ABYSSAL EXALTED

KICkSTARTER PREVIEW

Developers & Authors: John Mrke, Holden Shearer Original Layout Design: Brian Glass Layout & Formatting: Charles H. Spaulding

Welcome to the EX3 Kickstarter preview of the Abyssals. The following document contains a look into the future, a glimpse into the Year in Black, where the halls of old legends grow cold, the wind howls and the skies grow ashen; where dust is the wages of dreams, and death is the one true god. What you are about to read may thrill, anger, or amuse you. While experiencing this cornucopia of emotion that no doubt reminds you of what it means to be alive, do not forget that the following document has been written in production voice, not setting voice, and that everything herein is subject to change. Welcome to the other side. Welcome to DIE!

O verview The Abyssal Exalted are the cult heroes and deathknight

champions of the Underworld. They are the Solars cast down by the knives of the Usurpation. Now they have risen from the abyss, where they heard the Whispers of the Neverborn and gained insight into the occult mysteries and ancient secrets of the hallowed grave. But only through a taxonomy of deaths strange and alien laws may Creation be enlightened enough to be worthy of what life it has left. Heralds, champions, poets, philosophers and lovers of death, the dark Lawgivers have been raised up by the Deathlords, and have been made their deathknights, so that they might venture forth into Creation and conquer what is theirs by right. In Third Edition, the Mirror Keyword is no more. Mechanically identical Charms still exist between the Solar and Abyssal Charm set, but Abyssal Charms build toward apex Charms that reflect the Deathlords. Some Deathlord influence even extends to base and body Charms.

NO MORE MIRRORS

Why continue to base them on Solars?

The dark Solar concept captivated the imagination of the audience from day one. The thematic weight the Abyssals get from being deathly Solars impels them toward being the settings most iconic villains and anti-heroes. Something about the idea of the heros dark half that is uncanny, almost ineffableand the inverted Solar castes are just too amazing to throw away. However, many would agree that the Abyssals mechanical design has been troubled since day one. What Abyssals are has sadly fallen short of the promise of what Abyssals might be. Through second edition in particular, they felt superfluous due to sharing too many Charms with the Solars, or downright inferior due to the limitations of their Charms. The overbearing Resonance mechanic and monofocused Charm set didnt help either; these elements pigeonholed Abyssals into being one kind of character (a raving murderer) expressed in all 25 abilities, and then stepped in and overruled the character for being anything else. This attempt to differentiate Abyssals from Solars only led to the Abyssals falling in the estimation

of the audience. Further, it led many to believe it would be better to just erase the connection between Solars and Abyssals and start over. However, I want to follow the intentions that went behind the making of the Abyssals and fully realize those intentions, making good on the unspoken promise of long ago. I want to give the players their dark Solars: glorious and deathly champions rocking Solar arete and wielding all the powers of the grave. To do that, I need to preserve continuity between Abyssal and Solar Charms. Ergo, the Abyssals are built on a base of Charms identical to many in the Solar set. This establishes them as Solars. The harder part has always been establishing them as something else. The solution involved looking at the Solar Charm set and comparing it to the Abyssal Charm set. Rather than just looking at any one Charm mechanic or flawed Mirror, the investigation required that I look at the whole design. I then realized that the expectation that Abyssals would be a good idea because the Solars were a good idea was flawed. This is because of how the Charms in the Solar trees apex, and moreover, what the entire Solar set is depicting. The Solar Charm set is a depiction of the Unconquered Sun. Solars do not use his Charms, but the epic heroism the Charms describe are a metaphor for the Sun in all his greatness. The Solars are likened to the avatars of his might and glory. The Charm set, through its apexes (and Charms like Eye of the Unconquered Sun), expresses clues about the greatest, most powerful god in the setting. By advancing through this Charm set, the players have the experience of claiming some part of the Unconquered Suns might and legend for themselves, making his power their own. This is the essential truth of Exalted, especially the Solar Exalted. What does it feel like to be awarded a sliver of the Unconquered Suns power, which then grows and enables your own epic greatness? It feels exactly like moving through the Solar Charm set. But this did not work for the Abyssals, because they do not pursue the same paths of arete that Solars do. Essentially, by imbuing them with death, the original writing substituted the real, valid experience of the Solar Charm set and its exploration of the mystery of the character of the Unconquered Sun, with a far more mysterious, inexpressible exploration of death that ultimately left Abyssals without an icon to approach, or a summit to climb. Without a source to make them equal to an Exalt who was approaching an Unconquered Sun-like state, the Abyssals languished. When they were pushed in spite of this, and Oblivion was made ascendant over all, the implications were dire. In a game where myth and legend supersede the inevitability of death, players rejected the heavy-handed injection of Oblivion as a major player, to the reduction of the Unconquered Sun, the Incarnae, their Chosen, et al. In EX3, the Charms of the Abyssals apex with the Deathlords. The ultimate apex of death and Oblivion were not equal in the design to Solars and the Unconquered Sun. Nobody believed it. But everyone can believe in the Deathlords.

EX3 Kickstarter Abyssals Preview

Making the Charm Paradigm of the eathlords New byssal Exalted D AMonths If Solars are Sun incarnate, then the Deathlords are like ago, I posted an example of an Abyssal Charm casdeath incarnate, aspects and avatars of death driven by their once-connection to the Most High, endowed by the Neverborn with new purpose. And while no single Deathlord could stand equal to the Unconquered Sun, what about all thirteen of them? The Deathlords collectively provide a much more appealing trajectory for the Abyssals to follow, essentially forming a body of gothic horror iconicism to graft onto the Abyssals borrowed Solar arete. But doing this required reworking the Deathlords. They needed to be more interesting, inviting, exciting characters without overwhelming the Abyssals with their very presence. Similarly, the nature of the Deathlord/Abyssal relationship has been changed to master/apprentice, rather than master/ slave. The Deathlords have created the Abyssals in their own image. As fallen Solars, these cranky old superghosts have quite a bit to say on the subject of building Realms and watching them die. Abyssals can be both allies of the Deathlords, or solo acts who turn their back on the offers of tutelage, of lands and titles in the Underworld, and of artifacts of legendary power. They can even be renegades, fighting against the goals of the Deathlords or even the ancient dreaming Neverborn.

Sample Revamped Deathlord Notes: The Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible

His cult follows a doctrine of escape from the cycle, the idea of letting go to escape the suffering of existence. His cults lie to people, tricking them into leaping into Oblivion. He is a vile, perverse creature who hates the condition of his own existence. He flays himself but he cannot die. He tortures himself but cannot lessen the wicked blasphemy of what he is. Once, he tried to use martial arts to temper himself and repress his monstrosity, but it didnt work and it made the obscenity he finds intolerable that much worse. Yet he believes none can reach the spiritual perfection only he can embody, so they can only hope to aspire to join with him. Once he has eaten all of their souls, he will become a vessel, carrying them all into Oblivion. It is this vanitythat he is their savior that keeps him from just leaping into Oblivion himself. The Charms he lends to the Abyssals might include: dark evangelism, infecting peoples Intimacies and Virtues, cultforming Leadership actions, magically binding suicide pacts, brainwashing torture, and blood-drinking/soul-eating/cannibalism. God dammit people, focus! (Yes.)

Does he still have like seven wangs?

cade based on the First and Forsaken Lion, demonstrating the way Solar-based Charms intertwine with all new Deathlordbased apexes to make the EX3 Abyssal Charm set: Ghost Armor Prana Glorious Solar Plate analog; summons a wraith of smoke and iron that forms into a suit of haunted armor. This armor can form over mundane armor, subsuming it. It can also possess mystical armor, so long as it is made of soulsteel or is deathly in nature. Armor provides defensive bonus and fanged faces in the armor can attempt to disarm weapons that strike the armor or damage unarmed attackers. Shadow Torment Chains The deathknights anima flares into multiple bands of pyreflame, resolving into phantom chains that orbit the Abyssal and react to her commands. Chains increase attack range and allow for several actions at range, such as grappling, lifting, pulling, and retrieving fallen weaponry. Dark Headsmans Guillotine Deaths champion summons a soulsteel guillotine to behead a victim caught in his Shadow Torment Chains. Iron Maidens Kiss The deathknight wrenches his chains of torment, ripping two halves of a terrible suit of armor across the Shroud. This wicked, phantasmal armor is lined with heavy spikes, and attempts to slam shut around a victim. The grisly armored corpses created by this Charm can be knighted by the Abyssal and welcomed into battle at her side. Howling Armor Horror (Upgrades Ghost Armor Prana): The Abyssal can pay to cause the armors faces to bubble and emerge, howling and glowing with ghostflame, increasing the power of her Threaten actions. Armor whispers warnings to the deathknight, reducing the effectiveness of surprise attacks. A 2xp upgrade allows her armors howl to unseat earthly forces and send cracks through the Shroud. When she is in or near shadowlands or places of death, her armors howling causes earthquakes that terrify wildlife, send military units into rout, and cause movement penalties to her opponents. Ravenous Blood Mist: When the Abyssal is injured, her Ghost Armor exults, feeding on her pain and drinking her blood. With a single violent thought, the Abyssal can expel her blood in a fine mist from the faces in her haunted armor. Doing this when she is uninjured costs her lethal health levels. Her blood is full of razors, attacking on its own turn. For 2xp, deaths Lawgiver may purchase an upgrade; when her attack falls on the same instant as her blood mist, she may pay 2 motes to enhance her attack with a blood razor burst. Doing so cancels her blood mist effect.

Addictive Kiss

Irresistible Seduction Style

Soul-Feeding Fascination

Possessive Heart Vigil

Incorruptible Beauty

Lovers Sigh

Breath of Possession

Heart Enslaving Whispers

Frozen Watchfire Embrace

Elegant Corpse Conciliation

Black Rose Blooming

Carnal Shadow Resurrection

Now, exclusive to Kickstarter backers, I give you the succubus arts inspired by the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears: Addictive Kiss: The Exalt creates an Intimacy on her target through intimate contact. The victim forms an addiction that forces him to maintain the Intimacy. Lowers the targets Resolve against the Abyssal or her spectral agents by 1, increasing by 1 every time (victims Willpower) days pass without him making contact with the deathknight. This cannot reduce his Resolve by more than -3. Possessive Heart Vigil: The Abyssal can block intimacies which contradict the one created by Addictive Kiss. Soul-Feeding Fascination: The Lovers apprentice can drain her victims through sexual intercourse. The deathknight may choose a resource to sap from her victim: draining willpower also prevents the target from using willpower at his next Decision Point; sapping health boxes temporarily adds to the Abyssals health track, while reducing her victimsvictim also suffers a penalty on rolls to resist illness or derangement. The Abyssal can also tap her targets motes, temporarily lowering their permanent Essence by 1. Breath of Possession: The Exalt breathes Essence into a lover she has eaten with Soul-Feeding Fascination, placing (Essence) social triggers into her victim. Triggers make the victim behave in a predefined way, when encountered. The first time in a scene this happens, the Abyssal may ride her victims senses for the rest of the scene. Frozen Watchfire Embrace: Sometimes the Lovers apprentice has nothing but time on her hands. Other times, she is simply tired of playing with her toys. This Charm allows the Abyssal to conjure lascivious specters from the echoes of the void, to set upon a paramour she has inflicted with SoulFeeding Fascination. These wraiths will attempt to ravish her

target while taking the form of the Abyssal or past acquaintances of the target, sapping the victim as per the rules of Soul-Feeding Fascination. Carnal Shadow Resurrection: When the Exalt has completely drained a targets health by use of Soul-Feeding Fascination, she can trigger this Charm to turn her victim into a creature of darkness that must pursue sexual gratification in order to survive. Lovers Sigh: The Abyssal can make a long-distance seduction roll against a target she has infected with Addictive Kiss. If successful, her target can intuit her location and will pursue her. Heart Enslaving Whispers: The Lovers apprentice can use Lovers Sigh to cast a wide net over an area. Instead of targeting a paramour, however, this Charm targets any suitable character, dictated by the Abyssals needs. This can include animals. Irresistible Seduction Style: The Abyssal may attempt seduction without an Intimacy; she is treated as if the target has an Intimacy one level greater than he actually does. Incorruptible Beauty: The Exalt is pristine even when covered in webs and corpse mold. The Exalt can suffer no Appearance penalties that are not the result of Charms or magic that directly affect her Appearance. Elegant Corpse Conciliation: The Abyssals appearance may be marred by grave dirt and fresh blood, but so long as she is applying Charisma or Appearance to charm her subjects, such details cannot negatively impact her present interaction. Black Rose Blooming: The Lovers apprentice may temporarily increase her Appearance by 1, even if this increases her rating past 5. However, doing so causes lustful phantoms to coalesce in the nearest darkness surrounding her premises and attempt to gain entrance.

EX3 Kickstarter Abyssals Preview