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[Some More Exalted] Friggin' Abilities, and Stuff
I'm playing or, well, running 1st Edition Exalted which is about 8 years old now. That's not really too long for a game to be out, but it's out of print and 2nd Edition has been up and running for a while. 1st Ed. really kind of stopped at the end of its conceptual growth, but from the printing of its core book to the printing of the non-canonical* Alchemicals book (a text about a hypothetical, but awesome, group of Exalted from a different dimension who were essentially sentiant, high-powered communist golems) there was a large amount of setting drift. The core book talked about the Solars, which you played, and had a little bit of information about the different factions, and had a fairly large list of abilities to choose from. Nobody had as many options as the Solars until the Abyssals came out in sheer ability selection.
However, every ability tree is tied to a skill. Melee, Martial Arts, Endurance, Socialize, the whole shabang. Some of these (Melee) had more then one tree tied to it (one for attacking, one for summoning a weapon, one for parrying) and others only had one. It is mentioned that Exalts** can create custom Charms tied to abilities, but there are scant rules for this. This is, however, like creating Pledges in Changeling, kind of one of the only ways to get out of the problem I'm going to bring up. It's not a mechanical problem all that much, but it is a conceptual one.
That is the difference between Martial Arts and other combat abilities like Melee, Archery, Thrown, and Brawl***. Melee Charms are fairly generic. They just make you much, much better at hitting people with weapons then you ever would be without it. Even when you get into other Exalt types, while their abilties are themed, that's basically what they do. It's a narrow ability, even when you acknowledge that Solars and Abyssals get something like three trees apiece for it. Abilities tree, with two exceptions - Occult and Martial Arts - do not carry over between Exalt types. It doesn't matter how much more powerful a Solar is than a Terrestrial, Solars can never learn Terrestrial Charms unless they're an Eclipse (Moonshadow for Abyssals), and that's their schtick. That's to keep a small ace in the hole for weaker groups, because they've at least got their themes.
Martial Arts is the only ability with both backwards and forwards compatibility for Exalts. That means that if there are three levels (Solar, Celestial, and Terrestrial, in decending power), then each group can go up one notch, and there are martial arts Charms for each level. That means that Dragonblooded can learn fighting schools that are one level up, and every one else can learn stuff weaker then their own power level.
Naturally, because there is so much customization in combat abilities and because one group can learn anothers, it's the go-to ability for a weaker level Exalt to bat out of their league - something even Sorcery doesn't accomplish. That means of all the abilities, there's one that allows you to be The Most Powerful. That makes Martial Arts the most powerful ability, point for point. (Again, along with Sorcery which has some pretty potent limitations, but.) Also, Martial Arts subsumes the realm of punches, kicks, and holds, but it also uses weapons to give the Martial Artist an advantage, there's really almost no reason to every take Brawl unless there's one charm you want in the tree (both Solars and Abyssals have one or a small number that makes it worthwhile, but otherwise it's optional).
In addition, while, if you wanted, you could come up with custom charms to customize your fighting style based on your favorite weapon, Sidereals can only make new Martial Arts charms, and to do that, they need to make an entire tree. They can't just make one and tack it onto an existing school to cover loose ends. This means that any time a Sidereal character (or a player who's playing a Sidereal ) wants a new ability, they can't just make up a Stealth charm or whatever, they make up an entire Martial Art Charm tree that's based on being a stealthy kickboxer, or something. You make a school, you tack on a form weapon that you can use with it, and you start learning. This is purposeful in the game, but it also leads to a bunch of abilities that are gained from Martial Arts being at 5 that should be tied to Stealth, Occult, or even Archery.
Why would you make Archery charms when you can just make a Martial Art that uses a bow or a (in one case) gun? There's a Martial Art for shooting, a martial art for being sneaky, a martial art for infecting people with illnesses, and a martial art for throwing things. These are all in 1st Edition, and it has fewer martial arts then 2nd Edition does by far.
More interestingly, Solars are the top dogs for power level, being the only group with unrestricted access to Sorcery (or necromancy, for Abyssals) and having the highest power level pools, plus having the best access to perfect effects. Sidereals, however, because they're so limited to Martial Arts, have the ability to learn martial arts for much cheaper, faster, and at a higher level then the top dog Solars. Because you can ramp Martial Arts up so high, and because Martial Arts ties into any ability, and because Martial Arts charms can combo with each other, and because Martial Arts Charms have the highest listed power levels in any of the printed 1st Edition books, you know. Like, I think there was a conceptual leak somewhere along the line and Martial Arts kind of got a good deal.
Solar Melee is still really, really good. I recommended it to a beginning player because if you just take it and you've got a good weapon, you'll still be batting, to continue the comments earlier, at the top of the league. But Martial Arts still tears up a lot of ground, and if you want to be well rounded as a combatant without buying a bunch of different abilities (screw the Melee, Dodge, Athletics ,Endurance charms) just buy MA up to 5 and good luck to ya.
* An aside: Exalted has no, or very little, metaplot to speak of. It's a setting frozen in time where the writers could only go backwards in terms of setting creation, and never forwards. So, unless they're writing an adventure, no new canon is created. However, considering that in order to produce material, one needs to add to the game world, more and more stuff was added to Exalted's past and to what you could expect the game to cover. That meant, in many ways, expanding on some themes or creating new ones, which created a lot of setting drift. If you want an example, ask RPG.net about magitech in the setting. This is functionally relevent to this post.
** Sidereals cannot. This is a plot point.
*** The Brawl issue is resolved in 2nd Ed. by folding it into Martial Arts. A good idea, if not taken far enough.
However, every ability tree is tied to a skill. Melee, Martial Arts, Endurance, Socialize, the whole shabang. Some of these (Melee) had more then one tree tied to it (one for attacking, one for summoning a weapon, one for parrying) and others only had one. It is mentioned that Exalts** can create custom Charms tied to abilities, but there are scant rules for this. This is, however, like creating Pledges in Changeling, kind of one of the only ways to get out of the problem I'm going to bring up. It's not a mechanical problem all that much, but it is a conceptual one.
That is the difference between Martial Arts and other combat abilities like Melee, Archery, Thrown, and Brawl***. Melee Charms are fairly generic. They just make you much, much better at hitting people with weapons then you ever would be without it. Even when you get into other Exalt types, while their abilties are themed, that's basically what they do. It's a narrow ability, even when you acknowledge that Solars and Abyssals get something like three trees apiece for it. Abilities tree, with two exceptions - Occult and Martial Arts - do not carry over between Exalt types. It doesn't matter how much more powerful a Solar is than a Terrestrial, Solars can never learn Terrestrial Charms unless they're an Eclipse (Moonshadow for Abyssals), and that's their schtick. That's to keep a small ace in the hole for weaker groups, because they've at least got their themes.
Martial Arts is the only ability with both backwards and forwards compatibility for Exalts. That means that if there are three levels (Solar, Celestial, and Terrestrial, in decending power), then each group can go up one notch, and there are martial arts Charms for each level. That means that Dragonblooded can learn fighting schools that are one level up, and every one else can learn stuff weaker then their own power level.
Naturally, because there is so much customization in combat abilities and because one group can learn anothers, it's the go-to ability for a weaker level Exalt to bat out of their league - something even Sorcery doesn't accomplish. That means of all the abilities, there's one that allows you to be The Most Powerful. That makes Martial Arts the most powerful ability, point for point. (Again, along with Sorcery which has some pretty potent limitations, but.) Also, Martial Arts subsumes the realm of punches, kicks, and holds, but it also uses weapons to give the Martial Artist an advantage, there's really almost no reason to every take Brawl unless there's one charm you want in the tree (both Solars and Abyssals have one or a small number that makes it worthwhile, but otherwise it's optional).
In addition, while, if you wanted, you could come up with custom charms to customize your fighting style based on your favorite weapon, Sidereals can only make new Martial Arts charms, and to do that, they need to make an entire tree. They can't just make one and tack it onto an existing school to cover loose ends. This means that any time a Sidereal character (or a player who's playing a Sidereal ) wants a new ability, they can't just make up a Stealth charm or whatever, they make up an entire Martial Art Charm tree that's based on being a stealthy kickboxer, or something. You make a school, you tack on a form weapon that you can use with it, and you start learning. This is purposeful in the game, but it also leads to a bunch of abilities that are gained from Martial Arts being at 5 that should be tied to Stealth, Occult, or even Archery.
Why would you make Archery charms when you can just make a Martial Art that uses a bow or a (in one case) gun? There's a Martial Art for shooting, a martial art for being sneaky, a martial art for infecting people with illnesses, and a martial art for throwing things. These are all in 1st Edition, and it has fewer martial arts then 2nd Edition does by far.
More interestingly, Solars are the top dogs for power level, being the only group with unrestricted access to Sorcery (or necromancy, for Abyssals) and having the highest power level pools, plus having the best access to perfect effects. Sidereals, however, because they're so limited to Martial Arts, have the ability to learn martial arts for much cheaper, faster, and at a higher level then the top dog Solars. Because you can ramp Martial Arts up so high, and because Martial Arts ties into any ability, and because Martial Arts charms can combo with each other, and because Martial Arts Charms have the highest listed power levels in any of the printed 1st Edition books, you know. Like, I think there was a conceptual leak somewhere along the line and Martial Arts kind of got a good deal.
Solar Melee is still really, really good. I recommended it to a beginning player because if you just take it and you've got a good weapon, you'll still be batting, to continue the comments earlier, at the top of the league. But Martial Arts still tears up a lot of ground, and if you want to be well rounded as a combatant without buying a bunch of different abilities (screw the Melee, Dodge, Athletics ,Endurance charms) just buy MA up to 5 and good luck to ya.
* An aside: Exalted has no, or very little, metaplot to speak of. It's a setting frozen in time where the writers could only go backwards in terms of setting creation, and never forwards. So, unless they're writing an adventure, no new canon is created. However, considering that in order to produce material, one needs to add to the game world, more and more stuff was added to Exalted's past and to what you could expect the game to cover. That meant, in many ways, expanding on some themes or creating new ones, which created a lot of setting drift. If you want an example, ask RPG.net about magitech in the setting. This is functionally relevent to this post.
** Sidereals cannot. This is a plot point.
*** The Brawl issue is resolved in 2nd Ed. by folding it into Martial Arts. A good idea, if not taken far enough.
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