To be perfectly honest, the system is held together by hopes and dreams.
And bubblegum. Because Duct Tape was too expensive.
General Exalted Thread
To be perfectly honest, the system is held together by hopes and dreams.
And bubblegum. Because Duct Tape was too expensive.
I know this. But that's not what Aleph, ES, and roadie are saying. They're saying that having a perfect+Flurybreaker+speed enhancement (which is what you need to escape 2.0 combat) is somehow not enough to survive someone saying 'join battle' in 2.5.
I think that's fine... if you design the game system around it and make sure that your DM knows it is an integral part of the system. But enough about Unknown Armies
Kylar
In Training Forever
- Location
- Canada
Well, being blunt, they're right. It's build dependent (heavily so), but ranged combat is brutal when paired with flurries, nevermind things like GSNF. Basically, there are a lot of ways to flat out murder an inexperienced PC, and a lot of traps that will do so much more damage then you'd think. There are certainly less of them in 2.5, but see Exalted being a screwed up mess.
That said, Perfect+Speed Enhancer+Flurybreaker (I'd add anima diminisher in there to) is going to get you out of most fights, even in 2.5, assuming your in a group and you don't forget cover rules. Sidereals in particular are hilariously good at this.
The pre-2.5E Exalted combat system is fantastic, guys. It's a beautiful monument to the futility of violence as a method of solving problems.
Okay, it's awful as a combat system, but if Jenna Moran's intent was to do commentary on the nature of conflict via game mechanics, she succeeded.
Okay, it's awful as a combat system, but if Jenna Moran's intent was to do commentary on the nature of conflict via game mechanics, she succeeded.
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yeah, but the alternative is trying diplomacy, and have you seen the social combat system?
Seriously. If you've seen a functional social combat system in Exalted, I'd love to know where, because I certainly haven't.
Again, another beautiful meta-commentary. Solving problems is hard, futile, and likely to blow up in your face in all kinds of amazing manners!
Also, I love how apparently someone rejecting you twice if you hit on them immunizes them to being convinced to support your views on something entirely different. This, given my experience with internet debating, is actually entirely realistic.
...oh man. Social Combat represents internet debating. Now everything makes sense.
Kylar
In Training Forever
- Location
- Canada
This is brilliant, and the only thing marring my amusement is that there is a very real possibility its true. God knows 2e has screwed over fun in the name of making a point more then a few times.The pre-2.5E Exalted combat system is fantastic, guys. It's a beautiful monument to the futility of violence as a method of solving problems.
Okay, it's awful as a combat system, but if Jenna Moran's intent was to do commentary on the nature of conflict via game mechanics, she succeeded.
Romantic_Kaiju
Romantic Kaiju
- Location
- National Battlefield
I need Setting maps, Do any of the 1e setting books have good maps?
I know Scavenger Sons is good, from what has been said before. but is there anything else from first edition that would help me out in world building
I need more information, as I am going to to Scavenger Land Politics
I know Scavenger Sons is good, from what has been said before. but is there anything else from first edition that would help me out in world building
I need more information, as I am going to to Scavenger Land Politics
DB outcasts adds the whole lookshy stuff , the old abysall book talks a bit about the 2 present deathlords in that area but I don't remember how much of that is repeated in the 2e version.If you go further east there is a book about Rathess.
Ruins of Rathess has both a decent city-scale map of Rathess itself, as well as a larger-scale map of the rivers and jungles surrounding Rathess. Blood and Salt has a decent map of An-Teng. Kingdom of Halta has a pretty decent map of the Kingdom of Halta (and much of the north-eastern parts of the East).
Romantic_Kaiju
Romantic Kaiju
- Location
- National Battlefield
Thank you, Might Be a while before we start using those, but then again, this is going to be a fun arc anyway (politics, blaagh)
The issue is that those same things kill you in 2.0. It takes more time, but unless you have a full 2-7 filter(which takes quite a bit) then you're just as screwed.
Kylar
In Training Forever
- Location
- Canada
The difference is how long it takes is pretty near polar opposites from each other. 2.5, your 2/7 filter will fail in about 6 actions (less if you have a speed booster running), if you rely on that alone. In 2.0, it could go for 50+ actions without failing, assuming differences in dice pools didn't just full up make you invincible (but that's a separate matter).
I'll disagree with ES on 2.0 being better, because quite frankly I like there being more options in combat then the one hyper optimal path, and running away with a 2/7 filter + athletics/ride/sail/drive when combat starts is still a viable tactic (fighting is an entirely separate matter). That said? I've seen a few to many close calls with lethality to deny its still a massive problem in 2.5.
The_Reptile_
Jolly Good
- Location
- THE PITS OF HELL. Also known as Connecticut.
Long story short: Exalted mechanics are shit and have always been shit. There's a reason why anyone with the mathematical know how converts it to any other system they can get their hands on.
Except that's not what I was saying in that post, nor is it what I was asking originally.
And neither am I. I'm saying that they are exaggerating exactly how bad it is, and conversely underselling how bad 2.0 was.
Because Paranoia combos? Those weren't all that cheap, and often involved a decent amount of commitment to combat to be really safe.
Carrnage
Human
- Location
- New Zealand
greensun Artifact Homebrew: Heaven's Reach Demons
greensun
You shall all burn beneath my light!!!
Alright, lets talk about the idea that I have for Demons and their Technology in Heavens Reach.
First Circle
First Circle Demons are the created races, the living tools that the Stellar Intelligences use to interact on what is for them a Microscopic Level. They tempt and fight with the mortals races, acting as labour for their betters and provide cheap and replaceable footsoldiers for the armies of the Unquestionables.
They are an eclectic mixture of essence and flesh, having traits and characteristics of both the spiritual and physical beings, that are custom made to fulfil a certain role that is implanted in the deepest parts of their Spiritual Genetics. A Neomah might be a lovely and intelligent woman-thing, but she will always carry the urge to act as a living incubator that can carry a demonic fetus for several weeks and then give birth to the rapidly growing creature in a flood of embryonic liquids, the creature taking on the traits of all the donators.
As demons here are less spirits and more artificially created races, the biopunk feel of the Malfeas may be taken to the forefront; New First Circle Demons are cloned in their thousands by a Second Class Administrator Entity for a campaign against his rival; with Blood Apes and Cloud Arsenals, who have built in blasters and virbo blades, created as the footsoldiers, the Anules acting as scouts and assassins while Bottle-Bugs and Neomah and Fevrid-Smiths are created as a ready made support network that will allow them to fight as long as physically possible while also repairing their arms and reinforcing their numbers. The demons don't even require training time, as all that they need to know is feed into their minds as they develop.
And even their armour is cloned along side them! As the demons finish developing, Perronele that were created ahead of them are dumped out of their own tanks and into those that belong to the grown demons, the Living Armours embracing their hosts. The poor Demons will probably never experience what it is like not to wear their symbiotic armour.
Once that's done; the demons are flushed out of their tanks and given their weapons, a mass-produced blaster if they're lucky, an iron pike if they're unlucky, and sent out to whatever the SCA wants to be taken.
Then they will all probably die horribly.
Technology.
Much of the Yozi's technology is based on the same principals that the other races of the Galaxy use; focused energy for Blaster and treated metal for starship hulls. Where things go strange however, is when you take a closer look. The Blasters are powered by the Solar Energy of the Green Sun if they're made in the Malfes Dyson Sphere and blast is focused through a glass crystal made from the sands of Ceceylene, and the computers that operate all of the esoteric Technology are actually organic in nature, as they are artificially grown brains, that send their signals through nerve tissue like normal computer uses copper wiring.
Hellstriders and the smaller Void Fighters of the Demonic armies are made from cloned tissue around a living metal Skeleton and Shell, which actually allows them to heal from damage mid battle, instead of the quite frankly stupid idea of melting down demons for raw parts. These things might share a genetic lineage with the Various Tool Races, the best close-combat Hellstrides look like giant lead blood apes, but they were never really alive.
Large scale Starships are a different matter; while they aren't cloned and modified organisms lie the smaller craft that act in support, they certainly an organic bent to them. Most Demon ships work like any other, though they might have an edge technologically speaking, but with a few differences that set them apart.
First off is the already mentioned computer systems, which are made out vat grown grey matter, which fulfil the same roles that the AI Spirits do on other ships. E.G. Opperating the Anima field for use of the Canal Systems, plotting courses and accessing the Infernal Verson of the Internet.
Items of note
Here is a list of Infernal items, none of the really counting as world shaking artifacts by any means, they still would make the life of an intrepid explorer of the Heavens Reach that much easier.
Breather Jelly (*)
On of the more useful, and icky, pieces of Bio-Enginnering that the Gene Smiths of the Demon Realm have created, this creature looks like a floating jellyfish; with a clear body and tendrils that hang beneath it. Its real use becomes apparent when one allows it to take hold of your head and swallow it into its body, with a commitment of two motes, it will remove all hazards and penalties that would come from being in a poisonous or airless environment, as the creature recycles an endless amount of air.
Green Sun Rifle(***)
Speed: 6, Accuracy: +2, Damage:10/2, Rate: 4, Range: 100, Ammo: 50, Mins: Str**, Cost ****/** Tags: 2, St, P.
The peak of mass produced energy weapon; while this rifle is far from the Green Sun's most powerful or beautiful creations, it is his most prolific. Ligier is rightly proud of this weapon, and in a show a magnanimity to all, has allowed the plans for his creation to available to all in the libraries of Orbalis so that more beings could experience the brilliance of the Green Sun on more personal level, either by slaying a foe in a burst of baleful green light or by getting killed by said light. While these weapons are far from rare, they require relatively advanced materials and skill in order to construct, making them a fairly uncommon sight outside of the armies of SC.
All Encompassing Tome (**)
A thin and light weight tablet made out of crystal glass that first was created by the disciples of Orbalis, the End of All Wisdom, these wonderful devices allow their owner to access all of the publicly available information in Glass Server- Libraries of Orbalis. At an attunment cost of four motes, one merely needs to type in their search request, and the tablet will bring up the closest matching results.
Beware though, for if one actually manages to find forbidden knowledge on these the Tomes, then Orbalis shall punish you, no matter the distance. For the second a forbidden file is opened, the tablet will explode in rain of molten glass that deals 6l Damge at a Truma of 3.
First Circle
First Circle Demons are the created races, the living tools that the Stellar Intelligences use to interact on what is for them a Microscopic Level. They tempt and fight with the mortals races, acting as labour for their betters and provide cheap and replaceable footsoldiers for the armies of the Unquestionables.
They are an eclectic mixture of essence and flesh, having traits and characteristics of both the spiritual and physical beings, that are custom made to fulfil a certain role that is implanted in the deepest parts of their Spiritual Genetics. A Neomah might be a lovely and intelligent woman-thing, but she will always carry the urge to act as a living incubator that can carry a demonic fetus for several weeks and then give birth to the rapidly growing creature in a flood of embryonic liquids, the creature taking on the traits of all the donators.
As demons here are less spirits and more artificially created races, the biopunk feel of the Malfeas may be taken to the forefront; New First Circle Demons are cloned in their thousands by a Second Class Administrator Entity for a campaign against his rival; with Blood Apes and Cloud Arsenals, who have built in blasters and virbo blades, created as the footsoldiers, the Anules acting as scouts and assassins while Bottle-Bugs and Neomah and Fevrid-Smiths are created as a ready made support network that will allow them to fight as long as physically possible while also repairing their arms and reinforcing their numbers. The demons don't even require training time, as all that they need to know is feed into their minds as they develop.
And even their armour is cloned along side them! As the demons finish developing, Perronele that were created ahead of them are dumped out of their own tanks and into those that belong to the grown demons, the Living Armours embracing their hosts. The poor Demons will probably never experience what it is like not to wear their symbiotic armour.
Once that's done; the demons are flushed out of their tanks and given their weapons, a mass-produced blaster if they're lucky, an iron pike if they're unlucky, and sent out to whatever the SCA wants to be taken.
Then they will all probably die horribly.
Technology.
Much of the Yozi's technology is based on the same principals that the other races of the Galaxy use; focused energy for Blaster and treated metal for starship hulls. Where things go strange however, is when you take a closer look. The Blasters are powered by the Solar Energy of the Green Sun if they're made in the Malfes Dyson Sphere and blast is focused through a glass crystal made from the sands of Ceceylene, and the computers that operate all of the esoteric Technology are actually organic in nature, as they are artificially grown brains, that send their signals through nerve tissue like normal computer uses copper wiring.
Hellstriders and the smaller Void Fighters of the Demonic armies are made from cloned tissue around a living metal Skeleton and Shell, which actually allows them to heal from damage mid battle, instead of the quite frankly stupid idea of melting down demons for raw parts. These things might share a genetic lineage with the Various Tool Races, the best close-combat Hellstrides look like giant lead blood apes, but they were never really alive.
Large scale Starships are a different matter; while they aren't cloned and modified organisms lie the smaller craft that act in support, they certainly an organic bent to them. Most Demon ships work like any other, though they might have an edge technologically speaking, but with a few differences that set them apart.
First off is the already mentioned computer systems, which are made out vat grown grey matter, which fulfil the same roles that the AI Spirits do on other ships. E.G. Opperating the Anima field for use of the Canal Systems, plotting courses and accessing the Infernal Verson of the Internet.
Items of note
Here is a list of Infernal items, none of the really counting as world shaking artifacts by any means, they still would make the life of an intrepid explorer of the Heavens Reach that much easier.
Breather Jelly (*)
On of the more useful, and icky, pieces of Bio-Enginnering that the Gene Smiths of the Demon Realm have created, this creature looks like a floating jellyfish; with a clear body and tendrils that hang beneath it. Its real use becomes apparent when one allows it to take hold of your head and swallow it into its body, with a commitment of two motes, it will remove all hazards and penalties that would come from being in a poisonous or airless environment, as the creature recycles an endless amount of air.
Green Sun Rifle(***)
Speed: 6, Accuracy: +2, Damage:10/2, Rate: 4, Range: 100, Ammo: 50, Mins: Str**, Cost ****/** Tags: 2, St, P.
The peak of mass produced energy weapon; while this rifle is far from the Green Sun's most powerful or beautiful creations, it is his most prolific. Ligier is rightly proud of this weapon, and in a show a magnanimity to all, has allowed the plans for his creation to available to all in the libraries of Orbalis so that more beings could experience the brilliance of the Green Sun on more personal level, either by slaying a foe in a burst of baleful green light or by getting killed by said light. While these weapons are far from rare, they require relatively advanced materials and skill in order to construct, making them a fairly uncommon sight outside of the armies of SC.
All Encompassing Tome (**)
A thin and light weight tablet made out of crystal glass that first was created by the disciples of Orbalis, the End of All Wisdom, these wonderful devices allow their owner to access all of the publicly available information in Glass Server- Libraries of Orbalis. At an attunment cost of four motes, one merely needs to type in their search request, and the tablet will bring up the closest matching results.
Beware though, for if one actually manages to find forbidden knowledge on these the Tomes, then Orbalis shall punish you, no matter the distance. For the second a forbidden file is opened, the tablet will explode in rain of molten glass that deals 6l Damge at a Truma of 3.
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Romantic_Kaiju
Romantic Kaiju
- Location
- National Battlefield
Where Would Adorjan's dream-walking stuff be in her charm tree?
Sucal
The Devil’s Cut
- Location
- Bottom of the barrel
Somewhere between STABBY STABBY STABBY, I LOVE YOU HONEY and WEEEEE I CAN FLY!
Romantic_Kaiju
Romantic Kaiju
- Location
- National Battlefield
Funny
But really, Where would they be?
I thought about it some more, and I think they would be up-tree (down-tree?, meh, locked behind works), Eloquence in Unspoken Words, But how would you design them...
Why in the world would anyone want to pay artifact dots for what amounts to an internet search engine that could randomly explode on you at any time?
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Walker of the Yellow Path
Ho There!
- Location
- The Land of Memes
So I keep seeing people say that power armor is better than a Warstrider. I don't understand this. A Warstrider is gigantic death machine of FUCK YOU by Lore. Why is power armor better?
Sucal
The Devil’s Cut
- Location
- Bottom of the barrel
Because power Armour doesn't require a fuck tonne of maintenance, dedicated infrastructure and has simple easy to understand rules that doesn't make you and your ST pull your hair out to understand. Power Armour doesn't require massive amounts of motes to attune (or large numbers of hearthstones and manses to defend) and you can actually hide it and stealth when you need to.
Warstriders are only really useful for Infernals or Dragonblooded. The Dragonblooded find them amazing due to their own issues, while the much more awesome Demonstriders exist purely to show how sucky normal ones are in comparison.
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