Character Creation

Character Creation rules are available HERE

In this thread, we'll discuss character concept ideas and character generation questions.

No pdf? :(

Also not sure how I feel about the great curse changes

Apparently it always has and I've missed that in all my games

Except Alchemicals... that one is weird.

Also did they condense the power gaps, cause idk how I'll feel about that either. But my desire for Exalted is great

It does seem a little more condensed, but Solars are still the most powerful... free excellencies are a pretty big deal when you only have 5 motes to work with

To quote my buddy (and my former ST) "We play big boy exalted, that's like the 5e version where everything is easy to learn and everyone is similar in power"

Did they release sorcery? I would like to take a look and see if an eclipse sorcerer is viable

Awesome. I may need a day or two to look over the pdf before I decide what I'm doing.

This is a work in progress..

SEEKER OF HIDDEN TRUTHS

Solar Exalted, Twilight Caste

Attributes:
Finesse 4
Fortitude 3
Force 2

Abilities:
Awareness - 5
Sagacity - 4
Integrity - 3
Close Combat - 3
Embassy - 3
Presence - 2
Navigate - 2
War - 1

Charms:
[Sagacity] Execellency
Crafty Observation Method
Jade Leaves a Trail
Truth-Rendering Gaze
Excellent Strike

Merits:
Hearthstone - Primary
Artifact - Secondary
Familiar (Owl) - Tertiary

Virtues:
Wonder - Major
Discipline - Minor

Intimacies:
???????

The Great Curse:
Seething Genius

Not a problem. Let me know if you have questions

Still reading through the rules, but I'm personally thinking about doing either a Dragon-Blooded or an Infernal.

I'd mostly like to play around the themes of duty vs morality, as well as how far one can go to attain "greater good", or what they think as such. In any case, I'd like to play a Broker archetype if possible. If I play dragon-blooded, this would probably translate to the character being an inheritor of one of the great families, probably of Air or Water. If I play an Infernal, it would probably be more about how to "free" themselves from Hell, without becoming a threat to the living world instead.

If any of that give you some ideas about your own character/the campaign, please let me know ! As you can see, the general idea is still quite rough, and I'd gladly make some changes to accommodate the setting or make the overall experience more interesting. I am personally interested in playing Dragon-Blooded siblings/cousins from the same Great Family or rivaling ones, but I'm open to other suggestions as well !

Awesome. This game definitely supports a party with multiple exalt types. We will just need to lock down a mutual connection to the city in which we start so that you all have a reason to not kill each other work together.

I also realized just now, but it is perfectly possible for a member of a great Family to be exalted as a Solar or a Lunar, right ? While I am not especially interested in playing this option myself, I think it could also make for interesting possibilities if you'd wished to both have a link with another character and play something else than a Dragon-Blooded.

Absolutely and I hope for their sakes they weren't on the Blessed Isle during their Exaltation or they might not make it out alive.

Just posted a custom character sheet template HERE.

Also, I know we've got some newer players. If you haven't seen it, here's the New Player Guide. It explains how to create a character and all that.

ANYONE can exalt that doesn't already have a spark. There was even a man that fought his way to the gates of hell, was about to exalt, then gave up and never did

Though any mortal human can exalt regardless of background, the various exalt type descriptions do give you a hint as to the type of person that a given patron will tend to choose as worthy to become one of their exalts.

I'm looking at a Twilight Sorcerer. But It seems we need a front line. So my Country shaping magic character may have to still wait... one day...

It's recommended that ANY solar learns some sort of combat. I'm not sure how familiar everyone is with the setting of Exalted, but outside of the Dragon-Blooded any other exalt is considered Anathema. They are hunted and exterminated by the Dragon-Blooded.

Except the Sidereals, they cheated and wrote themselves out of history.

I will adjust based on party composition. The brief mention of the concept does sound similar though. You all should start discussing concepts in this thread before you spend too much time putting dots on the character sheet.

But as an aside, not all twilights are the same. Some are crafters, doctors, as well as sorcerers. So there's room for more than one Twilight. Furthermore, anyone can be a sorcerer not just Twilights. Even amongst sorcerers there is room for differences.

So, if you want to explore a different concept, that's cool, but more of a discussion might be warranted before just throwing out your concept.

Generally, yes. Essence has some interesting ways for less combat-y characters to contribute in combat through the Build Power action, but it will require you to be a little more clever.

It also does not take a huge investment to make a Solar combat-viable

Seeker has Close Combat 3, Finesse 4. If that artifact is a weapon or armor, then that's probably fine.

This is also an introductory game for people to check out the system. Don't feel the need to min/max your character. Just make something you think is interesting and would make for a good story.

I'm also okay with adjusting character sheets once play has begun if you don't feel like things are working like you expected

Yah.. I'm not sure what skills are going to be tested in this scenario, but I gave myself Close Combat 3 and War 3, since I have such vast knowledge I have read (and assimilated) many treatises on combat. I really don't think I can justify my 4 or 5 in them. I also possess an Artifact, although I envision that as something not Combat related. Something like an Ancient Tome of vast knowledge, or perhaps a Spyglass, that sort of thing. Or maybe something with dual-use in and out of combat. I really don't know how artifacts work, but I'll be reading the entire PDF tonight.. LOL

Oh.. the other option I was thinking of was that through my amazing research abilities I was able to determine the location of an artifact, which is why I have it, so it could be anything.

I am bringing a very combat heavy dawn caste with a small army. Whose intention is the reunite creation under the Solar banner and restore the First Age.

Do I *need* a combat Charm?
Of course, I have no idea how combat would really work so it is hard to know the usefulness or effect of the Charms, but since we only have 4, I wanted to put them all towards my theme.

I'm currently looking at:

[Sagacity] Execllency
Ambush Sensing Premonition
Crafty Observation Method
Strange Tongue Understanding
Truth-Rendering Gaze

But could maybe substitute Ambush Sensing for Empowering Justice Redirection or Excellent Strike

I'm also likely to change my Merits now that I have looked at the section on Hearthstones and Artifacts, but will probably need a lot of guidance there.

You don't need them per say. But at least 1 can be helpful. But as Domo said, this version has other methods of non combat participation

And despite being Sagacity-based, I didn't take sorcery or medicine.

You definitely don't need one. This game is not D&D. It is designed to allow completely viable non-combat builds. If you find yourself in an unavoidable combat, you just may need to be a little clever rather than just relying on overwhelming force.

Great, because there are definitely other things I wanted to take. I'm not sure what "type" of adventure this will be, but I am kinda building towards "investigation" as my strong suit. SchadDad can handle the offense/defense :)

This may help:

The plot will center around an invasion of Fair Folk in your city. Determining the source and nature of the threat will be an element of the plot and depending on how you approach things, I could see this having a political element.

I present to you Xari, One with the Sun

Ok, so I think I'm settled for a Dragon-Blooded character (I think that might lead to some interesting development with Xari's ambitions). Waiting to see if gnome_chomsky is interesting by my proposition, but otherwise I already have the concept pretty much set.
Just one question, however: would you say that an Air Dragon blooded would better fit a Ranged combat character than a Water one ?

I don't think either is a bad choice. There's nothing in particular that would make one or the other that much better at attacking with ranged combat. Air Aspects have an anima effect which helps defend against ranged attacks and they can leap an extra range band to get distance. Air Dragon Martial Arts Style works with thrown weapons, but you don't have to be an Air Aspect to learn Air Dragon Style.

So I guess I'd lean towards Air Aspect.

Alright, thanks for the answer ! I think I have enough to at least start a sheet there. I'll try to have it finished by Tuesday, if that's fine for you !

Not a problem. Let me know if you have any other questions

OK.. Don't know why I kept posting in notes.

So I'm pretty settled on most everything.

Rearranged my Abilities a little

Charms will be:
(Awareness) Excellency
Crafty Observation Method
Jade Leaves a Trail
Judge’s Ear Technique
Excellent Strike

I will have Hearthstone 5, and Artifact 3, and Follower 1
The Manse will be a library/tower - details still to be worked out
Artifact is some sort of Wrackstaff - details to be worked out

One idea I had for the tower is a "Clockwork Tower" which is a giant mechanism that can shift and rearrange its configuration both inside and out according to the whim of the holder of the Hearthstone.

Manse owners typically attune to them so they have a magical connection. Clockwork tower sounds dope.

If you have an artifact which of the evocations are you able to use? All? Just the first?
I suppose a similar question applies to Hearthstones?

Another question I don't know why I didn't ask earlier. Do Exalts look basically human or can they look non-human? Animal head? Giant sized? Centaur? Etc..

Evocation work like charms. As long as you are attuned, you can use the unlocked evocation. Some have prerequisites.
Everyone is human-looking. Lunars have beast forms

You have to unlock the charms, buying them with experience. Some evocations come for free with attunement to the artifact but that will be specified in the description.

There are beast folk (human-animal hybrids) and other wyld tainted humans who have become mutated with non human traits and they can exalt. You will however stand out like a sore thumb even when you aren't using your powers. A lot of people will immediately fear and distrust you.

Looks good overall. Don't see your merits on there, but looks like you at least went with Artifact 5 right?

They're there under armor. Artifact 5, command 4, resources 2

So they are. Totally missed it. Cool beans.

So tell me about your Artifact. Where'd you get it?

Inherited from my mentor, a first age solar in hiding, upon his passing.

Xari, often being regailed with tales of the glories of the first age, seeks to restore it to the best of his abilities

I was researching the cause of the Great Plague but I've put that on hold recently to investigate the disappearance of the Empress.

Just to make sure you're aware of the context. The great contagion happened 800 years before our game starts and the disappearance of the empress has happened but is not widely known about.

If you're in to that concept, it's fine we just should think about how it is that you're aware of it

Yah. I'm aware the Contagion is super old. Didn't know the Empress missing wasn't known. That is OK though because neither really matters.

My real idea:
The creator of the Clockwork Tower was thought to be insane. Once know as Xelor the Builder, he became know as Xelor the Mad after he dedicated his life to the building of the tower. In fact, he was brilliant beyond understanding and he built the tower to be in tune with the machinations of the Realm such that is synchronized with events happening across the realm. My character has discovered this but has not determined how it works or how to interpret (if it is even possible) the significance of the movements. He has, however, recognized that something is happening or has happened and has begun investigating due to the alignment of various parts of the tower. The most recent "signal" from the tower may have been the Fair Folk invasion or it could have been the disappearance of the Empress. In either case, I don't actually know what has happened only that something of significance has happened or is about to happen.

I had no idea what Wakfu was until I just looked it up. But as it turns out the name was taken for the same reason. I couldn't think of another good name with letters from a watch maker off the top of my head that sounded good with "the Mad". Maybe I'll think on it a bit more and come up with another one.

Wakfu also has a solid Exalted vibe

I mean, unless you do not like it yourself, please keep it ! I assure you, it's a fun thing and I don't think it'll get in the way of the game.

And yeah, Wakfu's mythology definitely has this "god's powers in high fantasy world" thing. Can recommend it to anyone that hasn't watched it yet, btw. It may have some "child cartoon" episodes, but overall it's really worth it, if only for the villain of season 1.

I have a concept i had come up with when browsing through the 3e handbooks merits years ago, basically night caste martial artist with mutation merits like fur, prehensile tail, short. They would look like a monkey basically. That concept would have a background of being in a circus or something similar and do spy/sneaky stuff on the side. If caught somewhere they would act like they escaped, hopefully defusing the situation to ensure their survival and escape. They would have gotten these mutations either in a wyld zone, or they were born near an uncapped demesne.

Funny thing.. I was thinking about a character based on Hanuman.

Interesting, I didn't know about Hunuman! Apparently some people think he was the inspiration for the Monkey King.

Meanwhile.. I was thinking about my Intimacies.
I think one is going to be a devotion to the truth. It means always tell the truth and value the same in others.

I'm kinda working on the nuts and bolts of the sheet, following the steps. Just decided on one merit, gotta choose the other 2.

Falling Leaf - Night Caste (WIP)






Weapons

Armor




Advantages

Anima EffectsCharmsVirtues & Intimacies



Goals


Milestones
THis is very much still a work in progress. I will add more later.

At least someone has stealth :)

Well, we have Stealth, Knowledge, Fighting and Diplomacy. Pretty balanced team all around !

Altho, just a suggestion, but maybe a Lunar Exalt would work better if you want to focus on the "animal mutant" aspect ? Tho it works fine as is.

So just a quick recap of what I think everyone has mentioned for concepts:

Ganesh - Seeker of Hidden Truths - Solar Twilight (Investigation/Sagacity - No Sorcery :) )
Rattila - ? - Dragon-Blooded Air? - (Ranged Combat)
SchadDad - Xari, One with the Sun - Solar Dawn (Close Combat/War)
malkavian_616 - Falling Leaf - Solar Night (Sneaky Sneaky)
Gnome_Chomsky - ? - ?

@Gnome - you got any thoughts on the direction you're heading? If you're the kind of player who likes to fill in skill gaps, a crafter or sorcerer would do that, you could also be more of a priest type character adept at interacting with gods, elementals, demons, and/or ghosts.

Dam, didn't noticed that Ganesh character was a Solar too, thought it was a Sidereal x). That'll be interesting, considering the... mixed relationship between Solars and Dragon-Blooded.

"Adversity makes strange bedfellows"

For what it's worth, not all Dragon-Blooded have to be Realm Dynasts. There are also the Outcaste which either never were a part of the Realm or renounced any affiliation with the Realm. I personally am a fan of the interparty conflict a Realm Dynast would have while working with a bunch of Solars, but it's not the only way to play it.

Ut oh.. Am I supposed to have sorcery? :)
Let me go study it RQ in my tower.. I'll be back!

Probably have to worry more about Xari. I can't actually harm anyone.. lol.
He, on the other hand, will probably mess your face up.

Plenty of ways to harm somebody that don't involve daiklaves

No. I don't want to be a mutant. I was just wondering if it was a "normal" thing to be non-human.

Okay, so after some thought, I've come up with a few possible concepts.

Ten Paths Travelled: A Solar of the Night Caste who spent most of her life as a performer in a travelling circus. The character is acrobatic, good with animals, and a natural showman. After some close calls with the Wyld Hunt, she left the circus and now operates as a scout and poet-assassin. Her hope is to one day become the hero of her own epic, and thus immortalizes all of her greatest exploits in verse.

The Giggle at the Funeral: An Abyssal of the Moonshadow Caste who serves as a mediator and broker of pacts. The character is a defender of death and decay as a source of mercy and renewal. He is known for his very black sense of humor and penchant for poetic justice.

Blood-Bones-Teeth: A Lunar of the Full Moon Caste and a brawler from Coral. Served for several years as a pirate under the command of pirate-king Thousandbeards. Has a soft spot for alligators, crocodiles, caimans, and other crocodilians, and prefers them to people.

Look, my character wants the best for everyone. Everyone from this world, that is.

Some outcastes are also exiles possibly seeking to off a solar to prove their worth. Probably better to just kill them in their sleep.

anyway gnome, I'd say choose what you'd prefer to play. Picking another Solar will probably orient the game more about their return and the reaction of the world to it, while the other options will probably vary the themes a bit more (I'm not the DM tho, it's just my guess), and both are fine. I could tell you how I'd choose among your concepts, but that wouldn't be how you would do it, just go with what you want !

I'm a big fan of play whatever. I'm just poking fun because of the setting of the game.

We can definitely make whatever exalt types work. Stick with fun and interesting to you as the motivation for your choice

@Gnome I could see a possible connection with your first character concept to mine. I'm building a Night Caste performer with a circus background.

Oh crap, sorry I didn’t realize. I should have read through the thread more carefully. Well I’ve got no lack of character ideas so I can easily drop the first one

I'm almost done with my character sheet, but I wanted to know, is there any other Artifact list than the one in the rulebook I can take from ? I'm searching for a Ranged Combat one, but unfortunately the only one proposed doesn't really fit for my character.

So for ranged combat, canonical options are either thrown like infinite chakras, sky cutters (ie war boomerangs), longfang daggers or power bows and flame pistols and firewands (think flamethrower but individual gouts of flame rather than one continuous stream)

There's examples from 3e and other editions we can adapt or mine for ideas. I'll try to pull some examples. Google is also your friend. Lots of people have posted their artifacts on forums and stuff.

Do you have some thoughts on the kinds of stuff you would like it to do or themes?

I thought that it could be some kind of ancient longbow artefact of House Tepet, gifted to him as a "gift of departure" before he was sent away from the Realm. Supposedly to be used as a symbol of power and wealth to impress commercial and political partners, but powerful nonetheless. Considering the roster of players we have here, maybe it could have been an ancient solar artifact won in battle by one of the old members of the family, during the uprising ?

About its power, and considering its Solar origin, I was thinking of a "Longbow of Retribution". A symbol of Justice whose powers would increase depending on the target's evilness/bad deeds, by having a number of arrows fired equals to the number of persons killed by the target, for example. It could be situationally very strong, but also totally useless on peaceful/good persons, which may explain that its power was underestimated/forgotten with time.

Of course, the power would depend on whether the artifact is my primary or secondary merit, which brings me to another question: as the recent exaltation of my character would have made him one of the two primary heir of House Tepet, would that "require" a level 5 of Influence, or could it realistically still be at level 3 ?

@Gnome I wasn't saying drop the concept, just that the circus background would possibly be a link between the characters.

A Solar Artifact would generally be an Orichalcum weapon which you would not be resonant with which would have issues. What do you think about the Blue Jade Powerbow that Tepet Arada used to fell an Anathema by the name of Jochim? Tepet Arada has gone on an hermitage after the decimation of the Tepet Legion under his command by the Bull of the North. He left the bow behind when he resigned from command and withdrew from Dynastic society. Perhaps you can bring honor back to this noble and powerful weapon. Or maybe he'll find out that some upstart has taken his weapon and come looking for it... :)

We can work on the evocations as I pull some examples.
So Tepet Ejava ("The Roseblack") is very much the primary heir to House Tepet. Though Tepet overall has been diminished relative to the other Great Houses, it is not bereft of Dragon-Bloods and many of those have been around for hundreds of years. It's unlikely that someone so young would be immediately put forth as an heir.

The fact that your Exalted is not rare among the leaders of the house. Dragon-Blooded exaltations are far more common than any of the other Exalt Types. Where there are only about 100 Solars/Abyssals/Infernals at any given time, there are thousands of Dragon-Bloods. You would immediately outrank nearly any mortal member of the House, but not the elder Exalts in the House.

Returning to your question about Influence. Influence 3 would be plenty to cover influence within a city which we will primarily be in for the story. You could probably even go lower since Tepet is somewhat disgraced and may not even have that much sway in places it used to. It's all up to you on how you'd like to play it.

If you want to be able to name drop Tepet and it mean something, go with Influence 3. If you want it to be occasionally helpful, make it lower.

The Blue Jade Powerbow sounds good ! He would just need a good reason for such an object to be gifted to him in particular, however.
Maybe simply because no one else from the House wanted it, considering it's previous owner and the many men it killed ? My character not being really fit for combat and far away from the Realm could be a good way to get rid of that embarrassing but nonetheless powerful weapon.


Ah sorry, I didn't know about the size of a Great House. I guess something more similar to what I had in mind then would be for him to be an heir of one of the "branches" of House Tepet, if there such a thing ? Or the equivalent of a family line. Still an important noble, but far from one to have a literal army behind them. Depending on what influence this would imply, I may lwoer it to Merit 2.

How dare you not know the thousands of pages of setting lore this game has?!!!! :)

As for justification of the bow it could be just that there's more artifacts available and fewer hands asking for them and this bow in particular has some stigma so I agree that maybe no one wanted it.

Here's a little House Tepet backstory for you that could help inform things and maybe give you some names or other setting pieces to attach to your character. HERE is a little more.

Nice ! I'll just wait for the evocations you have on hand when you'll have the time to show them to me, then.

I've already seen that House Tepet's members were wiped out, and I think it could be interesting as my character would suddenly have become a new asset they were lacking of, while he only as a clubfooted diplomat before, sent away to avoid being a disgrace to his line (at least I'd guess that's how a Great House could treat a lame mortal among them ?). Him being sent far away would also make sense as I've read that House Tepet is seeking any kind of exterior opportunities to grow back its wealth and power.

I've just seen that House Tepet has what's called lines here. Would it be possible for Zefir (that's my character's name) to be an heir of one of them, then ? I'd guess that would be Marek, Vergus or Tilis, but if those seem too powerful to you, maybe he could be from a minor one instead ?

Here's something I found for artifact.
http://exalted3e.wikidot.com/ae:harmonious-savant-wrackstaff

You can totally be a member of whatever line you want. I was only pushing back at the concept of being the primary heir to House Tepet. As far as this game is concerned I think it only matters in terms of informing your character and their motivations and goals. Maybe Zefir is driven to become the primary heir after having been kinda dismissed by the House. Maybe he (she?) Is driven to bring the house back to prominence as their way of elevating rank.

That's cool ! I think since my character only has exalted recently, he wouldn't really know yet what he'd want to do with or without his House, but they would clearly want to get more control over him fast. Figuring how he'll react to all that will be part of the play, at least I hope so !

Would you want me to send you the current uncompleted character sheet before you give me the Blue Jade evocations ?

Go ahead and submit your character. I can see it there and you can continue to edit and add as we go

Thanks, I've just sent it. It's still missing Equipment and Defense/Soak/Hardness however, as I didn't find how to determinate Parry/Evasion.

Parry will be (an attribute of your choice + close combat) / 2. Evasion is Athletics instead

I see, thanks !

Apologies if this has already been asked, but how do you determine Will and Power?

My character is about 75% finished. Just need to figure out Virtues, Intimacies, and equipment.

Will and power are values you develop when casting sorcery and in combat, respectively

I think Zefir is mostly done. All that is left is the artifact and the equipment part. More specifically, I searched the pdf, but couldn't find any armor equipment mentioned. Did I miss something ?

Basic armor stats are discussed on p 391. There's one example of artifact armor: midnight thorn on p 402.

Thanks ! I'll complete my sheet tomorrow, and that'll just leave the blue-jade bow then.

I think the sheet is finally done ! I'll let you double-check if you want.

Does artefacts evocation have to be bought or you can use them as long as you have the prerequisite and artefact in possession?

You have to buy them but you usually get the first one or so for free. Usually says in the description

I'll add that to the description of my artefacts then (with your permission) ;)

Edit: Reviewing the book with a quick search, I only found that to be true on hearthstone. So now i'm not so sure...

Let me take a look. That's how it was in 3e. I'll compare compare Essence h