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[Makkal]

As some of you might know, CCP bought White Wolf Publishing in 2006. White Wolf develops and publishes pen and paper RPGs, most notably the World of Darkness  modern horror line. They also have a fantasy RPG called Exalted.

The kickstarter for Exalted 3rd Edition started earlier this month and met its goal in 18 minutes. It's due to be released in October (though I won't get my 'deluxe' edition until December -_-) and I plan to run a game.

So, this is the Exalted thread. Any questions or comments about the game go here. I will also be posting random updates because... well, why not?

[Makkal]

F.A.Q.

What is Exalted?
Exalted is a fantasy story RPG inspired by Western and Chinese mythology that attempts to capture the cinematic storytelling and combat of anime and comics while maintaining psychological and social depth.

Who are the PCs?
The default PCs are Solar Exalted; humans who achieve a supernatural level of excellence when their soul merges with an 'exaltation,' the essence of the Unconquered Sun.

What's the set-up for the game?
Over a thousand years ago, the Solars were the god-kings of Creation. Their servants' turned against them though, killing them and banishing their exaltations from Creation. In RY 763, the Scarlett Empress, current leader of the traitorous Dragon-Blooded host, disappeared and the Solar exaltations return to Creation, merging with the souls of worthy mortals.

The Blessed Isle, the center of Creation, is on the verge of civil war as the Dragon-Blooded Houses vie for the throne. Deathlords bubble up from the Underworld, attempting to drag all Creation into Oblivion. Primordials, the creators of the world that the Exalted imprisoned, empower cults in order to twist Creation to their own alien design. While in heaven, the gods have become lazy and corrupt; they are more interested in being worshiped and improving their status than in doing their jobs.

On the bright side, a group of superpowered weapons of mass destruction with the odd tendency to go mad have just arrived: the PCs.

Is there alignment? Do I have to play a good guy?
The Solar Exalted were the glorious, golden heroes of Creation. They were also the insane, tyrannical god-kings who committed so many atrocities that the Unconquered Sun turned his back on Creation in shame.

You are not obliged to play a 'good guy.'

That said, my experience is that games centered around the Solar Exalted are more heroic than not. The other splats - Abyssals, Lunars, Dragon-Blooded - tend to be more morally grey, if not outright evil.

It's one of those things that depend heavily on the group of players you find yourself with.

[Aria Jenneth]

1. Are you planning on running it online?

2. If so, are you accepting Abyssals?

Edit:

For those not already in the know: Eve focuses on characters who may arguably be metaphorical demigods. Exalted focuses on literal ones, mortals who have been selected to receive a gift of great power from any of several sources. The most common of these for player characters are the Solar Exalted, who are arguably the most powerful but are also the rarest, and are each afflicted with a fatal flaw.

Naturally, I'm more attracted to the Abyssals, the Solars' world-annihilating dark reflection. 

[Makkal]

1. Are you planning on running it online?

2. If so, are you accepting Abyssals?

Yes. It will likely be a 'live' game every other Sunday.

I don't know when the Abyssal book is coming out. I'll be open to new characters when it drops.

[Makkal]

Signature character information. John and Holden are developers and their quotes are answers to questions people on the forum have asked them.

Signature Characters - Prince Diamond - Eclipse (And the Delzhan)

Prince Diamond was born a woman.

Prince Diamond's daiklave is orichalcum fused with Chiaroscuro red glass.

We're messing with Dereth customs in EX3 so that they're obligated to wear one piece of grey clothing to denote their status, rather than gender-specific bits of grey clothing, so as to be less restrictive on character designs. But yeah, Prince Diamond is biologically female, and will run you through if you fail to address him as 'sir' after being corrected on the matter once.

Dereth don't actually map 1:1 to the modern concept of transgender (although "transgender" is a titanically complex subject in and of itself). You're going to find some Dereth that do, and some who don't care about gender identity at all and simply have to take the grey to pursue the kind of life they want to live in Delzahn society. It's rather confusing for outsiders, especially once you bring sexual orientation into the mix, and then add in the fact that Delzahn nobles (which is roughly a third of their population) are extremely touchy, standing-conscious, and come from a dueling culture.

Some dereth declare themselves so for reasons of sexual preference. Some dereth declare themselves so for reasons of lifestyle. Some dereth declare themselves so for reasons of identity, or physical gender expression dysmorphia. Some dereth declare themselves so for a combination of those reasons.

It is entirely possible, for example, to be a what we would call a gay delzhan guy, and not declare yourself dereth, live as a man, and only woo dereth women. (Because if someone is living as a dereth woman, she has a penis.) It is also entirely possible to be a straight woman who likes fighting more than cooking, declare yourself dereth (and thus a man), and then only woo dereth women.

It is even possible, though difficult, to be nonconforming to Delzhan gender roles, although then you're running into the problem of being culturally gender-non-conforming while living in a nomadic herder dueling culture with strict gender roles.

To the Delzhan as a whole, including the dereth themselves, it's fairly simple -- there are two genders, men and women. You can be whichever one you want but you have to be one. The idea that living as a dereth for reasons of lifestyle is a different thing than living as a dereth for reasons of sexual preference is probably a bit alien, in the same way that "transsexual people exist" was pretty alien to, say, North American culture during the 40s and 50s. (This is not meant to be a good thing, but it is the reality of Delzhan culture.)

Prince Diamond is a dereth guy who we here on Earth in the present would call an FtM transsexual man, mistakenly assigned the female gender at birth.

He travels outside Delzahn lands mostly. It's that or leave a trail of bodies that would make an Abyssal stand up and salute while shedding one manly tear.

The Delzahn don't really have a concept of "homosexual." Blowing another dude is something you do rather than something you are. Or, as Lea puts it, they have the concept of sexual preference, but not sexual orientation.

So two guys sleeping together isn't anything worth remarking over, on the cultural level. But it would be unacceptable for two guys to start a household together-- that requires a man (to represent the family's honor and provide for it) and a woman (to handle the family's inner life and finances).

Prince Diamond was born a woman, but he is a Dereth, which means he is socially and legally considered a man. It may be worthy of noting that Diamond’s mother was not a Delzahn woman.The Delzahn have a custom called far-riding, a quasi-spiritual journey Delzahn riders make in order to absolve someone of a crime. Far rides are usually made to restore something that was lost. In most cases, they happen due to a loss of honor, pride, or life.

In other words, the Delzahn rides eternally, in search of something he can never find. Yet they are bound by their oath, and so they search ever onward, pushing their horses to greater and greatest distances and undertaking more desperate and impossible causes in order to gain something that might equal what was lost. In most cases, the far rider dies in his pursuit of the impossible, and only then is the crime absolved. Because of the greatness of the deeds of several far riders throughout history, they have become a subject of legend and myth with the Delzahn people.

Far riders are revered as the greatest heroes of the Delzahn, but they are also the most reviled. All Delzahn must follow two rules if they encounter a far rider:
1) They must attack him or show him hospitality. If they show him hospitality they can never acknowledge his identity or his past. He is a stranger.
2) They must choose to attack or assist him. They can never ignore him.

Far rides produce tremendous heroes whose stories are told again and again by the Delzahn. They are celebrated as easily as they are spat upon. Often only a far rider’s death restores his family’s dignity and releases his subject from punishment. Many legendary far rides end with the hero riding into a heroic death, often after going on an impossible quest that could only end in his demise.

Prince Diamond’s far ride brings him to Jiara. He sees the war Perfect Soul is waging against House Mnemon and feels compelled. He believes that Jiara is possibly the last stop on his long and endless journey.

[Aria Jenneth]

Yes. It will likely be a 'live' game every other Sunday.

I don't know when the Abyssal book is coming out. I'll be open to new characters when it drops.

Hm. Timing potentially problematic; I already have a PnP game that runs every second Sunday.

I take it you're not up for taking prior editions as canonical until the new stuff comes out?

[Creep]

Fuck yeah, CCP, having badass Transmen running around ganking bitches. That is well cool.

[Makkal]

Yes. It will likely be a 'live' game every other Sunday.

I don't know when the Abyssal book is coming out. I'll be open to new characters when it drops.

Hm. Timing potentially problematic; I already have a PnP game that runs every second Sunday.

I take it you're not up for taking prior editions as canonical until the new stuff comes out?

Abyssals are going through non-trivial changes in the new edition. For one thing, you don't serve the deathlords anymore, and possibly not the Neverborn either. As I understand it, Resonance is also getting overhauled (or tossed) and given the changes to the combat system, the charms themselves will also look quite different mechanically.

Once I read the 3rd Edition core book, I might change my answer, but at this time No Splat Book = No PC of that Splat

[Aria Jenneth]

Rgr.

[Z.Sinraali]

The only things I know about Exalted are that my brain melted when I tried to read the rules and Sidereals are best.

[Makkal]

They've trimmed down the rule set this edition. I believe combat is about 1/3rd of what it previously way.

Fate ninjas are very cool.

[Silver Night]

I've seen it mentioned, but I'm not at all familiar with the game. Do you happen to have links to any useful resources (and perhaps the kickstarter for that matter)?

[Gottii]

Dawn Caste Solar reporting in!

[Kohiko Sun]

Exalted was my favorite tabletop game to play and run for my ex-husband and our friends, but that was when it was first edition. Because we'd moved and couldn't find a group is why I started trying MMOs to look for a chance to roleplay. I've never tried the second.

I heard they did some weird things with the lore - just like White Wolf loves to do - and do things like make the physical sun into an orichalcum Death Star of the gods. I thought Alchemicals were derpy and didn't fit. And now they're supposed to be adding even more types with Liminals being something like exalted ghosts or Frankenstein's monsters or something.

The only things I know about Exalted are that my brain melted when I tried to read the rules[...]

Your brain should be happy that you never read the Fair Folk book. :p

Dawn Caste Solar reporting in!

After all the times we would yell made-up charm names at each other in corp OOC, you should.

I've seen it mentioned, but I'm not at all familiar with the game. Do you happen to have links to any useful resources (and perhaps the kickstarter for that matter)?

You can use the bar up top to go to the forums or wiki -  http://www.white-wolf.com/exalted

[Vincent Pryce]

Fucking hell. Now I got ANOTHER useless pile of books in my corner.

Though I am curious about if they plan to o something about the combat mechanics that I found not much to my liking in 2nd ed.

Dawn Solar / Dusk Abyssal <3 Redemption of a Deathknight - or respectfully a Fall of a Solar.

Anyhow, do you have the link to the Kickstarter if it's still open. I'd love to chip in I love the Exalted setting.