WXLTD

What is it?

Working name for yet another Wushu/Exalted hack by Aprogressivist.

References & Inspiration

• Exalted, of course.
• Wushu for much of the game engine, as such.
• Wuxalted, by Benjamin Baugh.
• Exwushu, a similar work by Shreyas Sampat.
• Wuxalted Redux; Aprogressivist's previous attempt, for what it's worth.

Terminology

• Essence: This corresponds to the total dice cap one can gain when describing actions in Wushu, as well as to a character's maximum Chi.
• Mote: Chi in Wushu. Motes are a broad umbrella for Essence motes, Willpower and Health levels in Exalted.
• Scarlet / Ebon: Yang / Yin from Wushu.
• TN: Target Number (see the Mechanics section).

Characters

This section describes the traits used to define characters in WXLTD.

Motivation

Define a grandiose Motivation for your character, as in Exalted 2E. This is the character's driving goal and desire in life; whenever your character takes significant steps towards achieving her Motivation, you may add +2 to your TN during related Conflicts. Furthermore, if she succeeds in the Conflict, she may regain a Mote.

Primary Virtue

Choose one of the four Virtues described below. This is your character's strongest Virtue; whenever that Virtue is tested, you may add +1 to your TN during a Conflict.

• Compassion
• Conviction
• Temperance
• Valor

Furthermore, Exalted (and only Exalted) may, once per Conflict, choose to gain a point of Limit instead of having to lose a Mote. Every time this happens, however, roll one d10 and add your new Limit score to it; if the total is 12 or more, your character undergoes Limit Break and must suffer her Flaw (see below).

Limit Break & Flaws

{More on how to choose a Flaw later.}

When undergoing Limit Break, characters find themselves restricted by their Flaw, and must act out according to it. If they resist their Flaw, they suffer the following penalties:

• Solars: TN reduced to 1 for all Conflicts until the Limit Break ends.
• Lunars & Sidereals: Subtract 1 from TN for all Conflicts until the Limit Break ends.
• Dragon-Blooded: May not regain Motes by fulfilling their Motivation.

A character's Limit score is reset to zero at the end of the Limit Break. Furthermore, if a character did not resist her Flaw during Limit Break, she regains a Mote at the end of it.

Attributes

The three Attributes, Physical, Mental and Social, describe the raw capabilities of characters in those three basic kinds of Conflicts. They are rated from 1 to 3; 1 is as good as an ordinary person; 2 is impressive and heroic; 3 is legendary.

Abilities

To simplify matters, only five Abilities are defined. These loosely describe both a character's training and, to a certain extent, her philosophy in approaching the Conflicts she deals with. How these five Abilities map to Exalted's regular twenty-five is denoted in the parentheses.

• Faith: (Integrity, Performance, Presence, Resistance, Survival)
• Force: (Archery, Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, War)
• Guile: (Awareness, Athletics, Dodge, Larceny, Stealth)
• Honor: (Bureaucracy, Linguistics, Ride, Sail, Socialize)
• Wisdom: (Craft, Investigation, Lore, Medicine, Occult)

Abilities are rated from 0 to 2; 0 represents little to no training; 1 represents significant time and training; 2 represents a life-time of dedication and hard work.

Specialties

A Specialty denotes investment over and above that afforded by Abilities. Specialties map to the twenty-five regular Exalted Abilities, and grant a further +1 when applicable. For example, a character with Force 2 (Melee) effectively has Force 3 when fighting a sword duel, but only Force 2 when hitting someone with his fist in a bar brawl.

Backgrounds

Backgrounds represent the material and social investment and infrastructures that the character can bring to bear in Conflicts.

In WXLTD, Backgrounds are not described by a number of sub-traits, but by the circumstance in which they may be brought to bear. The regular Backgrounds from Exalted are a good starting place for inspiration, but not sufficient and final in their description.

Backgrounds are rated from 1 to 3; a Background may be used in a Conflict a number of times equal to its rating. The use of a Background must be declared before any rolls are made. They may do the following:

• General: +1 dice on a Minor Challenge (Scab roll), or counter the use of another Background that is appropriately negated.
• Offensive: gain +1 Scarlet success.
• Defensive: gain +2 Ebon successes.

Examples:

Minor Connections in the Deliberative 1: very useful for social maneuverings within the Realm's byzantine politics.

Wise Old Immaculate Master on Mount Meru 2: the esoteric training that the character's mentor has given him permits the use of this Background to represent powerful martial arts moves and Charms, very useful in combat. (Yes, you're using Mentor to beat people up. Would it really make a difference if it was an Artifact?)

Suit of Jade Superheavy Plate 3: this Background may be used to negate physical damage, typically combat. It may also be used to impress people with your character's wealth, and possibly even to intimidate them.

Essence

Your Essence caps the total dice you can receive from Details in Conflicts. Essence is also the maximum number of Motes a character may hold. Motes represent narrative immunity in the story: enough Health Levels, Willpower, etc. to continue.

The rate at which lost Motes are regained are usually defined in the Stakes of a Conflict.

Essence is determined from the following table:

Character	Base Essence
Ordinary Mortals	1
Heroic Mortal	2
God-Blooded	3
Dragon-Blooded	4
Lunars, Sidereals	5
Solars, Abyssals	6
Established (after a long campaign)	+1
Veteran (survived several decades)	+2
Elite (survived several centuries, the Empress(?))	+3
Legendary (First Age Solars, Deathlords, the Empress(?))	+4

Example:

Tepet Dunado is an Established Dragon-Blooded; he has Essence 5 (4+1).

Raging Bear is a Veteran Lunar; he has Essence 7 (5+2).

Anima Flare

{to be expanded}