I wish we had more old-man exalts

[Accelerator]

I'm not sure if I can put this out right, but here goes.

Most exalts we see, have their stories just beginning. They're mostly young, up and coming, and usually have their lives ahead of them. I think the exceptions are Admiral Sand, and Yurgen. They have big plans for the future, even before exalting, and tend to not think of dying anytime soon. Unless of course they exalt.

I'm just thinking of an old character. He might be an old hero, or he might be someone with regrets, failings, and hidden shames. Either way, he's already got an established life for himself, doesn't work much anymore, and spends his twilight years watching the sunset. He has children or grandchildren. Or maybe he does not. Maybe he has high status, and wishes to keep it, or maybe he takes the chance to go for an adventure.

Also matter what, I will have him do say:

"Oh gods.... why? Why now? Why not before, when I needed you most of all? When I had dreams, hopes, and the burning desire to use it? Why not 30? Or 20? Or 10 years ago? Why now, on the eve of a life filled to the brim with regrets, missed opportunities, does the blessings from the gods come here? They did not come when I picked up a pitchfork to protect my family, and failed. They did not come when my companions on bittersteel ridge were slain, over and over. They did not come when I was persecuted, when I was chased out. Why now? When the fires of my youth have died down??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7mgo7YyLI

[JohnDoe244]

Showy and capable of doing feats, but like, zero cardio training?

Bingo. Athletics 2 with a Specialty in Performace.

No endurance. No coordination. Great at lifting stuff that LOOKS heavy, not so great at lifting stuff that is heavy.

[Accelerator]

I don't hate it, but bodybuilders are still strong. Not as strong as the strongmen who carry a little fat. Not as usefully strong as a fighter. But still strong.

I'd go Strength 5, Dex 1, Stamina 1.

Showy and capable of doing feats, but like, zero cardio training?

[JohnDoe244]

I don't hate it, but bodybuilders are still strong. Not as strong as the strongmen who carry a little fat. Not as usefully strong as a fighter. But still strong.

I'd go Strength 5, Dex 1, Stamina 1.

[Accelerator]

Oh yeah, totally. I had my PCs throw down with an old bald man with a long white beard and he totally [Yoda/Pai Mei]'d them. The most powerful artifact the players fought over was a walking stick (I mean, granted, it's a walking stick that stops time and makes you immortal).

The beauty of Exalted is that you can do whatever you think is cool. Use tropes. Ignore tropes. Invert tropes. Subvert tropes.

I just meant that I wouldn't change the character creation rules. Every character gets made using the same rules whether you are 8 or 80.

No -4 Str.

If you want to play your old character as Str 1, you can, but you shouldn't have to. Likewise, if you want to be Str 5 then go for it.

Character idea: Strongman that's only for show. He lacks coordination for fighting, and his muscle mass is mostly aesthetics (bodybuilder type, not actual fighter type). But the good news is, that he's mostly for show and posing and eye candy.

Unless of course, he got attacked. Panicking, he overcame his fear of the demon that crashed the gala, and exalted.

He's still Strength 1, Melee 1, but a benefit of having Presence and Appearance 5 is that you can flex so well the universe jumps to your command.

[JohnDoe244]

Worth noting that Hetman Lenurel in Caste Book: Night took a "Why not both?" approach. He explicitly doesn't look athletic, though; padding and a paunch, but he can kung fu fight with the best of them.

Oh yeah, totally. I had my PCs throw down with an old bald man with a long white beard and he totally [Yoda/Pai Mei]'d them. The most powerful artifact the players fought over was a walking stick (I mean, granted, it's a walking stick that stops time and makes you immortal).

The beauty of Exalted is that you can do whatever you think is cool. Use tropes. Ignore tropes. Invert tropes. Subvert tropes.

I just meant that I wouldn't change the character creation rules. Every character gets made using the same rules whether you are 8 or 80.

No -4 Str.

If you want to play your old character as Str 1, you can, but you shouldn't have to. Likewise, if you want to be Str 5 then go for it.

[Saur Ops Specialist]

Don't? Just make your character according to theme?

If you are making an 80 year old, maybe don't take Athletics 5. Maybe take a couple of dots of Lore.

Instead of a youngster with Fleet of Foot, take Influence to represent your place in the community.

Worth noting that Hetman Lenurel in Caste Book: Night took a "Why not both?" approach. He explicitly doesn't look athletic, though; padding and a paunch, but he can kung fu fight with the best of them.

[The Hug Ninja]

If the character's supposed to have had a fairly colourful life and/or have an interesting family, consider a lore specialty in that.

It provides scope to introduce Facts based on your backstory such as hunting down relatives and old acquaintances and ideally if you're consistent with it after a point the ST will be comfortable using that angle to generate new plot.

[JohnDoe244]

So as a question, how would that impact character creation? My games tend to be less number crunching and more thematic, so would offering a few more dots for mundane skills and such to show the characters age work?

Don't? Just make your character according to theme?

If you are making an 80 year old, maybe don't take Athletics 5. Maybe take a couple of dots of Lore.

Instead of a youngster with Fleet of Foot, take Influence to represent your place in the community.

[Accelerator]

Exalted really don't need even more dots at Creation. Ultimately it doesn't have to impact creation rules at all. If you want to do something, I'd suggest a few extra Merit dots probably with some limits on what Merits you can use them on.

Yeah. More 'backing' and 'face' and 'organisation', to show that this guy's been around for quite a bit.

[Heavy Arms]

Exalted really don't need even more dots at Creation. Ultimately it doesn't have to impact creation rules at all. If you want to do something, I'd suggest a few extra Merit dots probably with some limits on what Merits you can use them on.

[NewK]

So as a question, how would that impact character creation? My games tend to be less number crunching and more thematic, so would offering a few more dots for mundane skills and such to show the characters age work?

[Erinys]

Along those lines, and in contrast to the 3E corebook line "a person of enormous potential who has never had the opportunity to exercise it",

What about someone with enormous potential who never had the need to exercise it? They lived in one of those rare safe places, or their home had an Exalted or divine protector, and then one day it isn't safe anymore and the town's protector is splattered all over the field. And all the things that person spent their life doing and learning suddenly add up to being able to do something, even if that something is more having courage or determination rather than being the best fighter in the kingdom.

[Isator Levi]

Alright, sure. I'm worried about being too redundant, but maybe I'm being too uninformative. Generally speaking I kinda wish that there were more... unconventional types? I'm not quite sure how to say it, but I always liked the concept of the everyman. Not the bland everyman of the isekai novels, but just a normal person, maybe someone who's old, and thought that his story was over, suddenly digging deep down and realizing that there was a core of adamantium inside of him all along, just something he's never had to truly use before. Never truly pushed to that level. Until that day.

I think I get you. The kind of story where it's a person who seems normal up until something happens to it and they react in a manner that challenges the idea of normalcy.

I do think the Caste books depicted some characters such as that. I think a reason they don't spread out so much across the setting is because there's a tendency not to depict Solars coming in upon scenarios because that's a slot they'd sooner leave for players.

[Heavy Arms]

My initial negative reaction was largely not feeling the "until that day" aspect in your initial posts. When you ask about the "doing something" stuff, for me whatever happens in the moments that create "that day" would be the something being done.

I do heavily agree (which I hope is more clear already) with the idea that Exalted-at-an-older-age characters aren't presented in the books in a fashion that captures a lot of potential or variety, which leaves the ones we get very convention character types.