Exalted Versus World of Darkness

Exalted versus World of Darkness
Role-playing game published by White Wolf
Rule System	Storyteller System
Authors	Holden Shearer
First Publication	2018
Essential Books	Exalted Versus World of Darkness, Exalted Versus World of Darkness Companion

Exalted Versus World of Darkness is a fan supplement written by ex-White Wolf game designer Holden Shearer primarily to answer a niggling question many a fan has asked ever since Exalted came out: What would happen if you bring the Noblebright Exalted into the dark, gritty, and dying setting of the World of Darkness, a place where the bad guys have essentially already won?

The answer is Awesome. All sorts of crazy awesome.

For something remarkably similar in concept for the New World of Darkness, please look at Princess: The Hopeful.

The Fork in the Road

Shearer takes the old-and-discarded hook given in Hunter: The Reckoning that the World of Darkness is the same as Creation from Exalted, just aged really really badly and was ground down by the Wheel of Ages. Some sort of epochal apocalypse had occured thousand of years before, which caused the Celestial, Infernal, and Abyssal Exaltations to be sealed. Since then, the Terrestrials have kept their heads low, tried to shepherd their bloodlines, and keep out of the way of all the other supernaturals when they can help it.

Then sometime in 1999 magical nukes get dropped on Bangladesh, and the Dragon-Blooded families suddenly had a lot to discuss.

In the main metaplot, one of the major consequences of this massive supernatural clusterfsk involving an Antediluvian, a trio of hungry dead Bodhisattva, a few Garou war packs, and the Technocracy was the creation of the the Imbued, essentially the Primordials and Scarlet Empress using watered down Exaltations in an effort to stem the dark tide of supernatural nastiness threatening to drown the Mortal realm.

Here? What happens instead is the heads of five families have a marathon nine-month conference in Tibet, and finally realizing they were now staring the End of Days in the face, decide to break open the Black Vault (aka Jade Prison 2.0), which held within it the legacies of the Age of Legends, both good and ill.

With the Vault's seals removed, the long-held Celestial exaltations burst forth, seeking worthy bearers of the powers they represented... And yet along with them, the Abyssal exaltations sought their own hosts in this new and darker age. Far below the Ten Thousand Hells, sensing the return of their ancient enemies, the Infernal exaltations burst forth from their forgotten prison (alarming the Yama Kings when this happens, as they had no idea the prison was underneath there demesnes this whole time). Out in the Deep Universe, the defense mechanisms of the barely-awake Autochthon detect the power of the Celestian exaltations return, and set into motion the re-awakening of its own champions...

And finally, with the return of these reborn heroes, the Dragon-Blooded clans still remaining have to now contend with a world where they can simply stand by and do nothing.

Here's Your Shovel

Congratulations! The Exalted have returned... Except to a world where the badguys outnumber then at least five hundred to one, the Exalts have NO idea what they really are besides some vague dreams related to their past lives, they have no support structures to catch them in case things go pear-shaped, and there's not a lot of Essence around anymore to fuel their superpowers. And yet even then, the Exalted might just be enough to prevent the incoming Apocalypses... At the same time.

The fanbooks use a V20 baseline for the rules, with some aspects cherry-picked from specific rulebooks like V20 Dark Ages. Otherwise, they have a few Exalted-specific rules:

• Castes and Aspects: Exalted have Abilities that "belong" to their Caste/Aspect, and in rolls involving these 1s don't subtract successes. This is the same for Lunar Exalted and their Attributes.
• Parrying: An Exalted may parry ranged attacks up to including bullets. They cannot block these however, unless they have some way to make their skin steel.
• Soak: Exalted may roll Stamina (plus any Armor they're wearing) to soak bashing, lethal, and aggravated damage at difficulty 6.
• Poison and Disease: All rolls to resist, soak, or recover from poisons are reduced by 2. Non-supernatural diseases may weaken, but no longer kill, Exalted, and each successive difficulty roll to recover from a disease is reduced by 1. Otherwise incurable diseases are automatically purged from the Exalted's system after (8 minus Stamina) weeks.
• Health and Healing: Exalted heal much MUCH faster, seemingly like slow regeneration, and never heal badly. Exalted will never suffer crippling injuries from anything less than full amputation, even from affects like Vicissitude.
• Supernatural Resilience: Exalted are never considered merely human for purposes of any supernatural power that has less effect on supernatural targets. Anything that would normally kill a human outright for example, will just knock out an Exalt for a few hours.
• Stunting: An Exalted is never penalized for doing something in the flashiest yet dumbest way possible. Go wild!
• Intimacy: An Exalted will have something or someone that they feel strongly about, whether a loved one, a place, or an enemy that they really just want to sqash flat. If an Intimacy ceases to be relevant, they can change it at any time judged by the Storyteller (usually in between major turning points). An Exalt may make a Willpower roll vs difficulty 8 if they are forced to act against, abandon, or betray an Intimacy (like while under magical compulsion). Once a session, when an Exalt strongly affirms one of their Intimacies, they may regain a Willpower point on the spot.
• Essence: The spark of the divine in each of the Exalts, this is what is used for their superpowered feats. Each Exalt will have an Essence Rating (which measures how in-tune they are with their divine powers and how much they can use at a time), and Essence Pool (how much Essence they can store at a time). Essence renews itself at a set time of day depending on the type of Exalt, but there are also other ways of regaining Essence.
• Charms: The miracles that Essence fuels. Exalted need not purchase dots in these in an ascending order, unlike other supernaturals.
• Anima Powers: Each Exalted Caste and Aspect has a unique supernatural benefit that can only be used by that Caste or Aspect. Some of these require using Essence, while some of them are permanent.
• Anima Banner: An Exalt's spiritual mantle, normally not visible to the naked eye, but becomes like a blazingly bright Super-Saiyan esque battle aura once the spend 3 or more Essence in a single scene. This fades away a few minutes after the Exalt stops actively spending essence.
• Caste Marks: An Exalted are marked by symbols of their ancient and long-forgotten patrons. With a bit of concentration, this symbol blazes on their forehead in a very obvious and supernatrual manner. This also appears involuntarily when an Exalt's anima banner does, glowing even through whatever they're wearing on their head.
• Ancient Sorcery: Exalts of a sorcerous bent like Sidereals can cast the truly worldshaking spells of the Age of Legends... If only they can find a way to learn them of course.

Finally, a few more things that need to be considered when Exalts run into the other nasties that go bump in the night in the World of Darkness:

• Exalts default to Willpower when forced to roll against a trait that the Exalt does not have.
• When affected by spells or other effects that have lesser effects against, say, a fellow vampire or werewolf, Exalts are also least affected.
• When faced with something that has an absolute effect that an Exalted has a power to counter, the Exalted's power wins. When the two Exalts throw "absolute" effects at each other, the most "defensive" one wins; otherwise it's whoever wins a contested Willpower roll.
• If an effect depends on how powerful the target is, it effects the Exalted depending on how powerful they are as well. Rule of thumb is that Solars and Abyssals are much more powerful than Lunars and Sidereals, who are then more powerful than Terrestrials and Alchemicals.
• Exalted can use magic items of Mages etc, but spend Essence instead. Exalted obviously are not subject to Paradox.

Essence

The building blocks of the universe, and the fuel of the Exalted's superhuman skills, ambient Essence is a rare resource these days in the worn-out World of Darkness. Barring very specific circumstances (listed below), the Chosen can no longer draw Essence directly from the environment, and instead rely on the Essence that gets internally renewed within them daily.

Solars, Infernals, Dragon-Blooded, and Alchemicals regain 5 plus their Essence rating at sunrise (regardless on whether or not they see the sun itself). Abyssals, Sidereals, and Lunars on the otherhand, regain the same amount of Essence at sunset.

The other ways of regaining Essence are as follows:

• Each Caste and Aspect have unique ways of quickly Essence for a scene (detailed in their individual entries). If they meet the conditions, they instantly gain 3 points of Essence.
• Resting within a Dragon Nest for 15 minutes restores 1 point of Essence.
• Solars, Lunars, Sidereals, and Dragon-Blooded regain 1 point of Essence for every three hours spent in the Spirit World.
• Abyssals regain 1 point of Essence for every three hours spent in the Underworld.

Traveling to these Realms require specific Charms of course, but these are readily (and in some cases, instinctively) available for learning.

Those Returned Chosen

Solars

Beloved of the Undefeated Sun, in these modern nights Solars exaltations are drawn to talented people in various fields, though it may also seek out the courageous, the compassionate, or the extremely lucky. Regardless of their background, they must have some exposure to the supernatural side of the world, whether as would-be-victims or unwitting witnesses.

Solars have five distinct Castes, each of which gravitated to a certain type of personality or profession, and had a unique Anima power:

• Dawn: Warriors of the Solars, anyone with an intimate and capacity to mete out violence may become part of the caste, like soldiers, boxers, brawlers, and enforcers. Their anima power allows them to re-roll an attack, damage, or soak roll once per scene, and keep the preferred result. Dawns replenish Essence when they defeat a supernatural opponent or overwhelming mortal foe, protect a vulnerable friend, or user their martial power to advance or protect an Intimacy.

• Zenith: Priests and leaders, in the modern age they are drawn from humbler figures who are nontheless willing to stand behind their convictions, whatever the cost. They have a somewhat unique Exaltation, where they hear a divine voice asking them to find other Exalted, and help them save the world. Their anima power allows them to burn a corpse to ashes after expending 1 Essence, which allows a soul to move on; this can destroy vampires in torpor, and sends wraiths to Transcendence. Zeniths replenish their Essence when they inspire someone else, endure great hardship to support or protect an Intimacy, or accomplish a great deed.

• Twilight: Savants and sorcerers, in the modern age they are drawn from men and women of learning, who are willing to use the light of Knowledge to drive away the darkness. Their anima power allows them to merge with a dragon line for 2 Essence, and reform somewhere else along that line a few hours later. Twilights restore Essence when they learn a secret of the supernatural world, or something that advances or protects an Intimacy, or teach someone else valuable knowledge that will materially help them in some way.

• Night: Heaven's assassins who punished the wicked using their own tools, these days they are drawn from thieves, conmen, hitmen and smugglers, who otherwise have a bone to pick with the supernatural. Their anima power allows them to delay their anima flare, in that the first 2 Essence spent don't count to it activating; when it DOES activate however it shrouds them like an obscuring cloak, making her impossinle to recognize. Night Caste may replenish their Essence when they advance their goals through blackmail, assassination, theft, or other underhanded methods, or protect and support an Intimacy in this way.

• Eclipse: Heaven's negotiators, these modern nights they come fropm those who use words and organizations to fight battles: politicians, lawyers, or diplomats. It falls to them to find allies, and end threats to the Chosen before blood is spilled. Their anima power allows them so sanctify any oath via spending 1 Essence; anyone who breaks the oath suffers a curse from Heaven (which depends on the Storyteller). Eclipses may replenish their Essence whenever they advance their goals through words and connections, create peace where there was once discord, or manipulate people or systems to advance or protect an Intimacy.

Solars are unique in that they have a fleeting connection to their past lives through their dreams. About three times in a year, they have especially vivid dreams of the Age of Legends, and their role in that heady time. It's not quite an answer, but for many who have experienced Exaltation in these dark times, it's something that can be worked with.

Lunars

Beloved of the Moon Goddess, Lunars in the present age come from the outcasts, who society either pushed to the borders or ignored outright. Born from surviving a life-threatening experience, Lunars now walk the nights of a world that can no longer afford to disregard their existence.

Lunars get grouped into three distinct Castes upon Exaltation, are fixed to those from that point on:

• Full Moon: Gifted physical specimens well-suited to kicking their problems in the teeth. Their anima power means that they don't roll for Initiative, and instead always uses 10 plus her Dexterity and Wits total.
• Changing Moon: Tricksters and deceivers, using their looks and sly tongues to get what they want.
• No Moon: Shamans and seers, these are the explorers of the Spirit Worlds, and go-betweens to the other night dwellers.

Lunars are shapeshifters par-excellance, and are able to gain new forms through simple consumption (or murder, if needed). When particularly pissed off, they can even take on a man-beast form that can and WILL Rip and Tear anything that gets in their way. In this way, they can easily be mistaken for a Garou or similar Fera, but make no mistake, they are much much more than tha .

Sidereals

Agents of the Five Maidens and keepers of the Loom of Fate, modern Sidereals are drawn from people with powerful but still-unrealized destinies: fated to affect the lives of millions, for good or ill. That destiny is consumed to fuel the joining, and whatever impact the Sidereal has on the world moving forward, it would be through her own means.

Even during these modern nights, Sidereals still belong to five different Castes, each representing one of the Maidens of Fate:

• Chosen of Journeys: Those who make sure that the local Solar actually gets to where she can do the most good, at the same time gets hooked up with a helpful Hunter cell on the way there.
• Chosen of Serenity: The Exalted support group, they make sure that the Chosen get rested up after a raid on a Vampire coven went bad, and that they don't fall into really bad depression as a result.
• Chosen of Battles: Strategists and tacticians, who make sure that the Chosen fight in battles where their might will be sorely needed.
• Chosen of Secrets: Spies and information brokers, they collect the secrets of their enemies, arm their fellow Chosen with knowledge of their foes' weaknesses, and make sure the muggles aren't made aware that there was a throwdown between Solars and vampires in their neighborhood last night...
• Chosen of Endings: The guys stuck with trying to muddle through the endings of people and nations, and hopefully through those prevent the biggest ending of all: the end of the world.

Many Sidereals soon after their Exaltations that they simply don't stick in people's memories anymore, and mundane records of their existences start to disappear bit by bit. It's not absolute or infallible (and other Exalted see through it just fine), and makes living any sort of normal life difficult, but helps in protecting their anonymity.

Given their connection to Fate, the Sidereals are obviously suited to being seers and prophets, and while they're still in the dark about what they are and how this whole Exaltation thing came about, are much better suited to finding out what needs to be done, right now. They're also the right people to find all those scattered Solars and Lunars out there, and put them to work cancelling the Apocalypse.

Abyssals

Corrupted Solar Exaltations from the time beyond memory, Abyssal Exaltations look for the same sort of extraordinary traits a Solar Exaltation would look for -- except that the host needs to be close to death. And even then it isn't too bothered if it has to push the death along via proxy.

As Solars run through a grunge and goth filter, the Abyssals also have Castes reflecting their roles in bringing down Creation:

• Dusk: Those who can and will kill on the battlefield: soldiers, mercs, enforcers, and crooked cops.
• Midnight: Dark and driven figures of dark resolve, who are prepared to kill and die for their causes. Demagogues and death cult leaders can be counted in this caste.
• Daybreak: Those who get a kick collecting macabre secrets and forbidden knowledge, and believe that these should be shared with the rest of mankind.
• Day Caste: Spies, assassins, and saboteurs, who would use any means to remove those in the way of the Dead bringing down the world.
• Moonshadow: Those who fight with words to get what they want, the lobbyists, solicitors, and lawyers.

Abyssals sacrifice their names in the course of their Exaltation, and in time go by titles instead. Unlike their Celestial counterparts, Abyssals don't really have a plan, though if it involves pushing things a little closer to Armageddon it wouldn't be too bad for them either.

Infernals

The other flavor of corrupted Solar Exaltations, who served trapped fiendish overlords instead of undead Primordials. Much like Solar and Abyssal Exaltations, Infernal Exaltations seek out the exceptional, but also those who experienced great failure, and felt their lives were without meaning as a result.

During the Age of Legends, Infernals also had Castes like the Solars and Abyssals; in these modern nights, each Infernal is an island to themselves, each a budding Demon Emperor or Empress ready to ascend to the Throne of Heaven. They do still have Caste markings however, but in many cases these symbols are nonsensical at best.

That said, they do regain Essence if they meet any of the following Urges (only one chosen at Character Creation):

• Destroyer: Replenishes Essence whenever they defeat a supernatural opponent or overwhelming mortal foes, destroy their assets, or create mayhem and destruction to advance an Intimacy.

• Conqueror: Replenishes Essence when they force an enemy or powerful figure to submit to their will.

• Forbidden: Replenishes Essence whenever secretive or forbidden lore of the supernatural world is learned, or something truly nasty is bound to their service.

• Corrupter: Replenishes Essence whenever she destroys the perceptions of the riteous, or tempts them in taking the easy way out.

• Manipulator: Replenishes Essence whenever JUST AS PLANNED happens. Yeah.

Once an Infernal reaches the second Essence rank, they gain the ability to manifest Shintai, or God-Body forms that reflect the Demon Emperor or Empress they may become. They can do this once per story, but retain access to all their Charms plus any modifications to their Traits AND any additional Aspects they select for that form. The Shintai form remains until the duration ends, is dismissed by force, or its Health track gets filled by lethal or aggravated damage.

Incidentailly, any Infernal who purchases the The King and the Kingdom Charm also creates their own Hell realm (that they can further customize) in Yomi Wan. Congratulations! You've taken the first step into overlordship of Hell!

Much like the newly-returned Solars and Abyssals, Infernals have little to no context to how they came to be. However thanks to their connection the Thousand Hells of Yomi Wan, they have an idea where things are going.

As the Wheel of Ages turns toward the Sixth Age the Infernals scheme amongst themselves, as well as against their main rivals the Yama Kings, to gather power and followers in their bid to come out on top of the inevitable free-for-all for the vacated Throne of Heaven.

Terrestrials

Terrestrial Exalted, or the Dragon-Blooded, are the only "native" Exalted of the World of Darkness, and the only remaining legacy of the Age of Legends. Unlike the Celestial Exalted, their Exaltation is hereditary, so any Terrestrial will inevitably be part of the thirty three-odd surviving Dragon-Blooded families.

Rather than Castes, the Dragon-Blooded families are aspected to a particular "classical" Element (like Fire or Air), though it is rare but not unheard-of for a descendant to be attuned to an opposing element instead:

• Air: Wise scholars and zealous fighters, they are capable of both subtlety and sudden action. Their anima power helps them ignore falling damage, and triples their jumping distance and height. They may restore Essence by meditating an hour on an elevated place where they can feel the wind on their skin.

• Earth: Solid and resolute, thinking that they are slow is making a grave miscalcuation. Their anima power reduces the difficulty of all soak rolls by 1. They may restore Essence by meditating an hour beneath the earth, or at least half-submerged in soil.

• Fire: Passionate and impulsive individuals, who are equally at home in a brawl or a party. Their anima power makes them immune to fire damage, and when their anima flares, it deals lethal damage to anyone in the area (2 levels of lethal damage, difficulty 6 to soak). They may restore Essence by meditating an hour in a sweat lodge, steam bath, or surrounded by heat or smoke.

• Water: Smooth and adaptable, they go with the flow and exploit what they can to their advantage. Their anima power gives them the ability to breathe underwater, and swim at full movement speed, but when their anima is flaring they can also run across the surface of water. They may restore Essence by meditating an hour floating or submerged in water.

• Wood: Nurturing yet at times deadly, they understand the connections between people and societies. Their anime power makes them immune to poison, and when their anima flares their skin becomes poisonous to touch -- anyone in skin contact must soak 2 lethal damage per turn. They may restore Essence by meditating an hour surrounded by plant life, like in farmland or a large greenhouse.

The Terrestrial Exaltation is physical, and as such all Dragon-Blooded have visible and obvious markings hinting to their Elemental attunements. This may be as subtle as cool skin or an ever-present breeze blowing their hair for an Air Aspect, or red colored and flame-shaped hair for a Fire Aspect.

The Dragon-Blooded have to take care in using Essence, as instead of an Anima Flare, they instead have an Anima Flux, a very deadly manifestation of their Elemental aura, like cutting winds, a cloud of sharp rocks, or a very hot aura of flame. Whenever their anima manifests, everything within 1 yard of the Dragon-Blooded suffers an automatic level of lethal damage. Any supernatural who is vulnerable to the element involved (like Vampires with fire) experience aggravated damage instead.

Finally the Terrestrials have some minor form of elemental manipulation. Essentially parlor tricks, like being able to light up a cigar without a match, they can be used to entertain or distract in a pinch.

Alchemicals

Chosen of the Machine God, Autochton "reactivated" them in reaction to the unsealing of the Black Vault, and the return of the Celestial Exalted. Unlike those Exaltations, Modern-day Alchemicals were created by accident as a random person touches one of the spherical nodes that got released from the hold of a Technocracy ship that disintegrated in the upper atmosphere.

In days of old, each Alchemical was part of a Caste, which were designed with specific duties in mind. Although these days the number of extant Alchemicals number less than a dozen, the Castes still determine their personalities and implant preferences:

• Orichalcum: Draws from natural leaders and visionaries. Replenishes Essence when they defend or advance an Intimacy through forthright action or inspiration. Their anima power is to add their Essence rating to all Damage rolls while their anima is flaring.

• Moonsilver: Draws from those comfortable with lying through their teeth to accomplish their goals. Replenishes Essence when they defend or advance an intimacy through deception or trickery. Their anima power is to add their Essence rating to their Initiative total while their anima is flaring.

• Jade: Draws from the rugged and salt-of-the-earth types, popilist heroes essentially. Replenishes Essence whenever they defend or advance an Intimacy through persistence or steadfast endurance. Their anima power while their anima is flaring is to add their Essence rating to their soak rolls.

• Starmetal: Draws from plotters, planners, and dealers of knowledge. Replenishes Essence whenever they defend or advance an Intimacy through manipulation or long-sighted strategy. Their anima power while their anima is flaring is to add their Essence rating to all attack rolls.

• Soulsteel: Draws from those who seek justice. Replenishes Essence whenever they defend or advance an Intimacy through intimidation or explosive violence. Their anima power while their anima is flaring is to add their Essence rating to all block, dodge, and parry rolls.

Although they are essentially magitek cyborgs, Alchemicals can only "equip" so many Charm arrays at one time, though this limit grows as their Essence Rating increases. Because they're magitek cyborgs, they're immediately recognizable as unusual unless they enter Dormancy, after which they look normal for about twelve hours, in return to losing all their Exalted powers for that same timeframe.

Finally, an Alchemical may "reconfigure" their Charm arrays, but this may only be done during a Dormancy cycle. If the Dormancy cycle is ended prematurely, then most of these planned reconfigurations fail.