White Wolf Publishing

Yeeeeeeeeees.



I wonder if there are Intimacy-based Lunar Charms which cause a blacklash if the subject is destroyed, and which cause a BIGGER backlash if the Lunar himself destroys them.

Perhaps Leviathan's pride was greater than his love. He could not stand to see his love turned against him, so he destoyed it to save his own life. Now he survives, but his Lunar Essence is punishing him for betraying his nature.



Oh, yes.

The reason behind Haveesh the Vanisher actually exalting was made more clear in one of the old 1E games that I participated in.

Essentially while he was scum before exalting and worse scum after he exalting, at the moment he actually exalted he was being heroic as in defying his 'destiny' or the society that he grew up in.

Tagged for possible spoilers regarding the Vanisher:


In our game we tried 'showing him the right path for a Solar Exalted' but he ran away killing one of our retainers as he did so. Next time we simply decapitated him.

OK, here's one difference between what I'd do with canon NPCs and want you all do. In y Creation Mnemon and Java fall in love with each other, and join up to take power together for the good of the Realm, as well as marry and share a bedchamber in the palace.

Of course, this all goes to Malfeas when Mnemon's mommy comes back

Thirded. We could use an old Lunar or Sidereal shaking people and shouting "You don't know, man! You don't know because you weren't there!" every time one of his students wonders if they really needed to nuke that plague-stricken village from orbit.

Focuf is actually a solar exalted that has sacrificed all his dignity to bring down the Realm. He perhaps overdoes his role a bit as no one can be THAT incompetent, but so far it's working. Focuf staying alive is enough to prevent any competent ruler to steer the empire away from it's doom.

So it appears I am terrible at spelling......

How weird. Just this morning, I was thinking about how I'd like to put something into this thread. And here it is.

(All right, strictly speaking it would go in the apparent Deathlords thread referred to in the first post, but this is here now)

You know what I think of the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible?

When I read about what he looked like, I was incredibly disappointed.

I mean, an old blind man in a tatty robe? I mean, I can appreciate a bit of austerity in character design, but how dull.

When I hear somebody with the title of bishop as the head of a religion, I think Catholic vestments.

Eastern Orthodox Catholic vestments*.

Say what you want about the Catholic Churches, but they've definitely got style.

Were I to ever portray the Bishop in a game, he's gonna be dressed to the nines in the most detailed, magnificent, deeply symbolic vestments I can think of. I nice blend of Catholic vestment and East Asian funereal garb and ghostly appearance I think. Top it off with a nice big hat.

I'll figure out some way to reconcile it with the philosophies he espouses, I'm sure.

Gonna need the Abyssals and Underworld books...

* I mean for Chrissakes, he even wields a crosier as a weapon!

Not sure if this counts, but I came up with the idea of Fokuf being an Infernal before I found out it was already a thing.

I’ve had an idea for an alternate take on the Eye and Seven Despairs and his relationship with his Abyssals.

Essentially, rather than believing they've destroyed him they were able to convince him to relinquish command to them and he’s effectively moved into the basement to catch up on his research. For some the notion of a Deathlord servant is the perfect reversal of roles but others are far more concerned with this state of affairs, they can’t help but notice that whenever they receive a request from the basement circumstances conspire to ensure that the Eye and Seven Despairs gets whatever he wants.

Nobody goes into the basement if they can help it anymore, even the Abyssals think its a bit of a horror show down there.

No, no. He's a Solar working night and day to save and reform the Realm by mitigating the unjust laws and infighting that make people want to destroy it in the first place.

Only a tiny handful of Canon NPCs haven't been explicitly removed from having ever existed in my version of Exalted. Dragonblooded tend to be safe, because there are enough of them that I don't feel like it's a waste of a spot to have one I don't like. Chejop Kejak is safe, because he's too inconvenient to write out of the setting, and most high-ranking Sidereal leaders get a pass because I just don't care, since they're so unlikely to cross paths with my PCs directly. The Deathlords, Yozis, Incarna and other entities occupying that "Final Boss of the Game" scale tend to be OK, but get rewritten in minor sneaky ways to throw curve balls at those of my players who have also read the books, or to reconcile contradictions in their presentation. Not a single published Lunar, Solar or Infernal Exalt currently occupies a position of existing in my games. A handful of Abyssals do, but mostly because I like their Names more than the actual character attached to it. Autochthonia and the Alchemicals are largely unchanged in my games... but my games haven't had a chance to visit them since their 2nd Ed. version was completed, so that's not saying much.

The number one rule for NPC inclusion, before I had created a big enough stack of my own NPCs that I didn't need to borrow any of the official ones, was that if a thing had a chance of being done by a PC (or having been done by them in their backstory), and that thing was cool enough that my players seemed likely to pursue it, an NPC wasn't allowed to do it first. Thus, Karal Fire Orchid ceases to be the only Solar from Lookshy, so a PC can take that spot. Black Ice Shadow ceases to be the Sidereal most specifically trained in counter-Underworld ops, so a PC can have that role. Anyone with an implied past-life relationship to another NPC, especially a Deathlord, loses that connection so FAFL can go "NO LUKE, I AM YOUR FIRST-AGE SELF" to a PC (I can't remember if there actually were any of those, or just fan-theories that solidified into canon in my head). You get the idea.

My Tepet Ejava may have a boyfriend who looks a lot like a cheesy author-insert from certain angles, but don't tell anyone I said so.

I haven't tackled the Lilun question, because I haven't had Infernal PCs yet. When I do, it's likely she won't be part of the story.

Every single new game I run, unless it's explicitly in-continuity with another game of mine, I come up with a new explanation for who the Emissary is, and where the Scarlet Empress has gone. Even if those things have nothing to do with the story (they usually don't), I like to have those questions answered.

That's a special case. A Solar Warlord did destroy the Tepet Legions, and his most widespread nickname is the Bull of the North, but the actual character bears no further resemblance to Yurgen Kaneko. I fleshed him out myself before more official attention was given than the few sentences in the 1st Ed. core, and I liked my version better.

Edit: Huh, just spotted that I already responded to this before the Necro Post. Interesting to see how things have changed in that year. There were indeed a handful of exceptions, but my last two games have culled those as well.

They weren't already???

Tepet Fokuf is one of the Dragon-Blooded. Moreover, he is a hero amongst the Terrestrial Exalted, treated reverently by all who approach him, for he has slain innumerable anathema and led armies to glorious victory in battle against the enemies of the Realm. He was even a lover of the Empress, a very long time ago, shortly after his commission as an officer in the mighty 17th Legion. However, this was all a very long time ago.

Tepet Fokuf has been retired for almost 25 years, and is nearing his 400th year.

The poor old Air Aspect is very much not well, both mentally and physically. He often forgets where he is and what is going on, and if he isn't carefully managed by Mnemon Laurie, a Wood Aspected Immaculate Monk who tends to the Regent and sees that he doesn't get himself into any trouble, he'll attempt to lead the various Courtiers on various military exercises or mock assaults on 'enemy positions.' Most of the time, Fokuf sits absorbed in the Immaculate Texts, only rousing when prodded to attend some matter of state. Now and again, though, a bit of the old Fokuf shines through the haze of age and senility. It's generally accepted by those who know such things that, without the constant attention of his Immaculate caregiver, Fokuf would already be dead. Even as things are, he probably has less than another 3-5 years.