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Infernal Exalted

Developers & Authors: John Mørke, Holden Shearer Illustrations: Melissa Uran Original Layout Design: Brian Glass Layout & Formatting: Charles H. Spaulding

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The following document is written in production voice, not setting voice. The material you are about to read comes straight from the mind of the developer. It is a glimpse at the outline of Infernals in EX3. This document discusses changes to the Green Sun Princes that will be happening in the future. All material herein is subject to change. Why the changes? In Exalted Second Edition, many additions to the game made it less about the Exalted and more about playing giant monsters, animals, aliens or robots, with these concepts replacing the traditional Exalted as the focus of the game. In EX3, the focus is back on the Exalted. The Infernals hardback will explore what it means to be Infernal Exalted. It will include transhumanism, alien otherness, and monstrosity, but all of this will be carried by a core of mortal heroes raised up by their own power and philosophy, thus upholding the main tenet of Exalted—that your character is central to the narrative, the hero, champion and singular force who can make her / his mark on the world.

Overview

The Green Sun Princes are the sultans of Hell, devil rajahs uplifted by the Yozis and set loose upon Creation as a plague on the world. As they are uplifted using stolen, tainted Solar Exaltations, their Solar legacy weighs heavily on the Yozi agenda. They are the return of the Solars at their worst; the curse-eaten tyrants and madmen who had their twilight at the fall of the First Age. At a glimpse, the Yozis’ plan seems simple: they can never escape Hell, but the Green Sun Princes are their freedom. For as the mad tyrant suns rise above Creation, in some small way so do the Yozis. Their makers gain little respite, save this. So they arm their Chosen and say, “Go, take back the world that was ripped from your hands.” But in reality, the Yozis’ plan is far more ambitious: to escape Hell and make their vengeance known.

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The Green Sun Princes, unknowingly, are just the first step. “Go out and conquer, be awesome, take your revenge, ascend,” the Yozis tell them, before setting them free, knowing that in doing so, their Infernal champions will raze kingdoms and set oceans ablaze in their conquest of Creation, while sparing the Yozis little further consideration, neither heeding their council nor working to grant them release from their prison. Yet the Yozis will sip the wine of victory at their bloody fetes and will sit atop the world as they do, for their Essence is intertwined; as the Infernals conquer, so do the Yozis. And for every Exalted hero and agent of Heaven who is crushed under their tread, the defenses of Creation weaken for the advent of the Yozis’ true ambitions.

Why didn’t the Yozis just make their own Exalts?

Firstly, the secret was not known to them. Also, the gods and the Chosen did much to keep the knowledge from them. But they knew, even as they worked to deny the Demon Princes this knowledge, that the Yozis were watching, and by observation alone might decipher the secrets of Second Breath. So Autochthon secreted into the notice of She Who Lives in Her Name the knowledge of the Law of Diminishment, which was discovered by the gods when they made their Chosen, and which revealed the wasting away of those who take from themselves to make champions. Seeing Autochthon’s rapid deterioration, and the first setting of the Unconquered Sun, the Masters of Creation were horrified by the notion, and sought other methods by which to gain the advantage. But after the Yozis were imprisoned, some began to disbelieve Autochthon’s gambit, even as they realized that the Exalted were their only hope of escape. Oramus, the Dragon Beyond the World, and Isidoros, the Black Boar That Twists the Sky both tried to make their own Exalted, and the Yozis were disquieted by the results. The Green Sun Princes were later forged from fifty stolen Solar Exaltations. Based on the Unconquered Sun’s limitless, undying flame, Solar Essences were made to multiply in strength over the course of an Exalt’s life. So would it be with the Green Sun Princes, whose Solar Exaltations were infused with, and bound into the pantheon of souls and powers of the illimitable Demon Princes. Carrying all the powers of Hell, pulling the Essence and knowledge of the Yozis through themselves, the Infernals are the Solars damned. Carrying all the arete and skill of a Solar, and the sorcerous might of their benefactors, the Green Sun Princes would be beyond control. The Yozis would not be able to force them into allegiance, nor make their Chosen fight to free them. They knew the Infernals would do as Solars do; they would go forth and carve the world in their own image, not knowing that they were only the first phase in a greater plan. Intertwined with the divine and blasphemous powers of their Chosen, the shattered Ancients will begin to grow in power. As their Exalted champions raise their Essence and grow the mastery of their dark gifts, so do the Yozis feel themselves returning to life and to power in Hell. And so, being tied together with Solar—Infernal—Exaltations that are limitless and eternal, the Yozis seek the power to thwart the Law of Diminishment. The second phase of their plan, unknown to the Green Sun Princes, is the creation of a second wave of Infernal Exalted, even greater than the first; a force of champions and heralds who by their nature will bring about a great Reclamation, freeing the Masters of Creation from their eternal prison.

Oh My Fap, tell me about their Charms!

I’m glad you asked. Infernals are born from a marriage of Yozi and Solar Essence, and their power bears the features of both parents. In EX3, the Green Sun Princes are Ability-based Exalts much like Solars, channeling power through intense skill and mastery. But where Solar Charms are a reductive lesson on the purity of perfect form, Infernal Charms break apart into blasphemous displays of Hell’s magnanimous glory. The Yozis are more occluded in this design—Infernals are not actually using their Charms—but their powers are there, swimming in the margins and forming the apexes. As an Infernal uses Brawl to tap his rage, the glowering, wounded wrath of Malfeas erupts to the surface in a holocaust of green flames. As a wicked hellborn temptress stalks in the night, her mastery of Stealth makes her at one with the Silent Wind, capable of silence, invisibility, and a breathing anima of razor wind. Here is a glimpse at our production notes for the Infernal Stealth tree. Names are just placeholders. Voiceless Aura Method The Infernal’s anima becomes a curtain of wind that swallows sound. Enhances Stealth rolls and defeats any Stealth detection based entirely on hearing. → Wind Cloak Vanish The Infernal pulls a dense ribbon of wind around herself and vanishes. Character achieves visual Stealth and reduces her penalty to remain hidden while moving by one die (from -3 to -2).

→ Drifting Trauma Gale The Infernal becomes the Silent Wind, and cannot be detected by sight, sound, or scent. She is also blind while moving in this form. If she encounters any living being of more consequence than a small animal or insect, the Charm’s effect ends and she reflexively launches an attack against that target. → World-Shedding Asana The Infernal closes her eyes and forces her will outward, shutting out all sound and motion. All affected targets are forced into Stealth and temporarily forget what they were just doing.

Shintais: How They Will Work:

Similar to the previous edition, shintais are blasphemous manifestations of Yozi might. Each Charm in the Infernal set will contain an occult detail attached to the end of the Charm that represents spiritual or physical growth in the Infernal’s being. Once she has collected a number of specific, matching elements (by learning Infernal Charms) she will be capable of manifesting a shintai. Shintais are terrible forms of dark power that transform the Infernal into a monster and lend her great power. As the Infernal collects more and more pieces of shintais from mastery of her Charm set, the player can use them to build more complex and powerful custom shintais using a point-build system. Each shintai will feature a number of signature powers it can unleash. When an Infernal invokes a shintai, she changes into its form, gaining a new health track (and potentially, a new mote pool). Losses from her health track (and mote pool) do not carry over when her shintai ends. Shintais offer the Infernal a number of powerful, variable options for dealing with threats that bring exceptional expansion to the normal functions of her Charm set. However, shintais suffer a few limitations: many natural Infernal Charms do not work while the Infernal is in shintai. Meanwhile, some shintais may dissolve after a certain period of time, reverting the Infernal to her true, more vulnerable form. All shintais are automatically released when their health track is depleted completely, returning the Exalt to her true form. Players will be able to build custom shintais by mixing and matching powers unique to various shintais. They will also gain access to shintais which are avatars of the Yozis, such as Glasiphane, the Eye of the Mind, a shining woman nested in a spiral of ten thousand winged cobras, each of their eyes shining with a soft crystal flame. In addition, shintais form a gateway to Charms and mutations the Infernal can access in her regular form. An Infernal who can transform into Glasiphane has access to a mutation that grows a tumor in her brain that allows her to learn the Charm Mind Hand Manipulation

Blood-Scenting Cyclone Whenever a target leaves Stealth within the Exalt’s range, she gains an attack or a clash attack against them. → Moment-Murdering Assignation The Infernal savors the inevitable defeat of her cowering prey. Every turn her target remains in Stealth reduces his [combat momentum] by 1. → Ravenous Whirlwind Prana The Exalt gains a damage bonus on an attack that breaks Stealth. → Crimson Razor Wind The Exalt’s anima becomes a compact hurricane of crimson wind that can slice through granite. The Infernal may channel this wind into her attacks, suffusing her strikes with a crimson wind slash that does additional damage to her targets. People slain and objects destroyed by this attack are erased utterly from memory.

EX3 Kickstarter • Infernals Preview

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