Exalted vs World of Darkness

[Hexed]

Hoboy. Hadn't realized all attacks were dex to hit and str for damage. Certainly spreads the stats needed for melee fighting.

And armor is fragile as hell. That 1 point biker jacket wouldn't survive the first fight.

Unless that whole needing to be double the armor's rating is after soak making it only what actually gets through.

But it does look like it's far more worth it to stay away from hedgemagic on a non twilight at character Gen at least. There's charms to replicate pretty much everything I wanted beyond enchantment. And that charm that if 2 points of damage is done lets me launch the enemy 120ft is hilarious. Even if the book considers blunt weapons far inferior to slicing weapons.


I might have missed it but is there ways to boost attributes beyond the 5 dots you can raise them too?

[AndyZ]

Armor doesn’t break when used.  You may have all sorts of holes in your biker jacket at the end of the fight, but it never stops providing that die of soak unless you deal with something very specific, unless V20 put in a special rule I forgot about that didn’t make it into other 20th Anniversary games.  (Don’t have easy access to V20 right now to check.)

And, yeah regarding the power level.  Exalted, especially the Dawn Caste weren’t created to kill gods.  They were created to kill the tyrannical beings who created the gods, with the help of one said being.

Beyond a 5-point Merit that lets you raise just one Attribute to 6 (and you still have to pay for it), I think the only Merits that’d do so wouldn’t be appropriate for Solar Exalts.

One other thing I wanted to warn you about is that: Exalts have been around for at least twenty years, so SOMETHING is covering up about their existence.  Before you Exalted, you might have seen plenty of badly-photoshopped YouTube videos claiming to have images of Bigfoot, and you may have seen one of “Ghost Rider” where your own appearance has been so badly distorted and video altered that it looks like total garbage, with plenty of trolls in the comments.  That said, keeping your face hidden when out in public and going glows definitely seems to be to your benefit.

I also had an idea for your Exaltation and was wondering if it’s okay if I posted it.  You’re absolutely free to pick and choose anything and everything you want from it and alter whatever you don’t like, but I don’t know if you’d be offended by my doing so.

[RSGAlex]

For Exalted, stats over 5 generally come from other magic. Lunars are the exception. At least lastingly. And the reason that V20 treats blunt as really inferior to slashing and cutting is because to vampires it is. A super well place haymaker from a really strong guy that results in 4 HLs to a normal person, probably near knocking them out in on hit, only does 2 HLs to a vampire. A bad hit, but nothing to nearly take them out of a fight.

And, for AndyZ, there is a mention in V20 about taking double damage destroying armor. If you care to look for it, it's on p 274.

[AndyZ]

And, for AndyZ, there is a mention in V20 about taking double damage destroying armor. If you care to look for it, it's on p 274.

And, just like that, houseruled out in the opening post.

As the author of EvWoD mentions, there’s so many tiny rules changes that it can be hard to get a full list.  In general, though, I’ll stick with his suggestion for multiple actions and initiative, specialties get 2s instead of roll-again, the Abilities used are those in V20, and so on.

[RSGAlex]

And, just like that, houseruled out in the opening post.

As the author of EvWoD mentions, there’s so many tiny rules changes that it can be hard to get a full list.  In general, though, I’ll stick with his suggestion for multiple actions and initiative, specialties get 2s instead of roll-again, the Abilities used are those in V20, and so on.

If I wasn't sure it was probably a typo, my favorite of those little differences would be Changling sprint speed. As it is, that's just my favorite probable mistake.

[Hexed]

 Armor is not indestructible. If the damage rolled in a single attack equals twice the
armor’s rating, the armor is destroyed.

Yeah was going to say I ran into this single line. ^^

Was asking about stats cause ive seen some charts go up to 15 on str effects.

Ehh... blunt may be lesser but still be hilarious so probably go with it. If nothing else just have to aim for the head.

Got a question about the mrgone sheet. Why are there so many boxes for health when the vamp & werewolves only have 1 box per condition?

Excellence of the rising sun adds attribute being rolled + ability in question to all dice rolls using this ability. Is that just a long way of saying double your dice when used?
Your pool goes from agility + brawl to Agility + brawl + agility + brawl?

One other thing I wanted to warn you about is that: Exalts have been around for at least twenty years, so SOMETHING is covering up about their existence.  Before you Exalted, you might have seen plenty of badly-photoshopped YouTube videos claiming to have images of Bigfoot, and you may have seen one of “Ghost Rider” where your own appearance has been so badly distorted and video altered that it looks like total garbage, with plenty of trolls in the comments.  That said, keeping your face hidden when out in public and going glows definitely seems to be to your benefit.

I also had an idea for your Exaltation and was wondering if it’s okay if I posted it.  You’re absolutely free to pick and choose anything and everything you want from it and alter whatever you don’t like, but I don’t know if you’d be offended by my doing so.

Bigfoot style coverups huh?

And nah, I won't be offended by ideas being offered up. You know the setting better then I do! And you never know when something will spark from ideas offered up.

[RSGAlex]

Armor is not indestructible. If the damage rolled in a single attack equals twice the
armor’s rating, the armor is destroyed.

Yeah was going to say I ran into this single line. ^^

Was asking about stats cause ive seen some charts go up to 15 on str effects.

Ehh... blunt may be lesser but still be hilarious so probably go with it. If nothing else just have to aim for the head.

Got a question about the mrgone sheet. Why are there so many boxes for health when the vamp & werewolves only have 1 box per condition?

Excellence of the rising sun adds attribute being rolled + ability in question to all dice rolls using this ability. Is that just a long way of saying double your dice when used?
Your pool goes from agility + brawl to Agility + brawl + agility + brawl?


Bigfoot style coverups huh?

And nah, I won't be offended by ideas being offered up. You know the setting better then I do! And you never know when something will spark from ideas offered up.

So, first the lifting chart at 15 is technically possible for anyone, just really unlikely. Str 5, a full 10 successes on the WP roll to push your lifting, and volia. You're lifting Way Too Much. Second, the charm that gives extra HLs gives a different set for every kind of Exalt, so that's why the lots of boxes. And yes. When you're using the Excellency, you roll twice the number of dice.

[ShadowFox89]

Putting my interest in, modern exalted has always had a special draw.

[AndyZ]

Armor is not indestructible. If the damage rolled in a single attack equals twice the
armor’s rating, the armor is destroyed.

Yeah was going to say I ran into this single line. ^^

Yeah, stupid line, doesn’t appear in other game systems, would be annoying to attempt to implement, doesn’t clarify things like before or after soak, best houseruled away, which I already did.

Was asking about stats cause ive seen some charts go up to 15 on str effects.

I believe you can roll Willpower at difficulty 9 to add to it?

Ehh... blunt may be lesser but still be hilarious so probably go with it. If nothing else just have to aim for the head.

Or carry one of each.

Got a question about the mrgone sheet. Why are there so many boxes for health when the vamp & werewolves only have 1 box per condition?

Because Ox-Body Technique gives you the option for more health levels.

Excellence of the rising sun adds attribute being rolled + ability in question to all dice rolls using this ability. Is that just a long way of saying double your dice when used?
Your pool goes from agility + brawl to Agility + brawl + agility + brawl?

Accurate, but notably different from many other Exalts.

Bigfoot style coverups huh?

Not getting the reference here.  I just wanted to give the warning that you can get away with some blatancy if your identity is hidden, but you have no idea how much it can be stretched, and it seemed kinder to tell you early.  But you can always let go indoors if there’s few windows where the general public can see you.

And nah, I won't be offended by ideas being offered up. You know the setting better then I do! And you never know when something will spark from ideas offered up.

Here’s what I imagine.  Change it as you like.

You were down at night at a multiple-story parking garage near your local S-Mart when you saw some bikers not wearing your colors harassing passersby.  For whatever reason - maybe the rival gang isn’t supposed to be in New Westhaven even on the south side - you step in to intervene.  However, as you get in closer, you see the fangs and smell the blood of the innocent people who’ve been slaughtered.

As one vampire comes up with a crowbar, your body erupts into golden energy just in time for him to hit you, and it hurts.  It hurts like the crowbar wants to knock out part of your soul instead of just your bones clean out your body.  But somehow you can take it, and when you smack him in return with your baseball bat, he goes farther than should physically be possible, dropping the crowbar.

The bat was already in bad shape, but you’re able to use it as an impromptu stake through the heart on one of the vampires, leaving you with the crowbar.  There’s something engraved on it but no time for that now, and when the vampires either fight you or try to flee, they end up as nothing more than ash, and you leave no survivors, even pounding the staked one until he was only dust.

Later on, when you took a good look at the crowbar, the engraving read, Bashara the Kneecap-Shatterer, as if it was a fantasy game where they name their weapons.  You can’t even guess who named it or how it came to be, but it’s yours now.

This is what I came up with back when we had the idea for Items.  This is a 2-point Wonder, using the stats found on page 309 for a crowbar except that it does aggravated damage instead of lethal.

Putting my interest in, modern exalted has always had a special draw.

Welcome to the party.  So far we have folks looking at Dawn and Twilight.  Any particular plans?

[Muse]

  Oooh!   Ooooh!  May I play? 

  I don't think anyone has expressed interest in Zenith yet.  :) 

[AndyZ]

Zenith is still open.  Well, was.  Welcome to the party.

[HairyHeretic]

I know I've been quiet, but am still interested. Just haven't had the chance to look over anything yet. No firm idea of concept, will want to get a look at the rules before I start putting that together.

[AndyZ]

I know I've been quiet, but am still interested. Just haven't had the chance to look over anything yet. No firm idea of concept, will want to get a look at the rules before I start putting that together.

All good.  I should ask you also if you know what you want to play.  Night and Eclipse are still open.

[HairyHeretic]

I generally default towards Eclipse for versatility but I've no idea how different things are in this one.

[AndyZ]

I generally default towards Eclipse for versatility but I've no idea how different things are in this one.

Eclipses no longer get “buy any Charm from anybody.”  The world they’ve been reborn into has significantly less power than what you’ll be used to, but still more than strong enough to make a huge dent if you don’t get too flashy and play smart.

Given the Masquerade/Veil and your thoughts in Scion, I definitely want you in with the right perspective of “How flashy should everyone be?”

[Hexed]

Yeah, stupid line, doesn’t appear in other game systems, would be annoying to attempt to implement, doesn’t clarify things like before or after soak, best houseruled away, which I already did.

Just one of those odd things that happen with so many versions and settings that don't mess just right.

I believe you can roll Willpower at difficulty 9 to add to it?

I also found a charm that adds your str in successes before you even roll so a couple different ways to reach outrageous stunts. :)

Or carry one of each.

Possibly! I know I was planning on her carrying a few different ones. Just have to see how it goes.

Because Ox-Body Technique gives you the option for more health levels.

Accurate, but notably different from many other Exalts.

Given I was eyeballing that charm I should have realized that. :)

Not sure how that charm's different from other exalts as it looks almost identical to the first charm in each caste/exalt.

Not getting the reference here.  I just wanted to give the warning that you can get away with some blatancy if your identity is hidden, but you have no idea how much it can be stretched, and it seemed kinder to tell you early.  But you can always let go indoors if there’s few windows where the general public can see you.

Bigfoot's always blurry pictures and all sort of people trying to claim sightings that aren't. 

Good to know though that someone's at least trying to help even if for their own reason. But yeah, figured big brawls during the day on TV would be bad. Hopefully someone fills our Solar folk in about that before they go to far. :)

Here’s what I imagine.  Change it as you like.

You were down at night at a multiple-story parking garage near your local S-Mart when you saw some bikers not wearing your colors harassing passersby.  For whatever reason - maybe the rival gang isn’t supposed to be in New Westhaven even on the south side - you step in to intervene.  However, as you get in closer, you see the fangs and smell the blood of the innocent people who’ve been slaughtered.

As one vampire comes up with a crowbar, your body erupts into golden energy just in time for him to hit you, and it hurts.  It hurts like the crowbar wants to knock out part of your soul instead of just your bones clean out your body.  But somehow you can take it, and when you smack him in return with your baseball bat, he goes farther than should physically be possible, dropping the crowbar.

The bat was already in bad shape, but you’re able to use it as an impromptu stake through the heart on one of the vampires, leaving you with the crowbar.  There’s something engraved on it but no time for that now, and when the vampires either fight you or try to flee, they end up as nothing more than ash, and you leave no survivors, even pounding the staked one until he was only dust.

Later on, when you took a good look at the crowbar, the engraving read, Bashara the Kneecap-Shatterer, as if it was a fantasy game where they name their weapons.  You can’t even guess who named it or how it came to be, but it’s yours now.

This is what I came up with back when we had the idea for Items.  This is a 2-point Wonder, using the stats found on page 309 for a crowbar except that it does aggravated damage instead of lethal.

A little close to what I've been figuring at least in terms of exalting during a vampire attack. It being bikers and thus Gangreal? is a new thought though. Although I'd been thinking of her as someone that just drifted into town instead of a native. Great Grandpa Jeorg (name pending some research) left her a nice bit of inheritance and words of advice. "Do not let yourself be confined to one valley. Go and see the world as our ancestors did." Good advice if perhaps not quite what you'd tell someone descended from viking raiders.

The crowbar is an interesting toy and gave me an idea I need to figure out. :)

Eclipses no longer get “buy any Charm from anybody.”  The world they’ve been reborn into has significantly less power than what you’ll be used to, but still more than strong enough to make a huge dent if you don’t get too flashy and play smart.

Can't all exalted buy any charm from the different castes already with varying cost? Or were Eclipses able to get Charms of other exalted types and not just their own?

[AndyZ]

A lot here and it’s hard to separate quotes on the phone:

Ox: Solars get a better Ox-Body Technique than some others.  It used to be that they had a number of choices and the others were set, but now, Solars are hands down better with that Charm, and with others.

Gangrel: You definitely had some guys who were tougher than usual and whose claws tried to tear you apart as badly as the crowbar could do, and that guy was a lot stronger (and faster) than he looked, but they definitely had multiple types, and you haven’t gotten to learn too much yet.

The first scene I intend to be a big info dump along with the meet and greet.

Bigfoot: more or less, yeah, someone is covering up and have seen no reason to introduce themselves before the start of the first scene.

Crowbar: If being a crowbar doesn’t work, it can be any weapon that does lethal damage.  If it’s a firearm, you can spend an extra two points, in which case the magazine is completely sealed when one tries to open it, but it has infinite ammo unless you fire a ridiculous number of bullets all at once.  Regardless of what the weapon is, it will have some kind of name that a gamer or LARPer would find reasonably epic.

Eclipse: They used to be able to buy Charms from Lunars, Sidereals, Abyssals, etc. with a teacher and 16 points of XP a pop.

Oh, and just so you and others are aware: your character will have absolutely no idea about Sidereals even with Past Lives 5.  They did something that broke part of the universe in order to erase knowledge of themselves from existence.  Just in case that needs said.  (They really only exist so that whenever players ask, “Wait, what are the odds of that?” then the Storyteller doesn’t come off as throwing huge contrivances.)

[Hexed]

I think the book even mentions Sidereals are literally plot devices to keep players on track of your story and explain away any contrivances.


Hadn't realized some of the solar charms were better then others the few I'd bothered looking at, seeing as we're supposed to focus on solar and not the others, seemed the same. Since the game is limited to Solar only guess it doesn't really matter much. :)


And yeah the gangreals was me trying to remember the 'biker' clan ooc. She knows norse 'lore' not vampire idealogy.

[AndyZ]

Abyssal and Infernal Charms can be eerily similar to Solar ones, especially Abyssal.  The reason why didn’t make it to the current age.  I’ll tell you OOC for the asking, as can most others.

Brujah tend to be very punk rock and it’s not uncommon for them to be bikers.  Really, though, it seemed like multiple different types all working as bikers to maintain just enough facade that it won’t cause issue when they went to slaughter innocents, and they met someone on a night, a particular place and time, they might argue wrong, I’d argue very right.

Whatever they all have in common, and it’s something, it’s not Clan.

[Laughing Hyena]

For Exalted, stats over 5 generally come from other magic. Lunars are the exception. At least lastingly. And the reason that V20 treats blunt as really inferior to slashing and cutting is because to vampires it is. A super well place haymaker from a really strong guy that results in 4 HLs to a normal person, probably near knocking them out in on hit, only does 2 HLs to a vampire. A bad hit, but nothing to nearly take them out of a fight.

And, for AndyZ, there is a mention in V20 about taking double damage destroying armor. If you care to look for it, it's on p 274.

I would point out that whilst it's true that if you are a martial artist or going for a blunt weapon, I'd suggest taking up charms to turn the damage you do into aggravated damage. Heck most martial artists usually can turn their blows lethal in their forms almost every time.

In a vampires vs Solar case there are several charms that have aggravated damage able to be placed on them. Such as the Blazing Solar Bolt which does that vs Creatures of Darkness. (Pretty sure a vampire would count) Spirits and ghosts also have charms that work really well. Some of these may take deep investment but some don't.

Said vampire better pray they never see an Abyssal Exalt. Just saying they are lucky they aren't around in Andy's setting. Also hi Andy. :)

[ShadowFox89]

Will we be locked into Solars? If so, I'll probably go Night caste. If not.... that gives me some more options.

[Muse]

Eclipse: They used to be able to buy Charms from Lunars, Sidereals, Abyssals, etc. with a teacher and 16 points of XP a pop.

Not to mention gods, and ghosts, and Raksha! 

Will we be locked into Solars? If so, I'll probably go Night caste. If not.... that gives me some more options.

I believe what Andy said was--that if he got al five castes of solars--then he would open it up to Lunars. 

[AndyZ]

If we get down to one Caste that seriously nobody wants, I can relent, but I think it’d be pretty good for the group to have a perfect circle.

[Muse]

  How much would playing a deaf girl mess me up? 

[ShadowFox89]

So tentative concept is a former hitman Night Caste who exalted during a job gone bad and maaaaay have pissed off certain parts of the Carmarilla. Would be mostly a focus on investigation and larceny with a secondary focus on firearms.

He's the dude that a three letter agency calls when they want someone gone and don't want a direct connection.


Edit: though given a choice I'd rather play an Infernal any day....