Latest revision as of 01:18, 6 April 2010

Exalted System Overhaul[#h1]

This is my incomplete, total overhaul of the Exalted System. Changing Charm Trees, Abilities, Virtues, the whole thing basicly. Unfortunetly I'm not done with it yet. I've also hit some snags so I'm putting it up so perhaps I can get some help. Anyway, on with the show.

Abilities -

Some adjustments have been made to the ability spreads, in an effort to balance the value of some skills, and to fill holes where other skills seemed over used. The following skills have been modified

• Dodge: Subsumed into Athletics, except where noted; all “Dodge” charms now have Athletics as their requirement. Any charms requiring both dodge and athletics, now simply require the higher of the two values.
• Linguistics: Subsumed into Lore, except where noted; all “Linguistics” charms now have Lore as their requirement. Any charms requiring linguistics and lore, now simply require the higher of the two values.
• Sail: Subsumed into Ride, except where noted; all “Sail” charms now have Ride as their requirement. Any charms requiring sail and ride, now simply require the higher of the two values.
• Awareness: Subsumed into Investigation, except where noted; all “Awareness” charms now have Investigation as their requirement. Any charms requiring investigation and awareness, now simply require the higher of the two values.
• Presence: Subsumed into Socialize, except where noted; all “Presence” charms now have Socialize as their requirement. Any charms requiring presence and socialize, now simply require the higher of the two values.

With the loss of these five skills, the distribution of “caste” abilities changes in the following ways

Solar|Abyssal

• Dawn|Dusk: Melee, Archery, Thrown, Brawl
• Zenith|Midnight: Endurance, Resistance, Performance, Socialize
• Night|Day: Investigation, Larceny, Athletics, Stealth
• Twilight|Daybreak: Crafts, Medicine, Occult, Martial Arts
• Eclipse|Moonshadow: Ride, Bureaucracy, Survival, Lore

Sidereal

• Battles: Melee, Archery, Resistance, Brawl
• Serenity: Performance, Socialize, Bureaucracy, Craft
• Journeys: Endurance, Ride, Survival, Athletics
• Secrets: Thrown, Lore, Investigation, Stealth
• Endings: Medicine, Martial Arts, Occult, Larceny

Dragon Blooded

• Air: Thrown, Stealth, Occult, Lore
• Earth: Craft, Endurance, Resistance, Martial Arts
• Fire: Athletics, Melee, Socialize, Performance
• Water: Brawl, Larceny, Ride, Bureaucracy
• Wood: Medicine, Archery, Survival, Investigation

In an effort to find some sort of consistency among abilities in Exalted, all are now built the same way. Each dot in any ability buys you an “aspect” for that ability as well. This system is rather similar to FourWillowsWeeping's UAT. Aspects are specific areas of understanding. Linguistics worked this way already, now all skills do. The ability Aspects are as follows:

1. Archery: Weapons (Blowguns, Bows, Crossbows, Slings, Firewands, Artillery) 6
2. Athletics: Activities (Running, Swimming, Climbing, Lifting, Acrobatics) 5
3. Brawl: Maneuvers (Punch, Kick, Clinch, Hold, Throw, Sweep, Tackle) 7
4. Lore: Studies (History, Politics, Geography, Literature, Strategy) 5
5. Stealth: Techniques (Concealing Objects, Silent Movement, Inconspicuous Action, Hiding) 4
6. Martial Arts: Styles (Snake, Tiger, Ebon Shadow, Mantis, Five-Dragon, Crimson Pentacle Blade, Jade Mountain, Elemental Dragon, Hungry Ghost, Violet Bier of Sorrow, Celestial Monkey, Dreaming Pearl Courtesan, Charcoal March of Spiders, Prismatic Arrangement of Creation, Citrine Poxes of Contagion) 13
7. Melee: Weapons (Sword, Spear, Axe, Knife, Club, Polearm, Chain, Improvised Weapons) 8
8. Thrown: Weapons (Knife, Spear, Hatchet, Bullet, Disk, Improvised Weapon) 6
9. Endurance: Conditions (Encumbered, Crippled, Exhausted, Starving, Distracted, Pained) 6
10. Resistance: Effects (Natural Substances, Alchemical Mixtures, Wyld, Mind Control, Disease, Elements) 6
11. Investigation: Disciplines (Forensics, Research, Interrogation, Surveillance, Inspection) 5
12. Occult: Phenomena (Demons, Elementals, Ghosts, Geomancy, Wyld, Gods) 6
13. Performance: Methods (Acting, Music, Dancing, Poetry, Prayer, Speeches, Storytelling) 7
14. Socialize: X (?)
15. Craft: Results (Architecture, Farming, First Age Mechanisms, Metalworking, Body Crafting|Moliation, Stoneworking, Weaving|Sewing, Woodworking, Fate, Pandemonium, Glamour, Soulforging) 12
16. Medicine: Ailments (Disease, Poison, Magical Affliction, Anatomy, Insanity, Injury) 6
17. Larceny: Activities (Forgery, Theivery, Disguise, Escape, Cheating) 5
18. Ride: Vehicles (Animals, Boats, Gliders, Wheeled, Airship) 5
19. Bureaucracy: Organizations (Military, Governmental, Religious, Mercantile, Underground) 5
20. Survival: Environments (Forest, Plain, Desert, Jungle, Ocean, Mountain, Swamp) 7

STILL TO DO – Write-ups for skills (including common tasks), Re-order Sidereals (Plot new constellations, place/redesign charms), Check DB charms for elemental consistency, Modify Favored balances and starting skill points.

Comments

Why have you done nothing with Brawl? It's horribly underpowered and Exalted has a serious lack of a real Warfare skill (which should be Water aspected). Also, I think combining Linguistics and Lore is disingenuous. In addition, making Social a part of Bureaucracy and Awareness a part of Investigation seems a little silly. -- Xeriar

Many people have suggested Brawl be eliminated and replaced with a Tactics skill. I don't like this for two reasons: Firstly, because I LIKE brawl, but find the Solar and DB brawl trees underpowered (which I will address soon); Secondly, I don't like a catch-all warfare skill. We have a skill for strategy (lore), we have a skill for dealing with people (socialize), and we have a skill for communicating with large groups (performance) or running organizations (bureaucracy). My skill changes are all geared to scope. Awareness and Investigation are the same thing: one being active, the other passive. Either "tactics" would require a re-working of 1v1 combat (basic combat) to include it, or it would only effect large scale confrontation (meaning small in scope.. kinda like Sail). Balancing brawl is something I take seriously though, because of my affection for the skill. Mostly, I plan to nerf Martial Arts.

PS. I just don't understand what you mean when you say "combining Linguistics and Lore is disingenuous", linguistics is a bizare waste of a skill and its charm sets are absolutely scattershot. I did switch the Socialize|Bureaucracy merge though...Vaegrim

Hmm... Looking at the Twilight|Daybreak Caste abilities and I'm worried it might be too powerful. I put MA in there because it's almost as esoteric about essence use as Sorcery is. But I think combining the Twilight Essence Shield power with Celestial Martial Arts might just be too potent a package. Thoughts? -- Vaegrim