The Exalted Spirit: Part One

Well I guess i should start by saying this Exalted conversion to Spirit of the Century is being done with a copy of Spirit of the Century and the 2nd Edition of the Exalted core as the main basis for the whole thing. I will include a few things from the Starblazer Adventures core also. The reason I am going with the 2nd edition core is for some reason second edition really sets up the mood of the setting for me. 1st edition did to some extent, but 2nd really hammers it home for me. That being said, I am currently going on the idea that the PCs will be Solar Exalts, later as I feel like it, or decide the time is right I might give the other Exalts a try, but for now Solar is it. A lot of my ideas here are modifications or direct rip-offs from the Poster Gregor on RPGnet.

My first thought is to use the d6-d6 mechanic of SA, instead of the normal 4dF(Fudge Dice) of SotC. There is a very good chance that when I run this it will be online and d6-d6 is much easier to accomplish online. Another thought is this makes the range -5 to +5, which sounds better to me it allows the range to go higher into more legendary abilities and colossal failures, which sounds like Exalted to me.

I don't like the idea of changing much of the rules from SotC from what they are, so most of my ideas add to them more than directly change them. So first in a nutshell some of my ideas/thoughts/likes in summary.

• Aspects - I keep the 10 Aspects per character, that should not change. However each character also recieves a Caste Aspect, a Virtue Flaw Aspect, and 4 Charm Aspects.
• Skills - There is not much about skills I feel needs changing. Drive becomes Ride, Pilot becomes Sailing, Guns becomes Ranged and Weapons becomes Melee. The "trappings" of the skills(and stunts) simply need to be changed for the setting. The pyramid is unchanged and everyone gets 15.
• Stunts - As stated in skills, I feel it doesn't need changed much except instances of setting trappings. Incidently skills and stunts are the two areas I could see me changing more as playtesting happens, but for now I feel I should err on the side of caution instead of changing to much from the get-go. Everyone gets 5 stunts.
• Stress - Health and Composure work as in SotC, however I like the idea of having an Anima and Limit track.

The Character creation phases would look something like this:

1. Age of Sorrows - This is the time before a PC's exaltation, their mortal life growing up. Choose two Aspects.
2. Exaltation - This is when the PC has just exalted. Pick two aspects, your caste aspect, your virtue flaw aspect and a charm aspect. Aspects linked to past lives work best here.
3. Force of the Unconquered Sun - This a character's main "novel". Choose two aspects and a charm aspect that are related to an adventure you have had.
4. Forging the Circle - Work yourself into another player's Force of the Unconquered Sun story then choose two apects and a charm aspect from it.
5. Forging the Circle - Repeat phase 4 with a different player.

A character's refresh rate is still equal to his normal aspects number.

Charm Aspects are apsects that cover a general style, formation or group of abilities that make the character near god-like. Some examples would be Iron Whirlwind Attack, Will Bolstering Method, Flawlessly Inpenetrable Disguise, and Venemous Whispers Technique. These are all from the Exalted book and the names leave no guess as to their abilities. What makes Charm Aspects special is they can be "stacked" with any other normal aspect, skill and/or stunt. Using a Charm Aspect makes the action fueled with Essence and adds to the Anima stress bar. The Charm adds an additional +2. This means coupled with another apsect it could be +4 or a reroll+2. With stunts it could take a bit more on the GMs part, but assume it adds +2 ranks or an equivalent.

Anima Stress Bar - Anytime a Charm is used whether by itself or in conjunction with other abilities, it puts a point of stress on the Anima bar. The Anima Stress Bar starts at 5 and is increased with Mysteries using the same table as health and composure. Once the bar is filled anything causing the Anima bar more stress causes a consequence. With Anima the PC can take four consequences any stress beyond the fourth just maintains the consequences at the fourth. The four consequences are:

• Caste mark appears.
• Caste mark lights up.
• Anima flares up.
• Anima becomes iconic.

A PC can use a Caste Aspect ability for 5 Anima stress, depending on what charms they have used this could jump them from no consequences to all 4.

Virtue Flaw Aspect - This aspect covers a moral that comes from the very core of the PC's soul. It covers an aspect of the character that they are so passionate about that at most times it cannot be denied. A good example of this could range from "Heart of Tears" where the PC cannot stand to watch suffering to "Hits the Bottle" where the PC is a drunk.

Limit Stress Bar - The Limit Stress Bar starts at 5 boxes and is modified by Empathy using the same chart as Health and Composure. Using the examples before a "Heart of Tears" PC would exchange places with a tortured hostage or the "Hits the Bottle" one might be completely unconcious.

to be continued.....