sol invictus.indd

CHAPTER 3 • STORYTELLINGear, as the PCs instead have to fight a desperate warof survival against unbelievable odds. Alternately,the characters may not have a prayer to actuallystop the invasion itself, leaving them with nooption but to make a desperate, suicidal strike intoMalfeas itself.... Regardless of the approach taken, itshould be dangerous, terrifying, and leave the PCsin almost certain doubt of their ability to succeed— making their ultimate victory that much moreincredible.Curing the Great Curse. If ever there were an epicquest, curing the Great Curse would be it. It’squite possible that as long as the Great Curseexists, anything built by the Exalted is doomed tocollapse into blood and ruin. If the PCs want toavoid that doom, the only solution is to find a wayto overcome the Curse. The first step, of course, ismerely to realize that the Curse even exists — afact known only to two individuals in the entireworld as of the canonical starting date. Even oncethe players can discover that, the method of curingit is likely to involve a truly incredible feat. It mayrequire the Malfeans to be somehow given theirfinal death — or to find a way to enter Lethe andbe reborn. It may require the redemption of everyliving Exalt — or their violent deaths. Regardless ofthe specifics, it is certain to require great sacrifice bythose who seek to undo it — and all the while, theCurse itself will be dogging their heels, striving toundo all their good work and tear Creation asunder.Only time can tell if your PCs are up to this task, butshould they manage it, the world is open to them— their greatest restriction gone.Attacking Yu-Shan. This is probably the ultimatechallenge for a group of Solars. It is not difficultfor a group of Exalts to grow dissatisfied with thestate of heavenly governance over the course ofa long chronicle — the Incarna ignore the plightof Creation in order to devote their time to theGames of Divinity. When a group of PCs hasaccomplished all there is to do in Creation and stillfinds existence dissatisfying, righting the wrongsof heaven becomes the only thing left to do. Forsome, it might involve only (only) journeying to thePleasure Dome and forcing the Incarna to do theirjobs; for others, the only option might be to slaytheir progenitors and assume control themselves,symbolically completing the circle of betrayal thatled to their creation in the first place. It will be amonumental task, to be sure — the Incarna, whilevulnerable, are almost certainly some of the mostpowerful beings in the world of Exalted, short ofonly the Yozi. This is certainly a campaign-endingplotline, and one that needs to be built up carefullyfar in advance in order to give it the resonance itneeds to succeed; however, if done well, it canprovide the ultimate epic conclusion to a long andhard-fought Solar game.An Unexpected Challenge. You can always challengeyour Solar PCs with utterly unexpected problems.Perhaps the Primordials created other races besidesthe Dragon Kings, and now these ancient evilsawaken and thirst for revenge. Perhaps a group ofrenegade spirits discover the process of Exaltation,and set the PCs up against an army of unusualExalts. If your players enjoy surprises, elaboratedeviations from canon like these might prove to beextremely popular. Going this route with your highEssence game can give you a remarkable degree offreedom, though some players may not be interestedin a game that veers so far from standard Exalted.OPTIONAL RULESBACKGROUNDS ABOVE 5Magical power is not the only sort which is availableto the Exalted. As Princes of the Earth, the trustedsoldiers, advisors, and leaders of Creation, theExalted have access to immense temporal poweras well. The default Background ratings for Exaltedcharacters are based on the assumption that PCsare not beginning play as central members of anypowerful organization; though they may have thepower to bring any nation to heel, they are assumedto start in a fairly “average” situation. However,some Storytellers and players may be inteserested in185