Timekeeping in Creation
Seasons, Months, and Days of the Week
Creation has five seasons, one for each of the elements; Air, Water, Earth, Wood, and Fire. Each season is divided into three months of twenty-eight days. Each month represents a phase of the season; Ascending, Resplendent, and Descending. At the end of the season of Fire, five intercalary days, known as Calibration, mark the end of the year. The coldest month is Ascending Water and Descending Fire the hottest. Each month is divided into four weeks of seven days each. Each day is named after one of the Incarnae; Sunday, Moonday, Marsday, Mercuryday, Jupiterday, Venusday, and Saturnday.
Movement of Celestial Bodies
The sun doesn't just move from east to west daily on the same path, each day it crosses the sky in a slightly different path. It drifts south then north again. It moves to the south, reaching its farthest point during Ascending Water, and the warmth of its rays are denied all the land north of the Southern deserts. Then, it moves north again, and its rays melt the winter snows until it reaches its most northern point during Descending Fire.
The planets move about in a random pattern across the sky if they are even seen at all. The exception is the Maiden of Serenity who is always seen at dawn and dusk.
Lunar Phases and Calibration
The first day of each month is a New Moon. Half Moons mark the eighth and twenty-second of each month. The fifteenth day of each month is the Full Moon. The days of Calibration are moonless and starless nights and the first day of the New Year, i.e. the first day of Ascending Air, is marked by the re-appearance of the stars and the first New Moon of the year.
Hours of the Day
A day in Creation is evenly divided into five Houses named after the Five Maidens; Journeys, Serenity, War, Secrets, and Endings. Each House is divided into five hours each named after one of the twenty-five constellations.
The House of the Golden Barque of Journeys:
Constellations: Captain, Gull, Mast, Messenger, Ship's Wheel
The House of the Cerulean Lute of Serenity:
Constellations: Ewer, Lovers, Musician, Peacock, Pillar
The House of the Crimson Panopoly of War:
Constellations: Banner, Gauntlet, Quiver, Shield, Spear
The House of the Forbidding Manse of Secrets:
Constellations: Guardians, Key, Mask, Sorcery, Treasure Trove
The House of the Violet Bier of Endings:
Constellations: Corpse, Crow, Haywain, Rising Smoke and Sword
Second Dawn : The Scavenger Lands
My Area of Jurisdiction: The Scavenger Lands, the far East and the Blessed Isle. Unless otherwise indicated below in my houserules, the rules interpretations for Second Dawn: The West also apply in the East.
Houserules
- Step 6 of the Order of Modifiers p 124. -- Use this text: Add any successes gained from Charms, Willpower expenditure or other sources. If the character has a zero or negative dice pool at this point, the roll automatically fails unless the character was assessed a 3 dice stunt in Step 1, then it succeeds with the number of bonus successes gained by Charms, willpower expenditure or other sources.
- Because the GM can't pronounce it properly, the proper pronunciation of "Mnemon" is hereby "Mem-NON". It is still spelled as "Mnemon" though. The justification of this is an ancient Old Realm conjugation rule whose grammar rules have been lost in modern times.
- No action can move faster then Speed 3. If any game effect brings the speed of an action lower then 3, the action gets a +1 rate instead for each speed below 3 that it should have had.
example: Using a Wind Fire Wheel (speed 4), an Essence 3 Exalt and Lethal Paper Fan Attack (Reduces speed by essence), theoretically you will get a Speed 1 Wind Fire Wheel. However according to these rules, you will instead get a speed 3 Wind Fire Wheel, with +2 rate.
Top
Second Dawn: The West & Second Dawn: An-Teng
The West is under my jurisdiction. Anything that has repercussions localized in the West, Northwest, and Southwest are mine to arbiter. Anything that has wider implications will be discussed with my fellow Storyteller.
That being said, this is where I will add the stuff for my portion of the game. Advice and houserules will all be placed here and modified, removed, or added to as the game requires.
Game Advice
Motivations and Virtue Flaws
Motivation is vital in an Exalted game. Just as important is the reason behind this Motivation, the "why" of the Motivation. This "why" will, in turn, determine what the appropriate Virtue is that governs it and thus the character's Virtue Flaw.
As was discussed with others during the character creation session, this can all come down to a matter of wording since almost any Motivation's "why" can be molded to fit any one of the four Virtues.
However tedious this might seem it is still vital to the game not only in terms of game mechanics, but also in fleshing out your character.
So before everything else, finalize your character's Motivation and its corresponding "why."
Keeping Your Character Alive - Redux
In page 76 of the core rulebook is a sidebar entitled Keeping Your Character Alive which gives some advice on how your character can survive combat. Based from experience, however, the advice given is a mixed bag of nuts. Players may take what is written there to heart or you can take my advice.
First off, realize that the way combat is handled in Exalted, it is better to not get hit than to be able to take the hit.
That being said get at least one Charm that will allow you to dodge or parry. Shadow Over Water, Dipping Swallow Technique, or Fist of Iron Technique all work with this concept. Getting a First [Ability] Excelllency or Second [Ability] Excellency with Dodge, Melee, or Martial Arts also work. The Melee and Martial Arts Excellencies also work to add offensive capability as well as enhancing parries.
If you cannot get a dodge or parry charm or if you plan on fighting without armor then Durability of Oak Meditation and the other Charms in its tree are good choices.
The sidebar thoroughly recommends Ox-Body Technique. While I have to admit the Charm is useful for the cost I do not believe that it is as valuable as getting out of the way or resisting a hit. The same goes for Body Mending Meditation albeit it is superb for what it does since it reduces healing times allowing Solars to recover fully in a few days instead of weeks or months.
Top
Stunt! Stunt! Stunt!
Stunt to attack. Stunt for defense. Stunt Social Combat. Use stunts whenever possible. Try not to stick with the usual "I attack," "I parry," etc. Show your style!
Not only do stunts help you in terms of gaining extra dice, Essence, Willpower, or Experience Points, but it also helps liven up the gaming table.
Top
Houserules
Rules of the Table
No Rules Debates During Play
Any rules debates are allowed only during breaks or after the game. Debating rules in the middle of the game is counter-productive to the fun of everyone on the gaming table.
If there is a question on the rules during play I, as the Storyteller, have the final say and play will continue. No buts. No "I object for the record." Suck it up and save your objections for breaks or after the game.
Quiet in the Peanut Gallery
If it is not your turn to play or if you are not doing anything, do not do things that will disrupt the flow of the game.
This includes, but is not limited to, butting in and telling the players what to do, providing player knowledge when not called for, outtakes of the scene, et al. Save them for breaks, story downtimes, for after the game, or take it out of earshot of those taking their turn.
Top
Rules Changes
- Order of Modfiers pp. 124 -- Replace the text for Step 6 with the following:
Step 6: Apply Bonus Successes: Add any successes gained from Charms, Willpower expenditure or other sources. A bonus success is considered to be two dice for purposes of computing dice. If after the application of bonus successes, or if no such effects apply, and the character has zero or negative dice remaining, the roll automatically fails.
Example: An Exalt has, as of Step #5, a pool of -2 dice. If he has 2 bonus successes then his action would succeed with 2 successes (-2 dice + [Bonus Success x 2 = 4 dice] = 2 dice), but if he had only 1 bonus success the action would fail ( -2 dice + [Bonus Success x 2 = 2 dice] = 0 dice).
Yes, this means that bonus successes are an all or nothing affair much like Raw Damage vs Hardness.
Top
Rules Interpretations
- Flurries and Drawing/Readying Weapons, pp. 143, 144 -- A character may draw and ready a number of weapons as she has hands available. If part of a flurry, drawing and readying a weapon or weapons may only be done at the beginning of the flurry of attacks.
- Stunts and DV, pp. 124, 145, 148 -- As per the note of John Chambers, you roll dice gained from defense stunts and apply the number of successes directly to the DV.
- Craft Excellencies, pp. 183-187, 211 -- Craft Excellencies and related Charms, being non-Supplemental Craft Charms, apply to all Crafts as noted in the sidebar in p. 211.
- Onslaught and Coordinated Attack Penalties, p. 147 -- Ignore the Onslaught penalty in the sidebar, apply a -1 DV for every attack.
- Falling pp. 126-127, 179 -- Despite the text in p. 179 "An "attack" is an effect that damages or changes the Exal's body, mind, spirit or traits.", falling is not** considered an attack. Therefore you cannot use dodge or parry charms to avoid taking damage from a fall. Neither is falling considered environmental damage with regards to charms that specify resistance or immunity to environmental damage.
- Damage pp. 145, 149-150 -- Damage is rolled in Step #10 of combat and not on Step #8 as implied in the sidebar on p. 145. Counterattacks (Step #9) happen simultaneously with the attacks that triggered them, so resolution of damage and non-damage effects happen on Step #10.
- Grappling and Leaping Dodge Method, pp. 157, 227 -- Grappling attempts may be dodged or parried as normal and thus subject to activation of Leaping Dodge Method. However, as Leaping Dodge Method is a Counterattack it resolves in Step #9 and happens simultaneously with the attack that triggers it allowing for a successful clinch to resolve in Step #10 even after the defender has jumped out of range. In this situation I am applying the rule that Defense trumps Offense. Leaping Dodge Method will allow the defender to escape the application of the clinch unless the attacker can jump with her.
- LUNARS: Halting the Scarlet Flow (p. 160, MoEP: Lunars) -- We are taking the opinion of Exalted Charm Writer Peter Schafer on how this charm is to function: Halting the Scarlet Flow is a reflexive action that heals one lethal health level, usable once per action. Its Gift aspect requires three motes commitment to heal one lethal per action; when activated simultaneously with Bruise-Relief Method's Gift power, the Lunar heals one lethal and (Stamina) bashing each action.
- LUNARS: Frenzied Bear Fortification (p. 160, MoEP: Lunars) -- One level of damage is hereby clarified to mean one HEALTH LEVEL of damage. This charm only works for Bashing and Lethal damage, and will work on Aggravated if the Lunar has more the 4 Essence.
Top
Official Errata
Unless otherwise changed under Rules Changes or interpreted differently under Rules Interpretations, we wil be using the official errata found in the Official Exalted Wiki:
Top
Custom/Fan-created Charms
The following custom/fan created charms are authorized for use in Second Dawn:
*Moon follows Sun Style - Lunar Charm: Dex 5 Ess 4
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.