Interest Check: Exalted 3E Lunar Hexcrawl

Alright everyone, I've been working out some of the kinks of this system for awhile now and will probably continue messing with it as we go, but I'm far enough along that I want the pressure of players to carry this thing over the finish line.

Interested players should be aware that this is a work in progress and we're even using the final draft rules for Lunars. I welcome players new to the system as long as you're willing to be active, ask questions, keep an open mind and brave the learning curve.

And now on to the pitch...

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Chosen by Luna, the many-faced goddess of the moon, the Lunar Exalted are legendary shapeshifters and terrifying monster-heroes, untamed and unbroken by the ten thousand foes that have sought to end them. Their souls burn with unbridled rage, driving them in their vendetta against ancient enemies.

The focus of this chronicle will be the War for the Caul. The Caul is a mysterious island continent that is considered to be sacred to both the Lunars and the Dragon-Blooded. The Caul is fabled to be the birthplace of the Dragon-Blooded and the place where Gaia and Luna both loved and shared. It disappeared for centuries and then reappeared one day.

The main draw of the island is the pilgrimage path between the 5 shrine cities each devoted to one of the five primal elements (Earth, Wood, Fire, Air, Water). It is said that one who walks the path completes the five trials will open the Pass of Fen-Yi and enter the Last City. Dragon-Blooded who complete the pilgrimage ensure that their next heir will exalt. There is no recorded history of a Lunar completing the pilgrimage and what might happen if one does. Since it's reappearance, control of the five shrine cities has been heavily contested and currently the Lunars control all but the earth shrine city of Faxai-on-the-Caul.

The game will be run in a hex crawl format with a heavy emphasis on exploration and discovery on this mysterious island.

Your characters are newly exalted Casteless Lunars who are recruited to the Caul for various reasons.

Game Link

Dang you WarDomo, I was just looking at my Exalted books last night wondering if I'd get to play that again.

I have friends who plays Exalted and I hear good tings.

I am very curious, and want to know more. I would be interested in playing

You're the one that always pulls me back into a Vampire game!

Feel free to ask questions: I'm a self-proclaimed Exalted evangelist

What does exploration and discovery look like to you?

I've got a hex map that covers an area roughly the size of Argentina. There's a set of canon locations and npcs that exist and I expect you to interact with and I've got an overarching meta plot, but I will be using a lot of randomized encounters to seed side plots and locations based on existing factions and such.

In addition, as with all Exalted games, I expect the players to pursue their own characters agendas and make the game their own. You want to take over the whole island for yourself? Okay, go for it :)

These are 25 Mile Hexes!

I am most certainly wanting to play this! Is there an official ruleset or have you homebrewed?

I'm not thrill with exalted or I will give it a go.

I backed the Lunars kickstarter and I have the backer manuscript for the lunars

The hex crawl bits I'm building myself from the collective wisdom of the internet

That sounds entirely amazing. I'm in, for as fast or as slow a pace as you want.

I know nothing of the system, but one of the main draws of GP has been learning new systems.
I am in if you'll have me. I am as active as you need.

Exalted, nice! I haven't looked at 3e though...

The setting is basically the same, but the combat and social systems changed significantly (for the better IMHO)

I am interested to learn this game. I must say upfront that I don't have access to the book thow :(

No worries. We can work with that

How is the Lunar splat?

It's interesting! Very different feel and way more flexible than Solars. I kinda dig not having a supernal skill that you feel obligated to put a bunch of points into. Shapeshifting gives a lot of opportunity for solving problems in creative ways

Qralloq, Malkavian616 and runekyndig have been approved. Still room for more players!

I'm all caught up with 3e! Still got room? I'd love to get in on this! :)

Absolutely!

Still room folks. Very willing to teach the game as we go. All I ask is for active players

Hmmm. I just don't know. Wasn't a fan of Exalted. I have played it a time or three. Smiles. I'm rather active.

Is your experience with previous editions or 3e?

It was a long time ago. I would say previous editions. I believe that I was playing it before 3e existed.

The previous editions had some major mechanical issues but I've always loved the setting. I think they've done a lot of right things this go around. It's not perfect but I think it's a solid system now.

How much different are the newer versions? The older version I played has a lot of tracking amounts of dice left for this or that. Track your attack and defense dice supplies always. A lot of thinking ahead and judging. Never played enough to advance or anything so I have no concept about that.

They kept the same d10 dice mechanic that all the Storyteller system games use and most of the setting (there's a few differences but not much), but they've revamped basically all the rest of it.

Combat is designed to better emulate the back and forth battles seen in anime and wuxia films where you try to gain the upper hand before delivering a decisive attack that actually damages your opponent.

Social influence has been more directly tied to the motivations of your character and do a really good job of supporting narrative.

Other systems like crafting and sorcery have improved as well, but those are a bit more niche.

I won't go so far as to say the system is simple. It's still a little complicated especially when you first start, but once you have a good feel for your regularly used combat dice pools, things move a lot more smoothly IMHO. There's still an insane number of Charms and depending on your build it could be pretty crunchy, but a little forethought and organization goes a long way to smoothing over things.

I don't currently have any books on Exalted. This is 3e version of it. I can see if I can get a copy.

I can get version 1st and 2cn.. but not the 3rd edition. Is it similar to 2cn?

It's pretty different. I would only use those for setting information.

here's pretty much the gold standard explanation of 3e combat: Exalted Combat 301

I have a 3rd edition character sheet now. So that is a help toward making a character. Is there a lot of difference between 2cn and 3rd as reference to producing characters?

character creation is very similar but the Charms are all different. This game uses the Lunars manuscript, so you'll use that for character creation.

ARCHERY___________
ATHLETICS__________
AWARENESS____________
BRAWL____________
BUREAUCRACY__________
CRAFT_____________
DODGE_____________
INTEGRITY__________
INVESTIGATION________
LARCENY___________
LINGUISTICS__________
LORE______________
MARTIAL ARTS___________
MEDICINE____________
MELEE_____________
OCCULT____________
PERFORMANCE__________
PRESENCE____________
RESISTANCE___________
RIDE______________
SAIL_______________
SOCIALIZE___________
STEALTH___________
SURVIVAL____________
THROWN___________
WAR______________

Is what I see for skills area 3rd. I have no idea on the charms and such. Too bad the site doesn't support a Exalted 3rd edition character format.

yeah. I went ahead and sent you an invite... you know, in case you want to play ;)

Lunar charms are all in the manuscript. The core book would help, but I don't think is absolutely necessary for you.

Working on all this.

Feel free to ask questions here or on discord.

Hey, I'm new here and interested in your Exalted game. I haven't played Exalted since 1e. If you have room I'd like to join.

I think WarDomo has been busy the past few days, but I believe we definitely still have space!

Yeah, definitely! We're still wrapping up character creation. Jump on in!

I'm curious about this. What is the name of the 3e rulebook you are using?

Hi Vagrant! You'll need the Exalted 3e Core rulebook, and specifically for Lunars, the Lunars: Fangs at the Gate manuscript.

Yeah. Without both of those sources, it is hopeless to build a character. Any assistance would probably mean that they are making it for you if you don't have those sources. The options are way too wide to narrow down really easily.

I had played some before and had to pay out for online copy of those to have any hope of making a character.

ok, thanks!