Exalted Rework Part 8: Character Creation

So after a week, I've got a pretty solid idea for what a character sheet looks like. Let's go over it real quickly and talk about the elements I haven't had a chance to really clarify.


Name/Title
Concept
Motivation
Type/Caste
Anima Banner
Essence: I was tempted to say that characters start at Essence 2 and that's that, but I realized that doing so completely eliminates the prospect of characters starting out with Sorcery. As such, the Sorcerer's Option is possible to buy up your Essence to 3 by sacrificing 2 of your Asset slots. While this dramatically decreases your initial flexibility, the additional power provided by this may be worth it to some, especially those who wish to learn the strange and powerful ways of essence-shaping.
Intimacies: I considered whether or not to use Intimacies, I realized that they are an excellent character design shorthand that the original game simply did a poor job discussing. Characters should have between 3 and 5 Intimacies, little secondary motivations to care for, strive for or oppose. Intimacies are always nouns, and should always have a vector, written in parentheses, describing in two or three words the character's feelings for the noun, such as "Creation (Protective)" or "The Realm (Unrestrained Hate)" or "His Wife (Cautious Lust)". Such things help tell the story.
Skills: I noticed early on in my design that in character generation, since Skill rank is the primary deciding factor of conflict that the opportunity cost of higher Skill rank must be higher than it was in the original game, where your first 3 ranks all cost the same amount and the fourth and fifth ranks cost slightly higher. Ultimately, to cut down on the math I chose to do it for players. Celestial Exalted (who have access to Skills at 5) have a number of possible starting Skill Arrays, such as 53221, meaning One skill at 5, one skill at 3, two skills at 2 and one skill at 1. Terrestrial Exalted cannot have skills at 5, and so are more limited, and Heroic Mortals' Arrays are smaller still. (The math behind the arrays is triangular numbers. Starting with 28 points, a number I picked because it felt about right and happened to be the number of points characters got in 2nd Edition, each rank in each skill must be bought, so a Skill at 5 costs 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15 of your 'points'. I further limited Arrays by necessitating that characters have no less than 5 Skills.)
Assets: Solars begin the game with 6 Assets. It 3 of these must be Charms, and probably 5 of them should be. If you use 2 of your Charm Slots to buy Essence 3, 2 of your remaining 2 Assets must be Charms.
Resonant Virtues: Heroic Characters (including all Exalted) have at least one Resonant Virtue. You may have up to 4. Resonant Virtues provide you with restrictions on your behavior that, if you break, you will suffer penalties until you can redeem yourself with heroic virtuous deeds. However, they also allow you to regain Essence and gain bonuses.

... and that's it. That's all that goes on your character sheet. Let's do a quick test run, we'll do Ryoka, from yesterday's examples.

• Name and Title: Ryoka, the Phoenix Knight (Titles are always a little presumptuous. This one is based on her Anima.)
• Concept: Warrior-Judge
• Motivation: Protect the mortals of Creation from Supernatural Threats (An unachievable Motivation, but one that clearly defines circumstances that will spur her to action)
• Type/Caste: Dawn Caste Solar
• Anima Banner: A gold and red Phoenix spreading its wings and rising
• Essence: 2
• Intimacies: Vakarin (her homeland) (Gratitude), Justice (Zealous Pursuit), Martial Perfection (Calm Desire) (Nothing really exciting here, Ryoka is the sort of character, like many, who will build Intimacies to characters and causes as a game goes on. That's fine since her motivation so clearly attaches her to the world.)
• Skills: Iaido & Chanbara (Combat) 4, CSI: Creation (Physical Perception) 3, Honor Unto Insanity (Fortitude) 3, Walks Among the Mighty (Social Graces) 2, "Just the Facts, Miss" (Social Perception) 2. (Ryoka uses a 43322 Array, demonstrating deep commitment to a relatively limited number of skills.)
• Assets: Fortitude of Heaven, Solar Anima, Puissance of the Sun, The Great Curse Upon the Solars, Glory of the Dawn, Sword of Heaven, First Solar Excellency (Combat), Flashing Vengeance Draw, Fivefold Bulwark Stance, Spirit-Cutting Attack, Courtier's Eye Technique, Crafty Observation Method (Ryoka has opted to just take 6 Charms, focusing, logically for a Dawn Caste, on Combat, with some perception charms as well as Spirit-Cutting Attack, which makes achieving her Motivation much less frustrating).
• Resonant Virtues: Temperance, Valor (Ryoka is tight-laced and proud, but self-controlled and fearless)
• Virtue Flaw: Honor of the Duel (Valor). Condition: Whenever Ryoka is insulted or her combat prowess is reasonably called into question. Limit Break: Ryoka challenges the offender to a duel to the death, immediately, no matter the circumstances or poor timing, and she will not permit an offender to back down. Anyone who attempts to stop or delay the duel will be challenged as well. She may be convinced not to kill someone if they are close to her or if someone who is makes a compelling argument, but will never let anyone off with anything less than beating them into unconsciousness after demonstrating her superiority: she will never hold back anything. Lasts until all challengers have been dealt with or Ryoka is beaten into unconsciousness. (Like any good Virtue Flaw this stands to harm both her allies and her reputation, as well as get her killed if she chooses the wrong opponent, though circumstances might also permit her to get away with killing someone who needed to die anyway. In any case, it makes her look irrationally vain and proud when it activates, which are good heroic flaws.)

That was pretty easy. Let's do Inori from yesterday's example real quick too.

• Name and Title: Inori, the Loving Priestess
• Concept: Prophet of Hope
• Motivation: Restore the Celestial Order (That's a pretty big one)
• Type/Caste: Zenith Caste Solar
• Anima Banner: Five golden pillars fanned out behind her, inscribed with the laws of Heaven in Old Realm script
• Essence: 2
• Intimacies: Simple Folk (Fond Caring), Corrupt Gods (Severe Disappointment), Music (Joyous Adoration), The First Age (Wistful Yearning)
• Skills: Voice of Radiance (Social Influence) 4, Unflinching Kindness (Fortitude) 3, Fist of the Righteous (Combat) 3, Beloved of Gods and Men (Social Graces) 2, Raised by a Witch (Medicine) 1, Love Sees Through (Social Perception) 1, Strength of Virtue (Physical Prowess) 1 (Inori uses a 4332111 Array, very similar to Ryoka's but with more skills on the lower end)
• Assets: Fortitude of Heaven, Solar Anima, Puissance of the Sun, The Great Curse Upon the Solars, Glory of the Zenith, Hammer of Heaven, Fallen but Unconquered, Past Life Memories, Enchanting, Respect-Commanding Attitude, Iron Skin Concentration, Spirit-Cutting Attack, Flawless Diagnosis Technique (Inori has chosen two Assets which fall into the old 'Merits' category. Past Life Memories gives her limited recollection of the truths of the First Age, in addition to reflexive familiarity with devices from that time and some idea of how they function. Enchanting represents her extraordinary beauty and singing voice, which is a natural but outstanding quality.)
• Resonant Virtues: Compassion
• Virtue Flaw: Love for All Things (Compassion): Condition: Inori or her allies are threatened by strangers, or her allies threaten strangers. Limit Break: Inori becomes unable to see the evil in anything. She will do her very best (including the use of mind-affecting charms) to convince everyone present that peace and unity can be achieved, treating friend and foe equally. She will respond to any violence against anyone present with violence, but only to incapacitate, she will also respond violently to attempts to remove her from negotiations. She is utterly blind to manipulation and possible betrayal. Lasts for several hours.

So this is around about what Solars will look like in the new system. Substantially shorter and less number-heavy statblocks than before, though looking over these I think we'll want to leave space on the character sheet to write out a quick description of each Asset, because as much as I love Exalted Charm names they're not always useful in determining what the charm does.

Tomorrow I'll talk about my plans for Martial Arts and Sorcery, two major but universal systems that really need their flavor preserved but a lot of their mechanics ripped out.