DODurden/MailandSteelDiscussion

What to do with Mail and Steel

Mail and Steel is an excellent addition to the Exalted rules set, IMHO. Finally it allows for the sort of combat that will truly shape the course of Creation's History. The Solars can rally their ragtag group against the Blooded, the Lunars can stave off a second invasion of the fae, and everyone can join up to (hopefully) annihilate the ravenous hordes of the dead.

So what does one do with all this?

I hope to make this a collection of how and when is best to integrate these rules into an Exalted campaign. Of course, the sky is the limit.

Please, if you have an idea, add it and sign it, else it's not much of a discussion.

Finding Goals

Maneuvering so these rules can be used is something that Storyteller and Player alike should be willing to work towards. If the players don't want to fight a war, then it may very well be best to arrange for something smaller (Covert ops sabotaging warstriders, sneaking into the enemy camp to steel battle plans, etc.) instead of larger. Arranging a war is tough business for all involved.

Also important is finding something your PCs can handle. A group of starting level Solars leading farmers with pitchforks shouldn't start marching against the Realm's legions, and a group of ungodly powerful Exalts leading magical beings wielding essence-charged shock pikes shouldn't have to waist their time crushing a revolt stirred up by an untactful Deathknight.

Possible plot hooks abound. Try and make a list in order of relative power level, but realize that most of these, especially on the low power end, could be done without using Mail and Steel.

• A band of battered but determined guerillas want to overthrow the oppressive local leader, but require leadership.
• Valiant groups of fast infantry must vanquish and destroy the guards of a caravan to cut supplies to a larger army
• Defeat a Dynast and his heavily armed entourage for holding a land in his iron fist.
• A group of Exalts and their followers band quietly with a larger power to defeat a common foe
• Having raised a successful kingdom, a group must lead their people to battle as the Dynasty comes to smash the upstart
• Maneuvering for power in the Hundred Kingdoms, a coalition is arrayed against your armies, seeking to crush you utterly
• In an arcane ritual, a portal to hell is opened, and the ragged armies, led by the PCs, must annihilate the tide pouring forth and shut the infernal gate

And so on and so forth.

Getting your Army started

If you want your PCs to fight armies, you need two things: Armies to fight, and Armies to lead. Armies to fight are everywhere, but crack infantry doesn't grow on trees.

Or does it?

Blood Seeds not withstanding, without the aid of magic, your life is going to be fairly difficult, but even without it, the charisma and Presence can gather groups and equip them to serve as a fair core of bodyguards in a large-scale scrap, but what are exalts without hordes of essence-powered magics at their backs?

Charms are your friend! Solars have relatively easy access to Tiger Warrior Training Technique, and in short months your average villager is transformed into a lean, mean fighting machine. If you really wanted to be overt, you could form a magically charged, miniature Red Piss Legion, turning the drunkards of the world into valiant warriors. More subtly, an exalt could gather a Cult or a band of Followers to his call and quietly train them beneath the realm's noses. As long as people are willing to follow, the magics of charms can make them a match for most anything the realm has to offer.

Augmenting your army

Other charms and spells can help out your army in more subtle ways. Rituals of Elemental Empowerment can, with time, increase the power of your armies, though Incarna help you if someone uses Countermagic on your forces. More reliably, Solars with Craftsman Needs No Tools and the judicious use of other charms can create Fine and Exceptional weapons in bulk. Given a supply of excellent materials (non-artifact Jade Alloyed Steel?), even shoddy soldiers can survive by virtue of their equipment.

Alchemical draughts can provide mortal soldiers the quick boost they need in combat, if not used too often.

In Combat

In combat is when the real excitement begins. Solar Performance charms can allow your armies to stop on a dime and carry out the most complex of strategies with ease, and at the high levels give your armies a scenelong boost. Sorceries can be used to damage the enemy, but might also be well spent to break up their relays, shatter their morale, and ruin their formations. Clouds of shadows, spheres of silence and darkness, and illusions may be more effective in the long run than the normal cascade of Obsidian Butterflies.

Traps might be set of the field ahead of time, curtains of flame pin down advancing formations that they can be picked apart with arrows and other long range attacks. Blooded in Earth Dragon Armor can make formations appear even while the enemies march, and fill their path with scree and other obstacles.

Let us not forget artillery. A group of Implosion Bows will make even the hardiest of commanders wince, and delay a marching force long enough that it could be flanked.

Air forces can play a part in the combat as well. Any thoughts?

Swift Spirit of Winged Transportation + unit of 400 archers + "fly around in circles until I tell you to land" = AC-130 in Exalted. The ability to rain arrows down on the other guy with relative impunity is a huge advantage against most armies in the Age of Sorrows, and very few people can counter-magic your flying gunship.