Exalted vs D&D. The battlelines are drawn!
- Thread starter Sitara
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dmccoy1693
Adventurer
Barastrondo said:
Nice Ethan. BTW, love the idea. Can't keep a good Solar down.
Jürgen Hubert
First Post
I would recommend taking a look and perhaps even playing Exalted to get a different perspective on running games, even if you then go back to D&D. It certainly was a useful experience for me.
Many adventures and campaigns - and D&D seem to be particularly prone to this - are essentially reactive. The PCs get handed a quest out of dire necessity, because they were ordered to do so by a higher authority, or because someone offered them a reward for fulfilling it. Whatever the case, ultimately the game master thinks up the quest, and the party pursue it. Now, there's nothing wrong with this approach as long as everyone is on the same page and the GM is good, but too often people forget that there are other possibilities out there.
In Exalted, this situation is turned on its head. The characters are given a portion of the power of the most powerful of the gods, who then tells them something on the lines of "Set the world right as you know best" (if that) - and then promptly ignores them. In theory, they have the literal "Mandate of Heaven" to rule the world. In practice, few recognize that right - yet - but if they want, they will eventually accumulate enough power to make themselves heard.
So essentially, the point of an Exalted campaign is not to be handed some sort of quests, but figuring out your own place in the world, setting your own goals - and then figuring out how to reach those goals, and what you are willing to do to get there. Sure, other entities in the setting might attempt to get you to follow some quests of their own choosing - but those are often ultimately serving their political agenda, not yours, and it's up to you how to deal with them.
Exalted play how - in my opinion - high-level D&D campaigns should be: The PCs are shaking the pillars of the world and setting their own agenda on how to change the world into a better place (or at least one more suitable for them).
Many adventures and campaigns - and D&D seem to be particularly prone to this - are essentially reactive. The PCs get handed a quest out of dire necessity, because they were ordered to do so by a higher authority, or because someone offered them a reward for fulfilling it. Whatever the case, ultimately the game master thinks up the quest, and the party pursue it. Now, there's nothing wrong with this approach as long as everyone is on the same page and the GM is good, but too often people forget that there are other possibilities out there.
In Exalted, this situation is turned on its head. The characters are given a portion of the power of the most powerful of the gods, who then tells them something on the lines of "Set the world right as you know best" (if that) - and then promptly ignores them. In theory, they have the literal "Mandate of Heaven" to rule the world. In practice, few recognize that right - yet - but if they want, they will eventually accumulate enough power to make themselves heard.
So essentially, the point of an Exalted campaign is not to be handed some sort of quests, but figuring out your own place in the world, setting your own goals - and then figuring out how to reach those goals, and what you are willing to do to get there. Sure, other entities in the setting might attempt to get you to follow some quests of their own choosing - but those are often ultimately serving their political agenda, not yours, and it's up to you how to deal with them.
Exalted play how - in my opinion - high-level D&D campaigns should be: The PCs are shaking the pillars of the world and setting their own agenda on how to change the world into a better place (or at least one more suitable for them).
Aus_Snow
First Post
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.
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.
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.
ProtoClone
First Post
Seriously, what is the big deal? It's not like WW is asking for you to give them your 4th ed. books. I don't play Exalted but I am willing give it a try for just giving them my 3.5.
Now the name calling is another thing, but nothing. I like WW but seriously this is hardly a full out war. It's just a company doing what a company supposed to do.
Now this confirmed/unconfirmed rumor about WW telling stores to destroy their old copies...So? Having worked in a place that sold a selection of mixed media I can say that eventually they would've been tossed. Maybe not all of the books would've been thrown away but I am pretty sure that there would be some. Hell, the library I work at eventually throws away books that don't get circulated or sold at book sales. It eventually happens, they have to be destroyed and replaced. If it doesn't move, it's wasting shelf space.
To me all WW is doing is encouraging you to not waste your shelf space with an old outdated version of a game. They are asking for retailers to consider not wasting their shelf with an outdated product as well. Yes they are using some really sharp words to say it, but really this is nothing special.
Now the name calling is another thing, but nothing. I like WW but seriously this is hardly a full out war. It's just a company doing what a company supposed to do.
Now this confirmed/unconfirmed rumor about WW telling stores to destroy their old copies...So? Having worked in a place that sold a selection of mixed media I can say that eventually they would've been tossed. Maybe not all of the books would've been thrown away but I am pretty sure that there would be some. Hell, the library I work at eventually throws away books that don't get circulated or sold at book sales. It eventually happens, they have to be destroyed and replaced. If it doesn't move, it's wasting shelf space.
To me all WW is doing is encouraging you to not waste your shelf space with an old outdated version of a game. They are asking for retailers to consider not wasting their shelf with an outdated product as well. Yes they are using some really sharp words to say it, but really this is nothing special.
Vocenoctum
First Post
ProtoClone said:
Seriously, there's a whole other thread where it goes back and forth, so no need to go through it all again. Most folks made up their mind right away and Internet Rule 1 says to treat an opinion as absolute fact, so there ya go.
There is no rumor about destroying the books, it's in the instructions to the gameshop on the site.
Vocenoctum
First Post
Jürgen Hubert said:
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.
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. Giving players options is a good thing, of course.
dmccoy1693
Adventurer
ProtoClone said:
Exactly. How many playtesters said that 4E is SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD that 10 minutes after they started playing they packed up all their 3.5 books and sold them/trashed them/gave them to someone they didn't like/etc? Well instead of money, you get a $40 game book. Sounds like a sweet deal to me considering that you can buy a PHB on ebay for about $5.
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