Exalted

I set aside this Saturday, the 7th, for us to get together.

Does anyone have more questions? Anything specific? I'll do my best to answer

Sounds good, keep it coming.

The world is fantasy. It isn't recognizably our world. I hesitate to say medieval, but that is probably not too far off. Most of the populace lives in rural or urban squalor. The well-to-do live quite a bit better. In some respects the world is post-apocalyptic, in that many relics and ruins of the First Age still exist.

Martial arts exist, though mostly abstracted for normals. Exalted can learn charms that give them access to enhanced and super-human attacks: enhancing damage, hitting better, attacking multiple opponents, dodging with amazing agility....these are all powers that can be learned by the Solar Exalted. They can also be learned in combinations, allowing the powers to set one another up for truly awesome attacks.

Charms can also be used for non-combat tasks. They can be used to enhance skills, from swaying a crowd of rioters, to untangling the knots of the Imperial bureacracy.

Technology is still pretty much brute force. Weapons are swords and bows, armor is chain and plate. The highest tech items are warstriders, which are magically powered war machines having crews of 1 or more. These are exceedingly rare, i.e., you probably won't see one. There are alot of items that look like tech, but are powered by essence. These items aren't particularly common.

Unless the players decide they would like to be elsewhere, the campaign will likely start in the shattered lands of the East, in the city of Nexus. This area is not under the control of the Empire, although the Empire has a great deal of influence here. Nexus is built on the ruins of an older, first age city. It is the center of commerce and trade and transport. It houses about a million people, ranging from the wealthy to the vast majority of poor. Nexus is governed by a council which is overseen by a figure known only as the Emissary. It is a good place to get lost and not be noticed if you don't want to be found....a good idea for most Solar Exalted. Most of the early campaign will probably be sent getting familiar with the world; it is a large place with a great deal that can be done. Here is some background:

The Empire: The empire is run by the noble Dragon Blooded families, who in turn are ruled by the empress. Dragon Blooded are not exalted in the same fashion as other exalts. They are not chosen by the gods (in their case, the five elemental dragons), but rather come to their power through birth. The empress claims to rule all of Creation by virtue of controlling the mystic defenses that repel the Fair Folk and the Wyld (an area at the edge of the world that is chaotic, destructive, and random). In practice, many independent states and cities exist, paying lip service and tribute to the empire. The empress has gone missing for the past five years, and matters have slowly turned to shit while the noble houses vie for power and the right to succeed her, if indeed she is dead.

The Immaculate Order: This is the state religion of the empire. It is based on the worship of the five elemental dragons, and of the dragon blooded themselves. If one worships and lives well, they can be reborn into a higher station, the highest being exalted as a Dragon Blood. They also teach that all other forms of exalted are Anathema, to be hunted down and slain when discovered.

The Wild Hunt: This is the group that hunts down solar exalted (and lunars and sidereal) when they appear. They use unknown means to determine when an anathema has been exalted, and their forces then hunt the newy exalted wretch until they kill him.

The Fair Folk: These are your typical fairies....except they aren't partcularly cute or good. They live by feeding on the dreams and emotions of mortals. When they have eaten their fill, their victim is left a soul-less husk, fit for only the most menial slavery....or death.

The Wyld: The Wyld is unbound chaos, and it changes everything it touches. The Fair Folk dwell here and desire nothing more than to end Creation by burying it under the Wyld.

The Little Gods: The world is full of spirits, some powerful, some not so. A wise character can befriend them, while those ignorant of their ways can, at best, come out no worse for wear. They are capricious and proud.

The Guild: The most powerful organization of traders and merchants. They will literally buy and sell anything: grain, people, crafts, drugs...it is all the same to the Guild, as long as there is profit to be had.

More later, there is lots to this world :

ok what kind of campagin? hoe good are the martial arts? are there firearms and technology? is this based of a period in history or is the world an allternate or future world?

Hmmm, where to start?

The players will be Solar Exalted, which is one of 5 different kinds of Exalted (the others being: Sidereal, Abyssal, Lunar, and Dragon-Blooded). Solar Exalted are rare, with no more than a few hundred existing. They have the potential to be the most powerful of the Exalted, although training in these times is scarce for them. Solar Exalted have 5 Castes, which are sort of like classes in other RPGs; they mostly affect the skills that are emphasized and the Charms (a type of magic) that can be bought cheaply. The castes are: Dawn (warriors), Twilight (scholars, sorcerors, crafters), Eclipse (ambassadors and negotiators), Night (thieves, spies, and assassins), and Zenith (priests, mystics, prophets, seers). Each caste has areas of expertise and a special ability or 2 to call upon; all castes can learn all charms, and any Solar Exalted can learn sorcery. A character is not born as Solar Exalted. Rather, during a time of stress, the character is chosen by an ancient god and given these powers to survive. Solar Exalted have free will; they are not blind instruments of anyone, but can choose what use to make of their newfound power.

Skills: These are divided into 5 areas, by caste. Caste skills are cheaper to learn and increase. The player also gets to choose an additional 5 skills as favorites which also receive the discount. These can represent skills the character would know from his previous life and background.

Charms: Players begin play with 10 charms, 5 of which must be linked to his caste skills; the rest can come from any area. Players can learn Sorcery as well.

Willpower: Very similar to other WW games.

Essence: Powers Charms and Sorcery.

Virtues: Each character has scores in the four virtues. These can be an aid to an Exalted, as well as a curse.

Backgrounds: Are similar to other WW games and can be used for some interesting advantages and hooks.

Have a meeting now, more on background later

Sounds cool, I'm in.

i like world of darkess and the system. i would like to hear more.