Exalted: Dead Waters

[Dracorion]

By the way, I found this thing.

It's a tutorial on Exalted someone made. Even though we've already had our first session, it could be useful for those of you who still aren't sure about the finer details. It also includes social combat, which we haven't had any of.

I thought it was good enough at introducing you to the system. Anyway, try it out if you kids feel like it.

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by Dracorion

By the way, I found this thing.

It's a tutorial on Exalted someone made. Even though we've already had our first session, it could be useful for those of you who still aren't sure about the finer details. It also includes social combat, which we haven't had any of.

I thought it was good enough at introducing you to the system. Anyway, try it out if you kids feel like it.

Went through this, and it's pretty much excellent.

I strongly suggest everyone do so.

[Krylo]

Especially the combat parts.

[Overcast]

Especially the exalted combat part. Opened my eyes a bit how possibly fucked I am.

[Dracorion]

You're welcome.

[Arhra]

Lyna is dead.

She's gone!

But she's right there on our backs, and here in our hearts! She lives on as a part of us! If you're gonna sail, sail to the heavens. No matter what's in our way, we won't stop! Once we've sailed past - it means that we've won!

Just who the hell do you think we are?!

[Krylo]

Firstly, I didn't expect anyone to die that time, but Drac/Lyna basically did everything they could do wrong as far as exalted combat goes. From burning ALL the motes on their opening attack, to painting a giant target on themselves by flying in ahead of everyone.

It's like Meiling told you about Crimson Rain during that tutorial Drac found (if you won the first social combat attack): "He spends his essence heedlessly, always gambling on his first strike and leaving nothing for contingency. The first clever opponent he meets will drain him dry and cut him to pieces."

I mention this as a method of pointing out what to do and what not to do to other new players.

By contrast note that the Abyssal himself conserved his motes as much as possible until Lyna was obviously incapable of sufficiently defending herself and then lashed out--hard. Even then he was taking a pretty big risk, and was doing so out of arrogance that he wouldn't need to use essence to avoid anything but your most powerful essence fueled strikes.

In other words, even doing that when up against multiple opponents was a mismanagement of essence.

In Exalted defense trumps offense, which means you can't hurt an enemy who still has essence left, and an enemy without essence can't hurt you (most of the time), and so your goal, in any confrontation, is to force your opponent(s) to use their essence while conserving your own.

Whether that means goading them into using extremely expensive attacks and then perfecting them, or flurrying and coordinating attacks at them is dependent on the enemy and your own personal style.

That said: I'm actually surprised Lyna ended up dead. I had expected that attack to do some serious damage to her, and leave her with some wound penalties and burning for extra damage for a bit until someone could put it out, but alive.

But our Abyssal got some really good rolls there. Luck of the draw, I guess.

However! Lyna's Death is someone else's gain.

I've been pondering how to deal with a PC death and I've come up with this, seeming as there are more people who still wanted to play but didn't get to sign up in time:

You know how when we were kids we'd sit around playing video games with a group larger than who could actually play at any given time? Or at least my friends did, and we came up with the solution that whenever someone dies they hand their controller off to the next person.

So that's what we're going to do here.

Anyone who wants to play and can make the current time post in this thread and prepare to make a character. As people die we'll cycle through whomever has posted here (and put any later comers at the end of the list). Currently Drac is gonna be at the end of this list.

Lunar, Abyssal, or Renegade DB would be best/easiest to work in. If you go with the last option talk to me and we can hammer out how to make you not useless in a group of solars (I.E. how many extra BP to give you, and how 'experienced' your character is before joining to justify it). Edit: Preferably not another Lunar right NOW just because it'd feel less contrived to work in a different exalt type.

[Teal Mage]

Alright, interested and can make the time.

Not sure if you need me to say this in thread yet, but of the options listed, I'd lean toward a Renegade DB most. Probably Water Aspect, given the area. I'm reasonably flexible here though - willing to try an Abyssal if that's easier for the DM to bring up to speed.

Edit: Reading up on my options in the two books, don't take my preference statement above too seriously.

[Dracorion]

Mm, yeah, basically Lyna's problem was taking the Abyssal head on, and then thinking she could burn through his Essence by herself.

And no, the irony of me doing what the tutorial tells you not to do when I'm the one who first found it is not lost on me. In my defense, when it got to social combat I used wp once and then got bored from lots of boxes saying "yeah, Meiling can't do anything to you, wait for your turn!", reloaded and gave in, so I never saw Meiling's comments about the Crimson Idiot.

Feel free to call Lyna the Silver Idiot, by the way.

And yeah, Admiral Assface basically had all the best rolls except when it came to shooting down the mast.

[Lumenskir]

Hmm, well as 'luck' would have it I spent about a week working out an Abyssal character sheet for another venue as my first foray into Exalted and then the ST and half the Circle decided to just quit/try something else. So I guess I'll put my quarter on the machine to see if it'll get some use at some point.

Character sheet for Calm Of A World Drowned In Its Own Blood, Abyssal Dusk Caste, attached.

Pre-Exaltation to Meetup History(Note, since it'd get tedious/space consuming to type out "Calm Of A World Drowned In Its Own Blood" over and over, I'll just use 'Calm' as shorthand)

In his mortal life, the man who would become Calm was a consumate military man, enlisting at a young age for the opportunity to see the world and beginning a steady rise through the ranks, eventually becoming the leader of a patrolling scale in the North. Because of the vast amount of land they had to cover, and the tumult back in the Realm, he and his men were generally left to their own devices (a polite way of saying, mostly forgotten about), which meant they were free to patrol and provide security from bandits, icewalkers, and assorted other baddies without having to worry about bureaucracy and the like. The locals who were on their 'route' came to respect the scale, and the men came to regard Calm as a father-figure/mentor.

One day, the scale saw that one of their normal stops was under attack and was blazing. Fearing a bandit strike, they rushed to the town only to find something worse: A Bored Dragon-Blood. Calm and his scale arrived just in time to see the youthful Exalted cut off the leg of a young boy, laughing as the life bled out of the debilitated child.

Calm stormed up the Dragon Blood and demanded to know what was going on. The Exalted said something about how he was passing through, and wanted to show these mongrels what proper respect looked like, and how his family was important, but Calm didn't catch most of it because he drew his sword and rushed in to attack.

The Dragon Blooded warrior wasted no time in quickly skewering Calm on his daiklave, shoving the blade through Calm's chest until he could whisper directly into his ear about how he would now kill both the village and the scale for Calm's insolence.

As Calm's final breaths sputtered out of him, the world began to darken around the edges, until the only thing he could see was his killer's sneering face, and then...

And then all at once, everything went completely black, until the darkness took form and he was kneeling prostrate before the most gorgeous woman he had not only ever seen, but even imagined.

"Tsk, tsk," She, who Calm would come to know was formally called The Lover Clad In The Raiment of Tears (but which he could only call She Who Must Be Obeyed), said, "You were such a great warrior, and yet because he won a genetic lottery he will win and live on. Doesn't that seem unfair?"

In the darkness, Calm nodded.

"And yet, if you can believe it, he is actually the least worst. The Elemental Dragons breed him, and innumerable like him, for sport, as if it was admirable. They've dotted all of Creation with them, like so much venereal disease. I think they should be done with, every last one of them, killed and skewered on their own hubris and blasted into nothingness. Do you agree?"

At that moment, Calm could think of nothing that he had ever believed more.

"And if I could show you how to do it. If I could give you the greatest weapons, Charms beyond Terrestrial imagining, and the immortality with which to do it? And all I would ask is for you to listen to me, to heed my advice for how best to do it, and for simple loyalty? Would you accept?"

Yes

"Then rise, my Exalted, and come to your Lover."

And with that the darkness receded, and Calm was staring at the Dragon Blooded boy again. Only now the face he saw was full of fear, and in the widening pupils of the Exalted's eyes Calm almost swore he could see himself rise up, pull the daiklave out of his own chest and toss it away like scrap. As the Dragon Blooded and his soldiers scrambled to deal with this new and terrifying information, the bodies of the villagers lying around them began to thrash violently, spraying blood from their wounds and orifices. Wherever a drop landed it began to burn like acid, eating through flesh and melting armor onto bodies, until none were left standing except for Calm...and a warrior clad in pure soulsteel, who strode up behind him, and with a pat on the back welcomed him to his new unlife.

From there Calm was taken to the Lover's Fortress of Crimson Ice, he stared into the Void and gave up his name to his Neverborn master, and began his training.

Soon though he began to realize that his bargain was not one of mutual agreement, as the information inequality was enormous. He soon realized that while the Dynast and spoiled Dragon Blooded were not pure, the destruction of all Terrestrial Exalted, and the devestation such a loss would cause, was more than he could have imagined at his time of weakness. And his 'Lover' was much more demanding than she had originally let on. And that it was too convenient that one of her lieutenants had been waiting in place on the day of a such a horrible 'coincidence'. When he heard rumors that other deathknights had been not only chosen, but "groomed" to accept, he finally could take no more. He gathered the equipment given to him and what riches he could and fled his duty.

Since then he has been trying to put as much distance between him and his Deathlord as possible, and the far West should hopefully do the trick. To abate the Neverborn's fury he has not forsaken killing or feeding on living flesh, but only does it to the unjust and willingly abhorrent. He wishes now that he could have that one day back, just one chance to say no. Even as he craves his own death now, he knows his Exaltation would be given to a new, probably manipulated, soul, one who might not have his qualms. And so he runs, hoping he'll find somewhere with solace or an answer.

As to the mechanics, I ran the sheet I was using through that Anathema creator that was linked to and it came out just right, but I'm not completely sure it's perfect or acceptable for this setting. We were mostly using the Corebook and the Abyssal stuff, and I think all of my Charms are mirrors except for Screaming in Silence (which is a telepathic ability).

I will now wait my turn on the list.