Exalted Discussion
 

"You know the drill. Your money or your life."

Man, that was cheesy. Well, discussions go here, so yeah. Idiot proof.

I feel this is a good place for me to explain die-pool splitting to those of you who may or may not have read about it.

If you don't have a persistant defense charm, (Five-Fold Bulwark Stance/Flow Like Blood) that allows you to instantly roll parry/dodge agaisnt incoming attacks, or simply don't want to waste essence/willpower on a fight with extras, then it is very important to split your action pool.

When you do this, you declare how many actions you will make. For example. I have a attack pool of 14 with my bow, and a defense pool of 13 (dodge). Agaisnt bandits, I don't think I need Flow like Blood, so I don't activate it.

Now, say I want to make three actions. I'll shoot twice, (Rate 2 on my bow prevents me from taking more than 2 attack actions with it in a turn) and dedicate the last action to a full dodge (Lets me dodge all incoming attacks at a cumulative -1 penalty for each one after the first for the round). Since I made 3 actions, I take a -3 to the first roll's pool (the number of actions taken) and a -1 to each subsequent action. Thus...

Attack 1: 14-3 = 11
Attack 2: 11-1 = 10
Full Dodge: 13-3-2 = 8
Subsequent dodges: 8-X = Y
((Where X is the number of dodges after the first, and Y is the modified die pool))

As you see, if you make a different type of action that uses a different pool, you have to recalculate the penalties, (3 for 3 actions, -2 for being the third action.)

It's very useful to "save" an action for a defense if you win initiative, because if you don't, you won't be able to defend yourself when the enemy's initiative tick comes up.

Thirdly, don't oversplit your pools. If you take too many actions, the penalties will be massive, and you won't be able to hit anything, or stop any but the most feeble attacks.

Make what you will of this. I'm just trying to give you a crash course on tactics in Exalted, which is what Dante is trying to do also.

STUNTING 101

Exalted is famous for stunts. Stunts are essentially very flashy ways of describing your actions. Stunts are rewarded and encouraged by giving you bonuses whenever you RP an action very well.

You can stunt ANYTHING. If you parry with two blades, you can "trap it in the scissor-lock of your crossed axes". If you make a Social roll, you can actually describe the performance instead of reporting your die result. If you perform research, you can embellish the description of what you do with pseudo-realistic details. Basically, if it sounds cool, you get the bonus. Simply saying that you hit someone with your axe is bland and not stunt-worthy.

Stunts come in three-sizes - the one-die stunt, the two-die stunt, and the three-die stunt. The die amounts refer to the amount of extra dice you get to roll for the action being stunted. (Incidentally, die rolls will be done on the honor system, unless someone can suggest a better way).

One-die stunts are basically actions with some description, like "I swing my mace in a whistling over-hand blow".

Two-die stunts are more elaborate and more compelling one-die stunts, or those involving the environment in some way, like "Dante runs up the wall, flips off, and brings his sword Rebellion down upon the hapless demon below him, cleaving him in twain."

Three-die stunts make you go "Wow". That's it. If you can get a "Damn, that's fscking cool" from your Circlemates, three-die stunts. Example: "Kratos runs up to the giant and gives a vicious blow to the chin. As the beast raises its massive, cumbersome fist to counterattack, Kratos rolls between its legs, coming out behind it, and the giant hits nothing but the dirt. Kratos sinks his blades into the giant's back and vaults up, onto its head, leaping off the beast's head, the stomp on its helmet intending to get its attention. As it looks up, Kratos comes back down, Blades of Chaos burning with unholy fire, and sinks them into the giant's eyes. Hopping off, Kratos lands easily as the monster clutches its ruined face, blood gushing from the maimed sockets."

When splitting your pools, all dice in the pool get the bonus, so stunting is very helpful in multi-part actions.

Stunts also help you regain Essence. You get 2 motes per die of stunt value, and with two- or three-die stunts, you may choose to instead regain a point of Willpower.

In addition to die bonuses, stunts also help you do the impossible - for example, parrying a blade with your bare hands is normally not possible without specialized Charms. But when stunting, you can say "My character seizes the incoming axe in both palms, halting its deadly arc an inch from her face". And it would probably work. Similarly if you wanted to escape across a plaza of crowded people, you could say, "My character treads on the heads and shoulders of the people below, lighting on them as a dragonfly does upon water." It would be a difficulty 4 or 5 Athletics roll, true, but it allows you to do the impossible.

Any more questions?

Who is going to be doing the dice rolling? Heh Im so confused just tell me if I do something wrong.

Fuck it, I'll roll the dice. That's right, Phoenix sinned and gets 10 Naughty Points. :P

Well excuse me. You told us to roll our own dice there for a second.

At least it'll be easier this way.

PS: By the way, I use Vengeful Gust Counterattack and send the naughty points back at you. ;)

I just want to thank Dante for not doing anything terribel to my character in my absence, also I'd like to apologize for said absence.

I am back now, rejoice.

Rejoice, that kinda sounds like having a party doesn't it? Woot time to get drunk, don't worry Helion's covering the rest of you ;)

How very reassuring... ;)

In any case, Welcome back Funka!

ok, so were righ tout side nexus trying to figure a way in without looking like super heros, right? I was wondering what everyone was wearing, and if it might be prudent to perhaps dress down a little, you know, scavenge some clothes off the slain bandits in order to appear as paupers instead of princes.

just thinking...

edt: I'm a princess!