As somebody who has loved the Exalted setting but thoroughly despised the system since its first edition, I must say that your PDF updates are coming dangerously close to convincing me that I need to give the game another go

Quote from: jdrakehAs somebody who has loved the Exalted setting but thoroughly despised the system since its first edition, I must say that your PDF updates are coming dangerously close to convincing me that I need to give the game another go

Do what I did and adopt a different system, preferably one you're familiar with. I still buy Exalted books, but now use them solely for cool setting information and descriptive flourishes.

Good writeup by the way, James.

Quote from: DrewDo what I did and adopt a different system, preferably one you're familiar with. I still buy Exalted books, but now use them solely for cool setting information and descriptive flourishes.

If I could find all of the books used/cheap, I would. Paying full cover price for books that I'll only be using about 40% of doesn't make sense for my budget. In the meantime, it's easier to apply the concept of "badassitude" to settings that I already own

Quote from: jdrakehIf I could find all of the books used/cheap, I would. Paying full cover price for books that I'll only be using about 40% of doesn't make sense for my budget. In the meantime, it's easier to apply the concept of "badassitude" to settings that I already own

Fair enough, although it's worth noting that the Compass Series (Terrestrial and Celestial) for 2E is roughly 95% setting information. Flicking through The Blessed Isle reveals not a single stat line until page 64, and even then the crunch is pretty small and isolated.

Of course the splatbooks (DB's, Lunars) have a much higher rules content, but then they need to.

Quote from: jdrakehAs somebody who has loved the Exalted setting but thoroughly despised the system since its first edition, I must say that your PDF updates are coming dangerously close to convincing me that I need to give the game another go

Wow, thanks!

The game has definitely gone differently than I expected. I expect the players to dash left (charge straight at their nemesis) but instead they jig right (surrender to the police). They've kept me very much on my toes, which I think makes the game better. Since I'm not running any prefab material that's not heavily modified I can make sure it matches my players better, then they play off of it more, which has a harmoic resonance type of effect.

The next update will be the climactic battle with the demon lord. It was definitely an interesting fight.

I'm not sure what other system I'd use for Exalted, but my experience outside the mainstream is fairly limited.

Duh, Palladium!

There's a HeroQuest conversion here. You're lucky, 'cause I almost deleted it from my list of links. I tend to just use 1st Ed.

Quote from: James McMurrayI'm not sure what other system I'd use for Exalted, but my experience outside the mainstream is fairly limited.

I use TSR's old Marvel Super Heroes system, with a few simple (but to my mind crucial) mods.

These days it's available as freeware:

http://www.heroplay.com/features/rules/marvel.php?resolution=print

No need for the link, I'm a FASERIP fan myself.

I'm definitely interested in your tweaks. It seems like FASERIP is good at making powerful niche characters, but not so good at makeing characters that are powerful at all sorts of different things. Although I guess a lot of that could be handled just by fiving them higher skills and abilities.

Quote from: James McMurrayNo need for the link, I'm a FASERIP fan myself.

I'm definitely interested in your tweaks. It seems like FASERIP is good at making powerful niche characters, but not so good at makeing characters that are powerful at all sorts of different things. Although I guess a lot of that could be handled just by fiving them higher skills and abilities.

Here's some of the mods. The rest are in note form elsewhere.


COMBAT

Combat now resolves by subtracting the defenders Fighting or Agility from the attackers Fighting or Agility, then rolling against the new value on the Universal Table.

eg. An attacker with Fighting Incredible (40) attempts to punch a defender with Fighting Remarkable (30). 30 - 20 = 10, therefore the attacker rolls on the Good (10) column to resolve.


Armour has two values, Hardness and Soak. Hardness is a flat value that stops all damage up to it's rating, or reduces damage by it's current rating. Soak shifts the remainder by a number of columns. Only Magical Material Armour and certain powers have Soak ratings.

eg. An attacker hits a defender for 40 points of damage. The defenders armour (H= Good (10) S= Typical (6)) reduces the flat total to Remarkable (30), then shifts the damage 3 columns to the left for Typical (6) damage.


ESSENCE POOL & EXPENDITURE

The available Karma Pool for dice boosting is now retitled Essence Pool. Characters can use it for the following:

Increase an active stat on a 1:1 basis prior to dice roll.

Increase a passive stat (eg. Fighting whilst defending) on a 1:1 basis prior to the opponents roll.

Increase Damage Points Done on a 1:1 basis prior to an attack roll.

The maximum increase for all the above is double the current value, including adjustments for magical weapons and the like.

Shifting a result one colour upward (eg. a green success becomes yellow, a yellow becomes red) on 1:20 basis. A white result can only be made green against extras.

Performing multiple effects (eg. increasing an attack, damage and shifting upwards) requires the additional expenditure of Essence Points, described below.

Solars select 4 attributes they can boost in this way (eg. Fighting, Strength, Reason & Psyche). Lunars & sids select 3. Dragon-Blooded select 2.
Essence Pool maximum is 10 x Essence Points, and starts at half that value.

Essence Pool does not regenerate, instead it refreshes via story awards and stunt bonuses. Stunts award 5 -15 points, Plot Points and Goal Completion range from 10-50.


ESSENCE POINTS & EXPENDITURE

Each solar starts the campaign with Essence 10.

When invoking multiple applications of Essence Pool, the Solar pays 1 point per application invoked.

Eg. Increasing Fighting by 30, Damage by 30 and Shifting a colour would cost 80 Pool and 3 Points.

Essence Points regenerate at the rate of one per hour.

--------------------------


That's the gist of it. The aim is to get away from the laundry list of charms and replicate their effects narratively via essence expenditure, power stunts and the like. Artifacts, Warstriders and other doodads either provide boosts to stats or replicate the effects of powers at certain levels.

I wanted to run with something that had a pick-up-and-play quality I felt Exalted was sorely lacking, and MSH fits the bill to a tee.

Oops. Forgot to say that non-artifact armour has Hardness only. Soak is a property of the magical materials. Only the most powerful of artifact armour has both.

Also, Health is derived by (F+A+S+E)/2.

Here's the new one. It's a Word doc for now. When I get home to Open Office instead of MS Office it'll be converted to a pdf.

Here's the pdf version.

Quote from: James McMurrayWow, thanks!

Well, it's confirmed -- you've sold me. I bought the core book, ST's screen, and ST's Guide yesterday. Today I went back for the first Book of Sorcery (had to get the rules for War Striders, of course). And I just queued Return to the Tomb of Five Corners to print.

The only difference is that when I run Exalted, I'll be using six-sided dice (mainly 'cause I already own several buckets full) with a standard TN of 5 and results of 6 counting as two successes. The math has been run and, statistically, it seems that it will shake out the same.

I caught some crap elsewhere for using the six-siders but it would be stupid to drop $30-$40 on ten-sided dice when I don't have to (particularly because, unlike six-sided dice, I'd probably never use them with any other games).