Exalted: what's the big friggin' deal?

[Ferret]

Exalted is the dumbest game ever. Anyone who plays it is dumb too. Matter of fact, those rpg.net guys are dumb for liking it. I'd be surprised if everyone over there wasnt dumb. The dummies.

Sarcasm?

Either way I like it.

 

[mearls]

Exalted is D&D for White Wolf fans. Since RPG.net is a forum for post-White Wolf burnouts, it's popular there. That's pretty much it.

 

[Apok]

I'm of two minds on Exalted.

On the one hand, i think the setting is a good read (but I am partial to those "pretentious settings" White Wolf produces...I like WoD just fine).

I also like the production values of the game...the "look" of the stuff is very well done (though I'm not super-fond of the anime-inspired interior art).

As a game, I can't even imagine how I would go about GM'ing it. The PC's are--very, very literally--unstoppable in any traditional RPG sense. "Normal" challenges mean less than nothing to them. Only unbelievably powerful beings like themselves stand any hope of challenging the PC's, and even then (as written) the hope is faint.

To GM Exlted you have to ask yourself not "How will the PC's overcome this obstacle?" but "When the PC's overcome this obstacle, what happens?" and that doesn not match my GM'ing style at all.

Like Ars Magica before it (which I also loved as a good read) I find that Exalted suffers from a game world that--as written-- literally cannot (if extrapolated properly) survive the introduction of the PC's.

And if that's the case, then the ten trillion pages setting material, no matter how well written, becomes "good Fiction" rather than "Good Gaming Material"

As I am currently running my third major Exalted game, I'm inclined to agree somewhat with your assesment. Yes, most 'typical' challenges that you would see in a D&D-style game won't be very challenging for a group of beginning Exalts, so you've really gotta think outside the box.

Combat - The most typical challenge. Most Exalted parties are going to have at least one or two Combat Wombats, guys that focus solely on kicking ass and taking names. They will carry the brunt of any encounter that involves 'diplomacy by other means' and you can expect them to trounce the hell out of any lesser opponent unless you use some really tricky tactics. Because of this, most combats in Exalted are little more than window-dressing unless the PC's are dealing with a Big Bad (a fully statted NPC of relatively equal skill and power). Expect the PC's to cleave through hordes and hordes of mooks, just like in the movies. Properly balancing some combats can be tough, though, because not every PC is going to be a daiklaive-swinging killing machine, so be sure to draw the big hitters away so you can throw some mid to low powered threats at the other PC's.

Social Situations - Once again, a properly built social character with good charms can dominate, but it can be a bit tricker depending on the situation. Remember that, for the most part, Solars and Lunars are Anathema; social outcastes who've been demonized by the Dragon-Blooded and their Immaculate Order, so be sure to play up the fear & loathing. A Sidereal NPC working against the PC's from behind the scenes can make social challenges a nightmare and a half, given the power of their charms and their ability to craft and manipulate Fate.

Puzzles & Traps - You don't see many of these in an Exalted game, mostly because your typical dungeon-crawl is a bit out of genre for Exalted. It can be done (and done well) but keep in mind that, like just about anything else, a PC with the right charms can get himself out of almost any situation. I prefer puzzles and mysteries to outright trapped dungeons because it forces the players to think rather than just rely on their powers to hammer through the situation.

A few things I've learned that can help...

Be Flexible. If you have some grand plot or adventure designed, keep some of the details flexible. The whole point of Exalted is for the PC's to drive the story and we all know that players don't always do what you expect or want them to do. Keeping things flexible or having multiple plots or adventures handy to use at a moment's notice is always a good idea.

Brute Force Won't Solve Everything. Too many players think that all their problems can be fixed with enough force. Do everything in your power to discourage this line of thought by enforcing serious in-game consequences for bull-rushing through a matter that would have been better solved delicately. Is some powerful Baron plotting the assassination of one of the PC's political allies? The Brute Force solution would be to kill the Baron and take his stuff, problem solved. But what happens next? Maybe the power vacuum left opens the way to a massive civil war, or perhaps the inheritor of the position is even worse than the original Baron. Perhaps some power-group in Creation (Yozis, Deathlords, whatever) had a vested interest in the Baron staying alive and the PC's are now marked for death.

Playing up on the consequences of the PC's actions is a huge part of running Exalted, especially since they are supposed to be the new big movers and shakers of world events. Let them be the Elminsters and the Mordenkainens, but make sure they understand that with great power comes great responsability, and if they aren't careful it will come back to bite 'em in the arse.

 

[Saeviomagy]

...
...

So it's high level D&D then?

 

[Darkness]

Like Ars Magica before it (which I also loved as a good read) I find that Exalted suffers from a game world that--as written-- literally cannot (if extrapolated properly) survive the introduction of the PC's.

Actually, that's one of the points of Exalted: To have the PCs' actions shape the world around them - possibly even in huge ways.

The setting as presented will not advance in time; the books give the current situation but what will come of it is up to your game.

 

[Darkness]

Well, it does deal with the occasional heavy theme, and make allusions to a variety of non-mainstream influences --- some of which, like anime, attract their share of snobs.

Explain further, please. I can't quite follow your reasoning - which may or may not be because our experiences and expectations differ.

And it is a very high-concept game --- it takes a considerable investment of time [and possibly money] to really get a grip on the setting.

Nah. Getting a grip on the setting doesn't take much more than an hour or two. And all a player really needs is... well... The core rulebook and maybe one or two other books - hardly more. And the GM might want to have access to about 4-6 books. Maybe a bit less at first and a some more later on, depending on need and interest.

Of course, if you "gotta catch 'em all" (the books) and/or want to learn all supplements by heart, that's an option as well - but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[clark411]

Do any of you play Exalted? What's the big friggin' deal, anyway? Seems to me like an anime/epic fantasy hybrid with a pretentious setting and a nearly unworkable dice pool mechanic.

Dice pool...bah! In my day the only dice pool we had was the pool of saliva that accumulated on the table as we eagerly rolled our d20's killing orcs with our ten foot poles! And we liked it, blast it!

[pauses, adjusts bifocals]

Anyway, please tell me why everyone at RPG.net is blathering on and on about Exalted. You'd think it's the cure for the common cold or something.

This question, and the manner in which you have chosen to present it, has been dignified over and over again at Rpg.net with popular-hit threads such as "What's up with all the Exalted Threads?", "Is Exalted as popular as people in this group seem to think it is?" "Explain to me, please, Exalted" "Why does everybody seem to like Exalted?" and a "Roleplaying Open Split proposal" trouble ticket thread that suggests Exalted conversation be shunted to it's own forum.

And a lot of people post there because Exalted is a d10 game, while Enworld seems to be a pretty d20centric board. A handful of people interested in it have one Exalted: General Discussion thread here, and seem to have left it pretty much at that- up till this thread which has doubled the Exalticiousness of these boards. Cool by me.

I'd actually go into the qualities of the game, but there's already a thread on these boards that do that (and dozens which do it on rpg.net)... so I'm pretty sure that these questions you present are just a bordering-on-the-edge-of-transparent way of bashing the community (and it's posting trends and tastes) of RPG.net in a place where a bunch of heavily-addicted-yet-quite-lucid-and-strangely-articulate fans of the game won't respond with the usual explanations and ultimate resignations that they're just being bashed again.

 

[Darkness]

Seems to me like an anime/epic fantasy hybrid

In part. You can emphasize the elements you prefer - whether that means anime or more classical stuff.

with a pretentious setting

The setting's pretty easy to grasp (4 geographic directions plus a continent in the middle; cold in the north, hot in the south, warm to tropical in the east, only some islands in the west), quite flexible and not too detailed, except (obviously) for setting books.

and a nearly unworkable dice pool mechanic.

Not 'nearly unworkable' but if you aren't used to dice pools, it can potentially become unwieldy at the higher levels of skill or power, yes.

 

[hong]

You can make bigger booms in Exalted than in D&D. This is a Good Thing.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

And it is a very high-concept game --- it takes a considerable investment of time [and possibly money] to really get a grip on the setting. Anything that requires that degree of commitment will give rise to feelings of superiority.

So lower the concept and you've got Forgotten Realms?