Shattered Lives- Exalted Noir


It’s another rainy night in Nexus, the city between the river harlot’s legs. Life has always been harsh but the spring rains washed out an unusual number of homeless from the cities gutters. The bodies of the homeless who perished during the last frost wash out into the canals, fouling the already corrupt water.

 Two lovers walk down a boulevard taking in the spring air of Cinnabar arm and arm. The next morning, one is found dead in an apartment, murdered by a jealous spouse after being caught in flagrante delicto. The case is just added to the city watch’s list of unsolved murders. The list of unsolved cases grow ever higher but a few noble members of the guard dig into the cold cases, bringing justice and peace of mind to victims and their families.

Just a cable car ride away from the luxury of Cinnabar lays Nighthammer a working class area where desperate parents sell their babes into slavery to put another day’s bread on their plate. The mercenaries and slave traders of the city are always eager for more bodies.  The Councilors give their silent approval to the practice for this city is ruled by cold cash and men with even colder hearts.

Two weeks ago a cable car line was stopped due to a strike the workers holding out for more pay. The Guild works its business as always, flooding the market with drugs when the workers get too agitated. The residents of the area looking for relaxation or a way to escape the day to day pains of their lives take hits of the now cheap drugs. Overdosing and dying from the poor quality. This is a city filled with broken dreams and even more broken men. 

The reporter named Black Forest has recently disappeared.  He made a career out covering the injustices of the city, exposing corruption and looking into the crime families. Without him around the employees of his paper, the Daily Gazette, have made themselves scarce. Packing up their type writers and cheap Venetian blinds, not wanting to offend any more influential people and disappear themselves. The last person to see Black Forest was Emma Torch, a lounge singer who works at the White Rabbit nightclub. No one is sure which crime family did him in but the gadflies in the city’s club are willing to offer much speculation.  

In this dark and fallen age of man, a world filled with false hope and false promises, is there no one to tread the low places of the world to offer succor to weary hearts? To mend these shattered lives? Our story begins with an intrepid band of investigators working the streets of Nexus. 

Character Generation Guidelines
  1. Characters will be primarily playing outcaste dragon blooded in Nexus. If you would like to play a dynastic character you will have to submit a pitch to me before we start playing. The pitch will include your house, an appropriate name, which secondary school you attended, a few rivals and an explanation of why you are solving crimes in Nexus instead of trying to make yourself Empress. 
  2. Along with your character submission please submit a list of your intimacies, I would like at least half of them full. I would also like a short description of 2 NPCs that your character is invested in to be submitted as well. These can be a lover, spouse, child, friend or a pet that your character cares about.
  3. On your sheet please write 3 goals that your character would like to complete, as well as 3 beliefs that they hold about the world. Example beliefs are "people get what they deserve", "there is no honor among thieves", etc. 
  4. I am using the Errata and Ink Monkeys Material
  5. Some Martial Arts(Even Blade) and Artifacts (Perfected Kata Bracers) are broken, so if something seems to good to be true run it past me first
  6. Please send me questions at artisanofblood@gmail.com
Character Generation Mechanics
  • Attributes 8/6/4
  • Abilities 35 (abilities can go higher than 5 without BP)
    • Dynastic characters please make sure you get the required dots from dynastic training AND the dots required by your secondary school with these ability dots. It is a pre-req for getting your character approved
  • Specialty dots 8
  • Charms/Spells 12
  • Virtues 7 dots 
  • Backgrounds 7 dots (these are the same backgrounds that solars have)
    • Dynasts get 12 dots, cheaper breeding, better artifact, better manse, and connections
    • NEW BACKGROUND! Sorcery/Necromancy: grants one free spell per dot
  • Essence 2
  • Willpower 5
    • Willpower starts at 5 and is independent of virtues, costs 1 BP to raise willpower 1 dot. 
  • Bonus Points 20
    • Virtues are 1bp a dot, favored/aspect charms are 3bp, unflavored charms are 4bp, all other costs are as the DB book states. 
House Rules
  1. Scroll of Heroes is banned 
  2. Free Ox-body for every dot of essence you have 
  3. Free spell once you initiate into a circle of sorcery or necromancy 
  4. Drive and Firearms abilities will be allowed, I cant think how Noir would work without them. Drive replaces an Earth Aspected ability of your choice and Firearms replaces a Fire Aspected ability of your choice. These Charms are all located in the appendix of Shards of the Exalted Dream.  
  5. All Craft abilities are now a single Craft. This means that Craft grants equal aptitude with blacksmithing, agriculture, architecture etc. When rolling Craft for Esoteric crafts, they are limited by a single other ability, listed below:
    6. Magitech: Lore
    Genesis: Medicine
    Fate: Occult
    Glamour: Occult
    Crafting small items roll Perception, crafting large items roll Intelligence
  6. If a character has a trainer when purchasing Attributes or Abilities, they receive a 1xp discount for each dot the teacher has higher than the student. This cannot reduce the price below 1xp. Charms learned from a trainer (including sorcery/necromancy) have a flat 2xp reduction in price. All exalts are considered to have a trainer when learning Excellencies and Ox-Body equivalents
  7. All XP costs are replaced by the below chart (thanks to Sojiko for developing it). These costs are static, except for Essence, meaning they do NOT rely on the current rating. 
    8. XP Costs (Unfavored/Favored)
    * Attribute : 8/6 XP
    * Ability : 4/3 XP
    * Specialty : 2/1 XP
    * Native-level Magics : 10/8 XP (includes Charms and spells)
    * Superior Magics : 12/10 XP (includes mortals learning TMA and TCS, or Db learning CMAs)
    * Other Magic : 9 XP (includes heretical Charms, Infernal spells, and Knacks)
    * Essence : Rating × 8 XP
    * Virtue : 3 XP
    * Willpower : 3 XP
    * Colleges: 4/2 XP
    * Thaumaturgy Degree 6/4 XP (or 3/2 BP at chargen)
Freebies
  • Free dot of appearance
  • Free dot of investigation or awareness
  • Free dot of resources 

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