Exalted General — /exg/

>What is Exalted?
An epic high-flying role-playing game about reborn god-heroes in a world that turned on them.
Start here: theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/exalted/

>That sounds cool, how can I get into it?
Read the 3e core book (link below). For mechanics of the old edition, play this tutorial: mengtzu.github.io/exalted/sakuya.html
. It’ll get you familiar with most of the mechanics.

>Gosh that was fun. How do I find a group?
Roll20 and the Game Finder General here on Veeky Forums.

>Resources for Older Editions
pastebin.com/GihMPwV8

Resources for Third Edition
>3E Core and Splats
mediafire.com/folder/b54o6teut3fx6/Exalted_3e

>Arms of the Chosen Previews
dropbox.com/s/15xddoahzedtkwu/Arms of the Chosen Preview.docx?dl=0
drive.google.com/file/d/0B7FqViticwNuam9lbVJBWFhJM2s/view

>Dragonblooded Charm Previews:
theonyxpath.com/dragon-blooded-charms-preview-exalted/
theonyxpath.com/the-elemental-aura-dragon-blooded-pt-2-exalted/
theonyxpath.com/signature-charms-dragon-blooded-pt-3-exalted/

>Other Ex3 Resources
pastebin.com/fG1mLMdu

>New NPCs and a Behemoth rework
pastebin.com/avv1ZCZp

>House Tepet Preview
drive.google.com/file/d/0B7FqViticwNuS2pvcEF2TGlUYW8/view

You should really throw in a conversation opener when starting a new thread, OP.

Couldn't think of anything, and it's not like it's been followed in the last half a dozen threads

How do you use Godbound to run Exalted?

I don't. Why do you want to do it?

Having an actual functioning system is good for a start.

>But 3e!!!

3e is worse than 2e.

it has a better world map though

Also better mechanics, and possibly better fluff. But no matter, somehow it's still worse.

Don't play Godbound if you want an actual functioning system, dummy.

mechanics maybe, but 3e fluff is generally worse

What are some specific examples?

>yet again, user wants me to do his research on a topic he himself introduced into the conversation

I disagree, I find 2e's compulsive desire to explain and categorise everything worse than 3e's somewhat awkward attempt at mysticism.

How exactly should I do research on what you dislike about 3E fluff and like about 2E fluff, user? If asking you is off the table, should I, like, interview your friends and loved ones or something?

you should read the fucking books and make up your own mind you tard

Again, how does this tell me what you think about the fluff? I mean, I know what I think about the fluff. Obviously, I should have to explain this to you, user. I'm asking a guy who prefers 2E fluff to 3E fluff to elaborate on his opinion. This should've all been pretty fucking obvious, but I guess it needed clarification for some reason.

The guy is a SV autist. He is probably a diagnosed Asperger. You need to be explicit when you ask him to elaborate his opinion. You need to be very, very explicit about everything you want of him.

This is probable, honestly.

more like i can't be assed to go and collate all of my impressions right now, since im currently extra confused by the matter as ive been dealing with not only 2nd and 3rd ed recently, but even 1st ed

i remember my impression and that's what i can give you

That's rude, calling someone an SVer. We're better than that, I hope.

I'm trying to make a Liminal. Yes, I know there's basically nothing on them beyond the backer preview, the corebook fluff and QC stats, but what are some good ideas for character concepts?

I'm struggling with trying to understand how much of a Liminal's personality should be influenced by the original body's memories. I know the Liminal is supposed to be a completely different spiritual being, and they don't feel any kinship with the original's memories and bonds, but obviously they should matter.

Also, it feels like there should be a lot of room in their concepts for cool charms.

Is the bond between its creator and a Liminal still a thing? A lot of good storytelling could be done here.

Your creator is absolutely horrified by you, but you only want to show him you're worthy of his admiration. The body used for you was the dead little girl of your creator, and he wanted you to be her, but it's obvious you aren't, and it pains both of you. You are used as a slave by your creator, and you don't have the ball to tell him to stop. Etc.

>Is the bond between its creator and a Liminal still a thing? A lot of good storytelling could be done here.
According to the corebook fluff, it is still a thing, and if the creator dies the Liminal needs to forge a bond with a new person, or otherwise they become more visibly inhuman. I guess having an anchor to a living person in general is a good idea, it prevents murderhobo-itis, I suppose.

> The body used for you was the dead little girl of your creator, and he wanted you to be her, but it's obvious you aren't, and it pains both of you.
Yeah, I imagine there's lots of potential for roleplaying like that, like pic related (though Astro is more like a weird mix of an Alchemical with a Liminal, I guess).

Astro?

lol not really. So much vast empty nothingness was added for the sake of being different. Creation already has vast tracks of unused landscape. I would have kept it the same size and just changed the geographical features around instead.

I find learning about local traditions, superstitions, cuisine, economics, etc. very helpful and informative of that world, which allows me to better convey a world that feels real, lived in and immersive to my players.

If you want a vague, ill-defined world full of fantasy schlock with a slight eastern bent you could play any number of the rules lite wuxia games out there nowadays or even D&D or PF which doesn't even try to ground itself in a world feels alive and believable or internally consistent.

>better mechanics

Lets not go that far, user. I would say 3e = 2.5e at least in terms of mechanical design and play-ability. Its definitely more a step sideways than forward. Feels like for every 2e problem they fixed they just introduced another one elsewhere.

I know this is an unpopular opinion among the fandom many of who gobble up whatever offerings they can get without a thought in their empty little heads, but but I don't really care for any of these Nu Exalted that Holden & Co pushed. Hell I wasn't even that big on Infernals, who came off as a big let down. They just lack a lot of the promise and shine the Classic Exalts had when the game first came about.

actually emptiness was taken away, since now we just have more stuff on it even in the old parts of the map

>I find learning about local traditions, superstitions, cuisine, economics, etc. very helpful and informative of that world, which allows me to better convey a world that feels real, lived in and immersive to my players.
Of course.
But things like DotFA and magitech nanomachines?

Lol no. The amount of locations that added in proportion to the amount real estate they added is nowhere near equivalent. ANd given that Holden wanted to 'make his mark' on the setting by ignoring or outright removing existing locations established over the course of 1e and 2e means there is even less to work with, and more confusing for both people transitioning in from 1e/2e and anyone new wanting to learn more about the world.

God forbid they release a setting book though, you guys would scream bloody murder that you didn't get your Book of Big Dick Charms or niche special snowflake Exalt sub-splat that no one actually cares about.

Wonders was fine, but yes DotFA was shit and a complete waste of time.

you still have everything from past editions to work with, unless you're refusing to for some external reason like for example winning an internet argument or being autistic

3e denies that. In addition, and this is just my opinion, but making the exterior parts of the map that much larger dwarfs the Realm and makes you wonder how its the dominate world superpower when so much of it is either free of their yoke or untamed wilderness and bordermarches. Like, why would anyone give a fuck about then when they're confined to their shitty island and the coastal periphery? There is tons of land outside their influence to conquer, rule or do with as you please.

What are your favorite Resistance charms?

>3e denies that.
like i said, autistic

>making the exterior parts of the map that much larger dwarfs the Realm and makes you wonder how its the dominate world superpower when so much of it is either free of their yoke or untamed wilderness and bordermarches
this is basic exalted setting stuff, it was always like that, adding a wider ring of wilderness changes nothing

What are you talking about, exactly?

>3e has a better world map though

Nope. As this guy said >So much vast empty nothingness was added for the sake of being different

1e had best map

3e definitely has a better map, what are you talking about.

You're just upset it isn't filled up with stuff yet.

The only areas that greatly changed in 3e are ones that were completely irrelevant in previous editions, and the added space around the edges changes nothing for the worse since you can just ignore it if you want to.

I do like the shape of the Cinder Isles though.

>dieselpunk post-WWI apocalypse pirates in a pastiche of Indonesia, the Caribbean, and East Africa

> So much vast empty nothingness was added for the sake of being different. Creation already has vast tracks of unused landscape.
>>> actually emptiness was taken away, since now we just have more stuff on it even in the old parts of the map
>The amount of locations that added in proportion to the amount of land mass they added is nowhere near equivalent
>Holden wanted to 'make his mark' on the setting. Ignoring or removing existing locations established over the course previous editions
>>>you still have everything from past editions to work with, unless you are autistic
(did you even read his post?)
>3e denies that (because of reasons stated above)
>>>like i said, you are autistic
(are you sure you don't have problems with comprehension? He clearly stated his reasons while you didn't make any valid counter-arguments)

I reasonably like the Dreaming Sea. I was bothered by the fact that a huge blob of water is set so far away from the elemental pole of water, but then I got to thinking that since it's in a direction between two poles it actually makes sense to put more of an elemental flux there. And let's be honest, that part of the map was narratively desolate before but looks interesting now. I judge the Dreaming Sea a clear improvement.

I absolutely love Mela's fangs. An actually really similar point can be made about those lakes as what I just said about the Dreaming Sea, but somehow as a geographic feature those great lakes fit in perfectly, in my opinion. Add to that the very flavorful name, the moment I saw it my mind instantly filled up with impressions of norse and eskimo themed people mixing with the realm and immaculates. That a simple two-word name can do that for me is a triumph for the map maker.

The Cinder Isles and the Caul are the major additions that I feel ambivalent about. The Cinder Isles feel like they fit in pretty well as yet another wilderness area, and there can't ever be enough of those, but the Caul feels like it would be screwing up the entire Lintha meme, especially considering its lore. As just a geographic feature though, the Caul is perfectly acceptable, though I would have made it a bit smaller instead of this giant country-sized island.

As to the expanded wilderness areas, where your "more sea, more sand, more ice, more trees" comments are actually pertinent, I like those too. I can only see them as a good thing, since the map now maps out the bordermarches far better than it did before, and I always felt a journey to the Wyld should be longer than the previous maps suggested.

Oh, also, small but important remote locations like Gloam and Wu Jian excite me. I approve of those.

>Gloam
What was that again?

in the sea between the imperial city and lookshy

Oh right something taking over DB for its own nefarious existence

How do you run Exalted with Godbound tho?

I always felt that previous maps showed only habitable areas. If you went further toward poles you would see more water, more sand, more ice etc. BUT there was no reason for it to take map space.

Same goes for wyld. Only wyld zones were shown of map. Wyld was on map borders or further beyond.

Idk Solars/Infernals/Abyssals get the usual 3 words, Lunars and Sidereals 2, Deebs 1?

I don't think that's a good way to look at it. Large swathes of the previous map areas would have been uninhabited, but small outposts even on the new map should be inhabited and there was mention of such places even before the map was expanded.

The bordermarches, too, should be mapped out a bit, just because they can be. It's not like they're the deep wyld.

>but I don't really care for any of these Nu Exalted that Holden & Co pushed

At least theres one other sensible person in these threads, rather than the cock gobblers who try to defend half baked ideas that aren't even out yet and do nothing but further make Exalted less special just by existing.

>people use any map other than the 1E one

I mean, I guess some people like to eat a literal pile of dried shit, but why do that when you've got the tasty, perfectly cooked steak dinner that is the 1E map?

Someone should transfer 1e locations in that map to the 3e map

OX-BODY TECHNIQUE
ALL DAY EVERY DAY

Naw, celestial and terrestrial exalts start with less influence and effort

More influence and less effort*

>Also better mechanics
>Anima goes from being that cool lightshow effect you cna use for stunts to being a multilevle resource you have to track and spend for your tricks
>No clear order of Charm declaration in attack/defense or contested rolls, multiple inquiries to the writers of the system ultimately got the answer "lol just eyeball it"
>Fiddle with and chuck dice like never before with adders, rerollers, count-doubles, TN-modifiers and every pissible way they could think of to fuck with dice rolling
>revolutionary Cookie Clicker Craft: craft 75 spoons before you cna get started on your ship!
>Magic shopping list longer than any RPG published in the last 20 years, most of it is some redundant variation of "fuck with dice for this roll"
You know what, I think I'll just stick with First Edition

>No clear order of Charm declaration in attack/defense or contested rolls, multiple inquiries to the writers of the system ultimately got the answer "lol just eyeball it"
>revolutionary Cookie Clicker Craft: craft 75 spoons before you cna get started on your ship!
These are solid complaints, the rest are based on opinion and personal preference. But even with that in mind, it doesn't even begin to approach the awfulness of 2e.

>You're just upset it isn't filled up with stuff yet.
>yet.
>Implying anything significant for 3e will be published ever again
>My resplendent destiny when

>yes, that's exactly what I'm upset about!
okay

You're kinda slow
user was implying that the map will never be filled because additional setitng material will never be published
To which I partially agree, Exalted has lost a lot of momentum with the Kickstarter garbage, look at these fucking generals, during the campaign there was nothing to talk about and we regularly hit 100-150 unique posters; now the game is out and we are lucky when we are 5 dozens

>>Magic shopping list longer than any RPG published in the last 20 years, most of it is some redundant variation of "fuck with dice for this roll"

Further info? I'm new to Exalted and I'm still didn't look at 3rd ed. I'm going through 1st ed fluff.

go be upset somewhere else

>>No clear order of Charm declaration in attack/defense or contested rolls, multiple inquiries to the writers of the system ultimately got the answer "lol just eyeball it"
Page 251:
>Players (including the Storyteller) must openly declare which Charms their characters are using, and all Charms (unless their text indicates otherwise) must be declared, and their costs spent, before any dice are rolled. Attackers declare their Charms before defenders.

>To which I partially agree, Exalted has lost a lot of momentum with the Kickstarter garbage, look at these fucking generals, during the campaign there was nothing to talk about and we regularly hit 100-150 unique posters; now the game is out and we are lucky when we are 5 dozens

I see what you did there, user.

Charm bloat went a little out of control.

You are right, the attack/defense thing is clear then
What about contested rolls where there is no attacker/defender?
What about counter-declarations, can they be done? Like attacker attacks with Charm X, defender counters it with Chamr Y, attacker wants to add Charm Z to which defender could answer adding...
Seems to me if you can't do that, it would be an auction where the defender always has tehe absolute advantage of knowing exactly what's the attacker's maximum bid

Newfag here. What happens if I use Terrestrial Circle Magic to hybridize a Lunar and a Solar?

You can't.

You end up asking stupid questions

Ah. I see. I would agree with that. I think there should have made 20 charms per skill tops. There are 25 skills. That is 500 charms per exalt type

I am not upset, I'm merely stating the obvious.
Exalted has lost fans, and didn't get any new ones. If its next KS (if any) makes even half of the backers for the Core I'll eat my left nut.
>I see what you did there, user.
I don't. What did I do there? It was suppsoed to be taken at face value.

D&D 3.5 core - around 597 spells
Exalted Core - 838 - 683 charms, 108 martial arts charms, 47 evocations

D&D spells - each is an unique effect, presented in as concise a manner as possible
Exalted Charm - The Prince of the Fucking Universe arcs zhir princely universely golden seven wisdom weapon bodhisattva blah bluh bleh reroll 9s rewritten with different fluff for each of the 25 abilities

Why not?

You can't pass on actual Exaltions, and Exaltions are what make a Solar and Lunar, a Solar and Lunar. Best you'd get is a half caste, and those were fucking dumb anyway.

But the creatures aren't dying, so what happens to the Exaltation?

Depends on what you're trying to do.

Combine the Exaltations? Can't be done.
Give a Solar some mutations by infusing them with Lunar essence? They get some mutations.
Give a Lunar some minor magical power based on their mundane abilities by infusing them with Solar essence? Pick their most notable mundane ability, and give them some minor supernatural power based on it.
Combine Solar and Lunar essence into a mortal? Produce a Moonblessed/Suntouched (what used to be called Half-Castes, but had their name changed because it's a slur, apparently).

D&D - each spell is unique? Majority of offensive spells are variation of xd6 dmg, single/area/line/ target, ref-fort-will save.

You are right, but most of thsoe are also written like "Cone of Cold - it's a cone, x length, yd6 damage, surprisingly it's cold damage"
They ended up taking more lines than that because D&D spells have that bullet point presentation for shape, area, cast time, components and such but it's right down to the meat and bones so it doesn't feel as much wasted print space

I figured something like that is apparent. Otherwise, what's to stop a defender from spending just enough to beat an attacker's roll.

Mountain Member Absorption

Nothing. An Exaltion is permanently tied to a living host. It can't be taken away, passed on, etc. Only thing that can happen is if the host dies, it flies off to find a new host.

I think I'm going to go back to first edition myself DESU. Make both crunch and fluff simpler rather than 60 billion worthless addons.

That's a charm from Miracles.

I do like the simple power of 1E shit. In 3E you've practically got to hand out handjobs to everyone before your social charms fucking DO anything. In 1E it was straight up "Did you roll a single success on an unopposed roll? Yes? Great, they're not your cock sleeve for life". Which I feel is way more in tune with what an Exalts powers should be, than the current regime's idea of "Nah, just give them maybe an extra success if they roll a 9" printed as 40 different Charms.

*now your

Fuckin' typos.

Fuck it I'll bite
D&D: A wizard can pick from literally every single spell of the level they can cast, there are no prerequisites when choosing new spells, and you can just pay money to learn new ones, easily leading to an individual with spells in the triple digits
Exalted: You start out with 19 charms at maximum if you min max for them, and gain a new one every other session at most. Realistically you're not going to be taking charms from anything more than about ten odd abilities, and typically less then that. You can completely ignore charms above essence 1 for the first ten sessions outside of one ability.

>most of it is some redundant variation of "fuck with dice for this roll"
No, we've been over this, hell someone literally went through and counted. The whole 'most of the charms are just dice tricks' is objectively false.

So for those with more experience in the current edition; how are those Dragon-Blooded charms looking?

I recall 2e had a fatal flaw when it came to DBs that they'd be plagued with shit like "this perfect defense does not function against weapons made of the five magical materials, weapons with the following keywords, charms, sorceries, or charm or sorcery-enhanced attacks" that also happened to be more expensive to activate despite the characters also gaining less motes (and health from ox-body).

Is it still going to be more of the same, or are they actually going to be mechanically viable this time?

if you expect a db to be able to 1 on 1 a solar that is never going to happen

Nobody said that. But 2e had them basically non-functional even before we get into "how many it would take".

The first two powers on the third preview seem rather worthless for example. 7m 1wp just to hide immobile in the dirt from normal sight/hearing (charms and magic will automatically defeat it)?

Well kinda sorta.
What the real problem with DB's was was just the charm/combat system in 2e in general was trash. Based on the size of someones mote pool and how much a parinoia combo costed, you could tell who was going to win. And I don't mean had an advantage, I mean 100% was going to win, no possible combination of actions would let them win.
So even if you gave them 'normal' perfect defenses they'd still lose because thats just how bad 2e combat was, there was only 1 combat build period really.
This time they'll obviously be mechanically viable because the entire perfect defense system is going away. Like now we just have a regular normal functional combat system. Of course this means some people are going to yell about DB's being busted op and others are going to yell about them still being too weak, but you take what you can get

>if you expect a db to be able to 1 on 1 a solar that is never going to happen

It was in 2e with some super cheese builds I think.

Until around essence 2-3 when the solar got his first PD combo. At high essence it gets even worse. Mechanically speaking the usurpation was flatly and utterly impossible. With 2e mechanics, it *cannot* have happened and even if it had the solars *cannot* have lost unless half of their own number AND at least as many lunar mates - not those half-solar kids of them but real solars - also all turned on them.

And even then that would have been nothing more than a fight between solars/lunars and other solars/lunars: "join battle", all hundred million of them, would have been fatally interrupted at no essence mote cost if there were at least two E5 thrown masters in the whole deliberative.

Yes, user, you aren't the only one holding the mainstream opinion of these threads. I guess these threads are outright filled by sensible people, at leats by your standards.

That's dumb, they were surprise attacked and outnumbered a hundred to one.

>In 1E it was straight up "Did you roll a single success on an unopposed roll? Yes? Great, they're not your cock sleeve for life".
You aren't actually trying to present that as a positive thing, are you? I mean, the social "system" of 1E, or rather its lack of a real social system, was outright retarded. Just bad game design.

I haven't played 1e, so feel free to give me a rough overview of how social actions worked then, but I recall one specific social mechanic that was very nice-

it was the relationship mechanic, in which someone had a zero to 100 pool of successes that determined the extent of how much they liked you or not. It was objective, had clear delineations of effect, and required less arbitration to make sense of.

Now I adore 2e Intimacies conceptually, but in practice they're very binary and rarely get invoked in any meaningful way.