LunarFluxOld
Contents
Introduction
Inspiered by hplovescats rules for a more interesting Great Curse for Lunars (see LunarHouseRules/LunarLimitBreaks) I had this great idea of making the lunars a little bit more wyld! This stuff is also greatly inspired by the Resonance of the Abyssals, which makes me every night pray to the God of Roleplaying to let me find a ST, who runs an Abyssal game in my town.
Basically it will change the Great Curse of the Lunars in a way, that Lunars will produce Wyld effects in a manner of Death effects the Abyssals produce with Resonance. As with Resonance the Lunars have no Limit but a new trait, which is called Flux. For more mechanics see below.
Setting
You all know the story. After the Ursurpation the Lunars fled to the borders of Creation, or better over the borders into the Wyld. In the Wyld they realized soon, that thier grip on thier changeable bodies weakened and with it thier sanity. The weakest of them in Body and Spirit went chimera. They also began to loose thier castes, since the traditional way of determining them, a quest into the Wyld, was now out of order. So the No Moons gathered and worked hard on methods to safe the Lunars. And they found them by studying the Tell...
That's canon. But to be honest, Chaos is a mighty power and only the Primordials (or thier forbears...) could defeat it in a long term, building thier own creation (by the way, for me, the Primordials are renegade and very powerful Faeries, see Roger Zelazny: The Great Book of Amber). But even creation is not safe from Chaos. And now we should accept, that the Lunars found a way to win absolut control over thier bodies with no chance of the Wyld ever mutating them? And without a prize to pay?
No way, that's to much for Lunas children, even if Luna is much more connected to the Wyld than any other God. So what happened? The work of the No Moons was not for nothing. The ritual tattooing, scarring and branding they invented slowed the process of loosing control, but it was still very hard for the Lunars. If they didn't want to grow tentacles and stuff, they had to concentrat all the time on thier body. Of course, during a battle against the faeries it was a little bit distracting. Or while they were sleeping, or... You see, it was not enough. Also the powers of the tattoos started to fade over time. So they reinvestigated thier Essence and very, very deep in the core of thier being they found a dark power. They could not identify it, hell, they had no clue at all, what this dark power was doing inside of them. But they could just feel, that it was old and powerful. The Form-Fixing Method could be adapted to use as a constant source of energy this dark power. Some No Moons argued, that it was too dangerous to connect thier fate to this unknown power, but the majority voted for it, since lack of alternatives and time was running out.
The elders kept the descovery of the dark power and thier decision to connect it to the Form-Fixing Method secret, since descussions with the younger Lunars would only waste critical time. More and more Lunars went Chimera and they had to stop this. So the Lunars connected thier bodies and castes to the dark power, without knowing, that it was the Great Curse of the Primordials they killed with thier Solar brothers on behest of thier Gods. Through the Form-Fixing Method they opened a small back-door for the Wyld to the Great Curse inside of them and changed the Curse to something new.
The constant mutations stopped. Only sometimes a Lunar lost control of her body or part of it and she always regained it back. It was not perfect, but it had to be enough. But after several decades some No Moons noticed, that Wyld effects manifested around them, even in Creation. They started an investigation about this odd manifestations and by putting together different reports of experiences from thier Lunar fellows and thier own experiences as well they realized, that the source of these manifestations were themselves! Somehow they they have become a living source of the Wyld. They called it Flux! The No Moons explain Flux with the long span of time the Lunars lived in the Wyld and that it somehow changed them forever. Well, that's the story of Flux they tell thier young pupils. But is it true?
Mechanics of Flux
My mechanics are NOT playtested. Any ideas for better mechanics are welcome.
The value of Flux goes from 0 to 10. As Flux increases, the Lunar gets more animalistic and driven by her instincts. Whenever the Lunar interacts socially with humans, substract a number of dice from her pool of (Flux/2 rounded up) to a minimum of 1. Also her tell gets more obvious. When calculating the difficulty for spotting the tell, add to the value of DBT (Flux/4 rounded up).
Gaining Flux
- The Wyld: Go to page 209 of Exalted: The Lunars. In the table Wyld Exposures the dif. of the terrain to resist mutations is the number of dies you roll. Every success adds one point of Flux. Use the same intervalls for rolling. Here in short:
Terrain | Dice | Interval \\ BM | 2 | Monthly \\ MM | 3 | Weekly \\ DW | 5 | Daily \\ PC* | 6 | Hourly \\
- In the Pure Chaos the untamed Wyld my require checks as often as every combat turn (ST decision).
- Primary Virtue: The Great Curse was mutated by the Chaos, but it still connected to the primary Virtue of the Lunar. Whenever she acts against her virtue, she gains a point of Flux. Also, if the virtue check botches (while she wants to act against it), she gains 1W10/2 Flux points, because she gave fodder to her dark appetites.
- Moon Madness: The Wyld is much more powerful, when Luna shows her full glory. The chaos inside of Lunars chosen answers to the pull of the full moon. Whenever a Lunar is struck in a night for the first time by the light of the full moon, her player must make a Willpower roll. If the roll fails, add a point to her Flux. If it botches, add 1W10/2. A success saves the Lunar from the light of the full moon for this night.
- Randomn Generation: I do not have a cause for this, yet. I thought about high emotions or perhaps anima flaring, but I do not know. But I have a system: The player and ST roll both 1W10. If they roll both the same number, the player rolls a second 1W10. The second roll determines, if Lunar spontaneously creates Flux inside of him (if the dice shows an even number) or releases her Flux on her surroundings, thus creating a FluxManipulationEffect (an odd result). The Number of points she creats or releases is the result of the first roll. If her Flux reaches 10, the remaining points created manifest as a FluxManipulationEffect"". The Lunar can only release as many Flux points as she possesses.
Losing Flux
- Essence Purging: When in Creation, a Lunar can concentrate on the patterns of order by conducting ritual exercises (e.g. writing perfect calligraphy, executing slowly martial arts exercises T'ai Chi Ch'üan, solving mathematical riddles, weaving complex patterns,...), therewith dissolving the chaos inside of him. For everyday the Lunar works on her exercises, she loses a point of Flux. If the Lunar does anything more on these days then concentrating on her Exercises (e.g. training abilities,...), she has to roll her essence. A success dissolves a point of Flux, while a botch creates one point. On a failure nothing happens, only time was wasted. For this roll, the character has to spent at least halve her day working on her exercises and the other stuff she is doing may not be too strenuous.
- New Moon: While on Full Moon Luna dances with the Wyld, on New Moon she fights against it. If a Lunar fights on New Moon against the Chaos inside of her, she can ask Luna to help her. For this she has to show Luna that she is in line with her inner self showing true unity of passion and reason. The Lunar has to do something, which is in accord with her primary virtue (for examples see the Exalted core book p. 129-131). If she succeeds with her task, she can roll her primary virtue with successes removing points of Flux, which will take Luna from her. On a failure nothing happens, but on a botch the Lunar offended her goddess in some way and she gains a point of Flux.
- Flux Breakout: The Lunar opens the gate of Flux, pouring chaos on her surroundings and herself. By spending a point of Willpower the player of the Lunar can roll a number of dice as she has points of Flux. For every success rolled, the Lunar loses a point of Flux and the number of points define the FluxManipulationEffect"". A failure on this roll gives the Lunar a point of Flux and creates a FluxManipulationEffect by the choice of the ST with the value of the primary virtue of the Lunar as powerlevel. If it botches the Lunar gains 1W10/2 points of Flux and the above described FluxManipulationEffect"". If by the result of this her Flux reaches 10, the remaining points add to the powerlevel of the FluxManipulationEffect"". Normaly the Lunar cannot control what kind of FluxManipulationEffect manifests, but her player should have a vote (I mean, this is for fun, isn't it). If the Lunar wants to controll, what happens, she can try it with a second Willpower Point and an Essence roll against a difficulty of the number of Flux points released. A failure on this roll will concentrate the FluxManipulationEffect on the Lunar, while a botch will create the worst possible effect for the Lunar.
- Random Release: see Random Generation above.
FluxManipulationEffect
For discussion of possible FluxManipulationEffect""s I have setup another page. There you can add and discuss possible FluxManipulationEffect""s.
Possible Implications for the History of Lunar Exalted
The first obvious point is, that the Beast-Men a created by controlled Flux release (well, more or less controlled).
The secret of the No Moons about the source of power of the Form-Fixing Method is a good story hook. They need more information of what is inside of them. Stories in Yu-Shan (Flux released in Yu-Shan!!!), all First-Age cities (ruins or not), about the faeries (either as dangerous sources of information or as partners of Flux-crazy Lunars, who want to bring Creation back to it's true state) and last but not least the Abyssals, since thier true masters, the Malfeans, are the curse givers.
There could also be some Lunars, which curse has not been mutated (once mutated, the curse stays mutated even after re-exaltation in another human). Some Lunars were killed during the Usurpation and the reexalted perhaps never made it to her sisters and brothers, because of the Wyld-Hunt. The No Moons are certaintly interested in these Lunars.
Other stories?
Comments
Please comment. Flame me, love me, hate me, adore me. Or just comment.
I think this is an amazingly cool idea. Astonishingly cool. I am in awe (and high, but nevermind that). Seriously, this is cool. I shall now devote a portion of my life to figuring out an implementation... Oh, and as for a name, maybe Impressions, since the Lunar would be changing the world? I dunno, the only other thing I can think of would be Vicissitudes, which doesn't really roll off the tongue. - SilverMeerKat
Mmm... How about Echoes? Or, more traditionally, Witchwalks (although those might be better for a Sidereal variant...)
Also, you're comparing this version to the Abyssal's Resonance, right? Do they gain it in the same fashion, by acting out of accordance with the Wyld's goals? Would a Lunar who acts too strongly in the defense of Creation find themselves tearing holes out of reality, purely by accident? Or would they be afflicted with Limit as per normal, but have some limited ability to manipulate it? - DS
OK, I searched a little bit for chaos in the WWW and I found this about Chaos on Wikipedia. According to Greek mythology Tartarus is a god-child of the God Chaos. By the way, his siblings Gaia and Erebus. Tartarus is also the place where the punishment fits the crime. This brings in the Primordials and the Great Curse as punishment for the Exalted. It fits quite well, so I will settle on Tartarus. But I'm still open for other names, since this is far away from being finished. - WyldSpawn
Ehhh... Tartarus has the connotation of hell to modern thinking, and would be more appropriate for some kind of Infernal Limit Manipulation Magic thing. It also lacks any sort of mental association to chaos or wildness, in my brain. Personal thought, anywho.
Oh, also, some ideas for Lunar Limit Manipulation Effects
- 1. The character's eyes take on a far away look, as of someone who sees not just what is but what could be; the character's hair stands on end, and their flesh is either much too warm or much too cold; their shadow begins to flicker through their possible forms; their Tell becomes briefly much more pronounced.
- 2. The character's emotions begin going wildly out of control, causing them to make wildly irrational leaps of both logic and action; footprints the character leaves are reversed for several days, and someone driving an iron nail into such a track will bind the character to where-ever they are- not paralyzed, but unable to leave whatever local it is.
- 3. Fate and destiny begin to weirdly warp around the character in persistant but minor ways; visions and very vivid dreams assail the character almost constantly, making it hard to casually distinguish the illusory from the real. People drown on dry land, or are found skewered in their bed after a battle.
- 4. The character becomes a walking Bordermarch, extending a few feet in any direction away from them; plants and animals grow quickly in the vicinity, but they grow strange and wild.
And... I'm out of thinking juice :) - DS
Thanks DS, that's very cool input. In fact, I've been working more on the rules and not on effects. You and everyone is welcome to write down as many effects as your brains can produce...
Well, Tartarus is really more connected to Hell then to Chaos, but hey, it is the child of it! And in my story, the Wyld changed the Great Curse to something new, therefore fathering it. Not really an obvious connection and perhaps not a good one. As I said, I'm open for new names, which fit thematically better. On your question "Limit Break or something like Resonance" I'm definitly for the Resonance type. But they gain it, Tartarus, not by acting against the Wyld, since it is not an angry God punishing his failing children. The sources of will be ... Wait, I will not write it here, but above. In short: primary Virtue, Full Moon (Moon Madness was my name for this) and by living in the Wyld. Ah, and of course by randomness! More I will give above, soon. - WyldSpawn
How about Flux? - SteelAngel
Flux? FLUX? Hell, Flux is great! This is really a good name. Stupid, I should have checked my old Werewolf books. There is the realm of Flux, the heart of the Wyld, if I remember correct. OK, Flux is it. Thanks SteelAngel"". - WyldSpawn
Woot. :) - SteelAngel
I like the idea of tying the Lunars closer to the Wyld, but the idea of doing ritual exercises such as calligraphy seems a bit too "civilized" for most Lunars. No Moons may ponder enigmas and stuff, but they're still shamans at heart, and delicate calligraphy is an activity for the indolent Realm. hplovescats
Of course you are right for most Lunars. But the guys who found out how to reduce Flux were No Moons, and the old ones! They lived in the First Age or were the pupils of No Moons from the First Age, so calligraphy is possible. And of course it is just one way of many. Every activity, which needs a clear and ordered mind can be used for these exercises. Like making a perfect dance, bow shot, spear throw, sitting in a sweat hut meditating, ... Also I like the idea of Wyld shamanistic Lunars, who have to do something they dislike or even disdain in order to reduce the Flux.
I have also thought about the story of Flux. There will be an alternate story, but I think I can write it down not until weekend. Also some FluxManipulationEffect""s will come. WyldSpawn
