Thus Spake Zargrabowski/UsefulnessOfGoD
The Usefulness of GoD:
I think it's more important than Bo3C. The world of Exalted is plagued with gods -- major inspirations incluide Sean Stewart's "Flood" series, Chinese epics and the Illiad? fighting gods and demons is something I assume will happen in pretty much every game. GoD gives stats for some of the setting's staple opponents, and the demons and elementals are one of the major tools of the sorcerer.
As for why I didn't have 3rd circle demons statted, most of the sorcerers in the setting are Terrestrial and occasionally Celestial initaition. solars and Abyssals can achieve Solar Circle initiation, but few of them have done so, and even those who have can only summon 3rd circles on one day a year, and are unlikely to jump at the chance to get hammered in a summoning contest and dragged off to the Demon Realm at the hands of Ligier. The vast majority of demons who show up are going to be First Circles with the occasional Second Circle summoned by Celestials with special needs, like guarding a Solar's tomb or having Octavian hanging around as a bodyguard for a year and a day during wartime. The stats focus on what will show up in the game, so as to actually be useful when you're running.
Some people say that the stats are stupid and encumbering and I should have spent more time talking about generalities. Some people say that I need more stats and the third circles are useless fluff without them. I think everything I do will be wrong for someone. =) I tried to make a book that details a /major/ component of the game in a way that is most useful for Storytellers and players of summoners. You get descriptions of beings involved with a lot of the things player characters will do or want, and paradigmatic stats for divinities of varying power levels.
IMHOP, Thirds are about as powerful as Ahlat or maybe a hair past that for regular 3rds, and significantly beyond that for fetiches.
As for why the Unconquered Sun is only half paying attention, you're making at least one incorrect assumption. In addition, our world's own most successful "God tells me conquer the world in the name of righteousness" religion -- Islam -- didn't have Allah standign over Muhammed's shoulder (PBUH!) telling him when to do what. Maybe the Unconquered Sun wants the Zeniths to do it? Maybe he's testing them to see if they're good enough for the job? Maybe he's behind them all the way and the hosts of the Huraka and Thunderbirds will appear at their backs when it comes time to throw down with the Realm. The canon ends at the "current day" of the game. For five years, the UCS has been appearing to the Zeniths during their Exaltations and occasionally thereafter. Where it goes from here depends how much you want it to be the Rise of Islam, and how much you want it to be like the Gods of Pegana or the Tales From The Flat Earth, where the gods are largely uncaring of events among Mankind.
Also, think of it from my perspective as a developer. It's easy for you to run a game where the Solars are the cat's ass and the Unconquered Sun backs them fully, even if the canon isn't set that way. They succeed at prayer rolls and he answers their questions and sends minions to their aid. Do you know how it easy it is for Zeniths to successfully make prayer rolls even when all they have to offer is like a mouthful of spilled wine? If the game were written as a Rise of the New Faith game, it would be hard to run anything but the Great Crusade. Exalted is a setting, not a storyline -- people play as Dragon-Blooded and Lunars and all sorts of other things. The setting already revolves around the Solars, but I'm not going to make their story the only one it tells when you can do that at home easily enough.
Geoffrey C. Grabowski Exalted Developer, WWGS raindog@white-wolf.com
