Rainbow of Iron Raven here!

Rain is a solar night caste that wanders around creation as an assassin and thief (very original i know) as the fancy takes her and has a great disdain for the dragon blooded, especially those of the nobility and great houses.

Rain now trades her skills under the name Iron Rain as she wanders the less savoury parts of the world seeking out like minded individuals with the strength, cunning and will to change creation. She has also proven adept at limiting the exposure of abilities and so far has not had any close calls with the Wyld Hunt yet is aware that they have been stepping up thier searches and will eventually catch up to her if she is to relzize her goals.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:56, Mon 28 Feb 2022.

The plan is to focus more on Linguistics than Socialize, although I'm going to look for synergies, and a base competance in the latter.  I assume Melee is effecient because it allows for both offense and Parry as a defence?

Yes exactly, and Excellent Strike covers a multitude of sins. There are a lot of good 'dip' charms like that in several of the Solar charm trees that bear keeping in mind. Given your concept, a little Larceny and Seasoned Criminal Method is a good example of the kind of dip you might benefit well from. Harmonious Presence Meditation is all around awesome for any social character and will give you a lot of mileage out of Presence, and isn't a huge investment either.

We seem to be a bunch of war-mongering revolutionaries. Good times for all!

I'm a bit on the fence about Full vs. Changing Moon given the current team composition. It seems like we've got our war leaders and our manipulators. This concept can't swing all the way to occultist/spiritualist (which seems what we're most likely to be missing?), but...any thoughts? Achol's served something like a proper Lunar apprenticeship, so some things could absolutely be blamed on her mentor.

Well what are you specializing more in now?  I've actually got a smattering of the occult goodness covered (former Sijanese tomb guard), along with some generalized ass-kicking, but while I plan to diversify my charms, I won't be delving heavily into social engineering.

The "set" parts of the concept are:

• Martial Artist with Swaying Grass Dance
• Performance (dance) goes with the previous point at a maxed level
• Appearance, wits, and dexterity favored

Achol's much more about personal magnetism and direct threat than social engineering; she's the hypnotic light that brings in attention for Aiyana to take advantage of. Her moniker is "the Magnificent"...but also, in Pact circles, "the Magnificent Cur." She's stunning to watch, but there's something ineffably disreputable about her. (Her spirit shape is a coyote.)

Charm-wise, Zephyr’s currently a little all over the place, easily capable of ruining your day (or week) in a fight, clever, and at least somewhat versed in dealing with spirits and the dead. Overall, I wanted her to be a Jill-of-all-trades sort, useful damn near anywhere even if she doesn’t always shine the brightest.

In reply to Unfurling Zephyr Dreaming (msg # 16):


Is there a standard sheet we're using for characters?  I'm working up Salmon with a fillable pdf, but figured I'd check.

Salmon is strong on Bureaucracy and Linguistics, and has a few charms in his pocket from Melee, Resistance, Larceny, Socialize, Presence, etc.

Question - anyone have tips on good social defense charms, and anyone know how one forges seals?  Salmon can forge signatures, but seals would be good too.

Rain is stealthy, athletic and larceny is most likely to be her supernal ability. She tends to use martial arts in a fight but her style is more stabbing repeatedly in the back than beautiful ripostes and graceful sword swings.

Been checking out the charms in 3e and must say larceny is looking pretty tasty for this character.

In reply to Rainbow of Iron Ravens (msg # 18):

Yeeeees…graceful…

*Whistles innocently, steps away from neighborhood cleaved in half with one over-enthusiastic errant sword stroke.*

Aiyana is a talker, with both performance and presence to convince people to listen to her and a strong second in linguistics and lore to make the teachings stick.



Social defense is going to be an integrity thing, but in my experience, you're best served with good intimacies and a solid Resolve. Integrity charms are kind of a weird collection of effects, but Spirit-Maintaining Maneuver is a good defense since it saves your precious willpower.

As far as hiding your intimacies in the first place, Socialize is your go to. Shadow over Day and Guarded Thoughts Meditation are good buys.

Forging Seals is kind of up to ST discretion as to how it's done. Could be a Craft all its own, as well as either Larceny or Linguistics.



Larceny is a ton of fun in Third, and more useful than it might let on to other archetypes too. Spurious Presence is essentially Stealth in social situations if you've got the Guile to back it, and Seasoned Criminal Method is a great defense against random pickpockets and thugs.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Tue 01 Mar 2022.

There's a pretty good looking one in the Gaming Resources channel.

In reply to Shohreh (msg # 21):

Also, are people buying Attributes and Abilities to 5?  Or is there a social convention of buying below the cap, and building up in play?

Hmmmmm, I’m torn…I wanted to stay mostly melee so I wasn’t every other Lunar…but White Reaper style is looking mighty tempting for tearing through enemies, particularly since I was leaning towards a direlance or grimscythe anyway.  What does everyone think?  Badass spear-chick-pirate, or badass shaolin-spear-chick-pirate?

And I’ll be maxing out strength and stamina because it makes sense for Zephyr.  Those will be her only maxed attributes though, and a few will be in the 2-3 range.

I am of the strong belief that everyone should feel free to, at minimum, max out their 'one thing'. Your Supernal ability? Yeah, buy it at five. It's your big toy and everyone else gets to not be as cool as you at it, enjoy. As for everything else? I'm personally agnostic.

Hello, everyone, Raiyah here, ordinary human and certainly not a Lunar in any way. Could use a Solar mate if someone is interested!

Hoya Raiyah, welcome to team Mateless Lunar!  We apparently need Exalted Tinder.  :P

There, there!  At worst, I’ll find a couple of NPCs to pair you up with!  I’ve heard Desi’s and Larkin Quen are quite the catches…

In reply to Cathak Raiyah (msg # 25):

There is a chance you may have met rain but you didn't know it  XD

In reply to Rainbow of Iron Ravens (msg # 28):

So, Salmon is pretty well fleshed out.  I had a couple of questions, figured I'd throw them out here.

1)  Salmon has taken the Harmonious Presence Meditation (big book p369).  It allows the character to pay 7m, and make the effect (add 3 dice to all non-Stealth social influence rolls, and reduce cost of all social charms by 1m.  Am I correct that a) the 7m cost would work similarly to attuning an artifact, where it's dedicated from Salmon's mote pool (reducing it by 7 as long as the effect is maintained), and b) that this would reduce the cost of any charm affectin or requiring a social influence roll (eg., Moving the Unseen Hand, which tests against the reader's Resolve)?

2) How do we get stuff?  Salmon did not pay for artifacts, but does have resources 3.  How do we buy things, acquire gear, etc.?

3) Has it been determined where we are, and the extent to which we know each other?  Working on languages and intimacies, and it would help to have a sense of where and how we fit into the world.

Thanks!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:02, Tue 01 Mar 2022.

1) Yep!

2) Someone only skimmed Chapter 9, hm? :)  Purchases below your resource level (within reason) are treated as basic budget expenditures.  As long as you don’t try to buy enough gear to equip a small army, you should be able to afford most things.

In reply to Unfurling Zephyr Dreaming (msg # 23):

The Full Moon in my tabletop game uses White Reaper. It's pretty effective, and nice because it works with a staff. A lot fewer people get fussy about staves than they do about giant artifact polearms.

@Salmon Exalted's a very equipment-lite game. Resource use starts on p. 578 in the core book, but most games I've played in don't track mundane kit much at all. Resources three means "plenty rich, but not mind-bogglingly rich." You can probably get most anything you want that's not an artifact.

Harmonious Presence Meditation works as you've described. Committing motes to an indefinite charm is just like committing them to an artifact attunement.

Yeah - been focused on figuring out charms ;)  I will review tonight.  Might also tweak slightly - the artifact chain shirt looks like a helpful way to avoid death, but I'll need to shake loose some BPs to get it.

But…but outsized pole of infinite stabbiness…!  Plus, being willing to invest a couple of Charms for the “shift an artifact to/from Elsewhere” line.

@Zephyr--sometimes you just need to beat up some miscreants without improbable dismemberments.

@Loom: You mentioned we're starting in the South/West. What would you like our common language to be? Wavetongue? Flametongue? Riverspeak?

So far, it seems one of you is just about ready to begin...good start, all things considered!

In reply to Loom of Fate (msg # 35):

Newb question #36 (or something, I stopped counting):  Character sheet has a spot for "Anima".  What do I put there?  There's multiple anima effects, yeah?  More than fit into the little tiny space . . .

"Anima" in this case is "iconic anima banner." What does it look like when you get super-glowy and light up miles around? They're usually animals or symbolic objects for solars. Just go full anime brain on it, if you're so inclined.

to check, purchasing an exellency in a ability costs 1 choice of charm? and are there options for exellencies or is it flat 1 mote = 1 extra dice in this ed? (played mostly 2nd ed so forgive me)

Ignore above re-read and answered myself haha
This message was last edited by the player at 19:56, Tue 01 Mar 2022.

In reply to Rainbow of Iron Ravens (msg # 38):

We get a free excellency for each Caste and Favoured ability, yes?

You get one Free Excellency for each Caste and Favored Ability that you have at least 1 dot in, as well as any ability you buy a charm in. So for example Aiyana does not favor Socialize, but because I bought Motive-Discerning Technique I get the Socialize Excellency as well.

Yeah. Celestials don't buy excellencies in this edition. Makes life easier in many ways.

What they said! :)

Bringin' this one back, boss. Thoughts? I guess part of it is about which direction you think we're going next and how quickly you want all of us together.

I'd say Riverspeak is a safe bet to let you get by in most locations.  I'm leaning towards the South for where to start right now, but if anyone doesn't know, Exalted can draft far and wide pretty easily!

In reply to Loom of Fate (msg # 44):

So, "Languages" Merit gives us a language in addition to our "native tongue".  Assuming Salmon is from the East, but is in the Realm, would he be more likely to speak "Low" or "High" tongue as a native language, or Forest tongue?

Foresttongue is used in the "deep" East. The Scavenger Lands (the giant eastern part of the Threshold) uses Riverspeak. If that's where Salmon is from, Riverspeak would be his native language. You'd pick up merit dots for either version of modern Realm...the "right" version would likely depend on how much time Salmon's spent dealing with the upper crust of Realm society.

sheet is mostly complete, hoping to finihs tomorrow, typing out charms takes ages lol

In reply to Rainbow of Iron Ravens (msg # 47):

Just wanted to write and say thanks to all who've taken the time (and had the patience) to answer my questions.  I think Seven-Tailed Salmon is pretty much ready.  Looking forward to play!

I will do my sheet today, I'm a little behind.

In reply to Cathak Raiyah (msg # 49):

Question about intimacies - basically, how many do people take, and of what kind?  I've tried to flesh out Salmon with some core principles, and put in some default ones for things like his organisation, a to-be-determined rival, and the Circle.

But, do people tend to go for a lot of these?  How "serious" do they need to be?  Can my somewhat shady information broker / political fixer, who's whole attitude and demeanor is about knowing everything and being in control, have a secret minor intimacy of "loves sweet bean buns", or does that blow the vibe?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:35, Wed 02 Mar 2022.

Zephyr is coming along nicely!  And the benefit of being a Lunar is when I find good art that I think hits the spot, oh look, it's another Heart's Blood form! :)

How would we feel about a thread for solo or small-group posts? We've all had some adventures by this point, and it might be fun to write (and read) some of those, as well as giving us a chance to get into our characters a little more.

In reply to Seven-Tailed Salmon (msg # 50):

To be fair it's each to their own, rain has about 6 but more principles and ties as she tends to wander as a mercenary so doesn't make a lot of connections. Her ties are people from before she exalted with he exception of one person she has met during her travels before parting ways

Just think of your Intimacies are spammable plot hooks for Loom to yank you around by!  It's actually pretty fun to see them used as both a strength and weakness.  Assuming I got a Solar Mate, I fully expect that particular tie to get turned into a noose regularly!

Intimacies are anything important enough to your character that they can be leveraged. I think of minor intimacies as "you would cross town for this"--if you go with your "loves sweet bean buns" intimacy at a minor level, it would be easy-ish to coax you to the new bakery across town. ("Friends you care enough about to help move" is also at this level.) I think of major intimacies as "you would cross a (U.S.) state for this." They're important parts of your life that you are willing to majorly inconvenience yourself for. Defining intimacies are at the core of who a character is.

Anything that's important enough can be an intimacy. I'm not sure "loves sweet bean buns" should be a defining intimacy, but it definitely gives a sense of personality as a minor one. Even Big Damn Heroes have their quirks.

Okay.  From which pool are attunement motes dedicated?  Several passes through the book are unclear on this.

My sense of the two pools is that "personal" motes are for "being shady and not letting on you're a demigod", while "peripheral" motes are for "look at me, you poor, sad, soon-to-be-dead plot devices".

If Salmon dedicates 7 motes from his peripheral pool for Harmonious Presence Meditation, does that mean he's walking around with an active anima (having spent more than 5), and thus obvious?  Does that mean he should use his personal pool (and therefore has less opportunity to use Charms with a degree of subtlety)?

You'll want to likely commit from peripheral. Once it's spent it stays spent so yes initially you flare up a little bit, but that fades after half an hour or so and you're back to normal.

In reply to Aiyana Silverbow (msg # 57):

Okay, so the idea is that it's a "temporarily permanent" reduction, rather than a cost that's constantly spent?  Thanks!

Rain does not see the difference in either of those as a night caste

do artifact evocation (creating them) take charm slots? trying to craft a tailored weapon but uncertain of the precise rules?

do i just submit to the couple ideas i have to ST and await comments or approval? never actually used evocations with artifacts before.

1) Yes, evocations will take up charm slots.

2) Custom evocations?!  Ooooh, gimme gimme!

ROFL

In reply to Loom of Fate (msg # 61):

thank you for confirming, can evocations bedevloped with xp or at creation only? if we can use xp i will consider my weapon to be recently aquired and so not yet unlocked its spicy goodness. otherwise i shall review my charms and try to shave some off :D

Well...yes and no.  Mechanically, can you propose Evocations to me, and if approved, purchase them with XP?  Yes, indeed!

Fluff-wise, any weapon with Evocations is old enough and powerful enough to have had 'em all along, and Rain is just awakening them as she grows.

In reply to Loom of Fate (msg # 64):

cool, i will think of a few evocations to eventually be unlocked but meanwhile i can finish my sheet :)

Evocations are a fun challenge, very much the way to make your artifact yours.

yeah problem i have is that i have always been confused by scale in exalted as always told i think way too small for goals etc and honestly never know where the line between balanced and broken is haha

Well Exalted is not Pathfinder/D&D that's for sure. Scale is tricky in Exalted, you can be a King or Queen straight out of Chargen, and that's a different way of thinking from the clearing out the next lair of goblins.

I say start with the broken goals, then just scale them back a little rather than starting with the basic goal and trying to scale it up. Shoot for the moon and even if you fail you will land among the stars and all that.

In reply to Aiyana Silverbow (msg # 68):

yeah trying to be a little too big on this one but still it translates to artifacts as i look at 3e evocations and some of them are fine but some seem pretty strong so just goign to figure out what i want them to do and see if i can haha

Hey!  There will be absolutely no shooting at Luna!

We only shoot with Luna...

In reply to Unfurling Zephyr Dreaming (msg # 70):

Luna will be fine with it i am sure XD

In reply to Rainbow of Iron Ravens (msg # 72):

If you want some help workshopping your Evocations shoot me a PM, I've got a little practice at designing them.

In reply to Aiyana Silverbow (msg # 73):

Thankyou :) gonna try to decide on a through theme first then develop form there :)

I think my sheet is done... Now just need to write up a description. And an artifact. And a horse.

The horse is named Mr. Clip-clip. He looks delicious…

I'm getting close. Pinning down intimacies and the last handful of merits and bonus points...and then going in to calculate all the derived values and make sure that the charms get into the sheet properly.

Is Finding the Needles's Eye good for defense?

In reply to Cathak Raiyah (msg # 78):

Description of the Familiar merit refers to an "omen dog", but I can find no other reference.  What is an omen dog, please?

my understanding is a large wyld corrupted dog

Ah, so "no" then.  I can imagine Salmon with a creepy little dog that hides in his sleeves, or a huge, semi-magical guard dog that follows him everywhere, but "corrupted" is probably not in the works.

In reply to Seven-Tailed Salmon (msg # 81):

corrupted doesn't mean evil, omen dof woul literally fit the semi-magical guard dog. they can be tamed etc and if you are a merchant with wealth you could have purchased it or raised it from a puppy. omen dogs are essentially a breed of creature so no reaosn you can't have one i would think. My old zenith farmer turn saviour of the people had an omen dog.

Remember you are a demigod, if you can ride into town on a giant dinosaur like lizard  in this world you can have an omen dog haha

Here is a snippet for omen dog from my second ed rulebook.

Its a big dog that can take down horses :) couyldn't find a version in 3e

Thanks for taking the time to dig that up!  I think that it would be tough to pass that off as "normal", though.  Seriously leaning towards picking up a monumentally ugly, ill-tempered lapdog named "Num-Num", just for the Bloefeld vibes.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:56, Thu 03 Mar 2022.

Good for your defense?  No, it’s of offense charm. Good for getting past someone else’s defense?  Definitely helpful!

"Normal" is very relative in the world of heroin-pissing dinosaurs, and kingdoms of pirate zombies!  If you want a big scary beast to look mean and eat stray beggars, most folk won't think you're much weirder than most rich bastards...

Unrelated: Other than Salman, is anyone ready for me to review their sheet yet?

I still need to read through and find where combat mechanics are calculated then should be complete tonight

I'm getting close; I've got a few questions/proposals to chuck you in PM sometime today about animals that aren't in the books. There's also stuff I need to get out of the scratchpad and into the sheet.

I think Aiyana is ready for review yes. I'm pretty good with where she's at.

I think I'm ready other than some fluff.

Sheets have been stared at!

mine is done, just need to name artifact and think of some potetial evocations but wont have access to them so should be able to proceed :)

And just for that, I stared at your sheet too, Rain!

When do we get to start the circus?

In reply to Achol (msg # 94):

I imagine once everyone has finished their sheets, had a few errors on mine but beleive i have fixed them :D

Question, to have Martial Arts do I need to have a teacher who is themselves a celestial, or would a Dragon-Blood be able to?

DBs are perfectly acceptable sinus to train you. They might not know all the coolest tricks, but they’ll drill in the basics!

In reply to Loom of Fate (msg # 97):

So, I think Salmon is pretty much good to go.  How is everyone else coming along?

I think we are mostly waiting for the ST's schedule to ease up a little.

Only partially true.  Still waiting for a couple of you fine folks. :)

Is mine approved now after alterations?

In reply to Rainbow of Iron Ravens (msg # 101):

Obligatory check in - how are we doing?

Aiyana is ready to go. I'm working with Zephyr on some evocations for their artifact, but they haven't been on for a few days to give me feedback.

I beleive i am ready

Yeah, same here. Let's rock and roll.

Should be good!

checks the game for a fork

I hope we are all well!

In reply to Cathak Raiyah (msg # 108):

Well, I am ;)

can't complain