Revision as of 04:36, 15 March 2005

Library Mailanka

Welcome to my personal piece of Wikidom. I've put down some Exalted goodies, and hopefully I'll put out some more. I've got alot of old stuff that could be rerouted here, and alot of new stuff I haven't quite put out yet, so stay tuned ;)

You can learn about me here: /AboutMe

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Artifact Weapons

I like making artifacts, as those on the forum well know, and I've come to some theories about how certain artifact weapons should be designed.

(Note: all weapon stats have their 5MM bonuses included)

Jade is a very simple metal. It's not very powerful, and most people crafting it aren't crafting extraordinarily powerful stuff. As a result, I seldom allow a player to take a Jade Daiklave at more than "standard" dots. However, to make interesting differences between blades, and so people start seeming them as nifty, I allow my players to give a name and a history to their blade. If I like it, I give it nifty powers. The powers are never much, since they only bought the standard weapon, but they do tend to be nifty.

/WeaponsOfJade

Orichalcum, on the other hand, is inevitably powerful. Think about the people that crafted it. Do sorceror God-kings "just" make trinket blades? I don't think so. If a Solar player of mine buys Orichalcum, I always insist that he buy it at artifact 4 or 5 (though I guess I could be talked down to 3). These weapons are invariably powerful, the kind of item that cause wars (and end them decisively). That's how I see Orichalcum, in any case.

/WeaponsOfOrichalcum

With my Abyssal's session getting ready to begin, some of my players took high level artifact blades, and then gave me the responsibility of putting together some stats. So I did so. Soulsteel, of course, is a metal of sacrifice... but unlike Orichalcum, it is very seldom your OWN sacrifice, except, perhaps, in the form of damnation. These are what I came up with. Opinions are welcome...

/WeaponsOfSoulsteel

Mortals

Too often, in my opinion, the little man gets ignored in the big rush to the much "cooler" Exalted. It happens in every system. Every foe you fight is your equal. Every ally you gain is just as experienced as you, if not more. Every peasant is faceless and unimportant.

But this isn't true. We measure a hero by how he stands out against a crowd. He is great not becaues he does ordinary things, but becaue he does EXTRAordinary things. What makes our characters cool is that the average person couldn't do what they can, and if they could, our heroes wouldn't feel very heroic.

And mortals can be INTERESTING. We can get caught up in the story of a minor sidekick, or weep over the loss of a valued friend. We snicker when some pompous noble picks a fight that he can't possibly win (and enjoy his look when he realizes that). But without an attention to mortal detial, this gets lost.

So, I began a project. I intended to create 101 "normal" mortals. What I ended up with was SIGNIFICANTLY less, and not so "normal" but still vastly weaker than any Exalted. Each is intended to provide story hooks and ideas on how to use them in your game (if you wish), and hopefully provide this smaller, lighter side to your game. Sure, you should still have massive, epic battles between majorly powerful exalted, but it's the small moments inbetween that turn it from ordinary to Epic.

/HeleneOfTheSnow \\ /SteelRibbonWarrior \\ /TwoBitShankara \\ /Skelter\\ /OutcasteOsamu

Fair Folk

Exalted: The Fair Folk is, by far, the coolest book ever. I love it and adore it. So enamored was I that I crafted 8 Fair Folk characters for a one shot. I offer them up to you for your perusal, insiration, and entertainment.

/Baku, The Darkened Hound

/The Wife of Man

Tactics

One thing I'm known for is offering solid tactical advice that is, apparantly, quite useful for newbies. Nothing terribly new here, but I thought I'd offer an in depth examination of Exalted tactics in general, and then more specific tactics for various Exalted.

Yes, when I have time, I'll put links up on the strategies page

/Combat101\\ First on the list is the (apparantly) extraordinarily useful primer that I did ages ago for someone who professed to understand little about the game. It's meant to give you a very basic understanding of combat, and isn't, in my opinion, terribly special. I think its outdated and needs a good edit, but I'm too lazy to do so. The story, in any case, is a lot of fun ; )

/BasicTactics\\ Often ignored, the fundementals of Exalted combat are important for everyone. This discusses basic techniques that are available to all in the Exalted world, mortal and Exalted alike.

The following each expand on the basic tactics in a way unique to each exalted. Please note that Martial arts is covered seperatly.

/DragonBloodedTactics\\ The most common of the Exalted, the combat magics of the Elemental Dragons is the first I will detail.

/SolarTactics\\ The mightiest of the Exalted, the Dawn Caste are some of the greatest warriors the world has ever seen. In here, you'll find a guide to making such a warrior shine in the way the Unconquered sun meant him to...

/LunarTactics\\ /MartialArtsTactics\\

Martial Arts

/WhisperingDragonStyle, a stealthy Dragon-Blooded MA style, well-suited to commandos and Solid Snake-wannabes.

MartialArts/JadeFanStyle, a beautiful and deadly combination of martial arts and dance, perfect for Dragon-Blooded courtesans who wish to defend themselves and impress others at the same time.

IRC Game

Players include Shataina/QuicksilverScribe, Dissolvegirl/Samira, and Ikselam/KokoTheOctopus

Logs:

• /LoveUndyingPrelude
• /LoveUndyingOne

Commentary

Mailanka, on the subject of Orichalcum items, especially weapons and armor, at a lower rating than 4. I am in agreement with you in that the Solar wouldn't tend to make trinket items except in very special situations, I still think that players deserve to be able to get a daiklave of their own material early on, they really can help! So I came up with an idea on how it could work.

When the Sidereals and Immaculates slew the Anathema kings and queens long ago, they had a problem. They didn't want to anger the ghosts of the fallen by taking their tresured weapons, armor and possessions, but at the same time they didn't want to just leave weapons of such crushing power just "lying around". Thus sorcery and ritual was designed to "seal" in most of the potential of a weapon, without destroying it. This accomplished both goals.

The Immaculates, with an elaborate ritual (or terrestrial circle sorcery) can do an elaborate series of knots in bright red cord, with several jade implements in the image of old realm words associated with sealing evil (and sutras from the immaculate text). Once completed, these seals become part of the daiklave, and only the proper (and extremely secret) technique for untying them can remove them (they are otherwise indestrutable). Celestial circle sorcery can also destroy such a seal, but terrestrial cannot. This technqiue can seal an artifact of up to rating 4 down to a base type or rating 1 or 2, whichever is appropriate.

The Sidereals developed a similar system, but far more power, involving an elaborate inking of runes in a starmetal based ink, celestial circle sorcery, and astrology. They paint elaborate runes all over the item, in an ink only visible in bright starlight at the same time of the year as when the seal was made. The unsealing procedure involves painting a rune in a magical-material-based ink (any will do) in the proper place on the item. Most sidereals with occult 5 will know how to deduce such runes, but almost no one else will. Solar circle sorcery can also dispel this, but good luck finding someone to do that for you. This can seal an artifact five down to a rating 2 or 3.

Countermagic is, in my rules, the way to dispel it, but custom spells sure are an option too.

What do you think of this idea?

-- DaveFayram

That's a TOP NOTCH way of eliminating the need to POUR lots of points into an artifact, but still have a legendarily powerful Daiklave. Of course, the players can dispel them, or possibly (and more interestingly) complete quests to "unlock" parts of their blades. What I would do is define a power sealed away by each seperate seal. For example, if your player took a "standard" orichalcum daiklave (artifact 2) You could have 2-3 seals on it. Each seal, when broken, opened up a new power for the character. This is fun, and hearkens back to video games that often do the same thing. Plus you could work out your powers later.

I have, in mind, a soul steel blade that is similar, but operates completely differently. It's sealed away because no being can wield its full, open might, so they close most of it away, and you can open up what you need, struggle with the weapon as you slay your foe, and then seal the power back up again.

I thought it was a really cool idea, and I still do. So I say go for it. Obviously, not ALL blades must work like this. If a player wants to pour the points into an artifact 4 blade right off the bat, I'd let him. The Usurpers had their hands full, and so couldn't seal away EVERYTHING, so it's possible his blade, however he got it, escaped the sealing.

But this option allows players that wanted an artifact, but didn't have the points for a cool one, to eventually be as nifty as the other weapons...

~Mailanka

Yeah, some items won't have it (some might even be resistant to it!). The reason I developed that system was to add some story hooks to a game I was working on. I wasn't thinking of allowing partial unsealing, since I'm unsure how I would rule that (although now that you mention it, I might just). I especially like the sealing method I devised for the immaculates. Some of the knots will be common knowledge, and some will be relatively unusual immaculate koan-style knots designed to increase inner reflection and higher-thought. Thus, you might be able to con a monk out of the instructions for one knot. I was going to put several old, mortal monks all over threshold in retreat whom know one or two of the knots involved. Most of them won't come undone unless a certain sutra is being chanted while the final step is being taken (otherwise at the last step, the knot just "falls back" into place).

One game we playtested this metric in, someone found a really neat way to defeat the seal. The powerbow in question was originally designed for fair folk combat, so it was very resistant to the wyld. The character threw the bow into a deep wyld zone and watched the seal melt off and become a bunch of scaly doves with wagon weels for feet, then jumped in and grabbed it. :)

Exalted is a rough game to GM since the games are SO damn character driven. You can't lead people around by the nose like you can in D&D, people really need to make choices on their own, especially when playing Solar. I think this sort of thing helps GMs add questions without seeming too obvious ;)

-- DaveFayram

It does. By the way, I REALLY should post my "Mailanka's Guide to Gaming." When I plop a few tips down on the forum, people just eat them up. I've been running games for.... phew, 15 years now? I've picked up a few tricks that are VERY useful. I think some people would appreciate the tips. :)

~Mailanka

Yes, yes you should. You don't need my permission, Mailanka. Go for it! :) I'll help with the formatting... but not tonight. SoulCalibur2 comes out today, and I _will_ be playing it all damn night.

-- DaveFayram

Hey, Mailanka. Do you want me to move over that extra combat guide you made, or are you going to do it? :) -- DaveFayram

Which new combat guide are you talking about ~Mailanka

The one you put up on the board as an example of why Solar don't suck. Isn't it amazing how people even think that? :P Seriously... what do they want anyways? We could also use the first one. That was an excellent piece of literature. -- DaveFayram

Your stuff is all brilliant. I envy your beautiful eye for the dramatic, epic and interesting when it comes to artifacts... why did I not find your page before?
-- Darloth

Old Commmentary

I really hope you do, Mailanka. You're a great writer and your presence here would lend a lot of credence. If you'd like, I can move some of your stuff over myself and save you the trouble. :) Either way, welcome!

-- DaveFayram

In keeping with that promise, I'm going to start moving /WhisperingDragonStyle over, unless you mind. I'll even work on getting that tree diagram down. (I dunno if it's possible, but it should be :) -- DaveFayram

Good luck. And no, I don't mind :) ~Mailanka

Hey Mailanka, would you move your creations pages over as subpages of LibraryMailanka? You'd do that by linking them like this from this page. /WeaponsOfJade. That way, my /WeaponsOfJade and your /WeaponsOfJade don't cancel each other out. You can still think them outside of this page by saying LibraryMailanka/WeaponsOfJade or [[LibraryMailanka/WeaponsOfJade]]

How do you do it? Cut and paste, my friend :)

-- DaveFayram

Done. Is there anyway to, I dunno, delete a page? ~Mailanka

There is no need to. They just kinda float. If no one references them, they just kinda disjoint. I am going to teach you a secret, Mailanka. If you need to make your Mailanka page point here (since you have time and subpages invested here) you can do so! Simply type \\ #REDIRECT NewPageName \\ on the first line of the wiki page and it will fly there like magic. Sadly, you can't do offsite references.

Thanks ^_^v ~Mailanka

Or just do what I did and cut-and-paste the entire source to Mailanka, leaving LibraryMailanka desolate, empty, and unloved. -- Ikselam \\ Aww, Ikselam, I redirected your page for you. Now it's not so lonely :) -- DaveFayram

Hi. I just found your Exalted Combat 101 elsewhere on the web and reckon it would be cool thing to have on this site. It'll really help a new player I have. And, if you have any similair articles I'd really like to read them too.

- Voidstate

Hi Mailanka! ^_^ I copied your comments on Solar power levels vs other exalts from the WW forums to Discussions/RelativeSolarPower. Hope that is ok with you? -- BrokenShade

Yeah, hey, not a problem (with either comment...)

But why is this stuff being posted under "Old comments?"  :)

Hey, Mailanka. I was a big fan of your stuff on the WW forum, and I saved your two DB martial arts. I hope you don't mind, I added a little bit of the flavor text back into MartialArts/JadeFanStyle. Oh, and have you done any more martial arts since these? -- DigitalSentience