Ask the Devs

[Robert Vance]

Oh, here's a question - because no Exalted thread would be complete without this derail - what's your vision for Lunars?

Our vision of Lunars is very much built off the vision you see of them in the corebook. It's an incredibly solid foundation that our own personal visions our built upon. I'm going to ramble a bit about my how I see them and how that might inform their Charms, although of course, nothing's final?

What are the Lunars (besides, you know badass shapeshifters who've earned the blessing of the witch-goddess Luna)? Lunars are divine apex predators. The theme of predation is already deeply rooted in them—there's a reason they need to consume their prey to take on their form, at least, at first—and it's reflected in their Charms. Whether it's dancing between shapes as you tear a Wyld Hunt to shreds, ruthlessly pursuing your political agenda in a court of scheming nobles, or hunting down the forbidden secrets of a god exiled to the borders of the world, you are on the hunt.

But, of course, just because Lunars are predators doesn't mean they're limited to violence and consumption. Lone wolves rarely thrive. A Lunar who wants to engage with a society, whether it's a dominion that she rules, a cult that worships her as a living god, or just some people she wants to help, is going to do so in the manner of a predator conferring its assistance to prey animals. She might become a sacred guardian, stalking the bounds of a city to rip out the throat of any devil or ghost that dares harm her flock. She might be a heartless predator that culls the herd of its weak to make it stronger, taking on a terrifying devil aspect to temper a society. She might be the raven who steals the secret of fire, returning to society bearing the gift of wisdom. I refer to this as their theme of Symbiosis.

Also, they're badass shapeshifting asskickers chosen by the witch-goddess Luna. Can't forget that!

[Robert Vance]

Are any charms from your previous DB drafts going to be resurrected?

I'm not sure they can be resurrected, because they were never really dead—their Charm set is the same one I've been working on, in iterations, since before the corebook came out. I'm very excited to get to those previews.

[Ferryman]

First, congratulations guys!

Second, thank you for doing this. You are both brave and fearless, and I hope you do not come to regret making yourselves available in this fashion.

Third, a question! I saw that both Antagonists and Bestiary documents are on the radar soon. So since that's something I assume you guys have spent some time on, have you seen any evolution in your approach to presenting enemy blocks along the way? I know that the idea behind QCs was to streamline enemy combatants, but looking at say the Immaculate shikari in the Core book it's apparent that even those templates are pretty unwieldy for an ST if you're trying to juggle more than a couple of them. Have you had any nifty breakthroughs in streamlining more dangerous opponents that you'd like to share?

Asking for a friend.

[Robert Vance]

Very cool. Do you see these keywords being used to balance out more than just mechanical power? Or does that kind of go against the idea that Evocations are meant to allow you to break out of the aesthetics of your exaltation. Like for instance if there was moonsilver weapon with an effect that only moonsilver-resonant people had because it was just so very lunar/moonsilver-exigent?

There are some Evocations that you can't learn at all if you're Dissonant with that material, but those are largely for reasons of power balance. Not being able to get an Evocation at all is pretty steep, so I'm not sure I'd do it solely on thematic grounds.

[Keichiokami]

Eric Minton and Robert Vance I am so excited for you guys! Congratulations on the promotion and I look forward to all the amazing creative things you guys will be doing for the line. Part of me is seriously stoked that the format I use for character sheets on my EX3 Obsidian Portal was directly inspired by Eric's Blog posts about EX3 characters. Now I can brag to my players about how I format their sheets like one of the Exalted Devs. LOL

Will have legit questions later, but I wanted to get my congratulations out first.

[nihnoz]

Also, their badass shapeshifting asskickers chosen by the witch-goddess Luna. Can't forget that!

I was worried you were gonna neglect the Morrigan angle. Hell yeah.

[Robert Vance]

Hi Eric & Robert,
Congratulations and best of luck!

My campaign is using aerial vehicles fairly heavily, and we are reaching the point where opponents are likely to be using fairly advanced stuff (though not always in large numbers. In previous editions, artifact vehicles often required one or more hearthstones to power them.
Would you comment on whether that is likely to remain true?
I'm not sure it really fits with the philosophy of this edition, but I am also pretty conditioned to previous editions.

Thanks and congratulations again!
Joshua

The one airship I've written for Arms of the Chosen (the Chariot of Aerial Conquest) draws power from a hearthstone, as do warstriders. Using a hearthstone to power an artifact doesn't interfere with the stone's power, so the ones that radiate an effect through a large area are extra fun with ships.

[Aquillion]

Oh, hey, 'nother question.

It was previously implied (and maybe stated I don't remember?) that most Exalts wouldn't be able to attune to MMs that weren't their type, the exceptions being Solars, Abyssals, and Dragon Blooded? Is that gone? Or are there gonna be any other penalties for attuning to an artifact that isn't "yours?"

I don't think that was ever stated? Just that Exalted would have affinities for their magical materials, with Solars having an affinity for all of them. The Resonant / Dissonant keywords seem to handle that.

(And the write-up makes it clear all existing types of Exalted can use artifacts of any type.)

[Robert Vance]

First, congratulations guys!

Second, thank you for doing this. You are both brave and fearless, and I hope you do not come to regret making yourselves available in this fashion.

Third, a question! I saw that both Antagonists and Bestiary documents are on the radar soon. So since that's something I assume you guys have spent some time on, have you seen any evolution in your approach to presenting enemy blocks along the way? I know that the idea behind QCs was to streamline enemy combatants, but looking at say the Immaculate shikari in the Core book it's apparent that even those templates are pretty unwieldy for an ST if you're trying to juggle more than a couple of them. Have you had any nifty breakthroughs in streamlining more dangerous opponents that you'd like to share?

Asking for a friend.

With the advantage of hindsight, I think the thing I really should have put into the corebook antagonist write-ups was a tactical description, to give a Storytellers an idea of what that enemy's M.O. is going to be in combat (or social influence, or iron chef competitions, or whatever).

That isn't really an answer to your question, though. What I'll say is that the complexity of running multiple QCs is definitely something I'm personally familiar with, and I'd like to provide Storytellers with material that helps guide them through the process of complex combats, among a bajillion other things.

[Leetsepeak]

Our vision of Lunars is very much built off the vision you see of them in the corebook. It's an incredibly solid foundation that our own personal visions our built upon. I'm going to ramble a bit about my how I see them and how that might inform their Charms, although of course, nothing's final?

What are the Lunars (besides, you know badass shapeshifters who've earned the blessing of the witch-goddess Luna)? Lunars are divine apex predators. The theme of predation is already deeply rooted in them—there's a reason they need to consume their prey to take on their form, at least, at first—and it's reflected in their Charms. Whether it's dancing between shapes as you tear a Wyld Hunt to shreds, ruthlessly pursuing your political agenda in a court of scheming nobles, or hunting down the forbidden secrets of a god exiled to the borders of the world, you are on the hunt.

But, of course, just because Lunars are predators doesn't mean they're limited to violence and consumption. Lone wolves rarely thrive. A Lunar who wants to engage with a society, whether it's a dominion that she rules, a cult that worships her as a living god, or just some people she wants to help, is going to do so in the manner of a predator conferring its assistance to prey animals. She might become a sacred guardian, stalking the bounds of a city to rip out the throat of any devil or ghost that dares harm her flock. She might be a heartless predator that culls the herd of its weak to make it stronger, taking on a terrifying devil aspect to temper a society. She might be the raven who steals the secret of fire, returning to society bearing the gift of wisdom. I refer to this as their theme of Symbiosis.

Also, their badass shapeshifting asskickers chosen by the witch-goddess Luna. Can't forget that!

That sounds very cool! Werewolf: The Forsaken has in its 2nd edition done some similar stuff to the powers of its protagonists, which could provide some great inspiration.

Continuing the Lunars theme, is there any chance we might see some dominions, beastfolk & lunars among the pages of the Ex3 Antagonists that we'll be seeing soon?

[Gigaton-Falcon-Emu]

Just saw this and I cannot sufficiently state how excited I am by this development! I am also very pleased by the new plans moving forward!

My question is very (not) simple, what is your vision for warstriders?

Also do you still plan to tie 'generational' themes to DB evocations?

[Joshua]

The one airship I've written for Arms of the Chosen (the Chariot of Aerial Conquest) draws power from a hearthstone, as do warstriders. Using a hearthstone to power an artifact doesn't interfere with the stone's power, so the ones that radiate an effect through a large area are extra fun with ships.

Thanks Robert Vance! This is super timely, and incredibly useful - the additional information about hearthstones not losing their power when used in vehicles just made my Twilight's day.
Thanks again, and I look forward to Arms, Antagonists, and the Bestiary and everything else!
Cheers,
Joshua

[Kyman201]

-Lunar Stuff-

... Not gonna lie, that sounds AMAZING. Like, before I was curious, and now I'm eager.

[putty]

Speaking of Ex3 Antagonists, will there be more beings on the level of Ahlat or stronger?

I have been running an Exalted game for over a year now, and I find making powerful beings both unique and challenging one of the most difficult things as an ST.

[Keichiokami]

Okay legit question time. I needed a few moments to think as I am legit excited about all this. Okay here we go:

1. In the charm Awakening Eye, it provides a free excellency of Perception+Awareness added to a Join Battle roll. I was curious as to why it was Perception and not Wits? Was it a thematic choice to make so that more observant characters have an edge via Awakening Eye? I have legit been wracking my brain over it as I now have two different characters with the charm.

2. Do you envision the incoming Cores (Dragonblooded, Exigent, and Lunar) will be the majority source for new Martial Arts and Sorcery or will there be a dedicated source books for them like Book of Three Circles and Scroll of the Monk, and only a small amount of new MA and Sorcery in the Core splatbooks?

Thank you for sharing your time with us. Looking forward to Arms of the Chosen, that preview was awesome.