>>98704163
>more
Wuxia, sword and sorcery, anime, etc

>less
HR cat ladies, marketing bigheads, investors, random social media Gollums.

>>98704163
>What sub-genres or influences do you think Exalted should lean more towards or take less from? Wuxia, sword and sorcery, anime, etc?
I think that a mix of those influences, and others, is what makes Exalted Exalted. It should keep taking inspiration from all of those while putting in the effort to think through how inspirations from different genres fit together as a more-or-less cohesive whole. Wuxia-style kung fu battles and cynical realpolitiks, mortals operating on sword and sorcery powerscale but Exalts rising above that, setting being distinctly premodern but magitech being a thing (mostly a remnant of the past but still a thing) and so on aren't inherently mutually incompatible and can all comfortably fit in the same setting as long as some thought and care is put into it.

>>98704520
>HR cat ladies, marketing bigheads, investors, random social media Gollums.
WW doesn't have these, it is the writers themselves who pushed for the sanitation.

They even went fat acceptance which was killed by Ozempic

>>98704882
>spoiler
Wha?

>>98705029
Ozempic, and other weight loss drugs, pretty much killed the fat acceptance & body positivity movement.
Just as WW/OP started to dip into it.

>>98705129
This is a completely stupid line of reasoning.

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>>98705781
It made the American obesity rates drop nearly 3%, ozempic put obesity firmly in the "treatable disease" camp, it is even affecting how Americans consume goods.

>>98704163
>What sub-genres or influences do you think Exalted should lean more towards or take less from?
I think it should lean more wuxia and less swords and sorcery. Wuxia makes the assumption that there is a thriving world of martial artists and people who can fight, which Exalted benefited from in 2e but lost in 3e. Sword and sorcery really likes the idea of unique cultures and places to explore with a heroic PC, but through the lens of Exalted pushing those ideas creates a rather flat world, overloaded with extraneous information and missing the key details you need to make things stand out. Mostly, the problem with pushing S&S in Exalted is that the marketing sells the Exalted as more powerful than anything else, so it doesn't matter where you go or how interesting the people are because you'll trample them all underfoot anyway. It just makes interestingly-colored splatter rather than a world worth engaging with. I think 1e is the right amount of anime, 2e is a touch too much, Essence is way too much, and 3e is too little.

Xianxia. Maybe. A bit.

It would probably not be a bad idea to take the some of their traditional side-paths that can scale up into Exalted along with the idea that those side-paths are actually viable pursuits to be exploring while you cultivate/grow. Alchemy and formations and talismans and acupuncture and whatever else taken to extremes by cultivator/exalted magic. We have sorcery and martial arts as similar kinds of secondary arts already, and I don't think it would be bad to introduce more of that kind of cross-splat-but-relevant-to-Exalted stuff.

I think Dynasts could stand to be more xianxia-style clannish, and for that to spread into the Threshold. Yes, xianxia clans are meme level assholes but for gameplay purposes the main takeaway is that they involve small and straightforward family structures that reward playing into them. Your parents avenging you as a threat is almost unheard of in Exalted but would be cool if true.

>>98704163
I think using realms instead of numbered essence levels would be a good idea. Sue me, but I think it'd help if instead of people saying 'Solar beats up 5 Dragonblood' we could have some nuance and understanding that people with different levels of experience have different levels of power, so that 'E2/essence refining solar beats E5/nascent soul dragonblood' or whatever silly names you want to put on it that can make differences like that more clear and matter more. This idea is quite a lot more questionable I will admit.

I don't think we need more powerful realms where your power level is basically reset (we basically already have them) or sects or arbitrary power level multiplication every time you wipe your ass or ascend to a new stage of enlightenment (at least, more than we already have) or different styles of cultivating or really any of the more esoteric shit that tends to come into cultivation stories once you're past the murim/wuxia stage, any ideas from beyond the first two or three realms of most xianxia, but there is some stuff worth taking. As I said, what I really want is for Exalted to lean more towards wuxia.

>>98704163
>What sub-genres or influences do you think Exalted should lean more towards or take less from? Wuxia, sword and sorcery, anime, etc?
Exalted should come up with its own fucking identity first. Which means not changing writers every 100 pages.

>>98704163
Is taking my previous Solar PC and inverting him into an Abyssal a viable way to create an Abyssal PC?

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>>98707362
Yes.

>>98705781
generally the level of consciousness, or emotional self awareness for the sort of people who push these social changes is quite low, they dont think things through, thinking and feeling arn't distinct concepts from eachother. By and large mob mentality drives them, the lowest effort solution for them is the default.
before pharma companies realized they had cheap appetite suppressants, drinking obvious snake oil laxatives a celebrity pushed or advocating society changes their opinions as a whole through social media where the easy solutions. The latter of which is more appealing for those susceptible to mob mentality.

>>98705992
I mean the premise that it matters or affects a table top is stupid. I don't even think exalt's terrible art even has more than one fat person in it. Not that it matters, but rates of pancreatitis and gallbladder disease have proportionally risen. So have gastrointestinal disorders. Not that anyone will actually care about the long term effects until a class action lawsuit happens.

>>98704163
Finally, OP I can jerk off to.

Essence and Demake have me convinced that committed motes were a bad idea. What breaks in 2e/3e if you say no more committed motes, anyway?

>>98707742
Why are they a bad idea? I've been kind of thinking the opposite, that effects powered by committed motes that are regained as soon as the commitment ends are good and should be fairly common.

>>98707754
Effects that use them are usually less efficient mote-for-effect than charms that don't use them, but still take the same amount of motes in a scene. The difference between activating a 5m charm instant charm and a 5m scenelong is the scenelong probably does a fifth as much as the instant charm despite having the same cost. You don't have to roll often enough for something like 'get +1 success on investigation rolls for the rest of the scene' to be worth it compared to a similar effect in terms of prerequisites that has shit like 'get 5 successes and complete the action instantly and also do it better' for one roll.

>>98707381
Yes, it was surprisingly how fast the cultural trend changed, despite being built up since the early 2010s, the body positivity pretty much evaporated, being replaced by looks maxing.

>>98707435
It affects exalted through changes in the cultural zeitgeist.

>>98704163
Those shoes look so impractical. Now I can’t stop thinking about an Exigent of a god of shoes, I wonder what abilities they would have besides naturally being able to walk gracefully in any footwear no matter how painful it should be, lol?

>>98708518
They're probably worshipped by closet perverts everywhere. Associated with gods of revelry since rich degenerates drink wine out of hot girls' shoes. The usual mobility and stability portfolio.

There might be a god of dominion whose symbol is a boot stomping on a face forever, or a goddess of soft power who is a high heel dangling off a delicate foot. The former knows Solar Hero style but specialized for kicks, while the latter uses an adapted Snake Style with the stilettos as fang substitutes.

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>>98708578
,

>>98708578
>There might be a god of dominion whose symbol is a boot stomping on a face forever, or a goddess of soft power who is a high heel dangling off a delicate foot.
The iron boot and the silk sock

>>98709010
>The iron boot
The god, Kicking-Boot.

>>98709138
Awaken the spirit of a god-kicking boot. And then kick it.

>>98709010
Hobnail is a minor god of soldiers who is worshipped by those who want to make long marches easier. His reverencers enjoy greater endurance and willpower and become better singers, if only to carry the cadences that make the miles melt away.

Silk Stocking is a paradox of delicate strength, a sign of how carefully-managed desire can give a weak ornament power over its masters. She understands that the promise of gratification is more effective than gratification itself, and that value is created in the heart of the beholder and that it is like a flame that must be stoked.

>>98709181
>Awaken the spirit of a god-kicking boot, then kick it to death with the god-kicking boot, giving it the boot
Now this is how legends are born.

I have a hard time visualizing the aesthetics of various places and factions, Yu-Shan and Autochtonia for starters. Could someone help me with this problem I have please?

>>98709916
>Yu-Shan
Big, lots of jade and precious things, full of personal projects tucked away in corners; imagine a bunch of artists with unlimited resources were given liberty to go ham like it's minecraft creative mode and the world has lasted ten thousand years and running and they're not limited to one meter cubes so fine detail work works.

>Autocthonia
Think of the Windows 98 pipe screensaver, add a bunch of wear and tear, throw in a creeping evil at the edges of the world, and extrapolate a civilization from that.

>>98710002
>Yu-Shan
Got it now, thank you so much.

>Autochtonia
Still not uite grasping it. Their tech, for example, is it supposed to have lots of lines and lights like Cyberpunk or more gears and belching smoke like Steampunk?

>>98708267
looksmaxing didn't really replace anything, the desire for higher status social appearance is a constant, the autisticly mechanistic appearance obsessors are a largely seperate group from the feminine social approval cult that pushed fat acceptance.
the fat acceptance cunts are still around, for the most part social media amplifies feminine social conflict, social media has had a similar effect on them as the north koreans who where introduced to internet porn, rural mexicans introduced to cola, or rats who where given the choice of food or direct stimulus of the brains pleasure center. the target changed, the process and mentality remains.

The only way to help these addicts, is if everyone stops being like the second guy you replied to. The sort of philistine who ignores all notion of culture and how it affects civilization. Things would not be this bad if people didn't surrender all psychological control to the worst aspects of feminine nature.

>>98710059
>Still not uite grasping it. Their tech, for example, is it supposed to have lots of lines and lights like Cyberpunk or more gears and belching smoke like Steampunk?
In 1e, it was mostly pneumatic.

But check metropolis for a good idea of what it looks like.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=enwB5zZfaV4&t=610s&pp=ygUPbWV0cm9wb2xpcyAxOTI3

>>98710131
That study with rats and food/drugs is ancient and well known to be retarded. They literally had nothing else to do besides get high and were in terrible environments.
>>98705781
It's not totally untrue. Ozempic is like magic and you shouldn't have to put up with your body not looking like you want it to.
>>98709916
Same issue but with the Underworld.

>>98710181
>Same issue but with the Underworld.
Beksinski paintings, gothic murals, ukiyo-e.

>>98710269
I know a giant ocean plays into it somehow, something to do with islands. One of the deathlords is a pirate...

>>98710269
I must be still hungover because I wrote "gothic murals" instead of Hyeronymous Bosch. Granted though, he can also be applied to Malfeas.

>>98710181
the study applies to our case, key difference is that our horrible conditions are somewhat self imposed, mostly in the terminal online sense.

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>>98704163
Who is your Exalted waifu and why?

>>98710761
Can't pick only one.

>>98710761
Don't post pictures of my wife without permission.

>>98709916
I have this problem but with Malfeas.

>>98711136
See this, this is basically an Infernal first day in Malfeas.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=FSm07stzHZQ&pp=ygUQQmltYm8gaW5pdGlhdGlvbtIHCQkgDAGHKiGM7w%3D%3D

>>98710059
I always thought of it as Matrix Trilogy hovercraft with lots of steam, gears and oil. THe biomechanical stuff is for the wilderness outside the cities, while the rusted metal/black smoke/etc. is a sign of Void corruption

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>>98710761
All the CB Twilight back material girls had great art. But yeah like >>98710886 said it's hard to decide. Ultimately I think I like Ipithymia best because she's a slutty loli third circle and I'm a coomer. If it has to be one of the Exalted then probably Crow The Boy because tomboys are love.

>>98710059
play final fantasy 6, seriously. its a mix of steampunk and magitech aesthethics.

imagine the imperial capital of ff6 but put it underground.

>>98711369
This tells me nothing. Less than nothing in fact.

>>98711136
Similarly built-up as Yu Shan, but a lot more hostile. If Yu Shan is a ten thousand year skyblock world, Malfeas is a ten thousand year Nether world. Buildings trend towards being made of brass, which goes from copper to green in colors, and basalt, which can have a number of patterns shades and colors but trends towards deep blacks and reds. The Green Sun shines through the solid ceiling, which is made up of other city plates.

>>98709916
Look at the art provided for both places? I know it's not much but it does paint a clar idea of what it's normal for them.

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Essence for all its faults really glows up Solars and their Solar specific Charms. I always hated talking with retards who genuinely think so small with Solar Charms. You can be creative while still in theme without just throwing your hands up and saying "this charm does this because it's a genre conceit" or something lame like that.

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>>98714117
For a Solar fan with nothing to like about them in Ex3, I agree. Need to get in a longer running game though as I've not been able to sink my teeth into the higher Essence charms or Solar Sorcery.

>>98714117
Any Examples? I don't really know Essence but now I'm curious.

>>98704163
Dang the ladies of Vaneha are hot.

Going to add to this >>98709916, but I have a hard time visualizing Creations underground cities. Places like Gem, Gethamane, Ascension and others like them. How do you make these places interesting? How do you describe houses, shops and the like? Can you tell when you leave a poor neighborhood or enter a rich one?

>>98714376
>Can you tell when you leave a poor neighborhood or enter a rich one?
Much like aboveground cities, by the general affluence of the place. Not just size and materials of the houses, but how well swept and cleaned the streets are, the quality of decorations and how new they look, if there's a regular patrol of local guards or a professional hired force, how well dressed the people there are. In Gethamane specifically, I seem to recall the poorer section is crowded, and is a lot darker from the lack of lighting present in the section.

>>98714376
Same question but for Malfeas.

>>98714423
Amount of light seems like a pretty good tell of a neighborhood's importance and affluence for underground cities in general.

>>98712978
You are transported to a dangerous bizarre world, where strange beings will try to push you to join their cause, but ultimately they will do it through offering waifus.

>>98711136
You know how going to Creation for us is utterly wild with how absurdly exaggerated everything is? Like, Nexus is something like forty miles across, Halta is ludicrous, the Blessed Isle is a landscaper's project written across two thousand miles, and every big architectural project has air conditioning and somehow fits the style of the surrounding area. The wildlife involves things like aphrodisiacal flowers that suck out your soul, robotic animals that rove around disassembling and eating farm equipment to replicate, and the random city stray you keep away from might be a fully sapient man-eating dog. What the average person considers to be a normal expectation for their job role is to you the feats of some of the best of the field, even the village strongman can contest what you'd think of as the feats of olympian gymnasts, and when you see someone who's actually the best a mortal can be you find they can do stuff like cure cancer with a small-town village's tools, or sneak up on you while wearing a jester's costume with all the bells and whistles. The Sun coming up obliterates ghosts and ghouls, and the Moon forces back the edges of the world.

Going to Malfeas is like that, but for people from Creation.

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>>98714376
I don't think Ascension is underground. It's up in the mountains; so high, in fact, that you can look out to the South and see the cloud wreathed peaks of other mountains.

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>>98714974
>Ascension
May I humbly suggest...

>>98714117
>My Circlemate can’t be this plappable

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>>98715352
Oh please, you can do better where Eclipses are concerned.

This is a fanmade coloring, you can find the original here: https://www.deviantart.com/udoncrew/art/Exalted-2nd-Ed--ScarletWhisper-122671048

>>98714974
There is a city built into the bottom of it.

>>98715157
Thanks for the suggestion. First volume was great.

>>98714974
>>98716308
If you ever run a campaign set in Ascension be sure to give them wyven cavalry.

>>98715714
Isn't that town just at the foot of the mountain rather than inside the mountain?

>>98719342
That thing on the right isn't a mech

>>98704163
What battles have you participated in with Warstriders?

>>98717737
No it is built into the mountain.

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>>98719747
I wonder if it was based on the Turkish underground city.

>>98704163
Weekly Update
>Editing
Essence Enhanced (Exalted Essence)
Our stretch goal book from Exalted Essence Player’s Guide has zoomed through approvals and is now ready to be edited!
>Art Direction
Champions of the Divine Flame – Ongoing sketch review and corrections
Liminals – Awaiting sketch corrections
>Proofing
Essence PG – Inputting first proof corrections… gonna take a day to do all that…
the small supplement for the essence pg is zooming through it's development procedures. i don't know if that speaks to the size of the document or some sort of priority shift. the pg itself is finally out of 1st proof, so perhaps second proof will go fast enough we can get backer pdfs next month
next update will be weekly and monthly due to timing

The Haslanti League has an air force and that's neat, but I also want to give other nation-states an air force too. Obviously the League and a few others have air superiority, but I think smaller nations should have a little air force as a treat.

>>98722736
Lookshy used to have it in 1e and 2e, I am not sure if they still have it in Essence/3e

Malfeas - Lots of hate sex. Loud. Likes it when you pretend to be the UCS, top and bottom.
Adorjan - Into cutting and blood play. Never makes a sound. Top.
Ebon Dragon - Keeps saying "no" even when you say you're not into that, has never used the safe word. Bottom.
Hegra - Has a big mommy thing going on, really into scented oils. Big into roleplay. Bottom.
Cecelyne - Always needs to be in the dominant position. Super into pegging. Top.
SWLIHN - Autistic. Needs you to say exactly what you're doing both before and while doing it. Bottom and top.
Oramus - Weird fetish play. Likes to play games while having sex for some reason. Top.
Isidoros and Szoreny - Really, really into masturbation. So gay for each other it's impossible for them to imagine being with anyone else. Top and bottom, in that order.
Cytherea - Has a thing for giving birth. Can't stand sleeping with only one person. Gangbangs. Bottom.

>>98722736
There's the floating mountain people who fly giant eagles

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>>98722736
>The Haslanti League has an air force and that's neat, but I also want to give other nation-states an air force too. Obviously the League and a few others have air superiority, but I think smaller nations should have a little air force as a treat.
One way you could introduce this that I think would integrate well would be to say that the Haslanti League's unique innovation is discovering that hotter air is lighter and working out how to integrate that into their air boats. The way everybody makes air boats is by filling up bags with a lighter-than-air gas that comes up in natural geysers throughout Creation which the air boats needs to visit and refill at regularly in order to keep flying. Local states take and grapple for control over these geysers as key resources, build up fortresses and towns around them, all that good stuff. The Haslanti pass off their ability to run on less gas - or no gas at all! - by disguising their burners as mundane furnaces everybody needs at great heights to stay warm, and by making a fuss about how they've discovered a way to make a small amount of the gas in-flight through alchemical processes which people are trying to steal. Lookshy and the Realm maintain fleets of these gasbag boats even though they have artifact ships that skip it because the vessels are cheap and they can maintain control of space to refill their bags.

The big advantage is that it means the air boats that a party of Exalted would steal will need to refill at locally controlled nodes, so they need to regularly engage with the ground people if only to resupply. They need to care a little about the places they're moving through, which is a good thing in my book. It gives you as the Storyteller a lot of input on travel routes and makes it easier to plan out ahead of time the places people are going to go. It also makes a good reason for there to be common travel routes, which is important for sky piracy, and frankly node maps are easier to work with.

>>98723291
Absolutely insane of you to think Adorjan doesn't love being held down and plapped and silently scream your name the entire time and Oramus isn't a massive brat bottom
My controversial opinion is that Malfeas's current form is basically UCS chaining her to her bed and forcefeeding her until shes 2000 pounds, thus Malfeas has body issues that range from 'please fuck and comfort me like you still want me and tell me I'm still glorious' to 'please destroy me like the disgusting thing you made me'(self hate) to 'Fuck you for doing this to me fuck you fuck you' (while he torturegrapes you)
Ipithymia is a living 5000 chapter hurt/comfort fic bc of this

Fetish death, defeat and imprisonment has undoubtedly instilled fucked up sub-fetishes to the entire yozi pantheon

>>98724493
Adding to this, malfeas to me is a wobblemeat femboy compared to the gigachad Theion and his asscheeks, thighs, bulge, and such assorted wobblemeat is his layers

As he struggles with the unbreakable shibari ropes, he shakes his body in futile frustration, his various wobblemeats collide and clap, causing catastrophes for the inhabitants

He longs for the unconquered rod and also to regain his masculine body and conquer the unconquered bussy

Ucs however does not care, malfeas is just a used up twink for him

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>makes you spend 1 willpower

>>98723801
This, there's also Rocs as well which are massive and tameable.

You could have other nation states have like Griffon Riders (Not Flame Griffons)
>>98724375
This guy's effort post is also great.

>>98723291
>Needs you to say exactly what you're doing both before and while doing it. Bottom and top.
That's Elloge, not SWLiHN. Or at least theoretically but she's still too young to do that. SWLiHN would be into BDSM and very elaborate scenarios with lots of toys and one side always submitting completely to the other.

>>98724493
Oramus can't be a brat bottom because that niche is taken by the Ebon Dragon. The Dragon With Seven Wings is, I imagine, into the most esoteric and weirdest forms of sex play. Several of the Forbidden Techniques have been pulled (and literally birthed from) the Beyond and now are just common fetishes in Creation. Rape-play is the Ebon Dragons thing however, Oramus just melts your brain with orgasms whilst larping something you've never heard of.

Of course this doesn't really work because deviancy is the Ebon Dragons thing but there is going to be some overlap.

For Adorjan she can't be a bottom, she refuses to be held down and will make you bleed. If you can manage it she wouldn't hold it against you, it's just her nature. She would 100% be into it if you could pull off the impossible at least.

Qaf would be into tantric yoga stuff where you mix meditation and sex. I'm not sure who the futa would be, maybe Gaia. Auto is absolutely the shota of the primordials.

>>98725270
This sounds more correct. Cecelyne is the pegging top and SWLiHN would be into the BDSM's. Still confident on the positions, Cecelyne just feels like a top and SWLiHN seems like she'd want to do both.

>>98723291
Now that I look at it again, I think Hegra wouldn't be into incest or mommy play, that's obviously Kimbery. Instead she's the craziest, most BPD and manic-depressive pussy you could imagine with all the good and bad that comes with that. She's into findom too.

Sacheverell is into somnophilia, hard bottom. Metagaos is a top into oral and biting but also really nasty shit like feeding and bug chasing.

>>98725411
These are good points. Hegra would also have never had sex while sober, not even a single time. She's hardcore like that. Good call on Metagaos and the bug chasing. Sacheverell I was borderline thinking would be the only asexual Primordial in order to not tred on the turf of the others. Auto already has the pathetic masturbating thing down. Isidoros just jerks off whenever he's not banging Szoreny/Himself.

Elloge would need everyone explained to her in detail both before and during and would talk a lot while cuddling after. The loli to autos shota, never stops talking. Still a virgin but writes incredible amounts of fanfiction about the other primordials and her. Still less weird then the stuff Auto built.

That leaves... Gaia. Also still need to figure out who the futa is of the group.

>>98725611
Gaia is into sex in missionary position for the purpose of procreation and also handholding. She's the only one who's relatively vanilla and a mother who moved on with her life instead of becoming a weirdo degenerate. As for who's the futa I don't know. Maybe Kimbery for the futa dommy mommy angle.

>>98725689
Can't be Kimbery, she's too into the perfect mother aesthetic to have a dick. I'll have to think about this for awhile, give me a few days.

>>98725689
>Gaia
She's into bestiality, anon.

>>98724375
North has the Haslanti League's airships, East has the Marukan eagle riders, what do West and South have?

>>98725732
This sounds right but we lose out on a vanilla primordial then, the closest would be Kimbery and she's too into the mommy thing.

>>98725270
>>98725356
I thought it was widely accepted that Swlihn was the patron saint of "consensual, under marriage for the sole purpose of reproduction".

Are treants as a race something that exists in Exalted or are they just isolated examples of Wood elementals?

>>98726591
the closest things to treants are the forest fathers, a category of common god. they typically have dominion over the courts of the local forest and are their ardent protectors

>>98726591
>>98726605
There's King of the Woods, which are "ugly, vicious man-shaped trees" which are elementals
You could probably have a treant race, maybe a God-Blooded or something? Or a Celestial Exalted fused humans into trees or something. But I think they'd be better represented by elementals (and already are)

>>98726605
>>98726660
So something like Tolkien's Ents I'll have to homebrew, gotcha.

>>98726712
In 1e, human-plant hybrids, are listed under godblooded.

>>98724631
>spends 100 exp and 30 motes to make you spend 3 willpower instead
What now, chud?

>>98725344
Cytherea as futa maybe? I think she, Kimberly and Gaia would have breeding kink.

>>98725732
and incest, dont forget the incest! DB blood purity is only maintained if you breed closely related.

>>98726591
there was a treepeople (genetically enhanced humans) that was used as a slave race in the first age but i think they went instinct.

Is there any documentation regarding how Martial Arts are integrated into the setting besides the Immaculate stuff we all know already? I guess what I'm asking is how MartialArts are seen in general outside the Realm and how they interact with the greater setting.

>>98725344
Oramus will keep teasing your throughout sex and when you nut will say something bratty like "What took you so long"

Oramus is the unbreakable, eternally sarcastic brat as opposed to the TED's very breakable, easily panicking brat

>>98728223
2E Scroll of the Monk

>>98728636
I'll also point out that as much as people (rightfully) shit on SotM mechanics, the fluff is neat.

>>98727212
>spends 100 exp and 30 motes to make you spend 3 willpower instead
>What now, chud?
I do it four times in one round and watch them cope and seethe about how viable social combat shouldn't be allowed.

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How does the Wyld Hunt ever beat turning into a bird and flying away?

How does the Wyld Hunt ever beat Easily Overlooked Presence Method?

Does any counter to a Solar using Perfect Mirror to disguise themselves as a Dragonblood exist?

I have the Wyld Hunt with a captured sorcerer (who is also a PC) and the Hunt believe that she's been eaten and replaced by a Lunar. How can their interrogation reveal that it's the Lunar with any certainty? Just killing on suspicion, even if it's strong suspicion, cannot be a real solution, or they'll never be sure the actual Anathema is dead. For context, this is in Essence so making them flare doesn't turn off shapeshifting, but I've pretty lackadaisically brought in anything I wanted from prior editions so if you've got some other trick let me know.

>>98729323
They make a custom 3 dot artifact that counters that one specific tactic.

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>>98729327
It's a solution I have used before but I am hesitant to throw it at every problem. Particularly, shapeshifting into small animals that can run away better or other people who aren't as suspicious seems absurd to shut off or hard counter like that since it's so core to the Lunar playstyle, but it's also a thing the Wyld Hunt should have a good idea of how to work around.

>>98729367
It's a crafter's world buddy. You're just living in it.

>>98729323
>>98729367
I'd personally say that a Lunar who really wants to run away should be reslly, really hard to stop. Surprise attacks, or masking the attack as something less threatening than it is, and inflicting heavy damage on the Lunar before they can run away, should be the goal. A skilled Dragon-Blooded archer should be a threat to a Lunar flyibg away as a small bird. Threatening something the Lunar cares about and generally trying to arrange a situation where running away means the kind of defeat that stings enough for risking one's own life for a chance of victory seems worthwhile shoukd be a fairly common tactic. At the end of the day, though, Lunars and sneaky Solars are both really good at surviving.

>>98729386
But that's ignoring the 'transformed into another person' issue, and the 'turn into a bird and fly away... and then circle around for another go after a minute or two' issue.

Yes you can say that Lunars being able to run away is good and I can agree with that in theory, but I'm talking about the mechanics of them being good at that having no counters to the point that they can't stop the Lunar/Anathema who doesn't run away too.

>>98729545
I did suggest countermeasures, too.

>>98729564
None of them work.

>>98729386
>Surprise attacks, or masking the attack as something less threatening than it is, and inflicting heavy damage on the Lunar before they can run away, should be the goal
Surprise attack WHO? Mask the attack on WHO? Inflict heavy damage to WHO?

Step 1 Find The Lunar. Challenge Level: Actually Fucking Impossible. Even if they've taken the most basic of precautions of disguising themselves as someone native to the town they're walking into, perfectly, you're basically fucked.

>A skilled Dragon-Blooded archer should be a threat to a Lunar flyibg away as a small bird.
Not in any kind of non-whitebox area. They fly behind a building or a cliff. The way 3e/Essence combat works getting a lethal blow in the first few turns is pretty much impossible if you've got any kind of tankiness, and even if you don't it kind of relies on the Storyteller allowing Build Powers before combat to charge up to full before going in. I do allow that and you can get a kill quickly with it, but holy shit if a Lunar is flying away do you think that means people have rounds to stop them? They just move behind cover. If they really want to fuck you they shapeshift into another form once or twice to break the trail.

>Threatening something the Lunar cares about
This whole idea relies on a stupidly specific set of circumstances, which includes that you're completely on the offense. If Anathema are, say, infiltrating somewhere important and you've found out and need to stop them, the assumption is that they have no friends. Their own lives take priority and they'll probably ditch the moment they know they're made. You'd have to actively get in close and try to social them into caring about things, but that's not an option because every kind of Anathema is ludicrously more dangerous in that scenario. Pretty much every situation after they've left home is the same.

>>98729588
You asked
>How does the Wyld Hunt ever beat turning into a bird and flying away?
which implies that the Lunar was, initially, something other than a bird. Obviously my suggested countermeasures work in that scenario. Threatening something the Lunar gives a shit about does work in situations where the Lunar is disguised, too, as it pushes the Lunars towards doing something that'll reveal him as a Lunar. Sure, if a Lunar doesn't care about anything then there's not all that much you can do, but if the doesn't care about anything, then what's he even going to do? Let him fuck off and lay low and focus on those Anathema with actual interests and motivations driving them to do shit.

>Not in any kind of non-whitebox area. They fly behind a building or a cliff.
If you had a specific geography in mind for this scenario, it would've been good to say it right at the start. There's not always a tree or a cliff to fly behind, DB archers are capable of repositioning etc. Yes, turning into a bird and flying away is a pretty damn good way to escape, but it doesn't make you invulnerable.

>This whole idea relies on a stupidly specific set of circumstances, which includes that you're completely on the offense. If Anathema are, say, infiltrating somewhere important and you've found out and need to stop them, the assumption is that they have no friends.
There being something the Lunar cares about at play when one is doing anything at all that leads to meaningful conflict with a Wyld Hunt or just people in general is not "stupidly specific", it's the norm. There's some goal the Lunar has in mind, someone he wants to kill, someone he wants to save, a piece of information he's after, something. As long as there's something like that, you can use that as alure for a trap. Aside from that, you asked about a Wyld Hunt, and a Wyld Hunt usually is on the offensive, not on the defensive.

>>98729670
Oh, and I forgot to address this part:
>>98729323
>I have the Wyld Hunt with a captured sorcerer (who is also a PC) and the Hunt believe that she's been eaten and replaced by a Lunar. How can their interrogation reveal that it's the Lunar with any certainty? Just killing on suspicion, even if it's strong suspicion, cannot be a real solution, or they'll never be sure the actual Anathema is dead. For context, this is in Essence so making them flare doesn't turn off shapeshifting, but I've pretty lackadaisically brought in anything I wanted from prior editions so if you've got some other trick let me know.
While it's obviously the case that sometimes you just have to deal with uncertainty, and killing the captive on a suspicion might be the course of action the Wyld Hunt decides on, it's also the case that a Lunar would be unlikely to just let himself be killed without trying to put up a fight. If the Wyld Hunt wants to be as sure as possible, making clear that they're going to kill the captive, obviously doing so in a location of their choosing, one chosen to prevent things like the possible Lunar just flying away as a bird, but doing so in a way that leaves the captive a chance to fight back, and then seeing if the demonstrated capabilities one would expect from a Lunar but not from a sorcerer, would probably be the best bet. It'd be riskier than just quickly killing the captive when he's as helpless as possible, of course, but it's a choice of risk vs. certaintly. I'm not actually sure what happens when a Lunar dies when shapeshifted, though. Do they stay in whatever shape they're in or revert to their true form?

>>98729764
>I'm not actually sure what happens when a Lunar dies when shapeshifted, though. Do they stay in whatever shape they're in or revert to their true form?
I do not believe they revert. Shapeshifting is an instant action which usually denotes a fire-and-forget rather than sustained effect. I would believe someone who said they reverted to a true form though, since that happens in the mainline when your anima flares high.

>>98729670
>>98729764
Sorry btw I definitely bit back too hard. New glasses are giving me headaches. On reflection after a break you're entirely correct and I was just not thinking things through.

>>98729806
No worries.

>>98729793
>On death, the Lunar always returns to the last worn of his true forms. Any Lunar’s first true form is the shape he wore when he Exalted. The second is his spirit shape.

>>98730090
Thanks that actually helps a lot when it comes to judging how the Wyld Hunt will treat it.

Executing characters from most to least suspicious is actually a viable strategy.

I just know there is some asshole deeb who's all "See, this is why I use a bow." when a Lunar tries to turn into a bird and fly away. Bonus points if it's an air one and they have some sky advantage.

>>98730226
I mean if you face shapeshifters on a regular basis I feel like somebody having sort of ranged weapon becomes mandatory after the third time some Lunar turns into a bird and flies away and nobody can do anything to them

>>98730226
>>98730669
This is how a deeb fights Lunars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yTRdJ4Nljw

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Leaving aside Ishvarra who were never statted

How powerful could a PC Shaped Fair Folk get in 1e or 2e? Could one ever throw down with a Celestial?

I've asked this before but I can never find an answer that really satisfies me. How do you determine whether a given creature is just a "regular" Creationborn creature, an elemental, an Underworld plasmic creature, or a Raksha? At least demons are easier to delimit.

Where is my Lunar mate? Is she safe? Is she alright? :(

>>98731248
You choose what you think would be most appropriate for them, what kind of retarded question is this? The reason you're never satisfied is that you're stupid.

If the thing isn't quite like the 'normal' class of creatures, then lean into it. You still decide at the end of the day. A healing ghost, a boiling water elemental,

If it is NOT a spirit or a Raksha but it is a magical creature, what do you think you gain from that? You are the arbiter and you are the one that decides ultimately what cosmic ruleset the creature comes under. I'm getting angrier the more I write this, because you must be some hylic retard who is so ignorant of the setting that you think you've figured out most of it.

>>98731248
Raksha are born from the Wyld and are thinking creatures. It is a spirit.
Elementals are born from Creation, heavily influenced by one of the five Elements, can be sentient or non-sentient, and can evolve into a lesser elemental dragon. It is a spirit.
Plasmic creatures are ghosts or whatever and born from the Underworld. It is a spirit.
Creationborn creatures are just natural creatures born in Creation that aren't spirits. From a meta standpoint a creature that could possibly exist on Earth. They are not spirits.

>>98732177
raksha are categorically not spirits.

>>98732391
You are correct, I was confused

>>98730795
IIRC Raksha got a lot of stat bloat and I think they had automatic success Charms for mundane stuff, the main problem being that they operated on glacial timescales.

>>98715157
It feels funny to see the kitchen sink aspect of the setting actually working

>>98715157
>>98732810
I'm definitely adapting the Cult of the Sacred Flame to Exalted's setting. Might even make it a remnant of some First Age society or something.

>>98730795
>How powerful could a PC Shaped Fair Folk get in 1e or 2e?
Non-elder DB-tier, which isn't really saying much but they basically peak aroundabout where E5 DBs do. Their base stats are higher but Excellency is really strong and DBs peak at better numbers. Theoretically fae could unflesh into a freehold and cosplay an unshaped while still being considered a shaped fae noble as one of their endgame sort of builds, which tends to look like a walking demesne (with all the variety that implies). Their other endgames are just weaving together unreasonable alliances of other fae, and doing a bunch of martial arts (with the same MA access as a martial arts-using dragonblood).

The most powerful endgame is just faeries with artifacts, same as DBs best endgame build is DBs with artifacts. Faeries have an easier time making low-level artifacts than DBs but have basically no access to functional ~4-5dot stuff.

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>>98704163
Speaking of how you visualize places, how much First Age tech should the Blessed Isle have?
I always felt it was odd that Lookshy was more high tech than the Realm, because even if the Seventh Legion was a military organization the Realm should have a bunch of tech left over due to being the capital and not actually being attacked by the Raksha.
I always considered the Blessed Isle the most developed place in creation, so even if most of the population is medieval, there should be a lot of urban ruins that resemble fantasy skyscrapers like Chiaroscuro.

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>>98729323
>How does the Wyld Hunt ever beat turning into a bird and flying away?
Turning into an animal doesn't make you invisible.
In animorphs which was all about turning into animals, it's brought up multiple times how you can give yourself away if
>animals of two different species are seen close together.
>you don't follow the pack/herd movement
>you aren't skittish enough of humans
>you behave too "smart" for a particular animal
Also, the local wildlife can mess you up if they think you're prey or intruding on their territory.
The enemy can also be really, really paranoid and just go outright killing all nearby wildlife to be on the safe side.

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>>98735547
Turns out the only reason for why the Realm still stands, is that the messianic capybara lunar didn't exalt yet.

Trained falcons to harry Lunars in bird shape.

can't you just interrogate the local animals or better yet if you're good at survival, you can do some things to identify whose a fake animal?

>>98735940
yes that's one of the ways Lunars give themselves away, by not acting like an animal should

>>98735940
"Good morning ma'am, may I take a moment of your time?"
>Moo.
"Thank you. Anyway, have you seen any suspicious peoples around here? Any new farmhands you haven't seen before?
>Moo.
"I see. Have you seen any suspicious animals? Any new member of your herd that didn't quite belong?"
>Moo again.
"Thank you, ma'am, we'll be in contact. Have a nice day.
>Moo I say.

>>98735940
I imagine a deeb would have some animal friends who keep an eye out on things. Feels like the best thing to use to hunt down lunars is ironically other animals.

Agatae waifu would go pretty hard. Not sure how you'd fuck a wasp however.

>>98735965
"Betsy! Moomoo! Milkers! Why are you acting so weird around that cow!?"
"Mooo."
"Wait, whose cow is that??"
"Mooo."
"I'm getting a monk. Assholes letting their weird ass cows on my property."
"MOOO."

>>98735981
>be a rancher on the Blessed Isle
>every 5 years or so the Immaculates come and kill all your livestock
>have to start over with the apology money they give you every time

>>98733710
also they are functionally infinite and even in the first age the best way to keep them out was with static defenses.

>>98735966
Some special agatae are used as brood mothers, I imagine they have a hole somewhere. She'd probably peg you with her sting (don't worry, it shifts) while you penetrate her

>>98735981
Zoom zoom.

This is how Deebs fight a Dawn caste Solar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCZkkvDPYMI

I think I want to run Kingdom Hearts in Exalted Essence. I keep trying to kludge it into Fabula Ultima or something, but that doesn't replicate the feel of playing the game, just of watching the cutscenes.

>heavy use of parry and dodge
>equippable abilities that are each a discrete part of your build

I think I'm being retarded though, so, you guys can tell me why this is a bad choice yeah?

>>98737940
>>equippable abilities that are each a discrete part of your build
This is just Alchemicals.

>>98739395
Or using a bunch of artifacts with bespoke Evocations

>>98735850
>>98735940
>>98735966
Issue with turning to animals for help is that Lunars are way way way way better at it than Dragonblood. Even without the problem that is Lunars having a way easier time eating and impersonating your trained animals (since unlike with humans you can't ask the animals for information the Lunars wouldn't have) they also just have a much easier time getting their powers to influence animals in general. Having trained animals near your organisation is just asking to be infiltrated by a Lunar shifting into the animal to get close to somebody alone and going from there.

>>98736978
>even in the first age the best way to keep them out was with static defenses.
I think it's more accurate to say that raksha were just so weak that they couldn't overcome their static defenses. There's all sorts of talk about how Solars and Lunars would go out slaughtering swathes of them for fun, it's entirely reasonable to think that the static defenses are just there because sitting on the edge of the world murdering fae gets boring after a while.

>>98737940
>I think I'm being retarded though, so, you guys can tell me why this is a bad choice yeah?
Seems entirely workable. If you want equippable abilities then you probably want to lean harder on artifacts/evocations than normal, you could consider making evocations purchaseable with Exalt Milestones to push that idea (or make a new milestone that works like Exalt Milestones, but with a trigger for earning them based on the artifact, if you wanted to flex out a little further). Since it's Kingdom Hearts using the Essence system I guess your plan is to basically have everybody play an Exigent?

>>98739531
Yeah, that's what I meant. Raksha are kind of like gigantic gas bags, their power is so dispersed that Exalts, who are like magnesium sparks, can fight them effectively despite being metaphysically smaller than them.

>>98739531
tbf I do think animal shapeshifting is incredibly powerful. It's just useful for doing things casually. I just think there are options for high awareness deebs, it's not perfect or anything like that. The way I see it mostly RP'd is the Lunar being a single animal doing animal things. A bird on a tree, a mouse by the wall.

If a Lunar wanted to say, impersonate an animal in a pack or someone's loyal dog I'm pretty sure I'd think of a roll or something to add some risk to that. Not counting whatever charms and such.

There are just too many animals and too few lunars for Deebs to CONSTANTLY be on the lookout. Besides obvious stuff like making sure there aren't any animals in the room during secret meetings.

>>98739488
Anon, don't jinx that anon's project, to say "use evocations/exigents" is the same as "you cannot do it in Exalted, you have to homebrew whole cloth" which is as nearly as welcoming as "use another system".

>>98739815
>Anon, don't jinx that anon's project, to say "use evocations/exigents" is the same as "you cannot do it in Exalted, you have to homebrew whole cloth" which is as nearly as welcoming as "use another system".
In 3e sure, but in Essence it basically means you use the universal charms and make modes + exalt charms for each character. They said themself they want to homebrew Kingdom Hearts stuff in and evocations (in Essence, not in 3e) are actually a pretty fast and easy-to-homebrew way to add equippables to a build.

>>98739635
Just being able to turn into a fly, spider, or rat and lurk in a corner is invaluable. If there's a fly in the corner of the room good luck even seeing it, nevermind seeing a tell.

>>98740410
The Realm must have amazing exterminator, each trained in pest control and kung fu

>>98740410
>>98740501
You joke but supernatural awareness and such is pretty amazing. But yeah, Lunars have some crazy powerful tools. I need to remember how tells and the like work for them. Never really been into the splat all that much even if Luna is the coolest.

>>98740501
How did premodern societies go about pest control anyway?

>>98740659
Well, killing boars was akin to dragon slaying.

>>98740680
Yes but I mean rats, mosquitos, cockroaches, weevils, etc.

>>98740717
From what I remember in western times they'd smoke out the whole house, no idea how well that works for driving off bugs. A lot of it probably comes down to just dealing with them and keeping clean with what you have.

>>98740717
Chemical pesticides/insecticides have around for a long, long time
Rats and mice were a good reason to keep a cat around
Various bugs could be kept away by fire, with just smoke or burning specific plants

>>98740659
>>98740717
Cats.
>mosquitos, cockroaches, weevils, etc.
They carpeted their homes with marigolds and catnip.

>>98735813
lol, he was an npc in my game. friend-to-all the capybara lunar.

>>98704163
What is the most important thing to remember for a 3e game?

>>98741257
Leave the simulationism at home, visualize every important action as part of a movie, anime or TV show.

Which satrapies make the best location for a circle of Realm Deebs on their first real mission?

>>98741795
depends on the characters
but the best blanket-case satrapy could be An-Teng
lots of stuff happening in An-Teng

Does Craft (Artifact) have sub-superior project use cases?

>>98741257
You should expect roughly half as many successes as the number of dice rolled.

>>98743137
Perception + Craft (Artifact) would be used to study an artifact in front of you and intuit what it's uses might be and how to employ them.

If you're looking for an example of a basic/major project rather than just anything that's not a superior project, you would use Craft (Artifacts) to build mundane supplements to artifacts that care above all else about not fucking up the artifact's function. Modifying a daiklave's handle with a prosthetic grip (probably involving magical materials) so that a significantly larger character could use it without squidging their fingers, for example. If that sounds worthless consider that every other craft is also mechanically worthless. The best you can reap from non-artifact crafting is some environmental options and getting rid of some minor ~1-2 dice penalties.

>>98741335
>Leave the simulationism at home
Disagree. Simulationism is a useful tool to generate and track the consequences of your player's actions. You should absolutely expect to fudge things more than normal and assign vibes instead of numbers, but disregarding economics, politics, travel, and all the other factors you can think of interacting in background is doing yourself a disservice. You should absolutely not fall for the trap of making the only consideration be the things happening on-screen if you want your players to think about things that are outside of the scene, and as a player choosing to rely solely on drama is both limiting and makes it difficult to build up to higher stakes that don't revolve around challenging empty stat bags with slowly inflating numbers.

>>98741795
>>98742268
Don't forget Greyfalls.

>>98704163
How old is your PC?

>>98746788
My Dawn got Exalted well past middle age, years after he retired from active duty due to a war injury. He was really baffled about it after meeting some other Celestials and uncovering a bit of the lore behind the Exalted.

>>98746788
My PCs have been 20, 25, 30, and 40. Arrogant young Dragonblood out on their first Legion deployment, witch thrown out of town for Exalting, wizard who blew up his town Exalting, and a sherlockish detective suddenly way out of his league.

>>98746788
15 to make them immune to seduction.

>>98748623
>the humble highschool AU

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>>98746788
I was ST but my ExWoD group was 16, 16, 17, and 19.

>>98730795
There are builds in 1e for them to throw down with Celestials yeah. But most of the time, a Raksha will need an artefact to keep up with them.

Ideally said Raksha's artefact can disappear so that it doesn't just become a loot-a-thon with the PCs.

>>98749079
It was very amusing fighting fae in the game I run where faeries would basically spill out all their graces when they died like a diablo boss with how quick PCs were to loot. This was before I realised they could just hand them off to enslaved minions in a vault in Narnia and didn't actually have them on hand / Elsewhere.

>>98704163
Which cultures in Creation would be most accepting of a PC with a harem?

>>98749906
Harem just in the sense of being in a sexual relationship with multiple people or in the sense of being legally married to multiple people?

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>>98749921
Yes.

>>98749906
>>98749948
3e-only answer is Volivat. The most exceptional among their populace are placed into government-assigned harems and have an entirely supportive culture built up to back that. As a PC you are always exceptional. If your harem is too small they will actively push you to include more people and arrange them into interesting formations to best fit the individuals involved.

All games answer... I'd say Yu Shan, but they wouldn't accept it from a mortal PC. Lookshy is out for the same reason. The Haslanti League, maybe?

>>98749906
I think the South had a bunch of copy paste Bedouins so those should be easy to play with. The west has places where woman are little more than cattle so that could be fun if you are willing to deal with some group attrition.

>/wodg/ reaches bump limit 2 or 3 times in the time we get maybe 100-150 posts
What happened? We used to be just as active, practically a sister thread.

>>98750824
there's only so many times you can here "x edition bad", "why do we have lunars?" and "here's my remade solar charm set" before you're talked out. yeah the wods are constantly talking vampire and mage like they're the only parts of it, but at least they have the option to alternate topics if they want to. we don't

Which Caste has the most sluts?

>>98750824
WoD got a tremendous boost from HtP, vtubers, and younger generations actually resonate with the old material (not the 5e just to clear).

Exalted is suffering a death of a thousands cuts, and the current cultural zeitgeist doesn't do it any favors.

>>98751130
Not true, /wodg/ gets stuck for entire threads with
>V5/6 sucks
>woofs are retarded
>magefag/anti-magefag shitflinging
Etc.

>>98751537
Sound analysis, though I have the nagging feeling there's something missing.

>>98751655
Like you said, WoD is also a multiple generals under a trenchcoat

>>98749948
No Moon Lunar, Twilight Solar, Air Aspect DB, Dawn Solar. What'd I win?

>>98751980
As much as >>98742167 this entire thread is a sewer, it did get me thinking about the undeniable reality of gods being real in Exalted's setting and how it shapes not just cultures and history, but also the individual experiences of the average person in the setting.

>>98753452
I mean the existence of tangible gods does provide some questions from an anthropological standpoint. IRL I always assume the merits of a religion as "If your deity truly did not exist, could their lessons/rules let one live a live that is both just and does not involving tearing others down in the process?"

If gods actually exist, then it could very well mean might does mean right, and that divine rule could very well be a real thing. Not the kind in our world, but rather pissing off a ruler chosen by the ocean father can cause his chosen to fill your lungs up with water and just drown.

This is why I at least support the Immaculate Order on the pretense that they smack gods with a mallet if they get too uppity. Gods are glorified janitors who clean up messes. If you're lucky we might donate a prayer or two.

>>98753452
Just read Isaac Newton's works, specially his chronologism

>>98753722
Matter of fact, why did the primordials make gods draw power from prayer, was it supposed function like a doordash review

>>98753775
Gods don't draw power from prayer, or rather they don't rely on prayer
They get certain benefits from prayer (Motes/WP), and prayer helps them do their job ("oh god of the river, something is fucked up with the river here, please help") but a god who doesn't get prayers can do their job as well as a god who does get prayers

>>98753850
I'm reminded of Okoto, the river god from the 2e core opening comic, for some reason.

>>98754402
>Okoto.
>Otoko.
Exalted's pseudo Asian names get really funny if you are actually familiar with China and Japan.

>>98754610
Care to share with the class?

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>>98754654
There's a female night caste named Faka Kun, kun isn't even a name.

>>98754699
I mean the Okoto/Otoko thing.

>>98754733
It just mean man/male in Japanese.

In titles, you get works about pseudo homoerotic manliness.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VQNKKGBARto&list=RDVQNKKGBARto&start_radio=1&pp=ygUPR3JhbiBibHVlIG90b2tvoAcB

>>98754809
So this river god and protector of some backwater village is named Man? Or is Okoto a real word?

>>98754903
Yes to both, just don't google search otoko matsuri (men's festivals) with your filters off.

>>98753850
Gods actually do get powered up by prayer, their stats are boosted by the Cult background.

>>98751325
Zenith, then followed closely by Night.

>>98751325
Joybringer. Followed closely by Eclipse.

>>98754903
No, he's named Okoto. Obviously it's,a pseudo-Asian name, but it's neither literally nor figuratively the word otoko, and a name resembling a word in some language is neither rare nor particularly meaningful.

>>98756380
It is like a god was named Duudee or Nam.

>>98756785
It's not, and the reason should be obvious if you just take a moment to consider the language Exalted's written in.

>>98757140
It is like how drones are called Options in Japanese shmups, just a random word to sound exotic-foreign, but combined with WW's haughtiness, it paints the devs as hypocrite know-it-alls.

>>98750824
we get the same retard like "which caste/aspect would be the best wife/slut/kinky" who asks it every thread that the novelty has worn off.

also no OC.

>read more of Howard.
>Conan's Slithering Shadow, to be more precise.
>Xuthal is outright made with super advanced technology.
>The inhabitants are just too lazy and hedonistic to fully use it, or make more.
I wonder if Thog is more of a demon or raksha, if the former, if he belongs to Malfeas or TeD's soul hierarchy.

Forgot to mention/ask; who is the equivalent of Howard's Erlik Khan in exalted? This god was his go to dark God.

>>98704163
Weekly+Monthly Update
>First Draft
Essence Storytellers Supplement
Lots of Exalted progress this week! First off, the stretch goal book for the Essence Storyteller’s Guide is off and running, as first drafts are being worked on!
Essay Collection lol last seen here
>Redlines
Infernals Companion
The stretch goal book for Infernals is written, and ready for redlining!
>Development
Liminals
>Editing
Essence Enhanced
>Post-Editing Development
Essence Storyteller’s Guide
The Essence Storyteller’s Guide is back from editing, and getting a careful developer review!
Alchemicals Companion: Avatars of Brass and Shadow
>Art Notes Prep
Essence Storyteller’s Guide
Sidereals Jumpstart
Riders from the Sunless Lands: The Abyssals Companion
>Art Direction
Exigents: Champions of the Divine Flame
Agents of Heaven: Sidereals Companion – If everything is good with Liminals stuff, gonna send this to Gong
Infernals: Crowned by Hellfire – Sketches in for approval
Liminals – Finals in for approval
>Layout
Sidereals/Abyssals Storyteller Screens
>Proofing
Essence Player’s Guide – Off to Travis for typo fixing
>Press
Sidereals: Quoting
fairly busy month all told for background detail, especially the stg which shot like a rocket for some reason for a midsize book. perhaps the typo correction of the pg suggests we'll get it next month, maybe as soon as a week or two
there was also a preview of the alchemicals companion yesterday
https://theonyxpath.com/locusts-and-grasshoppers-alchemicals-companion-preview-1/

>>98759460
Ebby of course.

>>98759524
There's generally no chance to see a companion before it's finished, right? I swore I saw a manuscript for the Lunars one but which doesn't seem to have been done for the Sids one.

>>98760042
to my knowledge the manuscript of a companion book was only released once: it was for heirs to the shogunate, and they did that as a nice thing for stir crazy fans in the throws of the pandemic lockdown. every other companion has gotten text previews but that's it

>>98759524
What the hell is Essence Enhanced?

>>98760649
the "companion" book of the essence player's guide. from the stretch goals comprising it, it consists of: new universal charms; more "material" on the 9 primary exalt types (which i assume resembles or expands on those presented in the pg itself); and 4 new exigent types not present in 3e itself with their own essence charm sets

Does Wits even do anything outside of Join Battle and Resolve?

>>98760079
I see, tragic but thanks. I could've sworn the Lunars companion got it too but it has been too long, I don't want to interact with the fancord more than I need to stay abreast of news and sneak peeks because they're all fucking scum, and the copium is definitely talking.

I am really just fascinated by what the Infernals Companion may have, after how fast and loose certain Devil-Body powers are to the point of amounting to offensive sorcerous workings, and how absurd some extant Charms already are.

>>98760907
A scattering of mental and social stuff IIRC, but to be fair JB is the most important roll you'll ever make in most games.

>>98760907
>Resolve
This part honestly doesn't even matter because static defenses are worthless before even a capped out dice pool, let alone excellencies and other magic.

>>98761049
Excellencies alone are comically necessary for meaningful resistance in 3e, from what I can tell. In older editions, I always visualised an Excellency as simply you doing a thing harder and more awesomely, like an anime swordsman in Bleach teleporting behind someone with sheer speed.

In 3e, with the introduction of things like Clashes and how less simulationist everything is, I get the impression Excellencies are straight up like Haki. Some sort of spiritual pressure that just knocks down anything, tangible or esoteric.

>>98760846
It's going to be 4 books now that Infernals don't get Inner World charms and yet Alchemicals do.

>>98761163
>Infernals get jack and shit in Essence
>Then suddenly turn out to be both the coolest and most mechanically blessed Solaroids in 3e when they got their 3e book
You know, it was incredibly frustrating at the time. But in hindsight the entire development of Essence, especially how long 3e took to make AND the retards at OPP thinking making Essence ON TOP of that was a great idea for some reason, is very funny.

>>98761298
>Then suddenly turn out to be both the coolest and most mechanically blessed Solaroids in 3e when they got their 3e book
I wouldn't say 'suddenly'. We'd been predicting that it would happen for almost ten years, after the exact same thing happened in 2e and for exactly the same reasons (though 2e had Abyssals as the prototype Infernals instead of 3e having Essence's Infernals as their prototype).

>>98761352
Fair point, I mainly meant I wasn't actually expecting them to be this cool after some very discouraging previews.

>>98761428
Personally I just look at Infernals and see more 3e shite. It failed to draw me in. I don't find something annoying me every third page like 3e Sidereals but it also doesn't make me want to play it, and most of the parts I see in it that are clearly meant to be interesting to me/my demographic are covered in 3e-isms that ruin it. Unnecessary pidgeonholing or converting useful effects into dicetricks are the usual ones.

>>98761581
What irritated you in Sidereals?

>>98704163
What is your favorite location to adventure in Creation and why?

>>98761812
Too many things to list. Again, I found something specific every three pages or thereabouts, and there were overall design decisions all over the place that rub me the wrong way. Give me a page number and I'll find at least one thing within three pages in each direction, if you like.

>>98762284
108

>>98762214
The Scavenger Lands are everyone's favorite for a reason.

>>98761298
Infernals/Sidereals were the big down grades in Essence, but Solars in Essence completely obliterape 3e Solars/2e Solars/1e Solars by several orders of magnitude.

>>98764440
you're talking to a guy who is only interested in Exalted because of Infernals, the gayest Exalt ever conceived other than the 3e ones and Alchemicals. he only cares about infernals and will never see your point of view.

>>98764464
What's wrong with Alchemicals?

>>98764478
NTA anon, but they are basically DLC, and mechanically, got screwed up by the charm spam meta.

Infernals are my favorite splat. I have some complaints about them in 3e but I had some for the ones in 2e and also who doesn't about exalted stuff.

My thing with Alchemicals and I haven't really played with them but they seem way more interesting when you don't get Creation involved. It's just single splat games aren't... I mean they're cool but also why. I also don't really care for magitech and robots all that much. The stuff I've read of the place itself however, lore wise I mean, for 2e and 3e is pretty awesome.

For my favorite Creation place the south is just really fun. I'd say that's my favorite but all places are just as neat. I just love the weird southern aesthetic that a few places have. Pretty sure it's not even the norm for the south, can't remember off hand.

>>98764577
News flash, anon, every Exalted splat that isn't Solars, Lunars, Dragon-Blooded and MAYBE Sidereals is DLC.

>>98764744
Really, every splat besides solars and dragon-blooded are DLC. For pretty much every edition.

>>98764744
In the Alchemicals' case, they have to be ported to creation proper by the ST.
3e tried rectify it.

Anyone Exited for the new locust crusades?

>>98764861
Alchemicals lorewise were fine as is. 3e just reinvented the wheel for no reason.

>>98762674
Sorry, I was asleep by the time you posted.

>A handful of lion-dogs and other gods, mostly on the largest island of Yii Yusandi, assert that they’re the indigenous inhabitants and all others present are interlopers.
>Yu-Shan’s urban development creeps ever closer to the western coast
pg107 talking about the Straw Rope Islands they randomly introduce the idea of gods being indigenous to particular parts of Yu Shan, and in context they want to be taken seriously about it. This requires wide swathes of Creation's previously established prehistory, and several established facts of the current-day setting, to be wiped away if we want it to make any sense. Yu Shan would have to acknowledge the eminence of other nations or peoples in Yu Shan, gods would have to either no longer be immortal or no longer remember things that happened far enough in the past, gods would need to respect the rights of other gods to the lands they're born in (never previously established), gods need to have been created in particular different lands and stuck around without being slaved to work in a pre-Rebellion Bureaucracy where they had no rights, etc etc. I don't disagree with any of the implications in particular but it's a lot to slap you with all at once to the point where it feels more like the writer was just ignorant, and that bugs me.

The second part implies that that urban development hasn't already happened on the west coast, which directly contradicts how we're introduced to the place earlier in the book and a lot of stuff throughout it. The dragon line rail going cross-continent doesn't work if urban development is only now creeping West, for example.

>pg110
A short story covering a whole page at the end of the chapter where they gave up halfway through and forgot anything was supposed to happen. Is subversion crap like "Three guys walked into a bar, sat at a table, got some drinks, then got up and left," really how you want to start an Exalted chapter?

>>98764999
maybe it will be good, but the writing will be more ponderous

How does being immaterial actually work?

>>98766542
It is a weird trope based writing, they really wanted to use "oppressed natives tropes" despite the gods themselves not being the native inhabitants.

>>98767616
>How does being immaterial actually work?
Mechanically or...?

Infernals>Solars>Deebs>Lunars>Getimians>Sidereals=Exigents>Abyssal>Alchemicals=Liminal/
Personal rankings.
>>98767616
Numinous. Lorewise it can be just turning into vapor or the wind or something "that can't be touched" or into some spirit ghost thing that can't be touched. Pretty sure at least. Mechanically I don't think you're asking that because rule wise it's extremely simple.

>>98768202
>Infernals>Solars>Deebs>Lunars>Getimians>Sidereals=Exigents>Abyssal>Alchemicals=Liminal/
>Personal rankings.
In terms of lore, mechanics or both?

>>98768249
Lore/vibes really, wasn't even thinking of the mechanics of all them when I wrote it. If we ranked by mechanics well, hm. That's actually way tougher for some reason. I feel like Liminals would/will be way higher and Exigents/sidereals would be lower though. Solars for sure would be lower.

>>98767691
>It is a weird trope based writing, they really wanted to use "oppressed natives tropes" despite the gods themselves not being the native inhabitants.
It'd still be bad even if the gods could be native to a particular pace because it's still implying that the Celestial Bureaucracy is known to care about natives on their clay. It'd be like if there were peasants in islands on the Blessed Isle's western coast petitioning the Realm's Deliberative to be known as indigenous peoples of those lands and therefore owed rights and respect to dispel interlopers - it's so out of the left field that it feels like they must exist in a different world if they think that would ever help. It would be interpreted as them asking to be conquered and 'civilized' if it actually made it to court.

>>98768178
>>98768202
I want to know whether they can phase through walls or float in the air or what the fuck does it mean at all?

>>98768305
I don't recall offhand if it was clarified somewhere but I'd say yes, phase through anything but not floating or flying without a specific power. Only wards would be a hard obstruction for an immaterial spirit.

>>98768345
So a dematerialized god can be tricked into a pit trap and fall to his death?

>>98768353
The fall won't hurt it but it will piss it off. I'd say it can climb of phase out of the pit just fine though.

>>98768363
Why wouldn't the fall hurt?

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>>98768366
Because I said so.

>>98768427
Based. Having ghosts fall to their death when you can't even touch them is dumb, so don't do it. Based based based.

>>98768427
>>98768446
Just don't have them be subjected to gravity then.

>>98768353
Yes, but also no. Dematerialized beings can move through walls and objects but not through floors. They are subject to gravity, but when dematerialized are weightless. A pit trap is effective in that they will walk over it and fall down. However, many dematerialized beings have a miraculous way to avoid death by falling, and almost no spirits die permanently from it. They might have Landscape Movement to merge with the walls or air, for example, or the ability to summon and manipulate some kind of material to break their fall. Any spirit with a cult or sanctum will just come back. Pitfalls themselves are also just kind of bad ways to fall damage people since they're so open to stunts to defray fall damage - someone can prop themselves against walls/corners, leap from wall to wall, etc etc, and a dematerialized being who can reach the side of the pitfall can always just go through the pitfall's walls to grasp at it like a ledge. You'd be better off saying they could fall off a cloud or an airship, and even then since they're basically weightless they could probably manage.

>>98768476
>>but not through floors.
But floors are just walls for the ground. Or the sky if it's two stories. That doesn't really track.

>>98768494
>But floors are just walls for the ground. Or the sky if it's two stories. That doesn't really track.
Too bad. That's canon.

>>98768548
>>ghost can't slip through floorboards.
That's dumb so clearly it's not canon. Pretty sure this is some weird errata thing you're talking about for 3e, maybe.

I'm going to build a giant hamster wheel out of floorboards and use it to squish gods.

>>98768621
I'm going to bury ghosts and not even use salt over the grave cus the floor is the ground and they can't get past it. Just make a giant underground ghost trap to lure my enemies into.

>>98768571
It's 2e numbskull. Don't just assume that stuff being stupid means it can't be true. They can go through floors but it takes focus and motes, and isn't the default. BoS5 pg124

>>98768648
>They can go through floors
Huh wow never would have guessed.

I also vaguely recall either for 2e or 3e some stuff about creatures/people who are treated as immaterial but still need a tiny gap to get through things, at least enough for a bit of air to leak though. This might be another game but it sounds pretty Exalted. Basically "Immaterial but". Also one where you pick and choose depending on which one is best for you at the moment.

Not really what we were talking about but I'm going to post one of my favorite 2e charms and one that is apparently also incredibly broken.

WITHOUT ASSUMPTION
Cost: 12m; Mins: Martial Arts 7, Essence 8; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: (Martial Arts x 2) actions
Prerequisite Charms: Border of Kaleidoscopic Logic Form
Here, there is nothing.
The Sidereal imagines a place where he does not exist
and has never existed. He invents the names of the people
who live there. Donning a perfect expression of one of those
names in his stance, he becomes a non-entity. For the Charm’s
duration, the martial artist is not a valid target for any effect
or action. Others cannot recognize or remember him. Without
Assumption does not replace the character’s attacks with
non-attacks; other entities may still target and affect these.
Without Assumption also does not protect against Charms
and natural “attacks” that affect anyone within an area: An
avalanche, say, or the Citrine Poxes of Contagion Form,
don’t really target anyone. They just happen, and anyone
unlucky enough to be in the area takes damage.

It's basically a super cool shintai if you think about it.

>>98768789
>Ceasing To Exist Approach

>Cost: 5m, 2wp, 1lhl
>Mins: Stealth 5, Essence 4
>Type: Simple
>Keywords: Combo-Basic, Illusion, Prayer Strip, Shaping
>Duration: Indefinite
>Prerequisite Charms: Blinding the Boar, Subordinate Inspiration Technique

>This Charm can temporarily transform the Sidereal into someone else entirely. To activate it, the Sidereal infuses Essence into a prayer strip of the Scripture of Absence. The prayer strip flashes dark green, then slithers beneath the Seer’s ribcage to wrap around her heart. As the strip cinches tight, the Sidereal vanishes from her current location and reappears someplace else in a completely different identity that is seamlessly integrated into the local community. Any effect that was based on the Sidereal’s old identity fails automatically. Memories of the Sidereal’s old identity do not fade away—
except as determined by the vagaries of Arcane Fate—but the person with that identity no longer seems to exist.
Part 1

>>98768856
>In the instant when one identity vanishes, the Sidereal reflexively assumes a new one somewhere else in Creation. This identity can be mortal, Exalted, god, elemental, ghost or half-breed—any sentient creature from within fate’s purview, whose Essence does not exceed the Seer’s own. The Sidereal cannot take on the identity of someone who actually exists or existed. The Maidens (and the Storyteller) decide where the character appears, but the Vizier (and her player) can select an identity suitable to the new location—assuming her superiors in the Bureau of Destiny do not assign one.
In her new identity, the character retains all of her Attributes and Abilities but gains up to 15 dots of Backgrounds appropriate to her new identity. (Backgrounds above three dots cost two dots each.) Her old Backgrounds no longer apply. As the Vizier appears in her new location, a network of appropriate social contacts and relationships immediately weaves itself into being as if this new identity had existed among the locals all along. Only creatures of the Wyld, beings outside fate and spirits at or above the Maidens’ level of power and authority are not fooled by this extemporaneously woven identity.
Just as Attributes and Abilities, the character retains all of her Charms and spells, as well as her normal anima effects.
Part 2

>>98768866
>If the character is known as an Exalt (of whatever type) among the locals, those witnesses understand the Sidereal’s powers as being appropriate to an Exalt of the type they assume she is. If the character’s supernatural powers, or all-too-human ignorance, should betray the fact that she doesn’t belong, the character automatically receives a perfect success on a social roll to explain the matter in a way that makes perfect sense to the audience. (“Oh, she’s not an Anathema. That’s just a special Southern variant of the Air Dragon Style of the Immaculate martial arts she was apparently doing. I guess we don’t have to get the Magistrate involved. Good thing she said something.”)
If the Sidereal ends the Charm intentionally or spends more than 10 motes of peripheral Essence in a scene, the Charm ends. Its effects otherwise linger for five days, at which point the Sidereal coughs up the scraps of her prayer strip in a cloud of confetti and disappears from her false identity. She returns to her previous identity in the place that identity considers home.

>The disguise draped around the Sidereal herself is Shaping of an impenetrable nature. Community members who should know the new persona, and social attacks to convince others that the persona is real, are subject to or become unnatural Illusions that cost 3wp to ignore.
Part final

>>98768856
Ceasing to Exist Approach is also basically a super cool shintai if you think about it.

>>98769158
There is wisdom in these words.

>>98769158
My dick is also basically a super cool shintai if you think about it.

>>98769324
...I mean I guess if you put one of those weird ass ribbed condoms on...

>>98723129
They still have the airship fleet, but they barely use them because of how irreplaceable they are.

Speaking of the Haslanti, I've always wanted to run an adventure about a group of Lookshy agents that have to travel all the way to the Haslanti to steal an airship and/or blueprints and take them back to Lookshy, so that the Seventh Legion can build a new airship fleet that ISN'T a priceless treasure from a thousand years ago.

>>98770065
Why don't they just invent their own?

>>98770397
What do you think a "less technological" form of flight would be for them? You know, one where you don't need high tier exalted to keep it up.

>>98770397
Exalted is a patch work with weak seams, don't think too hard about it, but the likely answer is the lack of feather steel.

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>>98759129
I think that discussing that particular topic is the closest thing to character creation that he gets and most other topics to generate content don't really prompt any responses anymore.

On a similar note, I want to run something using the Gunstar Autocathonia but I'm not sure how to make it more interesting than diet Star Trek with superpowers.

>>98770457
Primitive dirigibles, powered hang gliders, maybe a low-end jetpack for scouting purposes only.

>>98770467
Making airships based on a blueprint from a foreign land that requires resources only or mostly available in that foreign land is begging to get Hormuz'd during an active conflict. Stealing Haslanti airship blueprints to improve upon their own designs at home though? I could see that.

>>98770535
>>98770457

I'm sure an air balloon is a reasonable thing to have with little or no magic. A kite would fit the vibe of Exalted but not the mechanics.

>>98770570
>A kite would fit the vibe of Exalted but not the mechanics.
Strap an air elemental to that bad boy and you've got yourself a biplane.

>>98770604
That's kind of the problem. Unless I'm missing something a mortal doesn't get to use an item like that.
Also yeah you could just use the 2e hoverboard stars for that.

I can see air balloons for sure but I'd think of the north for that. The south for low tech transport seems more like it'd be into caravans, mounts and sandships of some kind. For kites I'd love that for the... west and it's big ass oceans. For the east, probably some kind of air born animal that requires a ton of training/life long bond.

In a more fantastical setting a train for the south that just has tracks that bridges over dunes for a smooth ride would be neat. To me at least. Or maybe it just burrows through the dunes at the speed of sound but it's been broken for ages but the 'tracks' are still in use, along with the station itself. Trains are rad.

>>98770708
"More fantastical was the wrong choice of words but you know what i mean. not currently working.

>>98768366
Why is fall damage so weirdly good at bypassing perfect defences in 3e? Why is it literally only Infernals who can negate it (either by going immaterial or Ablation of Brass and Fire backporting fall damage defence into itself that NO OTHER Celestial Exalt type can)?

>>98761581
Understandable, I know what you mean. The 3e shite is there, in my opinion though it is the least 3e-ified and the 3efication is the least insulting among all the Exalts released so far.

Well arguably except Alchemicals, because they wisely changed very little about Alchemicals except to elaborate on Eight Nations dynamics and Metropoli shenanigans (even if it's still galling they didn't have the balls to give Metropoli actual mechanics).