This is pretty long and rambling. Just a warning.
I was originally woo'd by exalted during second edition, where I found it through fanfiction. In fact, Earthscorpion's Zero no Tsukaima crossover was one of the early influences for me.
The big, neat thing which initially drew my interest was the notion of a game wherein the rules and the setting make sense together. Specifically, I was seduced by the notion that physics, all of it, was explained in the various rulebooks of 2e. I know, that's comical, but bear with me.
Over the years my interest grew, I read every decent piece of fiction I found, and my understanding slowly grew.
I didn't even consider playing the game at first. I had a role-play group but I had never run a game myself. We played old world of darkness, which bore similarities, but I couldn't bring myself to pitch Exalted to a GM who already worked very hard on his own games.
Over the years I read more about Exalted, and I started to run my own, other, unrelated games. I ran new WoD, Mutants and Masterminds, and finally, when I built up the courage and forced my players to read the rule book, Exalted.
Now I had long since gotten over the notion that Exalted somehow explained the whole of physics. I enjoyed the setting for the kung-fu and the magic and the odd combination of grittiness and phenomenal power. More on that last bit later.
So, I tried to run 2.5 for my group. We struggled. The rules were spread across edited PDFs, so there was constant confusion on what the accurate charm text was, and I had a very poor grasp of balance, along with an amateurish notion of storytelling.
I tried to introduce a Dragonblooded sifu for one of my PCs, and the player loved the idea, but when I tried to introduce the combat system to everyone through a spar, it was intensely difficult to offer any resistance to the solar party.
I had read a lot about paranoia combat, and hadn't played it myself, so I didn't see the problem until we got into play. Exchanging perfects destroys tension, and ruins the Wuxia elements of the setting.
Social combat, too, was a disaster. Players who wanted to engage in it found the system trivial, players who didn't want to engage in it joined battle when they could, and were very upset when they couldn't.
All in all, my 2e game was a learning experience. It did suffice to introduce the group to Exalted, and for all of my woes the party did have fun. I'm glad it ended due to scheduling conflicts, so that it couldn't come crashing down on its own.
I ran several more unrelated games over the years until third edition came out, and I'm running two 3e campaigns now. The theme I try to emphasize for Exalted is in the consequences of the actions of the powerful. The PCs are rarely challenged in their areas of focus, but they spend a lot of time picking up the pieces after they use their power. They're happy to show off what kind of absurd feats their solars are capable of, and we enjoy the drama that ensues after their feats.
Today, I run and play Exalted because the breadth of supernatural power available to players (kung-fu magic, paperwork magic, building magic, etc etc) is still novel to me. I find building charm combos satisfying, and unlike other games the setting is robust enough to stand up to the crazy powers you can throw together. I especially love the harsh reality that mortals deal with. It provides endless opportunity for stories, tragic or otherwise.
I was originally woo'd by exalted during second edition, where I found it through fanfiction. In fact, Earthscorpion's Zero no Tsukaima crossover was one of the early influences for me.
The big, neat thing which initially drew my interest was the notion of a game wherein the rules and the setting make sense together. Specifically, I was seduced by the notion that physics, all of it, was explained in the various rulebooks of 2e. I know, that's comical, but bear with me.
Over the years my interest grew, I read every decent piece of fiction I found, and my understanding slowly grew.
I didn't even consider playing the game at first. I had a role-play group but I had never run a game myself. We played old world of darkness, which bore similarities, but I couldn't bring myself to pitch Exalted to a GM who already worked very hard on his own games.
Over the years I read more about Exalted, and I started to run my own, other, unrelated games. I ran new WoD, Mutants and Masterminds, and finally, when I built up the courage and forced my players to read the rule book, Exalted.
Now I had long since gotten over the notion that Exalted somehow explained the whole of physics. I enjoyed the setting for the kung-fu and the magic and the odd combination of grittiness and phenomenal power. More on that last bit later.
So, I tried to run 2.5 for my group. We struggled. The rules were spread across edited PDFs, so there was constant confusion on what the accurate charm text was, and I had a very poor grasp of balance, along with an amateurish notion of storytelling.
I tried to introduce a Dragonblooded sifu for one of my PCs, and the player loved the idea, but when I tried to introduce the combat system to everyone through a spar, it was intensely difficult to offer any resistance to the solar party.
I had read a lot about paranoia combat, and hadn't played it myself, so I didn't see the problem until we got into play. Exchanging perfects destroys tension, and ruins the Wuxia elements of the setting.
Social combat, too, was a disaster. Players who wanted to engage in it found the system trivial, players who didn't want to engage in it joined battle when they could, and were very upset when they couldn't.
All in all, my 2e game was a learning experience. It did suffice to introduce the group to Exalted, and for all of my woes the party did have fun. I'm glad it ended due to scheduling conflicts, so that it couldn't come crashing down on its own.
I ran several more unrelated games over the years until third edition came out, and I'm running two 3e campaigns now. The theme I try to emphasize for Exalted is in the consequences of the actions of the powerful. The PCs are rarely challenged in their areas of focus, but they spend a lot of time picking up the pieces after they use their power. They're happy to show off what kind of absurd feats their solars are capable of, and we enjoy the drama that ensues after their feats.
Today, I run and play Exalted because the breadth of supernatural power available to players (kung-fu magic, paperwork magic, building magic, etc etc) is still novel to me. I find building charm combos satisfying, and unlike other games the setting is robust enough to stand up to the crazy powers you can throw together. I especially love the harsh reality that mortals deal with. It provides endless opportunity for stories, tragic or otherwise.
)
Which I agree its a big turn off for me.
