Darloth/FixTheExaltedSystem

It's broken.

These aren't just houserules, this is a new, mostly similar system. Bits may be identical, bits may utterly alter. I'm not happy with either 1st, 2nd or Power Combat, so, this is my best effort at making something I -am- happy with, hopefully something useful to other people as well.

It isn't finished, and likely won't be for quite some time.

Exalted itself is copyrighted by white wolf, and I'm certainly not trying to make it possible to play without a book. I am simply replacing (mostly the combat) resolution mechanics with my own set, as suggested by the book, but rather extremely so, as opposed to little tweaks.

Current Global Problems

• Long battles of attrition are boring
• 1-hit instant-kills (of significant non-player characters, PCs, etc) are bad, get boring, and suck if they happen to you.
• charmslots almost always saved for defense - not doing this is more fun, but also results in far more injuries or even death - see mistakes.
• 3 rank stunts are annoyingly non-5, and also hard to gauge.

Current Ex1 Specific Problems

• Soak was often too good
• defenses can be stacked far too well - and you can fall back on perfects even if they DO beat/ignore your stacked defenses
• any mistake could result in quick death - some of this is good, to represent powerful figures fighting. Not this much.
• combat is SLOOOOOW
• initiative is completely insanely broken, with speed and such.

Power Combat Problems / Solutions

• Essence ping was too good, and overfixed soak.
• new weapon stats were crazy, made speed/init problems WORSE

Current Ex2 Specific Problems

• weapon stats still not fixed
• jade bonus breaks speed/tick system
• tick system complicated - this may not be a problem, but it sure makes it harder to work out what works and what doesn't. Maybe more experience would help.
• Excellencies are a neat idea - solar excellencies aren't brilliant - none of them (of any splat) have any damn flavour - All excellencies in all abilities is nice, but this could be restrained to limit the way certain things are done

Possible Fixes

• Bigger stunts, with more potential effects. A stunt bonus ranging from +1 to +5 is suggested, with stunts regaining their dice bonus in motes if successful, or 1wp for +3 and +4, 2wp for +5s.
  • Trading in bonus dice for "effects" is also good. +5s can be traded for inapplicability(1 only, on attack) or anti-perfection(Attack is no longer perfect, but isn't autoblocked either), +4s traded for applicability(can parry the unparriable), and any number of dice can be exchanged for damage instead of accuracy. GM discretion on other effects, and stunt flavour must agree with the effect sought. This is a bit complicated, but makes stunts have more actual effect, rather than a fairly small die bonus.
• Using abilities is fun. Using abilities is good. Have more abilities that can be used more often, and think of a way around the charmslot-reserved-for-defence problem. Current solution is to have TWO charmslots per turn, one for defense, one for attack. For charms which are not obviously one or the other, or for charms which are both (counterattacks come to mind) the user may choose (and must state) which charmslot he has dedicated to that charm. Comboes can be used as normal, in one or both charmslots, allowing a mixed offense/defense as appropriate. This appeals, makes combat more fun and more magical, and shouldn't unbalance things -too- much. It very slightly nerfs dragonblooded's advantage, but they could simply be allowed to use two charms of any sort, in addition to their any-reflexive clause. They don't have enough essence to benefit majorly from this declaration, and it allows them to maintain their even-wider style of free-er charm selection, if not charm use.
  • combos would be smaller, thus easier to make, and get used far more often, thus being more fun. Offensive combos would likely never include a defensive charm. Combos may need to be 'declared' as "Offensive" or "Defensive" when they contain charms of both(Subject to GM approval), to prevent people using a defense combo in offense, just because it has a counterattack. Potential drawback is willpower drops even faster, already a problem. Solution to this could be to only incur the 1wp cost when both slots are used for combos, on activation of the 2nd combo. This, obviously, will result in FAR more comboes.
    • Possibility: Offensive comboes do not cost willpower. Defensive comboes do. This means people can use an offensive combo (which typically is limited in scope to one style of attack, forces you to use those charms at least once, etc.) without needing to worry about willpower. Defensive comboes tend to be wholely voluntary activation, so they need an up-front cost or people will use them every turn, and end up paying more only for offense. Could just have both costing wp, but people run out VERY fast then. I like this.
  • extra anima abilities, ways to promote charms to anima abilities, or charms which are permanant enhancements which function like animas (see Ex2 Phantom Arrow for example) all give more abilities which are easier to use than standard abilities. These are good to some extent, but too many could be bad. My extra anima ability project is already pushing the boundries, and I don't think it wise to combine with too many charms like this. However, another varient may be charms which extend in duration as essence increases. Allowing Graceful Crane to be maintained indefinately at essence 4 (note commit cost, and potential removability, unlike anima effects) can provide functionally enhanced abilities which still have commesurate drawbacks.
• Write my own damn weapontable - been planning to do this for a while.
• scrap 1st edition initiative mods - they don't work. Base, rolled init does, and makes init-boosting effects more valuable. Jade converts to altering multiple action penalties.
• consider using fixed init, or tickwise init, or another system. Also consider using fixed length "turns" such that an effect triggered on init 5 lasts until init 5 next turn, if its duration is "one turn". All three of these somewhat alleviate the turn by turn and delay problems. Init, generally, is okay, but a pain to roll. Delaying is helpful if you don't plan to attack. Doublecharms as above actually -solves- the declare problem - you declare your attackcharm choices, they declare their defenses. It's then set for the turn, meaning, going first is a slight -advantage-... you want to go as soon as possible, because that way, you get to fix opponent's defenses for other party members, but they have not yet fixed your defenses.
  • Ticksystem implies HEAVY changes to certain effects, and minor changes to every extant charm. This is to be avoided if possible.
• the DV mod from 2nd edition is quite valuable. Rolled defenses are slow and somewhat irksome, as luck comes in heavily, and flukes can go both ways. Problems with incorporating this into 1st edition are turns, where DVs refresh at end of turn, and the (slight) difficulty of converting charms across. DVs implicit effects are: No stacking of defenses without charms + automatic decaying scenelong defense for everyone, as if everyone had aborted every turn.
  • Could try and keep active defenses, but they don't work that well. Thus, everyone should always get a defense, unless they're facing a multiply inapplicablizing attack form.
• Excellency modification - solar excellencies could be improved, possibly by splitting them into combat and non-combat varients. See Flawless Handiwork Technique for an example of a non-combat solar excellency. Solar rerolls can remain as reroll-take-best, or could be promoted to reroll-then-add, but DB rerolls should be reroll-take-reroll. Others may vary, potentially as reroll-take-best for lunars and siddies. Caps need changing everywhere - solar charms to expand caps are a nice idea. Successes being linked to dice... need to think about this. Many need to be cheaper.
• First draft of initiative system: Use Wits + Awareness to make a join battle test - the number of successes you roll is your "initiative". Whoever has the highest initiative moves first, following in order. Once you reach initiative zero, the pattern repeats, with no change in the order.

Conclusions

• Essence will be spent twice as fast (This is good. Battles will be shorter, and more impressive)
• Switching onslaught and attack-based DV means attacking will almost never be a bad strategy, although something needs to be worked out for defending. FFBStance may need to be altered. Guard maneuver negates up to Base DV of DV penalties from onslaught or other sources.
• Meditations on Initiative: Without Speed certain weapons may need +1 rate - reaper daiklave comes to mind. Rate in general could be altered, perhaps lowered. Since allies clustering togeather is now a good move, there not only needs to be a way to move up and down the initiative order, there needs to be a way of forcing the enemy to do so. Consider 'taunts' or 'goads', possibly rolled as in-battle social attacks, against MDV (or maybe half of MDV, or maybe double successes over MDV to see how far you can shift.) Also strongly consider adding +/-2 to the init order on knockdowns or other deleterious-effects on successful attacks.
• delay causes attack penalty, -3 internal? Dash still causes defense penalty.
• Movement needs considering
• lunar init-based effects need altering - either they should be most effective against people directly below the lunar in init list, or they should count how far -away- they are from people, and use that (maybe x2) as the 'init' count, for purposes of that charm against that target.
• delay = -2 external success penalty on offense - also considering -1 to defense.
• Timing: Two turns roughly equates to 1 long tick - assume 5-6 seconds per turn. Charms may eventually grant more than 1 "action" per turn, possibly not on the same initiative count. These are pretty powerful, and is how independant actions will be handled.
• Taunts: form of social attack usable in combat, works as all social attacks do, but integrated into this attack system. Taunts and barbs are specifically meant to be hard to ignore, and as a result halve dodge MDV, although retorts work as standard. **Still need to work out how social charms interact with this**
  • A successful taunt moves an enemy up or down the initiative order by up to 1 point per net success, and has no other effect.

Charm Changes

This section lists specific changes to certain charms, and usually refers to those under the 2nd edition rules-set. A proper tree will be forthcoming eventually, probably. Much of Discussions/FixThe2ESolarCharmTree also applies.

• Friendship with Animals Approach shouldn't need presence - remove this pre-requisite, and replace it with Any Survival Excellency to maintain at least some treedepth.
• Iron Skin Concentration cannot be used in armour - considering allowing its use in light armour, but it's unbalanced with regards to the other resistance charms without some sort of limiting drawback
• Durability of Oak Meditation is badly named, and overcosted. I'll leave the name (although meditation sounds longer than instant!) but the cost is just too high. Reduced to 1m, posssibly 2m pending playtesting.
• Shattering Grasp needs a "quick and destructive" method to fit its picture, sound, and previous utility. In such a mode, it's supplemental, or, something.

Here's your weapons table template Darloth. Oh wait, you wanted me to start restatting weapons? Later :)

||Weapon||Accuracy||Damage||Defense||Rate||

||Weapon||Accuracy||Damage||Range||Rate||

Comments:

Comments are welcome, as are suggestions, critique, etc.