Are Exalted too powerful

signoftheserpent · November 15, 2007, 03:47:52 AM

Is the scale of the game (unbelievably powerful PC's) too powerful for its own good?

kryyst · November 15, 2007, 08:11:00 AM

No. The game is what it is. It may be to powerful for some GM's and Players to feel comfortable with. But for those that want that sort of gaming the Power Curve works well. It's some balance issues and mechanics that bug me. But the concept is solid.

James McMurray · November 15, 2007, 09:58:42 AM

Quote from: kryystNo. The game is what it is. It may be to powerful for some GM's and Players to feel comfortable with. But for those that want that sort of gaming the Power Curve works well. It's some balance issues and mechanics that bug me. But the concept is solid.

What kryyst said. Every last word of it.

Trevelyan · November 15, 2007, 10:10:33 AM

Quote from: James McMurrayWhat kryyst said. Every last word of it.

What James McMurray said. Etc.

flyingmice · November 15, 2007, 10:11:30 AM

For me? Yes! For other people? Obviously not!

-clash

RPGPundit · November 15, 2007, 10:41:06 AM

Quote from: signoftheserpentIs the scale of the game (unbelievably powerful PC's) too powerful for its own good?

There's nothing wrong with the power level of the game as such, though that can be hard for an inexperienced GM to manage effectively.

The problem lies with the company and the fanboys trying to claim that Exalted isn't about power-gaming, when clearly it is.

RPGPundit

kryyst · November 15, 2007, 11:07:49 AM

What Pundit said

Quote from: RPGPunditThe problem lies with the company and the fanboys trying to claim that Exalted isn't about power-gaming, when clearly it is.
RPGPundit

Especially that part.

signoftheserpent · November 15, 2007, 11:28:27 AM

i don't have a problem with the idea of uber powered pc's at all. Perhaps I should have added "for the game's own good".

Seanchai · November 15, 2007, 11:34:18 AM

Quote from: signoftheserpentIs the scale of the game (unbelievably powerful PC's) too powerful for its own good?

To my mind, that's kind of the core of the setting. Considering something, thinking it's beyond your character, doing it, then going, "Woah, we really are powerful...I wonder..."

Seanchai

Drew · November 15, 2007, 12:43:23 PM

Quote from: signoftheserpenti don't have a problem with the idea of uber powered pc's at all. Perhaps I should have added "for the game's own good".

Definitely not. The premise of the game is to play epic characters with the capacity to shake the world. In that at least it succeeds.

Now if the question had been "Is Exalted too mechanically clunky for it's own good" then I'd be answering with a resounding "YES!"

LeSquide · November 15, 2007, 12:51:38 PM

Quote from: signoftheserpentIs the scale of the game (unbelievably powerful PC's) too powerful for its own good?

If you can run supers without a problem, you can probably do Exalted. I find the biggest problem is that with the default character generation, it's very easy for two players to make characters who are years apart in effectiveness. Now, if this is intentional (say, a free spirited jack of all trades next to a solemn sword saint), it's just a matter of the players and GMing realizing the characters are different in capability.

However, this can be a problem if one player intended their character to be competent in a field (often combat) and just didn't have the mechanical savy to do that.

kryyst · November 15, 2007, 01:09:05 PM

Quote from: LeSquideIf you can run supers without a problem, you can probably do Exalted. I find the biggest problem is that with the default character generation, it's very easy for two players to make characters who are years apart in effectiveness. Now, if this is intentional (say, a free spirited jack of all trades next to a solemn sword saint), it's just a matter of the players and GMing realizing the characters are different in capability.

However, this can be a problem if one player intended their character to be competent in a field (often combat) and just didn't have the mechanical savy to do that.

Agreed, which is why in my initial statement I mentioned balance as being one of it's greatest flaws. I'm not even considering the munchkin potential in the game. Just for casual first time players it's very easy to have a very unbalanced group. I won't even mention the 1 up'smanship splats bring into the discussion.

But none of this is a fault of what exalted is presenting, it's the mechanical process of presenting that idea where some things start to break down. But never are the characters too powerful, they only can become too powerful with respect to each other in terms of balance.

Bradford C. Walker · November 15, 2007, 01:31:38 PM

At the range of power that PCs are expected to possess in actual play, no they are not too powerful. What commonly happens is that finding opposition that is not a pushover becomes difficult as PCs hit certain benchmarks, either because it becomes implausible to have that opposition appear (very experience Abyssals are typical examples; none existed before the Jade Prison broke, and there are only 100 of them--maximum--at any given time) or because nothing else works.

KrakaJak · November 15, 2007, 10:01:32 PM

Exalted tends to ruin OTHER games because of it's power-level.

Many players in my experience have a hard time readjusting to say...D&D powered characters after playing Solar Exalted.

Illegible Smudge · November 15, 2007, 11:24:40 PM

No. Artifacts are too powerful. It's the artifacts, not the Exalted themselves that cause problems. They are the cause of more PC imbalance than anything else you can imagine, and devalue the potency of many charms and abilities. If you strip out artifacts, then Exalted are powerful and cool enough to engage in awesome adventures, rescue the Sultan's daughter, and perform amazing feats of skill and prowess, whilst still able to be challenged. Plus they make cool things like swords made of Chiaroscuro crystal actually viable mechanically, rather than pretty but ultimately useless to any starting PC with their magic daiklave.