Revision as of 08:06, 5 April 2010

Personal Exalted Stuff

I'll use this page to describe some of the stuff I get up to as an exalted player/storyteller. This may or may not interest people but it will certainly help me get my head around some stuff and I find that as I type it out I get new ideas exploding around three inches behind my eyeballs.

As A Player

My first experience with Exalted was as a Solar Night caste. Having just come in from a hefty game of Vampire, I completely screwed up the concept of a heroic immortal, and created a bloody (though still cool) psychopath that cut through the enemy like chaff. What I did get, however, was the anime-like setting and over-the-top descriptions of my actions (generally something to do with the way the blood landed behind me) that completely separated this from the other White Wolf games that I'd played. That particular game is still in suspension, waiting for us to once again enter the world of Nexus.

I haven't had any experience as a player outside of that campaign, and am now forced to watch as others try and outcompete each other for descriptive stunts, while I just (ha, just, he says) provide the background as a storyteller. I know. It was quite a leap from that short game to running my own, especially as that was my first time as GM in any game, but the players in my game seem to enjoy it.

As A Storyteller

Since I've been running my campaign for a while now, I think I'll just give a summary of what has happened so far here, and then update it later as things happen, or I just feel like talking.

The first section of the campaign was created to get us used to the whole Exalted system. I basically threw them into a completely stereotypical fantasy kingdom, said "Save them from the demons who are to the North East" and led them on a merry chase through the countryside. OK, maybe it wasn't quite that simple, but I did just want to mess around with the system, for my own sake as well as theirs. At the time I had only purchased the core rule book and so I picked a random location in the East of Creation (with a river which I needed) and dumped the whole campaign into it.

This was the first case of serendipity that occured in the history of this campaign. Later, I purchased "Scavenger Lands" and discovered that I had inadvertantly placed them right on the edge of the Hundred Kingdoms, a perfect location for the realm I had created. At the end of the learning campaign, they gained control of the small kingdom, and I could then set a campaign around them trying to hold onto their territory without having to worry about huge powers like Lookshy and Nexus breathing down their necks.

Anyway, the first campaign led them from the capital of that kingdom, past some destroyed villages, to a village that had managed to defend itself from the demons. Along the way they encountered bandits (standard first combat), a river spirit, a very strange old man who seemed to know everything about them (sidereal NPC set up for main storyline) and various other troubles. They discovered this village had survived, in part, due to the fact that they had allied themselves with some beastmen outside of the kingdom (introducing a Lunar). The beastmen led them north to where they finally found defeated the group of demons and soldiers, only to find that the whole thing had been set up by Arad, the Hunter, to find worthy prey. He allowed them to return and take control of the kingdom, but the knowledge that he could strike at any time overshadows all that they achieve.

Now that we had learned the system and the PCs were above the starting level, I started adding a little more intrigue rather than just straight up fights. The original ruler of this area was a twisted, corrupt Twilight from the first era who fell during the Usurpation. However, he has left the characters a legacy in the form of a palace-like manse, a warstrider suit (in disrepair, they're still trying to fix it without bankrupting the kingdom ^_^) and three advisers.

The first adviser is simply a hooded, robe that they have recently found out is an ancient ghost that the Twilight had bound to this place. The other two are twin Fair Folk, who are likewise bound, only with an oath, to serve those who rule this place. Now, the ghost has been surprisingly well accepted, but the Fair Folk have produced a mixed reaction. Four of the seven characters are indifferent to them. That is, they are waiting for a group response. The Twilight loves them and converses with them frequently in an effort to learn more of what was lost from the First Age. The Eclipse wants to destroy them, or at least banish them. Finally, the Zenith is in the process of having them walled in (not sure how much good that will do).

On top of this, the neighbouring kingdoms are seeking to test these new rulers, with the Northern realm marshalling its army, and the Western neighbour seeking to cheat them at trading. Finally, two diplomats have arrived from the south offering an alliance as they are also from a new kingdom. This happens to be a new shadowlands, and they are, of course, Abyssals. Not wishing to offend anybody, the Abyssals have been invited in and are currently staying at the palace. Last session the players began to realise the power of their new guests as they took control of the ghostly adviser, and the PCs have run straight to the Fae asking them for help! How quickly enemies turn to allies ^_^.

That's pretty much where we're up to now, so I'll probably start summarising each session from here on in.

To be continued...

Comments

You know it's all the rage to have a comments section where people can praise you or disrespect you. So, bring it on, people!

Look down about 1-1.5cm and 3-4cm right from your link, and you'll find another that's built in automatically to every page. ^^; Otherwise, nice, organized start! I look forward to seeing what you may add! ^_^ -Suzume

Thanks, link edited ^_^ - BasilTM

Links

Interesting stuff

• FairFolk - General Fair Folk stuff.
  • ShapingCombat - The incomprehensible made plain... maybe...
• CrunchRelay - Add the nose, fold the paper, pass to the next person... now add Exalted!
• FluffRelay - And again, only with Fluff power. Or something.
• TheNexusProject - Haven't had time to check this out yet but it looks interesting.
• Lexicon - Also looks like fun but haven't had time yet.

Useful Stuff

• Names - A thesaurus, pick'n'mix, and helpful tool all in one.