Building a Character: Exalted Essence (An Alchemical!)

Greetings, programs!

That seems kind of a fitting opening, given that we're talking about magical robots here. Not that they're strictly programmed, but whatever. Today I'm posting an Alchemical Exalt in honor of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign on Backerkit, which is to begin today (November 14th) at 2PM Eastern, AFAIK.

So, first, off, if you don't know what Alchemicals are, they are a type of Exalt -- the Chosen of Autochthon, the Machine God (not the God-Machine, that's something different). If you don't know Exalted, try this setting primer to get you caught up. Autochthon himself is one of the Ancients, a primordial titan who helped build Creation and the gods and the humans and all that. When the gods rose up against their cruel creators, Autochthon was one of two that turned against his own kin and sided with the gods.

Arguably, Autochthon made the Divine Revolution possible -- the gods were prevented from acting directly against the Titans, but Autochthon showed them how to create human champions who could fight for them -- the process of Exaltation itself. After the Revolution, for a handful of reasons, Autochthon left Creation entirely after scooping up his followers and a bunch of random mortals to populate his world-body. There's a whole society inside him, called Autochthonia.

Autochthonia has its own Exalted, the Alchemicals -- but unlike the Exalted in (and adjacent to) Creation, these aren't mortals gifted with power but techno-magical constructs with the souls of heroic mortals and the same sort of divine power with which other Exalted are gifted. In the past, Alchemicals usually get printed up towards the end of an edition because they're sealed off in their own little world and aside from some adventure hooks involving Autochthonia re-establishing contact with Creation (the most well-known being the Locust Crusade), there's not a lot that can be done with them in the larger game.

Third Edition tweaks this, somewhat. It's established now that before leaving Creation, Autochthon built some prototypes that for one reason or another got left behind. There are one or two other possibilities of how they can wind up in Creation, and I can't recall if the details of how that could happen have been expounded upon so I won't get into that here. So for that reason, I'm planning on doing two Alchemical characters -- one in Creation, one in Autochthonia.

This is the Creation-side one first, and we're building them up with the Essence rules. So let's get to it!

The Road Between Light and Dark: Freezing Below (Exalted)

Still getting caught up, yadda yadda. I actually started this right after finishing typing up the previous post, which is funny. Then I got held up. So anyhow, that gives me an excuse to properly plug the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide, which is out now on DriveThruRPG! Also, another book I worked on, Alchemicals: Forged by the Machine God for Exalted 3rd Edition, goes into crowdfunding on either November 12th or 14th, and I'll certainly have a link in the show noteson here when that begins. 

I'll try to get them in without interfering too much with getting caught up on the updates, but I've been planning on doing a couple of Alchemical character builds for the blog -- a couple of characters first written up in ExEss, and then once the relevant preview manuscripts are out for the core system, I'll do core versions for them.

Anyhow, with that out of the way...

The Road Between Light and Dark: On the Breeze (Exalted)

I know it's been another quiescent period around these parts. If anyone's been paying attention to this blog and/or following along with my group's adventures, I apologize and I'll get caught up as soon as possible. I've just been running on an extreme spoons deficit as of late, and fell out of the habit of getting them regularly done over the summer. I need to build back up to that rhythm. Please be patient with me while I do so.

In the meantime, I've got a couple of minor announcements to make. This Wednesday, at DriveThruRPG, the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide is officially released! I'll link it when that happens. Also, according to this week's Monday Meeting Notes over at the Onyx Path site, next month the Alchemicals book is being crowdfunded! Oh heck! I was planning on doing a little something for that, should probably get on it. I'll update you as I have more info.

The Road Between Light and Dark: Business Partners (Exalted)

Greetings, my good peeps. I'm aware I fell behind a bit and I'm still getting caught up. 

By the way, I didn't want to tack it onto the previous post, but a recent episode of the Onyx Pathcast has developer Chazz Kellner and writer Elliott Freeman talking about the Alchemicals book for Exalted Third Edition. They don't talk about anything I specifically wrote (with one possible tiny exception), but if you've been curious at all about Alchemicals and how they're being presented in this edition give it a listen! You can find it here!

An update on where I'm at, writing-wise

I have two updates about my writing in this post, one about current projects and other things that are vaguely project-shaped, and one about where I'm at on an emotional/mental level.

The Road Between Light and Dark: Medicine (Exalted)

Hey there again, I know it's been quiet here. I'm a little behind on these Exalted posts -- just as soon as I got caught up, I know -- and I don't have a good reason, just grappling with some stuff and couldn't line up my brain right to get into it.

I don't really have much in the way of personal announcements or anything. Closest thing to such is that the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide is now out as a backer PDF for folks who crowdfunded, and it's been interesting going back through and seeing how my writing got through editing, now formatted and with artwork and stuff. I was dealing with a few things when I wrote it, and it's weird to look back on almost two years later. But at the same time, it's always exciting to see my work presented in a final-ish form (and I legitimately hope it always will be).

Anyhow, this is about to take a needlessly-maudlin turn, when we're supposed to be focusing on my group's Exalted adventures.

The Road Between Light and Dark: The Root of the Problem (Exalted)

Hey there, folks, here we are with me trying (and failing) to get this write-up assembled and posted with plenty of time to work on/worry about other things before the next session.

And, um... yeah. Can't think of anything else to add. So let's do this thing.

The Road Between Light and Dark: Clash in the Crypt (Exalted)

Hello there, hello there. If you follow my blog normally, there's a chance you'll see this right after I post a couple more entries because I got a couple done and ready to go all at once. But unless something stupid happens between me typing this sentence and tomorrow, I should officially be caught up in time for my next session. Thanks for sticking with me.

Speaking of which, I'm not gonna keep harping on about it after this post, but here's another call for a response or some other feedback regarding my plans for this blog.

The Road Between Light and Dark: After Death (Exalted)

Something something still getting caught up...

I keep wanting to think of something else to put here, but nothing's coming to me, especially since I'm working on some of these 'catch up' posts back to back without any time for interesting thoughts or personal news to break them up. Maybe I'll do one of the character builds I've got in mind between this one and the next one, who knows. (Here's Chris from the future, saying I went ahead and got fully  caught up, as you may know by now.)

Anyhow...

The Road Between Light and Dark: Leaves (Exalted)

Okay, unless for some reason this is the first one of my posts you've seen, you know what this is -- me getting caught up on past sessions. But with this post, we wrap up "Nightmare" and move into the next story -- which is the current story as of this writing, which means I'm making progress!

And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, still looking for input on the blog itself. As of this writing/posting, literally the only response I've gotten from someone is "Sorry, I don't read the blog, I'm not a blog reader." Which is usually the only response I ever get, if I get one at all, but at least this time it's from someone different than usual.

Anyhow, before I put myself into a spiral, let's get this show on the road...

The Road Between Light and Dark: A Glimpse of Heaven (Exalted)

Okay, if you've been keeping up with the blog, you know where we're at and what we're doing. Just a quick reminder that I'm still seeking some input about other things I could be doing with this blog, if anyone's got any interest in that.

The Road Between Light and Dark: Nightmare (Exalted)

Hey there, folks, I've got another Exalted post for you in my Sisyphean quest to try and get caught up while sessions are still happening.

Just as a quick note, I'm still looking for input and feedback regarding my recent post elsewhere on this blog.

And now, let's get into it!

The Road Between Light and Dark: The Stars Align (Exalted)

Okay, here we are, on my ongoing trek to get caught up on my session write-ups. This one wraps up the eighth 'episode' and kinda starts the ninth, hence the overlapping tags.

First, here's a quick reminder that I recently did a Pathfinder character write-up elsewhere on my blog, for those of you who prefer your fantasy with d20s instead of d10s.

Second, and more importantly, I'm also looking for some feedback on stuff about the blog in general.

And with that...

Blog Stuff in General

I'm hoping to get some feedback on some blog things.

First, I'm thinking of doing a couple more character builds at some point, including an Exalted core system version of Ferem Jago for comparison to the ExEss version, and maybe another couple of Exalted characters across both systems. Somewhere in there, I also plan to do a Trinity Continuum: Aether character since we've got the final PDF now. But I'm wondering if anyone has any other systems they'd like to see me tackle in this regard (or character types for systems I've done), because only one person has said anything about any of them one way or another. My ability to amuse myself with doing these character builds is running out, and I'm feeling like there are better ways I could be spending my 'fun writing' time. 

So if you have any requests or thoughts, let me know -- and please, please, don't just say 'whatever you want to do is fine.' I don't want to do these for just myself. I'm trying to offer entertainment and, if I'm lucky, a little insight into these gaming systems by building characters for them and if they're not serving that purpose then they literally have no point. I could put together a more thorough list of systems I've got books for if someone asks, but as a starting point I've got books for almost all of the classic WoD, Chronicles of Darkness, and a bunch of Fate and PbtA stuff, among others. 

Either way, if you'd like to see me keep doing character builds, I need a little feedback.

On a related note -- and I've probably mentioned this before, but if I have it hasn't been recent -- I've had some thoughts about addressing larger RPG-related thoughts on the blog. Musings about systems and such, just ideas that occur to me, little 'how I do things' tidbits that might be helpful. I'd like this blog to be more than just tabletop session write-ups, but as with the character builds it's simply not worth it to waste the energy writing these things down for my own sake. So if anyone's honestly curious for me to ramble on about stuff, let me know -- and, again, if anyone's got anything they'd like to hear about, any RPG questions I might be able to answer, get my opinions on this or that subject, I'm willing to at least listen to suggestions.

Thank you for your time.

The Road Between Light and Dark: Spawn of the Underways (Exalted)

Alright, here we are again, as I'm getting caught up on Exalted posts. As of this posting, after completing this one I'll have... ugh, four left, including the session we just had. I really kinda fell apart in June, didn't I?

(This also means that I might screw up or fudge details in the talkier bits, and I apologize if I get something wrong. If one of my players sees this and lets me know, I'll fix it.)

In addition, I finished up and posted a character build the other day, too. You can find it over here, where I made a Kitsune Bard based on my fursona (because I'm furry trash) in Pathfinder 2e Remastered.

Anyhow...

Building a Character: Pathfinder 2E Remastered

Hey, ZukoChris here.

Got another character build for ya, something hopefully a little less fiddly than Cyberpunk RED. The fact that I'm using this as an intro to a Pathfinder character isn't meant to be a dig, I swear.

Maybe a little, though it didn't start that way.

Anyhow, I'd have done one of these sooner, but I've been a little lapsed from Pathfinder and Starfinder. I've got a stack of Pathfinder 2E books I haven't had a good chance to use as it is, and now there's a 2.5 coming out. So I waited for the Archives of Nethys site to get the 2E Remastered rules up. Some of this stuff is 'Legacy' content but it's all still compatible.

Also, I wanted to hold off on spending the time and energy finishing and posting this until I completed my drafts for the upcoming Alchemicals book for Exalted 3e, but that's out of the way now. I wrote up a bunch of this post between drafts and just held off on doing the character sheet, so if there's anything at AoN that's updated in that time that's led to inaccuracies here, I apologize. (Though if anything's been adjusted or changed there in a way that would affect this character or if I got anything else wrong, feel free to let me know.)

But today, I make the plunge -- I give in to the purest essence of being Furry Trash and essentially write up my fursona as a Kitsune Bard. So let's do this thing.

The Road Between Light and Dark: Descent (Exalted)

Welp, me again, on my quest to try and get caught up on my Exalted write-ups.

Can't think of anything to add, so let's just get into it.

The Road Between Light and Dark: Life, Death, and the Space Between (Exalted)

Hey there, sorry it's been quiet here. As I've mentioned before, it's been a little busy on my end, both with writing and in my head. But my Alchemicals draft is in and I've emerged from the Realm of Brass and Shadow to start getting caught up on way-too-many Exalted sessions.

So let's get into it.

Is this thing on?

Just a quick update that I may or may not delete later, but I wanted to knock some dust off because it's been a little quiet here.

I've been a little preoccupied with, among other things, working on revisions for my sections of the new Alchemicals fatsplat. There've been a couple of snags on my end, exacerbated by ADHD issues, but we're chugging along and I should have my final draft of my last section in very soon.

For the sake of emotional transparency, which I'm trying to be a little better about these days, by 'ADHD issues' I mean that I had to change my meds (developed a tolerance to the previous stuff), and the pills I'm on now ain't working great. Better than nothing at all, but only slightly. Fortunately, I'll see my psychiatrist next week and talk about alternative options. I'm dreading that slightly because I know the alternative I'm going to have to switch to is expensive as heck, but we're talking about paying a price for basic functionality.

But that means that technical issues have interfered with the writing, which has stressing me out, which was making it hard to focus on untangling said issues. And I hit that point where any attempt to relax automatically fails because I'm preoccupied with the fact I'm not done yet. So that gets me even more stressed out, which makes it even harder to focus, and oh no I've gone cross-eyednext thing you know I'm ignoring 99% of my messages for a few days and trying not to melt down.

I mean, everything's basically good now, barring me being struck by lightning in the next few days (though I'd prefer not to get struck by lightning after that, either).

And speaking of Exalted in a roundabout way, the tabletop game's been going well, I just haven't had the time or headspace to do the write-ups. I'll start getting caught up soon, if the Great Maker is gracious with his blessings. Autobot be praised!

If anyone wants to reach out or has any questions, feel free to leave a comment here or hit me up wherever you saw this linked. Thanks.

The Road Between Light and Dark: A Nighttime Stroll (Exalted)

Hey there, all. If this Exalted post is going up when I mean it to, I should be caught up in time for my next session. 

I can't think of anything to add to that, clever or otherwise, so let's just get into it.

The Road Between Light and Dark: Silverpost (Exalted)

Hello again, readers. As you may be aware, I'm still a little behind on my Exalted session write-ups, but I'll get that sorted ASAP, starting with this post. On a related note, in the very near future I'm going to be digging into redlines for my sections of the Alchemicals book. I just want to say it's been a fun experience working on the game line, and the developers and other writers have been a delight to communicate and collaborate with. Not that they're likely to see this, but just wanted to say it. (And if they do see this, um, hi. It's been a blast and I'm really hoping I didn't unintentionally say something obnoxious between posting this and you seeing it.)

Anyhow, with that out of the way...

The Road Between Light and Dark: Eggshells (Exalted)

Okay, so as I begin writing this, I'm still a little behind overall; there's this session and then another to write-up, and hopefully I can get those both done before the next session I actually run so I've got a few minutes to work on other stuff.

In the meantime, just as a quick reminder, I recently posted a bit of fiction with some side-characters, technically properly introducing one for the first time. It takes place alongside the last story, and in fact the session depicted in this blog post alludes to those events somewhat. I just wanted to give a couple of characters the spotlight, set up a couple little things, and write some action sequences. It assumes a basic familiarity with the setup of this chronicle, so it's not entirely standalone, but reading it isn't necessary to understand anything in this session.

Anyhow...

On the Road (Exalted Fiction)

So here's a side-story I came up with that takes place alongside 'The Snare,' just something that picks up after the characters separate from the caravan. Mostly just some character moments, possibly setting up some future things. Maybe.

Y'know, if that sort of thing might interest you.

The Road Between Light and Dark: The Jade Lion (Exalted)

Hey there, folks, sorry it's been quiet. Combination of distractions, various other issues and also the fact that we had a session end mid-fight and I didn't want to do a write-up until it was resolved. So technically this covers about a session and a half. And there've been other delays as well, including a short fiction I wanted to post between this one and the following session write-up. Apologies, and I'll get caught up as soon as possible.

I can't think of anything else to add here, so let's get into it.

The Road Between Light and Dark: The Hounds of Ill-Omen (Exalted)

Alright, here we go again, once more unto the breach, etc. Again, as last time, no big announcements or anything to share, other than to mention that I'm working on another character-build post for the near-future, if anyone's reading those. (And, again, as long as it's for something I've got the book for or has a freely-available SRD, I'm more than willing to listen to suggestions for future builds.)

And with that...

The Road Between Light and Dark: Hunter and Hunted (Exalted)

Hello there, folks, hope everyone's doing well. Got an Exalted session for you, no complicated bells or whistles or big announcements unless I think of something later and go back and edit this.

So let's get to it.

The Road Between Light and Dark: The Broken Antler (Exalted)

Hey there, folks, hope everyone's doing okay at the moment and that the world hasn't ended in the time between me starting this post and putting it up. We've got another Exalted Essence session for ya as my mixed-Exalt Circle of PCs continues on their trek to Gethamane.

I don't have any big announcements, but in case you missed it, I did another character build, this time for Cyberpunk RED, a game that doesn't use fistfuls of d10s for once! And I've got another build in the works, but wanted to get this up first to break them up a bit (and, also, y'know, to get it up some time before the last-minute, which lately has led to me forgetting to link my posts on social media).

But with that out of the way...

Building a Character: Cyberpunk RED

Greetings, programs!

So as I begin writing this, I just recently wrapped up first drafts for the third edition Exalted Alchemicals book, and between that and the Exalted Essence game I'm running, I need a bit of a palate cleanser.

In this context that means building a character, and to change things up a bit I'm doing a system I've neither run nor written for before -- nor even played, for that matter. I picked up the Cyberpunk RED core book for cheap in a sale a while back, and as you may or may not be aware I've always been a fan of the genre. I've even been vaguely aware of the setting since long before the recent video game, as a fan of the old WotC version of the Netrunner card game, which explicitly took place in the Cyberpunk 2020 setting. While the card game didn't deal with a lot that happened outside the Net, it touched on enough that I might've said "Oh shit" out loud when Spider Murphy showed up in the "Love Like Fire" mission in Cyberpunk 2077, not to mention various other names prominent throughout the game.

That's not meant to be a brag about 'old-school' cred, but as with my Trinity Continuum character builds, I enjoy talking about my history with a given game (or, in this case, world). That said, sometimes I do wonder what effect it would have had on me had Cyberpunk been my first non-D&D game instead of Trinity/Æon.

Anyhow, below the cut, I'm gonna get into a character build for Cyberpunk RED.

The Road Between Light and Dark: A Threat of Mammoth Proportions (Exalted)

Greetings in this era of ominous omens, between the recent New York earthquake, the even-more-recent solar eclipse, and a plague of cicadas on the horizon (some of which are apparently going to be hypersexual zombies). I'm making sure to mention all this to 'date' this post in case future generations of wasteland explorers find it and it somehow winds up being an important clue in their journey to reclaim some macguffin or simply serves as background lore fodder.

Yes, I am in a weird mood today. But that's alright, because weird moods can always be of benefit when I'm writing about an Exalted session.

So we're getting into that below the fold!

The Road Between Light and Dark: Burning Daylight (Exalted)

Hey there, folks, welcome back! It's been quiet here because RL issues have prevented us from playing, and I just haven't had the time or the energy to write up the last session we did play before now due to a combination of issues, one of those getting the first draft of my work in on the new Alchemicals book.

But now that that's out of the way, I'm gonna relax and unwind from writing Exalted stuff by...

...

...by writing a blog post about Exalted. Frig.

All kidding aside, I do have some other content planned for the blog, but I wanted to get this posted before my next session. That said, I've been neck deep in Exalted core mechanics and I have to make sure to get my brain back into Essence mode before our next session. Here's hoping.

Speaking of which...

The Road Between Light and Dark: Moving Onward (Exalted)

Hey there, folks, hope everyone's doing well, so on and so forth. I know a few folks have had a rough time of it as of late, and just know that my thoughts are with you whether you're reading this or not. (I'm not sure how you'll know my thoughts are with you if you're not reading this, but just don't think too hard about it.) 

I've been running at a little less than peak efficiency myself, which is why it's been quiet around these parts, but hopefully I'll be back up to speed soon enough.

Anyhow...

The Road Between Light and Dark: The Territory is Not the Map (Exalted)

Greetings and salutations and all that, welcome back! Once more unto the breach and all that.

I can't really think of anything special to add here, other than repeating -- for those who may have missed it -- my announcement from the previous post that I'm working on the Alchemicals 'fatsplat' for Exalted Third Edition. There's not a whole lot of detail I can get into other than that I'm writing a few things for a few different parts of the book. But there's lots of gears turning and things interlocking (that's an Autochthonia joke) and I'll get into more detail when I can.

And now, let's get into it as we start our next 'episode.'

The Road Between Light and Dark: Chain of Command (Exalted)

Hey there, y'all. Sorry there's been a bit of a gap in Exalted posts, out of play issues caused a bit of a delay and that kinda led two sessions to get smooshed together enough I held back to write them up together as a single blog post. And then other stuff delayed me getting the blog post finished a little later than I've been managing recently. Ah well.

Before I get into it, a bit of personal news -- I feel really awkward saying anything this early in the process, but as it's been formally announced, I'm allowed to say that I'm working on the upcoming Alchemicals splatbook for Exalted 3rd Edition. It's kinda funny that I start running a game using the Essence system, and then I get invited to work on a book using the core rules. Just when I think I'm out...

It's a bit premature to get into exactly what I'm writing for the book, but it's promising to be a fun project and I'm working with some folks with whom I'm genuinely excited to be collaborating. I'll go into more detail when it's appropriate to do so.

And now, let's get Exaltin'!

The Road Between Light and Dark: Back on the Road (Exalted)

Welcome back, everyone and anyone who's come to join me for another trip into the North of Creation!

Quick note before I get into it, I did another character write-up, this time for Trinity Continuum: Anima. It's actually spread out across two posts -- one for the character herself, and one for her MMO characters that she'd be playing in-game. (No, really.) 

So with that out of the way, right here I've got the third session write-up for my group's Exalted series, in which we wrap up the first episode and begin the second. I can't think of anything clever to add to this at the moment, so let's just get into it!

(Just a heads-up, this is one of my 'talky' sessions, so it's possible I might miss a detail or two or put something in the wrong place conversationally. I'll at least try to keep it consistent in the post.)

Building a Character: Terra Surge (TC: Anima)

Welcome back! This is a little weird, I'll admit, because this is the second part of a character write-up. The game in question is Trinity Continuum: Anima, a tabletop RPG that plays in both the cyberpunk and LitRPG genres, and this post focuses on the latter. You really should have read the first part of the character write-up in which I created Erin Taylor, a youth counselor in the city of Cascade and know all this, but I'll quickly contextualize.

(Quick aside, reminding you that we're currently in the final days of a crowdfunding campaign to reprint the Trinity Continuum core and Æon books.)

In TC: Anima's setting of Cascade, there's a mystery involving missing players of a popular MMO called Terra Surge, linked to possible weirdness within the game itself. It may also tie in to rumors and mysteries surrounding the revolutionary neural implant, called Glass, that most people use to play the game and is given out to Cascade's citizens for free. Different gaming groups can adjust how much of the story is spent in the real world versus the virtual world, but by default the narrative is expected to move back and forth. Not only are there clues and leads in the game itself, but it's also going to be the best (and often only) way to connect with other people in the community who might know something, even if they're only using Terra Surge as a meeting spot.

In my previous post, I wrote up Erin as a character, but the game also has a well-crafted ruleset and setting for Terra Surge, and players are expected to write up at least one character -- called an 'anima' -- for the MMO as well. And since I'm really wordy and the previous post went on as long as it was, I decided to handle the creation of Erin's anima separately. So let's get to it.

Building a Character: Trinity Continuum: Anima

Been a while since I've done one of these, and I've been meaning to do this one for a little while now. Just been getting distracted working on other projects and getting my group's new Exalted series started. But I'm feeling like I need a bit of a palate cleanser, so let's get into it.

Trinity Continuum: Anima is interesting and a little experimental for a few reasons. To start, it's the first new time period introduced to the Trinity series after the initial three, taking place in 2084, between the end of the Aberrant War and the start of TC: Æon (and, in the default Æon timeline, a couple of years before the Shanghai Accords banned true AI and certain brain-computer interfaces). (Speaking of which, assuming I get this up in time, there's a campaign still up to crowdfund a fresh printing of the core books.) Second, it's very focused setting-wise -- while there's enough info to run a game elsewhere in the setting, by default the focus is on the city of Cascade, in the Federated States of America (the fascist military junta that the US turned into during the Aberrant War). Implied to be on the site of a war-destroyed Vancouver, Cascade is a newly-built city where the FSA is encouraging people to emigrate to start new lives. Third, it's got a pretty focused premise, which I'll get to after explaining the genre for context.

Where the other Trinity Continuum games present different genres, TC: Anima covers cyberpunk and a little something else (keep reading). See, as incentive to get people to move to Cascade, they're offering free implantation of the 'Glass' brain augmentation. Invented by a company called FulgurTech, Glass allows for the sort of mind-machine interface and virtual reality shenanigans long-promised by cyberpunk fiction. It also offers tools for better cyberware interfacing, managing a number of neurological or hormonal issues, and therapeutic functions like editing sensory input or one's own memories.

And yes, you can run Doom on it.

Which is where I'm getting into the 'little something else' genre-wise -- I don't want to get too deep into the weeds explaining if you don't know it, but TC: Anima is also a LitRPG game with the addition of Terra Surge into the setup. Terra Surge is a free-to-play MMO taking place in the fantasy realm of Synestia, in which players have adventures in a virtual world that's run by a number of powerful AIs called 'Narrators,' who are capable of greatly customizing the game experience to individual players' tastes. The Narrators can create custom quests and NPCs for players on the fly, all woven into a larger narrative being crafted by the game's developers. The MMO is actually playable in-game, with a proper ruleset and a fleshed-out setting of its own.

In a world still recovering from the Aberrant War and the Crash (the total destruction of the OpNet), Glass and Terra Surge offer much-needed options for coping with the fallout and trauma of the last couple of decades. (Incidentally, this game was pretty much entirely written in the early years of the Covid pandemic, and it shows in a lot of ways that make the game stronger for it.)

However, while TC: Anima is meant to be a more hopeful take on the genre, it's still a cyberpunk setting. Naturally, there's something wrong with it.

The game's premise, by default, revolves around a mystery surrounding Terra Surge and Glass itself: Popular players are going missing (sometimes with their game streams abruptly ending after the game's built-in spoiler warning system blanks the feed), and the ones who've turned back up have been behaving... differently. Conspiracy theorists link the phenomenon to the recent introduction of the Jahat, a mysterious new antagonist faction in Terra Surge. Some think it's all a planned marketing stunt, but others insist there's something wrong with the Jahat and the missing players learned something they shouldn't have. And then, of course, there are all manner of conspiracy theories in general about Glass itself and FulgurTech's relationship with the FSA, even before you factor in the possibility that there's a connection between this and the mystery of the Jahat.

So yeah, this is a lot of new territory for Trinity.

It's technically possible to play a psiad (a naturally-occurring psi-user) or even a low-power nova with the right supplements and a permissive Storyguide, but by default TC: Anima player characters are Talents, and I'm going to build one of those. Because there's a two-part character creation setup here -- one for the actual character in Cascade and one for their Terra Surge avatar (no, really) -- I'm going to split this up between two different blog posts for length and readability.

Before I get into it, in case it needs to be said, this write-up assumes you know the basic Trinity Continuum character creation structure, as seen in my first Trinity character build. I can't imagine it being indecipherable without having read that, but I'm not going to stop and explain every step as much as I do there (for better or worse).

The Road Between Light and Dark: The Horned One (Exalted)

Hey there, folks, here we go. More Exalted shenanigans from the cold, dark North of Creation.

And assuming I don't take way too long writing this post, the Indiegogo campaign to reprint Trinity Continuum, Trinity Continuum: Æon, and Scion 2nd Edition should still be running, so if you haven't picked up the books yet and want to save a buck on a traditionally-printed copy of any of the books, now's the time!

And with that...

The Road Between Light and Dark: Off the Beaten Path (Exalted)

Alright, been a couple of weeks since I've done this, let's see if I still remember how...

Hey there, folks, and I welcome you back to Creation yet again! This is the first session of my group's Exalted series, "The Road Between Light and Dark." For those of you who missed my intro post, this is a game about a trio of heroes moving back and forth between Whitewall and Gethamane, protecting fellow travelers and people in the small settlements outside the protection of Whitewall and Gethamane. The previously-linked intro post has a quick introduction to our characters, so I'm not going to repeat all that here. 

(Though, of course, if one of my players sees this and I got something wrong because I'm still getting used to your characters and their names, let me know.)

Also, before I get us into it, in case you haven't heard, Onyx Path is running a crowdfunding campaign to do a fresh print run of the Trinity Continuum core, Trinity Continuum: Æon (which I worked on), and Scion: Origin, including a couple of updates to the text. If you want a traditionally-printed copy of those books, check out the link! (Move fast, it's a shorter than usual campaign.)

And now...

The Road Between Light and Dark (Exalted)

Greetings, folks, and welcome back after the brief hiatus. 

In case you missed it, my group's taking a step back from the adventures of the Moonlight Maiden crew for a bit. In part it's so we can have a literal change of scenery and explore some new locales and new characters to change things up. And also it's because we've been wanting to switch over to the Exalted: Essence ruleset, and felt that taking a trio of Essence 5(!) characters with almost a hundred sessions' worth of XP(!) and trying to approximate them was a bad way to learn a new system.

Which brings me to this post, wherein I lay out the basic idea for this series and introduce y'all to the cast. And if you need it, I put together a setting primer a while back, which you can find at this link.

(Note that it's early enough that details might get tweaked here and there in the early sessions, so I may or may not come back and make adjustments after this post goes live. On a related note, if any of my players see this and I screwed something up in the descriptions further down, let me know and I'll fix it.)

This series is located in the wintry North, with the characters moving back and forth between the cities of Whitewall (an overcrowded bastion of safety protected by mystical pacts and a massive wall that literally glows at night) and Gethamane (a creepy, insular city hidden beneath a mountain), protecting travelers on the road and keeping an eye on villages and towns too often left out in the cold. Their stretch of Creation is beset by all sorts of horrors -- the Fair Folk, the dead, and weather you don't dare turn your back on.

This is "The Road Between Light and Dark."

And now let's meet our cast. In no particular order:

• Wandering Dawn (aka "Wanderer"), a Dawn Caste Solar played by Bryan (he/him) -- A local monster hunter, Chosen by the Unconquered Sun while defending his fellow hunters against an attack of Wyld-mutated animals. Now he and his bonded familiar, a wolverine named Mollie (short for 'Mauler of Man and Beast'), have become minor celebrities in the region as he works to keep the area around Whitewall safe... all while looking for the monster that destroyed his childhood home or any trace of his sister, lost in that attack.
• Stray Dog Serenade, an Ascendant Caste Infernal played by Sean (he/him) -- A wandering singer and rabble-rouser, preaching freedom and anarchy. As a wealthy boyar's son-turned-malcontent, another extremist tried to get him to assassinate another of the city's nobles. He balked, only to see his bodyguard accept the offer and strike the target down -- only to be apparently awarded with his own Exaltation. As he recoiled from this, shocked that that's all it would take, a voice whispered in his ear to offer him an alternative power of his own. Now he wanders with his cult of personality, using the power of Hell to fight for those who fall outside of Heaven's gaze -- and if he can empower them to rise up against their own oppressors, so much the better.
• Lecht, an Exigent played by Zach (they/them) -- A death-priest displaced from their own time, Lecht nearly died centuries ago defending their temple from an attack during the days of the Great Contagion. They didn't fall at the hands of invading raksha, but against those condemning their goddess, Vesmara the Bringer of Eternal Rest, for making the hard choice to spare her congregation of the Contagion's suffering in the most drastic way imaginable. Vesmara put Lecht in a sarcophagus infused with the power of the Exigence, giving up her own existence to save her worthiest follower. After slumbering for most of an Age, Lecht has awoken into a very different Creation with the power -- and the responsibility -- to decide where the line between life and death is drawn.

Anyhow, thank you for indulging me as I introduce you to a fresh batch of characters about to experience a fresh run of stories. If you've read and enjoyed any of my group's Exalted adventures in the past, I hope you stick around for this -- or, if you're just now coming in, feel free to check my index of actual play posts if you want to look back at what my group's done with Exalted so far.

Take care, and enjoy!

Quick and dirty update

Hey there, folks, sorry it's been quiet here. I hope everyone had a safe holiday season and that things have settled down where you're all at.

First off, since Tales of the Moonlight Maiden has wrapped up its massive 'season' arc, my Exalted group and I have been working on starting a fresh story with fresh characters using the Exalted: Essence rules. The plan is to eventually circle back around and revisit the Moonlight Maiden crew, converting them over to ExEss in the process, and if at all possible incorporating the two groups of characters together (and I already even have a seed of a way I might do that). But we figured it'd be better to get the hang of the system as it's intended to be played from the ground up, before trying to convert over characters with almost a hundred sessions' worth of XP (and over-generous bonus XP) on them. Also, having a change of scenery and a change of character perspective for a bit certainly doesn't hurt either.

Anyhow, I'll have more info on that soon!

On other things blog-related, the final PDF of Trinity Continuum: Anima is up, and I plan to do a character build post for that now that it's out. I'd have done it sooner, but, um... *glances further up the page* ...I've been distracted. After that, I've been kicking around an idea for doing a character build for Cyberpunk RED as I got the PDF super-cheap in a sale a while back and it's a game I haven't actually played, so the novelty of building a character for a system I haven't been neck-deep in is appealing. 

Though maybe I'll do something else between Anima and Cyberpunk, so I'm not doing the same genre back to back. Maybe I'll do an Exalted 3e core system version of the ExEss Dragon-blood I did for comparison's sake, or maybe I'll even just write-up a Solar or Lunar for the system. I've also had an idea for a Pathfinder character I could do a post on, but I've only got the base 2e books and I feel weird using those when the Remaster books are out, so I'd rather wait until the official online rules reference updates so it all squares up.

(I'm holding off on getting the Remaster books because I haven't played or run anything Pathfinder/Starfinder-related since before Covid. I haven't even actually used the base 2e books for anything other than occasionally flipping through. As much as I want to support Paizo and some of the work they've been doing as of late, my bookshelves just have enough dead weight on them as it is.)

Nothing new to report on the writing front (but I want to address it while I'm here). It's mostly just revising some old material that I hope to do something with, but it's taken a while for a handful of reasons I won't get into here. And then there's some idle poking at one or two ideas that might not see the light of day, because that's just how my brain works. Shrug emoji.

Anyhow, if anyone has any thoughts, suggestions, questions, recommendations, inarticulate rants from someone whose hobby is yelling at strangers on the internet because I tripped a weird Google alert, spambot ads for questionable dating sites, platitudes about how I'm too hard on myself, so on and so forth, reach out in the comments or any of the various places you can find me on social media.