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Lunar Character Creation

This is just going to be a brief overview, to give myself something to start with before I dig into the detail of charms and other systems. I reserve the right to fiddle with all this stuff to a considerable degree.

Step One: Character Concept

Homeland: Overview of Lunars/Barbarians, by Direction.

Caste: Much like all of the Celestial Exalted, the Lunars are divided into castes by their patron Celestine. Unlike most other Exalted, the Lunars are not casted immediately upon their Exaltation but instead come to an understanding of their caste sometime later. In the First Age this process required a journey to creation’s edge or the deep wilds, through a process by which the newly Exalted Lunar discovered his own caste. In the Second Age, however, this process has largely fallen to the children of the New Moon.

Each Lunar is put through a series of grueling trials, and his conduct in these sacred tests determines which Caste the Lunar will become. The actual casting process is accomplished via the magic’s of the No Moons, and is a mixture of barbarian ritual and religious service. The final result is a casted tattooed Lunar, of one of the three Castes of the Second Age. Those Lunars that become Full Moons demonstrated physical mastery and a will to survive, while those who become No Moons instead showed patience, wisdom, and an affinity with the natural essence of their Exaltation. The most common result, however, is that the newly Exalted Lunar is casted as one of the Changing Moons.

Some Lunars escape this process entirely, however. Most of these perish in the cities or the wilds of the Threshold, dying to angry spirits or the Wyld Hunt. Some survive as casteless for a time and eventually join Lunar Society. It is rare indeed for a Lunar to survive without caste, and those that do rarely reach the upper limits of their power. The No Moons have been known to kidnap particularly recalcitrant Casteless, particularly those who are known to linger too close to the Wyld. Even so, every few centuries another Lunar Exaltation is lost to the Wyld and becomes one of the Chimera.

Totem Animal: While Luna does not inherently gift a newly exalted Lunar with a caste, she does give him one boon -- every one of Luna's Chosen discovers the animal closest to their soul upon their Exaltation. This animal is their totem beast, and it shapes their nature and exaltation in many ways. What animal lurks within a given Lunar's soul? Sometimes it is possible to guess, such as when the leader of a tough band of ruffians is touched by Wolf or when a beautiful young princess discovers she is a child of Swan. Other times it is harder to spot the connection, as when a noble Prince finds the Cobra within his heart or an old shaman finds that he is chosen of Toad. In all cases, however, there is some deep connection between the Lunar and his Totem.

A Lunar's Totem is not simply roleplaying however! First, a Lunar gains the charm Finding the Spirit's Shape for free. This charm allows him to shapeshift into his Totem Animal, and is the foundation for many useful charms. In addition, one of the Lunar's caste or favored attributes is related to his totem. A Wolf Lunar might favor Perception, for instance, because of the Wolf's keen sense of spell, while a Cobra Lunar might favor Wits to model the snakes lightning reactions to events around it. The Storyteller must approve the Lunar's choice, and understand the reasoning behind that particular choice.

The Tell: A Lunar might very well have a Tell, a spiritual and physical affliction that results from the Lunar delving into some of the Shapeshifting charm trees. The Tell is a single unchanging aspect of the Lunars identity, such as unblinking eyes or a fox’s tail. It is not uncommon for a Lunar to either have or develop a tell, and they grow more and more severe the more the Lunar develops certain avenues of shapeshifting. More rules for this can be found in the Shapeshifting Rules page.

Nature: Lunars determine their nature in the same fashion as other characters.

Step Two: Choosing Attributes

Favored Attributes: The Lunars, unlike most Exalted, are creatures overwhelmingly shaped and altered by their attributes. Their magic flows from this bountiful source, and they are known for their great prowess and natural mastery. Thus, while most Exalted have favored abilities, the Lunar Exalted have favored attributes.

All Lunars have favor the attributes of their Caste (the Caste Attributes), and also have a number of Favored Attributes. The Lunars of the Full Moon and No Moon castes have two favored attributes they can assign wherever they wish, while the Changing Moons have three favored attributes. Once a Lunar has picked all his Caste and Favored Attributes, one of those Attributes is selected as his Totem Attribute.

Assigning Attributes: Lunar's begin with each attribute at 1, and pick primary, secondary and teritary categories just like all Exalted. However, the Lunars are mightier than even most Chosen and they thus recieve more points in each category. The Primary Category recieves nine (9) points, the secondary category recieves seven (7) points, and the teritary category recieves five (5) points.

Step Three: Choose Attributes

Assigning Abilities: Unlike other Exalted, the Lunar Exalted have no caste or favored attributes. They recieve 25 dots of abilities, just like the Solar Exalted. Every Lunar must have an absolute minimum of Survival *, however. Luna simply doesn't Exalt anyone who is incapable of surviving on their own.

Step Four: Advantages

Backgrounds: The Lunar Exalted tend to be somewhat more isolated and self-reliant than the Solars, but they have a few new Backgrounds that are vital to their nature. Thus, the Lunars recieve the same seven (7) dots of backgrounds as the Solar Exalted.

Charms: The Lunar Exalted also have access to charms. They recieve "Finding the Spirit's Shape'' as a free charm upon their Exaltation or shortly thereafter, and can pick ten (10) additional charms as they wish. Fully half of these charms must come from Shapeshifting charms, or the Lunars Caste/Favored attribute charms.

Virtues: The Lunar Exalted have the same four Virtues as all the other inhabitants of Creation, and recieve five (5) dots to assign between them. Lunars are also effected by the Great Curse, which will be described in more detail on the Limit Break? page.

Step Five: Finishing Touches

Willpower: The Lunar's calculate their Willpower normally.

Essence Pools: A Lunar has both a personal, and a peripheral essence pool. The personal pool is equal to his Essence + [Willpower x2]. The peripheral pool is equal to his [Essence x4] + [Willpower x2] + [Highest Virtue x4].

Renown: Something, once I do a new Renown System or decide to use the old one.

Bonus Points: Lastly, Lunar Exalted have 15 bonus points that may be spent at any time during character creation. See the following chart for specifics on cost.