[RPG] How to make a physical challenge for Dawn-caste Solar Exalted

This advice is fairly generic to "How do I stat NPCs in a system I don't know" to a large extent.

1. Steal I: Look at stats for NPCs in campaign examples, see how they glue together, pick them apart, run them though some dice rolls, work out what you'd be missing if you were a player.

2. Steal II: Look at the writeups for campaigns on the internet, char sheets if they've got them, use them as seeds for initial characters.

3. Ask: Put up some questions here about how you'd stat effective exalted characters. Or, if not here, a dedicated exalted site or forum of some kind.

4. Play: Don't, to start with. If your players are as new to the game as you are, they're going to be finding their feet with effective uses of the stuff they've got too, and you've got the advantage of being able to iterate over builds that don't quite work (if you accidentally build something overpowered, make it stupid. A +52 level sorcerer is much less of a challenge if they can't count to four, after all)

5. Read: Start from things like this:

   • http://rathess.xi.co.nz/exalted/index.php/Exalted_208_Practical_Charm_Building
   • http://www.bazzalisk.org/ (Character sheet examples abound)
   • http://exalted.xi.co.nz/wiki/Main_Page (a wiki)
   • http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=28407 ("Send your Cool Exalted Characters")

Sorry I can't be more specific, though :(

I've run into this problem personally, and it can be quite difficult to cause limit breaks with any frequency. Challenging PCs to act against their virtues is definitely one way to build up limit, but there is one core source of limit you've skipped in your list:

Each virtue flaw has specific limit condition that, when met, forces the character to roll that virtue and gain limit equal to that amount

For example, if a character has the Deliberate Cruelty conviction flaw, they will be forced to roll conviction and gain successes when they are in particularly dire circumstances. Because this often results in several points of limit I find this to be the most effective way of causing a character to limit break.

Each PC is likely going to have a different flaw, so you'll need to make a list of them and watch out for those circumstances. Try to write stories that cause them to occur and don't be shy about making players roll. You'll have them breaking in no time.