The Formless One
04-10-2005, 10:03 AM
Hey there RPG.net!
I wasn’t about to post this originally, given that I felt my Exalted games felt somewhat mundane and uninspired compared to some of the write-up’s I’ve seen here. Yet, at the subtle pointing out from a fellow forum-goer that my games were obviously interesting enough that my group insisted they not wait for their regular weekly sessions on Wednesday and planned an impromptu game on Friday due to excitement, I’ve decided that it’s at least worth any feedback I might get. Or even just a little praise from my fellow ST’s. :D
Thanks for the nudge, btw. You know who you are.
The tentative name for this game is “Exalted: Awakening and Apocalypse,” so without further rambling from me, my first real Actual Play for Exalted: Awakening and Apocalypse!
Given that the original Actual Play was posted in an awful format to read in, and it got so little attention (only Kasumi popped up with “Uhhh... Looks like you did some cool stuff, but don’t ever post it like that again please.”), I’ll be posting a whole bunch with a short break to show where the game sessions took off.
Dramatis Personae: (Name [Caste, core Virtue - Influences])
Drayken (Dawn, Valor - From the game/anime Darkstalkers: Donovan’s appearance) - Drayken was born and raised in an unnamed Realm tributary state near the River Provinces. The right combination of brains, brawn and skill, he served in the local militia, then in the tributary’s auxiliary (and second-rate) Legion. There, despite dealing with incompetent officers and Realm Legion cast-offs, Drayken managed to pull off a remarkable success rate while impressing everyone with his personal bravery and cool-head in combat. When offered a chance to serve in the official Realm Legions, he (correctly or not) figured that his chances of ever achieving any real success or authority would be limited, thus opted out and set to establish a mercenary presence. Serving as coordinator, with a keen eye for finding the right people for the jobs he couldn’t handle himself, Drayken’s forces grew in renown and skill. Eventually, after the crushing defeat in the North at the hands of the Bull, Drayken’s small army was hired to back up the shattered remains of the northern Legions.
As a Solar, Drayken focuses on Melee and all things related to butt-kicking. He’s going to be getting a few Presence charms soon too.
The Crimson Tiger (Zenith, Valor - The Rock, Jet Li and Maximus Meridius) - Tiger Kizaz, aka the Crimson Tiger, is a former gladiator and entertainer. A speaker before a fighter (though no slouch with his claws), Tiger set the Nexus gladiatorial scene ablaze with his fiery catch-phrases, his sparking personality and bronze Southern good looks. He moves and dodges with feline grace, yet roars and tears his enemies like only a vicious great cat can. Paired up with a gladiator without a piece of charisma in his body, but a strong sword arm, Tiger fought to own the crowds and win his freedom. All the while, being longed for by The Rose Pit-Viper, a decadent Dragon-Blooded who has been black-listed by the Dynasty.
As a Solar, Tiger is a master of Tiger Style martial arts, unarmoured soak charms and dodge charms. He fights fast, mobile and dangerous. He also has the first Performance and Presence charms.
Kumori (Night, Temperance - “I want to be a ninja, but... more awesomer”) - Born in the North, Kumori’s an anomaly. In a place known for it’s pasty white winter-folk, Kumori’s an asian of average stature and profound musculature. The eldest member of the circle, Kumori mastered his trade hunting down wayward slaves, criminals and anyone not obviously wrong. So good, was he, that he sometimes dealt with spirits who got out of line. Kumori’s reputation has allowed him to travel far and wide, resulting in extensive contacts, both legal and illegal. His last job and visit was in the west for the Coral Archipelago.
As a Solar, he focused on Ebon Shadow Style, stealth charms, Survival/tracking charms and spirit-dealing magic.
Note that Kumori’s a new arrival to the group, so isn’t in the first few sessions.
Mnemon Orion (Eclipse, Conviction - “I’m really f’n complex”) - Son of none other than Mnemon herself, and the last child born to her before she swore off any more children to focus on attaining the throne of the Realm. Early on, Orion was a let down. The result of a pairing picked exclusively to produce a high-bred Dragon-Blooded, Orion never Exalted, despite being an exceptional mortal talent. He slipped through the cracks, and was found by a Sidereal by the name of Imon, who took him as his mentor. Enraged at his family’s rejection of him, he took up heresy in the hands of the Cult of the Illuminated’s teachings (which Imon was a major player within) and traveled the threshold with his mentor Imon and fellow student/best friend, Jerah.
As a Solar, Orion uses socialize, bureaucracy, lore Terrestrial and Celestial Circle Sorcery, as well as the Golden Barque of the Heavens Style (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=181799).
Mnemon Orion’s Prelude: The Sun Behind the Frozen Tears
Three years before present day, in an unnamed town in the North.
Orion is awakened in the middle of the night by an icy chill that shocks him to consciousness. Looking around the room, he finds only a well shuttered wind and a lit candle melted away to almost nothing over on the desk.
Still worried, Orion slowly rises and checks the room in the shadows. Finally drawn to the window, he peers out through the shutters and sees staggering figures. In the soft white light of Luna above, he sees their rotting flesh. The restless dead.
Orion quickly wakes up Jerah, who still lays in the bed, muttering to Orion for waking him up. He’s soft and weak-looking. A studier. Told, Jerah nearly freezes in terror. Showing a calm nerve, Orion gets Jerah out of their room and hurry over to their mentor’s room.
Banging on the door, they get no reply. Undaunted, Orion goes against his master’s explicit orders and enters the strangely unlocked room. Inside, a series of charts, star-models and other astrological mapping devices, but no Lord Imon.
Knowing they have no time, Orion quickly makes his way out of the room and leads Jerah by the hand downstairs, where they pass by the front door as the lumbering beasts outside begin to smash on it and groan menacingly outside.
Just as they make for the back door, the undead break the front down. Orion and Jerah, barefoot and in their night clothes, run into the bitter cold snow outside.
Through the back yards for several houses down they sprint, and the cold quickly takes it’s hold on Jerah, who begins to lock up. Getting frustrated, Orion keeps running, dragging Jerah behind until they hide behind a building.
Peering into what amounts to the small town’s main street, Orion sees the most horrible thing his young eyes have ever laid upon: A jerking line of dead, all slowly walking towards them with the methodical determination of death itself. Hundreds and hundreds of them, with a single armour clad warrior riding with them in the middle of the host.
Orion loses himself to fear and grabs Jerah, fleeing down the street as fast as his numb feet will carry him. Off in the far distance, the rumbling of hooves. Finally some hope, Orion has hope. Yet, Orion looks back to see a long line of dead break ranks and begin barreling towards the two of them. A chase begins. Orion to reach the sounds of hooves, and this creature to catch them.
Now, a series of rolls begin. Joe, Orion’s player, is told to make an extended success roll equal to a fairly average roll (but stretched out to increase the dramatic tension). Make a series of stamina rolls, as Orion’s tertiary is Physical, and if he can accumulate enough successes, he’ll make it to the sound of the horse riding in time.
The first series are fairly successful, but not phenomenally so. Orion’s able to stay ahead, and see the shape of a horse-drawn cart appearing in the distance as the snowflakes begin to fall. This sight gives Orion a bit more hope, and he looks back.
Behind him is a horror unlike even a walking corse. A line of dead, their bodies cut off at the torsos, stuck together to form a centipede of undeath; a spine chain.
Orion tells Jerah to keep looking ahead, and it seems to be going well for both Orion and his player. Then it happens. Jerah looks, sees it, and stops looking where his feet are going for just a moment. He trips. Orion stops, dragging Jerah to his feet, only to see the red of blood on the snow. Jerah’s leg is compound fractured.
Orion stares, caught between running for his own life, saving it, or risking everything to save his friend. In a moment of pure heroism, Orion hoists Jerah into a fireman’s carry and begins struggling towards the horse cart as Imon’s figure can be seen.
At the last second, Orion tosses Jerah on to the cart as it makes a moving bid to let them both jump on. Orion’s night gown is ripped by the claws of the spine chain as he catches onto the inside of the cart.
Now a chase begins, with the horse-drawn cart being followed by the spine chain, and another behind it. Jerah is yanked to the front of the cart and told to hold on. Orion finds a hoe in this stolen farmer’s cart and begins attacking the spine chain as it gets closer and closer.
Eventually the chain manages to grab a hold of the hoe and rip it out of Orion’s hand, causing Orion to fall down near the front of the cart.
The chain grabs Orion, but Jerah holds Orion tight. Orion claws back up, but the chain reverses the situation and grabs Jerah’s leg at the last minute.
Struggling to hold on to the cart, Orion watches Jerah get pulled away in slow motion. It was too strong for Orion to hold his friend there, so searching for a way, ANY way, to save Jerah, Jerah notices a sword on Imon’s back.
A glittering piece of steel that shimmers like a thousand starry prisms. Grabbing it, Orion’s whole world is bathed in golden light. Striking down at the spine chain’s arm with supernatural speed and force, Orion is momentary lost in desperation.
Channeling the essence of a thousand years of imprisonment and might not seen since the First Age, the back of the cart nearly explodes and the spine chain’s front few torsos are destroyed.
Awash with pride, Orion looks to Jerah, only to find the part where Jerah was to be done. Looking around, a spine-chain has already swarmed Jerah. Ready to lunge into another fight, an equally strong hand grabs Orion by the shoulder.
Staring into Imon’s starry eyes, seeing the glowing Eclipse caste mark on his forehead in the eye’s reflection, with the bright green mark of the Maiden of Secrets, Imon pleads, “No. He’s already lost. You’re too important.”
Cut to a well outfitted study, with candles well lit, astrological charts, mystical potions and charm theory scattered about. Orion sits, writing in a book.
“... and that’s when I decided that I shall never be weak enough to be hurt like that again.”
(Orion’s Compassion is 1, and all through the session, Joe was figuring that Orion would have just left Jerah, but knew that wouldn’t have been interesting at all. This wrapped that up nicely, I thought).
Next post! Drayken’s Exaltation, two weeks before ‘present day’ and the Exaltation of the Crimson Tiger!
Stay tuned to the thread if you want more. I haven’t even gotten to the part where the players demanded I run another game in the week yet. :)
I wasn’t about to post this originally, given that I felt my Exalted games felt somewhat mundane and uninspired compared to some of the write-up’s I’ve seen here. Yet, at the subtle pointing out from a fellow forum-goer that my games were obviously interesting enough that my group insisted they not wait for their regular weekly sessions on Wednesday and planned an impromptu game on Friday due to excitement, I’ve decided that it’s at least worth any feedback I might get. Or even just a little praise from my fellow ST’s. :D
Thanks for the nudge, btw. You know who you are.
The tentative name for this game is “Exalted: Awakening and Apocalypse,” so without further rambling from me, my first real Actual Play for Exalted: Awakening and Apocalypse!
Given that the original Actual Play was posted in an awful format to read in, and it got so little attention (only Kasumi popped up with “Uhhh... Looks like you did some cool stuff, but don’t ever post it like that again please.”), I’ll be posting a whole bunch with a short break to show where the game sessions took off.
Dramatis Personae: (Name [Caste, core Virtue - Influences])
Drayken (Dawn, Valor - From the game/anime Darkstalkers: Donovan’s appearance) - Drayken was born and raised in an unnamed Realm tributary state near the River Provinces. The right combination of brains, brawn and skill, he served in the local militia, then in the tributary’s auxiliary (and second-rate) Legion. There, despite dealing with incompetent officers and Realm Legion cast-offs, Drayken managed to pull off a remarkable success rate while impressing everyone with his personal bravery and cool-head in combat. When offered a chance to serve in the official Realm Legions, he (correctly or not) figured that his chances of ever achieving any real success or authority would be limited, thus opted out and set to establish a mercenary presence. Serving as coordinator, with a keen eye for finding the right people for the jobs he couldn’t handle himself, Drayken’s forces grew in renown and skill. Eventually, after the crushing defeat in the North at the hands of the Bull, Drayken’s small army was hired to back up the shattered remains of the northern Legions.
As a Solar, Drayken focuses on Melee and all things related to butt-kicking. He’s going to be getting a few Presence charms soon too.
The Crimson Tiger (Zenith, Valor - The Rock, Jet Li and Maximus Meridius) - Tiger Kizaz, aka the Crimson Tiger, is a former gladiator and entertainer. A speaker before a fighter (though no slouch with his claws), Tiger set the Nexus gladiatorial scene ablaze with his fiery catch-phrases, his sparking personality and bronze Southern good looks. He moves and dodges with feline grace, yet roars and tears his enemies like only a vicious great cat can. Paired up with a gladiator without a piece of charisma in his body, but a strong sword arm, Tiger fought to own the crowds and win his freedom. All the while, being longed for by The Rose Pit-Viper, a decadent Dragon-Blooded who has been black-listed by the Dynasty.
As a Solar, Tiger is a master of Tiger Style martial arts, unarmoured soak charms and dodge charms. He fights fast, mobile and dangerous. He also has the first Performance and Presence charms.
Kumori (Night, Temperance - “I want to be a ninja, but... more awesomer”) - Born in the North, Kumori’s an anomaly. In a place known for it’s pasty white winter-folk, Kumori’s an asian of average stature and profound musculature. The eldest member of the circle, Kumori mastered his trade hunting down wayward slaves, criminals and anyone not obviously wrong. So good, was he, that he sometimes dealt with spirits who got out of line. Kumori’s reputation has allowed him to travel far and wide, resulting in extensive contacts, both legal and illegal. His last job and visit was in the west for the Coral Archipelago.
As a Solar, he focused on Ebon Shadow Style, stealth charms, Survival/tracking charms and spirit-dealing magic.
Note that Kumori’s a new arrival to the group, so isn’t in the first few sessions.
Mnemon Orion (Eclipse, Conviction - “I’m really f’n complex”) - Son of none other than Mnemon herself, and the last child born to her before she swore off any more children to focus on attaining the throne of the Realm. Early on, Orion was a let down. The result of a pairing picked exclusively to produce a high-bred Dragon-Blooded, Orion never Exalted, despite being an exceptional mortal talent. He slipped through the cracks, and was found by a Sidereal by the name of Imon, who took him as his mentor. Enraged at his family’s rejection of him, he took up heresy in the hands of the Cult of the Illuminated’s teachings (which Imon was a major player within) and traveled the threshold with his mentor Imon and fellow student/best friend, Jerah.
As a Solar, Orion uses socialize, bureaucracy, lore Terrestrial and Celestial Circle Sorcery, as well as the Golden Barque of the Heavens Style (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=181799).
Mnemon Orion’s Prelude: The Sun Behind the Frozen Tears
Three years before present day, in an unnamed town in the North.
Orion is awakened in the middle of the night by an icy chill that shocks him to consciousness. Looking around the room, he finds only a well shuttered wind and a lit candle melted away to almost nothing over on the desk.
Still worried, Orion slowly rises and checks the room in the shadows. Finally drawn to the window, he peers out through the shutters and sees staggering figures. In the soft white light of Luna above, he sees their rotting flesh. The restless dead.
Orion quickly wakes up Jerah, who still lays in the bed, muttering to Orion for waking him up. He’s soft and weak-looking. A studier. Told, Jerah nearly freezes in terror. Showing a calm nerve, Orion gets Jerah out of their room and hurry over to their mentor’s room.
Banging on the door, they get no reply. Undaunted, Orion goes against his master’s explicit orders and enters the strangely unlocked room. Inside, a series of charts, star-models and other astrological mapping devices, but no Lord Imon.
Knowing they have no time, Orion quickly makes his way out of the room and leads Jerah by the hand downstairs, where they pass by the front door as the lumbering beasts outside begin to smash on it and groan menacingly outside.
Just as they make for the back door, the undead break the front down. Orion and Jerah, barefoot and in their night clothes, run into the bitter cold snow outside.
Through the back yards for several houses down they sprint, and the cold quickly takes it’s hold on Jerah, who begins to lock up. Getting frustrated, Orion keeps running, dragging Jerah behind until they hide behind a building.
Peering into what amounts to the small town’s main street, Orion sees the most horrible thing his young eyes have ever laid upon: A jerking line of dead, all slowly walking towards them with the methodical determination of death itself. Hundreds and hundreds of them, with a single armour clad warrior riding with them in the middle of the host.
Orion loses himself to fear and grabs Jerah, fleeing down the street as fast as his numb feet will carry him. Off in the far distance, the rumbling of hooves. Finally some hope, Orion has hope. Yet, Orion looks back to see a long line of dead break ranks and begin barreling towards the two of them. A chase begins. Orion to reach the sounds of hooves, and this creature to catch them.
Now, a series of rolls begin. Joe, Orion’s player, is told to make an extended success roll equal to a fairly average roll (but stretched out to increase the dramatic tension). Make a series of stamina rolls, as Orion’s tertiary is Physical, and if he can accumulate enough successes, he’ll make it to the sound of the horse riding in time.
The first series are fairly successful, but not phenomenally so. Orion’s able to stay ahead, and see the shape of a horse-drawn cart appearing in the distance as the snowflakes begin to fall. This sight gives Orion a bit more hope, and he looks back.
Behind him is a horror unlike even a walking corse. A line of dead, their bodies cut off at the torsos, stuck together to form a centipede of undeath; a spine chain.
Orion tells Jerah to keep looking ahead, and it seems to be going well for both Orion and his player. Then it happens. Jerah looks, sees it, and stops looking where his feet are going for just a moment. He trips. Orion stops, dragging Jerah to his feet, only to see the red of blood on the snow. Jerah’s leg is compound fractured.
Orion stares, caught between running for his own life, saving it, or risking everything to save his friend. In a moment of pure heroism, Orion hoists Jerah into a fireman’s carry and begins struggling towards the horse cart as Imon’s figure can be seen.
At the last second, Orion tosses Jerah on to the cart as it makes a moving bid to let them both jump on. Orion’s night gown is ripped by the claws of the spine chain as he catches onto the inside of the cart.
Now a chase begins, with the horse-drawn cart being followed by the spine chain, and another behind it. Jerah is yanked to the front of the cart and told to hold on. Orion finds a hoe in this stolen farmer’s cart and begins attacking the spine chain as it gets closer and closer.
Eventually the chain manages to grab a hold of the hoe and rip it out of Orion’s hand, causing Orion to fall down near the front of the cart.
The chain grabs Orion, but Jerah holds Orion tight. Orion claws back up, but the chain reverses the situation and grabs Jerah’s leg at the last minute.
Struggling to hold on to the cart, Orion watches Jerah get pulled away in slow motion. It was too strong for Orion to hold his friend there, so searching for a way, ANY way, to save Jerah, Jerah notices a sword on Imon’s back.
A glittering piece of steel that shimmers like a thousand starry prisms. Grabbing it, Orion’s whole world is bathed in golden light. Striking down at the spine chain’s arm with supernatural speed and force, Orion is momentary lost in desperation.
Channeling the essence of a thousand years of imprisonment and might not seen since the First Age, the back of the cart nearly explodes and the spine chain’s front few torsos are destroyed.
Awash with pride, Orion looks to Jerah, only to find the part where Jerah was to be done. Looking around, a spine-chain has already swarmed Jerah. Ready to lunge into another fight, an equally strong hand grabs Orion by the shoulder.
Staring into Imon’s starry eyes, seeing the glowing Eclipse caste mark on his forehead in the eye’s reflection, with the bright green mark of the Maiden of Secrets, Imon pleads, “No. He’s already lost. You’re too important.”
Cut to a well outfitted study, with candles well lit, astrological charts, mystical potions and charm theory scattered about. Orion sits, writing in a book.
“... and that’s when I decided that I shall never be weak enough to be hurt like that again.”
(Orion’s Compassion is 1, and all through the session, Joe was figuring that Orion would have just left Jerah, but knew that wouldn’t have been interesting at all. This wrapped that up nicely, I thought).
Next post! Drayken’s Exaltation, two weeks before ‘present day’ and the Exaltation of the Crimson Tiger!
Stay tuned to the thread if you want more. I haven’t even gotten to the part where the players demanded I run another game in the week yet. :)