BSSeasonalExaltsOldComments

This is interesting and has potential. I would be interested in seeing where this is going. I can't really comment on how it directly fits into Exalted until I get a deeper feel for how it fits into the general fluff of the setting. Thus, I have some questions.

• Why were they created.
• Are they new or are they an old Exalted. If they are new why were they created recently. If they were old, what was their duties in the Primordial War, the First Age, and during the Usurpation. What have they done in the Second Age.
• Do they expand through birth like Terrestrials or based on limited shards like Celestials.
• What is the comparison of their castes to the ones that already exist.
• What abilities to each of the castes favor.
• What is their purpose, where do they have their authority and what do they do. -Heru

You'll find answers to some of this under Pillars, now. I'm holding off on lengthy discourse of this stuff until I've got a more coherent project under me, if only because I don't want to overdo it and lose steam before I get properly started. Like any Celestial Exalt they are elevated to their posts through Exaltation. My largest concern is not so much their role in life, which is semi-explained in Pillars, but who in particular Exalts them. My current thought is that they are a secondary creation of Gaia, likely 'constructed' post-Primordials but before the higher ups withdrew from the world; this is only marginally more satisfying to me than creating a new individual to raise them, mind. I always have issue with finding the 'whose kids are they' for Exalt types - it feels really cheap to just lay them at the feet of an existing individual but shoehorning in another player is in some ways worse. Thoughts? - BerserkSeraph

I say its better to place them under an already existing god than it is to make a major change by creating a whole nother Celestial Incarna. Yet, they might not serve a single god, rather they serve as the embodiemnt of the seasons. What I mean by that is that after the Primordial War the gods realized that the balance of the seasons was very difficult to maintain on their own without Primordial oversight, thus they asked the Authochton to make them to embody the seasons. This follows the same reason that in the Primoridal days the Five Maidens spun fate on their own and thus were very pleased when the Pattern Spiders and Sidereals were created. Beyond that, I do have is ideas for the remaining abilities.

• • • Spring: Lingustics
    • Summer: Dodge
    • Autumm: Sail, Ride
    • Winter: Athletics, Archery
    • Calibration: Lore, Stealth -Heru

I'm a little concerned with saddling one branch with both of the travel powers, as they are sort of mutually exclusive - a chronicle that is ride-heavy won't do much on the ocean, one that is ocean-heavy won't have many horses. I've taken these suggestions for the most part and put them into tentative notation, 'owever.

My biggest question relates to an old posting regarding how Exalts deal with problems. Solars walk 'through' a situation, triumphing over adversity. Their charms are often brazen 'I win' charms, as such, with things such as perfection, ignoring difficulty, etc. Lunars adapt themselves to suit the situation, with multi-facted charms that can apply to many situations, and shape-changing to fill in the blanks. Sidereals, on the other hand, have powers that deal with a certain situation only - it is the Sidereal's job to find a way to change his current situation into one that can be handled. For example, a Sidereal might have sway over certain aspects or Essence levels of gods through some of their charms - the question then becomes "How can I solve this problem through proper application of low-essence Earth-gods?" Finally, Terrestrials are characterized by their elemental aspect. The charms of each ability are seen through this elemental lens - Earth charms 'persist', while fire-aspect charms 'burn'. How does a "Seasonal"(working title) Exalt deal with problems? Do they have a specific 'flavor'? -- GreenLantern

You're probably referring to Myriad's excellent Charm guidelines? I love that thing. I can't find the one word yet that makes my idea 'click' to me, but I can sort of lay it out - their Charms are accumulative. A Solar leaps to the top of a mountain, a Sidereal has a Charm that allows him to get immediately to the top of mountains (but only mountains!), a Lunar flies up, a Dragon-Blood shapes the earth into stairs, an Abyssal lowers the mountain... a Seasonal Exalt will erode a path, strengthen his own ability to climb, and make sure he's got a clear day to work with. Their individual Charm technology will be somewhat lackluster, but will combine into greater and greater strength - they'll activate multiple small effects for cumulative effect. They benefit from drawing fights out and chosing their turf in a fashion that allows them to use their best traits.

The word I was looking for just hit me - 'Gestation'. -- BerserkSeraph

Reading that gave me a cool idea, but I'm not sure how viable it is, so bear with me. We know that the Terrestrials have a Sentai theme, where they have charms that affect the state of entire groups, as they were designed to work together. What if 'Seasonals' had charms that affect other charms? Like the 'Mix' idea from various RPG's, where you take two ordinary, run-of-the-mill items, combine them, and get a special effect, more powerful that the seperate components. As I said, not sure how viable the idea is, but it would give the 'Seasonals' something that no-one else had. - DarkPhoenix, who plays FF too much for it to be healthy...

A similar idea is in my mental 'notes' for the project; the idea was that certain of their Charms would be flagged 'Twined', which would function more efficiently if used sequentially than piecemeal - the Exalt can 'recoup' some of the energy expended for the first charm and channel it into the second one, essentially getting a larger and larger discount the more Twining he does. I may disregard them for difficulty-of-rules-and-balance reasons, however. If you have any interest in 'metacharms', while I admit some interest in them, willows has explored that idea with some of his martial arts styles, which I definately recommend taking a look at. One of his styles has 'secrets', which increase the efficacy of charms in the style when purchased, and I think another one can be used to make 'combos' on the fly.

On a similar note, the Charms attached to the Calibration abilities will be relevant to intermystical interference and aid; tentative ideas would include disrupting the Charms of others or creating artificial connections for Twining charms. -- BerserkSeraph

Finally receiving my 2e core book will make this significantly easier. I'll be in Florida for the next two weeks or so, and will hopefully be ready for a huge update when I return. I'm still angling for input of ideas, suggestions, or nitpicks - this is very much a fluid project in my head, so I'm trying to be very receptive to alterations from what hazy ideas I *do* have. -- BerserkSeraph

Something to do with Equinoxes?
-- Darloth provides more ideas for names, although not very concrete one. Equinoxic sounds poisonous

Regarding names, this is what I have so far -

• Seasonal
  • Pro: Does what it says on the box
  • Con: Working title, dull
• Calendrical
  • Pro: Easy word to remember, accurate
  • Con: Common word, may be too tied to the stars/Sidereal influence
• Solstitial
  • Pro: References the solstices, uncommon word
  • Con: Ugly word, only adequate for two of the four seasons
• Equinoxic
  • Pro: As above, for equinoxes
  • Con: Even uglier word!
• Arcadian
  • Pro: References 'mythologically rural'/bucolic
  • Con: May overdo the farming reliance
• Meteoric
  • Pro: Refers to atmospheric conditions/weather, shakes hands with meteorology, continues 'celestial object theme'
  • Con: Will refer at first sight more to meteors than celestial phenomenon, etc.

If anyone has an opinion on one or the other, please do weigh in! This is turning out to be harder than previously anticipated. -- BerserkSeraph

Seraph, are you trying to say that the seasonal exalted (I think you need a more badass word; I suggest "Calendrical" as an obvious alternative. "Seasonal" makes me think of the supermarket aisle where one finds beach balls or holiday lights) operate by natural processes? That gives you a very powerful palette of imagery to draw from, simply by taking a process and shifting it to another context - for instance, an exalted of Summer or Autumn might bring rain by flying a kite with a ploughshare attached, to till the sky. Also, do you mean sew a coat or sow some seeds? - willows

'Seasonal' is a remarkably unsatisfying working title, yes, though Calendrical also lacks a certain...sizzle? I'm giving it some thought (Perennial is a word that has good connotations of sequence and repetition, for example, but is an ugly word. Solstitial refers to the solstices, which is good, but is also a hideous word.). Also, we can now see the quality of the college education I'm paying for, thanks for catching that embarassing mistake.

I'm not entirely certain I understand exactly what you mean with natural processes. To extrapolate from your example...yes, that is the sort of thing that they are capable of. They use Essence, their connections to the world, and the metaphorical Doctrines represented by certain abilities to manipulate the world on a direct level. I envision this as accomplished in two ways - their Charm technology is an extension of their Abilities as resonant with certain patterns or themes, while they will likely have a separate system for their control of the weather.

The 'how' of the latter system will be as you suggest, factored for 'intent' - that is, coaxing rain from drought conditions can be a miracle of Sowing (Creating the potential for something) or of Birth (Fostering life) depending on whether it is meant to prepare concealing weather for a criminal endeavor or to revitalize a failing community. Each Ability 'resonates' with a certain trait and thusly, metaphorically, is better suited as a vector for miracles of that sort. That is the intent of the 'Doctrines' attached to each ability - that is their 'metaphorical application' to the duties of that particular caste. An Autumn caste might till the heavens to make them ready for rain, while a Spring caste would coax out their good favor with a rain dance. A Summer caste might break a storm and ride it across the sky. Similar to Nobilis, they can interact with the animist force behind a phenomenon, given adequate tools (resonant metaphor) and spiritual 'muscle' (Their traits) -- BerserkSeraph

A thought. None of the Exalted of a Primordial suffers from the Great Curse. Neither the Abyssals, Infernals, or Alchemicals. They all have some other mechanic to represent that. I would have to suggesst that it be the same for the Chosen of Gaia. Their trait could be similar to the Great Curse as you wrote it, yet described differently. Also, the name Arcadian has an interesting sound to it. - Heru

The Curse was, for the most part, on all of Creation (Ex2e pg 23, I don't know if this was the case in 1e or not) - it just fell most heavily on the Exalts. Note that none of those listed participated in the war against the Primordials, nor even existed in Cration in that form at the time of the Curse being levied. The Abyssal and Infernal Shards seem to be exempt from the Curse despite formerly being subject because they are in the service of the enemy, who could likely alleviate some of the effects of their own Curse.

Arcadian Exalts is the title I'm leaning towards most at this juncture; its suggestion of agrarian utopia is very much evocative of what I'm trying to produce. Some time tonight I'll probably make it official. -- BerserkSeraph

My first thought upon seeing "Arcadian Exalted" was "these guys were Chosen by the Fair Folk?" Because these people were Exalted by Gaia herself, why not call them the Gaian Exalted? -- Dataweaver

A question for dice-adding caps. Originally my intent was that dice adders for this type of Exalt would cap at Ability + relevant Duty, which would reward diligent fostering of Duties and actively push the agenda of playing the game of maintaining Creation. This means, for example, that an unfettered Arcadian will have a worse dice-adder cap than a Terrestrial, while one that is maintaining the massive amount of infrastructure relevant to having a Duty at 5 (levels of Backgrounds in the double digits) will be able to, pre Essence 6, rival a Solar to some extent.

This seems to work to the extent that it rewards investment and allows players some 'wiggle room' if they want to get creative with their tricks, but the primary balance is, for the most part, one of out-of-game relevance - objectively the backgrounds necessary to preserve a Duty at a high level are a benefit, not an obligation, so in the scenario where backgrounds aren't threatened by the ST, the Arcadian rakes in a higher dice-adder cap than his position in the hierarchy should permit.

Thoughts, game-rules-wise-wikizens? -- BerserkSeraph

Die-adder caps aren't what they could be, truly. They're just not that super-important. The Sidereal one carries some weight, in that it prevents total cheese with low TN's and high pools, while the Solar and Lunar caps aren't reached that often, really. (Solars have high caps, and Lunars have high attributes and DBT to help out their maxes). Really only DB's hit their caps, and that's to demonstrate how weak they are. Thus, I'd be ok with your proposal. -- GreenLantern