White Wolf Community

The Solar Deliberative: The Silver-Horned Watcher is watching you!

Bodhisattva — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:04:00 GMT

The Build-a-Lunar contest from last month has come to an end and I'm a little bit late in posting the results. They'll be presented here in full for your review and I encourage everyone to vote on the best of the custom Lunars. Obviously, these Lunars may be replaced by canon versions whenever the Scroll of Exalts gets into your hands, but for now, enjoy the fruits of fan labors! Don't forget that each Lunar is presented as a starting build and then as a finished product. To vote, simply cast your vote right here as a comment to this entry! Remember, you can only vote for one entry. Best of luck to the contestants!

Entry #1: Uka the Boar

Uka the Boar is described in Manual of Exalted Power: Lunars pages 28, 29, 33, and 39. He is most known for being the reincarnation of the first known Chimera, Ogun Bloody-Tusks, being the first Casteless, and for nearly getting himself and his entire extended boar beastman family (the Grondir) killed by a shogunate Wyld Hunt north of Tzatli.

His appearances in other books, if they exist, are not yet listed here.

Source: Manual of Exalted Power: Lunars, pp. 28-29, 33, 39.

The stats listed here are not yet complete.

Uka at Character Creation

This is Uka at character creation, struggling with the conflict of being the first of his kind to bear no inherent caste.

Loyalties

Motivation	Protect my tribe by fixing my caste before I become a monster, like Ogun did.
Intimacies	My tribe (Protectiveness) ●, Ogun Bloody-Tusks (Fear) ●
Faction	Wardens of Gaia.

Attributes


Strength	●●●○○	Charisma	●●●●●	Perception	●●●○○
Dexterity	●●○○○	Manipulation	●●●○○	Intelligence	●○○○○
Stamina	●●●●○	Appearance	●●●○○	Wits	●●●○○

Abilities


War		Life		Wisdom
Archery	○○○○○	Craft	○○○○○	Bureaucracy	○○○○○
Athletics	●●●○○	Larceny	○○○○○	Investigation	○○○○○
Awareness	●●○○○	Linguistics	○○○○○	Lore	○○○○○
Dodge	○○○○○	Performance	●●●○○	Medicine	○○○○○
Integrity	●●●○○	Presence	●●●●●	Occult	○○○○○
Martial Arts	●●●●●	Ride	○○○○○
Melee	○○○○○	Sail	○○○○○
Resistance	○○○○○	Socialize	●●●○○
Thrown	○○○○○	Stealth	○○○○○
War	●●●○○	Survival	●●●●●

Specialties			Languages	Dialect
Martial Arts	Warform	●●●○○	Forestongue

Spirit and Body


Essence	●●○○○ ○○○○○	Virtues
Personal Pool	18	Compassion	●●○○○	Conviction	●●●●○
Peripheral Pool	40	Temperance	●○○○○	Valor	●●●○○
Willpower	●●●●● ●●●○○


Limit Break		Virtue Flaw:	Curse of the Hungry Wolverine.

Health and Soak


Movement	Unarmored	Armored	Beastman
Move	2 yds.	2 yds.	3 yds.
Dash	8 yds.	8 yds.	9 yds.
Jump Type	Unarmored	Armored	Beastman
Vertical	5 yds.	5 yds.	6 yds.
Horizontal	10 yds.	10 yds.	12 yds.


Soak
Natural	4 B	2 L	0 A
Armor	1 B	3 L	3 A
Total	5 B	5 L	3 A
Beastman	10 B	9 L	3 A
Pierced	4 B	3 L	1 A
Hardness	0 B	0 L	0 A


Health Levels
-0
-1
-2
-4
Incap
Dying

Charms

Name	Cost	Type	Speed/Step	Duration	Summary	Page Number	Obvious
First Stamina Excellency	1m per ●	Reflexive	1 or 2	Instant	See MoEP:L	Pg.140
First Charisma Excellency	1m per ●	Reflexive	1 or 2	Instant	See MoEP:L	Pg.140
Relentless Lunar Fury	1m, 1wp	Reflexive	1 or 2	(Essence x2) actions	See MoEP:L	Pg.158
East Mastery Technique	6m	Reflexive	--	Indefinite	See MoEP:L	Pg.157
Hard-Nosed Denial Style	4m	Reflexive	2	One scene	See MoEP:L	Pg.168
Maintaining the Pack	4m1wp	Reflexive	10	Instant	See MoEP:L	Pg.168

Charm Combos

Name

Cost

Type

Duration

Included Charms

Knacks

Knack	Type	Prerequisites	Summary	Page Number
Deadly Beastman Transformation	War Form	Essence 2, Stamina 3	Allows to take war form shape.	p.136
Terrifying Beastman Alteration	War Form	Essence 2, Stamina 3	Allows to take war form shape.	p.136

Backgrounds

Background	Rating	Description
Destiny	●○○○○
Resources	●●●○○	mid-ranking police officer
Influence	●●○○○	mid-ranking police officer
Backing	●●○○○	mid-ranking police officer
Contacts	●●●●○	Thieves (Silken Jackal) Merchants (Ravenous Locust) The Police Force (Raven of the Amethyst Mountain) Mercenary Company Midnight Dragons (Obsidian Eagle)

Equipment & Holdings

Item	Value	Description
Fine Chain Shirt	●●○○○	Moderate protection worn against the skin.
Fine Khatar	●●○○○	For impaling city folk.

Shapeshifting

Spirit	Wild Boar
Tell	Thick, rigid hair all down the spine.
Warform (8)	Armored Hide (4), Tusks (2), Hooves (1), Wolf's Pace (1)

Forms

Form	Str.	Dex.	Sta.	App.	Abilities, Bonuses and General Description
True Form	4	2	4	1	Gains Gore attack as seen in Exalted Second Edition Core book.
War Form	4	3	5	1	Armored Hide (4), Tusks (2), Hooves (1), Wolf's Pace (1)

Experience

Earned:

Spent:

Banked:

Experienced

This is Uka deeper in to his career of headstrong, bad decisions. This section is not completed at all.

Loyalties

Motivation	Make creation pay for their crimes
Intimacies	Duels ●, Injustice ●, Chiaroscuro ●
Faction	Unaligned.

Attributes


Strength	●●●○○	Charisma	●●○○○	Perception	●●○○○
Dexterity	●●●●○	Manipulation	●●●●○	Intelligence	●●○○○
Stamina	●●●○○	Appearance	●●●●○	Wits	●●●○○

Abilities


War		Life		Wisdom
Archery	●○○○○	Craft	○○○○○	Bureaucracy	○○○○○
Athletics	●●○○○	Larceny	●○○○○	Investigation	○○○○○
Awareness	●●●●○	Linguistics	●○○○○	Lore	●○○○○
Dodge	●●●●○	Performance	●○○○○	Medicine	●○○○○
Integrity	●●●○○	Presence	●●●○○	Occult	○○○○○
Martial Arts	○○○○○	Ride	●○○○○
Melee	●●●●●	Sail	○○○○○
Resistance	●●○○○	Socialize	●●○○○
Thrown	●●●○○	Stealth	○○○○○
War	●●○○○	Survival	●●○○○

Specialties			Languages	Dialect
Melee	Duels	●●○○○
Awareness	Fast Reflexes	●●○○○

Spirit and Body


Essence	●●○○○ ○○○○○	Virtues
Personal Pool	14	Compassion	●●○○○	Conviction	●●●○○
Peripheral Pool	0/32
Willpower	●●●●● ●○○○○	Temperance	●○○○○	Valor	●●●○○
Willpower Used


Limit Break		Virtue Flaw:	Curse of the Lone Wolf.

Health and Soak


Movement	Unarmored	Armored	Beastman
Move	4 yds.	4 yds.	5 yds.
Dash	10 yds.	10 yds.	11 yds.
Jump Type	Unarmored	Armored	Beastman
Vertical	5 yds.	5 yds.	7 yds.
Horizontal	10 yds.	10 yds.	14 yds.


Soak
Natural	3 B	1 L	0 A
Armor	1 B	3 L	0 A
Total	4 B	4 L	3 A
Beastman	10 B	9 L	3 A
Pierced	2 B	2 L	1 A
Hardness	0 B	0 L	0 A


Health Levels
-0	()
-1
-2
-4
Incap
Dying

Charms

Name	Cost	Type	Speed/Step	Duration	Summary	Page Number	Obvious
First Dexterity Excellency	1m per ●	Reflexive	1 or 2	Instant	See MoEP:L	Pg.140
First Wits Excellency	1m per ●	Reflexive	1 or 2	Instant	See MoEP:L	Pg.140
Wasp Sting Blur	2m per tick	Reflexive	--	Instant	See MoEP:L; Fury-OK	Pg.154
Ox-Body Technique	--	Permanent	--	Indefinite	See MoEP:L	Pg.156
Meerkat Alertness Practice	2m	Supplemental	--	Instant	See MoEP:L	Pg.193
Relentless Lunar Fury	1m, 1wp	Reflexive	1 or 2	(Essence x2) actions	See MoEP:L	Pg.158

Charm Combos

Name

Cost

Type

Duration

Included Charms

Knacks

Knack	Type	Prerequisites	Summary	Page Number
Towering Beast Form	Animal	Essence 2, Stamina 3	Allows to take the shape of larger animals.	p.131
Deadly Beastman Transformation	War Form	Essence 2, Stamina 3	Allows to take war form shape.	p.136

Backgrounds

Background	Rating	Description
Destiny	●○○○○
Resources	●●●○○	mid-ranking police officer
Influence	●●○○○	mid-ranking police officer
Backing	●●○○○	mid-ranking police officer
Contacts	●●●●○	Thieves (Silken Jackal) Merchants (Ravenous Locust) The Police Force (Raven of the Amethyst Mountain) Mercenary Company Midnight Dragons (Obsidian Eagle)

Attack Values

Base Values

Attacks

Join Battle	9
Dodge DV (Unarmored)	5
Dodge DV (Armored)	5
Mobility Penalty	0
Fatigue	0
Join War	5

Weapon	Speed	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Rate	Range	Attune	Tags
Punch	5	5	3B	3	3	--	--	N, M
Kick	5	4	6B	1	2	--	--	N, M
Clinch	6	4	3B	2	1	--	--	N, M
Urgency	4	12	7L	5	2	--	--
Swiftness	4	12	7L	5	2	--	--
Knife	5	10	5L	4	1	--	--
Quickening Cold	4	12	8L	6	4	--	--

Social Combat

Base Values

Attacks

Join Debate	7
Dodge MDV	5

Weapon	Speed	Honesty	Honesty MDV	Deception	Deception MDV	Rate
Presence	4	5	2	7	3	2
Performance	6	3	1	5	2	1
Investigation	5	2	1	4	2	2

Equipment & Holdings

Item	Value	Description
Urgency & Swiftness	●●○○○	Each exceptional straight swords.
Quickening Cold	N/A	Perfect straight sword. Blessed by the element of air, this blade will do extra cold damage.
Perfected Darts of Earth	N/A	3 perfect darts, intended to play the game darts with. Blessed by the element of earth, they will never break or dull.
Chain Shirt	●●○○○	Moderate protection that is worn under the uniform.

Shapeshifting

Spirit	Claw Strider
Tell	Scaled skin on sides of the abdomen, on the shoulders, and the back.

Forms

Form	Str.	Dex.	Sta.	App.	Abilities, Bonuses and General Description
True Form	7	4	7	4	Gains Bite and Claw attacks as seen in Exalted Second Edition Core book.
War Form	5	5	5	4	Gains Serpentine Tongue (MoEP:L p.207), Armored Hide (Core Book p.289), and Large (Core Book p.288)

Experience

Earned:

Spent:

Banked:

Entry #2: Sleeves of War

See the article Sleeves of War for more details on the canon character. As she is presented here, she is intended to be able to present a decent challenge to her rival, Cynis Denovah Avaku, who commands greater resources than those that she can bring to bear, but not to present an overwhelming challenge. By necessity, she is lacking in several areas of combat, but does have the capacity to command her troops and terrorize Northern settlements.

References

Source: Aspect Book: Fire, pp. 49-50, 56-57, 59.
Source: Exalted Players Guide, p. 3.

Starting Build

Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 9, Damage 3B, Parry DV 5, Rate 3

Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 8, Damage 6B, Parry DV 3, Rate 2

Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 8, Damage 3B, Parry DV —, Rate 1

Moonsilver Short Powerbow (Breath of Mourning): Speed 6, Accuracy 12, Damage 5L, Rate 2, Range 350

War Form Punch*: Speed 5, Accuracy 10, Damage 6L, Parry DV 5, Rate 3

War Form Kick*: Speed 5, Accuracy 9, Damage 9L, Parry DV 1;, Rate 2

War Form Clinch*: Speed 6, Accuracy 9, Damage 6L piercing, Parry DV —, Rate 1

War Form Short Powerbow (Breath of Mourning): Speed 6, Accuracy 13, Damage 6L, Rate 2, Range 350

Soak:

Human Form: 8B/6L (Chain Shirt 3B/1L)

War Form: 10B/8L (Chain Shirt 3B/1L)

Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 7
Essence: 2 Willpower: 7
Personal Essence: 16 Peripheral Essence: 30 (38)
Committed Essence: 8
Notes: As a starting Lunar, Sleeves of War has managed to raise a small force of about a hundred Buck Ogres, but she hasn't mastered the art of war as of yet. Small, lithe and with the appearance of a small girl of only fifteen, Sleeves of War does not look like a killing machine, even when she leads her forces into bloody and terrible battle against her enemies, but her arrows strike swift and true thanks to her Dexterity Excellency or her Wasp Sting Blur Charm. At this level, she is hardly fit to be going up against a trained Realm force, but she compensates for her inexperience with the strength and ferocity of her war form and her natural and Charm-enhanced resilience. She also wears a pair of Moonsilver Hearthstone Bracers that add to her defenses.

350XP Build

Motivation: Drive the Legions of the Scarlet Empire from the North forever.
Caste: Full Moon
Anima: A blizzard of silvery snowflakes swirling around her as a white-furred bear stands over her, roaring
Tell: Snowy white arms with white fur along the forearms
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5, Charisma 5, Manipulation 4, Appearance 4, Perception 3, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 3, Temperance 2, Valor 4
Abilities: Archery 5 (Powerbows +3), Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Dodge 5, Integrity 2, Investigation 2, Lore 2, Martial Arts 3, Medicine 1, Performance 2, Presence 3, Resistance 2, Stealth 3, Survival 5, War 5
Backgrounds: Artifact 4, Followers 3, Heart's Blood 1, Manse 3
Knacks: Deadly Beastman Transformation (Air Adaptation, Talons, Thick Skin, Gazelle's Pace), Lightning Change Style, Prey's Skin Disguise, Quicksilver Second Face
Charms: Butterfly Eyes Defense, First Charisma Excellency, First Dexterity Excellency, Flowing Body Evasion, Golden Tiger Stance, Instinct-Driven Beast Movement, Moonlight Curtain Drawn, Ox-Body Technique, Prey-Hobbling Bite, Relentless Lunar Fury, Righteous Lion Defense, School Becomes Shark Formation, Second Manipulation Excellency, Wary Swallow Method, Wasp Sting Blur, Wind-Dancing Method
Combos: Wracking Hornet's Sting (Flowing Body Evasion, Prey-Hobbling Bite, Wary Swallow Method, Wasp Sting Blur)
Join Battle: 7
Attacks:

Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 9, Damage 4B, Parry DV 5, Rate 3

Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 8, Damage 7B, Parry DV 3, Rate 2

Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 8, Damage 4B, Parry DV —, Rate 1

Moonsilver Short Powerbow (Breath of Mourning): Speed 6, Accuracy 16, Damage 6L, Rate 2, Range 350

War Form Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 10, Damage 6L, Parry DV 5, Rate 3

War Form Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 9, Damage 9L, Parry DV 1, Rate 2

War Form Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 9, Damage 6L piercing, Parry DV —, Rate 1

War Form Short Powerbow (Breath of Mourning): Speed 6, Accuracy 17, Damage 7L, Rate 2, Range 350

Soak:

Human Form: 8B/6L (Chain Shirt 3B/1L)

War Form: 10B/8L (Chain Shirt 3B/1L)

Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 8
Essence: 3 Willpower: 7
Personal Essence: 17 Peripheral Essence: 34 (42)
Committed Essence: 8
Notes: Now that Sleeves of War has a bit more experience under her belt, she is able to command her disciplined Buck Ogre followers into battle with lethal proficiency. She now possesses an Adder's Eye (Oadenol's Codex, p. 99) set into her Moonsilver Short Powerbow which envenoms all of her arrows, making her an even deadlier opponent. She has learned a handful of tricks to make her followers appear to be more numerous and to protect them from harm. At this point, she has engaged Cynis Denovah Avaku in combat several times and neither one has emerged the victor, but she hungers for his blood and will likely single him out on the field of battle if she encounters him. She has not eschewed the traditions of the Silver Pact and while she lacks their direct support, she is making a name for herself by terrorizing Realm installations in the North. In this envisioning of Sleeves of War, there is some indication that Sleeves of War could be a more recent incarnation of Ingosh Silverclaws, but the connection is superficial and entirely optional.

Buck Ogre Warrior

Motivation: Follow Sleeves of War onward to glory!
Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 3, Stamina 6, Charisma 2, Manipulation 3, Appearance 1, Perception 4, Intelligence 2, Wits 4
Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 3, Temperance 1, Valor 3
Abilities: Athletics 5 (+3 Throwing Heavy Objects), Awareness 4, Dodge 4, Integrity 1, Investigation 1, Martial Arts 4, Medicine 1, Melee 5 (Axe +3), Presence 2 (Intimidation +3), Resistance 2, Stealth 3, Survival 5, Thrown 2 (Boulders +3), War 3
Backgrounds: Backing 3 (Sleeves of War), Command 1, Mentor 3 (Sleeves of War)
Join Battle: 8
Attacks:

Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 12, Damage 7B, Parry DV 4, Rate 3

Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 11, Damage 12B, Parry DV 2, Rate 2

Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 11, Damage 4B, Parry DV —, Rate 1

Gore: Speed 6, Accuracy 12, Damage 12L, Parry DV 3, Rate 1

Great Axe: Speed 5, Accuracy 18, Damage 14L/2, Parry DV 3, Rate 3

Hurled Boulder: Speed 5, Accuracy 9, Damage 15B piercing, Parry DV —, Rate 1, Range 13

Soak: 14B/9L
Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 3
Essence: 1 Willpower: 7
Notes: These shock troops are slightly stronger and more powerful than the standard Buck Ogre, having been trained for war by Sleeves of War herself. They possess the standard mutations that Buck Ogres possess (Exalted, p. 291) in addition to the Air Adaptation and Hooves Poxes and the Brutal Attack merit (which is already calculated into their attack values). However, as an addendum to the Brutal Attack merit, the Buck Ogre suffers a -2DV penalty until their next action whenever they use the Brutal Attack merit instead of the usual -1DV penalty. They also wield perfect great axes and hurl boulders as heavy as horses that always force a knockdown or knockback check if they impact on a character who does not use a Charm to defend himself (even if successfully parried). They are completely loyal to Sleeves of War, willing to follow her unto their deaths. They were formed up from small, undisciplined tribes into a small army and several of them are now skilled enough as thaumaturges, possessing some skill at Occult. These tribal shaman possess Intelligence 3, Occult 1, and have knowledge of any appropriate alchemical rituals up to Initiate level for which they meet the requirements in the Arts of Alchemy, Enchantment, Geomancy, Husbandry, Spirit Beckoning, Warding & Exorcism and Weather Working. Any of these warriors is more than a match for any several men and never count as extras.

Mass Combat: Buck Ogre Shock Troops

Commanding Officer: Goroche the Masher
Armor Color: Dark brown fur
Motto: "For the mistress!"
General Makeup: One hundred Buck Ogres with great axes and boulders, bearing talismans of protection crafted for them by their own tribal shamans.
Overall Quality: Elite
Magnitude: 3
Drill: 3
Close Combat Attack: 9           Close Combat Damage: 4
Ranged Attack: 4                       Ranged Damage: 5
Endurance: 9        Might: 2        Armor: 3
Morale: 3
Formation: This small force typically fights in Unordered fashion, but can be gathered into Skirmish formation for pressed assaults. They can be called upon to coordinate attacks and surround singularly powerful foes, but are often left to ravage through enemy units. Should the commanding Buck Ogre fall, the others have a rigid disciplinary structure drilled into them by Sleeves of War and any one of the remaining troops can take command.

Entry #3: Thorn Sun and Moon

Character Creation Build

Name: Thorn Moon and Sun
Motivation: Locate and ascertain the condition of his reborn Solar mate
Caste: Full Moon
Anima: A large, proud, silver lion that pounces or snarls whenever Thorn Moon and Sun makes an attack
Tell: Spiky, mane-like golden hair and very vivid gold-green eyes
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 5, Stamina 4, Charisma 4, Manipulation 2, Appearance 3, Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 4
Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 3, Temperance 1, Valor 4
Abilities: Archery 2, Athletics 1, Awareness 3, Dodge 3, Integrity 2, Martial Arts 4, Resistance 2, War 2, Craft Water 2 (Leather Working), Ride 1, Survival 2, Lore 1, Medicine 1.
Backgrounds: Artifact 2, Followers 2, Heart's Blood 1, Solar Bond 5
Knacks: Deadly Beastman Transformation: (Thick Skin 2 pts, Talons 2 pts, Enhanced Sight 1 pt, Wolf's Pace, 1pt)
Charms: First Stamina Excellency, First Dexterity Excellency, Claws of the Silver Moon, Ox-Body Technique (4 -2 Health Levels Option), Relentless Lunar Fury, Bruise-Relief Method, Halting the Scarlet Flow
Join Battle: 7
Attacks:
Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 10, Damage 4B, Parry DV 6, Rate 3
Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 9, Damage 7B, Parry DV 4, Rate 2
Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 9, Damage 4B, Parry DV —, Rate 1
Claws of the Sliver Moon Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 12, Damage 10L, Parry DV 6, Rate 3
Claws of the Silver Moon Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 11, Damage 13L, Parry DV 4, Rate 2
Claws of the Silver Moon Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 11, Damage 10L, Parry DV —, Rate 1
War Form Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 11, Damage 7L, Parry DV 6, Rate 3
War Form Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 10, Damage 10L, Parry DV 4, Rate 2
War Form Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 10, Damage 7L, Parry DV —, Rate 1
War Form Claws of the Silver Moon Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 13, Damage 11L, Parry DV 6, Rate 3
War Form Claws of the Silver Moon Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 12, Damage 14L, Parry DV 4, Rate 2
War Form Claws of the Silver Moon Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 12, Damage 11L, Parry DV —, Rate 1
Soak:'
Human Form: 7L/5B (Chain Shirt 3L/1B)
War Form: 9L/7B (Chain Shirt 3L/1B)
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 7
Essence: 2
Personal Essence: 16 Peripheral Essence: 34 (38)
Committed Essence: 4
Notes: Thorn Moon and Sun is a powerful hand to hand combatant, and he is considered the champion of his nomadic people. Before he Exalted, he preferred using Hook Swords, now he eschews them in favor of his devastating claws in close combat. However, he lacks any sort of real ranged attack (his archery skills are poor in comparison to his hand to hand abilities), as well as any perfect defense. This could be used to devastating advantage against the young Lunar. Before he Exalted, he was in the process of becoming a plainsman hunter. He had already mastered hand-to-hand combat, and he has rudimentary skills with a bow and arrow in order to take down prey from a distance. He and his allies often would engage in pack-like tactics in order to bring down ferocious or particularly large game. Thorn Moon and Sun has a savage air about him, a trait indicative of his nomadic lifestyle. He is lean, but well muscled with lightly tanned skin. He possesses a shock of golden hair and piercing green-gold eyes that echo his lion spirit shape.

650 EXP Build

Name: Thorn Moon and Sun Motivation: Protect the burgeoning hybrid culture he and Rose Sun and Moon are striving to create
Caste: Full Moon
Anima: A large, proud, silver lion that pounces or snarls whenever Thorn Moon and Sun makes an attack
Tell: Spiky, mane-like golden hair and very vivid gold-green eyes
Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 5, Stamina 5, Charisma 5, Manipulation 2, Appearance 3, Perception 5, Intelligence 3, Wits 5
Virtues: Compassion 3, Conviction 3, Temperance 1, Valor 4
Abilities: Archery 2, Athletics 4, Awareness 5, Dodge 5, Integrity 4, Martial Arts 5 (Claws of the Silver Moon +3), Resistance 2, War 5, Craft Water 2 (Leather Working +1), Ride 1, Stealth 4 (Stalking Prey +1), Survival 4 (Southern Plains +1) (Hunting +2), Lore 1, Medicine 1
Backgrounds: Artifact 2, Followers 4, Heart's Blood 2, Solar Bond 5, Allies 3 (Rose Sun and Moon)
Merits: True Love (Rose Sun and Moon)
Knacks: Deadly Beastman Transformation: (Thick Skin 2 pts, Talons 2 pts, Enhanced Sight 1 pt, Enhanced Smell 1pt, Enhanced Hearing 1 pt, Wolf's Pace, 1pt)
Charms: First Strength Excellency, First Dexterity Excellency, First Stamina Excellency, First Charisma Excellency, First Perception Excellency, Claws of the Silver Moon, Impressions of Strength, Burrowing Devil Strike, Consumptive Worm Hungers, Golden Tiger Stance, Wary Swallow Method, Wind-Dancing Method, Flowing Body Evasion, Secure Cat Stepping, Wasp Sting Blur, Twin-Fang Technique, Octopus and Spider Barrage, Lightning Stroke Attack, Ox-Body Technique (4 -2 Health Levels Option) x 4, Relentless Lunar Fury, Bruise-Relief Method, Halting the Scarlet Flow, Hide-Toughening Essence, Dog-Tongue Method, Nature-Reinforcing Allocation, Sharing the Gifts of Luna, Wolf Pack Training Technique, Boundary-Marking Meditation, Eye of the Cat, Devil-Restraining Grip, God-Cutting Essence, Spirit-Maiming Essence Attack
Combos: Stalking Lion's Pounce: First Dexterity Excellency, First Strength Excellency, Flowing Body Evasion, Lightning Stroke Attack, Burrowing Devil Strike, Swift Spirit Swipe: First Dexterity Excellency, God-Cutting Essence, Spirit-Maiming Essence Attack, Flowing Body Evasion
Join Battle: 10
Attacks: (Note that Claws of the Silver Moon stats represent the maximum expenditure of essence on the charm.)
Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 11, Damage 5B, Parry DV 6, Rate 3
Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 10, Damage 8B, Parry DV 4, Rate 2
Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 10, Damage 5B, Parry DV —, Rate 1
Claws of the Sliver Moon Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 19, Damage 12L, Parry DV 8, Rate 3
Claws of the Silver Moon Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 18, Damage 15L, Parry DV 6, Rate 2
Claws of the Silver Moon Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 18, Damage 12L, Parry DV —, Rate 1
War Form Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 12, Damage 8L, Parry DV 7, Rate 3
War Form Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 11, Damage 11L, Parry DV 5, Rate 2
War Form Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 11, Damage 8L, Parry DV —, Rate 1
War Form Claws of the Silver Moon Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 20, Damage 13L, Parry DV 8, Rate 3
War Form Claws of the Silver Moon Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 19, Damage 16L, Parry DV 6, Rate 2
War Form Claws of the Silver Moon Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 19, Damage 13L, Parry DV —, Rate 1
Soak:
Human Form: 7L/6B (Chain Shirt 3L/1B)
War Form: 10L/9B (Chain Shirt 3L/1B)
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 9
Essence: 4
Personal Essence: 18 Peripheral Essence: 46 (42)
Committed Essence: 4
Notes: This build represents Thorn Moon and Sun after he has discovered his Solar mate, the Eclipse Rose Sun and Moon. He dreamed of her reincarnation shortly after his own exaltation (possibly due to visions imparted by Lytek, God of Exaltation or Yaogin the Fair, God of Beautiful Dreams and head of the Bureau of Serenity), and tracked it to a remote village of ranchers. He described the girl he’d seen in his dreams. He knew she lived in this village, he had watched her from afar, and demanded she be brought to him. The villagers were prepared to fight, but where stopped by the figure of Rose Sun and Moon, light pouring from her entire body. She embraced Thorn Moon and Sun as her mate. They share an intense and intrinsic connection, represented by the level 5 Solar Bond background as well as the purchase of the True Love merit from the Scroll of Heroes. Thorn Moon and Sun works with his mate to build a (somewhat shaky for the moment) society between the nomadic plainsmen that Thorn Moon and Sun hails from, and the settled ranchers of his mate’s village; he’s been working to carve out a (relatively) small territory for himself because of this.
He currently works with the village militia, as well as his own nomadic people to form a cohesive defense for the territory. He has also seen to pacifying the local little gods. If his mate’s decorum and diplomacy fail, Thorn Moon and Sun’s claws and spirit destroying charms usually make the pair’s point instead. They work well together, shoring up each other’s weaknesses. He defends her, and she works to unify and harmonize their two peoples. Thorn Moon and Sun’s only artifact is a pair of Hearthstone Bracers. He still wears mundane, light armor, but often adds to his resilience via Hide Toughening Essence. He has not developed his shapeshifting powers greatly, as he has been primarily concerned with being able to defend his re-born mate against the perils of the Time of Tumult.

Episode #025 - Tying Up Your Players

eddyfate — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:15:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/11/16/episode-025-tying-up-your-players/

Episode #025 - Tying Up Your Players

Today's Topic: Chronicle structure/getting your players to be more engaged with their characters

Listener Mail: Requiem: The Movie

CCP News: ICC presentations on YouTube

Wrap-Up: ICC panel audio slowly going up on the blogcast

ICC Panels #3 - Geist Q&A Part 3

eddyfate — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:19:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/11/13/icc-panels-3-geist-qa-part-3/

ICC Panels #3 - Geist Q&A Part 3

Attendees: Jeff Kramer (AMST Geist), Eddy Webb (developer of Geist products), Ryan Hart (AAMST World), Amanda Spika (GPL Underworld), James Foster (AAMST Rules), Derek Burrow (AMST Dark Places)

The Geist Q&A was primarily centered around how the Geist game will be implemented in the Camarilla chronicle, but there's some bits in there about the development of the game, and a lot of talk about the basics of how the game works. The audience did not have access to a microphone, so their questions might be hard to hear. The panel ran over an hour and a half long, so I've broken it up into three parts.

ICC Panels #2 - Geist Q&A Part 2

eddyfate — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:11:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/11/12/icc-panels-2-geist-qa-part-2/

ICC Panels #2 - Geist Q&A Part 2

Attendees: Jeff Kramer (AMST Geist), Eddy Webb (developer of Geist products), Ryan Hart (AAMST World), Amanda Spika (GPL Underworld), James Foster (AAMST Rules)

The Geist Q&A was primarily centered around how the Geist game will be implemented in the Camarilla chronicle, but there's some bits in there about the development of the game, and a lot of talk about the basics of how the game works. Note: The audience did not have access to a microphone, so their questions might be hard to hear. The panel ran over an hour and a half long, so I've broken it up into three parts.

ICC Panels #1 - Geist Q&A Part 1

eddyfate — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:46:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/11/11/icc-panels-1-geist-qa-part-1/

Starting this week, I'm going to be posting audio recordings of the ICC panels that I was involved with (minus the Werewolf/Mage panel, as that was videotaped and should be up on YouTube soon). They're all pretty long, so each of the three panels will be broken up into multiple parts.

ICC Panels #1 - Geist Q&A Part 1

Attendees: Jeff Kramer (AMST Geist), Eddy Webb (developer of Geist products), Ryan Hart (AAMST World), Amanda Spika (GPL Underworld), James Foster (AAMST Rules)

The Geist Q&A was primarily centered around how the Geist game will be implemented in the Camarilla chronicle, but there's some bits in there about the development of the game, and a lot of talk about the basics of how the game works. The audience did not have access to a microphone, so their questions might be hard to hear. The panel rant over an hour and a half long, so I've broken it up into three parts.

Episode #024 - Preparation H

eddyfate — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:56:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/11/02/episode-024-preparation-h/

Episode #024 - Preparation H

Today's Topic: Preparing for games.

Listener Mail: Some "thank you" letters.

CCP Culture: ICC was a blast.

Wrap-Up

Link:

Darker Days -- http://www.darkerdays.tk/ (Episode 13 is the one I'm referring to in this episode.)

Behind the Lines: Edutainment (#50)

EthanSkemp — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:15:00 GMT

Again, it's been a while. Sorry about that; one of my biggest concerns re: this blog is repeating myself too much. I've already been over a lot of topics, from how games get made to policies on obscenity to just random blather. So it gets a bit tricky making certain I always have something relevant to talk about. I mean, I could always just fill this space with monkey antics to entertain, but that's not particularly what anyone who stops by here is looking for, I reckon. And I appreciate the higher standard, even if I'm sometimes flummoxed by it.

It's a standard we like to hold to in our books, as well. I don't think any developer who's ever been at the company has ever wanted to just plain throw out something entertaining without engaging some higher function of the brain. Most writers don't want to, either. The line may vary a lot from place to place, of course; sometimes you believe so strongly in something you want to beat your readers about the head and shoulders until they take a serious look at what you're saying, and sometimes you aren't really trying to reach an audience save that you let what you believe inform your writing. I admit I'm not one of the most passionate evangelists in game writing, at least compared to some of my co-workers past and present. But even I think that every game book should have some sort of intrinsic value above and beyond entertainment.

It's probably because of the word "book." Technically, we might be writing supplements... but they're also books. They're sold at bookstores. And ever since I was small, I reacted to the idea of a stack of books as repositories of knowledge. This proved to be not universally true, but there's always something to be learned from even the crappiest and least imaginative romance novel (even if that's "someone actually thinks of this as romantic, and perhaps for unhealthy reasons"). That said, the crappy novel, romance or not, is a terribly low standard. We like to have higher standards than that.

Now, the cold reality is that you're not paying us to offer random lessons on whatever we think is important to date. Hence, why we don't want to evangelize or get too textbook on you. It can distract from the things you're paying for, and to be honest, we aren't experts on many of the things we might like to talk about when compared to some of our readers. (Sometimes our lack of knowledge is grievously embarrassing, but I like to tell myself that we're much better than our previous low points.) That said, you never know just what any given reader might or might not be familiar with, so you throw out some fragments of information anyway. At the very very least, we've introduced new words into a lot of vocabularies. A lot more people can use the word "obfuscate" correctly in a sentence these days, for instance! At the most, we've had successes like Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah, which said a lot of things that needed to be heard by as many people as possible. And hopefully people have noted the places where we've tweaked history for the purposes of making the supernatural resonate a bit more, and not taken them at face value... and if we just plain got it wrong, we apologize.

But the World of Darkness is a good place to get some education with your entertainment. Check out the recommended sources lists in games. Watch some Cities of the Underworld to learn more about how cities are built and put that knowledge directly to use with your Geist chronicle. Drop some of your favorite real-world history into the background of your favorite vampire. One of the biggest advantages of the World of Darkness as a setting is that it's basically like our own -- and you can't help but learn more about our own world to make things feel more authentic there.

There's piles of things I didn't know about before I read about them in World of Darkness books, or started researching some of them for writing purposes. How about you? Anything stand out as even just inspiration to go learn more?

The Solar Deliberative: Twice in One Day

Bodhisattva — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:25:00 GMT

I realized I've been a bit lax in presenting you with this month's Custom Content, so I hope you'll accept, by way of apology, the following materials for your enjoyment...

See the article if you can't see it here. ...(read more)

The Solar Deliberative: From the Community

Bodhisattva — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:08:00 GMT

I recently received this letter, which I shall share with you now.

An Open Letter to the Fan Community, By Melissa Xavier (JiveX)

I love you. All of you. Even you Hekatonkhire with your unflagging skepticism and dour demeanor, and Plague, whose arguments are always just biting enough to annoy me and just correct enough to make me aware that I'm wrong. You fill my long days in the editing lab (I'm a film student / part-time editor when I'm not fighting crime, running campaigns, and posting on the forums) with entertaining and distracting, if sometimes frustrating discourse. For the last year that I've posted on these boards I've only once or twice ever seriously found myself annoyed to the point of disinterest in the goings on of the forums. Generally, this is a good place to be. It is a place of lively discussion, clever debate and creativity.

Recently, and perhaps it’s just me feeling crotchety and nostalgic for the 'good-ol-months' I've begun to wonder if some of the old gusto hasn't gone out of things. Where once you couldn't go a day or two without someone posting New Yozi charms, a new take on this, a description of the Lotus Crusade making landfall, or a hypothetical third circle demon, now you see eight to nine threads about 'fixing' the same hypothetical problems. This was always present, there were always people who would post new VAP or BoTBM's for your enjoyment, sometimes they were good (rarely) and sometimes they were awful, but they did not represent the majority of the content being discussed on the forums. Those threads that are not seeking spoilers or "word of god" answers from the freelancers are discussing the relative power of two randomly selected entities with rabid fervor. Threads that ask tentative exploratory questions ("Can you do this," "What's it like here" etc..) are met with scorn or disinterest. Where once we had an 8 page thread on the clothing styles of creation, now we have a 23 page thread on which deathlord could kick ligier's ass. Where once we had volumes of fan created charms, character artifacts etc being posted on the forums, now we have no fewer than 4 concurrent threads all trying to 'fix' the solar anima.

Cool contests like the hill crushing hero, charm of the month, artifact of the month, etc on the wiki go ignored despite the best efforts of people like Bodhisattva who really do try to incentivize fan creativity.

Its not that one is right and one is wrong, but, upon reading another thread today I began to wonder if in our new found zeal for mechanical tweaking we may have let contributing to the setting and to the general, rich, and living world that is 'exalted' fall by the wayside. I know people have their pet projects they work on when their bored, I've heard them discussed. For instance there was a cool attempt to port elements of the Cthulu mythos (as much as I personally HATE HP Lovecraft) to the setting, there are the numerous contributions from fans like friv yeti and plague of hats and Reminiscent Oasis that I would love to see get some more attention. I feel like these people, these profoundly creative people, don't bother with the forums anymore because they don't see them as being worthwhile. And maybe I'm imagining this, maybe I'm using this little window I have to address people as a soapbox to give voice to a problem only I perceive, and if that's so fine.

The Fact remains that, to all those who do work to add new and fun content to the setting and feel like they aren't receiving enough feedback to make posting worth the hassle, I'm watching, I'm reading, and, hell, I'm even willing to help/give feedback if you like. I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting material and, if for some reason I miss it, shoot me a PM and I'll be sure to give it a look.

I encourage others to similarly try to encourage and take a look at new material; I assure you whatever you have to say about it, it will at least be something new being said about something, rather than a rehashed and repeated argument about the failings of Void Avatar Prana.

Thanks for reading. And I hope to enjoy all of your company for another year full of fun, argumentation, and maybe pie.

All the best,

JiveX

The Solar Deliberative: Build-A-Bear? Well, not quite...

Bodhisattva — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:22:00 GMT

Much in the same vein as the Hill-Crushing Hero contest mentioned a while back in this blog (the voting is still going on here), the idea of this month's contest is to design your favorite canonical Lunar Exalt that never got a write-up in second edition. Yeah, I know this comes shortly before the release of the Scroll of Exalts, but there are Exalts that we never really get a good write-up of in second edition. The Lunars on the following list are valid candidates for write ups and you can submit as many different Lunars as you like (no submitting the same Lunar twice). Remember, theme is important, so don't just try to build the biggest powerhouse you can! Entries must have a Starting Character (0XP) build and a finished character (any XP you want) build to be accepted. The winner will receive the chance to have an article of their own published in this blog. So, get out there and give it your best shot!

List of potential Lunars (if you can find others that aren't on this list, by all means, propose them or just write them up!):
Kajeha Lef (MoEP: Lunars, p. 96), Mnalif Nganto (Blood & Salt, p. 106), Strength of Many (MoEP: Lunars, p. 53), Arr-D'gado (Kingdom of Halta, pp. 53-55), Red Jaws (MoEP: Lunars, p. 115), Tagar Frostbreath (Bastions of the North, p. 112), Ten Stripes (MoEP: Lunars, p. 58), Anja Silverclaws (MoEP: Lunars, p. 117), Gerd Marrow-Eater (Bastions of the North, p. 111), the Last Hunter of Xaal (Kingdom of Halta, pp. 55-56), Light Sinks Deep (Caste Book: Zenith, p. 56), Rain Deathflyer (MoEP: Lunars, p. 55), Silver Python (MoEP: Lunars, p. 55), Celebrated Serpent (Lands of Creation, p. 100), Den'Rahin (Bastions of the North, pp. 11-17), Echinna (MoEP: Lunars, p. 205), Elcithe Avalanche-Dancer (MoEP: Lunars, p. 80), Faithful Pia (Cult of the Illuminated, p. 120), Flintbreak Nightengale (MoEP: Lunars, p. 80), Flourish Deathcry (Caste Book: Dawn, pp. 59-60), Grandfather Frost (Caste Book: Eclipse, pp. 57-58), Heysha Black Asp (MoEP: Lunars, pp. 124-125), Howling Talon (Caste Book: Eclipse, p. 95), Ka-Koshu, Kambaka, Madame Vert (MoEP: Lunars, p. 119), Merian Whitecrow (MoEP: Lunars, p. 80), Muan, Raiton (Caste Book: Zenith, p. 56), Sleeves of War (Exalted: The Dragon-Blooded, p. 15), Smaragdine Serpent-Eye (Caste Book: Twilight, p. 58), Stone Bear (Caste Book: Night, p. 55), Swift Pinions, Swims in Shadows, Tekia-Blue Water, Thorn Moon and Sun (Caste Book: Eclipse, p. 96), Toro, Uka the Boar (MoEP: Lunars, p. 29), and White Leopard Goddess (Caste Book: Twilight, p. 96).

Those 39 Lunars should get you started. I don't have references for all of these Exalts, but if you know where to locate them, posting that information here would be appreciated. Entries must be received on or before Thursday, November 12 at 11:59PM ET.

Episode #023 - I've Been Framed!

eddyfate — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:46:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/10/12/episode-023-ive-been-framed/

Episode #023 - I've Been Framed!

* Storytelling Advice: The Pitch/The Frame

* Listener Mail: EVE Stuff

* CCP Culture: Moving Around, and "Harden The Fuck Up"

* Wrap-Up: Oral Surgery, but some upcoming podcasts, so stay tuned.

* Sneaky Post-Credits Bit: Sample from "Harden The Fuck Up"

"Harden The Fuck Up" now on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=335347500&s=143441

The Solar Deliberative: Wrapping Up the Hill-Crushing Hero [Voting]!

Bodhisattva — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:37:00 GMT

I'm a bit late on this, actually, as the contest closed down on the 10th, but I was at Baltimore Comic Con (which was fantastic—if you didn't go, you should have), so I didn't get around to posting this, or the Hill-Crushing Hero that was sent to me via e-mail on the evening of the 10th. Since I didn't specify a closing time, I accepted up until midnight, and the last one cut it to the wire, which gives you five Hill-Crushing Heroes to vote on as your favorite! Please cast your vote for only one Hill-Crushing Hero here in this journal; I'll be taking votes until the 24th, so you've got nearly two weeks to vote.

Here are the contestants!

Please check them out (I linked them out of courtesy to our LiveJournal readers) and vote on only one entry to win! If you're not sure how to vote, just leave a comment here.

The Solar Deliberative: Hill-Crushing Heroes and Your Favorite Lunars!

Bodhisattva — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:30:00 GMT

Just a quickie today. Don't forget that submissions for the "Design your own Hill-Crushing Hero" are coming to a close and voting will begin on Saturday, October 10th. There's still time to get a few more in, and the winner will have a featured post in this blog. Up next will be a similar contest to design your favorite Lunar from Exalted. We'll be looking for Lunars that do not have an official write-up (like Lilith or Raksi), but rather those Lunars in the setting that have not been updated to Second Edition (like forum favorite Faithful Pia or one of my personal favorites, Sleeves of War). If you don't want to put something up on the wiki yourself, you're more than welcome to e-mail me your submission and I'll place it up for you.

Cheers!

White Wolf Blogcast Episode #022 - How A Bill Becomes A Law

eddyfate — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:51:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/10/05/episode-022-how-a-bill-becomes-a-law/

Episode #022 - How A Bill Becomes A Law

* The Process of Making a White Wolf Product

* CCP Culture: Space Crunch

* Changes in the Podcast

The Solar Deliberative: Up and Coming

Bodhisattva — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:07:00 GMT

Some of you may check Amazon.com frequently to see what's up and coming and some of you may not, so here's a few of the items that are coming up this Quarter and their release dates (as per Amazon.com). Bear in mind, Amazon doesn't always have it right, but this may give you a ball park estimate of when things are coming out!

The Compass of Terrestrial Directions: The North is slated for an October 14th release date.
The Scroll of Exalts is slated for an October 28th release date.
The Return of the Scarlet Empress is slated for a December 1 release date.
The Manual of Exalted Power: Alchemicals is slated for an unspecified December release date.

Looks like we're going to have a good Autumn/Winter!

Now on to the results of the Exalted Wiki's month winners!

This month's Hero of the Month has been awarded to JiveX, whom you may know from her posts on the Exalted Forums and from her Charm Compendiums: The Perfect Lotus: From Root to Bulb and The Perfect Lotus: From Root to Bulb II (which was just released today)! Please be sure to congratulate her when you can and look forward to reading a post from her in this blog!

And, this month's Custom Charm of the Month Award also goes out to JiveX for her custom Charm...

Jaw Dropping Revelation

Edition: Second
Type: Terrestrial Martial Arts
Style: Red-Handed Courtesan
Source: JiveX

Cost: 4m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (step 9)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Grasping Yoni Prana

The martial artist activates this Charm when an opponent attempts to strike at her from close range, doing so causes her to ‘accidentally’ bare a glimpse of forbidden flesh to her opponent at a critical moment. This titillating glimpse utterly disrupts the attacker's concentration. Activating this charm, the martial artist makes a counterattack, with an (Appearance + Martial Arts) roll against the targets DMDV. If the attack succeeds, the target is literally stunned off balance and knocked prone. The target applies the benefits and drawbacks of relative appearance to his DMDV as usual, and may also spend 1wp to steele himself against the martial artist's lascivious distraction, negating the knockdown effect. If the Martial Artist a successful use of this counterattack, on her next action, with a clinch attack (while the character is still prone) she adds an additional dice to her clinch roll.

That's all for now. I'll announce other winners in future posts all throughout the month!

The Solar Deliberative: LiveJournal Crossposting Failure and Hill Crushing Heroes

Bodhisattva — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:24:00 GMT

My sincere apologies to anyone who had their friends page list taken up with the previous post of this blog. I attempted to insert the HTML code for the LiveJournal Cut Tags into my post, but they apparently did not work. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused any of you and I will keep my posts significantly shorter from now on.

A reminder to anyone who has considered submitting a Hill-Crushing Hero, submissions are still welcome. If you're not quite sure what a Hill-Crushing Hero is, check here. Suggestions are welcome for future contest topics.

The Solar Deliberative: More of September's Wiki Contributions and the Latest Errata

Bodhisattva — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:04:00 GMT

For those of you out in LiveJournal Land, I'm going to attempt to make some cuts in order to save you space on your friends page. Please forgive me if it fails to work at the moment. I'm going to go in reverse order regarding the items in today's topic. Errata Team Prime has recently put up some errata that is interesting, especially if you haven't already seen it yet. For those fans of Sidereals, you'll find the following errata items particularly poignant.

Solar Errata

Issue: Adamant Skin Technique, p. 207.

Clarification: As a point of clarification, this Charm (and its Abyssal mirror Wounds Mean Nothing) reduces the raw and final damage of an incoming attack or similar phenomenon to zero after all other modifiers and effects. Damage added to an attack after soak is applied, such as by Fire and Stones Strike, cannot harm a character who activates Adamant Skin Technique.

Issue: The Four Flaws of Invulnerability––Conviction Flaw, p. 194.

Clarification: All Solar perfect defenses suffer from one of the Four Flaws of Invulnerability. Storytellers may find that the Conviction Flaw interacts poorly with certain broad Motivations, rendering it almost impossible to exploit without essentially railroading characters into moments of vulnerability. Since the Conviction Flaw is certainly not intended to serve as ‘no Flaw,’ the following rule is suggested:

Conviction Flaw: Charms carrying this Flaw do not function when the character has taken some action during the scene that is contrary to her Motivation. If, during the scene, she has acted against any Intimacy, or a Virtue she has rated at 3+, then Charms with this Flaw add a +3m surcharge to their activation cost.

Abyssal Errata

Issue: Immortal Malevolence Enslavement and Unconquered Hero's Faith, p. 140.

Clarification: Unconquered Hero's Faith may never be learned or used by any character who possesses Immortal Malevolence Enslavement. Furthermore, Deathlords are incapable of learning Unconquered Hero's Faith or any other Charm based upon fundamental elements of Abyssal Exaltation.

Lunar Errata

Issue: Claws of the Silver Moon, p. 144.

Clarification: This Charm bases its modifiers on the natural, unmodified Attribute ratings of the Lunar’s true human form.

Issue: Flowing Body Evasion, p. 151.

Clarification: This Charm has a Duration of Instant rather than One action.

Issue: Snake Body Technique, p. 152.

Clarification: Although declared in Step 2, this Charm resolves as normal for a counterattack in step 9, permitting the original aggressor to defend himself against his redirected attack.

Issue: Halting the Scarlet Flow, p. 160.

Clarification: When used as a Gift, this Charm requires the commitment of 3m and permits the Lunar to reflexively regenerate one lethal health level at the beginning of each action.

Issue: Clover Can't Be Found, p. 177.

Clarification: This Charm is a Simple Charm.

Issue: Flowing Body Ascension, Lords of Creation, p. 69.

Clarification: This Charm adds a +3m, 1wp surcharge to its prerequisite when employed, rather than +2m.

Sidereal Errata

Issue: Fateful (Ability) Excellency—Essence Auspicious, p. 144.

Clarification: This Charm has the Combo-OK Keyword.

Issue: Dreaming the Wild Lands, p. 136.

Clarification: This Charm has the Shaping Keyword.

Issue: Implicit Construction Methodology, p. 143.

Clarification: This Charm may only be applied to a single roll per project.

Issue: Duck Fate, p. 143.

Clarification: This Charm may be employed to avoid any harmful effect (including all undesired physical, social, mental and spiritual influence), regardless of applicability or the scope of the attack, so long as the Sidereal succeeds on the Charm’s activation roll. It fails only against Limit Break and Pattern Bite. Duck Fate’s fallible activation roll is considered a unique Flaw of Invulnerability.

Issue: Serenity in Blood, p. 155.

Clarification: This Charm only applies its listed Willpower cost the first time it is invoked during the character’s action.

Issue: Of Horrors Best Unknown, p. 168.

Clarification: This Charm has the Shaping Keyword. To clarify, it brings creatures outside of fate inside of fate for a year and a day, while its "Target Number"-modifying curse lasts only for the first scene in which the net’s criteria are met.

Issue: Soft Presence Practice, p. 170.

Clarification: This Charm has a Duration of One scene and is a Simple Charm.

Issue: Supernal Awareness, p. 174.

Clarification: This Charm has a Duration of One scene.

Issue: (Virtue) Essence Replenishment, p. 178.

Clarification: This Charm no longer provides motes for channeling a Virtue once that Virtue has been channeled a number of times in a day equal to its rating.

Issue: Blade of the Battle Maiden, p. 182.

Clarification: This Charm may only apply its purchased dice to attacks or Parry DV, as decided at the time of activation—not both at once.

Issue: Sidereal Mental Influence

Clarification: Unless otherwise specified, Sidereal Charms which leverage mental influence cost one Willpower to resist. The following Charms require two Willpower to resist:

Adopting the Untamed Face, p. 136.
Favorable Inflection Procedure, p. 145.
Life Without Compunction, p. 149.
You and Yours Stance, p. 150.
Force Decision, p. 156.

The following Charms require three Willpower to resist:

Becoming the Wilderness, p. 136.
Sky Spirit Demand, p. 137.
Song of Spirit Persuasion, p. 148.
Avoiding the Truth Technique, p. 163.
Masque of the Uncanny, p. 165.
Icy Hand, p. 176.
Underling Invisibility Practice, p. 176.
Unwavering Well-Being Meditation, p. 178.

The following Charms require five Willpower to resist:

Neighborhood Relocation Scheme, p. 144.
Abandoned Words Curse, p. 145.
Ice and Fire Binding, p. 148.
Shun the Smiling Lady, p. 149.
Spirit-Binding Battle Pattern, p. 161.
Of Secrets Yet Untold, p. 167.
Ceasing to Exist Approach, p. 172.

Issue: Terminal Sanction, p. 176.

Clarification: Spirits may not resist this Charm's Servitude effect.

And now for something completely different. Here are more results of this month's wiki contest!

Artifact of the Month:
Ministrider

Edition: Second
Rating: ●●○○○
Category: Miscellaneous
Commitment: 0
Magical Material: Mixed
Source: Scionic

Click Artifacts:Ministrider to go this Artifact page

Repair: 2

Part guardian and part companion, the ministrider was one of the most popular fads of the High First Age. When released during the Era of Dreams, the small automata captured the imaginations of the children of Exalts, leading to the production of more than thirty unique models. Books, art, and plays that could be viewed from IAM terminals followed shortly after. The two foot high automata were constructed off an alchemical steel endoskeleton, laced with hundreds of wires and jade gears. The weapon and armor plating of the ministriders originally debuted in white jade, but grew to cover all colors of jade and Chiaroscuran glass. Some wealthy parents had ministriders built of orichalcum or moonsilver, and it was rumored that one was fashioned from starmetal. Each ministrider spoke with confident, heroic tones and their movements were enhanced by an exaggerated whir from their mechanical parts.

Ministriders were built to serve as a companions and tutors to the children of the Exalted. Implanted with a crafted consciousness based off heroic warstrider pilots of legend, they were fast and loyal friends to their children. Minstriders also possessed all the functions of a Resplendent Personal Assistant (see Wonders of the First Age, pp. 58) , and so long as the child wore a special bracelet could track that location within fifty miles. During the height of the Ministrider craze several other toys were crafted to compliment the line, including the Majestic Mountain Factory Cathedral playset and the Imperial Glory, a modified Indomitable Conquest Platform where Fanglord Valor and his Justice Fang could launch their missions. Ministriders are often given strict controls about their duties, and may override and command given by the child. Likewise, the constructed consciousness of a ministrider forbids it from taking life outside of the defense of their charge. However, such functions could be changed by the parent. During the Usurpation most Ministriders were destroyed. Aside from their fierce loyalty to their charges, the Sidereals feared the repercussions should any of these automata gain a Destiny in Heaven.

Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4; Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 2; Perception 5, Intelligence 2, Wits 3
Abilities: Archery 2, Athletics 3, Awareness 4, Dodge 3, Investigation 1, Linguistics 2, Lore 3 (Education +1), Martial Arts 2, Melee 2, Occult 2, Presence 2, Resistance 4, Survival 2, War 2
Join Battle: 7
Attacks:

Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 6, Damage 2B, Defense 7, Rate 3
Kick: Speed 5, Accuracy 5, Damage 5B, Defense 3, Rate 2
Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 5, Damage 2B, Defense -, Rate 1
Ultra Assault Cannon: Speed 4, Accuracy 6, Damage 7B, Rate 1, Range 25
Champion's Warklave: Speed 4, Accuracy 7, Damage 5L, Defense 6, Rate 2

Soak: 7L/10B (Alloyed Jade Skin, 5L/6B)
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 3 Willpower: 10 (0 against owner and owner's parents)
Essence: 1
Other Notes: Automaton physiology (see Wonders of the First Age, pp. 96-96). Ministriders contain an internal Essence battery that holds a maximum of twenty motes. Each day of activity drains one mote, as does each use of the Ultra Assault Cannon. It can be fitted with a hearthstone from a socket in its back, which will recharge the automata at the Manse Rating in motes per hour. Most warstrider weapons have a ministrider equivalent, using names meant to appeal to children. The most common was the Ultra Assault Cannon (Light essence cannon) and Champion's Warklave (Grand Daiklave), but Infusion Smashers (Goremauls) and Chaosbolts (Powerbows) were also well known.

House Rule of the Month

Stratego's Bureacracy Dramatic Rules

Edition: Second

Rule: This is actually a set of three rules, listed below.

Run a Business (Dramatic Action, Interval of one season)

A Business is always worth at least Resources 2. With high bureacracy rolls, the business is profitable and expands. On failed bureacracy rolls, the business struggles and contracts as it sells off unprofitable bits of itself. The difficulty of the bureacracy roll is set by the resources value of the business, modified by favorable or unfavorable market conditions and the amount of competition present. Owning a business with a Resources value grants that many dots in the Resources background. However, these resources are tied up in the business and can be lost on failed Bureacracy rolls. The base difficulty of running a business is equal to its resources value.

R2 Business=Shack on a street corner

R3 Business=Modest Establishment

R4 Business=Successful Chain, with outlets in multiple cities

R5 Business=Corporation, with outlets in every city in a direction, and several outlets outside that direction

R6 Business=Megacorporation: The Guild or similar omnipresent economic entity.

Expansion Thresholds

On a failed roll, the value of the business decreases by one resources dot.

On a botch, the value of the business decreases by two resources dots. If these effects would reduce the value of the business below Resources 2, the business dissolves and the character is left with one dot of the Resources background.

3 Extra Successes: The value of the business increases by one resources dot.

5 Extra Successes: The value of the business increases by two resources dots. These effects cannot increase the value of a business beyond Resources 6 without charms or other magic.

If the player rolls enough successes for the business to expand beyond Resources 6, he instead recieves one free Resources 6 purchase for each dot of increase he would otherwise recieve.

Corrupt Businesses

The assumption of these rules is that poorly run businesses fail, while poorly run government departments continue to be poorly run indefinitely, leading to corruption and inefficiency. In some instances however, businesses can become bloated, inefficient, and corrupt; for instance when a business receives enough government support that it will not dissolve regardless of performance. In these instances, businesses whose leaders fail or botch their Bureaucracy rolls gain penalties due to inefficiency and corruption as though they were a government department rather than losing points of Resources value.

Competition and Business Conditions

Extremely Favorable (-2 Difficulty):Selling food during a famine, selling medicine during a plague. What you sell is in high demand, necessary for everyone. Alternatively, a law could have strict penalties for those who fail to buy your product. You may have a monopoly on your product.

Favorable(-1 Difficulty):What you sell is fashionable or popular. Examples include the hottest fashions or traditional cuisine in a small village. Alternatively, what you sell is subsidised by the government, or tax breaks are given to those who buy your product. It may be legally difficult for other businesses to compete with you.

Neutral (Normal Difficulty): There is no special advantage or disadvantage for your business. Competition is present, but there are plenty of customers for everyone.

Unfavorable (+1 Difficulty): What you sell is passe or unpopular. Last year's bizarre fashions, terrible-smelling food. A tax or legal difficulty may discourage customers. Stiff competition may lead to price wars.

Extremely Unfavorable (+2 Difficulty):What you sell is useless or universally reviled. The memorabilia of a hated foe or the tools of a religiously prohibited practice. Ownership of your product could be strictly punished. Competition may be cutthroat and customers scarce.

Run a Bureaucratic Organization (Dramatic action, Interval of one season)

Running a Bureaucratic Organization is a dramatic action with an interval of one season, using a dice pool of (Intelligence or Charisma + Bureaucracy.) Difficulty is set by the number of people working in the bureaucratic organization, measured by the number of dots of the Followers background necessary to have them as followers. If the roll succeeds, the character leads the organization well, maintaining performance and morale. If the roll fails or botches, the organization falters, becoming more corrupt and inefficient.

F1 Organization: Up to 5 Bureaucrats. An independent village's tax collection authority, or the Realm's Department of Civilian Airships.

F2 Organization: Up to 20 Bureaucrats. A moderately large town's tax collection authority, or the Paragon Thaumaturge Certification Board.

F3 Organization: Up to 100 Bureaucrats. The Marukan Alliance's (a network of moderate to large towns) tax collection authority, or the Realm's Ministry of Weights and Measures.

F4 Organization: Up to 1000 Bureaucrats. The Great Forks Revenue Collection Service.

F5 Organization: Up to 10,000 Bureaucrats. The Realm's Assessors of the Imperial Tax.

Understaffing

In a bureaucracy, size is a necessary evil. It makes the bureaucracy more difficult for its leader to run and patrons to use, but the work of government takes many bureaucrats to do. The leader may attempt to run an organization smaller than the guidelines above indicate, but all Bureaucracy rolls involving that organization face an external penalty of two for each Followers dot by which the organization is understaffed, as the overworked bureaucrats attempt to do the work of many men.

Degree of Support Difficulty Modifier

Extremely Well-Supported (-2 Difficulty):The organization's employees are well paid, with perks and benefits. Working conditions are almost luxurious, and morale is high. The Resources cost of running the organization is its size in Followers dots plus two.

Well Supported (-1 Difficulty):The organization's employees have above average pay. Working conditions are good, and morale is up. The Resources cost of running the organization is its size in Followers plus one.

Normal Support (Normal Difficulty): The organization's employees are paid the standard wage for their work. Working conditions are normal, and morale is steady. The Resources cost of running the organization is its size in Followers.

Undersupported (+1 Difficulty):The organization's employees are underpaid. Working conditions are unpleasant, and morale is down. The Resources cost of running the organization is its size in Followers minus one.

Extremely Undersupported (+2 Difficulty):The organization's employees are paid a pittance. Working conditions are terrible, and morale is very low. The Resources cost of running the organization is its size in Followers minus two.

Success Thresholds

Botch:Corruption and inefficiency increase rapidly. -2 internal penalty to all future bureaucracy actions taken by this organization. Multiple botches and failures stack for penalties.

Failure:Corruption and inefficiency increase. -1 internal penalty to all future bureaucracy actions taken by this organization. Multiple botches and failures stack for penalties.

Threshold of 0:The organization runs as planned. Corruption and inefficiency do not increase, but existing corruption and inefficiency are not reduced.

Threshold of 3:The organization is cleaned up and trimmed down. Existing penalties from corruption and inefficiency are permanently reduced by one.

Threshold of 5:The organization is changed completely. Existing penalties from corruption and inefficiency are permanently reduced by two.

If a Bureaucratic organization's penalties from corruption and inefficiency reduce its leader's dice pool to zero, the roll automatically fails unless charms or other magic are employed. The organization virtually always either replaces its leader or is dissolved and replaced.

Working with a Bureaucracy (Dramatic Action, interval varies)

Attempting to accomplish something through a bureaucracy is an (Intelligence or Charisma + Bureaucracy) roll, with a difficulty equal to the size in Followers dots of the organization the character is working with. Penalties for corruption and inefficiency apply. Success represents the request making its way through the bureacracy and meeting all requirements. Failure represents the request being lost in the shuffle. Some tasks may require a specific person's permission to accomplish, requiring the character to speak with them personally to accomplish it. Routine tasks such as filling out one's tax forms do not require a roll.

F1 Organization:Interval of 1 Day

F2 Organization:Interval of 1 Week

F3 Organization:Interval of 1 Month

F4 Organization:Interval of 1 Season

F5 Organization:Interval of 1 Year

Every two successes rolled over the base difficulty decreases the interval by one step on the above chart, to a minimum of one day.

Haggle (Dramatic Action, Interval of five minutes)

Haggling is an extended contested roll. Each character rolls (Charisma or Manipulation + Bureacracy). If either character accumulates five excess successes, they move the Resources price of the purchase being haggled over up or down by one dot. Either character can end the contest at any time; when this happens, either both parties agree to the current price or the deal falls apart.

Clarification: Charms intended to use this system:Rapid Growth Protocol, Boom Without Bust Method, Ascending Enterprise Meditation, Reality Reinforcing Hierarchy Technique

Purpose: This is a set of house rules describing actions that use the Bureaucracy ability. These are mundane actions that anyone can take. They are designed to preserve the usefulness of the Solar Bureaucracy Charms in the Core. Under these rules, a Solar with a Bureaucracy Excellency can take a shack on a street corner and turn it into a business concern that rivals the Guild over the course of a year or two. It also implies that the leaders of the Guild are not mortals, because mortals cannot reliably make the roll necessary to run the Guild.

And last, but not least, the Custom Magic of the Month!

Alignment of the Destined Tool - Second Edition Version

Edition: Second
Circle: Celestial
Cost: 35 motes
Target: One Object
Duration: Indefinite
Source: FrivYeti

There are times when simple purpose is not enough; all the fates must conspire to accomplish one's goals. Through the use of the Alignment Of The Destined Tool, a character helps to ensure that a task is accomplished, giving up something powerful in order to see the task to its end.

This spell may only be cast upon an object that is either not owned or owned by the character. The character touches the object, and speaks out the three phrases with which Sachevarell defined purpose before his defeat and transformation, followed by the commandment through which the Five Maidens once wove the Tapestry of Fate. At the conclusion of this, she speaks aloud the purpose that the object is to have. This can be as simple as "Protect my daughter", or as precise as "Reach the top of the Imperial Mountain by Calibration." The character then rolls Intelligence + Occult, adding a number of bonus successes equal to her Essence.

The object immediately vanishes, fading into Elsewhere. Within one day, it will appear before whatever person in Creation, Malfeas, or the Underworld is best able to use it to accomplish its stated purpose. In addition, the object gains a pool of destiny-altering effects equal to the number of successes rolled, as above. Objects are considered to have a Motivation equal to the stated goal, and can spend one of the successes granted for one of the following: granting one free successes to any witnessed action that benefits the goal, removing a success from any action that detracts from the goal, or causing one minor event to occur that makes the goal more likely to succeed. The object's pool refreshes once every week, leading to constant shifts and co-incidences developping, until the goal either becomes impossible or is completed. At this time, the spell fades out of existance. If an object's bearer actively attempts to go against its Motivation, they will invariably lose it, and it will be discovered by someone better able to complete the desired task.

A given object may not be aligned more than once; any attempt to apply a second purpose fails automatically. The object's successes need not be used by the caster, and the Storyteller decides how they are applied. The effects of this spell replace the effects of Induction of Purpose. Click Spells:Alignment of the Destined Tool to go to the proper page to edit this Spell

There you have it! I hope that the LiveJournal cuts worked properly and that you found a good deal of useful information in this blog post. I'll write again soon, and have more content for you when I do!

Ciao!

White Wolf Blogcast Episode #021 - A Moment To Explain

eddyfate — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:34:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/09/17/episode-021-a-moment-to-explain/

An informal episode, where I take some time to explain what's going on. I do read one letter about Scion and Geist, though.

Behind the Lines: Let Me Tell You About Our (Corporate) Character (#49)

EthanSkemp — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:46:00 GMT

One of the things about working for White Wolf is that it's just really not like working anywhere else. To paraphrase a description of Food Network's Ace of Cakes, "It's like American Chopper, only they make games instead of motorcycles, and nobody fights." No, wait, that's not right: "It's like American Chopper, only they make games instead of motorcycles, and there's more drinking." There are fights, after all.

Well, it's not a totally unique office culture. After all, it was rather like working at this one company that used to be exclusively out of Iceland. Then the merger happened, and immediately many people started wondering about just how it is that we "sold out" or why we were "acquired." Tragically, so few actually manage to hit on the idea that we merged because we were already practically siblings. The only people I've known who drink as much as my co-workers are now my other co-workers. It's almost as though Atlanta were subject to days with almost no sunlight the same way Iceland was... but in a way, we were, I guess? If only theoretically. You work on a grim and stark depiction of the world all day, you might get a little drinky.

But even that's a stereotype. White Wolf is its own thing, and it always has been. It's been a very hard thing for people on the outside to get, I note. I remember seeing criticism of White Wolf as being all about angst and suffering right about the time I was taking my editing test to join the company. That editing test? The opening fiction to Secrets of Shadaloo, the supplement to Street Fighter: The RPG that would give us boxing, Ler Drit, Muay Thai and, yes, Spanish Ninjitsu.

Lemme say that again: Spanish Ninjitsu.

I even get this a bit at cons. A fellow came up to me last GenCon and started talking about how he "understood" why we created the Storytelling System. "Dumbing it down for the D&D players," he said. He was a little surprised when I asserted (and this is true) that the streamlining was an attempt to make the game better, not dumber. He was doubly flummoxed when I mentioned that we didn't in fact look down on D&D as a whole, but that some of us (gasp) actually played it at the office. These things happen, of course. People see a part of White Wolf and miss out on the whole. In my time at White Wolf I think I've run or played not just a variety of our World of Darkness games, but also D&D, GURPS, Street Fighter: The RPG, Champions, Shadowrun, Star Wars (the West End one), Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer Quest, Blood Bowl (hell of a league, too), Talisman and the original Pimp: The Backhanding hand-drawn cards as they were played by Brian's crew back in Virginia. I even got talked into a NERO boffer-LARP one weekend, and helping out with Jen Hartshorn and Ian Lemke's rather more free-form Cthulhu-ish LARP another. Never mind non-fantasy boardgames like Formula De or various video games like Virtua Fighter or the Darkstalkers 3 cabinet. And this was just me. People like Eddy and Russell have probably racked up a list like this in one-fifth the time that I've worked here.

It's not just about the games, either. We've had our share of wrestling geeks, the kind who get PWI and can speak knowledgeably about Puroresu. American football fans? Heck yeah, though hockey seems to be more the popular choice. World football fans? Yes. There are film buffs here. People who read trash novels and people who read Russian literature. Sometimes they're the same people. There are foodies (Brian has two years' worth of chili cook-off trophies on his desk) and pool sharks. Token hippies and token conservatives. Black metal heads and country-western aficionados. We contain multitudes.

One of the nice things about the rise of the Internet as a way to communicate is that it actually breaks past the whole "hive mind" stereotype (if you're listening, that is) and allows individual voices to emerge more. It's another way to engage in dialogue as one person without having to devote valuable book page count to just being chatty, to establishing your personality. If anything, it's allowed us to express ourselves in one forum while maintaining the laser-like focus on good games in the products themselves. And the focus on making good, accessible, evocative games is pretty critical to us. Certainly what's important to any one artist, author or developer will shine through in the final product. But it's awfully nice to be able to devote, say, a blog post to rambling about generalities without having to take out an editorial page in the back of a supplement.

And with luck, it'll help people get us a little better. If you know who we are and what we like, then we can have more meaningful conversations about how to get the most out of gaming, as designers or Storytellers or players. That's the other best thing about the Internet, after all: we can find out more about you, and what you like. Because you also contain multitudes.

(And if anybody knows how to field a halfway decent Vampire team in Blood Bowl, I'm all ears. Fighting against a handicap is fun, but it's more fun if you might actually win a game once in a while...)

The Solar Deliberative: Plague of Hats' Gaming Experiences

Bodhisattva — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:39:00 GMT

Way back when, I promised you that things that were going on over at the Exalted Wiki were going to crop up in here, and last month I had a mega-post that really stretched out peoples' LiveJournals. At that point, I vowed by Eddy Webb's magnificent curly locks that I would not repeat such a long post. This lead me to being late with this month's content. But, I also get to play catch up on a promise to let people who become the Hero of the Month post here on this blog. Well, that's not all my fault. So, I get to share a bit of Wiki-stuff with you and Plague of Hats' topic. Oh, and don't forget, we're still looking for people to show us their best Hill Crushing Heroes! We've already got one submission for a starting Hill-Crushing Hero from JiveX; Mnemon Ulap!

Thunder Before Lightning Counter

Edition: Second
Type: Celestial Martial Arts
Style: Martial Arts
Source: AjaxTorbin

Click Charms:Thunder Before Lightning Counter to go this Charm page

Cost: 8m; Mins: Martial Arts 4, Essence 3; Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Counterattack Combo-basic
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Wind Pierces Sky Prana

"Merely deflecting your opponents attack allows him to maintain his attack; thereby giving him the initiative. Deflecting an attack is more than avoiding damage, it is a chance to maneuver your opponent, a time to influence him into a weaker position. A Duelist seeks to retain the initiative, even when defending."

This allows for a counterattack on step 9 of combat resolution. The Duelist, instead of damaging his opponent during this counterattack imposes an External penalty to his opponents DV equal to the damage calculated on step 8 of Attack Events. This penalty lasts until the opponents next action.

From Plague of Hats:

Role Playing and Gaming Synthesis
When I took my first steps into the hobby we all know and love, I was introduced to it through such light fare as West End Games’ Star Wars. I quickly moved on to heavier stuff, but even then I clung tenaciously to the rules that the game presented me. Why would they be there, if not to be used? Someone thought that I should be informed about a relative measure of blasters: Heavy Blaster skill, and I took this to heart. The system is there to manage your interaction with a world, whether the only rule is that you take turns talking from right to left or you roll 1d100 and look up the result on one of dozens of charts. It’s an experience to be integrated into the larger activity, to build a framework in which to act. Of course, back then I was young and necessarily stupid, so I wielded and inflicted rules on my gaming experiences.

Coming into high school I was overjoyed, as much as my depressive temperament allowed me, to join the Role Playing & Games club. Its heyday was at an end, through no fault of the insidious mainstream bogeyman, but it continued to mold my experience by forcing me to interact with new and interesting things. It introduced me to White Wolf, Warhammer and BattleTech. I had a blast and we spent endless nights talking about all the usual crap: Who could beat Samuel Haight? Could a Jedi take an Eldar cavalry charge? Whose dice would give them a 66 on the Depression critical table first? I loved that time, more so in retrospect, but even back then I hated one thing above all else. I despised the club’s name.

It’s right there, the “and,” a suggestion that “role playing” and “gaming” are meaningfully separable. At the time it was the standard artsy condescension anyone might shroud themselves in when it comes to their hobby, but like any such pretension it evolved into a real philosophy. Rationalization is a wonderful thing. When someone’s late and you can’t get your Mage game going, you pretend to be wizards summoning goblins in Magic: The Gathering, or even mice evading death in a maze of fiendishly arranged debris. You’re a glitterboy with no backstory blowing up prairie villages, or you’re a guy who doesn’t have three aces in a poker match. It’s all make-believe, and it’s all rules to guide that experience.

That’s why I love Exalted as much as I do. It tangles itself up in that philosophy as much as it can. Everything it does is part of the story you’re telling, shaping its telling by existing as it does. Creation is a cruel and dark place, not just because there’s an Abyssal around the corner, but because the rules tell you women die in childbirth (Exalted, p. 129), because getting a bad cut can give you a deadly fever (Exalted, p. 151). The Exalted are the star of the show, and can even eliminate these hardships from their friends’ lives, but as it stands even living peacefully in Creation is a sad place.

I’m not here to extol rules you don’t like or exhort you to “live with” them. But I’ve noticed something about the most interesting things people come up with for their Exalted games, and like the rules for mortal pregnancy and combat infections, I think they don’t get the attention they deserve in helping to frame the world, even if you don’t use them. Every little power and toy that your character acquires is a story about the world. It’s a story about what has gone before, and what will happen. It’s about your character and other characters, people your favorite PC may never meet or think about.

Take Husband-Seducing Demon Dance, for example. It inspires love and respect. That sounds nice, but what kind of person would use a Charm like that? Anyone, really, and that’s the point. Panther, Swan, Lyta, even Havesh; they’re all Solars, and they can all pretty easily make you love something about them. Wonderful and terrifying, their glory ties you to them. Isn’t that the story of the First Age, Golden gods leading the people to ruin? The history of Creation, wrapped up in a simple little Charm like that. Awesome. It’s not just that you can do one cool thing with a Charm, or an artifact, or a character. It’s that you can tell a whole story, a whole chronicle, about this one thing. That’s what makes a great piece of mechanics: It’s a fun little toy, and it’s a story all by itself. These aren’t just actions, they’re whole events, whole scenes.

That is what makes the best new material for Exalted, whether it’s published in a book or posted on a forum. A new Charm isn’t just about throwing more dice at a problem, a new artifact isn’t just about blowing up a foe even harder. These are things that should impact the world at large when you write them, a whole tale should fall right out when you shake them just a little. Even the most rudimentary of things like “a sword” or “extra dice” should be capable of becoming the focus of an entire session, at least, and the more you write with that ideal in mind the better and more interesting your writing. The story’s the thing, in the end, but don’t treat the system like some foul tool. It’s part of the experience, no matter how light a touch you take with it. It should be one part of the gestalt “fun.” Synthesize your role playing and your gaming.

I hope this doesn’t seem pedantic. I’m not here to tell you how to have fun, but to enhance it. Hopefully I’ve given you a new way to approach building rules, not just to produce a specific effect for a story, but to produce a story all by itself, without the aid of a goal in mind ahead of time. At worst, let this be a reminder that the tools of our fun should be fun to use. Even if we can never agree on just what that means.

The Solar Deliberative: The Hill-Crushing Hero

Bodhisattva — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:35:00 GMT

The Month of September has begun and we're already a third of the way through it. I'll be posting the results of this month's Custom Wiki Content throughout the rest of the month (which I know I'm late on—please forgive me) to cut down on how much space this blog eats up in the Livejournal Feed, but for now, I'm curious as to what kinds of Hill-Crushing Heroes fans could build. They're vaguely defined, but you can check the (very) brief article on them here to see what the qualities of a Hill-Crushing Hero are, for those of you who may have forgotten. Send me your Hill-Crushing Hero (at a starting, 100XP or 200XP build) at my e-mail or post it here and I'll upload it to the wiki, or you can post it directly there. The community at large is encouraged to vote on the best entry, which will be featured on this blog, along with any commentary by the winning author.

Let's see what you've got, fans!

White Wolf Blogcast Episode #020 - Your Game Sucks

eddyfate — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:22:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/09/09/episode-020-your-game-sucks/

Episode #020 - Your Game Sucks

What's Cool: Goblin Markets is now available!

My Thoughts: Playstyle and Genre Fidelity

Letters: WoD Fiction (again). Though, I did forget to mention the Horror Recognition Guide for Hunter, because I'm an idiot.

What's Out There: Two more episodes of the Darker Days podcast, featuring Stew Wilson and Chuck Wendig.

Housekeeping: This Wednesday thing is just a fluke -- it's still really on Mondays. For realz.

Promo: Great Debate podcast

Links:

Goblin Markets: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=64285

Horror Recognition Guide: http://store.white-wolf.com/Horror-Recognition-Guide-P5581.aspx

Darker Days podcast: http://www.darkerdays.tk/

Great Debate podcast: http://rpgdebate.com/

No Monday Meeting

eddyfate — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:23:00 GMT

Last Friday was our annual CCP Kickoff, which is a company retreat for all three CCP offices (Atlanta, Shanghai and Reykjavik). There was some business, and then there was some drinking, and then there were some games, and then there was some drinking, and then there was dinner, and then there was some drinking, and then there was some karaoke, and then there was some drinking.

And then there was this:

So, no Monday Meeting today.

White Wolf Blogcast Episode #019 - Where Did August Go?

eddyfate — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:55:00 GMT

http://eddyfate.podbean.com/2009/08/31/episode-019-where-did-august-go/

Episode #019 - Where Did August Go?

* What's Cool: Night Horrors: Wolfsbane

* CCP Culture: Kickoff

* My Thoughts: GenCon '09 Retrospective

* Mailbag: Letters on collectors, bloodlines, editing and out-of-print books

* What's Out There: FOUR podcast episodes that you might want to check out:

City in the Sand review on "The Basics of the Game": http://jeremiahmccoy.com/2009/08/13/episode-25-the-basics-of-the-game-city-in-the-sand/

My guest spot on "This Just In From GenCon!" (same as last week's special episode): http://thisjustinfromgencon.com/2009/08/15/saturday-5pm-2/

My "interview" with Rob of the Bear Swarm! podcast: http://www.bearswarm.com/episode-72-gencon-eddy-webb-jared-sorensen

Me guest-hosting on the Darker Days podcast "The Ocho": http://www.darkerdays.tk/

* Housekeeping

* Cool GenCon story I forgot

* Promo - RPGPodcasts.com

Chambers of Love: No Chambers, But Much Love

eddyfate — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:00:00 GMT

So, when I got back from GenCon, John said something. I don't remember exactly what it was, but next thing I knew I was writing his blog post for him. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I was taking a drink at the time.

Anyhow, I've been asked a million questions about my work developing the upcoming PDF exclusive Glories of the Most High (and by "a million," I mean "three, including one at GenCon.") Essentially, it will be a three-PDF series detailing the Unconquered Sun, Luna and the Maidens. Each will contain a rundown of the Incarna in question, a full write-up of their stats, some of their entourage, some of the observances made to the Incarna, and some awesome new Charms, martial arts, rites, artifacts and other crunchy goodness. All of this brought you to by Exalted writers you may know well: Michael Goodwin, John Mørke and Holden Shearer, with an assist by Neall Raemonn Price.

But what is a "Chambers of Love" blog post without a spoiler? I submit that it would be an inferior thing, indeed. As such, I bring to you a new Charm for both Solars and Abyssals. PLEASE NOTE that this is from the pre-edited text, so there might be some changes between this draft and what finally gets released.

Iron Talon Technique

Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Martial Arts 6, Essence 6; Type: Supplemental

Keywords: Combo-OK, Obvious, Mirror (Ultimate Inevitability of the Grave)

Duration: Instant

Prerequisite Charms: Dragon Coil Technique

Once a Lawgiver has laid his hand upon an enemy, his wrath becomes inescapable. Even the Primordials learned this, to their sorrow. This Charm may be used to enhance a roll to maintain or gain control of an ongoing grapple, giving it an automatic threshold of one success more than the Solar’s opponent. If another effect contests this, add (Essence) in extra dice to the resulting roll.

A second purchase of this Charm at Martial Arts 9+, Essence 9+, allows it to be invoked as an inherent ability, which does not count as a Charm activation.

New Abyssal Charm: Ultimate Inevitability of the Grave (Prerequisite: Inescapable Iron Grip). The Abyssal version of Iron Talon Technique has different prerequisites but is otherwise identical.

Thanks to John for letting me squat in his space this week!

White Wolf Community

The Solar Deliberative: The Silver-Horned Watcher is watching you!

Entry #1: Uka the Boar

Uka at Character Creation

Loyalties

Attributes

Abilities

Spirit and Body

Health and Soak

Charms

Charm Combos

Knacks

Backgrounds

Equipment & Holdings

Shapeshifting

Forms

Experience

Experienced

Loyalties

Attributes

Abilities

Spirit and Body

Health and Soak

Charms

Charm Combos

Knacks

Backgrounds

Attack Values

Social Combat

Equipment & Holdings

Shapeshifting

Forms

Experience

Entry #2: Sleeves of War

References

Starting Build

350XP Build

Buck Ogre Warrior

Mass Combat: Buck Ogre Shock Troops

Entry #3: Thorn Sun and Moon

Character Creation Build

650 EXP Build

Episode #025 - Tying Up Your Players

ICC Panels #3 - Geist Q&A Part 3

ICC Panels #2 - Geist Q&A Part 2

ICC Panels #1 - Geist Q&A Part 1

Episode #024 - Preparation H

Behind the Lines: Edutainment (#50)

The Solar Deliberative: Twice in One Day

The Solar Deliberative: From the Community

The Solar Deliberative: Build-A-Bear? Well, not quite...

Episode #023 - I've Been Framed!

The Solar Deliberative: Wrapping Up the Hill-Crushing Hero [Voting]!

The Solar Deliberative: Hill-Crushing Heroes and Your Favorite Lunars!

White Wolf Blogcast Episode #022 - How A Bill Becomes A Law

The Solar Deliberative: Up and Coming

Jaw Dropping Revelation

The Solar Deliberative: LiveJournal Crossposting Failure and Hill Crushing Heroes

The Solar Deliberative: More of September's Wiki Contributions and the Latest Errata

Solar Errata

Abyssal Errata

Lunar Errata

Sidereal Errata

Artifact of the Month: Ministrider

Stratego's Bureacracy Dramatic Rules

Run a Business (Dramatic Action, Interval of one season)

Expansion Thresholds

Corrupt Businesses

Competition and Business Conditions

Run a Bureaucratic Organization (Dramatic action, Interval of one season)

Understaffing

Degree of Support Difficulty Modifier

Success Thresholds

Working with a Bureaucracy (Dramatic Action, interval varies)

Haggle (Dramatic Action, Interval of five minutes)

And last, but not least, the Custom Magic of the Month!

Alignment of the Destined Tool - Second Edition Version

White Wolf Blogcast Episode #021 - A Moment To Explain

Behind the Lines: Let Me Tell You About Our (Corporate) Character (#49)

The Solar Deliberative: Plague of Hats' Gaming Experiences

Artifact of the Month:
Ministrider