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General Exalted Thread

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So I realized something as regards the sort of general pointlessness of thaumaturgy in the leaked material, in terms of mechanics (spending 3xp to learn how to spend 1wp to double the size of a single loaf of bread at a time? really?), in the inelegance of having it alongside all that sorcery stuff, and in the general weirdness of "mortals can learn to be a sorcerer, but they can only use thaumaturgy if they're born with it".

If you add (a) a learnable 1-dot Merit that requires Occult 1 and allows Terrestrial Circle sorcerous workings of Ambition 1 (and nothing else), (b) a learnable 3-dot Merit that allows Terrestrial Circle sorcerous workings of any Ambition (and nothing else), and (c) very minor "Ambition 0" Terrestrial workings ("officiate a wedding properly so the participants are more likely to have a child", "baptize a child to give a bonus against spirit possession for a year", etc) that have a goal number of 1 and a base interval of a day instead of a week... you've basically just replaced thaumaturgy entirely without needing the dumb point-sink of individual rituals and without needing an extra mechanic just for them.

It even keeps the "minor magic uses of existing skills" vibe from 2e because Bob the Wizened Old Shoemaker with Occult 1 is going to have a small enough pool he'll be leaning on his higher Abilities as Means as often as he can.
 
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Should I be worried about Solar Supremacy in 3e, or is this just Holden "fun-posting"?


Source: http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/exalted/411035-what-are-solars-best-at/page3

Roadie said:
"Ambition 0" Terrestrial workings ("officiate a wedding properly so the participants are more likely to have a child", "baptize a child to give a bonus against spirit possession for a year", etc) that have a goal number of 1 and a base interval of a day instead of a week... you've basically just replaced thaumaturgy entirely without needing the dumb point-sink of individual rituals and without needing an extra mechanic just for them
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Some of those seem like they could be replicated via prayer.

Hmm, but maybe that's good -- if ordinary mortals can do some of the things which prayers are used for, maybe that puts a floor on divine incompetence: "If you fuck this up too badly, mortals will stop praying to you entirely and all just learn Thaumaturgy."
 
Roadie said:
Well, Solars can drop city-destroying falling stars on anybody they don't like right out of chargen, so.
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I've really been wanting to run a Solar with supernal melee against all five of those Immaculates in the antagonist section. I guarantee you at least one of them dies outright in the first turn that the Dawn gets to go, but I haven't had a chance to play around with it enough to know if you can still kill a whole sworn brotherhood of Immaculate masters out of chargen.
 
jerkface said:
Should I be worried about Solar Supremacy in 3e, or is this just Holden "fun-posting"?
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I think Holden is just effing around, but completely honestly, he utterly failed to inspire confidence beforehand to just joke about the subject.

I just do not see approach of Solars/Solaroids having the best toys, being balanced by cool niches other Exalted have , which Solars utterly lack, Mainly, I do not find most of the niches really broad enough to be cool without overlap(and I do desperately hope, that presented charms that do not fit into Solar theme are test of future charms of other Splats)
 
Also, it doesn't bug me all that much, but did anyone else realize how every chapter fiction showcasing the different kinds of exalted has them doing something awesome except the DB one? Like, the Liminal fiction is about overcoming deadly ghosts in the frozen north, Volfers is about how much of a supreme badass he is, Kejak's is about how he's carved the world through destiny...and the DB one is about a magistrate running away, failing at running, being disarmed quickly and effortlessly and then submitting to her handsome opponent.

Oddly I found the starting fiction great, even though it also had a young, unarmed, unarmored Solar get ambushed by a Wyld Hunt and defeat them. Probably because the Sidereal and the DB in that were still cool, even as they lost. The most badass thing that magistrate did was punch a mortal, and stand up to a Solar for two whole attacks.
 
samdamandias said:
Something like this perhaps? (Also, why the heck am I attempting to give a unique effect to my first demon? I have no idea. Help me.)

Jodigoba, the Wise Beasts Who Ride
Demon of the First Circle
Progeny of the Radiant Basket

Jodigoba are the size of a small child, with long thin limbs and wide faces. Their skin often seems to fit ill on them, stretched thin in some places and folded over on itself in others, and their slitted eyes sit just above a mouth that is a little too wide. Jodigoba were not made for their looks, but rather their intense mental acuity and wide range of knowledge.

The Wise Beasts Who Ride are teachers without peer among those who dwell in the demon city, and sought after for this purpose. While they are patient with those they instruct, their students are frequently impatient and demand to learn things in the shortest time possible. In this case the Jodigoba will climb upon the back of their student and hold themselves fast with their long limbs and claws. They will then guide the student through a grueling week-long course of exercises and meditations that result in a much improved understanding of a subject. (Sadly, this is often too much for mortals and some of the less hardy demons)

Jodigoba enjoy sweet fruit very much, and many a sorcerer has paid one for their time with a selection of fine plants.
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...

You made Yoda a first circle. Wow, I know the old guy isn't popular, but... Meeeeeaaaan.
 
Chloe Sullivan said:
You made Yoda a first circle. Wow, I know the old guy isn't popular, but... Meeeeeaaaan.
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It was also supposed to be a joke about "get this monkey off my back." I freely admit to blatantly stealing the name from Yoda though.

I'm also considering coming up with a more proactive adviser called the Sages Upon Shoulders, who always work in pairs. (This is Exalted. You don't get a shoulder angel and shoulder devil, you get a pair of shoulder demons.)
 
Chloe Sullivan said:
You made Yoda a first circle. Wow, I know the old guy isn't popular, but... Meeeeeaaaan.
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... why "mean"? Demons aren't inherently evil or anything - they're not often kind, because they live in a prison culture, but they're more "alien" than evil. Most ME races would work as First Circles. Unless you mean giving him a raw deal by making him a serf in the Demon City, but frankly if that were the case, Yoda in the movies would be a badass First Circle who managed to escape into Creation and stay unbound and unbanished for ages, and is mostly content to just live in his swamp and do his own thing.
samdamandias said:
I'm also considering coming up with a more proactive adviser called the Sages Upon Shoulders, who always work in pairs. (This is Exalted. You don't get a shoulder angel and shoulder devil, you get a pair of shoulder demons.)
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Little fairy things with butterfly wings. SWLIHN-descent through the Third Circle that's associated with her HILARIOUSLY HIGH VIRTUES WTF by way of its, hmm, Messenger Soul, who made them to encourage Virtuous Action among others. One is white with black eyes and wings, sits on the left shoulder and preaches Compassion and Temperance (as its progenitor understands the concepts, so there's a certain amount of Cosmic Transcendence "Greater Good" etc in them). The other is black with white eyes and wings, sits on the right shoulder and preaches Conviction and Valor (again, Cosmic Transcendence versions). If one dies, the other goes mad; no longer constrained by its twin's contradictory urges, and spends all its time in uncontrolled Limit Breaks associated with its preached Virtues until something kills it.

I'll write 'em up tomorrow, if you want.
 
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Aleph said:
... why "mean"? Demons aren't inherently evil or anything - they're not often kind, because they live in a prison culture, but they're more "alien" than evil. Most ME races would work as First Circles. Unless you mean giving him a raw deal by making him a serf in the Demon City, but frankly if that were the case, Yoda in the movies would be a badass First Circle who managed to escape into Creation and stay unbound and unbanished for ages, and is mostly content to just live in his swamp and do his own thing.
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yeah, mostly that. I'd have considered Yoda awesome enough to be higher than tool-level, but eh.
 
Okay, so I know the 3e leak is the new hotness, but I've still got that 2.5e game going and I took a second pass at that charm a posted a couple weeks back:

Glorious Victory Exultation
Cost: - ; Mins: Essence 3, Integrity 5; Type: Permanent
Keywords: Reactor, Overdrive
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Phoenix Renewal Tactics, Spirit-Maintaining Maneuver

The elation that comes in the moment of the Lawgiver's inevitable victory soothes her spirit and bolsters her formidable resolve. This Charm expands the Solar's Overdrive pool by five motes, and at the end of any scene in which the she has unspent Overdrive motes she may roll her (Willpower + Integrity). The Solar may apply Excellencies to this roll with a dice cap of (Essence + Integrity), and each success allows the hero to claim two Overdrive motes to replenish their Personal or Peripheral mote pools. The Solar may exchange ten motes gained this way to recover one point of temporary Willpower. If the scene ended in victory for the Lawgiver, they may instead recover one Willpower for every five Overdrive motes exchanged. Regardless, Willpower recovery from this Charm counts as natural for all purposes, including this Charm's prerequisites.
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Some specific things I'm wondering about:

As I said in my last post about this, I like the subtle options that allowing excellency use provides you, but for that I needed a dice cap and I wasn't 100% sure what was appropriate. (Essence*2) seemed like it would allow meaningful boosts at each rank up, but since Solar magic is supposed to be tied to Abilities it seemed like that might be a little weird. (Integrity*2) would mostly be meaningless due to prereqs, and just specifying a dice cap of 10 doesn't fit with how other dice caps are specified. (Essence + Integrity) seems a little silly because gaining one whole die to the cap seems pretty meaningless to bother with specifying an upgrade. I think personally I'd prefer to do (Essence*2), but that seems more... Infernal than Solar. Maybe a cap of (Willpower + Integrity)?

I'm still new to charmtech, so any feedback on that or flavor or whatever would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Overdrive should never fill into normal mote pools. Allowing them to turns them into defacto defensive motes, and the entire purpose of Overdrive is to give players a mote pool they have to spend on offensive Charms.
 
Aaron Peori said:
Overdrive should never fill into normal mote pools. Allowing them to turns them into defacto defensive motes, and the entire purpose of Overdrive is to give players a mote pool they have to spend on offensive Charms.
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My impression (and the one I got from the discussion about the idea here last time I posted it) was that it's not a problem since the real issue is combat-time mote economy. This triggers at the end of the scene so that's not an issue.
 
Aaron Peori said:
Overdrive should never fill into normal mote pools. Allowing them to turns them into defacto defensive motes, and the entire purpose of Overdrive is to give players a mote pool they have to spend on offensive Charms.
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Since it only takes effect at the end of the scene, it's probably fine in that regard. I'm not sure how I feel about the willpower regeneration, though.
 
notthepenguins said:
Since it only takes effect at the end of the scene, it's probably fine in that regard. I'm not sure how I feel about the willpower regeneration, though.
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This is the kind of experience I just plain don't have yet. Is it the exchange rate? It's possible to get 5wp back with this, but how often are you really sitting on 25 overdrive motes at the end of a scene?
 
Aleph said:
Most ME races would work as First Circles.
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Asari: Start with neomah. Remove the tower and the flesh-sculpting abilities, add some combat abilities.
Quarians: Start with Stomach Bottle Bugs. Change medicine to some combination of Lore and Occult. Change the phasing power to work on machines instead of people. Bam. The Wrench Rats get summoned to fix stuff.
Turians: The Iron Legionaires. Start with Blood Apes, lower Valor/Conviction and riase temperance. Reduce straight offensive power, but make them very disciplined. Where there is one, there will be more.
Krogan: The Marrow-Snapping Turtles. Start with blood apes. Remove all offensive charms except exellency, add soak and other defensive abilities.
Elcor: The Oxen Eternal. Loads of strength and stamina, low social abilites. (Regretfully: We were not created with the ability to express emotions). The perfect beast of burden able to fit through normal doors.
Drell: Swimmers Beneath the Sea. Sneaky, have lots of enviromental existanc.
Hanar: Luminous Jellies. Lava lamps and mood lighting.
Volus: ... Dodgeballs? Clowns? I don't really have a good idea.

And I would be honored if you would do a writeup of the Sages Upon Shoulders.
 
..

Designing Evocations is harder then I thought. Trying to work on Evocations for a black Jade and Tyrant Lizard buff jacket thats meant to enhance familars/those you train/teach. All I have for that though is 'Can train spirits with familiar charms as an emerald level evocation'. Stupid Twilight Anima, can't even be taken with Supernal Survival
 
Sucal said:
..

Designing Evocations is harder then I thought. Trying to work on Evocations for a black Jade and Tyrant Lizard buff jacket thats meant to enhance familars/those you train/teach. All I have for that though is 'Can train spirits with familiar charms as an emerald level evocation'. Stupid Twilight Anima, can't even be taken with Supernal Survival
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speaking of evocations can transforming weapons be made in 3e?
 
SerGregness said:
My impression (and the one I got from the discussion about the idea here last time I posted it) was that it's not a problem since the real issue is combat-time mote economy. This triggers at the end of the scene so that's not an issue.
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Out of combat has a mote economy as well.

Let us say that you have two Solars, A and B. They get into a fight and eat up all their regular motes on defensive/scene-long Charms. After the fight they scamper off, still blazing like bonfires. They get to rest for an hour in an abandoned warehouse. But outside the rest of the Wyld Hunt is still hunting for them.

So player A has... 8 motes from regeneration for that one hour of rest, all Personal, which he can use as Stealth Charms or emergency oh fuck Charms. Player B has 8 motes plus 5~10 more on top of that.

In effect, you've given B a massive incentive not to spend Overdrive motes on actual fighting, but on the "shortly after battle" segment of the adventure where he will have a huge advantage over the other players whose Overdrives have all emptied by this point so they had no reaosn not to spam them on vaporising Legionaires.
 
jerkface said:
Should I be worried about Solar Supremacy in 3e, or is this just Holden "fun-posting"?


Source: http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/exalted/411035-what-are-solars-best-at/page3

Some of those seem like they could be replicated via prayer.

Hmm, but maybe that's good -- if ordinary mortals can do some of the things which prayers are used for, maybe that puts a floor on divine incompetence: "If you fuck this up too badly, mortals will stop praying to you entirely and all just learn Thaumaturgy."
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Sadly, given some of the remarks the devs have made the last few days over on RPG.net in threads about the niches and powers of Solars and Lunars, that seems pretty accurate even if he intended it be tongue-in-cheek.
 
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