Part I: Is There an Underlying Metaphysics?
Does Exalted have a complex underlying metaphysics?
No.
Let's face it. This is an epic. It has some influence from wuxia and anime. That means that heroes brood or preach about reality, existence, death, oblivion, happiness, purpose, and what it all means. It means that the story is often about what it means to be alive. It means that people find their own answers to a world full of suffering.
But it's supposed to be incoherent.
I mean, it really is. That is one of the ultimate consequences of stunts and the "everything is possible" philosophy. Sometimes, you have to just say, "Okay, whatever, that shouldn't happen, but it's cool."
It is not supposed to be a marvelous thought-out machine. It's robots vs. dinosaurs in the dawn of the world.
Playing Exalted is about enjoying the ride.
That said---
Writing rules means thinking about the underlying metaphysics. It means taking the vague concepts and nailing them down.
I generally try to stop this as soon as I can. I take Geoff's vision and give it just enough shape to use in play. I stop early so that you don't have to use my full vision of the metaphysics. You can run with it in your own directions.
But I still have a picture in my head of how it all works---why there is Creation and the Wyld, where the Primordials and shinma and raksha came from, what Creation means, what Oblivion means, and all that. If I actually write the other parts of this series, I'll tell you about it.
It's consistent with Geoff's outlines as far as they go, and with Fair Folk as far as it goes, but it's a lot more detailed---which means that Geoff and later writers might have other ideas, and definitely that you don't have to use it in your game. But people wanted to know why I wrote things as I did, so!
Rebecca