Exalted vs World of Darkness

[RSGAlex]

Going back to the vampire armor destruction, I feel that it's probably supposed to be a bit of semi-genre emulation where the vampire's supernatural flesh ends up tougher than mere metal and ceramics. Just a random thought I had while pondering paths and possible backstory ideas.

Which I am going to ask for some thread input, as in addition to wanting to play around with Hedge Magic, I do want to help out the circle. So the two main thrusts were to go heavy into Alchemy and perhaps later on get into Enchanting, or going less in on Fortune and getting a ritual so that there's a regular option of putting a meaningful blessing or curse on somebody. Part of my thought is that as the general line of sporadic hedge mages withdrew from the wider magical society (and in bits from society) their practice started to take on bits of the quackery/interest of the day. Or yesteryear. Or both, in the case of the youngest sister who hopefully will never have any actual talent, the little edgelord.

That makes the (scans of) the family library a bit less useful, and the mana related techniques even moreso.

Now the background pitch - she did not grow up in New Westhaven, technically. But if you didn't think of it as New Westhaven's strange southside bedroom community, you either are on the governing body of the place or you kill it on trivia night.  But the small collection of houses, store, motels, and houses turned motels does manage some small degree of relevance to New Westhaven by housing a working transient population. Not long enough to become a resident population, but apparently somebody has use for them, considering how rarely people get thrown out. Which is good for gramps, who insists on working even in his twilight years.

On the other hand, gramp's gotten a bit paranoid, which is part of why she's currently in New Westhaven, selling shit, and doing some investigation for the old man. She certainly followed the wrong hooker.

[AndyZ]

  How much would playing a deaf girl mess me up?

Remember you get 25 Freebies and that Flaws don’t give extra points, so you can, but you won’t get points.  You also won’t lose points if you buy it off.

So tentative concept is a former hitman Night Caste who exalted during a job gone bad and maaaaay have pissed off certain parts of the Carmarilla. Would be mostly a focus on investigation and larceny with a secondary focus on firearms.

He's the dude that a three letter agency calls when they want someone gone and don't want a direct connection.


Edit: though given a choice I'd rather play an Infernal any day....

Workable.  The Camarilla is all up on the north side with the rich people.

And I don’t blame you for wanting to play an Infernal, but I’m sure you understand why I’m not allowing them.

Going back to the vampire armor destruction, I feel that it's probably supposed to be a bit of semi-genre emulation where the vampire's supernatural flesh ends up tougher than mere metal and ceramics. Just a random thought I had while pondering paths and possible backstory ideas.

Which I am going to ask for some thread input, as in addition to wanting to play around with Hedge Magic, I do want to help out the circle. So the two main thrusts were to go heavy into Alchemy and perhaps later on get into Enchanting, or going less in on Fortune and getting a ritual so that there's a regular option of putting a meaningful blessing or curse on somebody. Part of my thought is that as the general line of sporadic hedge mages withdrew from the wider magical society (and in bits from society) their practice started to take on bits of the quackery/interest of the day. Or yesteryear. Or both, in the case of the youngest sister who hopefully will never have any actual talent, the little edgelord.

That makes the (scans of) the family library a bit less useful, and the mana related techniques even moreso.

Now the background pitch - she did not grow up in New Westhaven, technically. But if you didn't think of it as New Westhaven's strange southside bedroom community, you either are on the governing body of the place or you kill it on trivia night.  But the small collection of houses, store, motels, and houses turned motels does manage some small degree of relevance to New Westhaven by housing a working transient population. Not long enough to become a resident population, but apparently somebody has use for them, considering how rarely people get thrown out. Which is good for gramps, who insists on working even in his twilight years.

On the other hand, gramp's gotten a bit paranoid, which is part of why she's currently in New Westhaven, selling shit, and doing some investigation for the old man. She certainly followed the wrong hooker.

Lot to process here while I still have family not letting me sleep.  Reads okay to me, though.

One thing I want to ask: do you have a particular Traditional paradigm chosen out for the hedge magic?

[ShadowFox89]

Oh, no, I understand with Infernals, they kinda need a specific setup for them.

What's the gender split look like right now? My idea could go either way.

[Hexed]

Which I am going to ask for some thread input, as in addition to wanting to play around with Hedge Magic, I do want to help out the circle. So the two main thrusts were to go heavy into Alchemy and perhaps later on get into Enchanting, or going less in on Fortune and getting a ritual so that there's a regular option of putting a meaningful blessing or curse on somebody. Part of my thought is that as the general line of sporadic hedge mages withdrew from the wider magical society (and in bits from society) their practice started to take on bits of the quackery/interest of the day. Or yesteryear. Or both, in the case of the youngest sister who hopefully will never have any actual talent, the little edgelord.

I'll admit to being biased against fate or fortune manipulation from other systems.
That said alchemy and enchantment just sound more useful.  Bottled sunlight anyone? 

But if fortunes a potent or fun trick don't let this naysayers cut it down. Hell knows I've used substandard stuff because it was fun or theme before.

[Muse]

Remember you get 25 Freebies and that Flaws don’t give extra points, so you can, but you won’t get points.  You also won’t lose points if you buy it off.

Yep, it's a character concept, not a bid for bonus points. 

Hence my question about how much would it mess me up! 

[RSGAlex]

Lot to process here while I still have family not letting me sleep.  Reads okay to me, though.

One thing I want to ask: do you have a particular Traditional paradigm chosen out for the hedge magic?

Basically Hermeticism with a semi-expliciable smear of Egyptological stuff on it. Like a Wesekh is/was important to her now depreciated Mana Manipulation knowledge because the family records on that were low-ish level fairly spotty and mostly rituals. Possibly also because of a breadth/breath mistranslation along the way. The potental use of literal Al-Khem in the form of burnt, dark dirt or iron sand would probably be seen as overly literal but there's every chance an actual Hermetic wouldn't get why there's a formula that uses semen on lettuce for enhancement of your wit. Or they might, all depends on the person.

[AndyZ]

Yep, it's a character concept, not a bid for bonus points. 

Hence my question about how much would it mess me up!

In my experience, most Flaws are harder on the party in general than on the individual.  Like, an Enemy is rarely apt to only come for you and leave the rest of your party alone, except that they don’t get the points, just you.

With things like Deaf, the party either has to decide if they’re going to use comms to split the party knowing you can’t participate, or come up with another plan, because it’s not the fault of the character for taking it.  There’s very few maladies out there where it’s socially acceptable to just ignore that other people have them and make no effort to help.

There can be a lot of merit to playing a character with a disability in order to experience the everyday life of some people who have them, but the only game that comes close to offering you an everyday life experience in Exalted or WoD is Hunter the Reckoning, and imbued hunters don’t exist in this world.

I’ve also seen some people get offended when disabilities get cured…

[AndyZ]

Basically Hermeticism with a semi-expliciable smear of Egyptological stuff on it. Like a Wesekh is/was important to her now depreciated Mana Manipulation knowledge because the family records on that were low-ish level fairly spotty and mostly rituals. Possibly also because of a breadth/breath mistranslation along the way. The potental use of literal Al-Khem in the form of burnt, dark dirt or iron sand would probably be seen as overly literal but there's every chance an actual Hermetic wouldn't get why there's a formula that uses semen on lettuce for enhancement of your wit. Or they might, all depends on the person.

“Because Hermetic wizards are, to a one (and to a fault), meticulous, pedantic, majestic, and haughty.” - Their actual write up in the M20 book.

Definitely works, though.

[RSGAlex]

“Because Hermetic wizards are, to a one (and to a fault), meticulous, pedantic, majestic, and haughty.” - Their actual write up in the M20 book.

Definitely works, though.

I figure that most actual members of the Order of Hermes would go and say that the family, other than the whole part of making their magic a more general family affair, lost the thread anywhere from the 1500s to the 1800s depending on how judgmental and shade throwing they want to be.

I'll admit to being biased against fate or fortune manipulation from other systems.
That said alchemy and enchantment just sound more useful.  Bottled sunlight anyone? 

But if fortunes a potent or fun trick don't let this naysayers cut it down. Hell knows I've used substandard stuff because it was fun or theme before.

I mean, bottled sunlight is probably two dots beyond what I'm currently planning on taking in Alchemy (perhaps one if it's only a small amount) but I suppose I should reword what I'm asking the thread. The planned Alchemy build has more power available, for instance a compound that gives +1 dot to an Attribute for a scene or making superior materials for tools and weapons giving a die and so, but is much slower if hitting for that full power. A potion of the Eye of Ra or Cloth of Hedj-Hotep takes three days. If it's limited to not going over 5 or is a short term chemical application, that's a day, but that's still a day.

The planned Fortune build will have one, and only one, effect slightly on that level as a blessing or give out a bad injury as an example curse, but is faster to spread around. Well, the big effect curse option won't be that much faster to spread around, as it's going to be an hour or hours per victim, but it also is more forgiving of scant info. The regular stuff would be much more minor boons for a day or lesser badness for a day, two at a time or one with less info. It also has a time usually measured in combat turns, so it can happen quickly.

[ShadowFox89]

The more I work on this idea the more I feel like I'm just making Exalted!John Wick.... and I'm fine with that. John Wick is basically a night caste anyway.

[Muse]

 So, makse sure i've got this right, Andy?  The exaltations came back 20 years ago but we're just recently Exalted, right? 

[AndyZ]

The more I work on this idea the more I feel like I'm just making Exalted!John Wick.... and I'm fine with that. John Wick is basically a night caste anyway.

Epic movies, John Wick.

So, makse sure i've got this right, Andy?  The exaltations came back 20 years ago but we're just recently Exalted, right? 

Correct.  In canon Ex2 (probably in other Exalted editions also, but who can say unless they’ve played them?) it’s year 763 when the Solars come back but now year 768 when you start.

Going from 1999 is a pretty long time, but the events of that period are more than enough, and WoD canonically, White Wolf used it as an excuse to change Wraith to Orpheus and bring in Hunter: the Reckoning, Demon: the Fallen, and Mummy: the Resurrection.  But then, some derp setting off a nuke in the Underworld never goes well, let alone everything else from that week.

My plan when we start is to have everyone get a letter to go to a particular house and get some good info dumping to make sure people are at least reasonably caught up to speed, but this is a different world of darkness, one not necessarily bound by inevitable destruction of the world.  Certainly the Exalted are powerful enough to help deal with things.

[AndyZ]

I added some house rules for Awareness that I’ve seen others use to decent effect.

[ShadowFox89]

So what would the current year be then? Our current, 2009?

Edit: also, should we expect more combat, social interaction, or sneaking? I'd rather not make someone stealth oriented who is made moot by everyone being gung-ho combat.

[AndyZ]

So what would the current year be then? Our current, 2009?

Edit: also, should we expect more combat, social interaction, or sneaking? I'd rather not make someone stealth oriented who is made moot by everyone being gung-ho combat.

2022.  And, that’s up to you, so I’ll let you all discuss, but a forum game allows for splitting the party more easily.

[Hexed]

I've been messing with the sheet for stats n skills and while I can't say biker lass will be stealthy, ran out of points, she shouldn't be to bad a clutz. Social... might want to tape her mouth  shut.

Haven't factored free points so things may change. :)

[ShadowFox89]

I've been messing with the sheet for stats n skills and while I can't say biker lass will be stealthy, ran out of points, she shouldn't be to bad a clutz. Social... might want to tape her mouth  shut.

Haven't factored free points so things may change. :)

Knowing your characters... Tape may not suffice.

I'll have a bio up soonish and a sheet after that.

[AndyZ]

So, one thing I’m considering is that I kind of auto start the campaign so that things get rolling faster rather than the usual freeze as one by one people show and it takes time to get going.  It assumes you’ll get a letter from someone who knows you’re a Solar Exalt and offers a safe house with a now-human caretaker, you go into the house, and if you take your sweet time in posting, we don’t have to assume you missed everything.  Does anyone object to this?  It’a all very much, “You go along with the few rails I’m putting up in the first scene because you either want to know or want confirmation on what’s going on,” and that way, if we end up with attrition, we can replace them before the scene ends.

It’s also worth asking if people would like a Discord server for OOC chatter, dice rolls, and poking for the people who don’t mind being poked when they haven’t posted in a while.  Discord is kind of an all-or-nothing because I’ve seen it kill games just because one player wasn’t in and wasn’t getting all the messages, so everyone please be clear on your preferences and ability to use it.

[ShadowFox89]

 I'm good with Discord and starting asynchronous.

[RSGAlex]

Works with me too.

[Hexed]

I'm fine with discord. May not always yammer on it due to work or such but generally have it up.

And rails at the start are quite fine by me. Keep things at least a little on track.



So question. Based on the description of what dots equal in skills should 4 dot skills via caste points even be touched?
For that matter should Willpower and essence be raised at start? On one hand they seem pretty important on the other it seems raising them should be... quest worthy almost?

Knowing your characters... Tape may not suffice.

I'll have a bio up soonish and a sheet after that.

Pfft. This is no Tinni or other crazy one. It's just Intimidation is looking like her only social ability.

And social attributes is her lowest set. But hey at least that means 2 dots and one 3 dot there. ^^

[HairyHeretic]

What concepts have people decided on at this point?

[AndyZ]

So question. Based on the description of what dots equal in skills should 4 dot skills via caste points even be touched?

I don’t understand this question.  An example may help.

For that matter should Willpower and essence be raised at start? On one hand they seem pretty important on the other it seems raising them should be... quest worthy almost?

In the actual Exalted game (or at least, in Second Edition and 2.5), you got better Charms the higher Essence you had, and the power gap between 2 and 4 was astonishing even for what you’re (probably correctly) thinking Essence 2 was like.  Now, it just gives an idea for how much Essence you can gain and possess at a time.  As such, I’m not very concerned about keeping it balanced among the players.

You start with a full Willpower pool, but it’s very often needed to be spent, most of the way you get it back is by sleeping, and it can be too easy to run out.  Given the freebie point to XP ratio, most people buy it up to maybe 7 or 8 or so to make sure they have enough before it refreshes at the end of the chronicle.

Pfft. This is no Tinni or other crazy one. It's just Intimidation is looking like her only social ability.

And social attributes is her lowest set. But hey at least that means 2 dots and one 3 dot there. ^^

I already seeing you put more effort into making something beyond the stereotypical tough girl we see too often in modern Western media, and have been seeing since the 90s.  It can be hard to make a Dawn that really stands out.

Speaking of, it reminds me that I want to ask you about your motorcycle gang.  The smart move would be to fill them in enough to say that you need to deal with things and they won’t really be able to help, lest they become targets if anyone with malicious intentions finds out who you are and shares that info.  If you want to buy them with the Backup background, each dot of that either gives you two NPCs who are roughly on the level of a government agent, or one NPC who’s on the level of maybe SWAT or an elite mafia hitman.

What concepts have people decided on at this point?

We have Solar claims on everything except Eclipse, and I’d love to give that spot to you if you want it.

[HairyHeretic]

We have Solar claims on everything except Eclipse, and I’d love to give that spot to you if you want it.

Sure. I haven't done more than glance at the book yet though. I probably won't get a lot of time to before the weekend.

What do we have for character concepts though, not castes?

And is there anywhere that has a list of all the different merits and backgrounds referenced from different books? Most of them I don't know.

[Hexed]

Dawn Caste Biker Chick.
High School Diploma, works at her family auto shop (Her grandfather started it), Of Norse decent and proud of it (great grandfather insisted everyone in the family knew their runes), bit of a thrill seeker as when she can't ride she enjoys bar fights and parkour in the middle of the night.

Current Attribute/Ability poking

Strength 4 dot       Dexterity 3 dot         Stamina 4 dot
Charisma 2 dot      Manipulation 2 dot   Appearance 3 dot
Perception 3 dot   Intelligence 3 dot      Wits 3 dot

(Only talents/skills/knowledges with actual ranks.
Alertness 2 dot      Athletics  3 dot    Brawl  3 dot   Intimidation 2 dot   Leadership  2 dot
Crafts 3 dot    Drive 3 dot    Firearms 3 dot    Larceny 2 dot   Melee 3 dot  Performance 1 dot
Academics 1 dot  Computer 1 dot   Occult 1 dot   Science 1 dot   Technology 1 dot

okay that's kinda a mess but it's the result of my last click the button and figure out why she has it session.

Occult/Performance are due to her being Norse/viking decent and I really need to do more digging into that.

I don’t understand this question.  An example may help.

I dug into VtM20 and a 4 dot skill is pretty much 'you're a pro' at it. Lets use drive.
3 dots Competent: Professional trucker.
4 dots is Expert: NASCAR daredevil or tank pilot.
3 is character creation cap except Caste Abilities can go beyond that. Given the Exaltation and that these are pretty much demigods I can sort of see such a jump in skill coming after the awakening I'm just... We can do it but should we?

In the actual Exalted game (or at least, in Second Edition and 2.5), you got better Charms the higher Essence you had, and the power gap between 2 and 4 was astonishing even for what you’re (probably correctly) thinking Essence 2 was like.  Now, it just gives an idea for how much Essence you can gain and possess at a time.  As such, I’m not very concerned about keeping it balanced among the players.

You start with a full Willpower pool, but it’s very often needed to be spent, most of the way you get it back is by sleeping, and it can be too easy to run out.  Given the freebie point to XP ratio, most people buy it up to maybe 7 or 8 or so to make sure they have enough before it refreshes at the end of the chronicle.

2 Essence & 4 Essence also grant Supernal Charms which really amp up the chosen charms. :)

But yeah, since it really just means how big a pool you have it's not that big a deal. Overthinking things on my end it seems.

I already seeing you put more effort into making something beyond the stereotypical tough girl we see too often in modern Western media, and have been seeing since the 90s.  It can be hard to make a Dawn that really stands out.

Thanks! I like twisting my characters up even if sometimes they slug me and take their own path.  To be fair the biker bit is that I've been wanting one. It's a really bad idea but I've been wanting one. So this way I can pretend.
And even after all this time I find small female brutes hilarious. It also helps to find something that isn't punching faces so that ones character isn't standing on the sidelines glowering at everyone when there's no combat going on.

Speaking of, it reminds me that I want to ask you about your motorcycle gang.  The smart move would be to fill them in enough to say that you need to deal with things and they won’t really be able to help, lest they become targets if anyone with malicious intentions finds out who you are and shares that info.  If you want to buy them with the Backup background, each dot of that either gives you two NPCs who are roughly on the level of a government agent, or one NPC who’s on the level of maybe SWAT or an elite mafia hitman.

Technically she's in a FC or Family Club which is made up only of family members and sometimes friends. Doesn't keep them from interacting with the Patched Clubs but grants a bit more freedom of action

If she was in an actual Patched Club... She'd be unavailable frequently. When the motorcycle clubs say you ride somewhere you ride there no matter what. The club comes before even your own family.

I'd forgotten to factor in Intimacies. The plan had been for her to currently be a Lone Wolf, a rider traveling by themselves with no ties to the Clubs. Before the big light show she put on she was traveling the country seeing the sights. I'll try to stop mucking with points and get what I have of her background written up, I just tend to rely on stats for what a character actually could have done and what a background needs to explain them being able to do.