General Exalted Discussion XII: One More and Get a Free Deathlord

[Maugan Ra]

Unrelated note, but there's an idea that's being fielded for a game at the moment, involving a small group of Devil Tigers busting out of Hell and doing their best to avoid Yozi retribution for their actions. Which might involve running to the Unconquered Sun for sanctuary. Or any number of other possibilities.

Mostly proposed because I'd love to see some potential RP involving the various power players in Exalted done well. And because the game is in need of a Storyteller, before I cave and sign myself up for running another game I almost certainly have no time to do properly. Blasted interesting ideas...

[Rikandur Azebol]

So, I've been considering a terrible idea.

Imagine no Green Sun Princes. Instead, the yozi have been creating Akuma with a little more freedom, letting their own personalities twist their goals, and allowing this freedom to render them safe if the Incarnae order them retreived.

Would anyone be up for a game where you play Dragonblooded Akuma? Your urge would be a variation on 'Work towards the freedom and safety of (patron yozi) as best you can'

This is just checking if there'd be interest.

Of course there is Lix.

[The_Snark]

So, I've been considering a terrible idea.

Imagine no Green Sun Princes. Instead, the yozi have been creating Akuma with a little more freedom, letting their own personalities twist their goals, and allowing this freedom to render them safe if the Incarnae order them retreived.

Would anyone be up for a game where you play Dragonblooded Akuma? Your urge would be a variation on 'Work towards the freedom and safety of (patron yozi) as best you can'

This is just checking if there'd be interest.

Sounds like a nifty concept to me.

[Kobold-Bard]

Could ageing/being old be considered a Crippling effect? Maybe Sickness?

Could a stunt allow "curing" it with a Charm?

[Tavar]

Aging and being old are intrinsic parts of a being, not a sickness or crippling effect. You could use mutations to extend someones life, or use certain life extending drugs, but you can't just stunt a medicine roll to do it.

[Turalisj]

Could ageing/being old be considered a Crippling effect? Maybe Sickness?

Could a stunt allow "curing" it with a Charm?

Nope, but Plague did some solar charms a while ago that basically made you ageless.

[golentan]

Well, I think I've just made the freakiest character I've yet made for exalted. He's a blind smelly fish person who navigates by echolocation and who infects people with contagious hallucinations by physical contact, as well as fleshwarping and summoning hideous mutants and demons. And he hangs out in swamps and is always hungry... always the hunger...

[Rikandur Azebol]

Seems decent, Golentan. Real family guy person.

[Kyeudo]

Well, I think I've just made the freakiest character I've yet made for exalted. He's a blind smelly fish person who navigates by echolocation and who infects people with contagious hallucinations by physical contact, as well as fleshwarping and summoning hideous mutants and demons. And he hangs out in swamps and is always hungry... always the hunger...

So . . . an Infernal with Kimberry favored?

[Tavar]

Seems like a good candidate for that one swamp based primordial. Starts with a m.

[Drascin]

Seems like a good candidate for that one swamp based primordial. Starts with a m.

Metagaos? (Also known as "That Primordial Whose Jouten Is Totally Audrey")

[golentan]

So . . . an Infernal with Kimberry favored?

Kimberian Dragonblooded Akuma.

[Rikandur Azebol]

Achem, I bet Meschlum could provide us with truth on that matter as well.

[Maugan Ra]

Kimberian Dragonblooded Akuma.

For Lix's potential game? Has that started recruiting?

[Lix Lorn]

For Lix's potential game? Has that started recruiting?

No it certainly has not. I'm not even sure I'm going to run it. (Although the feedback is pleasing, so I'm tempted.)

[golentan]

For Lix's potential game? Has that started recruiting?

Yes, should she allow it if she does decide to run it. Though he's family unfriendly enough I'm working on an alternate character.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Bluh... I wish I had the Dragon-Blooded book. There's no way I'm getting it now, though, not with it being one of 3e's first books and 2e's badly balanced books.

[TheCountAlucard]

Yeah, the DB book is problematic; I like it, but nearly every Charm ended up receiving errata, and for good reason.

[Yuki Akuma]

No it certainly has not. I'm not even sure I'm going to run it. (Although the feedback is pleasing, so I'm tempted.)

You totally should, because it's an awesome idea and makes you an awesome person.

[Maugan Ra]

You totally should, because it's an awesome idea and makes you an awesome person.

Pretty much this.

And yeah, I do like the Dragon Blooded book and charms... but there were a lot of erratas made to it.

Terrestrial Ability Reinforcement is still an awesome charm, though, especially when used on other members of a sworn brotherhood.

[golentan]

Yeah, the DB book is problematic; I like it, but nearly every Charm ended up receiving errata, and for good reason.

Well, it was written really early on in the cycle. A lot of the later books were just better written from a mechanical point of view.

[Exthalion]

This raise an interesting question for 3E though. As Solars are once again the system baseline (since they are in core so everything will inevitably be compared to them) and DB are again early in the cycle: Will the same problems arise as with 2E?

Power creep and system baseline meant Solars were the focus of most of the errata cycles. As mechanics changed or improved DB were left behind. Are we going to see Solars getting stealth errata in other people books every time someone has a cool idea? Are we going to see Solars getting propped up when the later books come out and the writing has gotten better and the mechanics tighter?

No doubt 3E will start better than 2E is now. The question is will it suffer the same kinds of problems?

[Sanguine]

The problem with DBs wasn't that they were written early. It's that they were written before the core rules were finalized. This is why without errata many of their Charms don't make sense or just don't do anything.

[Exthalion]

The problem with DBs wasn't that they were written early. It's that they were written before the core rules were finalized. This is why without errata many of their Charms don't make sense or just don't do anything.

The Solar errata bloat is still a concern though.

[Tavar]

Power creep and system baseline meant Solars were the focus of most of the errata cycles. As mechanics changed or improved DB were left behind. Are we going to see Solars getting stealth errata in other people books every time someone has a cool idea? Are we going to see Solars getting propped up when the later books come out and the writing has gotten better and the mechanics tighter?

You know what charm cements Solar Power over Dragonblooded? I(A)M, which is in the core book. Well, it was that and the Perfects, which were also in the core book.

There actually wasn't much power creep in Exalted, due to the design of the system.

[Gensh]

I'm sort of interested in seeing a trend here: which is your preferred order of splats? Just interest-wise; not actually playing as them in 2e. Let's not chat about the topic until three or four people have already posted. Please and thank you.

01) Infernals
02) Dragonblooded
03) Alchemicals
04) Abyssals
05) Dragon-Kings
06) Spirits
07) Lintha
08) Raksha
09) Sidereals
10) Lunars
11) Tyrant Lizards
12) Mortals
13) Godbloods (non-Lintha)
14) Jadeborn
15) Solars

[Sanguine]

I'm going to separate the list into groups to show when some are really close together.

01)Alchemicals
02)Dragon-Blooded
03)Sidereals
04)Infernals

05)God-Bloods
06)Spirits

07)Solars

08)Raksha
09)Abyssals
10)Dragon Kings

11)Lunars
12)Jadeborn

13)Mortals

That seems about right.

[TheCountAlucard]

Let's not chat about the topic until three or four people have already posted.

(grumble, grumble)

This is as said stuff currently stands.
01) Solars
02) Infernals (non-DT)
03) Raksha (sans Shaping Combat)

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These three are both awesome and amazingly versatile. I scoff at anyone who calls Solars boring. Especially you. Scoff, scoff. Having run Infernals, I know how awesome they are. Raksha are one of the most versatile toolboxes out there, of course.

04) Abyssals
05) Dragon-Blooded
06) Sidereals
07) Alchemicals

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These four are both reasonably cool, but can be kinda niche cases sometimes. Sidereals, for instance, can make fun antagonists or companions for the circle, and their Charms are all kinds of fun, but it's a worrisome prospect to introduce them without dragging the game into Yu-Shan. Likewise with Abyssals and Alchemicals. I like Creation. It's an interesting place. Yes, the other places are there, and they're interesting, but for the most part, I see little reason to jettison a game there.

Also, the whole "become a city at elder Essence" bit confuses me, or at least, the bit where people keep saying they want to play such.

08) Demons
09) Jadeborn
10) Dragon Kings

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These aren't things I want to play, but that I find fun to read over from time to time.

11) Infernals (DT)

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The forums are what did it in for me, for Devil-Tigers. Like other elder Essence stuff, it's a very interesting prospect, but once this stuff was released, it's like everyone's in a race to get there.

12) God-Blooded
13) Elementals
14) Gods (living in Creation)

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Elementals seem fun, but I'd like to see more done with them. Gods living in Creation are in the same boat.

15) Mortals
16) Gods (living in Yu-Shan)
17) Lunars

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Mortals would be cool, had they not been in Scroll of Heroes. Lunars and Yu-Shan's gods both seem like they could have been fun, had the stuff for them not been so ****dark.

18) Least god of a small stone
19) Raksha (using Shaping Combat)
20) Ghosts
21) Lintha
22) Haltans

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These are things that I absolutely don't want to play or even use; heck, it's probably going to take outright miraculous writing to get me to want to play these in 3e.

[Kobold-Bard]

In order of preference and subdivided by category -

Actually care about:
01) Lunars
02) Infernals
03) Dragon-Kings
04) Dragonblooded
05) Sidereals
06) Godbloods (non-Lintha)
07) Spirits

Indifferent/little interest in:
08) Mortals
09) Solars
10) Alchemicals
11) Abyssals

Never thought about it:
12) Tyrant Lizards
13) Lintha [no idea what these are]
14) Jadeborn

Despise beyond belief:
15) Raksha

[golentan]

Strong Favorites:

1) Alchemicals
2) Terrestrials
3) Infernals/Sidereals (they're just about tied after errata)

Like:
5) Lunars

Dislike Mildly:
6) Spirits/Godblooded
7) Solars
8) Mortals of all stripes

Strong Distaste:
9) Abyssals
10) Raksha

Others (Ghosts, Jadeborn, Dragon Kings, Etc.) are unlisted due to insufficient information. Note that this is a commentary on what I like to play, not what I like as a setting piece.