Difference between revisions of "XerExaltedNations/Glossary"

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== Glossary ==
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= Glossary =
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=== Actions ===  
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== Actions ==
 
Trivial actions (those involving significantly less than a minute of time) are ignored.  A character does not roll to pick a lock, she rolls to infiltrate a building.  She might even enter if she gets no successes at all (a Night caste is rather likely to do such things).
 
Trivial actions (those involving significantly less than a minute of time) are ignored.  A character does not roll to pick a lock, she rolls to infiltrate a building.  She might even enter if she gets no successes at all (a Night caste is rather likely to do such things).
  
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Actions should be role-played as if they took a minute at a time, unless they specifically cover more time a la large construction projects.
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Depending on the scope, an action covers between a minute and a decade's worth of time.  The former tends towards fast-past things - combat and such, while the latter would be for something like constructing the Realm Defense Grid.
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=== Character ===
 
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Characters are rarely individuals.  Every city, village, and town is a Character.  Every army and fleet is a character.  A third-circle demon with her full entourage of souls could be a single character.
 
  
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Sometimes, however, they are an individual.  Celestial Exalted, the Incarna, Malfeans, Primordials and Yozis are characters.
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== Character ==
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=== Class ===
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Characters are rarely individuals.  Every city, village, and town is a Character.  Every army and fleet is a character.  A third-circle demon with her full entourage of souls would be a single character.
 +
 
 +
Sometimes, however, they are an individual.  Deathlords, Celestial Exalted, the Incarna, Malfeans, Primordials and Yozis are characters. More specifically, they receive no penalties in conversion for acting as individuals.
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 +
== Class ==
 
Individual Characters are divided into Classes, based on their raw power.
 
Individual Characters are divided into Classes, based on their raw power.
  
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==== Supernal Class ====
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Supernal Class: Abyssal, Chimerae, Lunar, Sidereal, Solar, Deathlord, 3rd Circle Demon, Unformed Monster, Primordial, Yozi, Malfean, Incarna.
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Abyssal, Chimerae, Lunar, Sidereal, Solar, Primordial, Yozi, Malfean, Incarna, Shinma
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Divine Class: Essence 6-9 Gods, Elemental Dragons, Enlightened Mountain Folk, 2nd Circle Demon, Dragon Blooded, Dragon Kings,  Heart 4 Raksha, most Behemoths.
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Mystical Class: First Circle Demons, Essence 2-5 Elementals, Essence 2-5 Gods, Essence 4-5 Ghosts, Heart 3 Raksha, Unenlightened Mountain Folk, Spirit-Blooded.
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Heroic Class: Heroic Mortals, Heart 2 Raksha, Heroic Ghosts, Essence 1 Elementals, Essence 1 Gods.
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Mundane Class: Common mortals, Heart 1 Raksha, common ghosts, least gods.
  
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Beings potentially without peer, Supernals are defined by their lack of limitations on power.  They are capable of bringing mighty nations to their knees.
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Extras: Sucks to be them.
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==== Divine Class ====
 
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Unformed Monsters, Deathlords, Essence 8-9 Gods and Elementals, Third Circle Demons (alone), some Behemoths.
 
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==== Superior Class ====
 
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Essence 6-7 Gods and Elementals, Enlightened Mountain Folk, Second Circle Demons, Dragon Blooded, Heart 4 Raksha, most Behemoths.
 
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==== Mystical Class ====
 
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First Circle Demons, Dragon Kings, Essence 4-5 Elementals and Gods, Essence 4-5 Ghosts, Heart 3 Raksha, weaker Behemoths
 
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==== Heroic Class ====
 
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Essence 2-3 Heroic Mortals, Heart 2 Raksha, Essence 2-3 Ghosts, Essence 2-3 Elementals, Essence 2-3 Gods, Unenlightened Mountain Folk, Spirit-Blooded
 
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==== Mundane Class ====
 
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Essence 1 heroic mortals, Essence 1 Heroic Ghosts, small gods and elementals, Heart 1 Raksha
 
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==== Extras ====
 
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Least gods and elementals, heart 0 Raksha, common mortals and ghosts.  Sucks to be them.
 
  
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Individually, or even in mid-sized groups, extras don't get to roll dice.  Not, at least, until there are over a thousand of them.
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This is used during conversion to Exalted Nations, and will be referenced from time to time.
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=== Scale ===
 
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A single person is not much different than two.  In order for numbers to matter in Nations, they must be abused.
 
  
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For every power of five within a group (or rough approximation thereof), add +1 to die types and dice rolled for elemental Traits, and +1 Essence.  For example:
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== Points ==
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* A hundred Heroic Mortals have 4d4 in Water and an Essence of 1, individually.  Together, however, they have 7d7 in Water and an Essence of 4, as an army or other force.
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Up to five twelve-sided dice get rolled by a character taking an action - one for each type of Trait.  Each success may grant a different number of points.
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* Three thousand such Heroic Mortals would have 9d9 in Water, and an Essence of 6.
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* Essence: 3 points
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* Twenty thousand would have an Essence of 7, rolling 10d10 for Water.
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* Virtue: 2 points
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*  
  
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Some groups will gain special bonuses.  For example, a perfect circle of any sort would grant a +2 bonus instead of +1.
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== Traits ==
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=== Shtick ===
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There are five types of Traits.  The Essence Trait, the Virtue Trait, the Personal Traits, the Celestial Traits, and the Elemental (or Terrestrial) Traits.  In Nations, a character can roll a die for each of these five categories.
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The greatest forces in Creation have Shticks.  These are based on the type of character involved.
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=== Essence ===
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* Dawn, Dusk: War and Combat
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The Essence Trait is a class on its own.  It represents the inherent magic and will of a character.  It applies to every action she takes.
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* Zenith, Midnight: Might and Natural
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=== Virtue ===
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* Night, Day: Prowess and Subterfuge
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The Virtue Trait defines the rightness of the character.  Fate, Luck, Prowess and Trickery be damned.  The Fair Folk, Primordials, Yozis, Malfeans, Deathlords, and Celestials do a fair bit to define what is right for themselves.  Regardless, it's still rolled as Virtue.
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* Twilight, Daybreak: Craft and Lore
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=== Personal ===
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* Eclipse, Moonshadow: Socialize and Expression
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Personal Traits refer to abilities of the character that are often considered to be trained but not learned.  Unlike the Celestial Traits, which Personal Trait is rolled depends on the part of the action involved, rather than character choice.
  
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* Rising, Full: Combat and Might
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* <B>Force:</B> (Brawn, Presence, Intelligence)
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* Waxing, Gibbous: Craft and Prowess
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: Force is a measure of raw strength.  Of character, of body, of mind. 
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* Setting, Half: Socialize and War
 
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* Waning, Crescent: Expression and Subterfuge
 
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* Blind, New: Lore and Natural
 
  
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* Battles: Might and War
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* <B>Finesse:</B> (Dexterity, Charisma, Wits)
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* Endings: Combat and Socialize
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: Coordination, subtlety.  Quick-thinking.
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* Journeys: Natural and Prowess
 
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* Secrets: Lore and Subterfuge
 
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* Serenity: Craft and Expression
 
  
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While the Celestial Exalted have fairly firmly defined Shticks, Primordials and Incarna hold concepts to them, making them far more flexible.  Gaia's is Life, Autocthon's is Invention, the Ebon Dragon's is Shadow.  It's rare for these to not actually apply.
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=== Celestial ===
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Celestial Traits are the perview of the skies.  That which is above Creation.  They also have inverted and twisted aspects.  Where the Terrestrial Traits represent Action and Skill, Celestial Traits represent Method and Means.  Regardless, only the Sun trait is universally applicable.  Moon Diminishes in the Wyld, Chaos everywhere else, and even then, there are situations where trickery does not work.  Stars is even more focussed in terms of regions, though it can be used to gain pre-emtive edges on situations.  And, cracks must first be made in a thing before Oblivion can begin to take hold.
  
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When a Stick is applied to a Test, the Character rolls twice and takes the better of the two rolls.
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<B>Moon</B> <I>Chaos</I>
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=== Test ===
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: Trickery, cleverness, the Moon Trait embodies outwitting one's problems.  It covers illusion, mind games, and second guessing others. The Moon's inverted aspect is Chaos.  The Moon Trait becomes progressively harder to use the further one delves into the Wyld, eventually becoming useless once one reaches Pure Chaos. As Moon Diminishes, Chaos becomes more important.  It is possible for some characters to develop both Traits, though only a few behemoths, Lunars and Solars have the built-in ability to accomplish this.
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A Character makes a Test when they roll their Trait for any reason.  This is often contested, but sometimes is merely progress towards a goal, and thus generic target numbers are set.
 
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* 1 - Standard difficulty, simple for anyone reasonably trained and fit for the task at hand.
 
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* 5 - A challenge.  Only the best-trained mortals can achieve this regularly.
 
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* 10 - Amazing.  Still within the realm of mortal bounds, but this is often achieved by a team.
 
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* 15 - Legendary.  Even the best-trained mortal will struggle repeatedly to achieve this type of feat on their own.
 
  
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TNs beyond 15 mean that they pretty much are either a group effort or the work of a divinity.
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<B>Stars</B>
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=== Traits ===
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: Fate, destiny, and luck.  The Stars Trait only works in Creation and Yu Shan, however, Autocthonia and the Underworld could be understood given enough study.
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There are six main Traits, which all characters posess, even if they have a zero in it.  Some characters (the Supernals) posess a seventh Trait, depending on their nature.  Traits are of the form xdy, where y is the die type (d2, d3, d4, ... d10, d11, d12, and so on) and x is the number of dice rolled.
 
  
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There are five Elemental Traits.  All rolls have an Elemental nature to them, based on the types of skills and physical properties they cover.  The words in paranthesis represent the Traits from [[XerExaltedLite|Exalted Lite]] that the Element governs as a rather general guideline.  These are also used as the basis for conversions.
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<B>Sun</B> <I>Obliviion</I>
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: The Sun Trait represents glory and perfection.  The character does not need to resort to trickery or the strength of her destiny - her supernal skill is enough.  Oblivion is the cursed opposite, exploiting flaws and imperfections, turning even the slightest of them into gaping wounds.  It is not possible to know both Oblivion and Sun.
  
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* Air (Lore, Subterfuge, Compassion, Dexterity)
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=== Terrestrial ===
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* Earth (Craft, Might, Willpower, Brawn)
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Terrestrial are things that may be known.  Ie, skills. 
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* Fire (Combat, Prowess, Conviction, Wits)
 
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* Water (Socialize, War, Valor, Presence)
 
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* Wood (Expression, Natural, Temperance, Manipulation)
 
  
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Equipment will affect these scores.  For a city, things like walls, automated defenses, terrain and the like count as 'equipment'.
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* <B>Air:</B> (Lore, Subterfuge)
  
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The Essence Trait is a class on its own.  It represents the inherent magic of a character.  It has two parts.  The raw score, measured from -3 to 12, converted directly from Essence, and the Versatility, calculated from the number of Charms and similar devices that the character knows.
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* <B>Earth:</B> (Craft, Might)
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* A character may expend a point of temporary Essence in order to:
 
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** Avoid taking a Wound
 
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** Add their Versilitity Dice to divide between one or more Traits in a given Turn.
 
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* A character's Wounds may never reduce the number of dice they get to roll below their Versatility.
 
  
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Solars, Abyssals, Lunars, Chimerae, Sidereals, the Incarna, Malfeans, Primordials, Yozi and Shinma also have a seventh Trait, representing their sheer awesomeness.  Each has a differing name for it, though they all share the mechanic.  Any time the character type's primary Shtick comes into play (which can be often), they add this Trait to every die rolled.
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* <B>Fire:</B> (Combat, Expression)
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* Like Essence, temporary points in this Trait can be spent:
 
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** Avoid taking a Wound
 
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** Unleash their penultimate skill.  Rather than adding a raw number to the roll, they cause Trait (and Essence, if it is being spent as well) dice to explode.  The numbers that explode are equal to their Seventh Trait, with a minimum of 2's and up exploding.
 
  
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* Abyssals have Corruption - This applies to any contested roll.  It's not them doing better, it's their opponent doing worse.
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* <B>Water:</B> (Socialize, War)
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* Chimerae have Mockery - A blend of Corruption and Shapeshifting, this applies more often in the Wyld than in Creation.
 
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* Lunars have Shapeshifting - This applies to any roll where they can make use of their key ability.
 
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* Sidereals have Fate - This applies to any roll in which they have planned for the situation.  They can also apply this to someone else's roll, positive or negative.
 
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* Solars have Glory - This applies to any difficult roll, or showing off.
 
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* Primordials, Malfeans and Shinma have Ancience - This applies to any and all rolls.
 
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=== Turns ===
 
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A Turn is a unit of time involved in a Test.  Typically ranging from one minute to one week depending on its nature.
 
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=== Wounds ===
 
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If a character fails a contested Test, they take a Wound in whatever Trait they tested it with.  A character can take a number of Wounds equal to the number of dice they have to roll in said Trait, before they 'lose', whatever losing may mean.
 
  
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Typically, taking a Wound in a Trait means that one less die is rolled for that Trait.  This has a minimum of the Character's Versatility, however, meaning that many Exalted have a lot more to them.
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* <B>Wood:</B> (Natural, Prowess)
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== Comments ==
 

Revision as of 08:07, 2 December 2004

Glossary

Actions

Trivial actions (those involving significantly less than a minute of time) are ignored. A character does not roll to pick a lock, she rolls to infiltrate a building. She might even enter if she gets no successes at all (a Night caste is rather likely to do such things).

Depending on the scope, an action covers between a minute and a decade's worth of time. The former tends towards fast-past things - combat and such, while the latter would be for something like constructing the Realm Defense Grid.

Character

Characters are rarely individuals. Every city, village, and town is a Character. Every army and fleet is a character. A third-circle demon with her full entourage of souls would be a single character.

Sometimes, however, they are an individual. Deathlords, Celestial Exalted, the Incarna, Malfeans, Primordials and Yozis are characters. More specifically, they receive no penalties in conversion for acting as individuals.

Class

Individual Characters are divided into Classes, based on their raw power.

Supernal Class: Abyssal, Chimerae, Lunar, Sidereal, Solar, Deathlord, 3rd Circle Demon, Unformed Monster, Primordial, Yozi, Malfean, Incarna.

Divine Class: Essence 6-9 Gods, Elemental Dragons, Enlightened Mountain Folk, 2nd Circle Demon, Dragon Blooded, Dragon Kings, Heart 4 Raksha, most Behemoths.

Mystical Class: First Circle Demons, Essence 2-5 Elementals, Essence 2-5 Gods, Essence 4-5 Ghosts, Heart 3 Raksha, Unenlightened Mountain Folk, Spirit-Blooded.

Heroic Class: Heroic Mortals, Heart 2 Raksha, Heroic Ghosts, Essence 1 Elementals, Essence 1 Gods.

Mundane Class: Common mortals, Heart 1 Raksha, common ghosts, least gods.

Extras: Sucks to be them.

This is used during conversion to Exalted Nations, and will be referenced from time to time.

Points

Up to five twelve-sided dice get rolled by a character taking an action - one for each type of Trait. Each success may grant a different number of points.

  • Essence: 3 points
  • Virtue: 2 points

Traits

There are five types of Traits. The Essence Trait, the Virtue Trait, the Personal Traits, the Celestial Traits, and the Elemental (or Terrestrial) Traits. In Nations, a character can roll a die for each of these five categories.

Essence

The Essence Trait is a class on its own. It represents the inherent magic and will of a character. It applies to every action she takes.

Virtue

The Virtue Trait defines the rightness of the character. Fate, Luck, Prowess and Trickery be damned. The Fair Folk, Primordials, Yozis, Malfeans, Deathlords, and Celestials do a fair bit to define what is right for themselves. Regardless, it's still rolled as Virtue.

Personal

Personal Traits refer to abilities of the character that are often considered to be trained but not learned. Unlike the Celestial Traits, which Personal Trait is rolled depends on the part of the action involved, rather than character choice.

  • Force: (Brawn, Presence, Intelligence)
Force is a measure of raw strength. Of character, of body, of mind.
  • Finesse: (Dexterity, Charisma, Wits)
Coordination, subtlety. Quick-thinking.

Celestial

Celestial Traits are the perview of the skies. That which is above Creation. They also have inverted and twisted aspects. Where the Terrestrial Traits represent Action and Skill, Celestial Traits represent Method and Means. Regardless, only the Sun trait is universally applicable. Moon Diminishes in the Wyld, Chaos everywhere else, and even then, there are situations where trickery does not work. Stars is even more focussed in terms of regions, though it can be used to gain pre-emtive edges on situations. And, cracks must first be made in a thing before Oblivion can begin to take hold.

Moon Chaos

Trickery, cleverness, the Moon Trait embodies outwitting one's problems. It covers illusion, mind games, and second guessing others. The Moon's inverted aspect is Chaos. The Moon Trait becomes progressively harder to use the further one delves into the Wyld, eventually becoming useless once one reaches Pure Chaos. As Moon Diminishes, Chaos becomes more important. It is possible for some characters to develop both Traits, though only a few behemoths, Lunars and Solars have the built-in ability to accomplish this.

Stars

Fate, destiny, and luck. The Stars Trait only works in Creation and Yu Shan, however, Autocthonia and the Underworld could be understood given enough study.

Sun Obliviion

The Sun Trait represents glory and perfection. The character does not need to resort to trickery or the strength of her destiny - her supernal skill is enough. Oblivion is the cursed opposite, exploiting flaws and imperfections, turning even the slightest of them into gaping wounds. It is not possible to know both Oblivion and Sun.

Terrestrial

Terrestrial are things that may be known. Ie, skills.

  • Air: (Lore, Subterfuge)
  • Earth: (Craft, Might)
  • Fire: (Combat, Expression)
  • Water: (Socialize, War)
  • Wood: (Natural, Prowess)
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