Type, Tone and Themes

Leith
My preferred tone could be described as 'epic realism'. I'm ok with pretty much any other style, but for this campaign I'm really looking to take a serious look at what happens when a bunch of Exalts set out to reform the world. Epic because we work on a grand scale, realism because we have to concern ourselves with nitty-gritty questions like Where Does the Essence Come From, and what charms do you really need to make it as a Prince of the Earth?

So the sorts of themes I want to explore are:
 * The mandate of Heaven - Exalted responsibility; the relationship with mortals, between governor and governed.
 * Fascism - a follow-on from the Creation-ruling mandate, I see standard Solar rulership as a sort of benevolent fascism. I want to watch this teeter between enlightened rule and power-mad mind-controlling propaganda and eugenics.
 * War - both conquest and civil war. The Solar impact on the battlefield, and the aftermath of Exalted combat.
 * Social reform and upheaval - religion, government, education. Religious purges, Harmonious Academic Brainwashing and the like.
 * Technological advancement - what happens when the easiest way forward is HUMAN VIVISECTION? Solars help people, but they eventually get quite detached from them.
 * Geomancy and other infrastructure, mundane and magical. Civ-style nation-building and upgrading of territory.

Vic
I'm pretty keen on this so-called 'epic realism' thing. I'm also kinda against intra-party conflict and probably some other types of dicking about and time-wasting besides. In particular, solo combat! I don't think the rules for it are any good, and I don't think fighting in small skirmishes is really the place for Solars, who are supposed to be lawgivers and bearers of the creation ruling mandate.

THEMEZES:


 * Yu-Shan - Restoring order to heaven, getting back on the rolodex of the Unconquered Sun.
 * The First Age - Reclaiming the glories of the first age (esp. Dendansor, Rathess, Ondar Shambal) - possibly complete with the corruption and insanity.
 * The Greater Good - Ends vs Means, etc. How much evil can one commit and still claim to be working for the good of all?
 * Transcending humanity - What exactly is the best way forward when anything becomes a possibility? No assumptions as to the purity and awesomeness of the human state. Wyld mutation, Amalgams, eugenics, Craft(genesis), Chaomorphic Symbiotes etc