RE: Sphere magic vs Linear magic
@ImBuda Generally, Linear Magic is comprehensively weaker, but there are caveats for Exalts specifically. First, general overview.
Within the spectrum of the first 5 dots, their ultimate capabilities are pretty much the same. Sphere Magic creates minds at 5 dots, Linear Magic creates minds at 6 dots. Sphere Magic can teleport anywhere at 5 dots, Conveyance can teleport anywhere with a 6 dots ritual. They more or less track together in terms of they could accomplish at their peak.*
The difference is the lack of general flexibility and resource costs; Sphere Mages can make stuff on the fly in far wider spectrum than Sorcerers, need to play a whole lot less of XP for it, and have a considerably easier time creating complicate multi-sphere effects - sorcerers to use multipath effects like Scry and Die stuff needs minute-to-hours long rituals, Mages don't. Sometimes, Linear Magic needs 6 dots for 5 dots equivalent of Sphere Magic; sometimes sorcerers need to pay permanent willpower (effectively, an XP cost per spell cast) when Mages don't. Or just plain needs normally improbable amount of successes on a relevant roll to replicate Sphere effects.
A specific example; Sphere of Life. Mage with Life 5 can heal, shapeshift and create some primitive life, a single Sphere. For Sorcerer, Healing and Shapeshifting are two separate paths, warranting two separate purchases.
So, XP efficiency makes Mages a far more powerful splat than Sorcerers in general play, as they get a whole lot more bang for their buck.
But Molly is not a regular sorcerer, and both gets considerably more out of dots she has, and get those dots at a major discount. Normal Sorcerers purchase at X5 their current rating per dot, Molly purchases at x3 per dot and can get further discounts with grimoires or spent action points. Funny fact; Shish MA which Molly is learning right now for free in exchange for spending action points, can be learned as Linear magic.
Spells normal sorcerers and even mages struggle to cast on the go, Molly aces with her insane dice pools and difficulty adjusters, and she casts them considerably faster. On top of that, Molly also generally has the capacity to cast most of Linear Magic for, essentially, free - there is a way of casting spells without spending resources in exchange for increased difficulty, but Molly really doesn't care about increased difficulty.
As a part of overall build, Linear Sorcery also allows to extend the ultimate cap of power DP currently allows us; there are no limits on dice-stacking in ExWoD, but there are only so many charms. Ultimate cap for soak/damage resistance is 10 points less without Linear Sorcery for example; a hefty loss.
Currently, we want Linear Sorcery because it allows to surpass the limits of Core ExWoD Charms available, and fill in for capabilities Infernal Charms lack; granting wishes without turning people into demons or destroying their minds, healing yourself and others without nasty drawbacks, crafting stuff without engaging with Holden's overcomplicated crafting system, and so on.
Supposedly, Exalted have their own magic system, Ancient Sorcery/Circle Sorcery/Sorcerous Workings, to fall back on this sort of stuff, but Holden
butchered the shit out of it in ExWoD so we make do with what we have. 10XP a pop for shitty spells is just horrid.
Finally, there are charms that allow Exalts to further boost their sorcerous powers, like Scepter and Pentacle; when DP finally allows custom charms, I'll write one for Linear Magic. Or maybe we'll homebrew a version of Ancient Sorcery system that isn't horrid. That would be nice. There is a homebrew for Sorcerous Working in ExWoD floating on the net.
I'd describe mechanics more thoroughly and draw more detailed comparisons for everything, but I kind of don't have time, sorry
