Quick Summary
- Requires at least 1 parent with Essence 4
- Lower requirement by 1 for living on Uncapped Demesne
- Dragon-Blooded can also lower requirement by 1 for Powerful Elemental Manse (only for determining if the child is Half-Dragon-Blooded
- Lower requirement by 1 for Cult 3+
- Lower requirement by 1 for living on Uncapped Demesne
- Dragon-Blooded Lineages children still can be half-castes (be Half-Dragon-Blooded, or otherwise), since they check for Exaltation upon puberty and not before. However, Dragon-Blooded Exaltation will supersede all God-Blooded status as per the rules below.
- The primacy of inhertiance is determined by whoever has higher Essence
- If Essence is tied then it is by Exalted Category/Type
- Solar/Abyssal
- Lunar/Sidereal
- God/Demon/Terrestrial
- Fair Folk/Elemental
- Ghost
- Enlightened Mortal
- The parent with the Highest Essence roll a Essence roll against difficulty 2
- Sucess means the child is of God-Blooded Nature
- Non-Lunar Exalted with Essence 5+ must make another check at difficulty 3, if success then the child will be born with animal features (akin to Lunar Beastmen children)
Fate of Solar and Dragon-Blooded Unions
Dragon-Blooded depending on the purity of their bloodline can exalt as early as 10 years old, or as late as 20 years old. It is commonly believed that if you have not exalted by 20 years old you will never Exalt as a Terrestrial.
To see if a Child of an Dragon-Blooded inherited the bloodline to Exalt involves rolling a single D10.
- If both parents are patricians of proper breeding with numerous Dragon-Blooded relatives, the child Exalts on a roll of 1-2.
- If one parent's a Dragon-Blood and the other is a mortal of poor breeding, the child will Exalt on a roll of 1-3.
- If one parent's a Dragon-Blood and the other's a patrician of good stock with Dragon-Blooded relatives, the child Exalts on a roll of 1-4.
- If both parents are Dragon-Bloods, the child Exalts on a roll of 1-6.
The Breeding Background adds to the number that must be rolled, and it applies from both parents if both have high enough Breeding. Thus, if two Dragon-Bloods, one with Breeding 4 and one with Breeding 5, have a child, the child will Exalt on a roll of 1-9 (the normal 1-6 for the child of two Terrestrials, plus 1 for the Breeding 4 parent, plus another 2 for the Breeding 5 parent).
Children of Dragon-Bloods conceived within a elemental manse with “Dragon Nest” ability gain a +1 bonus to their chances of Exaltation, as if a parent had higher Breeding. This increases to +2 if the child is brought to term within the manse. The Exaltation’s aspect is hardly in doubt.1
Should the Child fail to Exalt as a Dragon-Blooded then you need to check if child is Half-Caste
Primacy of Inheritance
When different magical beings produce off-spring together, their children invariably favor one parent’s nature over the other. A God-Blooded always favor the parent with the highest Essence at the time of conception. If both parents have the same Essence rating, consult the following list to determine primacy. Each entry supersedes the entries below it. If the result is still a tie, roll one die. The child favors the father’s heritage on odd results or mother’s on even.
Solar/Abyssal2
Lunar/Sidereal
God/Demon/Terrestrial
Fair Folk/Elemental
Ghost
Birth
Gestation takes the usual time of the mother: 9 months for mortal, one year for Exalted and appropriate intervals for animals. Some spirits have been known to bring a child to term in matter of minutes, if so inclined. Exalted mothers show no visible signs of pregnancy until their fifth months and suffers little impairment until the 13th (-1 or -2 External Modifier to all Dexterity-based activities in the last month). Regardless of the mother’s species, a God-Blooded pregnancy suffers no complications until delivery. Such children are almost always born healthy, it is not unknown for animals and mortal mothers to die in labor (Stamina + Resistance, difficulty 1, to survive the birth). Magical beings never risk death from childbirth. Other guidelines depends on Heritage.
Half-Castes
An Exalt must normally have a minimum of Essence 4 before her children show more than a hint of their parentage. Exalted who live as gods and receive worship (Cult at 3+) reduces this Essence requirement by one, as do those who spent a full month living in a powerful (rating 4+) uncapped Demesne prior to conception. These factors are cumulative. The actual breeding of a Half-Caste involves normal reproduction and pregnancy.
All Lunar Exalted of any Essence rating may create beastmen as an innate ability by mating with an animal partner in human form or with a human lover as an animal. In either case, the Lunar must perform the coupling in the Bordermarches or deeper into the Wyld. Conception must generally follow rules of common sense: For Example, a hawk cannot lay an egg large enough to hatch a hawkman. Once Lunar Exalted have sufficient Essence to create “normal” Half-Caste Children as described above, they may produce beastmen even in the absence of Wyld energies. Non-Lunar Exalted may occasional produce beastmen with cross-species couplings when they reach Essence 5, provided their players make an Essence roll at difficulty 3. This roll is not optional.
For conceptions that qualify to become God-Blooded the parents (both gets to roll) needs to succeed on a difficulty 2 Essence Roll. Failure means the child is Mortal.
The difficulty of the roll for animal or mortal mothers to survive the labor of an Abyssal Half-Caste or a beastmen is difficulty 2. This increases to difficulty 3 or more in the case of beastmen litters, though, thankfully, such pregnancies are exceedingly rare.
Half-Caste Charm Selection
The descendents of Exalted learn the Charms of their parent heritage but may not master any Charm that provides a Perfect Effect or a persistent scene-length defense. The Storyteller remain the final arbiter of whether a Charm meets these restrictions.
Although Lunar Half-Caste cannot freely shapechage as an innate power or benefit from drinking the heart’s blood of a beast, they may gain up to 2 alternate forms with Finding the Spirit’s Shape and Deadly Beastman Transformation. Under no circumstances can Lunar Half-Caste gain any form beyond these, although they may customize their appearance or perform partial acts of shapechanging integral to the effect of other Charms.
Sidereal Half-Caste with sufficient prerequisites and Traits may learn Charms that require the express approval of the Maidens as a theoretical exercise, but they cannot actually enact these powers.
New Charms cost 15 Experiences points each, regardless of whether the character favor the Trait upon which the Charm builds. Supernatural Martial Arts Charms share this cost, but characters without Martial Arts 5 and Essence 3 cannot learn these fighting styles.
Under no circumstances can God-Blooded form Combos regardless if it is an Martial Arts Combo or Standard Charms Combo.
Half-Caste and Sorcery
All God-Blooded with the Awakened Essence Merit apart from Fae-blooded may also learn to cast spells. Terrestial Circle Sorcery is avilable to all the remaining heritages save Ghost-Blooded and Abyssal Half-Caste. Conversely, only these heritages may learn Shadowlands Circle Necromancy. Greater circles of sorcery and necromancy lie beyond the purview of the God-Blooded. Becoming a sorcerer or necromancer requires a great investment of time and energy, and so, the Charms necessary to unlock spells cost 10 bonus points (at character creation). Once unlocked, spells cost the same as charms. Character must also have Essence 3 and Occult 5 to undergo the Terrestrial Initiation. While God-Blooded can effectively use spells to summon elementals or demons, the binding aspect of the spell will not function. As the workings of these spells are designed to operate in conjunction with certain privileges of the Exalted.
The Charm for Terrestrial Circle Sorcery/Shadowlands Necromancy cost 25 experience points and require training time measured in weeks rather than days.
Background: Inheritance
Although still Mortal, the character bears exceptional heritage. One of her parents was a powerful magical being: a spirit, a Fair One or even a mighty Exalted. This mystical parentage has left its mark on her body and soul, conferring the blessing – and perhaps bane – of her ancestry. Characters without the Inheritance Background may not purchase Traits exclusive to the God-blooded, although minor or distant mystical ancestry may explain unusual Merits and Flaws. Character with at least one dot of Inheritance may freely purchase God-blooded Traits. In addition, God-Blooded gain extra bonus points and capacity for Flaws depending on their Inheritance rating. These bonus points may not be spent on Backgrounds.
In case it needs to be calculated, Inheritance equals to half the sum of the parent’s Essence rating (over minimum to sire God-Blooded), rounded down.3
(X) You have little or no mystical heritage.
(•) Thin blood. You are the child of a lesser spirit or one of the weaker Fair Folk. It is possible that you do not even know of your heritage. You gain 6 additional bonus points and may take 10 points of Flaws.
(••) Good blood. Your parent is accorded respect or fear. You may be descended from a lesser demon, the spirit of a river or an ancient tree, an established Exalt, an old ghost or a Fair Folk noble. You gain 12 additional bonus points and may take 15 points of Flaws.
(•••) Notable ancestry. You claim descent from a mighty Exalt, a Second Circle demon, a significant elemental or locally important god. You gain 18 additional bonus points and may take 15 points of Flaws.
(••••) Impeccable scion. You favor your divine blood as the child of a centuries-old Exalt, a greater god or a champion among Second Circle demons. Minor gods honor you as a peer. You gain 24 additional bonus points and may take 20 points of Flaws.
(•••••) Divine. You are all but a god in your own right, the honored progeny of a regional or celestial god of surpassing authority, a truly terrible demon or a venerable Celestial Exalt from the First Age. You may even rise in power beyond the lowest Terrestrial Exalted in your life. You gain 30 additional bonus points and may take 20 points of Flaws.
Exalted God-Blooded
Like those touched by the Wyld, the half divine seldom receive the added power of Exaltation. The Celestines wisely inscribe their Exalted Essence to avoid those whose birth and allegiance already bound them to other gods, let alone the descendents of their enemies. The Five Elemental Dragons took no such measures, leaving the matter of strange births as a result of strange couplings to chance, or perhaps they simply did not care. And as for the Deathlords, they are even more paranoid than the Celestines in their choice of servants. And so, by divine providence or simple luck, very few God-Blooded of any heritage draw the Second Breath. And yet, from time to time it happens.
The conjunction of Exaltation and Inheritance afford great power, but that power comes at a still greater price, as the Essence of Birth and Second Breath forever compete to slow magical development. Exalted God-Blooded are created according to the usual rules for their Exalted type, purchasing Inheritance as they would any other Background. This Inheritance allows them to spend bonus points to purchase all Traits associated with their heritage, including Charms. However, bonus points obtained from Inheritance may not be spent on Essence or magical Traits natural to the Exalt’s type.
Exalted God-Blooded are automatically assumed to have all Merits and Flaws with game effects naturally incorporated or surpassed by Exaltation, such as God-Body, Longevity, Awakened Essence, Magical Attunement, etc. for the purpose of meeting prerequisites, but they may not actually purchase these Traits. Likewise, if a God-Blooded receives Exaltation during play, she immediately loses all such redundant Merits and Flaws without recompense.
Half-Caste are a special case, as they already begin their lives attuned to the Essence of the Chosen from before birth. While it is possible for Terrestrial Half-Castes to accept Celestial Sparks, the Celestial Incarnae will not normally approve such an candidate. In the case of Terrestrial Half-Castes awakening to their Dragon-Blooded Exaltation after puberty their heritage often binds them to their parent’s aspects as well, though not always.
The power of the Second Breath completely overrides the power of a Half-Caste’s Inheritance, stripping away all exclusively God-Blooded Traits. Known Charms and Spells remain, as does any advancement of Essence, but the character is functionally a “normal” Exalted for all further development. This may provide an intriguing back-story for an Exalt, but there are no modification to newly created “completed” Half-Caste. In another words, while they retain the Inheritance Background, it provides no bonus points nor drawbacks.