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Five Eyes posted:Thanks for the Exalted readthrough. I am currently meandering my way through a single-story game of it and have been dependent on people's rewrites of the Solar Charm set to make things more manageable. Well, the long and short of it is that after a playtesting leak, they pulled all playtests completely, so about, uh, half of the system never got playtested. Also the Martial Arts were all (except for one, which sucks) written by one of the current devs, rather than Morke and Holden. The one that sucks was written by Morke. e: and by half the system i mean 'half the charms, and also Sail' Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Mar 22, 2019 |
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Mar 22, 2019 01:11
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Five Eyes posted:Nothing about the setting really necessitates the Solars being stronger than other Celestial-tier Exalts. The Solar "thing" could be Supernal, Solar Sorcery, and easy unlocking of Evocations, while keeping their Charms and access to MA on-par with Lunars and Sidereals. This would make them immediately disruptive (Solars get up to speed faster than others, but have roughly the same upper limit, and can reclaim their legendary artifacts and wield them as they once did) in the same way their Almighty Superiority is supposed to. Yea the core issue is Solars are OP for basically no reason, and in the least interesting ways possible. If they were just 'the flame that burns brightest burns out twice as fast' types who rapidly racked up power but then leveled off to a power cap that basically everyone shared, with some unique sorcery/martial things, they'd be fine.
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Mar 22, 2019 01:16
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Mors Rattus posted:Well, the long and short of it is that after a playtesting leak, they pulled all playtests completely, so about, uh, half of the system never got playtested. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?action=showpost&postid=492583084
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Mar 22, 2019 01:26
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Which martial art did Morke write?
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Mar 22, 2019 02:33
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sexpig by night posted:Yea the core issue is Solars are OP for basically no reason, and in the least interesting ways possible. If they were just 'the flame that burns brightest burns out twice as fast' types who rapidly racked up power but then leveled off to a power cap that basically everyone shared, with some unique sorcery/martial things, they'd be fine. They're OP for a very good reason, they're God Kings Or Hercules Fightin' Cultural Heroes. They're both a niche (the actual intermediaries between gods and humans; Roland or Saint George who defeat monsters or invaders for Culture) but sadly also overly broad (Best at everything with little Obvious Flair as possible). It'd actually be easy to fix them and keep the theme that 'the uncrowned kings of Creation and Greatest Heroes' without stomping on everyone else to the point they themselves become boring. One make more flairy charms relating to the loving Sun and less Excellency by another name! Second and more importantly, strip out general Solar Supremacy and just add in for Commanding (Themetically do muck it up with DBs for theme reasons); Nation and Religion Building; Cultural Exchange and Creation; Trade and Invention (Sinbad it up!); God, Yozi, and Spirit Diplomacy and Troubleshooting(though thematically this should run up against Sidereals and this might be way they hate each other); and Boss Fight Owners. Outside of them going nuts like Achilles and Herc, just focus on the fact people are predisposed to like them more than any other Exalt type. They're the doctor that comes by and cures the plague, the guy who talks to the local weather god to let up and water the fields after getting the local peasants to offer him wine for some indigression, the people who make their own a social democracy instead of ruled by an inbred faildaughter noble, and the dudes and gals who murder that Behmoth who it would either take a talon of newbie DBs or a squad of more experienced DBs by melting it with sun powers and then slashing it apart, but who have to run from the oncoming Wyld Hunt because of the numbers game (though that can just mean them doing Voltron poo poo because they're good at teamwork) or Silver Faction Sidereals because in a party on party fight their on par even if they do different things. All three Celestial Exalts should be the masters at what they do and maybe even make it rock paper scissors poo poo: Kung Fu Sidreals beat Solar Monster Slayer, Monster Lunar Eats Sifu Sidereal, and Dragon Slayer Solar slays Lunar Dragon. At least make it so Sidreals are great for making kung fu masters, ninjas, being the powers behind the throne vizers or scholars, spy masters, and then like lag Future Magic, but lag behind in taking out that giant zombie with breathes plague because they're better at intel gather or killing his kung fu nercomancer handler, or great at strong arming Gods through blackmail and burceacy, but in the process just piss off the God unlike the Solar who could be a good middle man
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Mar 22, 2019 02:37
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Joe Slowboat posted:Which martial art did Morke write? Steel Devil.
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Mar 22, 2019 02:41
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Steel Devil just struck me by being really thematically dull. There's not much to differentiate it thematically from just two-swording with Melee, and it has has such uninspired charms like "double attack technique" and "triple attack technique". It mainly just feels like a vehicle for the Off-Hand Charge gimmick mechanic which makes it really good for mowing down mooks but not really good in Combats That Matter.
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Mar 22, 2019 02:49
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Like I said I'm trying not to be an apologist, it'll just be exhausting, but I will point out that Solars are strongest (in terms of themes and fiction) when they arise out of local cultures in Creation. They are literally culture heroes, after all, who don't have their own society to give them an overarching 'splat culture' - Lunars are also in this situation but due to the Wyld Hunt and being more monstrous, they can in fact be Enkidu and Gilgamesh. Solars are the epitome (or the destroyer, see Havesh the Vanisher) of their culture, while Lunars are liminal. Of course this is pure themes, not mechanics. Joe Slowboat fucked around with this message at 08:00 on Mar 22, 2019 |
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Mar 22, 2019 03:01
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Yea I don't think anyone really hates the lore/themes, it's just their actual mechanics are so dull and clearly barely tested in places
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Mar 22, 2019 03:08
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sexpig by night posted:Yea I don't think anyone really hates the lore/themes, it's just their actual mechanics are so dull and clearly barely tested in places I just think it's worth emphasizing that Solars work best when Creation is cool and full of interesting fleshed-out societies; it's one reason I'm so jazzed about Vance and Minton, since they're really good at that level of the setting (especially Minton).
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Mar 22, 2019 03:13
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I was, and I guess still am even though I'm almost certainly never going to be playing or deeply reading Exalted again, partial to Solars. I liked Creation, and I liked "mythic folk-heroes", and I liked putting those two things together. Crucially, you wouldn't actually need to change anything about the rest of the game if you went ahead and just…made Solars not THE BEST mechanically. Not being definitively mathematically superior doesn't mean they and everyone else can't still be up their rear end about how unstoppably insuperable they are, and they could still be the tragically corrupt god-kings of a glorious fallen age. The people who write 5k word essays about why 2E's specific iteration of Surprise Anticipation Method is necessary or the entire fiction of the game explodes? Let them fall into the memory hole with the old White Wolf forums where that poo poo ran rampant and not-so-slowly took over the course of the game line.
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Mar 22, 2019 06:26
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Wasn't 3e supposed to flatten the balance levels somewhat? I guess that didn't work out? I honestly don't know.
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Mar 22, 2019 07:09
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Alien Rope Burn posted:Wasn't 3e supposed to flatten the balance levels somewhat? I guess that didn't work out? I honestly don't know. Yes, but Solars are still supposed to be THE BEST. Just not so pronounced as it used to be.
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Mar 22, 2019 07:22
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I really was frustrated that they didn't take the opportunity to tighten up Solar themes somewhat, like NutritiousSnack mentioned, around their role as kings / warriors / sorcerers.
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Mar 22, 2019 07:41
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hard to have a theme for your powers when you have like 600 of them
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Mar 22, 2019 13:09
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Exalted 3rd Edition: Limited Successes Chapter 4 is where we finally hit system traits. We start with the one everyone knows and hates – Limit. When the Exalted slew the Primordials who would become the Neverborn, they were stricken with a terrible death curse. This, the Great Curse, lingers in the hearts of the chosen. In their moments of greatest stress, it emerges to inflate their passions and feelings to unrestrained heights. Limit represents this growth of stress and self-doubt pushing them towards a moment of uncontained reassertion of their darker side. When a Solar hits 10 Limit, they suffer a Limit Break. Limit is gained in three main ways: 1. Once per scene, when you act in a way that opposes one of your Major Intimacies, you roll a die, gaining 1 Limit per success. Weakening an Intimacy always counts as opposing it, as does spending Willpower to resist an influence roll that takes advantage of that Intimacy. If you have already had a Limit roll from a Defining Intimacy in a scene, you can’t gain Limit from a Major one. 2. Once per scene, when you act in a way that opposes one of your Defining Intimacies, you roll 2 dice, gaining 1 Limit per success. If you have already triggered a Limit roll off a Major Intimacy this scene, you roll only one die. Weakening an Intimacy always counts as opposing it, as does spending Willpower to resist an influence roll that takes advantage of that Intimacy. 3. When your personal Limit Trigger, chosen in chargen, occurs, you roll 3 dice, gaining 1 Limit per success. Whenever you successfully achieve a major landmark goal or accomplishment, such as reclaiming your homeland from the Realm or winning the love of an ancient Lunar, the ST may allow you to lose 1 Limit. This is called a Legendary Social Goal. So what can a Limit Trigger be? Unfortunately the answer is ‘extremely stupid.’ They range from poo poo that is exceptionally easy to trigger constantly (‘You are insulted, belittled or deliberately frustrated by another character,’ say, or ‘You see innocents suffering and are unable or unwilling to help them.’) to ones that are going to cause a ton of table arguments (‘You are hindered by the self-indulgent and intemperate behavior of those around you’ or ‘Your emotions lead you into a course of action you regret’). So that’s going to be extremely irritating. Once you hit 10 Limit, you enter Limit Break, but the GM can declare that it remains in abeyance until a situation with greater potential to cause chaos rather than happening immediately. Your Limit Break is expressed via a Virtue Flaw. You do not have a set Virtue Flaw – the GM declares which one happens based on circumstance, and is only told to consult with the player if they’re uncertain of which would be most dramatically interesting and appropriate, though it does at least mention you shouldn’t assign one that goes directly against someone’s concept, and to pick ones that are more like exaggerating a character trait that is already present. All Virtue Flaws: 1. Force you to act out some behavior harmful to yourself or those around you, and is treated as a Defining Principle for purposes of resisting influence rolls to get you to stop or being influenced to keep doing the thing. If you could treat an influence roll as Unacceptable Influence during Limit Break, you do. Period. You cannot choose to listen if you have the option not to. 2. Reset your Willpower to its base value when the Limit Break ends, as indulging your Virtue Flaw is a powerfully cathartic experience. 3. Last either a full session or one scene, depending on severity, and have a condition that, if met, will end them prematurely. 4. Remove all Limit once Limit Break ends. What are the example Limit Breaks? Well, let’s see. All-Consuming Grief: For one scene, you can do nothing but stop and mourn what you’ve lost, brood over injustices done to you and grieve. You will seek to be alone if possible but will ignore everything around you if you can’t be. You will not even stop grieving to help allies. This ends prematurely if you are attacked of if someone you have a Major or Defining Tie towards is incapacitated. Berserk Anger: For one scene, you attack and attempt to kill everyone you see, starting with foes but turning on innocents or bystanders if you run out. You may choose to not attack those you have positive Ties towards, but if they attempt to impede you in any way you can no longer ignore them. This ends prematurely if you run out of valid targets or incapacitate someone you have a positive Tie towards. Chains of Honor: For one session, you are filled with regret for misdeeds and will refuse to tell any lies, even lies of omission or half-truths, and will not break any promise or sworn oath you have made. If you have deceived someone in the past, you will seek them out to tell them the truth and do whatever you can to atone, and will do the same to those you have broken oaths with, taking on whatever labors or tasks they demand as recompense. This ends prematurely if you are forgiven by someone you have broken an oath to or harmed via deception. Compassionate Martyrdom: For one session, you cannot ignore the suffering of others. If you see a suffering innocent, you must intervene as dramatically as possible. If they are being harmed, you must either take the blows or kill the attacker. If they are suffering poverty, illness or other such things, you must find a similarly dramatic way to help them, and must not stop working until they are no longer suffering. This ends prematurely if you see that your actions cause the people you’re helping to fear or reject you, or if you lose a fight you started because of this Limit Break. Contempt of the Virtuous: For one session, you become completely certain of your own righteousness and must strive to correct the moral failings of those around you. If you see anyone engaging in immoderacy, indulgence or dishonesty, you must correct them and lecture them on their failings. If your words are mocked or rejected, you may even turn to force or violence to prevent them from sinning. This ends prematurely if you are forced to question the righteousness of your own actions, either because you are confronted with the unintended consequences of them or because someone else persuades you. Crushing Doubt: For one session, you suffer crippling self-doubt. You will seek assistance from allies on any task, no matter how small or simple, and will pass on any duties or responsibilities you have to others you believe are more capable. If you are separated from your allies, you must try to return to them or find others, and you will flee from any danger or obligation you encounter while doing so. This ends prematurely if you are forced to face a significant danger alone and succeed, or if you singlehandedly save an ally from significant danger. Deliberate Cruelty: For one session, you no longer recognize anyone else as having any worth. You will harm them without a thought if you benefit from doing so, and have no aversion to torture, terror or mutilation. You are cruel and scathing in your manner, even with friends and allies, and will mock and verbally torment them. This ends prematurely if your actions cause harm to someone you have a Major or Defining Tie towards. Heart of Flint: For one session, you feel almost no emotion and lack in any empathy. You are treated as having no Intimacies whatsoever, making all decisions based purely on what is most efficient. You also get -2 to all social rolls while in Limit Break. This ends prematurely if your apathy allows someone you have a Major or Defining Tie towards to enter life-threatening danger. Rampaging Avarice: For one session, you suffer intense greed and will let nothing come between you and your desires. Whenever you get a chance to indulge in something you enjoy, you do. If someone would deny you your pleasure, you will take it by force, even if it would be trivial to obtain by other means. While you may restrain yourself from killing or raping, you will not hesitate to destroy property or hurt others to get what you want. This ends prematurely if you harm an innocent to get what you want, but only after you finish enjoying it. While the chapter then continues on to castes and what they do mechanically, I think I’ll leave this here. Next time: The other poo poo on your sheet.
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Mar 22, 2019 13:24
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You know, on the topic of 'i got into exalted because someone said i should play this anime game (alien rope burn is right, it wasn't that anime really) because of ff7' I remember being like 'you get limit breaks in this game?? awesome!' But no they're not super cool hyper moves they're like the opposite of that!
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Mar 22, 2019 13:34
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Limit Break has always driven me nuts. I can ruin my character's life perfectly well on my own, thank you very much.
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Mar 22, 2019 13:38
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Thank you for covering AdEva. The discussion of the themes made me watch the show, which I had previously dismissed as the cultural osmosis I got about it was from people who didn't get it. It's actually helping me process my depression a little better.  I still didn't quite get the ending, but it has been a valuable experience for me.
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Mar 22, 2019 14:20
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Zeppelin Insanity posted:Thank you for covering AdEva. The discussion of the themes made me watch the show, which I had previously dismissed as the cultural osmosis I got about it was from people who didn't get it. Im glad you feel better able to process your depression, that rocks. If touve the inclination, please post your thoughts in the anime thread about it theyd love to chat at length about the ending. Theyre thirsty as hell because the fourth movie that was promised a decade ago still isnt out.
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Mar 22, 2019 14:35
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Zeppelin Insanity posted:Thank you for covering AdEva. The discussion of the themes made me watch the show, which I had previously dismissed as the cultural osmosis I got about it was from people who didn't get it. I'm really glad to hear it helped at all.
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Mar 22, 2019 14:37
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lemmie just tap dance on in with my own Exalted Hot Take after a page or two of agreeing with most posters. Limit Breaks are good as long as your GM isn't a piece of poo poo about them. I agree it's not great game design to rely on a gentleman's agreement that Jeff won't gently caress you over for no real story reasons or anything but I like the core concept a lot and it's a rare thing that actually does make Solars hit that "Hercules/Gilgamesh mood' that got watered down so badly by 'here's eight billion charms that let you just do whatever'.
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Mar 22, 2019 15:09
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They should call them anything but 'limit breaks' though, yea, because when I hear 'limit breaks' are in my anime/wuxia style RPG they better involve me summoning a giant doom train to crash through the city and kill everyone I'm fighting or something, not getting Too Sad To Fight.
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Mar 22, 2019 15:12
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I would be less annoyed by them if the example ones weren't pretty much all terrible. Also the Limit Triggers.
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Mar 22, 2019 15:23
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I wouldn't mind them if their mechanical implementation didn't make it likely that you'll have your "gently caress you I'll be in my tent" or "I'm so clever I'm gonna tell you exactly who poked out your eye ( it was me)" at a moment that either has no impact, or RUINS THE GAME. Either your berserker rage murders a bunch of mooks that you wanted to kill anyway... or the entire government of the city-state you just worked the last 3 sessions to set up and the GM wasn't expecting you to murder. Edit: or your GM goes "uh, put your temper tantrum on hold until we finish this story beat" but at that point why have the fiddly limit trigger tracking anyway? Tibalt fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Mar 22, 2019 |
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Mar 22, 2019 15:42
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Everything about Limit Breaks also seems to assume that you're using the whole intimacy mechanic to the hilt and constantly engaging with characters that use it. In the Exalted games I've played, I think that personal intimacies came up as something that gave boosts/penalties all of once. Because intimacies are largely towards people, and unless you're hanging around in very much the same place a lot, a lot of those people you have intimacies towards, at least some of which are likely non-Exalts, will stay home engaging with mortal-level challenges so they don't get eaten by a Behemoth. A travelling party just has little reason or chance to engage with that mechanic at all. Also gently caress virtues and everything related to them, something I'm repeating.
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Mar 22, 2019 15:50
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The game actually expects you to pick up Minor Intimacies pretty easily and often, this edition, and I don't mind that. Minor Intimacies are like...you care about this person, but not so strongly that it's going to be a major influence on what you do with your life. Also Virtues don't exist.
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Mar 22, 2019 15:52
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The fact that you can now hold off on the limit break feels like such a lazy concession and an unwillingness to even bother changing how the system works. "It's always been like this so why change it?!" the Exalt Game Dev says while going on yet another rampage.
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Mar 22, 2019 15:56
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Didn't 3e suggest that Breaks could be delayed to a more dramatically appropriate moment? So that you don't happen to gain that last bit of Limit over something not very interesting or impactful and then immediately flip out. Or is that wishful thinking?
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Mar 22, 2019 16:00
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sexpig by night posted:They should call them anything but 'limit breaks' though, yea, because when I hear 'limit breaks' are in my anime/wuxia style RPG they better involve me summoning a giant doom train to crash through the city and kill everyone I'm fighting or something, not getting Too Sad To Fight. Or Too Horny. That one was... yeah.
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Mar 22, 2019 16:05
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"Expressing your personal brand of assholatry nets you a reward based on how much drama it causes" is a way better way to handle this. I mean, in reading those, my immediate thought is how to game the system for each one so it doesn't matter. It ends prematurely if somebody attacks me? Uh, okay, another PC immediately punches me in the arm. I have to be a murderhobo and steal everything I want for a while? How terrible, what will I do. The writers obviously had one specific idea of how each scenario would go, and wrote the rules to fit that particular vision. So if it plays out in any way other than the exact one they came up with (which of course it's going to), the rules are poo poo. I mean, Berserk Rage is meaningless if you're in a fight, a campaign-ender if the rest of the party is asleep, and ends immediately with no effect if you're alone.
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Mar 22, 2019 16:06
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Reminds me of Wraith the Oblivion where a chunk of it is literally playing as a spectre to gently caress over another party member and this leading to obvious issues of every player hating each other due to everyone trying to get one over.
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Mar 22, 2019 16:09
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That Old Tree posted:Didn't 3e suggest that Breaks could be delayed to a more dramatically appropriate moment? So that you don't happen to gain that last bit of Limit over something not very interesting or impactful and then immediately flip out. Or is that wishful thinking? That does get suggested, and I'm pretty sure I specifically mentioned it.
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Mar 22, 2019 16:17
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Exalted 3rd Edition: Stats I’m skipping the two-page caste spreads because we’ve been over basically everything relevant and the actual anima mechanics are some 30 pages away. So, attributes. Our spread is the same Exalted has ever had. Strength, for raw physical power and muscle, which is used in combat to determine the damage of Withering Attacks (but not Decisive Attacks; both will be defined later in the combat section). Dexterity is grace and agility, and is used to determine both attack accuracy and defenses (against both kinds of attacks), so…yeah, you still want a ton of it. Of course you do. Stamina is vitality and toughness, and Is used in combat to reduce Withering Attack damage (but not Decisive Attack damage), and also resists poison, disease and deprivation. Charisma is your ability to express your beliefs and orders and to convince others to obey or to think the same way you do. It is used for social influence when you are making arguments you genuinely believe in, or used in combat to lead armies with speechifying. Manipulation is your ability to lie, deceive and tell people what they want to hear. It is used for social influence when you’re making false arguments via lies or verbal misdirection, or any argument that is more about getting a desired response than what you actually believe, and it contributes to your Guile, the rating that determines how hard it is to read you. Appearance is your prettiness and ability to use it, or your ugliness and ability to use it if you take the Hideous merit. It is used when you want to use your looks to influence people or rely on first impressions over reasoned words or manipulations. Perception is your sensory ability and skill at understanding what you notice. It is used to detect details, investigate stuff and avoid ambushes. Intelligence is your ability to be logical and think rationally. It is used for making connections, analytical thinking and remembering stuff, and is mostly useful for strategizing, sorcery and nerd work. Wits is your intuition and common sense, plus ability to react quickly. It is used for Join Battle rolls to determine starting initiative and helps determine your Resolve, which is used to resist social influence. We then get a broad list of abilities but frankly they all got listed during chargen when I talked about Caste Abilities so we’ll skip over that. The ones important in combat, crafting or social influence are called out helpfully, which is nice. Also, if you don’t have any dots in Linguistics, you are illiterate. Also, Craft, as always, is cut into different spheres, so you can have multiple Craft scores for different focuses – armormaking, geomancy, artifact-making (which is separate from making mundane weapons or armor, for some reason). Martial Arts is also split this way – each style will have a different Martial Arts rating to buy up separately. That brings us to Merits. Merits are…basically, everything that isn’t Abilities or Attributes. And yes, they absolutely cost more to buy with XP than with BP, because they have ratings. Of course they do. Innate merits must be taken during chargen or gained via some form of magic. Purchased merits can be bought with XP. Story merits can only be gained after chargen via story events, but cost no XP when gained this way. Merits are worth looking at because some of them are absolutely absurd. For a lot, you can buy the merits multiple times to represent, like, multiple allies, more treasures or whatever. Allies (1, 3 or 5, Story) – You have an NPC ally, with 1 dot meaning mortal or minor powers but useful resources, 3 being a supernatural ally about on par with a young Terrestrial Exalt and 5 being one on par with a Celestial Exalt. Ambidextrous (1 or 2, Innate) – For 1 dot, you don’t suffer a -1 penalty when using your off-hand. Why does this penalty even exist? For two dots, you also have prehensile feet. Artifact (2-5, Story) – You have an artifact. Two dots is something minor but magical, 3 is your normal-scale magic sword or armor, 4 is a famous and legendary magic item, 5 is a treasure of immense power and require ST approval. There is also Artifact N/A, which is ‘too powerful to be able to be purchased, handed out at ST discretion during the game.’ Backing (2-4, Story) – You belong to an organization. 2 dots means low rank in a massive group like the Guild or solid rank in a less powerful group. 3 is middling rank in a massive group or elite rank in a smaller one. 4 is elite rank in a massive group. Boundless Endurance (2, Purchased) – You must have Stamina or Resistance 3+, and you get -2 difficulty to any rolls to resist fatigue or stay awake. Which is totally on par with a minor magic item, I’m sure. Command (2-5, Story) – You lead a military force. It gets better with more dots, having better mass combat stats. Interestingly, Solars can’t begin play with magically augmented soldiers; Future Mors notes that Lunars can, because they often have beastman forces. Contacts (1, 3 or 5, Story) – Each purchase is a network of contacts of a specific sort. 1 dot means they’re confined to a single city-state or region, 3 dots can span a large area or have wider reach but only within a specific area of influence, and 5 dots means they’re pretty much across an entire Direction. Cult (1-5, Story) – You’re worshipped. The more dots, the more priests and worshippers you have, with 4 dots being an entire nation and 5 being widespread across an entire Direction. You basically get free Willpower points equal to your cult rating each arc. Danger Sense (3, Innate) – You must have Perception or Awareness 3+, and get +1 to all rolls to detect danger. Which is totally worth the same as owning a magic sword that can teach you special Charms or getting 3 free Willpower per story arc and the worship of an entire city-state and not at all better done as an Awareness specialty in detecting traps or ambushes or whatever you’re afraid of. Demesne (2 or 4, Story) – You own a magical place of power, usually aligned to one of the elements but possibly to something else, like death or the sun. Outside combat, it causes you to regenerate Essence faster and you can sense use of Essence within its bounds. It is also a boost to doing Sorcerous Workings that resonate with its nature. For four dots, it is exceptionally powerful, making it better at all those things. You’re gonna have to go visit it every so often to maintain your ties to it, and other people can attune to it while you aren’t present to gain its benefits as well. (You can share attunement with friends, also, and choose not to block them even if you are present.) Direction Sense (1, Innate) – You can always determine the compass directions relative to the five Poles, and get -2 to difficulties to navigate to fixed, known locations or retrace your steps. Totally worth it. Eidetic Memory (2, Innate) – You get one automatic success on any roll to remember details from past scenes and events. Again, totally worth it, I’m sure. Familiar (1-3, Story) – You have a pet animal which serves you and can share its senses with you. For 1 dot it’s small and weak, like a dog or owl. For 2, it’s formidable or useful – a simhata, warhorse or tiger. For 3, it’s overtly exceptional or magical, such as a Haltan talking monkey, a mutated fire-breathing ox, a god-blooded stallion or a superpredator such as a tyrant lizard. Fast Reflexes (3, Purchased) – You must have Wits 3+. You get +1 to Join Battle rolls. I feel like it’s probably cheaper to just have more Wits or a Charm that helps? Followers (1-3, Story) – You have a bunch of mortal followers of a specific type of person, like blacksmiths. They are above average in skill at their job and are loyal to you personally. More dots, more followers. Giant (4, Innate) – You must have Stamina 3+. You are between 7.5 and 10 feet tall and get an extra -0 space on your healthbar, but are very memorable and hard to disguise as anyone smaller than you. This might actually be worth it. Hearthstone (2 or 4, Story) – You have ownership of a magical rock formed from the geomantic flow of a Demesne or Manse. If you also control the Manse and put the hearthstone into an artifact you own, you benefit from the effects of being in the Manse no matter where you are, and the rock also has its own powers, with more dots being better rocks. Hideous (0, Innate) – Your Appearance rating is about being scary and ugly. It boosts intimidating and threats rather than persuasion, and is a penalty to seduction. Influence (1-5, Story) – You have standing and pull in a society. More dots, influence over a wider region. Iron Stomach (1, Purchased) – You must have Stamina or Resistance 3+. You can digest anything edible, and get -2 difficulty on Survival rolls to forge for yourself exclusively or rolls to recover from food poisoning. Totally gonna come up ever. Language (1, Purchased) – You speak one additional major language past your native tongue each time you purchase this. If you have any Linguistics dots, you can also read and write it. Alternatively, one purchase gives four highly specific local languages, spoken by a single tribe or group. Manse (3 or 5, Story) – For 3 dots, you get the effects of Demesne 2 and Hearthstone 2. For 5, you get them at 4. Also, your Demesne has a cool magic house built on it to channel its power. Mentor (1-3, Story) – You have a teacher and advisor of greater experience. More dots means they have wider field of expertise, greater power and influence, or both. Martial Artist (4, Purchased) – You must have Brawl 1+. You can buy the Martial Arts Ability and learn Martial Arts Charms. Mighty Thew (1-3, Purchased) – You must have Strength 3+. You get bonus dice to Feats of Strength. Natural Immunity (2, Innate) – You get -2 Difficulty to rolls to resist infection, sickness and disease. Most of which don’t work on Exalts to begin with. Pain Tolerance (4, Purchased) – Your wound penalties are reduced in severity. It’s…not really worth 4 dots, though it’s not terrible. Quick Draw (1 or 4, Purchased) – You must have an attack-usable Ability at 3+. For 1 dot, you get no Defense penalty for a draw/ready action. For 4, you get a reduced penalty to flurry a draw/ready action and an attack action. You have to buy this separately per attack-usable Ability. Totally worth doing, huh? Retainers (2 or 5, Story) – Each purchase is a loyal NPC servant expert in a specific field. 2 dots means they’re mortal or have at most minor powers. 4 dots is someone on par with a young Terrestrail Exalt. Resources (1-5, Story) – I usually hate Resources because having none means being dirt poor so everyone has to take it. This is, shockingly, not the case here – 1 dot represents income on par with a successful small businessman or mid-ranking criminal, with 0 being ‘normal person.’ More dots, more money. So…I’m shockingly okay with this, despite usually hating Resources merit stuff. Selective Conception (1, Innate) – You have complete conscious control over your own fertility. You may choose, male or female, to just not cause conception when you have sex. If female, you may spend 1 WP to ensure conception, and automatically know when you are pregnant. Why does this exist? Strong Lungs (1, Purchased) – You must have Athletics 3+. You can hold your breath for several minutes normally, or under duress for about twice as many rounds as a normal person. Tempered by the Elements (2, Purchased) – Pick an environment. You can move through difficult terrain in that environment at normal speed. Toxin Resistance (3, Purchased) – You must have Stamina or Resistance 3+. You get +2 to rolls to resist poisons, but you can’t easily get drunk or high. Those are all “natural” – they don’t represent magic powers of any kind. Even Selective Conception. Which…why does that exist, why is that – ugh. Anyway, there are also Supernatural Merits that can generally only be obtained by magical means, such as Wyld mutation or being beastmen. The book notes that Wyld mutants and beastmen are very rarely chosen to become Solars, though it is still possible. I guess the Unconquered Sun is racist against furries. Chameleon (3, Innate) – You can change color to match your surroundings. You get +1 to Stealth rolls and to Survival rolls for hunting. If you are naked, it’s +2 instead. You must make a Willpower roll when stressed to avoid reflexively shifting colors slightly. Claws/Fangs/Hooves/Horns (1 or 4, Innate) – You have natural weapons. Your unarmed Decisive Attacks (for claws, horns or hooves) or Decisive Savaging Attacks in grapples (for fangs) can deal Lethal instead of Bashing damage. For 4, your natural weapons are bigger and meaner, getting both of the prior abilities and also count as a Medium Weapon for Withering Attacks. However, they also give a penalty to disguises if that large. Enhanced Sense (3, Innate) – You get +2 to all Perception rolls covering one specific sense. However, you have a physically obvious mutation representing this, such as unusual eye shape or color, or giant ears or a giant nose. Exalted Healing (5, Innate) – All Exalts, spirits and Fair Folk have this for free. You can heal from any injury, with only the worst even leaving scars, and will perfectly mend no matter the damage for anything short of a completely severed or destroyed limb. Your wounds also never become infected, ever. Extra Limbs (3, Innate) – You have extra limbs of some kind, causing your flurries to have a lesser penalty on your choice of one of the actions. Gills (0 or 3, Innate) – The free version means you only have gills, not lungs, and will suffocate after several minutes out of water. For 3, you can breathe both air and water. Poisoned Body (1, 2 or 5, Innate) – Your body is toxic somehow, equivalent to snake venom. For 1, your blood is ingested poison. For 2, all of your body fluids are ingested poison and also work via “intimate contact.” For 5, your blood is contact poison that strikes anyone who does 2+ Lethal damage to you in one attack or grapples you after you’ve taken any Lethal damage in a scene and fails a Dodge roll. You cannot turn this merit off, ever. Quills (5, Innate) – You have sharp quills. Your unarmed Decisive Attacks deal Lethal damage, and your Withering Savage in a grapple is a Medium Weapon which deals Lethal damage if used Decisively. Anyone trying to clinch you automatically loses 1 Initiative per round while grappling. However, you get a huge disguise penalty and probably can’t touch people much. Subtlety (2, Innate) – You purchase this attached to another Supernatural Merit. That merit becomes non-obvious when not in active use. Tail (1-2, Innate) – You have a tail. For 1, it gives a +2 bonus to attempts to keep your balance. For 2, it is prehensile (but suffers the off-hand penalty). If hidden under clothes, your tail loses all benefits until revealed. Thaumaturgist (4, Innate) – You can perform thaumaturgy. Any Exalt that can do Terrestrial Circle Sorcery gets this for free. Unusual Hide (1-5, Innate) – Your skin is unnatural in some way, providing natural soak equal to the merit’s value and an equivalent disguise penalty. Venomous (3 or 4, Innate) – You have venom (equivalent to snake venom) that can be applied by your natural attacks. For 3, you either must have a natural weapon that can deal Lethal damage as well, and can use it to poison people a few times a day on a Decisive Attack, with uses based on your Stamina, or you spit poison as a Gambit, aimed per a Thrown weapon, with similar Stamina-based use restriction. For 4 dots, you get both, but they draw off the same Stamina-based supply. Wall Walking (4, Innate) – You can cling to and walk or crawl across walls and ceilings, though ceilings and slick surfaces are difficult terrain. However, your hands and feet are visibly inhuman. Wings (3 or 5, Innate) – For 3, you have wings that allow you to glide, increasing your leap distance and allowing you to ignore falling damage as long as you have room to glide. For 5, you can fly at the same speed you can walk. However, you always have a large disguise penalty either way, and actions requiring finesse or precision (such as attacking) get a penalty while airborne. Next time: Flaws, Willpower, Intimacies…
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Mar 22, 2019 16:18
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Why gate Martial Arts even futher when it's already got its own Charm stuff?
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Mar 22, 2019 16:23
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Dawgstar posted:Why gate Martial Arts even futher when it's already got its own Charm stuff? It's actually worth it for non-Solars - Martial Arts can be synergized really well. But ultimately? I don't know. The current devs mostly use it as justification to make Martial Arts pretty dang good.
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Mar 22, 2019 16:26
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Mors Rattus posted:That does get suggested, and I'm pretty sure I specifically mentioned it. Sorry, I skimmed back through the post after Purple said something and didn't see it. Dawgstar posted:Why gate Martial Arts even futher when it's already got its own Charm stuff? Mørke was obsessed with martial arts being A Very Special Thing. The first really big email chain in development (at least that I was privy to), was everyone else trying to convince Mørke not to get rid of War to bring back Brawl alongside Martial Arts. Which obviously was not as successful as it first seemed.
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Mar 22, 2019 16:52
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Man, I still think Strength and Stamina should be clapped together, Appearance should be deleted and Wits and Perception should be slapped together. Stamina's a garbage stat in almost every Storyteller system game, Strength badly needs something to make it as viable as Dexterity but at least serves a purpose. gently caress having an Appearance stat on principle. And Wits and Perception just always feel like they overlap somewhat, because they both feel like they define your situational awareness. One of them's just a bit more vague than the other. Are any of these natural weapons even vaguely worth it, though? It feels like none of them really represent anything better than "I pick up a sword and hit a man," except I guess you can't be disarmed, but on the other hand you can never really upgrade from "big teef" to "ORICHALCUM BIG TEEF" so at some point or another they will be outdated. And being Quick Draw per-ability reminds me of the original, hilariously bad combo rules for Exalted 2E. Even prior to the errata which, if I remember right, unfucked those rules considerably, most groups seemed to have their own house rules that went "these rules are poo poo and terrible and also poo poo, let us pretend they don't exist."
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Mar 22, 2019 16:53
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Yea I'm ok with martial arts kinda weirdly gated off because at least the devs are using that to say 'see so martial arts should be powerful and unique'. Like, it's kinda against the wuxia style where everyone SHOULD be whipping out the flying badger serpent style training they got or whatever but I like that it makes things feel more 'oh poo poo this guy knows kung-fu though'.
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Mar 22, 2019 16:54
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PurpleXVI posted:Man, I still think Strength and Stamina should be clapped together, Appearance should be deleted and Wits and Perception should be slapped together. Stamina's a garbage stat in almost every Storyteller system game, Strength badly needs something to make it as viable as Dexterity but at least serves a purpose. gently caress having an Appearance stat on principle. And Wits and Perception just always feel like they overlap somewhat, because they both feel like they define your situational awareness. One of them's just a bit more vague than the other. Ex3 uses weapon classes rather than finely-detailed differences. There's very little difference between a Medium Sword and Medium Claws. Your point about artifact weapons is correct though, but the Supernatural Merits system is meant to be used to create beastmen or other mutants more than exalts. Also, natural weapons have an advantage when it comes to combining Martial Art styles so it's a niche but valid option
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Mar 22, 2019 17:00
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