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<blockquote data-quote="Staffan" data-source="post: 8289159" data-attributes="member: 907"><p>First one that comes to mind is Exalted, in each of its editions. The core problem is that each character is mechanically defined to a large degree by their Charms, special magical abilities linked to a skill or an attribute that let you do Cool Stuff. And then you look at a powerful NPC in a supplement and see that the writeup takes up a full page, 3/4 of which is a wall-of-text-style list of Charms, most of which have flowery but not particularly descriptive names like Reed in the Wind or Sagacious Reading of Intent or Countenance of Vast Wrath.</p><p></p><p>Ex 3 has, I think, fixed some of the bugs of earlier editions, and also fixed the discrepancy between skills like Melee having like 30 charms in the 2e core book and Bureaucracy having like 5. Unfortunately, this was done by coming up with systems for many other activities that are almost as involved as combat, which then gives non-combat skills lots of "hooks" for potential Charms. This, of course, made the system even more complex, and the Charms and Martial Arts + Sorcery chapters take up almost 250 pages. And that's just for Solars, which is one Exalt type out of about 10.</p><p></p><p>I am having some hope that Exalted: Essence will be more my speed, but we'll see.</p><p></p><p>Another one that overwhelmed me was Shadowrun, but that was mostly the gear (at least as a player, though I recall bouncing off it as a GM at an earlier point because I couldn't hack (hah!) keeping track of semi-separate rules for decking, magic, rigging, and fighting at the same time). My problem with the gear is that it's hyper-detailed, which leaves me with a strong feeling that I'm going to miss something completely necessary to my role—particularly since I was planning on playing an infiltrator, which seems rather gear-dependent.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Staffan, post: 8289159, member: 907"] First one that comes to mind is Exalted, in each of its editions. The core problem is that each character is mechanically defined to a large degree by their Charms, special magical abilities linked to a skill or an attribute that let you do Cool Stuff. And then you look at a powerful NPC in a supplement and see that the writeup takes up a full page, 3/4 of which is a wall-of-text-style list of Charms, most of which have flowery but not particularly descriptive names like Reed in the Wind or Sagacious Reading of Intent or Countenance of Vast Wrath. Ex 3 has, I think, fixed some of the bugs of earlier editions, and also fixed the discrepancy between skills like Melee having like 30 charms in the 2e core book and Bureaucracy having like 5. Unfortunately, this was done by coming up with systems for many other activities that are almost as involved as combat, which then gives non-combat skills lots of "hooks" for potential Charms. This, of course, made the system even more complex, and the Charms and Martial Arts + Sorcery chapters take up almost 250 pages. And that's just for Solars, which is one Exalt type out of about 10. I am having some hope that Exalted: Essence will be more my speed, but we'll see. Another one that overwhelmed me was Shadowrun, but that was mostly the gear (at least as a player, though I recall bouncing off it as a GM at an earlier point because I couldn't hack (hah!) keeping track of semi-separate rules for decking, magic, rigging, and fighting at the same time). My problem with the gear is that it's hyper-detailed, which leaves me with a strong feeling that I'm going to miss something completely necessary to my role—particularly since I was planning on playing an infiltrator, which seems rather gear-dependent. [/QUOTE]
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