Thus Spake Zargrabowski/DottedYellowLines
This was posted after CB:Z came out. Gregor complained that the presence of Charms with more than one Ability prerequisite in that book broke his Charm database. --MF
Gregor <gregordynetech@yahoo.com> and Brian Schenck write:
- 1. Do ability specializations count toward charm prerequisites?
No, though you could probably manufacture Charms (at the regular 4x training time) that somehow used your specialties or required them along with normal Ability ratings. Think of the Charm trees as the skeletal framework of Solar power, from which much else grows. Elder solars are probably extremely unique individuals, other than having a shared basic interface with the combat engine.
- Somehow I don't think the powers-that-be worry about how hard their Charms are on your database ;) Actually, they might be yucking it up with some three Ability prerequisite in the future...
The dotted yellow lines go where the road is, the road does not go where the dotted yellow line is. Sorry. =)
Geoffrey C. Grabowski\\ Exalted Developer, WWGS\\ raindog@white-wolf.com
On 8 Mar 02, at 13:36, Gregor wrote:
- OK. My next question is ... why? I'm not having troble with the ruling so much as the rationale behind it. It is somewhat opaque to me, except from a purely mechanical/balance standpoint.
Okay, well this is a tough question, because if you're going to ask which came first, conception or mechanics, I'm afraid that they're basically the same thing. One of the things I admire about CCGs is the tradition, started with Magic, of making the mechanical effect descriptive of the card and vice versa. I was doing hard mechanical design work before I had my first interview.
- If that's the only reason, I'll feel free to house rule myself to happiness and wealth, since as I said in another post, mechanical considerations are usually pretty low on my priority list (unlike the list of the line devloper).
You should feel free to house rule yourself to happiness and wealth anyway. The only thing that requires any real care is the combat, because the timing engine is in there. Monkeying around with the Type: flag, Combo rules and the order of actions may cause system instability, so you proably shouldn't just mess with them unless you know what they do.
- But if you have another reason, I'm happy to toe the line if it makes sense to me (or rather, if disallowing this makes *more* sense to me than allowing it currently does).
Okay, the Solar Essence is, well, Apollonian. To the magic within the Exalt, specializations are unfortunate appurtenances that the mortal shell clings to in its mortal way. The Solar nature is overmastering, it masters all facets of a thing. Specialization and narrowing focus to gain intensity is the way of the Terrestrials with their short lives and weak sparks. The sun shines bright all over. You could maybe lead it toward that thing by diligent practice, but that's not the sort of thing the Solar Essence is especially predisposed toward (i.e., this sort of thing doesn't appear on their core Charm trees).
- The reply I posted just before this alluded to that as a specific fear of mine. From the net, if not from WW. It's a bad precedent. ;-)
I don't think it's bad precedent. I think it shows people that they can do daring stuff with the rules.
- The road may not go where the dotted yellow lines go, but the road is probably rendered most useful by avoiding places that transform the cars into molten slag (like the caldera of a volcano) or crushed debris (such as the heart of a 32-lane interchange in the middle of rush hour, in a blizzard, with the wrong lanes connected). ^_^
Sure, but sometimes the road goes up a hill, Gregor, because the view is nice and people want to get there to see it. It's not like you need to derive a value based on multiplying the total of your banked experience by the first number after the decimal point in the square root of your total remaining Essence. It's a Charm that needs two Abilities, man. It doesn't pierce perfect defenses, break the timing rules or anything like that, it just requires a medley of skills. I have a great one I want to use someday that's a combination of Medicine and Thrown to do the 'hurled acupuncture needle' attacks, culminating of course in the Poison Needle that wends its way inexorably to your heart, but I can't decide if it's Solar or Abyssal.
Geoffrey C. Grabowski\\ Exalted Developer, WWGS\\ raindog@white-wolf.com
