Exalted vs D&D. The battlelines are drawn!

[Vocenoctum]

Darn tootin', if you haven't got me curious about Exalted again. I'm not going to trade in my 3.5 books - I rather like having them, and yes, even using them. But if the right opportunity presents itself, like a chance to pick it up for cheap, well I might.

I got mine from buy.com for $27, so no complaints.

Occasionally, WW turns out an interesting setting. I dislike most of their systems, and most of what I've heard of Exalted's makes me suspect it wouldn't be one of the rare exceptions. But still, I've gotten lots of use from RPG books with lousy systems, many a time. And Exalted's setting and built in assumptions sound interesting enough to check out.

The history/background of Exalted is neat enough, the setting itself isn't really detailed very well IMO and what's there sort of blends together, coupled with a horrible map that shows a few cities in the middle of a large expanse of open terrain.

The game attempts to model the system of a divine curse that drives exalts and gods to hubris and whatnot, but it's sort of like Vampire's Humanity, it sort of lacks punch.

You've got the normal "roll attribute + skill in dice", the target number is 7, except it can be modified in some situations. It's a bit convoluted in many places. Initiative was just a bad read, for example.

Charms are neat enough, sort of like powers from WoW or Book of 9 Swords. Some are grander than others, and most require "motes" of essence to power.

Though often referenced, there is no warhorse in the rulebook...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

No offense, but I've seen that idea put forward in many WW games. In theory it's great that your players set the tone, in practice it's just dependant on the individual group and has nothing to do with the game system itself.

Well, the closest White Wolf game with similar themes I can think of is Aberrant, but that setting has the flaw that there are a couple of über-NPCs lurking in the background who are likely to be more powerful than the PCs and risk overshadowing them.

Of course, there are some NPCs in the Exalted setting as well who are at least initially more powerful than the player characters. But unlike in Aberrant, they are supposed to be antagonists - people the PCs fight against and eventually defeat.

And Aberrant had an ongoing metaplot - you'd know what was "supposed to happen" in a few years (or even decades) down the road. Sure, individual GMs could ignore that, but it was still there and the published adventures reflect that.

Exalted, on the other hand, doesn't have a metaplot because the expectation is that as soon as the PCs are taking an active role in the wider world, they will cause major changes that are impossible to predict. Even sourcebooks and adventures that deal with possible "future timelines" explicitly say: "This is what will happen unless the PCs get involved." Note that it says "involved" instead of "trying to stop it" - they loom large enough to change everything they interact with unless they make a deliberate effort not to leave a trace.

In practice, D&D games that don't include the players backgrounds in the choice of adventures are not the norm, and Exalted games where the Storyteller sits back and waits for the players actions and wings the entire thing are also probably rare.

You would be surprised. It's pretty much impossible to try to steer the PCs in a particular way - they are just so powerful that they can break most restraints. So pretty much all Exalted campaigns end up this way - the PCs make their plans, and the Storyteller characters are forced to react to them.

 

[Vocenoctum]

Well, the closest White Wolf game with similar themes I can think of is Aberrant, but that setting has the flaw that there are a couple of über-NPCs lurking in the background who are likely to be more powerful than the PCs and risk overshadowing them.

I don't mean the "gods among men" theme, but the "players dictate the plot" type deal. It's been presented in almost every WW game, and I've seen it suggested in plenty of other games. It's never worked in my experience.

You would be surprised. It's pretty much impossible to try to steer the PCs in a particular way - they are just so powerful that they can break most restraints. So pretty much all Exalted campaigns end up this way - the PCs make their plans, and the Storyteller characters are forced to react to them.

I'll take your word for what has happened in your games, but the power level of PC's is largely irrelevant to a DM. A game run entirely by players would be as tedious for the ST as a DM run game would be for the players, so I wouldn't be interested in either.

 

[Crothian]

I don't mean the "gods among men" theme, but the "players dictate the plot" type deal. It's been presented in almost every WW game, and I've seen it suggested in plenty of other games. It's never worked in my experience.

It's just a style of game and not every DM can do every style. I've seen it work and fail. Just like I've seen the planned plot work and fail. Neither is better or worse, just different ways of playing the game.

 

[Vocenoctum]

It's just a style of game and not every DM can do every style. I've seen it work and fail. Just like I've seen the planned plot work and fail. Neither is better or worse, just different ways of playing the game.

Right, that's what I meant, it depends more on the group than the game, IMO.