Journey to the Invisible Fortress (Learn to Play Exalted 3E)
Exalted 3rd Edition | Campaign
About the adventure
A Classic Exalted Adventure returns . . . Across all of Creation, in marketplaces, bazaars and caravansaries throughout the Threshold, rumors fly of a great treasure hoard uncovered in the uttermost Northeast . . . Three treasures from the First Age appear within a season, all from the same area, and each of them bought for a sizable fortune by members of the Scarlet Dynasty. Dreams of easy wealth, of a life free of toil and struggle, have sent every Scavenger Lord from Nexus to the Lap and back again down the Road to the End of the World, to seek the source of these treasures. You have joined one such caravan, but you are not like the other treasure hunters . . . You are Exalted, one of the Chosen of the Gods. Born a mortal like every other human in Creation, you proved you were something more than mortal when in a moment of crisis, you made a courageous choice that took your destiny into your own hands. In that moment, the Unconquered Sun shined down upon you, anointing you with a shard of His divine power, and you took the Second Breath, transforming into one of the Solar Exalted, inheritor of an ancient power, lost for over a Millenium, reborn into an Age of Sorrows . . . As one of the Solar Exalted, you have quickly learned that Creation has greatly changed in your absence. Flickers of memories of past incarnations trouble your dreams, and you know the world has become much less than the glorious past you vaguely remember. Creation is now smaller, darker, and more dangerous than ever before, and the Solar Exalted have many enemies. You must recover the power lost to your kind, and a cache of treasures such as this might contain more than just relics of the lost age, but answers to what disaster befell your kind and Creation as a whole . . . And so, you journey North, seeking what was lost to your kind in the First Age. The future of Creation depends on your success . . . A new legend begins . . . This a classic adventure scenario from the First Edition of Exalted, which I am adapting to run in Third Edition. This is the campaign version, which I think is by far the best way to experience this story, as it is an Epic Journey traversing thousands of miles from the heart of the Scavenger Lands to the uttermost Northeast, as the lost treasures in the Invisible Fortress are on the very edge of where Creation meets the Wyld . . . Experience with Exalted is not required, this scenario is designed to introduce players to the lore of Exalted as they seek the mysteries of the forgotten past, and we will learn and practice the new Edition’s rules together. We will create a new Circle of Exalted Heroes together, and set off on an Epic Journey together. All you need to bring is your courage to face the elements and the unknown, your desire to discover the truths of your world, lost for generations, and all the D10s you can muster. The Storyteller will provide the rest.
Game style
Theater of the Mind
“Theater of the Mind” uses little to no visuals for scene settings and combat. Instead, the narrative imagery comes from the Game Master’s descriptions and character action and movement comes from Players’ descriptions.
This game has become a walking tour of Creation's North East, and all along the way the players find new trouble that only they can resolve. It is very episodic but there is an overall thread that one day, they will reach the end of the Road to the End of the World and discover what is actually out there. This game has been ongoing for almost two years now, but we do onboard new players with some frequency as other players have had to leave, mostly for scheduling reasons beyond our control. Do not be intimidated by the session count, we bring everyone in on an even footing. You will quickly catch up to the rest of the group.
4.9
(20)
3 years on StartPlaying
386 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Teacher
Average response time: 18 hours
Response rate: 100%
Game Master Reviews (20)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Creativity
Storytelling
Teacher
Matt
Played 94 sessions
He makes a Character's death fun. What more could you ask?
Rees
Played 1 sessions
Did a great job of going over the character sheet which can be intimidating for new players to this game and was very aware of the need to do so while keeping in the appropriate timeframe. Excellent teacher of the rules and concepts of Runequest. Enough to whet your appetite and leave you wanting more
Sir Beef
Played 1 sessions
My son and I just completed a Runequest one-shot with Jim. We have been wanting to learn the system for some time and Jim made sure we all had a great and positive learning experience. We had ample opportunity to ask questions, both related to the rules and the setting. When we ended a combat, he made certain we had a basic proficiency with what is admittedly a challenging combat system. The endgame was very satisfying and fit extremely well with the feel of Glorantha. I would definitely return for more!
Chris
Played 123 sessions
Jim is a fantastic GM who helps newcomers explore the lore of Glorantha in an easy to digest and fun manner, with an emphasis on drama and storytelling. Well worth the price of admission!
Mary "M" Laut
Played 167 sessions
Jim is an amazingly meticulous GM in terms of building and weaving together the aspects of your backstory into the current game.
Sunny
Played 3 sessions
Never have I had a DM care this much about my character and their backstory. Jim is building an amazing star wars story. He has put in more work and has been more responsive than anything I've experienced. He cares about being true to canon but he also fosters creativity and helps your character for right into it. This is where you want to be.
Additional details
How to prepare
I generally run games via Discord, so a mic is required. I prefer video chat as well as I love seeing my players' smiling faces. I prefer Discord and have some experience with Roll20 as well, and I have nearly two decades of experience with theater of mind. I have a webcam and mic, and I would prefer everyone else be similarly equipped, but if you only have a mic, that's fine. If you have access to a copy of Exalted Third Edition, I would recommend reading the chapters on Character Creation, Systems, and Charms. I don't expect you to have the entire tome memorized - all 600 pages of it - so I would focus on those sections, in that order. If you have a change to read the setting chapters, that would be my next choice, particularly to do with the Scavenger Lands, as that is the point of origin for this Journey. If you do not have access to a copy of Exalted Third Edition, then do not worry about it overly much. We will go over what we need to know during the game. Players will need to bring their own dice or use a dice-roller app or system. The system uses d10s exclusively, I would recommend having as many as possible to hand, at least 10, but 20 is better and as you get more experienced with the system, you may find ways to create even larger dice pools still - no, I'm not kidding, we really do roll dice pools that big! I will let you use dice rollers or physical dice as you prefer - I trust my players, and I will not deny you the pleasure of rolling your own dice. This is a system known for the joy of rolling fistfuls of dice! If you have not experienced that for yourself yet (having stuck to single die pass/fail systems like . . . I don't know, the one with Dragons in your Dungeons), then I look forward to introducing you. There's nothing quite like rolling fistfuls of dice to make you feel powerful! I also recommend a good notebook and pen and paper to take notes as well. OPTIONAL: If you have jewel counters (For instance, if you previously played Magic: The Gathering or something else that uses them), they can be useful for tracking motes of Essence used by your characters. You can also use poker chips, scraps of paper, or just making notes and doing math in columns on the side of your notepad will work just as well, but I like the jewel counters because they are visible and tactile. Best to have them in two colors if you can, for tracking the two types of Essence used by your characters.
What I provide
I am not an artist and cannot illustrate your characters with anything other than my words, but I will be cropping and reusing the maps from the classic scenario and revealing them at the appropriate times. I will attempt to use the Maps in 3E as well, to illustrate your route from the heart of the Scavenger Lands to the very edge of the Frozen Northeast. But where you are going, there are no maps to guide you . . .
Gameplay details
Before play begins, there a Session 0 where we will discuss all the Safety Tools I intend to employ. The ST will communicate with each player in advance as much as possible to learn their limits, and we will discuss them as a table so that everyone is clear on what the expectations are and where the game's story will and will not be going, and what the ST and the other Players are and are not comfortable with experiencing in play. As for the Gameplay, it is expected that this is a new system to the players, and we will be proceeding as a learning experience for all involved. We will try to adhere to Rules As Written for Exalted 3E, but with the understanding that story always trumps rules in every system, and the Golden Rule and the Rule of Cool are in full effect.
Content warnings
• Blood
• Character Death
• Murder
• Slavery
• Violence
Safety tools used
• Breaks
• Debriefing
• Lines and Veils
• Open Door
• Session 0
• Stars and Wishes
• X, N, and O Cards
How will character creation work
For the Campaign Version of this game, I expect we will spend at least one and possibly more sessions creating the Champions we will portray during the course of the campaign. Exalted Character Creation is quite a bit more involved than throwing numbers on a character sheet, and I tend to run very Character-Focused games, so I really want to drill down on who these people are as people before they became Exalts, and how their prior mortal lives continue to impact their destiny now. I run Character Creation as a group, and I encourage collaboration, suggestions from the other players, and feedback to your ideas, but you always have the final say on what suggestions you do and do not incorporate into your character's final design. I find building a Circle of Exalts collaboratively like this helps to develop common backstory ties that bind the group together better, and a strong group dynamic is essential to success in any roleplaying game. For this run, we will be limited to Solar Exalts only, and we will be assuming you took the Second Breath within the last five years or less. The Unconquered Sun tends to choose His Champions at the prime of their lives, which means most PCs will be between 15 and 30 years of age, and will statistically be starting characters.
Players can expect
Combat / Tactics
High
Roleplay
Medium
Puzzles
Low
Experience level
Beginner
Platforms used
• Discord
• Roll20
$25.00
/ Session
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Details
Weekly / Tuesday - 11:30 PM UTC
Apr 29 / Session 100
4-6 Hour Duration
4 / 6 Seats Filled
Schedule
Requirements
Experience required: Beginner
Age: All Ages