So I like Exalted, especially when I’m looking for some old school, GM based participationist play where the point is for the players to ride the roller-coaster and kill everything along the path anime style. However, at this point I don’t find myself having a lot of fun with many of the extended maneuvers, multiple stunt tree stacking, and many of the other things that used to draw me to Exalted. I find myself wanting a game with more emphasis on stunts and virtues, the things that sort of defined Exalted’s difference from all those other high-action games for me.
So I made up this little hack. It started off with the simple thought of “well, 2 bonus dice for a stunt on top of a pool of 44 dice isn’t that much, but 2 bonus dice on top of a pool of 2 dice is…” and then when I looked at the old Exalted demo on the WW site (from before 1st ed was released) it bloomed into my brain.
This is a fairly incomplete draft. I know, for example, that the charm section is an imbalanced mess. However, I’m hoping that you awesome people can help with that, as I’m bored with working on it alone.
Hack it!
Dice and rolls still work all the same. d10s, target number 7, 10s count as 2 for Exalts and heroes and not for mooks. Zoom.
Stats: There are no longer attributes and skills. Instead there are 5 stats that all characters posses: Dawn, Eclipse, Night, Twilight, and Zenith. These cover all the skills that the book lists plus any associated sub-tasks. So, praying to God for help would clearly be a Zenith thing, while knowing how to take care of weapons in the field would be a Dawn thing, while the crafting of them would be Twilight.
When creating a character each of the abilities is given a rating from 1 to 5. Each number can be used only once. So you’ll end up with one stat at 1, one and 2, and so on up to 5. Mooks normally have 1s in all abilities, though superior mooks may have a 2. Non mook mortals go to 3, heroic mortals to 4, and other Exalts and spirits to 5. Gods and millenia old Exalts may get up to a 6, but they suck and are all Marry Sues who have no place in game.
Virtues: Everyone still has 4 virtues, and one of them still acts as the limit break condition. However, there are no 4 set virtues anymore. Instead everyone makes a personal virtue that acts as a belief, a story guide, and a spiritual attribute. It is, however, often helpful to base your specific virtues off of the basic virtues from the book to give variety and to give launching points if you get stuck. Virtues are then rated 1 to 4, just as stats were above. The 4 rated Virtue is always the limit breaker, and acting against it causes it to be rolled to gain limit break.
A Virtue can be called on for bonus dice at any time that it is clearly applicable, though only one virtue at a time can be added. When a virtue is added for bonus dice it counts as part of the base stat, and thus will increase the level of what is doubled or increased by effects such as charms. So if you’ve a stat of 1, and do a 2 point virtue, then use a doubling charm you end up with (1 + 2) * 2 = 6 dice.
Limit breaks still go off at 10 limit, and have the same sorts of effects as those listed in the book. Obviously you can modify yours to better fit the specifics of your virtue.
Example Virtues: I must save Queen Amadala from the Abyssals; Only Cowards Walk Away; I am the living balance, and must give a death for every life and a life for every death in Halta; Live free or Die; I am the hand of the Lover Clad In the Raiment of Tears and have no will but her will; I am Lord of Nexus, and all who oppose my will in this city shall die by fire; etc.
Stunts: Stunts still go from 1 to 3. 1 is cool description, 2 is using the environment, and 3 is TEH AW3S0MeZ. What is new is that whenever anything multiplies or increases the pool (such as charms below) the stunt is added to the stat for purposes of how much the stat is increased. So if you’ve a stat of 1, and do a 2 point stunt, then use a doubling charm you end up with (1 + 2) * 2 = 6 dice. This does stack with virtue use, so if you added a 2 point virtue to the previous, you’d end up with 10 dice, (1 + 2 + 2) *2.
Backgrounds: Every character starts the game with 3 backgrounds, that can be any of the normal Exalted backgrounds. Whenever a character is able to use their backgrounds in a roll it adds 1 bonus dice to the roll, that is added before charm increasing, just as virtues and stunts. Unlike Virtues, however, multiple backgrounds can be used on one roll. So if you have Followers (1) in the city that you rule (1) and are using the Orb Of All Penetrating Sight (1) you can add 3 bonus dice to your Night to find a spy in town with the help of your followers and your artifact.
Option: If you really must be dude with bad-ass god-slaying sword (Hi Elric clone!) number #7771771, it may be possible to stack backgrounds so that you actually have “Stormbringer 3″ as your only background. Consult your GM or whichever player has the ability to boss the table about.
Essence and Willpower: There is no willpower. Force of will issues are now virtues.
All characters start the game with 10 peripheral essence points and 3 personal essence points. You recover 1 essence per hour, double if you can do something rejuvenating — like resting, talking with friends, getting a massage or a lay, etc. If you have backgrounds that relate to essence replenishment (cult, manse, etc) they add their bonus to the base rate, and double as normal. (So someone with a hearthstone getting a massage gets back 4 essence per hour.)
Anima banners now flare at this rate: 1-2 Glitter, 3-4 burn, 5 - 6 coruscant aura, 7-8 bonfire, 9+ burning totemic image.
Charms: Start with say, five charms. Charms now break down into a few basic types of charms: dice adders/multipliers, perfects, multiple attacks/target granters, impossible abilities, and esoterics. Within these types, and in the guidelines below, characters can make up their own charms.
There are no longer pre-reqs, and charm trees go away. The balance of charms should be based on their essence cost. If you want to start with only the most expensive and powerful charms you can, but after your Ultimate Blossom of Enrapturing Death devastates whatever poor jerk you hit it with you may not have any essence left to deal with his brother.
Dice Adders/Multipliers: 1 point = 2 extra dice, 2 points = *1.5, 4 points = *2, 12 points = *3. Only one multiplier can be added to any roll. Adds only to 1 roll, to make it scene long triple the cost.
Perfects: You win by a margin of 1. 5 points. One action only. In combat these only work for defense, so you win the round but do no damage.
Multiple Attacks/Targets: 1 pt = Add a single target, 2 pts = Add an extra attack at full dice, 3 pts = add a small group, 4 pts = add two extra attacks at full dice, 5 pts = add a large group, 6 pts = add four extra attacks at full dice, 7 pts = add a huge group, 8 pts = Add ten extra attacks, 9 pts = add up to a city worth of targets. One attack only, to make persistent triple cost.
Impossible Ability Granters: 1 pt = Minor ability (Graceful Crane Stance), 3 pts = Significant Ability (Body Forging Travail), 5 pts = Major Ability (Flight), 8 pts = Godlike Ability (Invulnerability). One round only, double to make it persistent.
Esoterics = everything else. Do a thing that is odd and cool. Cost is equal to how powerful it is based on the cost of the charm in the original book and the guidelines above.
Ox Body Technique gives you 2 extra boxes of combat damage. Resilient Courtier gives you 2 of social damage. Soul Forging Discipline gives you 2 of magical damage.
Sorcery is one charm now, and each spell is an additional charm with set effects. Spells still take extra time to cast, as in the normal rules. Spells basically allow a character to use their Twilight pool to solve problems that wouldn’t normally be solvable by Twilight, or to use Twilight to create an esoteric effect beyond the ability of mortals (such as summoning and binding demons). Attack and defense spells, for example, allow Twilight to be rolled as Dawn in combat. Terrestrial spells are usually only good against a single human sized target, opponent, or effect; Celestial spells work against a group at no penalty; and Solar spells can effect everyone and everything in a whole army or city with the full dice value against every one. In addition terrestrial circle spells grant 2 extra dice to the roll, Celestial spells increase the pool by half again, and Solar spells double the pool. The cost for Sorcery is 3 essence for Terrestrial, 6 for Celestial, and 9 for Solar.
So it is possible, for example, for a character with Twilight 5 and the Virtue “I will have vengeance against the Realm 4) who does a 2 point stunt to use a Solar level spell (such as Rain of Doom) to hit every solider in an Imperial army with a 32 dice attack (5 Twilight + 4 Virtue + 2 Stunt, Doubled and given area of effect by the spell).
Combos: Combos are now freeform. You just announce the charms you’re using, and pay the essence for them +1 extra essence for the combo, then unleash the fury.
Combat, Social Conflict, and Getting Your Ass Beat: Roll your shit vs their shit. All combat rolls are opposed, bitches. No attack and defense, you’re both attacking and defending with every roll. Loser takes damage from the amount by which they were beat.
You have a number of wound boxes based on your abilities. Physical is Dawn + Night, Social is Zenith + Eclipse, and Magical is double your Twilight. Running out means you’re out of the conflict, with the circumstances dictating the exact effects. Exalts don’t die unless someone takes an extra action to kill them. This applies to NPC exalts too. There is no death-spiral. Your wound levels don’t cause you to roll less dice. (For now, this I’d like to playtest. There are some things to recommend a good death spiral….) There may, however, be charms designed to specifically reduce your dice, but those do that rather than doing damage.
Mooks roll in groups. They take damage in groups too. The have one ability — the Mook rating. Mook rating is a combination of the size of the group and their skill. A few peasants with pitchforks is a Mook 1. An imperial legion could be a Mook 10. If you are against a large group and only can attack a single target you can only reduce them by 1 point (2 with a stunt) per turn. With charms that hit groups you can reduce them as normal. Also, unlike PCs, Mooks do death-spiral. As they take damage, their dice pool goes down. They also only have one damage track, so social and physical and magical damage all go in the same place.
Experience and Reward: Finishing quests, going into limit break, doing 3 point stunts, and completing or dramatically changing Virtues gain an XP. An XP can buy a charm, raise either essence pool by 1 (they must be raised in alternation, one then the other), or raise a stat. Raising stats costs XP equal to the current level, to a max of 5. Once Essence totals 20 you can increase to 6, and by 1 more per 5 essence there after.
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For those looking for a more thorough rewrite of Exalted, turning it into something awesome and different rather than just a refocused version, should check out Jonathan Walton’s excellent and ongoing hack.