Exalted Lite/PropertyBackgrounds

Property Backgrounds

These [[../Backgrounds|backgrounds]] represent things you physically own. Go you and your materialist ways!

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Artifact

This background may be purchased multiple times. Each additional purchase of this background grants a new, separate Artifact.

Just like in the Core books. Purchasing this background grants you an artifact with a level equal to that of this background.

Artifacts of significant size or complexity have a property called Scope. For most artifacts, Scope is simply 1 - that is, it's a single object with a single function, or enough related functions that it may as well be. Larger items, such as warstriders and skyships, will have high scope. A warstrider may have a scope of up to twelve, while even the smallest skyship can easily exceed twenty.

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Celestial Manse

Sidereal Characters Only, may only be purchased once, though its rating may be split into multiple manses.

This functions identically to the normal Manse background, except that it may only be purchased once and thus, multiple Celestial manses need to be split up accordingly. The prime advantage of such a Manse is that not only is it located in Yu Shan, and thus behind a heavenly army, but it has its own private defenses supplied as well, making it the most secure manse one can obtain.

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Demesne

A Demesne is a conflux of Essence not yet capped by a manse, and, technically, a first-circle soul of Gaia. Found at either the crossing of two dragon lines, or an eddy in one, they are safe havens for the Fair Folk and host to many odd effects.

This background may only be purchased once. It represents attunement and reasonable control of a combined Demesne rating equal to the square of the level purchased (1 at 1, 4 at 2, 9 at 3, 16 at 4, 25 at 5...), with a maximum level of half your rating in this background for any one Demesne.

While a high rating in this background grants considerable resources, it is also quite volatile.

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Manse

This background may be purchased multiple times. Each additional purchase of this background grants a new, separate Manse.

While Manse ratings technically go to 10, the only Manse assumed to be higher than 5 is the Imperial Manse.

Like the Artifact background, this grants a character a Manse of equivelant ranking to the level purchased.

Dynastic Dragon-Blooded Only

• Dragon-Blooded born into and loyal to the Realm begin play with access to a Hearthstone of a level up to their Family Background. While not true ownership, it is an extended loan of sorts and it is unlikely they will be forced to part with it, short of a war that for some reason they would not be participating in.

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Salary

Sidereal Characters Only

A character's Salary is her rough worth in Yu Shan, though it can also represent immense wealth in Creation.

Salary is worth many things. It provides Resources at its level in Armory, Goods, Jade, Silver, and Valuables.

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Regalia

• Lookshy, Realm, or Fate Witch Dragon-Blooded Only
• Sidereals and Loyal Abyssals only

Certain characters possess access to an immense supply of artifacts to draw from, represented by this backgrouund. Like Demesne, it provides up to its level squared in Artifacts, with a maximum level for any individual artifact equal to half the level in Regalia, rounding down.

High-scope artifacts are best represented with Regalia. The smallest true skyships, such as Manta, are Regalia 9, while the most extravagant 'common' Warstrider may only be Regalia 8, with armament.

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Resources

There are several Resources backgrounds, rather than one single one, and the ratings are more clearly defined. Characters choose how their wealth is represented.

• Resources (Animals) - Horses, a ranch.
• Resources (Armory) - Weapons, armor, etc - but always mundane
• Resources (Goods) - Food, clothing, other simple items
• Resources (Land)
• Resources (Real Estate)
• Resources (Silver)
• Resources (Slaves)
• Resources (Jade)
• Resources (Valuables) - Gold, Jewelry, etc.
• Resources (Vessels) - Typically ships, but can also be carts, chariots, etc - or possibly even an Airship of Haslanti or other design

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The value of a specific level of resources is somewhat more fixed. A player can be assumed to start with a total value of goods equal to one level higher than their Resources background provides - ie, 20 dinars worth of clothing, food, and other supplies if no points are invested into this background.

• ○○○○○○○○○○ About half a koku or 2 dinars a year, no land or any other significant property whatsoever.
• ●○○○○○○○○○ About 6 koku or 20 dinars a year, no land, but may involve some net acquisition of goods.
• ●●○○○○○○○○ About 64 koku (8 obols) or 250 dinars a year, a small piece of property in a city, a common slave or servant and the means to house and maintain or replace them as necessary
• ●●●○○○○○○○ About 705 koku (~5.5 shekels) or 2,750 dinars (~7 dirhams) a year, a decent-sized piece of property in a city, a small household staff or similar simple retinue, or a single highly-skilled servant.
• ●●●●○○○○○○ About 8,192 koku (1 talent) or 32,000 dinars (5 talents) a year, a large piece of property in a city, a large household staff, or a smaller, highly-skilled retinue of servants.
• ●●●●●○○○○○ About 12 jade talents or 60 silver talents annually. A city block or other extremely-valuable property, a large, highly skilled household staff.
• ●●●●●●○○○○ About 150 jade talents or 750 silver talents annually. An armory enough to equip several hundred men, a small sector of a city.
• ●●●●●●●○○○ About 2,000 jade talents or 10,000 silver talents annually. An armory enough to equip a legion, a sizeable town or a city district
• ●●●●●●●●○○ About 25,000 jade talents or 125,000 silver talents annually. A small city.
• ●●●●●●●●●○ About 300,000 jade talents or 1.5 million silver talents a year (roughly the entire Guild's monetary power, or the Realm's total tribute). A large city, such as Nexus or Lookshy proper.
• ●●●●●●●●●● About five million jade talents or twenty-five million silver talents annually. The Blessed Isle itself.

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Underworld Manse

This functions like the Manse background, however:

• It may only be purchased once
• It represents an Underworld Manse, meaning, its Hearthstone provides no benefit while its bearer is in Creation

Abyssals do not purchase this background. Instead, they receive it for free equal to the strength of their Leige Background. Otherwise, only Ghosts actually purchase this background.