This is something I've been considering doing for a while, thought it'd be easy to throw together, and now it's way too long. Ah well. Anyhow, I think this sort of thing is more common on streams or YouTube nowadays, so I'm only slightly behind the times, but some gamers/writers/game writers write up characters for different games, walk through the character creation process with this sample character, talk about the game in the process, that sort of thing. I don't do podcasts or streams (streaming is more my roommate's bailiwick), but I've thought about writing up an Exalted: Essence character for the heck of it and figured I may as well do it for the blog.
For a quick primer on Exalted, pop over here for this post I threw together as an intro (and have tweaked a couple of times since) for my regular weekly game's write-ups.
And before I forget to say so, if you like this post and want to see more like it, leave a comment either here or one of my various social media accounts. I think I wanna do another Exalted character, but beyond that I'm up for suggestions on games to cover.
So I'm going to do an Exalted: Essence character. (apologies if there's a problem with the link, DTRPG's been doing some weird stuff with their site lately) Exalted: Essence, occasionally abbreviated to 'ExEss' from here on out (since 'Essence' is a game term), is a streamlined version of the Exalted system, something a lot more accessible to new players. It's got enough of a broad picture of the setting to get by, and also has rules for writing up ten different types of Exalts -- even varieties who don't have their own core system splatbooks yet.
For this post I thought about writing up one of the various NPCs that have turned up in my game, but I think I'd rather create a fresh character absent any other context than try to represent a starting-character version of one of them.
But let's get into it.
Step 0: Session Zero
Normally, this is the point where you'd sit down with your group, brainstorm on what sort of game you're running, bounce character ideas off each other, establish safety tools, and so forth. I'm just doing this alone so I'm skipping that for the moment and creating a character who'd be good for winding up just about anywhere.
Step 1: Concept
Normally you start with a concept and then pick a good Exalt type for them, but ever since I read about the Getimian Exalted I had an idea spring to mind and I'm writing him up today. I've revised and tweaked it as more details about the Getimians have popped up, and there's a longer version of this section that took a much more meandering path through some worldbuilding that wandered a little afield of canon -- and then I went back and trimmed it out, which as I type this I realize is unintentionally funny for reasons that'll be clear in a minute.
(Getimians are admittedly one of the weirder types of Exalted and maybe a bad example for a post like this, but I'm gonna get this concept down on paper anyways so it may as well be here. Maybe I'll do something more 'traditional' in another post.)
While most Exalted are heroes or would-be heroes of various stripes who've been Chosen by one of the assorted Powers That Be, Getimians are sort of... created. They're heroes who should have gone on to change the face of Creation in some way, but the forces that govern Fate disagreed. For whatever reason, their threads were preemptively yanked from the Loom of Fate and destiny was written such that they never existed.
A couple of the Ancients tinkered with -- and eventually locked away, unused -- a system that could take heroes from these hypothetical alternate Creations and incarnate them as actual people with powers and a unique relationship to reality. A rogue Sidereal named Rakan Thulio found this system and fired it up as part of his personal crusade against the corrupt Bureau of Destiny.
My Getimian was a sorcerer-engineer with the Seventh Legion of Lookshy, a militaristic city-state maintained by a remnant of the pre-Realm Shogunate, stewarding ancient military traditions and a sizable cache of artifacts and magical technology until a new Shogun arises. But even as a mortal, my engineer was a brilliant inventor and tinkerer, a scion of a defunct family line who specialized in working with gunzosha armor -- think magic-powered Iron Man power armor, intended for Exalts but with the right procedures mortals are capable of using it too (though at the cost of a greatly-reduced lifespan).
I'm thinking that while the family doesn't officially exist any more, they were part of a Shogunate remnant from the empire of Grand Cherak before it got thoroughly borked by a sorcerer named Bagrash Köl. (This is all canon history, BTW) After conquering a big chunk of the North, he lost control of the powerful artifact that made his conquest possible and own-goaled himself. After that the Scarlet Empress swept in, seized what technology was workable, turned the rest into farm equipment, and carved Grand Cherak up into a number of vassal states. So I'm thinking my character's family moved to Lookshy and were absorbed.
Before moving on, gonna take a moment to name my character. ExEss's setting chapter suggests that Cherak's chunk of Creation has a vaguely Slavic vibe to it. So I'm just gonna poke around FantasyNameGenerators.com's Slavic names generator and randomize some things until I find one I like.
Alrighty here I go. Doing some adjustments to better fit naming conventions, my engineer is named Branek, descended from Gens Babic. (I don't know off-hand if he'd have one of the existing Lookshy family names)
So Branek was a particular prodigy when it came to gunzosha armor, and built at first an order of sorcerer-engineers that over time became the Babic Academy, an engineering school dedicated to advancing and developing this technology. This order became a living example that with hard work and sacrifice, there are circumstances where mortals could stand side-by-side with the Dragon-Blooded. The turning point of his career was in an excavation in lands once held by Grand Cherak where he found, repaired, and restored a powerful suit of starmetal gunzosha armor.
With the Realm on the verge of their civil war, Branek put forth the idea of Lookshy seizing the Blessed Isle using the Babic Academy to supplement the Seventh Legion's already-considerable forces and tech and make a move. Maybe this is pushing the bounds of canon slightly, but the Babic Academy's gunzosha made enough of a difference for Lookshy to seize at least partial control of the Blessed Isle, perhaps even cutting a path to the Imperial City. But whether they succeed or not, the attempt foretells a major shift in the balance of power.
Then Branek woke up one day either during the campaign or perhaps after succeeding and found himself in a world that didn't know him. It didn't know him, it didn't know his armor, it didn't know the Babic Academy. He was alone, with only his suit (which somehow came with him). However, he now bore the power of Exaltation that brought him into being, ready to supplement his already-Creation-changing brilliance. And dealing with the paradox of wanting to prove mortals' worth without being one himself could make for some fun character tension.
(By the way, all of that 'backstory that never happened' stuff is referred to as a Getimian's Origin.)
Getimians are contacted by Rakan Thulio shortly after their Exaltation, whereupon they hear his pitch for his war against Heaven, but I'm sort of sidestepping that because it feels like the sort of thing best saved for if this character ever came up in a game, as it can go a few different ways depending on the Storyteller and the type of game.
And now, glancing back at the Character Creation... ah, yes, I need to pick a Caste for him. The surprisingly-useful Character Archetypes sidebar on the next page (page 98) suggests that a 'savant' Getimian would be an Autumn or Winter Caste. Autumn Caste Getimians are described as 'inspirational war leaders, healers, and saviors of the meek.' And while Branek's Origin includes a massive military campaign (or at least the potential for one), I'm thinking his contribution was less being a 'shining hero leading the charge' and more being 'the tip of the spear.'
It's a subtle distinction, and is probably a better fit for the 'magicians, demiurges, and power brokers' of the Winter Caste. They tend to be about building a 'new order' with schemes, or magic, or some such. Which I'll admit felt a little loose of a fit at first, but in building it out a bit (pun intended) in my head I hit on the idea that the Babic Academy's meritocratic promotion of mortals into places of influence might be the sort of thing that would get some side-eye from the Powers That Be in Heaven.
So yeah, Winter Caste it is. Also, according to the book, I need to make a note of the Getimian Exalt Advantages. Those are Getimian Alchemy (Getimian's motes are divided into Flowing and Still pools, and depending on how that balance is leaning they receive bonuses successes to certain rolls), Infected Fate (Getimians can spend motes to bind people into certain roles and archetypes in relation to themselves like bodyguard or business partner, and they get bonuses in acting in that role or suffer penalties acting against it), and their Resonance with starmetal.
I should also point out Branek's Anima Powers granted by his caste. First, he has Orderly World Insight as his Passive ability -- when he first meets someone, Branek gets a sense of their status and position in society. (Nontrivial characters get a roll to hide their membership in a clandestine organization.) His Active power is Deception Withers Away: Once he's built up at least three levels of anima (meaning his anima banner is flaring), he adds his Still motes in dice to resist illusions and other magic that deliberately confuses or misleads (this also reduces the difficulty to resist or contest certain effects), and if he succeeds he gets a bonus against the source of said magic. Finally, his Iconic power, which is only usable when his anima is maxed out, is Laws of a New Creation. This lets him declare a taboo that must be followed out to medium range -- it can't stop combat or social influence, but he forbids some behavior and performing that behavior requires a Difficulty 7 Integrity roll.
This also feels like a good spot to describe his anima banner -- as a Winter Caste Getimian, the banner is going to be 'the gray blue of light reflected on snowfall.' Getimian animas give glimpses of the world they grew up in -- so in Branek's case, when he hits Iconic, I imagine people will see him surrounded by armored figures, or perhaps get glimpses of the workshop he had at the Academy.
Okay, that was long as heck. Sorry, got into a groove. The rest of this should be more straightforward.
Step 2: Attributes
Dice pools in many White Wolf/Onyx Path-based systems come from grabbing a number of d10s equal to one trait, adding a number of d10s equal to another, and rolling them. In Exalted, whether ExEss or core, one half of this equation is almost always an Attribute.
Characters in Exalted: Essence have three Attributes, streamlined from the nine seen in the core system. These Attributes are Force, Finesse, and Fortitude, reflecting how they solve problems. Force would be powering through with physical might or intellectual superiority, Finesse would be acting with speed or cleverness, and Fortitude would be about enduring a problem until it's over. I prioritize these and assign ratings of 4, 3, and 2 to them.
As much as smart characters are often equated with cleverness and wit, I feel like if presented with a puzzle to solve, he'd find the best direct solution rather than circumvent it entirely, which feels like a Force vs Finesse thing. I think it also suggests a leaning towards Fortitude, as I can see him solving a puzzle box or something by spending an hour testing out every possible solution if need be.
(And while the system doesn't make the distinction between a physically-strong Force-focused character and a brilliant one, I still think on a philosophical level the approach matters more than muscle mass, for example.)
So Branek's Attributes are going to be Force 4, Finesse 2, and Fortitude 3.
Step 3: Abilities
And here we come to the second half of most dice pools: Abilities.
Again, unlike Exalted core's 25/26 Abilities (depending on how you count Martial Arts), ExEss has a truncated list of 14. I'm not going to run down the full list ahead of time, let's just get into the numbers.
Again, Exalted: Essence is about prioritizing rather than distributing dots. I assign a rating of 5 to one ability, a rating of 4 to a second, three 3s, two 2s, and one 1. This is a case where having other players at the (possibly virtual) table with you is ideal because then it allows for a certain level of niche protection -- one person gets to be 'the Craft guy,' or 'the Ranged Combat specialist.'
Speaking of which, Branek's 5 is going to be in Craft. He's all about building and repairing things. And for the 4, let's see... let's go with Sagacity. That's the Ability for academic or historical knowledge, and understanding of the occult.
Now let's do the three 3's. I'm thinking one of those is going to be in Navigate, which in addition to the obvious implication applies to vehicles. A second is going to go in War -- he grew up in a military culture, so he's going to understand tactics and leadership.
And the third 3... hm. I'm thinking either Close Combat or Ranged Combat. So when he descends upon the battlefield, in his magical power armor, is he punching/stabbing or blasting? Honestly, the mental image that comes to mind when I close my eyes and consider this character are him dropping into the middle of the battlefield, doing the three-point superhero pose, and going toe-to-toe with the 'bad guy' rather sitting back and shooting. So yeah, that'll be Close Combat for the last 3.
Though of course, the first of the 2s can go to the other. So that'll be Ranged Combat. The other 2... hm. I think I'm actually going to go with Embassy on this one. That's the Ability for handling social structures, bureaucracies, etc., which is distinct from Presence which is about being persuasive and influential.
So maybe, on reflection, he wasn't the sole driving force of the Babic Academy, and was likely better known for the science than the charisma. Maybe someone else was the face, but he still helped maintain it. So that'll be a 2 in Embassy. And he's got one 1, which I'll go ahead and put into Presence. On the battlefield he's a leader and tactician, but away from the action he's better in his workshop than an auditorium.
So a quick summary before we continue: Close Combat 3, Craft 5, Embassy 2, Navigate 3, Presence 1, Ranged Combat 2, Sagacity 4, War 3.
Everything else will be at a 0, which includes (but isn't limited to) Abilities like Awareness or Integrity. So this suggests that perhaps he can be short-sighted, maybe overly-focused. Maybe he loses track of the big picture easily, and can be overwhelmed. The arrangement also means that despite his battlefield prowess, he lacks any dice in Athletics or Physique. Gunzosha armor is rough on mortals -- which, technically, he used to be -- and perhaps he grew reliant on the mechanical enhancements in addition to all that.
I'm not normally one of those gamers who goes out of his way to point out that low levels in things should tell you as much about the characters as high levels in things, but I feel like this is a classic 'if the shoe fits' scenario.
Step 4: Charms
Okay, for some players, this is the fun part: Charms. The personal powers and magic of the Exalted. There's a buttload of Charms, but this is one of those cases where Exalted: Essence's streamlining works vastly in its favor. After all, the Exalted Third Edition core book's Charm chapter is 171 pages of Solar-only Charms (not counting another 37 pages of Martial Arts Charms), many of them awkwardly-written, uninteresting, or speedbump Charms with really granular abilities.
By comparison, Exalted: Essence has only 32 pages of Charms usable by all ten Exalted types, with another 6-7 pages each for exclusive/specialty Charms of each type (including a set of sample Exigent Charms, as their whole deal is complicated), and 15 pages of Martial Arts Charms (including one of the Sidereals' weird-ass complicated styles). Each ExEss Charm easily takes the place of three or four core Charms, and they're written with lessons learned from the original 3rd Ed core. And on top of that there's a bunch of suggested pre-built Charm 'loadouts' later on in the Character Creation section, which makes selecting Charms so much easier.
Unfortunately, none of the suggested builds really fits Branek, so we're going to do this by hand, as it were. First, I start the game with Ox Body Technique or an Excellency. Ox Body Technique makes you tougher, while Excellencies boost your Ability rolls. I'm going to pick an Excellency, which means I have to choose an Ability. While I'm tempted to take that Excellency in Sagacity because those rolls might be a little more common in an actual game, I'll go with Craft instead, so he can build things better (and hopefully quicker) if it comes to it. I think in play he's gonna be a little bit of Iron Man, little bit of Macgyver.
So what that means is that I spend a mote and I get to add my Craft rating to a Craft roll -- effectively doubling the Ability for the purposes of the pool. And as a Getimian, while this is exceptionally unlikely to happen, if my Attribute winds up higher than my Craft rating I can use that instead. This is called a Mode -- some Exalt types have optional alternate versions or add-ons of Charms.
After that, I pick four more Charms. So let's spread these out a bit -- let's start with a Craft Charm, and there are a few options here. I'm sorely tempted to take Wonder-Crafting Initiation, which lets you craft artifacts, though I'd want to talk to the Storyteller of this hypothetical game over whether Branek would have enough time/opportunities to do that to justify starting with it. Though as I type this it occurs to me that he'd probably need it for repairing his armor, so I'm gonna go ahead and take it.
Also, I'm going to take something a little more mundanely-useful, and Clever Improvisation Method is about as useful as it's going to get. It basically lets you create temporary items out of available materials, Macgyver-style.
(Though if this wound up being a game where I would get to do a lot of crafting early on, I might swap out Clever Improvisation Method for Quickening the Forge or Efficient Crafting Technique.)
So I've got two Charms left. I'm torn, though, because I want to take a combat Charm, and one of the Getimian-specific Charms because why not, but I also want to leave a Charm slot for an Evocation on the Gunzosha armor (which I'll explain in a moment). So, skimming the list, I think I've got an idea.
I'll take the Getimian Fortitude Charm Spatial Disjunction, which lets Branek decide he's suddenly closer or further away in combat, doing sort of reality glitch-flash step hijinks, which will definitely be useful in combat.
And that'll leave a Charm slot I'll use in a minute. (The character creation steps are just guidelines in any case, it doesn't have to be a rigid order.)
Step 5: Merits
And now we get to Merits, which combine the functions of Backgrounds and Merits in older editions of Exalted or classic World of Darkness, or Edges in Storypath. As with literally everything else, ExEss streamlines things considerably from core. The book has three different arrangements of Merits that the group should decide on, but I think I'm just going to go with the first kinda-default one, which is 'one primary, one secondary, and one tertiary.'
The primary Merit is going to be Artifact, which the book describes as a 'world-shaking wonder.' This will be the aforementioned gunzosha armor. If I were to translate this into tabletop, this would be a five-dot Artifact, the sort of thing that has legends of its own.
So let's give this gunzosha armor a name and a backstory, and try to keep it simple because this post is already too damn long.
The Nightglow Panoply was designed for a First Age Dragon-Blooded hero named Jaspio Makiri who, according to the Loom of Fate, needed to survive a coming battle or else Creation was doomed. With little other direction than that, a Sidereal Circle was tasked with building her a suit of starmetal armor into which they could weave this destiny. For the materials they hunted celestial horrors that lurked in the dark places between the stars of the night sky and forged them into a strange, dark alloy of starmetal that shines like an oil slick in the right light.
It began as a lamellar cuirass but as the Loom of Fate still predicted disaster, it grew larger and larger until it became a full suit of gunzosha armor. Finished on the eve of the fated battle, it protected Makiri as she led the armies of the Exalted Host against remnants of the Ancients' hordes. In the end she needed little protection, as the greatest threat to her had been the celestial horrors whose numbers were all but depleted in the armor's making.
As these things tend to do, after the battle it passed down through Gens Jaspio until the Usurpation. It was thought lost when the workshop where it was being serviced was seemingly destroyed, but the destiny of survival woven into the armor kept it safe until Branek discovered the buried structure.
(Yup, three paragraphs, that's 'keeping it simple' for me.)
And now we get to the 'Evocation' thing I was talking about earlier. Evocations are like Charms, but tied to Artifacts, and can be used to access powers normally outside your type. Normally I'd work out something to represent a custom power with the Storyteller, but let's take the easy road here.
See, there's a Charm called Arsenal-Summoning Gesture, and while that's a Charm that Branek could take normally, the Alchemical mode for it (Integrated Armory Systems) lets you use the power reflexively. Alchemical Charms are all physical components built into the Alchemical, and as the name 'Integrated Armory Systems' implies, the armor/weapon is incorporated into and hidden within the character's body. Obviously, as Branek isn't any sort of cyborg, I think this will represent the armor folding up into a breastplate or some worn gadget that unfolds into the full armor, kinda like Tony's briefcase-suit in Iron Man 2.
And now let's name this Evocation Unfolding Destiny.
In theory, this armor should have all sorts of capabilities, perhaps unlocked in Branek's Origin, but you could make the case that his new state caused something of a reset. I'm assuming how that's going to be handled with Getimians, assuming their Exaltation brings Artifacts at all. Regardless, over the course of a full game, I'd be developing a number of Evocations for the Nightglow Panoply. It should also have an inherent power of some sort, but let's just say that when deployed, its gauntlets act as smashfists (artifact cesti).
(Forgive me, I'm gonna skip writing up a full stat block of this armor at this time, I'm not even finished with this post and it's already ridiculously longer than I meant it to be. If you want full stats on it, let me know and I'll come back around to it later.)
Now where were we? Right, Merits. I also need to pick a secondary and a tertiary Merit. So for the secondary Merit, let's go with Hearthstone. This means that Branek has a manse or demesne (a place of power at a natural source of geomantic Essence), which produces a magical gemstone that can provide power and even Evocations. Normally it comes with an amulet or some sort of to contain the gem if you don't have an artifact to slot it into, which I'm thinking will be the device into which the armor folds (as I described above). So let's say that's some sort of gorget.
So lemme look at the list of sample Hearthstones and just pick one of those. Let's go with the Jewel of Swift-Strike, which provides bonuses if you move before attacking. We'll ignore the sample Manse listed with it for the moment, and say that Branek discovered and took over a ruined First Age Manse in his Origin, and conveniently nobody else discovered it in Creation proper so it was still there and unclaimed. I'm going vague enough I could hypothetically place this Manse anywhere.
(Actually, perhaps the gunzosha armor didn't come with him when he was brought into Creation proper, and it was in the Manse in question. So it was still waiting for him in the 'real' Manse. Perhaps he's still restoring it, which is why it has only the one Evocation so far. I'm just tossing stuff out here, and would certainly adjust things if this were an actual game.)
So now we need the tertiary Merit and, looking at the list again, I'll put Followers into that slot. After all, while the Babic Academy doesn't exist (yet), he's going to either intentionally or unintentionally gather students, so I'm thinking he's developed a small entourage of would-be engineers and assistants; the seed from which a school could grow.
Oh, and also, Followers comes with a mechanical benefit. Whenever they have to roll for something or assist Branek with a roll, they roll/add 5 dice for tasks that fall in line with their schtick, and 3 for anything else. (That's 2 dice because of the Merit's rating, and the Merit specifically adds +3/+1 as appropriate.)
Step 6: Virtues and Intimacies
And now we're getting into some of the fiddly bits of the character.
The first of these fiddly bits is Virtues, which help define a character's beliefs and priorities and can affect rolls to influence them. Exalted: Essence has seven: Ambition, Compassion, Courage, Discipline, Justice, Loyalty, and Wonder. I choose one to be Branek's Major Virtue and one to be his Minor Virtue. These aren't too terribly complicated. I'm going to start with Wonder as a Major Virtue; Branek's interest in science and engineering is about discovering what's possible and looking beyond that to see what could be possible. If he weren't raised in Lookshy, he'd probably be in the Northeast where all of the airships are, trying to reach Vanileth's palace. (It makes sense if you know the setting.)
His Minor Virtue is going to be Ambition, and according to the book I have to choose something that drives him. So this will be one of his driving factors in his Origin, so the full Virtue is going to be Ambition: Prove the worth of mortal brilliance. I still think this is going to lead to some interesting tension, given that he strictly isn't mortal any more.
Next up is Intimacies. These are specific beliefs or relationships that help define the character. I pick one Major, and two Minor, and each one has to be associated with one of the two Virtues listed above.
First, I'm thinking that his Major Intimacy will be I do not define myself or others by their Exaltation, tied to his Ambition. It's about hanging onto his own humanity, and about trying not to judge others by what power they do or don't bear. The first Minor Intimacy will be Lookshy (Frustrated), tied to Wonder. I'm thinking he felt himself stifled by Lookshy as a militaristic society, and as a Dragon-Blood-focused culture. While not as abusive to mortals as the Realm can be, I'm sure he felt cast aside when he became too old to Exalt and that drove him further.
As the book allows for this, I'm going to leave the second Minor Intimacy undefined for the moment, because I think that should reflect how Branek feels about Rakan Thulio and his crusade, one way or another. And I think a lot of that would hinge on how the Storyteller presented Thulio in-play. (This is, as I pointed out above, why I haven't addressed Thulio in the backstory.) So I guess as a placeholder, I'm going to put that Minor Intimacy down as Rakan Thulio (?) and hold off on assigning it to a Virtue at this time. (Though I'll tuck it under the Major Virtue on the sheet I'm using.)
Now, we address the Great Curse. Exaltation itself was cursed by the Yozis, the beyond-godly titans who built Creation. So all Exalts have circumstances under which they lose control of themselves. This is often a moment of trauma or stress where something in the character [i]breaks[/i] and another aspect of them comes out, sometimes leading to a "What have I done?" realization afterwards.
Achilles sulking in his tent is a classic example. A well-known contemporary example might be the Tenth Doctor proclaiming himself the 'Time Lord Victorious' in "The Waters of Mars." While induced by an artifact, there's the Librarians episode "And the Apple of Discord," where the titular artifact turns the characters into their worst selves. And pretty much any time on Buffy that Vampire Slayer that Buffy vanishes entirely up her own ass and proclaims she has to solve the current problem without her friends against all logic and reason.
In addition to the usual triggers -- acting against a Major Intimacy or Virtue -- the Great Curse can also be incited in Getimians by being confronted with reminders or material evidence of the world and life that are lost to them, or if they encounter someone they remember who does not remember them. When this happens, they suffer a Catastrophic Imbalance that can manifest differently based on whether they're currently Flowing or Still. By the book I'm supposed to choose a manifestation, but I'm no way bound to stick with it and can indeed choose a different manifestation each time, so I'm gonna skip that bit.
Step 7: Finishing Touches
Okay, finally, soon you're gonna be rid of me.
First, I record a starting Essence rating of 1 and its associated pool of 5 motes. Done.
Next, I record my health levels -- two 0, two with a -1 wound penalty, two with a -2 wound penalty, and 'Incapacitated.' If I'd bought Ox Body Technique, I'd be adding to this.
And now, we come to derived values. Branek's Defense is his Parry ([Highest Attribute + Close Combat]/2, round up) or Evasion ([Highest Attribute + Athletics]/2, round up), whichever is higher. His highest Attribute is his Force of 4, his Close Combat is 3 and his Athletics is 0. That's going to give him a Parry of 4 and an Evasion of 2, so that'll mean a Defense 4 barring some circumstance that will force him to use Evasion instead.
Next is Soak, which starts at 1, and when he's wearing the Nightglow Panoply that'll add +3 Soak since it's artifact heavy armor (though at a -1 mobility penalty to certain rolls) to give him Soak 4. His Hardness starts at 2, plus his Essence rating (1), and when he's wearing it the armor will add an additional +1, for Hardness 4.
And finally, there's his Resolve, which starts at 2 and... *checks notes* ...stays there, as I didn't take any dots of Integrity. Resolve 2 it is, then.
By the book, all that's left is sorting out his mundane equipment and the 'Spark of Life,' which means figuring out his little quirks and habits, does he have any friends, etc. But maybe I'm mentally tired after typing all this out, but I'd be willing to leave that up in the air until and unless I wound up playing this character in a game, as these could be heavily affected by surrounding circumstances.
While I'm here (and not because I realized later that I forgot and came back to fix it), let me throw on a quick physical description.
I'm thinking that Branek is 40, but looks older than that -- piloting gunzosha armor is very draining to mortals, and Exaltation may restore his health but it wouldn't necessarily restore his youth. Actually, now that I think about it, Exaltation probably improves his health to the degree that, over time, it might restore his appearance a little bit. So let's say he looks 60 when first brought into Creation but 'settles' into looking like a solid 50 after a while, with gray hair and slightly sunken eyes. He's fair-skinned, but he's got a lot of scars -- some of them from injuries suffered doing dangerous work, experiments, or excavation, some of them leftover from the implanted jade amulets mortals need to pilot gunzosha armor. (An issue he's probably trying to crack, though he'd likely need more powerful help for that.)
With that, I should be done!
And now, unless I screw something up, below you should be able to gaze upon Branek's character sheet.
gaaaaaaaze
There is an official Exalted: Essence character sheet, but I'm using Mr. Gone's because the fields give me a little more room to work with.
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