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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 replac-
ing the traditional Exalted as the focus of the game.
In EX3, the focus is back on the Exalted. The Infernals hard-
back 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 Exalta-
tions, 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 do-
ing 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 weak-
en 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 obser-
vation 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 de-
terioration, 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 dis-
quieted 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 Princ-
es, 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 mas-
tery 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 blas-
phemous displays of Hell’s magnanimous glory. The Yozis are
more occluded in this design—Infernals are not actually us-
ing 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 swal-
lows sound. Enhances Stealth rolls and defeats any Stealth de-
tection 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 pen-
alty to remain hidden while moving by one die (from -3 to -2).
→ Drifting Trauma Gale
The Infernal becomes the Silent Wind, and cannot be de-
tected by sight, sound, or scent. She is also blind while moving
in this form. If she encounters any living being of more conse-
quence 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, shut-
ting out all sound and motion. All affected targets are forced into
Stealth and temporarily forget what they were just doing.
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 [com-
bat 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
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 vulner-
able 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 mix-
ing 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 shin-
ing with a soft crystal flame.
In addition, shintais form a gateway to Charms and muta-
tions 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
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