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.
So in a game I'm currently running military campaigns are a big deal and therefore armies and large scale fights are happening much more frequently than would be normal. Because of this I've been looking at adding some new rules to the Battlegroup system to give it a bit more of a tactical element, though narratively sized range bands really hamper this.
First, added a new Command roll that allows you to push an enemy battlegroup out of a range band. This would be a contested [Int/App/Cha/] + War check between the commanders of the two people groups. Each commander gets a bonus to this roll equal to the Size of their Battlegroup. This gives larger armies the leg up on smaller ones. Was thinking of letting threshold successes get added as extra dice to your Battlegroup's action like the Order action. This command lets you fight over a strategic position without having to kill/rout an entire Battlegroup.
Second, Battlegroups can take up a number of range bands equal to their Size but must take up at least (Size/2 round up) range bands. These have to be contiguous but since range bands are pretty abstract you can get away with somewhat weird positioning.
Third, bumping up the Ambush Strategic Maneuver by at least 1 to Difficulty 4, maybe up to 5. It's just leg and shoulders better than every other difficulty 3.
Thoughts? Anyone else have any ideas about making Battlegroups more tactical?
Carter Powell
It looks good to me, but the question is what do you mean by "more of a tactical element"? What is your ideal end goal?
Asher Mitchell
Battlegroup combat is pretty boring and not very engaging. They steal Initiative and just kind of sit there and get pummeled. I am seeking to create interesting and engaging large scale combats that are drastically different from one another to remain fresh.
This is difficult to do with the base rules of the game because BGs are usually considered backdrops Dynasty Warrior style or just really large fists for their Commanders which is a tad too simplistic when they are the focus of a large part of the game.
Chase Wright
Battle groups have two niches:
1) They can AoE attack (In 3e which really dailed such things back, this is huge)
2) Any initiative taken from them is flushed down a toilet. Trying to build up initiative so you can attack an Abyssal General while he and his army attacks you is painful.
These things are simplistic, but are good additions to the game. You're more powerful just by having them. Also keep in mind that while battle groups are deadly, they are designed to be something like the Dynasty Warrior mooks you basically blow past in order to reach something like an officer.
To alter something like this you might need to go down to the very root of this problem and rework how BG's work.
Wyatt Moore
I'm mostly talking about Battlegroup vs Battlegroup fighting. I would like more tactical depth than "I Order my BG to attack, they get +8 dice, my BG attacks, they do 6 damage" repeat for the other side.
Fighting BGs is a slog, I seek to spice that up some.
Samuel Russell
>1) They can AoE attack (In 3e which really dailed such things back, this is huge)
Seriously, don't underestimate this. I've had large missile-armed BGs actually drop a Dawn Caste (admittedly a wildly overspecialised one) through consecutive turns of AoE fire while actually assaulting the Dawn's unit.
But in response to the OP - one issue with the use of BGs is that the rules don't well support implementing new Strategic Maneuvers on the fly during the battle. Being able to do that would cover a whole multitude of sins - your band-push mechanic, for example, screams out Strategic Maneuver to me. Maybe some kind of Tactical Maneuver system, paralleling Gambits in small-scale combat?
Jace Ward
>admittedly a wildly overspecialised one
This presumably wasn't a White Reaper Stylist. What were his stats?
Jaxon Sanchez
It seems like it could work, but the devil is in the details.
Oliver Collins
Strategic Maneuvers are where I kind of started out. Originally I was going to make it a Gambit the commanders could take but them draining Initiative isn't fun and involving BGs already lowers the amount of Initiative that can be thrown around.
So I took the contested action idea from Strategic Maneuvers and with that. Size should impact this, larger groups should be able to push around smaller groups easier, but this is a mythic setting so the band of 100 being able to push around the horde of 1,000 if they're commander is good enough is in theme.
I'm not sure if additional Tactical Maneuvers (as I will now call them) would be simple Contested Actions in the same vein but it could work.
William Cox
Honestly I would start by making making battle groups interact with Initiative in a normal fashion, allowing them to build up or lose Initiative and spend that Initiative to launch decisive attacks which could be health track damage but also cool battle-group only gambits.
Austin Allen
That could lead to having a track a lot more, and also BGs tend to get hit on a lot, their defenses not being so great so that would generate a shit ton of Initiative whenever they come around.
Jace Ortiz
So, dumb question
Is there anything that actually says that it was Theion/Malfeas that created the Unconquered Sun? Most fan stuff seems to like that for the obvious god/satan analogue but the only thing I can seem to find was that he was created to define The Dragon's Shadow/Ebon Dragon.
Joshua Lee
I know in the 2e Ink Monkeys stuff they talked about the UCS origin.
Thomas Gutierrez
Thanks, found it
Michael Hill
That fucking thing, ugh
Andrew Perez
What's so bad avout it?
Noah Allen
Rape camps hooray
Owen Gonzalez
Where were the rape camps?
Jace Taylor
In the Nameless Lair of Ma-Ha-Suchi.
Nolan Murphy
Sounds hot, tell me more. This that where they got beastmen from?
Grayson Brown
No, you get hamstermen when you turn into hamster then fuck hamster. In the Wyld though because otherwise you'd just get hamsters.
Aiden Taylor
>This presumably wasn't a White Reaper Stylist. What were his stats?
He constructed his entire build around Moonsilver Huntress and Archery Supernal. He'd pick one target and just fucking murderkill it to death (he sniped out a Midnight Caste in a homebrewed Gorestrider at one point) but his defences were pretty much "is wearing bits of Mammoth" and having Athletics Charms to get him out of melee.
This actually worked pretty well in the campaign right up until a Size 4 bow-armed BG with a good leader dropped saturation fire on the entire party. Everyone else just went "Defences, ding" and he went "FFFFFFFFF-"
Was the first outing for the whole "take a horrible injury instead of dying once per story" rule in that campaign (though definitely not the last).
Dominic Rodriguez
Beastmen canonically arise when a human and an animal love each other very much, and one of the two is a Lunar. Ma-Ha-Suchi also used gender changing charms to personally bear children, and conquered a number of small villages and tribes to secure breeding stock. When he secured enough beastmen children and they came of age, he added them to his breeding stock to presumably keep his bloodline somewhat pure.
Now that I think about it, it kind of seems like something ShindoL would come up with, doesn't it?
Jose Parker
>You want catgirls? >well, you better go fuck that cat
Jace Fisher
This was probably a common occurrence in the First Age.
Xavier Bennett
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Bentley Cox
The end result was worth it.
Lucas Garcia
If I'm trying to make a nemean lion equivalent in my game, would that just be a really big predatory cat like a great terror or should I make it more?
Angel Bell
Should be a soak monster. Steal stuff from the Tyrant lizard. Maybe more hardness vs everything that doesn't deal bashing?
Samuel Sullivan
Wait I forget, in older editions could lunars speak in their human voice in different forms by default or did you need a special knack to do that.
Luke Flores
For sorcerous mounts, which is better: Stormwind Rider or Cirrus Skiff? The former has speed and a cover bonus, but the latter has altitude and duration. Stormwind Rider would be the better choice for combat, correct?
Logan Evans
Bastet is bestet.
Carson Lopez
Houtengeki never fails to make my dick rock hard. 100% worth it.
Jaxson Garcia
>did an entire Lunar led area of stuff like this
Feels good man. No, it wasn't some magical realm shit either. Given the pics you'd think it would be, but it wasn't.
Oliver Ramirez
With Cirrus Skiff you can grab an archery weapon, sail up two range bands, and laugh at everyone who can't jump good/doesn't have their own ranged weapon.
Ayden Turner
Tell me more!
Asher Gonzalez
Hey guys, I have the hardback 1e book. Where can I get the cool mechs I've heard about and seen on the homepage linked in OP? What book do I have to buy? Can it be done in 1e?
Jackson Martinez
Sounds good, depends on you taking a particular ability and the opponent not taking a counter a counter ability, though.
Ryder Flores
Here's your (You).
Ayden Walker
I'm not joking, plsase. I'm new to this game and I bought 1e because it's cheap and I can't afford most RPGs. Please tell me, I just want to show my players some mechs.
Xavier Nelson
I storytimed this all months ago. Sorry user, you missed it. Have a turtle.
So can falling hammer strike just build up onslaught penalties forever until its like -20?
Ryan Cook
If you keep activating it, probably? You can't force someone below 0 Defense and all penalty negators get rid of everything so there's not too much point in going to -20.
Isaac Ramirez
It has a perfect defence against everything but crushing and its own claws in the mythology.
Hunter Jenkins
Gonna be playing a Zenith king in an upcoming game. Since people dump art here from time to time I figured I'd ask; Anyone have art that'd fit a Roman-style solar emperor? Would appreciate the help.
Evan Gray
just shop a disk onto some character's forehead lmao
Liam Gonzalez
Ferocious Jab and other similar effects
Connor White
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Parker Lee
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Ian Martin
>DBs are killed to prevent their blood tainting the rape camp. This is the most egregious and stupid waste of DBs. They need to be in those rape camps. They need to.
Levi Ortiz
Are you talking from a pragmatic perspective, user?
Gavin Lewis
>Anyone else have any ideas about making Battlegroups more tactical?
It should be obvious but don't run an army as all one battle group.
Even if everyone's mortal you're going to have your hand-picked elite bodyguard separate and fighting with their own stats rather than being an insignificant number of additional bodies for a bunch of conscripts and auxiliaries.
Justin Johnson
I've got 42 images for Solars, more actually. None fit "Roman guy in a toga", because I'm solely in Exalted for the anime/asian-ey influences when it comes to art, but I got some that might help. Want a pic dump?
Landon Barnes
Hamstermen? Is that what holden makes?
John Price
The only thing they make is disappointment.
Jayden Cooper
Sure, fire away. Thread's kind of slow anyways.
Logan Harris
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David Taylor
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Easton Bailey
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Logan Moore
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Jackson Peterson
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Wyatt Watson
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Noah Taylor
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Colton Walker
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Angel Taylor
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Chase Evans
Some might have to get skipped because they've got tits hanging out occasionally, because hurr blue boards on Veeky Forums and "work safe" and all that nonsense.
Jackson Jenkins
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Liam Lee
So you guys just post softcore porn and talk about other nerds you don't like?
Blake Powell
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Owen Richardson
We'd talk about the game itself, but nothing substantial has been out in a while.
Josiah Rivera
>porn >any of this What
Christopher Campbell
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Luis Wood
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Bentley Kelly
Is anything due? Kinda feels bad Exalted is sort of dead in the water for years now thanks to Holden and Morke literally fucking everything up because they couldn't even read their own contracts.
Cameron Lewis
He's probably talking about the Super Heavy Plate meme.
Christopher Green
I'd Superheavy her Plates alright, dayum.
Carter Perez
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Nicholas King
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Juan Phillips
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Logan Jackson
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Benjamin Hill
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Nolan Morris
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Matthew Powell
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Luke Wright
There are the monthlies, which consist of NPCs and beasts. When all of them are out, they'll all be consolidated into a single PDF each. Arms of the Chosen is coming out Soon™.
Elijah Thompson
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Jordan Allen
>"Soon" That word is the bane of my existence.
Levi Price
Monday Meeting tonight. Do you think Arms will have made any progress this week?
Jason Long
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Jason Ortiz
I have no idea. One would hope, but I tend to measure progress as "Is the book out yet? No? Then theres been no progress". Exalted is unfortunately a big line and getting bigger, to the point progress to me can only be measured in the number of Exalt splats out.
Charles Gonzalez
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Evan Walker
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Kevin Cooper
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Carter Carter
Not helped by the fact that the new Exalt types may gets books before the types that I care about.
Charles Evans
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Evan Hill
Don't even remind me of that. I really don't like the new types or the ideas they may represent, and I dislike that they'll be stealing themes from other things in the setting even more.