I know I'm not the only person who generally muses that Exalted's setting, Creation, is kind of interesting, but the whole thing is spoiled by the Exalted themselves.

Well in the Time of Glory, before the Primordial War and Exalted were even thought of, just such a setting existed. Humanity is ruled over by the Dragon Kings, humanoid dinosaurs with superpowers (and perfect reincarnation) who were given their stewardship by the gods. They worshipped the sun with great temples and Aztec-style sacrifices of humans.

I'm imagining this gradual slide towards the Primordial War, where the gods and elementals are chafing at their bonds and making moves towards the war. That includes sending their half-divine children as agents of chaos, sowing dischord and encouraging the human population to rebel, along with acting as emissaries recruiting others to the cause.

Basically it's an excuse to play and focus on all the stuff that is usually all but ignored - Dragon Kings, Mountain Folk, Heroic and Enlightened Mortals, God-Blooded, spirits and Fae. There's no demons or unquiet dead, since neither of those things exist yet.

It lacks all the accretion of magitech and bizarre transhumanism that developed over the line, since none of that stuff exists yet. There's a bit more focus of themes, rather than seven different types of super-people each thinking the world is run for their benefit.

Not the thread people might have been expecting, eh?

Quote from: Kiero;597978I know I'm not the only person who generally muses that Exalted's setting, Creation, is kind of interesting, but the whole thing is spoiled by the Exalted themselves.

Well in the Time of Glory, before the Primordial War and Exalted were even thought of, just such a setting existed. Humanity is ruled over by the Dragon Kings, humanoid dinosaurs with superpowers (and perfect reincarnation) who were given their stewardship by the gods. They worshipped the sun with great temples and Aztec-style sacrifices of humans.

I'm imagining this gradual slide towards the Primordial War, where the gods and elementals are chafing at their bonds and making moves towards the war. That includes sending their half-divine children as agents of chaos, sowing dischord and encouraging the human population to rebel, along with acting as emissaries recruiting others to the cause.

Basically it's an excuse to play and focus on all the stuff that is usually all but ignored - Dragon Kings, Mountain Folk, Heroic and Enlightened Mortals, God-Blooded, spirits and Fae. There's no demons or unquiet dead, since neither of those things exist yet.

It lacks all the accretion of magitech and bizarre transhumanism that developed over the line, since none of that stuff exists yet. There's a bit more focus of themes, rather than seven different types of super-people each thinking the world is run for their benefit.

Not the thread people might have been expecting, eh?

I ran a 1e game set in the Second Age that focused wholly on God-bloods and Heroic Mortals and the odd Outcaste, eschewing all of the First Age cruft and the more powerful Exalted as anything other than powerful, Howardian or Moorcockian demonic threats, and had a rollicking time.  It was effectively a wuxia sword & sorcery game.  I had some actual play writeups at RPG.net under the heading "Pendragon-Blooded," I think, because I introduced Pendragon's annual play framework to the whole thing, as well as a bit of a savage, David-Drakean Arthurian vibe.

Good luck!  I had fun with it.

Quote from: Future Villain Band;597982I ran a 1e game set in the Second Age that focused wholly on God-bloods and Heroic Mortals and the odd Outcaste, eschewing all of the First Age cruft and the more powerful Exalted as anything other than powerful, Howardian or Moorcockian demonic threats, and had a rollicking time.  It was effectively a wuxia sword & sorcery game.  I had some actual play writeups at RPG.net under the heading "Pendragon-Blooded," I think, because I introduced Pendragon's annual play framework to the whole thing, as well as a bit of a savage, David-Drakean Arthurian vibe.

Good luck!  I had fun with it.

That sounds awesome, is this the AP thread?

In a similar sort of vein, I've actually sold my group on a God-Blooded game as a trial for Qwixalted. I think this premise might be a bit too far out there for them, but it might be a good one to trial Exalted 3rd edition.

Quote from: Kiero;597994That sounds awesome, is this the AP thread?

In a similar sort of vein, I've actually sold my group on a God-Blooded game as a trial for Qwixalted. I think this premise might be a bit too far out there for them, but it might be a good one to trial Exalted 3rd edition.

That's one of the threads -- there were three or four more, I think.  It was one of my better games.

So are you enjoying your visit to my little corner of the gaming world? What was it you used to call us over here again?

RPGPundit

Who cares?  The thread is interesting.

Kiero - does your idea cover pre-War Exalts?  From my understanding, the Exalted were introduced as helpers to the Incarna, and largely ignored by the Primordials until it was too late.

Quote from: RPGPundit;598604So are you enjoying your visit to my little corner of the gaming world?

It's be surprisingly productive, all things considered.

I'd had a login here for the longest time and forgot I even had it until recently.

Quote from: RPGPundit;598604What was it you used to call us over here again?

RPGPundit

I honestly don't even remember.

Quote from: Kaiu Keiichi;598611Who cares?  The thread is interesting.

Kiero - does your idea cover pre-War Exalts?  From my understanding, the Exalted were introduced as helpers to the Incarna, and largely ignored by the Primordials until it was too late.

It assumes no Exalts of any kind, so not even experimental Incarnae-helpers. It's intentionally and deliberately designed to cut them out of the setting. Both to simplify things, and focus the themes a lot.

Basically no one but some of the more powerful gods (and Fae) have anything on the Dragon Kings and Jadeborn, and if you play a human you've got to be clever (and Enlightened or at a stretch, God-Blooded).

I have wanted to run Ruins of Rathess with a heroic mortals group for such a long time. No need to travel back in time to do this IMO. It just screams to me "Red Nails" style pulp sword and sorcery. I love the idea of heroic mortals swaying the various powerful factions against each other for their own advantage

Quote from: Skywalker;598720I have wanted to run Ruins of Rathess with a heroic mortals group for such a long time. No need to travel back in time to do this IMO. It just screams to me "Red Nails" style pulp sword and sorcery. I love the idea of heroic mortals swaying the various powerful factions against each other for their own advantage

On that note, I've always wanted to do guardians of the Wall in a Whitewall game, heavily influenced by Sean Stewart's The Night Watch, which was listed as one of the original inspirations of the game.

Quote from: Kiero;598707It's be surprisingly productive, all things considered.

The question was actually meant to be for FVB, but I guess it applies to you too.

RPGPundit

A kernel of another premise goes like this. You have a Raptok philosopher, sociologist, anthropologist and thaumaturge, think a Dragon King version of Diane Fossey, who looks at humans the way Fossey did great apes. Viewed as a "lesser" species but worthy of study and being given more thought than is usual. Spends time travelling amongst the barbarians outside of civilisation to aid her study.

She suffers some sort of upset that causes her to be denounced, and rather than defend herself in the traditional duels and possibly die and interrupt her research, she flees to the margins with her trusted servants. She brings with her an advanced understanding of thaumaturgy, a grounding in Terrestrial Martial Arts and experience of teaching both to humans. Finding a tribe who were previously friendly to her, she begins her own bit of social engineering teaching what she knows and being venerated as a wise elder by the people.

There you have the PCs, a mixture of her original servants and barbarians who've been enhanced with thaumaturgy and (for those who are Enlightened) TMA as well. Where you go from that point depends on the players.

Quote from: Exalted WikiBecause there was a set population of Dragon Kings (about 150 million) and the Primordials desired more servants, humanity was created and put under the charge of the Dragon Kings.

That initially struck me as being pretty wacky, I guess that's because since all the Dragon Kings are reincarnated there's a limited number of souls to go around?
It seems like they need an employee benefits program for their human slaves, where if you're sacrificed to the Sun you get promoted to be a Dragon King in the next life.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;600610That initially struck me as being pretty wacky, I guess that's because since all the Dragon Kings are reincarnated there's a limited number of souls to go around?
It seems like they need an employee benefits program for their human slaves, where if you're sacrificed to the Sun you get promoted to be a Dragon King in the next life.

Well, humans aren't a part of Dragon King reincarnation - once a Dragon King always a Dragon King. Their souls aren't property reincarnated until they leave their initial savage phase, so I guess that acts as a control to prevent there being any waiting around to be taken up.

Human slaves/servants always stay humans. Because Exalted is unfair like that.

Quote from: Kiero;600628Human slaves/servants always stay humans. Because Exalted is unfair like that.

If the premise didn't depend on certain people just being BORN special, it wouldn't be a white wolf game! What, you want a game where the great artistes are no better than the "unwashed masses" they revile? Or worse, one where the premise is that what you DO is what makes you special, not just what you are or pretentiously imagine you are??

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;600713If the premise didn't depend on certain people just being BORN special, it wouldn't be a white wolf game! What, you want a game where the great artistes are no better than the "unwashed masses" they revile? Or worse, one where the premise is that what you DO is what makes you special, not just what you are or pretentiously imagine you are??

RPGPundit

Ironically, this particular premise is counter to that theme of Exalted, since they don't exist. Mortals with Enlightenment have (usually) had to claw their way up through grit, determination and skill. They weren't born with their power, it wasn't gifted by some external process/god that decided they were awesome enough, they took it.

It remains, however, a fundamentally unfair setting.