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[OOC] Exalted: War For The Throne

RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
edited June 2008 in Critical Failures
Critical Failures Presents:
exalteddw8.jpg
The Scarlet Empress has disappeared.
Without her leadership, the Realm that protected Creation is failing.
The Great Dynastic Houses, legacy of the Empress,
squabble over the scraps fallen from her table.
And now, they seek the greatest prize of all.
The Scarlet Throne and The Sword of Creation.
Heroes of the Legions return to make their bid for it.
Bureaucrats shuffle papers to increase their political status.
Criminals steal, lie, and kill to affirm their House's position.
The Blessed Isle is the center of the Realm.
The Realm is the center of Creation
And the Realm divided,
Will fall.

EXALTED War For The Throne is a PbP game to be set in the Critical Failures forum, right here.

It will be played using the Exalted Second Edition rules, along with the Manual of Exalted Power: Dragon-Blooded. The setting is the Blessed Isle, covered in the first volume of the Compass of Celestial Directions.

The mood for the game is gritty. This isn't a game about Exalted's heroin-pissing dinosaurs, it's a game about betrayal, morals, power that wasn't meant to be in the hands of those who hold it, forbidden loves, warring Houses, noble heroes, and all those fun things.
There aren't going to be Celestial Exalted making appearances and blowing up the world, there aren't going to be Fair Folk invasions or armies of undead. The cast's actions at a banquet may be more important than any battle. Combat is brutal, there's no 'win' buttons for the Terrestrials unlike their Celestial cousins.

The members of this grand play?

Leshan, as Ledaal Kasai, The Sapphire Storm
INNS, as Ragara Adina, Polished Jade
Cynic Jester as Mnemon Duriel, Smoldering Eye
Thanatos as Iselsi Leovin, Death Flies From the Shadows
Arcanis, as V'neef Celia, Toxic Thorn

Rainfall on
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Posts

  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I'm looking for five players, one from each Aspect, all Dragon-Blooded. This is not first-come first-serve. The best characters get the fun.

    Dynastic houses: Your character must be from one of the Houses, otherwise they won't have the political influence necessary to gain the Throne or a position of power.
    Each house is Aspected towards a different element, but Exaltations to different Aspects do occur. Don't worry about it too much. Tepet Ejava, the Roseblack, is one of the most
    popular Dragon-Bloods, and she's Wood in an air house.

    Schools: Every Dynast goes to school. Each school has a different focus, and provides different training.
    You get two free specialties in Skills that your School trains, so a Heptagram graduate can place two specialties in Lore, Occult, or Linguistics without paying BP or Experience.

    Skills/Charms selection: Combat in this game isn't going to be rare, and there's probably going to be a war or two. But there's also a lot of political intrigue, and other skills could be crucial.

    Martial Arts: Terrestrial Styles are allowed, including the ones from Scroll of the Monk. Celestial styles are not. No Immaculates, please.

    Backgrounds: Especially relating to Artifacts, your character needs to have a reason for having their Backgrounds. Every Daiklave has a story, every Manse is owned by someone, every dot of Breeding means you're close to the Empress.
    Try and figure out why your character has their Backgrounds, and what the history behind them is.

    Backstory: Come up with something good. Really good. Collaborate with other people to create friendships and alliances. Figure out why your character wants what they want.

    Experience: Everyone starts with 125 experience. Newbie DBs would get swallowed alive at this period, so you have a bit of time to grow. This, of course, is all spent AFTer character creation. Try and keep track of where you put your XP and tack it on to the bottom of your sheet for me.

    All sheets/backstories should be PM'ed to me, too. Post them in the thread if you want, but make sure you send them to me.
    This post will get replaced by the cast once they're chosen.

    Rainfall on
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Requirements!

    One post a day, minimum. Two or three is far better. I've got a reasonable record for long-running games, and I want this one to flourish.
    PvP is allowed, but not encouraged. Political plotting to get your opponents on the way to the Throne removed is encouraged, and any of that can be handled through PMs with me.

    Speaking of plotting and intrigue, this game isn't entirely traditional. Everyone in the Realm is trying to get the Throne, or place someone they want on the Throne.
    It's only natural that there will be player conflict, and if you want to plot and plan intrigue, feel free.
    Metagaming will get you smote by the Immaculate Order, though, so try and avoid it.

    The game will start in a week or two, depending on how long it takes for people to get what they need.

    Rules clarifications and other stuff will end up here, too. Any questions that you don't want to ask on the forum can be directed to me via AIM, my username is Raing3l

    Addendum: For char creation, Anathema is really useful, especially for Dragon-Bloods, if you have a hard time keeping track of bonus points and XP.

    Addendum 2: For Crafting, I'm going to make it Specialty-based. Basically, without a specialty in the type of craft required, you suffer a -3 unskilled penalty to your Craft roll.

    With one Specialty in the appropriate Craft, you go to no penalty, two is a +1 bonus, and three is +3.

    You can have as many Craft specialties as you want.

    Addendum 3: As far as stories and intrigues and backhistories go, I am a lenient ST. Your first assumption should be 'yes I can do this' not 'I should ask Rainfall first.' If you start going off-track I'll mention it here in the OOC thread, but feel free to invent shared histories with NPCs and plot amongst each other.
    On the other hand, remember not to godplay. You can't read thoughts, and the other PCs might have ideas that you don't.

    Rainfall on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I am seriously tempted.

    So very seriously tempted.

    Posting every day might be difficult, though.

    Thanatos on
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Aww, Than, for you I might make an exception.

    Since you're so awesome and stuff.

    Rainfall on
  • Cynic JesterCynic Jester Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Ohhhh, a game were timezones won't fuck me over. Color me mighty interested.

    Cynic Jester on
  • Super NamicchiSuper Namicchi Orange County, CARegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    wood aspect~~~

    Super Namicchi on
  • Ultros64Ultros64 Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I haven't played Exalted in years, and y'know, Celestial always put a bad taste in my mouth. I like underdogs.

    I gotta see how my schedule is for the month, but damn, this would be awesome to do.

    Ultros64 on
    It doesn't matter what I say, as long as I sing with inflection
  • delrolanddelroland Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Well I was thinking Wood aspect jester, but since Arcanis beat me to it :P I'm thinking Fire.

    delroland on
    EVE: Online - the most fun you will ever have not playing a game.
    "Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
  • Super NamicchiSuper Namicchi Orange County, CARegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    that's right, you better back down

    Super Namicchi on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I will throw in interest for this (and then a character sheet!), especially because I'm out of school next week, so I won't be bogged down and missing days (plus, dragonbloods are pretty cool)

    I am putting together an Earth aspect sheet~

    INeedNoSalt on
  • Super NamicchiSuper Namicchi Orange County, CARegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    It's character postin' time!
    V’neef Celia, Toxic Thorn, Wood-aspect Terrestrial
    Motivation: Put a V’neef endorsed candidate on the throne (her mother, herself, or someone else with V’neef’s interests at heart)

    Attributes:

    Strength ooo
    Dexterity ooooo
    Stamina oo

    Charisma oooo
    Manipulation o
    Appearance ooooo

    Perception oo
    Intelligence ooo
    Wits ooo

    Archery* ooooo (Powerbows +3)
    Medicine* oooo
    Survival* oo
    Athletics* oooo
    Dodge* ooooo
    Socialize ooo
    Ride* o
    Presence* oooo (Persuasion +1)
    Integrity oo
    Resistance o
    Lore oo
    Linguistics oo
    Stealth oo
    War ooo (Small Units +1)
    Martial Arts o
    Melee o
    Awareness ooo

    Backgrounds
    Breeding ooooo
    Artifact ooo (Jade long powerbow)
    Artifact oo (hearthstone bracers [-1 speed])
    Artifact o (chain shirt)
    Reputation ooo
    Manse oooo (eight levels of hearthstone)(jewel of the flying heart o [+1 dodge DV], gladestalker’s stone ooo [+3 Accuracy and damage with a bow], song of life stone oooo [page 101 of oadenol's codex])(the gladestalker and the life stone are socketed in the bow, the flying heart in the bracers)

    Weapons
    Rose’s Barb (Speed 4, Acc 17, 9L, Rate 3)
    11L with broadheads
    11B with fowling
    13L with frogcrotch, double soak
    9L with targets but halve soak

    PDV n/a
    DDV 11

    Soak 6L/5B Hardness 2L/2B

    Charms
    First Archery Excellency
    First Dodge Excellency
    Dragon-graced Arrow
    Swallows Defend the Nest
    Harvest of the Hunter
    Safety Among Enemies
    Threshold Warding Stance
    Hopping Firecracker Evasion
    Infection Banishing Prana
    Disease-Banishing Technique
    Wound-closing Touch
    Auspicious First Meeting Attitude

    Essence oooo
    Personal 16
    Peripheral 39 (12 committed)

    Willpower 7

    Virtues
    Compassion oooo
    Conviction oo
    Temperance o
    Valor ooo

    Languages
    High Realm
    Old Realm
    Low Realm

    Hls
    -0 o
    -1 ooo
    -2 ooo
    -4 o
    Incap ooo

    1/125 exp left

    (spent 50 exp on essence, 50 exp on charms, 24 exp on miscellaneous attributes (a virtue dot, an app dot, a dot of wits, a presence dot, three dots of awareness)

    Backstory and fluffery:
    V'neef Celia, known colloquially as Toxic Thorn, is well-known throughout the realm as one of the scions of House V'neef. She looks remarkably similar to her mother, V'neef herself, and traces her lineage directly to the Empress (her grandmother).

    Graduating with impressive marks from the House of Bells (in a way this is surprising as a member of House V'neef that she did not train to further the mercantile interests of the House, instead opting for a command position in one of the legions). Indeed, in the House of Bells she was remarkably close to Tepet Ejava due to their similar dispositions. Thus, when she heard of House Tepet’s crushing defeat at the hands of the Anathema in the North, Celia was deeply saddened by her friend’s loss of status. Of course, it upset Celia even more when her mother had to make the decision to cut off all negotiations of intermarriage between the two houses. At this point in time she threw herself into her duties, earning her the name Toxic Thorn on the field of battle due to her great skill with a bow and leadership.

    After her mandatory service ended, Celia returned home to the Isle to help further the house's goals through favor-garnering. As one of V’neef’s scions and possessed of pure-blood, Celia has received countless offers of marriage, but has yet to seriously entertain any of the offers. Like her mother, she believes in purity of blood, and so she is simply waiting for the right kind of offer.

    In terms of personality, Celia is compassionate and cares a great deal for her family and house as well as the Realm. She is a Princess of the Earth who sees the Dragon-blooded Mandate as one that protects those who cannot protect themselves. However, due to her privileged status and purity of blood she is often convinced that she knows exactly what is best for those around her and will try to steer people on that course of action (always with their well-being in mind, of course).

    Celia is a strikingly beautiful young woman with all of the classic traits that belie her nature as a Wood aspect Exalt. Her hair is green and leafy, with a stray flower that always grows over her left ear and changes with the seasons. Her eyes are a deep verdant, her skin is pale green, and her lips match her eyes.

    To offset this she often tries to incorporate reds and orange into her clothing, and pink when at formal gatherings (of which there are many). Her combat gear is an ornate custom-forged Jade powerbow which she has lovingly named Rose’s Barb. She also wears a set of bracers called the Bindings of Ivy, and her chain shirt is a deep green as well.

    Super Namicchi on
  • destroyah87destroyah87 They/Them Preferred: She/Her - Please UseRegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Why do I get the feeling I've seen that Dragon-Blood before :P

    I don't have the time to play in this on top of all the other things I'm doing (that and purely political games tend to put me to sleep :).) but I will be following the game with great interest.

    destroyah87 on
    steam_sig.png
  • Paranoia833Paranoia833 Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Wow, great pitch! If I can think of a concept by tonight count me in. Hmm... in celebration of the kickass Iron Man film I might try my hand at creating a Tony Stark analogue (air aspected, either Tepet or Ragara I think) or I might try something more original. I'll have to give it some thought.

    Paranoia833 on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I don't suppose Rainfall likes the whole "Graduates of the Spiral Academy may get +1 Resources if their Storyteller thinks it's a good idea thing," eh?

    Eh?

    INeedNoSalt on
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    No, I don't. As I said, graduating from a school gets you two free specialties in the Skills that school requires.

    Since the Heptagram and the House of Bells didn't get any bonuses as opposed to the other two, I made up my own.

    Rainfall on
  • Super NamicchiSuper Namicchi Orange County, CARegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    shot down

    also Salt and I will be friends, two semi-social butterflies

    Super Namicchi on
  • KrataLightbladeKrataLightblade Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Rainy, I absolutely love this idea, I think it'd be awesome.

    Unfortunately, as you already know from my participation in the other game, my time constraints can be erratic. On the upside, I HAVE actually picked up a few more books, and have gotten a better handle on things now.

    I'm going to start work on a couple of ideas, just in case you're direly lacking a player. PbP, I think, would suit my timing better than IRC... especially since I generally have a couple of hours of "dead time" every day at different times every day, which is perfect for PbP play.

    And hell, even if I don't join, you can bet I'll be watching. Political games are my deepest love when it comes to my RP.

    Hope it goes well, Rainfall. Despite all my screwups in the other game, I found your ST style to be delightful. It certainly had nothin' to do with you, why I had to bow out.

    See you around.

    KrataLightblade on
    LEVEL 50 SWORD JUGGLER/WIZARD!
  • Last SonLast Son Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I will be watching this game with anticipation, it looks to be quite exciting.

    Last Son on
  • LeshanLeshan Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I'm very interested in this. With school now done I'll have more time to devote to this. I'll be submitting an Air-Aspected House Ledaal Sorcerer once I'm finished writing it up.

    Leshan on
    Character Sheet for Silver Squadron game: Kalen
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Well, I've still only gotten Arcy's sheet, so there's lots of room here for people to jump in!

    Rainfall on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    My sheet is (mechanically) nearing completion, and I've got some background in mind as well

    I am wondering how broad/specific Connections should be; examples in the book are, for example, 'Military' and 'Intelligence'. Could you have Connections (High Society)?

    INeedNoSalt on
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    You most certainly could.

    Rainfall on
  • PowerslavePowerslave Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Wouldn't ya know it, I've actually had a Fire Aspect rolled up for a while for just such an occasion. It was made with merits and flaws, though, so I'll need to doctor those out before I post it.

    I'll toss up the sheet once I'm done with all the other stuff I'm editing/writing.

    Powerslave on
    "Never trust anyone who spells 'magic' with a K."
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Oh, one thing that I forgot to mention in the opening post, and I'd like to mention here, is that any sheets I get will be used as either NPCs or guest-star appearances.

    And in case of casualties, of course.

    Rainfall on
  • delrolanddelroland Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I'm going to bow out. I haven't played Exalted enough to be comfortable designing an experienced character.

    delroland on
    EVE: Online - the most fun you will ever have not playing a game.
    "Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
  • Paranoia833Paranoia833 Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    A question that occured to me as I was drawing up my character: Are you allowing us to buy additional backgrounds with experience?

    edit: Or for that matter, are you open to suggestions on custom charms? My character won't have any at submission, but at the moment I'm thinking of making a thrown-monkey and while dragon-blooden thrown charms are nice there aren't that many of them compared to Melee and MA.

    Paranoia833 on
  • delrolanddelroland Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Thrown has always been looked upon as the gimped charm set as far as I have heard.

    delroland on
    EVE: Online - the most fun you will ever have not playing a game.
    "Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Custom charms are allowed, subject to my approval, and yes you can purchase backgrounds with your bonus XP.

    Rainfall on
  • Paranoia833Paranoia833 Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Okay I've got the sheet done, just have to write up his backstory. Hmm... normally a magitech engineer businessman would have gone to the heptagram, but my character knows no sorcery whatsoever. Think House of Bells would be more appropriate?

    Paranoia833 on
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    House of Bells is a military academy, so not really. You can graduate from the Heptagram without knowing sorcery, though. It's certainly not a requirement. If you want to play up the 'business man' angle then I would suggest the Spiral Academy.

    Rainfall on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I've got a sheet done, kind of, but I've got no idea how well structured it is. Dragonblood work a lot differently than Celestial exalts!

    INeedNoSalt on
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I've got a sheet done, kind of, but I've got no idea how well structured it is. Dragonblood work a lot differently than Celestial exalts!

    Yes, yes they do. Send it over to me if you want a review.

    Rainfall on
  • Last SonLast Son Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I'm making a Peleps Water caste but I'm having a bit of trouble with the background. Specifically I can't find an actual explanation of what the difference is between a Dynast and a Patrician. At first I assumed that those who exalted were considered Dynasts and those whom didn't were considered part of a Patrician house, but further reading says thats wrong.

    Are the patrician houses separate families that simply serve the Dynasts? If a child born into a patrician family Exalted would they be allowed to take on the name of the Great House their family served?

    Last Son on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    delroland wrote: »
    Thrown has always been looked upon as the gimped charm set as far as I have heard.
    Thrown is gimped compared to any of the other combat trees. It is strictly dominated by archery, melee, and martial arts.

    Thanatos on
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Nnno, that's not how it works.

    The Realm is set up in a sort-of class system. Patricians are the middle class while Dynasts would be the noble class. It's a matter of genealogy and not exalted-ness. There's non-Exalted members of the Eleven Great Houses, and Exaltations pop up amongst the patricians at a reasonable rate(less than the Great Houses, since the Dynasts have purer blood, being descended from the Scarlet Empress)

    So if you were a member of a patrician family, and Exalted, your options would be to marry into a Great House(which is entirely possible) or try and work your way into high status on sheer merit.

    But your political options would be severely limited without a House backing you.

    EDIT: Also, Than, stop insulting Thrown. Sidereal Thrown kicks ass. If only Sidereals ever did anything besides MA, anyway.

    Rainfall on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    They collapsed Brawl and Martial Arts into one tree, and Archery also holds marksmanship/shooting things with guns/crossbows; maybe in Exalted 3e, we'll have Thrown fitting into Archery, too.

    INeedNoSalt on
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I'm thinking simply 'Close Combat' and 'Ranged'

    And all physical stats will be folded into Dex because it's the only one that matters, really.

    Rainfall on
  • INeedNoSaltINeedNoSalt with blood on my teeth Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Houserule time imho

    INeedNoSalt on
  • RainfallRainfall Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Oh, just as a heads-up for Crafting, I'm going to make it Specialty-based. Basically, without a specialty in the type of craft required, you suffer a -3 unskilled penalty to your Craft roll.

    With one Specialty in the appropriate Craft, you go to no penalty, two is a +1 bonus, and three is +3.

    You can have as many Craft specialties as you want.

    Rainfall on
  • Paranoia833Paranoia833 Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Rainfall wrote: »

    So if you were a member of a patrician family, and Exalted, your options would be to marry into a Great House(which is entirely possible) or try and work your way into high status on sheer merit.


    It's never really played up in the fatsplat, but I always assumed it was implicit in the setting that while the majority of famous and influential Dragon-Blood's are Dynasts, there are just as many Patrician families with strong bloodlines labouring in the background. (Such as "House Keraz" or whatever the nickname was for the family that basically ran the Imperial treasury.)

    Paranoia833 on
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