Revision as of 19:19, 26 June 2005

General Rules Changes

The Basics of Things

This page is for general system changes really. This is a series of possible houserules to various traits that don't have a subpage already, as well as things like combat, and the like. Thing sto keep in mind is that I use variation son Power Combat, as well as things like geenral houserules seen in other pages. So without further ado, here are some other things to read for now. I'm going ot use soem of the original Exalted corebook layout, organizing things by Caste. Why? Because its easier to go through the book that way generally.

Dawn Caste, aka, Combat Stuff

Essence Dodge in Power Combat

There is some debate on when and when not ot add Essence to Dodge in Power Combat. Specifically, effects such as buying a dicepool from 0 with Reed in the Wind or the Wood anima effect.

I go with the idea that this Essence bonus is applied during the equipment modifier part of the Order of Modifiers chart found in Exalted, page 229. When you build a pool from 0, you are effectively skipping that, and the penalties part of the chart. The advantage to this is that you don't actually apply wounnd penalties to such rolls. The downside is things like hearthstone bracers and your Essence don't either. Its a trade-off thing. It also keeps certain effects balanced, like Dragon-Blooded in their dice-adders.

Note that Charms that give full dice-pools are not under this restriction. Dipping Swallow Defense, for example, isn't buying from a pool of 0. Its creating the entire Dexterity + Melee action, outside of initiative, that is then modified by the usual order of modifiers. Simalerly, things like Flow LIke Blood give the full equipment, and Essence bonus, as that is creating full actions from Step One, rather then skippin gto Step Three and dice-adding htem. That's why you can even still combo Golden Essence Block with Dipping Swallow Defense, as the later isnt' a dice-adder at all, and so is not subject to Charm bonus limitations.

Brawling Aides

The iron boot, pankrator's cestus, razor harness, crushfist and god-kicking boot introduced in the Player's Guide are brawling aides. They are like cestus, fighting gauntlets, khatars, and tiger claws in that unless said otherwise (such as being in-form with a Martial Arts Style), they are only usable with Brawl and Melee.

Another thing with Brawl I'm pondering is allowing attackers with Brawl to substitute theri Strength for Dexterity on attack rolls. I still need to ask around on this, but I think this might give Brawl a bit more self-containment that I feel it currently lacks.

Martial Arts and Weapons

The wording on the Power Combat definitions of in-form Martial Arts weaponry is a bit unclear, I think. As such, the following is how I inturpretted it.

• When you learn the first Charm of a martial arts style, you can use its weapons with Dexterity + Martial Arts for purposes of attacking and defending. For mortal characters, or people who want to use weaponry not linked to any real style, one can buy a specialty in a specific sort of weapon (slashing sword, long spear, polearm) to use that as a Martial Arts weapon.
• Charms of a style are always assumed to be being used unarmed. This mainly applies ot Charms that effect the user's initiative, accuracy, defense, or damage rolls. Even if a weapon form another style counts as a Martial Arts weapon for the user, if it isn't the style's weapon, you can't use it with the Charm. An example is that if you modify your dicepool with Blade of the Battle Maiden, you can't use it with razor claws, even if you know Water Dragon Style.
• When in a Martial Arts Form, all attacks must be unarmed. In-style weaponry, as noted above, counts as unarmed for these purposes.

Penalties and Such

Environmental penalties, Charm penalties, equipment penalties, ect., can't lower this below their Essence. Note that if the character didn't have the pool that high to begin with, then they use that pool instead. Wound penalties, being unskilled, splitting one's dicepool, and Arcane Fate are exceptions to this rule.

Being unskilled still inflicts a dicepool penalty for Exalted. However, it is only -1, rather then -2. Also, if this penalty reduces one's pool to 0 or less, they autofail the roll.

Zenith

Feats of Endurance

This is soemthing i've meant ot detail for a while. There are a lot of thing sin the game tha teffect things such as going without sleep, food, or water. Specifically, magical effects that have consequences if you don't do such. BUt the game itself actually doesn't seem to have rules for starvation or dehydration, and the rules for going insomniac are less harsh then using CHarms. So, here are some of my ideas on the subject I guess:

Starving and Dehydration

Exalted characters can go without food and water for as many days as they have dots in Stamina + Endurance. Every day beyond that, htey sufferent a point of unhealable lethal damage until they are able to eat regularly. This damage ceases to heal if the character goes without eating regularly again (atleast basic to sruvive) again. Mortal characters, with as weak of frames as they have, can only last for half this time, rounded up.

A character can last much less time wihtout water. Only count hte character's Stamina when determining how many days wihtout any water the character can surive. Mortal characters, as wtih starvation, halve their effective Stamina (round up) to determine how many days they can survive without water.

Any being that can soak lethal with their Stamina are treated as Exalted for the purposes of determining how long htey can go without food or water. The exception to this is Dragon Kings, who's tie to more primal forces allow them to go as Exalted, despite their slightly-frailer bodies.

Sleep Depravation

This is basically as with the core rules, except that htere is no maximum penalty. The lack of sleep can indeed deprive an Exalted's entire dice pool to the poin thtey are rolling the minimum Essence on every roll. This penalty effects Initiative rolls as well, showing the dulling of the character's reflexes. This is to make the sleep-negation Charms a bit more appealing ot use.

Lunars in All of This

Lunars count the Stamina of the current form they are in for these things. Some animals even can go extra days without food or water due to their metabolisms. Taking the form of a wolf, bear, or shark has its perks beyond combat it seems.

Feats of Resistance

This is a mostly well-covered Ability, but i felt that it was worth noting some clarifacation son how I do things in my game:

Poisoning Weapons

For the sake of balance, i've decided that poison when applied to weapons works a ssuch. Each "dose" of the poison put on the weapon to allow it to be poisoning once. How much of a dose you can put on a weapon depends on the weapon's size, and mainly is a case by case basis thing. When the weapon first inflicts damage successfully, the poison is put into the victim. However, due to the inaccuracy of this process, the damage for such poisons is rolled, rather then applied directly. Simalerly, the difficulty to resist the damage is halved, round up. Finally, a character can only suffer the penalty for a specific poison once at any given time. Two doeses of arrow frog venom doesn't cause the character to have twice the dice-pool penalty.

This is only for weapons with poison added to their surface. Devices designed to inflict poison (some throwing needles are hypodermic), or magical weaponry that inflict poison as a magical effect (Mnemon's daiklave, for excample), inflict the full-blown poison.

Soaking Environmental Damage

Just because folks don't seem to catch this, it works by the corebook. If you have sufficient natural soak (including what you got form Charms) you don't even have to roll, as you always have an "environmental hardness" equal to your natural soak. Spiffy that.

Comments

I'll get more to this laters. And stuff.

One question on the building dice pools from zero. In my game that includes reflexives, but not yet clear if that is the case in your game. So do reflexives like Five Fold or Flow like Blood, or Dipping Swallow or Shadow over water get effected by equipment bonuses? What about reflexive counterattacks, that could easily be thought to "create" an attack pool from zero. Would they get equipment bonuses. I imagine damage, but I hesitate on accuracy. Just some thoughts I had. You know I am all for lowering charm power, but I know that's not everyone's way. ;) - Jaelra

Those Charms create actual actions. They start with a full dicce pool and go thorugh all the modifiers. Same with coutnerattacks. Its not taking a zero dice-pool and adding dice. Its creating an entire action and then going through the whole run go fhtings. Sorry about that. I had gone over this with players, so didn't think on the wording of those things too much:)

Stuff. Blaque