Will/Fundamentals

Basic Concept

"A Return To Fundamentals" is my newest game idea, a Solars game that should provide me with an opportunity to get some creative exercising in while also letting people have fun in my little homebrew world. Basically, I'm trying to make a customized version of Creation, using only the corebook as a resource. This way, I'll be able to create a world uniquely mine and avoid the inconsistencies found elsewhere in the line by focusing exclusively on one kind of Exalt. That said, enjoy! If you're interested and one of those lucky people that hang out online where I do, contact me on mIRC.

Character Generation

This will be a Solar-centric game, revolving around a Circle of 4-6 Exalts. I'd prefer to not get more than two characters of the same Caste, but if it'll introduce a unique dynamic or be interesting, I can work with it.

I need two versions of your character. The first is a heroic mortal with a 5/4/3 Attribute spread and 20 Ability dots (one Favored Ability house rule, but it'll have to be a Favored or Caste Ability for the Exalted version). The second is a fully-functional Exalted version with 21 BP. The Exalted version can have different Attribute and Ability spreads to represent the fundamental change that is Exaltation, but try to stay close to your original concept. The extra Background dots can be used to purchase magical Backgrounds but cannot be specified; I'll pick what you get. Rest assured, though, you won't be getting useless crap. The cruelty starts *later*.

The writeup is mostly done, so get on with it.

Story

Nothing fancy yet, you just need a character that's travelling to or lives in Nexus. We'll work from there.

Abilities

Craft is a general Ability. It covers everything from shipbuilding to papermaking. However, the limit of specialties you can have for Craft is increased to six -- hopefully allowing more flexibility and specialization.

Charms

Medicine: Touch of Blissful Release's prerequisite is now Flawless Diagnosis Technique. Ailment-Rectifying Technique's prequisite is now Body-Mending Meditation. Wound-Mending Care Technique's prerequisite is now Touch of Blissful Release. Bodily Regeneration Prana's prerequisites are Grievous Injury Recovery Method and Ailment-Rectifying Method.

Essence

Solar Exalted (along with all other types of Exalted) now have a tertiary pool called 'Overdraw'. This pool represents not the excess Essence within or around them, but rather how much Essence they can draw from Creation itself. This is not the casual drawing-upon of Personal Essence or the mild struggle that is Peripheral Essence, but rather a brutal theft of power, stealing from Gaia and her children. This stolen power is generally far more powerful than an Exalt can wield normally. Essence, however, does not like being forced into anything and often rewards the Exalt's desperation or arrogance with a stinging backlash of insanity.

Solar Overdraw is calculated by multiplying the character's Permanent Essence by five and adding the sum of their Willpower and their two highest virtues. As a formula, that's (Essence x 5) + Willpower + (the sum of the two highest Virtues). Motes used from this pool, even to partially power a magical ability, allow the wielder to act as if their Permanent Essence was one level higher than it actually is. However, with every five motes used from this pool, an Exalt must roll their Permanent Essence and add the number of successes to their Limit Break bar.

Limit Break and Virtue Flaws

The Limit Break is a phenomena restricted to the Exalted, an outburst of repressed negative emotions that can go on for weeks and often runs directly counter to the Exalt's very nature. This outburst cannot be restricted to a specific set of behavior or a certain emotional trigger; instead it is like a dark reflection of the demigod, a creature with minimal virtue and grossly-exaggerated flaws, a monster of truly epic proportions. Each Exalt has a dark side, the Solars tending towards megalomania and unthinking rage while the Lunars often have to deal with delusions and extreme mood swings. The Sidereals have seizures and fits, often detaching themselves entirely from reality, and the Dragon-Bloods flee from their companions and obligations, cowering within their aspected element. All of these traits often accompany the Broken Exalt's own flaws, creating a kind of secondary personality unrecognizable by the character's friends and family.

Mechanically, each player must create a secondary personality for their character, based around the basic Solar faults, the character's primary Virtue, and the character's other flaws. Whenever the character's primary Virtue is pushed aside or subverted, the player must roll that Virtue in dice and add the successes to their Limit Break bar.

Lookshy

Under Construction

Onyx

Under Construction

Comments

Overdraw seems like it's the sort of thing that wouldn't be a "pool" - more like (effectively) a Charm that has no activation cost, and gives you some number of motes with a side effect of Limit increase (and maybe an aggravated health level?). Raising the effective permanent Essence rating seems a little much - is there a better way to get the approach you want? For example, increasing the dice-pool maximums that Charms enjoy (e.g. Excellent Strike temporarily allows Dex+Melee+Essence dice). -- BillGarrett

What about simply allowing the exalts to gain a point of limit and roll their Permanent Essence + primary Virtue, gaining the successes in motes? - szilard

Building it as a simple mote pool saves you a dicepool calculation and roll each time you use it. - willows

So does making it an "N motes for M points of Limit etc." :) But whatever works best, thematically. I'm all in favor of house rules for powerups that scale linearly, independent of a minmaxable dice pool. -- BillGarrett