White Wolf Freelancers

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

2009-11-19T01:04:00Z

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.

The Solar Deliberative: Twice in One Day

2009-10-17T02:25:00Z

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

2009-10-16T18:08:00Z

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...

2009-10-12T20:22:00Z

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.

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

2009-10-12T03:37:00Z

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!

2009-10-07T12:30:00Z

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!

The Solar Deliberative: Up and Coming

2009-10-04T18:07:00Z

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

2009-09-28T20:24:00Z

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

2009-09-28T00:04:00Z

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!

The Solar Deliberative: Plague of Hats' Gaming Experiences

2009-09-15T22:39:00Z

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

2009-09-10T04:35:00Z

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!

The Solar Deliberative: New Exalted Wiki Contributions and an Unofficial Content Promotion

2009-08-01T02:04:00Z

I've been asked to share a few things with you all by some of my friends and acquaintances. I'm not really at liberty to share anything canon with you, but so far as I know, non-canon (or fan-written) is fair game. And, it's my pleasure to be able to share these kinds of things with you. I love to be able to see all this fan-content, and not just on the Exalted Wiki. Sometimes people put together .pdfs to share with everyone else. Yeah, granted, it's not produced by White Wolf, Inc., but it's not intended to compete with it, either, and I think one of the fantastic things about Exalted is that the game actively encourages such creativity.

Speaking of the Exalted Wiki, I'd like to share with you some of our newest content and our Hero of the Month, democritus! He's been a long-time contributor to the Exalted Wiki and did much of the work in pioneering the functionality of the wiki. He's more than earned this award!

Now for our custom content. Here's the Custom Charm of the Month, brought to us by Stratego.

Just Retribution Arrow

Edition: Second
Exalt: Solar
Ability: Archery
Caste: Dawn Caste
Source: Stratego

Cost: 4m; Mins: Archery 4, Essence 2; Type: Reflexive (Step 9)
Keywords: Combo-OK, Counterattack
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite Charms: Any Archery Excellency

Those who dare attack the Lawgivers will be struck down. This Charm is invoked when the Solar is subject to a ranged attack and has a ranged weapon ready for use. It provides an Archery-based counterattack on his attacker.

And, our Custom Artifact of the Month, brought to us by Plague of Hats.

Ten Thousand Demons Medium

Edition: Second
Rating: ●●●○○
Category: Miscellaneous
Commitment: 4m
Magical Material: Mixed
Source: Plague of Hats

Repair: 2

As the First Age wore on and memory of the immensity of their foes faded, the Exalted began toying with the titans they had imprisoned in Hell. At first they were a cheap labor force, but soon they were lovers, pieces of art, gladiators and even games unto themselves. The rather abstract nature of some demons did not help the issue, but some time in the Year of Our Everlasting Glory's twenty-second century the Eclipse Giyu, Master of the Duel, revolutionized Creation's leisure time by combining demon summoning, gladitorial combat and accessorizing into a single sport. Giyu's innovation hinges on the Ten Thousand Demons Medium, a wrist band and belt that form a set. While popular enough to be mass produced, as a Resources •••• purchase only rich children, the Exalted and oddly dedicated, creepy older men could afford these fabled toys. Despite their cost and odd function, Ten Thousand Demons Mediums became wildly popular, spawning official leagues in all five directions. Amateur, unregulated leagues are largely blamed for the subsequent boom in escaped demons during this artifact's popularity.

Each belt can be customized by its owner, but most are angular, with large leather loops and heavy steel buckles inlaid with the faint starmetal circuitry necessary for their operation. The wrist bands may also be customizable, but Giyu's regulatory commission was surprisingly vigilant in maintaining certain standards; all Ten Thousand Demons Medium wrist bands are sleek black leather straps with a moonsilver dial. Turning the dial causes the magical material to flow over the hand in a sleek glove shape with a protruding fin along the forearm. Each belt and each wrist band carries seven thin, rectangular yasal crystals chased with starmetal. When a wearer encounters a First Circle demon—and only a demon, as other spirits can not be affected by the Ten Thousand Demons Medium—they may attempt to touch the demon with one of their cards. Doing so often necessitates a Dexterity + Martial Arts attack roll. A demon so touched vanishes in a flash of blue and purple light, consumed by the card. Cards containing demons may be stored in the belt or wrist band, but have no special effect unless activated.

Activating a card necessitates removing the card from the belt or wrist band and extolling the virtues of the demon trapped therein, before returning the card to its receptacle and spending two motes. For the rest of the scene, the card provides its benefits.

If an activated card is placed on the fin of a wrist band, the demon trapped within is partially loosed. The spirit remains tied to the card but emerges in a half-corporeal state to fight at the direction of the wearer of the wrist band. Such a demon interacts with other demons, gods, elementals and ghosts as if they both shared the same material state, even if they do not actually do so. To all other characters, with the exception of the wrist band wearer, the demon is treated as visible and audible but otherwise immaterial. Demons in this state can not use the Charms Materialize or Dematerialize, nor can they use any Relocation Charms or otherwise move out of the line of sight of their master on purpose.

Should the wearer of the Ten Thousand Demons Medium place an activated card in his belt, instead of calling forth a demon he becomes like one himself. In doing so the wearer chooses one of the demon's Attributes to replace his own or he chooses one of the demon's Charms he may use (with the exceptions of Materialize, Dematerialize or any Relocation Charms). If the demon has unusual characteristics that could be described as a mutation, the wearer may adopt one such characteristic. For instance, taking advantage of a hopping puppeteer card the wearer might exude a toxic coating of slime. Each card may only provide one benefit per activation per scene.

If a demon summoned with a card is defeated (reduced to Incapacitated) it returns to Hell in a flash of green fire. The host card is then empty and to be filled again the owner must capture another demon. If the wearer has adopted a demon's features with the belt and is reduced to Incapacitated or lower, any demons whose features he was borrowing escape back to Hell in similar fashion.

Attuning to a Ten Thousand Demons Medium costs four motes. The set requires a few minutes of maintenance as a diceless action after every scene of use; two periods of maintenance in arrears renders the unit inoperable and necessitates actual repairs. While the whole set is Artifact ••• the components are relatively useless Artifact • items on their own.

Please also enjoy the Custom Magic of the Month, brought to us by Zenfiero.

Winter's Icy Grasp

Edition: Second
Circle: Terrestrial
Cost: 15m
Target: Area
Duration: Instant
Source: Zenfiero

The sorcerer gathers a frosty white ring of Essence from his anima, invokes the sign of the Ever-Frozen Tundra, and blows a flashing mist through the ring. Ice spreads out in a thick layer on the ground in a circle 50 yards wide from where the sorcerer blows, centered at most the same distance away from a point within line-of-sight. Roll the sorcerer's (Perception + Occult) for the attack, which is unblockable, adding Essence automatic successes. Anyone within the spell's area who fails to dodge becomes trapped in the expanding ice, their feet and ankles (or other appropriate appendages) sealed to the ground.

Victims may attempt a (Strength + Athletics) roll, Difficulty 1, as a miscellaneous action on each of their actions. This action cannot be flurried. With a number of cumulative threshold successes equal to (the caster's Essence plus the threshold successes scored over the target's DV), or with a feat of strength at the same difficulty, the victim successfully pulls free. While trapped, the target is immobile and dodging is impossible without a stunt or appropriate magic.

The iced area qualifies as Extreme terrain, increasing the Instability rating by 3 (not cumulative with already icy ground). The ice remains for at least one scene, fueled for that time by the lingering magics of the spell, and melts thereafter as dictated by the local weather patterns. Countermagic cannot dispel the ice once it is created.

So that's just a little of what's going on over at the Exalted Wiki. Feel free to come on over and check it out at any time and post your own content.

Now, please allow me to present to you an excerpt from a new project by JiveX known as "Faces of..."

Excerpt from, Faces of... The Scavenger Lands

The Faces of books, my newest project, are an attempt to help Storytellers populate their games with compelling and unique NPC's that can serve as anything from allies to set dressings to antagonists. To do this I offer a number of Character Templates for narratively common and compelling characters that are fun additions to stories, without overshadowing player characters. I also provide guidelines for stats and motivations and backgrounds, and finally, a sample of a character that follows that template.

The River Harlot’s Legs, an epithet for the city of Nexus used out of both loathing and love, is arguably one of the most prosperous cities in the Second Age. Certainly more wealth and commerce flows through here than any other city outside the Blessed Isle. An enterprising individual could well find their fortunes in the maze-like and narrow streets of Nexus, and many do, but they could also find their death, and many do this as well. The largest city in the East and one of the most populous cities anywhere, nearly a million people make their homes behind the walls of Nexus. Despite its questionable reputation and the negotiable nature of the law in the area it is, in the fallen Second Age, not a bad place to live. Certainly, there is money to be had and work for those who don’t mind getting their hands dirty; there is even a sort of justice. So long as one keeps one’s head down and doesn’t ask too many questions, it isn’t hard to live in Nexus. There is trouble in those streets as well, violent gangs and brutal crimes plague the slums and poorer districts, and the streets are a poisonous cesspool of vice and disease. This circus of damnation and productivity is presided over by one of Creation’s most ruthless and brutal oligarchies and one of its most personally powerful, and mysterious leaders, The Emissary. For more Information on Nexus please consult The Compass of Terrestrial Directions: The Scavenger Lands, pp. 23-41.

The denizens of Nexus are as varied a lot as you are likely to find in any quarter of Creation here are some of the noteworthy faces one might encounter on the streets, in the markets, walking the halls of power and lurking in the seedy underbelly, or in several of these places at different times. Bear in mind that the templates below are narratively popular, but not necessarily common.

Mortals
Not the Magical powerhouses that the Exalts, or even spirits, are, mortals nonetheless play important roles in Nexus’s society. Though unlikely to provide a sufficient focus for a whole campaign, the concerns of mortals can provide an interesting divergence or can even be manipulated to serve the greater aims of the Exalted. Any party of PC’s entering Nexus is likely to encounter examples of the following sorts of individuals wandering the Streets of Nexus. These characters are neither extras to be cast aside, nor do they have the agency, or scope of vision that the Exalted possess. They are heroic, but they are more than that, mortal.

Urban Scholar
From dingy squalor of the so called ‘University of Nexus,’ to the hallowed halls of the School of Philosophy, Nexus is, hard as it may be, a place of scholarship as well as commerce. It is only natural that with so much material and goods from far off places circulating through Nexus that many rare bits of lore, science, culture and even the odd magical tome or thaumaturgy text from other lands should find their way into the city. Many of the most important of these books, particularly books on law, philosophy, ethics, and other esoteric concerns, find their way into the Library of Nexus or one of the four stately buildings of the School of Philosophy on Wall Street. Others, scraps of First Age lore or odd bits of rumor, banned plays and documents from other societies are passed between the grubby hands of the destitute academics of the so called ‘University of Nexus.’ For more information on these two organizations see The Compass of Terrestrial Directions: The Scavenger Lands, pp. 38-39.

Students and ‘Instructors’ of the “University of Nexus” tend to be a pragmatic lot, at least as far as academics go, concerned with information that is helpful to more mundane and immediate concerns, though occasionally they will get their hands on an odd bit of thaumaturgical lore or a ritual. They, generally, are not stupid and know power and magic are rare and valuable commodities. At least one occasional member of the school is an infernalist of at least modest skill, having learned the thaumaturgical arts of demon summoning to the second degree. He has only ever taught three students this art and few are even aware of his knowledge. The Council of Entities has little tolerance for people they believe can upset the city’s trade flow and nothing unsettles consumers like a rampaging demon set loose by an inept summoner. Other members of the ‘University of Nexus’ are crackpots and political lunatics who advocate preposterous social reforms and wild, lunatic forms of governance. One particularly laughable notion, often called Dictatorship by the People, and Governance by Popular Vote, has to the consternation and amusement of the wealthy (at least among those who care at all) caught on among the underclass and impoverished members of the intelligentsia. Mostly these crackpots are left alone unless they start to cause too much of a stir, and the numerous would-be culture rebels found dead in alleys with their throats slit, discourages all but the most insane, or brave, from stepping too far out of line.

The School of Philosophy has students and professors of the highest degree, wealthy merchants and guild factors send their progeny here to learn the lore of the word. In this place, brilliant treatises on law, economics and natural sciences are composed, and wondrous works of the arts are praised, and criticized. The school hosts visiting scholars and intellectuals on a regular basis. Every bit the Ivory Tower, the School of Philosophy is somewhat removed from the day to day concerns of the real world. This does not mean they have nothing to offer to the world, however. The School of Philosophy is a house of esoteric wisdom, linguists study languages long forgotten and conservationists preserve manuscripts so ancient they crumble to ash at the lightest touch. In the basement, clever men tinker with mechanics and clockworks to produce wonders that, though they cannot compare to the masterworks of Varang, are remarkable nonetheless. Particularly inquisitive and talented souls might even dabble in working with artifacts or the most simplistic forms of magitech, though there are none who really have a grasp on these high arts. After all, these are men of learning, not artisans. Indeed, because of the attention it brings from outside authorities, the School of Philosophy tends to ignore the practical study of thaumaturgy and sorcery as anything more than an academic exercise. Many professors, however, are established thaumaturges, and the school plays host to at least one professor, an Air-Aspected outcaste, who has a considerable knowledge of sorcery (though, in a testament to the degree to which the school distances itself from the controversial practice, he himself is a professor of Linguistics). Still, if a character is looking for a font of Lore in Nexus, there is no place one can more reliably find such things than the School of Philosophy.

Motivations: Depending on their financial status, scholars tend to have a number of concerns. As a baseline, and most predictably, they tend to be concerned with their field of study, and generally are willing depending on their Conviction to endure great personal risk to obtain useful or important pieces of lore that could benefit their career. Other scholars are more socially inclined and use their position as tutors of the privileged to broker favors and obtain friends in high places. Some of these individuals are quite well connected.
Traits: Scholars tend to have high Mental or Social stats, with their physical traits coming in third. Many are introverted nebbishes, constantly with their nose in a book and utterly oblivious to the social world around them, but just as many are vocal and compelling speakers and thinkers. However, it is rare to find a scholar of either school who prizes physical prowess over mental or social savvy. In life, though, there are always exceptions, and the tough world of the “University of Nexus” means that many of its students and teachers spend much of their time away from the intellectual swap meet that is the school, and abroad in a large and hostile world. Scholars frequently have a fair grasp of a general subject but extremely specialized knowledge. Mechanically this means they will tend to have abilities around 3 (unless they are extremely learned in an area in which case they might have one Ability at 4 or even 5) and represent the rest of their knowledge through specialties. Academic discourse encourages a certain type of behavior (particularly those academics who lead a cloistered existence) that often manifests in how they pursue argumentation or debate as specialties. See the White Hare (below) for examples of these specialties. As far as thaumaturgy goes, few risk learning the more advance levels (as doing so might compromise their relatively care free lives) though many of the more scientifically minded know the first degree or two of the Art of Alchemy, Enchantment or, more rarely, Geomancy. Scholars of the “University” seldom have the resources to get sufficient training in the Arts, but many know a smattering of procedures, some of which require a fairly advanced degree of competency. It is almost unheard of for an Academic to practice sorcery; they are, the professors of the School of Philosophy would say haughtily, theoreticians not practitioners. Library, Patron, and Backing, are common for such scholars, though poorer intellectuals, without access to such things, must content themselves with whatever they can get their hands on. Contacts is also common, the School of Philosophy is a place where the scions of the rich and powerful frequently go to ‘round out’ their knowledge and experience. Charismatic or merely Manipulative professors often take advantage of their influence of their students to gain access to friends in high places. Many are willing to trade their pull in exchange for some concession of equal value from a being they deem worthwhile. Rarely do any of the scholars who hang out at the University of Nexus have any connections to the rich and powerful (though some are disenchanted children of the wealthy who fancy themselves class warriors), but many travel extensively and have a good rapport with the local seamen, traders and merchants. Traits tend to be based on the traits for Savant given in Exalted on page 281. They frequently correspond to the Savant Archetype (see The Scrolls of Esoteric Wisdom: The Scroll of Heroes, p. 40).

Sample Urban Scholar: White Hare, Lecturer in Lost Tongues, Chair of the Department of Ancient Lexicology

White Hare didn’t grow up wealthy. He has no family to speak of and is secretly ashamed of his low birth. The unfortunate accident of a one night tryst, White Hare was left at the doorstep of the Nexus Immaculate Shrine. A lonely old monk, an archivist of sacred texts, took the baby in against the usual custom of the temple. Though caring, the monk was not a soft and emotional man; he was stern and a rigid with his child, instructing him in the ways of letters and words with a switch in his hand. Nonetheless, he was not cruel and he provided well for the young man, White Hare, so named for his pallor of skin and his nervous demeanor (or at least what the monk perceived as a nervous demeanor). He came to love caring for the scrolls in the shrine. He learned calligraphy, became well read and literate in many languages, and he even learned some basic alchemy—enough to make inks that didn’t fade with age and treatments for paper to preserve them for posterity.

The monk loved his ward dearly, and, knowing the small world of monastic life would never fully content the boy, introduced him to the world of the School of Philosophy. The young man would attend the occasional open lecture or debate there. It was during this time that he begun to meet other intellectuals and thinkers from all over the world. He made a habit of heading down to the ports and markets to take in other languages and cultures as well as picking the odd tome from overseas. He spent long hours in the Library of Nexus and, in time, became an authority in his own right. He was lauded as a genius for deciphering an ancient old realm scroll and is the only person in the city who can read Rocktongue, the ancient language of the Mountain folk (whom few people even know exist), which he himself deciphered from a rare text written in both Rocktongue and Old Realm. In truth he is only literate, but not conversant in the language, though there is no one knowledgeable enough to expose this.

In time he impressed one of the Scholars at the school of Philosophy and was given a permanent position teaching there. He is the undisputed head of the language study department, his authority and prestige second only to Sapphire Gale, the Air-Aspected department Chair, who, in Hare’s opinion, spends far too much time away from school and students on ‘expeditions’ and ‘research trips’ to merit his office. Largely content with his station, Hare’s intellectual and academic pride chafes at the thought of being so casually overshadowed by the Terrestrial and he has deluded himself into thinking that he is the greater scholar. He isn’t exactly a Machiavellian schemer, and is quite honest after a fashion, but he would trade quite a few favors f or the opportunity to take his superior’s job. White Hare is a learned man, and confident, even arrogant, in his expertise. He craves praise for his brilliance, though he never shows this insecurity openly. He has a number of contacts in the upper crust of Nexus society, and might even be able to get an appointment with one of the Council of Entities if he were so inclined.
Motivation: To be praised as the highest authority in his field
Intimacies: Linguistic Studies, Academia, Students and Scholarship
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2; Charisma 3, Manipulation 3, Appearance 2; Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3
Virtues: Compassion 2, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Valor 2
Abilities: Awareness 2, Bureaucracy 2 (Academia +2), Craft (Air) 2 (Calligraphy +3), Craft (Water) 1 (Ink +1, Binding +2), Dodge 1, Integrity 2 (Stubborn Arrogance +2), Investigation 3 (Research in Libraries +1), Linguistics 5 (Native: Riverspeak. Learned: Old Realm, High Realm, Low Realm, Rocktounge, Firetounge), Lore 3 (Languages of the Past +3), Martial Arts 2, Medicine 1, Occult 2 (Spiritual Etiquette +2, Art of Alchemy 1), Performance 3 (Pedantic Speeches +1), Presence 3 (Sophistry+3), Socialize 3, Survival 1, Ride 1, Sail 1
Backgrounds: Backing 3, Patron 2, Contacts 2, Followers 1, Influence 2, Resources 3, Library 3
Join Battle: 5
Attacks: White Hare is an old man and not martially inclined. He received some training as a youth.
Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 6, Damage 2B, Parry DV 3, Rate 3
Kick: Speed 6, Accuracy 5, Damage 5B, Parry DV 2, Rate 2
Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 5, Damage 2B, Parry DV –, Rate 1
Soak: 0L/1B
Essence: 1
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 2 Dodge MDV: 4/5 Willpower: 6

Wizened Craftsman/ Great Forks Market Specialist
From the forges of Nighthammer to the Caravans of the Great Forks Market Nexus is a place that knows the value of competence and skill, often down to the last cent. It is also a city which attracts and fosters a great deal of skilled laborers. Many of these are just trying to eke out a living in a harsh social climate. Some rise out of desperation and attain a modicum of comfort, even wealth. Some of the finest weapons are produced in Arsenal and the city itself is one of the iron and steel working hubs of Creation. Nexus also produces a large quantity of luxury goods, from furnishings to jewelry and clothes, both for its wealthy citizens and for export. Heroic Members of this artisan class are those true visionaries who move towards not just production, but innovation in whatever field they may be in. They may serve as aides to Exalted craftsmen, or even instructors to the young and initiated, often they are far more learned and practiced in their craft than scholars and have a sizable quantity of firsthand knowledge on their subject, even if that means they have a somewhat narrow area of specialty.   These individuals, and the skills they practice, are varied and numerous, but their horizon chasing pursuit of excellence in their craft is universal. Were it not, they would not be the noteworthy people they are, but just another faceless artisan toiling in obscurity. Often these craftsmen operate alone or in guilds, closed societies that jealously guard trade secret as savagely as any sorcerous cabal (which, incidentally some of these groups are).
Motivations: Similar to Scholars, Wizened Craftsmen and sundry mortal artisans of heroic caliber are often obsessed, to the point of near pathology, with whatever their field might be. Some tailors prize certain materials and would trade their eyes for a bolt of singularly rare silk (perhaps of First Age manufacture), there are master thaumaturge, dower and serious men, who would weep tears of joy to possess an alchemical reagent thought lost to Creation. These men are not an open lot; many jealously guard their discoveries against their peers and may even have a motivation centered on this. Still others are more idealistic individuals, geomancers and civil engineers with dreams of providing access to clean running water, shelter, or even outlandish luxuries as Essence-powered heating and light, to the city. Such things are often far out of their reach unless the Exalted step in, but then again, this might be the perfect way for a young circle to ingratiate themselves to a talented artisan or guild thereof which could provide, not only knowledge, but skilled assistants, access to raw materials, and even high end workshops.
Traits: Background-wise these individuals tend to have access to, at least, a steady source of income. Many will have Backing, sometimes from several sources, but usually form their place of employment and any artisan enclaves they belong to. Some have access to Library, but this is rare and usually comes by proxy through their Patron or Backing. Extraordinarily gifted craftsmen frequently have Patrons—wealthy and potent individuals who sponsor the works of those artisans they deem excellent. This patronship is most common in the more luxury crafts, and less common in more utilitarian industries. Because the road to Mastering a craft is long, many would be artisans become apprentices, these relationships can be brutal and exploitive, but often are genuine learning experiences that engender a strong bond between pupil in master even after the pupil has progressed to the level of Journeyman. The Mentor Background represents these relationships. Contacts are a must in any sort of industry where one must network with one’s peers. Likewise, Influence is not uncommon among particularly noteworthy craftsmen. For some, their knowledge comes at a price; these often take the Esoteric Lore Background (Scroll of Heroes). It is also not uncommon, relatively anyway, for characters of this type to have the Driving Passion, Esoteric Craft, or Experienced Merits. Their Attributes tend to favor the Mental first, then the physical, then the social. This is often a result of leading lives that emphasis competence over flowery words and generally subscribed to the notion that “talk,” was “cheap.” Their Abilities tend to be very specialized, highly developed in a very narrow area of focused with relatively little knowledge of unrelated subjects.
Ila Hep-pep
Ila grew up in Nexus. It’s in her blood, in her heart, as stubborn and tenacious as the dark soot that clings to the city’s streets, impervious to the most powerful soaps. She loves the city; often, she loves it in spite of all its innumerable flaws. She grew up, the daughter of a wealthy banking family, and attended the School of Philosophy. Her interests always ran towards the mechanical and she was never as happy as when she would stand by and watch masons and architects and craftsmen erect new buildings in the ever growing metropolis. She had an affinity for architecture and stonework that went beyond a simple talent. She was, sweet, charming, and beautiful, in a tom-boyish fashion, and she won people over easily with her wide eyed optimism which, to this day, remains.   She is older now, still bright eyed and naïve, but a fully matured woman, quite beautiful, despite the ever present layer of dust on her clothes and the dirt beneath her nails. She is unmarried, despite her father’s fervent insistences, and she likes it that way. She once told her father she would accept no one but one of the Exalted host as her husband, believing this to be an impossible task. She, of course, underestimates the old Merchant’s desire for grandchildren. Ila has established herself as a renowned architect and is one of the best paid builders in Nexus. She has even overseen the construction of a manse, a task almost unheard of for a young mortal woman in the threshold. She feels a secret shame for her wealth and success, as she always has, and is an avid philanthropist, believing, in the depths of her stomach, that her own success comes at the expense of others. Her greatest ambition is to build a citywide plumbing and sewage system, more advanced than that which is currently in place, and which could provide water, clean and drinkable, for every household in the city. She has drawn up some plans to implement this but is having trouble with the sheer magnitude of the project. It is, after all, a task worthy of the brilliance of one of the Exalted and she, despite her excellence, is no Exalt.
Motivation: To build a plumbing and sewage system that safely and cleanly disposes of Nexus’s waste and provides the city with clean drinkable water, ending many of the blights upon the health of the impoverished populous.
Intimacies: The Poor, Masonry, Her Family, and Crafts in general
Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 4, Stamina 2; Charisma 3, Manipulation
1, Appearance 3; Perception 2, Intelligence 4, Wits 2
Virtues: Compassion 4, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Valor 2
Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Bureaucracy 2 (Dealing With Workers +2), Craft (Earth) 4 (+ 3 Architecture), Craft (Air) 3 (+2 Blueprints), Dodge 1 (At Worksites +2) , Integrity 2, Investigation 2, Linguistics (Native: Riverspeak, Learned: Old Realm, Low Realm) , Lore 4, Occult 4 (Geomancy +2, Art of Elemental Summoning +2) (Water Elemental Summoning +2), Performance 3, Presence 2, Resistance 2 (Hard Work +1), Sail 1, Ride 1, Survival 1
Backgrounds: Resources 4, Contacts (Nexus Artisans) 4,   Influence 2, Retainers 3
Join Battle: 5
Attacks:
Punch: Speed 5, Accuracy 5, Damage 2B, Parry DV 3, Rate 3
Kick: Speed 6, Accuracy 4, Damage 5B, Parry DV 2, Rate 2
Clinch: Speed 6, Accuracy 4, Damage 2B, Parry DV –, Rate 1
Knife: Speed 5, Accuracy 4, Damage 4L, Parry DV 2, Rate 3
Soak: 3L/7B (Workman’s Clothes (buff jacket) 3L/4B, -1 mobility penalty)
Essence: 1
Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 2/3 Dodge MDV: 4 Willpower: 7

Lastly, I have the privelege of sharing with you some more fan-work by a group of folks who are starting up a new Exalted webcomic. Here's a teaser-preview of what they're putting together, which should be ready for launch sometime in September.

Great Forks is a city of temples; a place where gods and their children, mortals and their children and the occasional Exalt interact in relative peace. Into this city comes a group of Solar Exalted, guided by visions of the past. They seek an ancient and forgotten artifact whose purpose even they do not know. Unfortunately, they are also agents of change; changing traditions, unearthing secrets and breaking alliances that are years—even centuries—old. Along the way they will struggle to escape their own pasts and shape the future to their own design. Imperfect and incomplete, they are the Broken Circle. They are the Fractured.

· Cast:
Xander Cyrus Dayne: Dayne often finds that the harsh Northern weather of his youth and the rigors of combat are easy to endure compared to the eccentricities of his circle. He remains a solid—if occasionally ignorant—rock amidst the chaos and is the closest thing to a leader of the Broken Circle. Always ready to lend a hand, his preferred solution usually involves the liberal application of the business end of his Grand Goremaul.

· Sephus: While silent about his own past, Sephus is a font of information and is prone to long winded explanations. An artificer and scholar, he is a source of knowledge and patience, without which the others would be lost. It is his dreams of an era long past that guide the Broken Circle.

· Dragon Sky: Perpetually energetic and mischievous, Dragon Sky is the voice—and heart—of the Broken Circle. After she orchestrated the liberations of hundreds of slave and at least one mass revolt, the Guild now hates her almost as much as she loathes them. Often her zeal against those who abuse their wealth and power lead her and her friends into trouble.

· Radiant Thunder: An exorcist and demon-hunter, Radiant Thunder’s home town of Thorns is currently overrun by an army of undead. The loss of her family and effective exile has turned her bitter and cynical. Despite her attitude, Great Forks is a city of spirits and cults and few are more able—and willing—to fight them.

And here's some art from the comic for you to enjoy.

The Solar Deliberative: Burning the Midnight Oil

2009-07-01T03:57:00Z

I'm pleased to announce a few more changes to the Exalted Wiki, which will be able to present content to you for use in your games. The first of which is the new addition of our Hero of the Month. The Hero of the Month is an award that shall be given to a single user on the Exalted Wiki for their contributions to the site. Nominees help the Exalted Wiki to function better and become more useful to others. Our very first Hero of the Month, Plague of Hats, is well known on the White Wolf Exalted Forum and has been a tireless contributor to the Exalted Wiki for quite some time. He's been working to improve templates to display some of the new Excellencies, as well as posting Infernal Charms and his own Charms on the Wiki. He's been at it for years, and I would recommend that you go over to the Exalted Wiki to check out his work. For his efforts, he is the first recipient of the Heroic Mortal award! Now as time goes on, he'll be eligible to receive the Hero of the Month award, promoting him beyond the level of Heroic Mortal, but that's for another time. Who will be the next Hero of the Month? It could possibly be you, so go on over to the Exalted Wiki and see what you can contribute! There shall be awards for Custom Charm, House Rule, Character and even Custom Artifact of the Month.

Speaking of which, the recipient of the award for Custom Artifact of the Month is Haschel, for his contribution of the Socialite's Mantle. Check it out.

Socialite's Mantle

Edition: Second
Rating: ●●●○○
Category: Miscellaneous
Commitment: 5
Material: None
Source: Haschel

Click Artifacts:Socialite's Mantle to go this Artifact page

The Socialite's Mantle was commissioned for one exemplary Dragon-Blood named Tasida Embershine, a member of House Ragara, who, in conjunction with his close associates, was instrumental in ousting and putting an end to the threat posed by Mnemon Juron. Juron had made several Infernal bargains, only to find himself on the wrong end of Tasida's fiery hammer at the wrong time.

The Mantle itself is quite stylish, appearing to complement almost any attire the wearer would wear, from formal party wear, to full battle dress. It has a rustic hue when unattuned, however the color will shift slightly to match the wearer's attire.

Aside from the cosmetic effects, the Mantle provides three major benefits:

The wearer can utilize an effect functionally similar to the Solar charm Mastery of Small Manners (Exalted, Second Edition, Page 239) for the scene by committing three motes.

When using the previous power, the wearer may take a Socialize action (Misc Social action, 5/-1) to impose the first dot of an intimacy upon (Essence) non-extras. This effect cannot be resisted, but will invariably attract individuals who would otherwise be positively disposed to the wearer by some means. If no such people are in the scene, treat the wearer as instead having one extra success on all social actions (including Social Dodges and Parries) due to stoic poise and dignity in potentially unfriendly territory, instead of imposing an intimacy. If this intimacy is not bolstered further, it fades at the end of the scene, but using standard social methods to bolster the intimacy further results in two successful and established (as they ever become) intimacy dots, as an explicit exception to the rule on building intimacies.

Talented socialites must speak and listen at the same time, and when his opponent utters an ill-timed phrase, the wearer is sure to hear it. The wearer of this Mantle is constantly under the effects of the Solar charm Keen Hearing Technique (the sense of Touch is unaltered), except the range is reduced to (Essence x 10) yards.

So, if you'd like your content to be featured here on The Solar Deliberative, feel free to post it over on the Wiki, and go vote for your favorite content. I know we've seen some things happening over there from users like JiveX, AstraKiseki and more.

The Solar Deliberative: Wikify my Exalted!

2009-06-14T23:07:00Z

It's been a while since I've blogged about much of anything, except for a request for snail-mail to make it to the offices of White Wolf, Inc. in favor of having a Compass of Celestial Directions: Autochthonia (We're still waiting to hear if it's going to happen) from freelance author Neall Raemonn Price. But, since I really feel like I should post a bit more on the Freelancer Blogs, I'd like to give my blog a name, so I'm calling it The Solar Deliberative. I'm calling it that mostly because the idea is to get you to talk about Exalted with me. That being said, I'd like to take this opportunity to talk to you about the Exalted Wiki.

Yes, the Exalted Wiki.

It's been there for a few years, now, and it's a tool for players and Storytellers alike. I personally use it as a reference all the time to find the Charms that I can't quite remember what book they're in or what they do, host characters, write about the games that I play in and much, much more. I've been working on that wiki now for over two years, and now I'm an Administrator over there. It's a recent development, but one that I hope can use to make the wiki a site that is more useful and accessible to you. To that end, one of my first orders of business is to try to redesign the main page. If you click on the link I provided, above, you can see the main page in its current form. But, I've read over the years that the wiki is difficult to navigate to find exactly what it is that you're looking for. Well, the redesign is intended to make things easier for you to find from the main page. That still means that you might have to go about finding things the old-fashioned way (using the search box on the far left is always the best way to find something on the wiki) elsewhere on the site. But, I'm looking to make it more attractive, and more useful. So, I got the idea into my head to take on a redesign of the page (which you can see here). But, in asking for feedback from a couple of people, one thing struck me as odd... I didn't ask you, the fans, what you'd like to see on the main page. So, that's exactly what I'm looking to do, now.

Let me preface the request for feedback with a few notes. I do not have the authority to install plugins on the site. I'd love to install collapsible navboxes like you see on Wikipedia, but that's not something I have the authority to do. So, please don't ask me to install things for you or update the Mediawiki software. I can't upload images for you, nor can I allow you to do so, either. What I can do is try to organize the information for you in the most useful fashion possible, while trying to make the site as attractive as possible. I've got some help over there from some dedicated fans (democritus, Plague of Hats, StarHawk and even Holden adds something to the site once in a while), but I could always use more. People adding their custom Charms, canon materials, characters, stories... Nothing goes up without you, which gives you a lot of control over what goes up on that site. As a matter of fact, it gives you near total control—I only say near total control because there are still some guidelines to follow; the most important one being that you can't just reproduce materials from the books. If you make the books any less of a necessity, it can't go up. There's good reason for that, as I'm sure you've guessed—if White Wolf allowed you to put everything from the books up, no one would buy the books anymore and then the line would no longer be profitable, no?

So if you've got some time, drop on by and check it out. Please feel free to post some suggestions up here, or try a site design of your own. If you can come up with a really great mock-up of a new main page, we just might be able to use it and credit you with the design. I really would like your input on how I can make this main page more useful to you. What articles do you need to see linked up? How can it be better organized to suit your needs?

Now for a completely different pneumatic tram of thought...

I'm really excited about what's coming down the pipe for Exalted later this year. I've already seen the Scroll of Heroes, and let me tell you... I think it's going to be among of the best books of the line. I got an advance copy for judging the Exalted Wiki Contribution Contest and it really makes playing a game with mortals much more interesting. Of course, being the person that I am, I'm excited about integrating it into games so that I can play a heroic mortal who Exalts, then run the game from there. I can't tell you what's in the book, but I know the other people involved with the Exalted Wiki Contribution Contest know what I'm talking about. If you didn't participate in that contest, you really should have. But, that's past, and I might try to run another one some day if there's enough interest. I've also been paying attention to the rumors about what Glories of the Most High (which was mentioned in Eddy Webb's blog) is going to be about. People are speculating that it's going to be a book of high-Essence Charms, or detail more Yozis... A whole host of other things. Well, I've got a secret to tell you...

It's a narrative about Geoff Grabowski, John Chambers and the creation of Exalted!

No, not really, but that would be cool, wouldn't it? Much as I would love to talk about it, I can't steal any of the big J.C.'s thunder (John Chambers! Who do you think I was talking about?) and give out a bunch of spoilers. Lytek would be on me in an instant with his Auraclast and you all know what would happen then... It wouldn't be pretty.

However, the thing I'm most excited about is the upcoming Manual of Exalted Power: Alchemicals. I wish John had tossed out a protocol or two for you to see... You got to see the Monofilament Scourge I wrote up, but there's a lot more awesomeness, and I'm hoping that by the time the book comes out, I'll be able to drop a set of Alchemical Charms down on the wiki for you to reference. Bear in mind, you're only going to get a general sense of what those Charms do from the wiki, but from what I've seen, the Exalted of the Realm of Brass and Shadow are going to be just as groundbreaking as they were in first edition. Plus, I know the big worry is about Alchemical size, and that's been addressed. I've seen the speculation on how it was handled, and you'll just have to wait and see come fourth quarter to see if you were right!

There were other things to blog about, but this is already ridiculously long. The Solar Deliberative will remain in session for as long as you choose to comment.

All hail Queen Merela!

The Solar Deliberative: The Compass of Celestial Directions: Autochthonia; A Letter of Hope & the Manual of Exalted Power: Alchemicals.

2009-06-07T18:46:00Z

Today I ran across a post regarding Exalted that I thought I'd share with you all. Today's blog comes to you from our very own Neall Raemonn Price.

Hello all! My name is Neall Raemonn Price. You might remember me from such Exalted books as "Manual of Exalted Power: the Infernals." (and also, your friends list) We freelancers need your help!

Right now, White Wolf is debating whether or not to publish a Compass of Celestial Directions: Autochthonia. This book would cover the Alchemical Exalted's home god-dimension.

How can you show the support and convince the suits at the company to let us write and publish this book? A hand-written (not e-mailed!) letter would suffice. Just write, “As a fan of the game line Exalted, I have a desire to see a Compass of Celestial Directions detailing the region of Autochthonia, and would buy a copy of it if given the opportunity.” Don't lie, be honest if you'd buy (or sell) the book. Hand-written letters attract more attention than electronic ones, owing to the time and care invested in them. Send 'em to:

John Chambers
2075 West Park Place Blvd., Suite G
Stone Mountain, GA 30087

Please - it takes a few moments of your time and would improve the game line immensely. Even if you're not so inclined, try to spend some time convincing your role-playing friends to send letters.

Now I'd like to take a moment to talk about the Manual of Exalted Power: Alchemicals. I've seen a number of questions popping up, and I'd like to take the opportunity to address just a few of them for those of you who are interested in this product.

Do I really need to "upgrade" to a larger size? Size is an inevitable truth about being an Alchemical Exalt. Large and powerful Alchemicals transform into the cities where the Populat may survive in Autochthonia in relative ease and comfort. Without that size transformation, you are limiting the manner in which you can serve the peoples of the Realm of Brass and Shadow. However, we've done our best to make your character playable for as long as is possible as an Alchemical Exalt.
Beamklaves; are they like, lightsaber-looking, or more like crystallized energy in the shape of a certain type of Daiklave? Beamklaves are, indeed, reminiscent of lightsabers, but have more cosmetic configurations than the lightsabers of the Star Wars universe. I did my best to give everyone the full array of functionality when it comes to energy weapons in Alchemicals, and I hope that the beamklaves will not disappoint in this upcoming supplement.
What would it take to put Alchemicals on par with Solars and Abyssals? Alchemicals are outfitted to be highly specialized. So, toe-to-toe, an Alchemical can either hold their own or mop the floor with an equivalent-Essence Solar or Abyssal... if they're properly outfitted for the task. Alchemicals aren't jacks of all trades like Solars are. They're meant to be highly specialized, but modular, so you can change their specialization as necessary to complete the tasks you require. If you're not outfitted for what you need if a Solar or Abyssal happens to jump you, you're going to have serious problems. So, in essence, they hold their own balance wise, but they can be caught with their pants down, so to speak.
Whenever you get an Exoskeleton installed (I don't remember the name of the Charm), would part of that include a faceplate/mask? The Charm you're asking about is Subcutaneous/Exoskeletal Armor Plating, and such a matter seems mostly cosmetic, so I would leave that to the discretion of your Storyteller.
What is more effective: an essence gun in my arm, or the pneumatic crossbow? That depends on what you're attemtping to do with it. Don't forget, both Charms (Essence Pulse Cannon and Repeating Pneumatic Bow) have submodules that can specialize the utility of such weapons.
How feasable is it to play them in creation in mixed circles? It is very feasible to play Alchemicals in Creation and in mixed circles. One of the things that the writers of this upcoming supplement were very keen on was making it not only feasible, but possibly even desirable to include Alchemicals in any mixed game.
Would a stealthy swordsman ninja-type make a decent Soulsteel Caste Alchemical? There are always ways to make it work.

White Wolf Freelancers

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

The Solar Deliberative: Twice in One Day

The Solar Deliberative: From the Community

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

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

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

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

The Solar Deliberative: Plague of Hats' Gaming Experiences

Thunder Before Lightning Counter

From Plague of Hats:

Role Playing and Gaming Synthesis

The Solar Deliberative: The Hill-Crushing Hero

The Solar Deliberative: New Exalted Wiki Contributions and an Unofficial Content Promotion

Just Retribution Arrow

Ten Thousand Demons Medium

Winter's Icy Grasp

The Solar Deliberative: Burning the Midnight Oil

Socialite's Mantle

Artifact of the Month:
Ministrider