DariusSolluman/CommentsOnVer2

Comments 2/6

I just got Outcastes.

Buwaha! It's all awesome and stuff.

However, I'll also need to revamp unit sizes a bit (Lookshy's Legions make a great deal more sense); I don't anticipate changing unit statistics based on this. I also need to incorporate mortals with Essence-powered weapontry, as such weapons would almost always be used up in the first Clash (especially given the seemingly limited nature of such). And finally, dealing with Terrestrial Exalts decked out in the Armor of the Dragon. Too common to treat as a seperate army, and usually integrated into a large unit, there should be some additional benefit to having Dragonblooded bedecked in Artifacts and Hearthstones...

Thought will be going here. My current thinking is to provide a +1 bonus (no training time needed) for every 5 dots of Artifact an army has, possibly capping at either a hard +3 or +1 / unit size (so a Fang would cap at +1, etc). Neither feels right; if somehow, two equal sized armies of Dragonblooded fought, and one was dressed entirely in Supah Armor, wielding Grand Daiklaives of Slaughter and with a Gem of Incomperable Wellness each, they would slaughter their enemy, almost no matter the tactics or unit sizes involved. Also, having 1 level 5 Artifact is more valuable than 5 level 1 Artifacts, and some would simply reduce the army's maintenance or speed it's movement (such as Elementally Empowered items).

Additionally, the Performance Charm they listed as a Terrestrial is on a Solar level with what I'd been thinking... I may need to contemplate uping the power scale... DS

What if you had some sort of 'Relative Power Value'. Armies would start out at X, which would be increased by Y for reasons Z. If they meet with an army of comparable power, combat happens as normal. If they meet a weaker or more powerful foe, they get a bonus or penalty to all actions proportionate to their relative advantage/disadvantage. Particularly powerful armies walk all over a weak one; comabt isn't actually played out. -Dim

Mm. Three problems there; A) an overall Power Adder Attribute which adds to everything is more useful than any of it's sub-attributes; army construction would become a matter of increasing it as high as posisble. B) That's a larger break from Standard Exalted Combat than I want to make; there's nothing really equivelent to it in the original model. C) I'm looking for a regular mechanical way of providing bonuses based on artifact equipment and tools; what you've proposed seems too subjective.

On the other hand, I think I have the inklink of a system. See DariusSolluman/CommentsOnVer2/ArtifactTactics for the skinny :) DS

Comments 1/30

Another mass combat situation cropped up- the Circle really needed to stop an army. And, they did try the peaceful ways first- but the Night Caste failed a stealth roll, and the Dawn failed a thrown attack. So, a running swordfight ensued, of 4 Solar Exalted (the Night Caste fled from the actual fight) versus a full Wing (250 troops).

The fight lasted 2 clashes, by which point the army was routed. The Exalts were almost totally out of Essence by the end, and one had been a bit dinged- it felt about right.

Things I noticied-

• It requires a different style of gameplay to use an army effectively, one I'm still figuring out. I haven't decide if they should split their dicepool, or reserve actions for defense, or just rely on soak, or what.
• It's REALLY easy to forget spreading attacks.
• When what charms will be used is declared needs to be clarified, as a reflexive instant could be declared before initative but would still have it's cost increased if it's used with lots of other Charms... of an indeterminite number. The problem is manifest.
• Rallying feels too hard right now- or rather, like a suicidal option against an enemy that's winning. But making it reflexive could have made the fight too long.
• Everyone had fun. Which is the important thing. :) All the players really got into it- the idea of these few heroes fighting an army and winning and the descriptions that came out of it were great stuff.
• Sorcery needs to be thunk about. Especially Celestial and Solar Circle stuff. How is it used, how does using it interact with regular Charms, does using it on the battlefield carry any negative effects, what effect does something like Magma Kraken have on an army, etcetc.

Comments 1/23

So, during my game last night I had a chance to try out the mass combat system, in at least a rough and dirty set-up :)

The Circle was split up while stealing a daiklaive from a Lunar/barbarian tribe god- two to sneak in, and three to make a massive distraction and draw out the bulk of the barbarians. They did so by casting a Celestial Circle spell; minions of the Eyeless face.

This was a fairly large encampment, so I ruled that most of the barbarias would charge out, and that they're already ready to fight as an army. They were treated as a Talon, with a Commander who had a 2 in all relevant Attributes and Abilities. The Twillight who controlled the Minions was granted an impromptu Scale (which, in retrospect, was too strong, although it didn't matter in this case).

The Twillight had initative, and attacked the barbarians with his Minion Army. Fairly solid hit, but no damage. Next, the Zenith stepped up- burning all his Personal and over half his Peripheral essence to use Excellent Strike / One Weapon, Two Blows, with a wonderful description of using his hammer to knock horses into other horses and how the Minions stop attack to gruesomely feast upon the dead. His attack does a staggering amount of damage, utterly demoralizing the barbarians (they're reduced to their -6 HL from full in just those two attacks). The Dawn Archer then picks off the stragglers (makes them break).

It went smooth, quick and easy- easier than explaining Exalted's combat system to a new player. Further, it let me impromptu an entire army attacking much, much more easily. I'm happy :) And with a little bit of forethought and prep time (having a note on the size of the army and the Lesser Minions as an army force, for example), it'll handle just fine for the future. - DS

A few things: a) The *Zenith* used his hammer, not the Twilight. b) I burned a little more than half (16 Peripheral of 26, with all my 11 Personal left over) c) You totally forgot Koresh, the giant riding lizard, upon which everyone was charging the enemy. -Dim

Editty edits. And yeah... Koresh is a big enough thing to actually matter to even army scale units. See the new section - DariusSolluman/CommentsOnVer2/ExaltedMounts under Other Complications. I'm also drawing up numbers for standard armies for the Tinalion Chronicle- they'll be under Tinalion though.- DS