[Actual Play] The Sun Will Rise

[Campbell]

Had the first real session of an online Exalted 3e game set in the 100 Kingdoms which I am running in a Shonen Burning Wheel fashion with a heavy emphasis on challenging intimacies and limit. The initial scenario surrounds the assassination of a beloved prince of a broken nation during a meeting of princes to join the principalities back together.

Tonally, we're going for more of a Warring States feel than a Game of Thrones feel.

Here are the PCs.

Broken Lion, an infamous swordsman with a dark past who saved the prince many years ago and is now a trusted friend and confidant of the prince. Zenith Caste. Integrity Supernal.

Laughing Mountain, a sometimes loyal warrior and sometimes bandit from the steppes. His people have a tenuous alliance with Beloved Prince Rasha. The assassination shakes everything up. Dawn Caste. Resistance Supernal.

Deshi, a living weapon honed by his master, Eastern Star, to hunt down the Crimson Lotus, the mystical assassins responsible for the Prince's death. There is history there. Night Caste. Stealth Supernal.

Khidara Aya, a mortal scion of a Great House of the Realm, and the young prince's new bride. The player wants to Exalt in play. Will be Eclipse Caste. Socialize Supernal.

The initial scenario was worked out with the players before hand and I had planned to frame them right into the Bang from the start. However, after talking with the players we all decided we needed some time to get to know these PCs before things really kick off so I framed some initial scenes in Great Forks to help us to know who these characters are.

Laughing Mountain and Broken Lion were in Great Forks to meet up with Aya's Honor Guard and ensure she reaches Rasha safely. We first meet them as Laughing Mountain is haggling with a merchant over a finely crafted breast plate only to realize he has no money. There is a tense exchange as Laughing Mountain declares everything under the Golden Sun belongs to him and cows the merchant into simply giving up the armor. Broken Lion chooses his friendship with Laughing Mountain over his sense of honor when the merchant call him on not stepping in to help.

We then focus on a brief exchange that Aya has with one of her handmaiden's over choosing the right dress, but is really about her falling in love with Rasha even though they have never met. Some of her brother's men come to retrieve her.

Meanwhile we see Khidara Aris, proud Dynast and leader of men and now leader of a mortal's honor guard for the first time as he meets Broken Lion and Laughing Mountain. This conversation was a lot of fun to play out as Broken Lion and Aris felt each other out and ended up developing mutual respect. The intent behind this scene was to test Broken Lion's Major Principle I Bow No Knee to the Unworthy.


These scenes were interspersed with Deshi and his mentor, Eastern Star mystically watching over these scenes and commenting on them. I should have challenged Deshi's sense of his mentor a bit more, but there's plenty of time to do that later. Eastern Star challenges Deshi to follow the others and learn more about their connection to the Crimson Lotus.

The caravan comes together in short order and we play out a scene between Deshi, now disguised as one of the Honor Guard, and Broken Lion who suspects something about Deshi momentarily, but is assayed otherwise.

Flash forward to a week into the month long journey. It's night time and camp is set. We learn that Broken Lion has taken a special interest in Aya and is quite protective of her. She seems pretty appreciative. A set of Dogs of the Unbroken Earth assault the camp at night having not received their offering. Laughing Mountain, Deshi, now in ninja garb, and Broken Lion engage in combat while Aya attempts to find out what's going on. Some quick thinking on Aya and Broken Lion's part involves a quick offering which sates the small gods.

The challenge in the small god fight was mostly to see how these Solars would handle the small gods while in the presence of a Dynast, playing off some of Broken Lion's and Aya's intimacies. I wanted to see how much they would reveal to each other, particularly if Deshi would go full ninja and reveal his presence. Broken Lion gave all the credit to Aris in an interesting twist, really talking him up.

The final scene of the game took place as the caravan approaches the border of Orlan, much earlier than expected. They are met by a strange warrior dressed in red and white backed up by a retinue of mercenaries claiming to be here for Aya. Deshi recognizes this man is bearing the markings of the Crimson Lotus. This seems quite brazen. Aren't these guys supposed to be secretive assassins?

There is a brief exchange where Deshi warns Broken Lion not to trust this guy. Broken Lion rebuffs Deshi until Deshi flashes his caste mark to Broken Lion.

 

[Campbell]

Some quick thoughts.

The social influence mechanics felt like they added a lot to the experience, even during combat. They really helped to reinforce that these characters care about more than themselves.

Combat felt very dynamic and Shonen like. I love how Initiative shifting can make a threat feel credible without things getting lethal right away.

 

[almeidafreak]

Thanks for posting this. I'm preparing to play and had some difficulty picturing what the interactions sounded like.

I understand you're playing in a BW-oriented fashion and I 'm familiar with it, so this' been instructive! Thanks!

EDIT: What edition are you playing?

 

[Campbell]

3rd Edition.

The social influence system, the way intimacies impact the game, and specific experience triggers for Solar Experience really reminded me of Burning Wheel and drew me into the system.

 

[Campbell]

Thanks for posting this. I'm preparing to play and had some difficulty picturing what the interactions sounded like.

I understand you're playing in a BW-oriented fashion and I 'm familiar with it, so this' been instructive! Thanks!

EDIT: What edition are you playing?

To a certain extent I am reading the tea leaves here. I most often run games like Monsterhearts, Burning Wheel, and the like where I have a crystal clear idea of what I am supposed to be doing as a GM at any moment. Without a set agenda and principles to fall back on I am working with the players to find a set of techniques and procedures that work for us for this particular game. The mechanisms are suggestive of an approach that is more grounded in deeply personal stories and we're exploring that space together. So far I have mostly been cribbing some techniques from Monsterhearts, others from Burning Wheel,with some stuff from Sorcerer in a fairly haphazard way.

Here's basically what we've done. I created a loaded premise - a broken kingdom that is now divided into separate principalities each ruled by a Dragon Blooded Prince loses the most beloved of the princes in an assassination plot. Then I worked with the players to create characters in broad strokes who had a stake in the situation. Here's the criterion I focused on, all credit due to John Harper.

What makes a fit character for this game? The Four Cs.

Connected: The character has relationships (positive and negative) with other significant characters in the situation.
Committed: The character has a stake in the outcome of the situation, and will stay to see it through.
Capable: The character has the capacity to affect change in the situation by taking decisive action.
Conflicted: The character has beliefs and goals that are in conflict. They must make choices about which are more important, and which must be abandoned or changed.

Like I mentioned in the initial post, I had intended to start right in the action with Rasha found on his throne with a knife through his heart, but I did not feel like the response would be authentic enough. So I talked to the players and we decided as a group to play out the initial meet cute between the PCs. There's some dramatic irony going on here. The players know there will be an attempt made on Prince Rasha's life at some point in the near future. We have all made a commitment to play to find out what happens. He might not end up dead at all depending on how things shake out.

Part of the fallout from the first session is that the caravan made better than expected time, cutting out several days from their expected 38 day journey. The brazen show of arms is part of a desperate attempt to regain control of the situation.