Let us all call upon @Alexandra for The Guiltening.
And I generally agree with the changes. No. 3 was something RIFTS did back in the day. While it sounds like a clusterfuck, it really depends. With the way pools can be split...it may be a bit much. I think sufficient testing of that idea will...
Only thing I'd recommend is clarification expenditure rules for things like Attributes. You and I just spoke of this, but it can be a bit odd for someone new (like me) just looking at Attributes (oddly, Abilities was no issue) and not realizing those are in ascending order. Otherwise, shouldn't...
While I'll grant you that, I'd argue that Exalted still hasn't hit home on that promise (despite what the devs promise for The Book That Shall Be) since First Edition. And I loved First Edition waaaaay more than Second.
@Panda
Panda here is one of the writers for said new edition and has been a fan far longer than even I have. Earthdawn, as mentioned before, had some connection to Shadowrun back in the day, but that is no longer a thing because the licenses rest with different companies now. So, just put that...
Unless it's really a novel, I can never find--in my experience--any appeal with that sort of paradigm. Railroading is too harsh a mistress, and I've run a railroaded game before.
Trust me, I used to have the exact same issues. It's hit and miss at first, but it comes to everyone after some time. I usually keep a sharp eye on what the character's stories are, then flex the scene to what they do. I had to do it a lot in Roads, much less so in my Vampire game (mainly...
Real life, I find, is the greatest killer of games. Apathy can creep up on you sometimes as well. It's a hard thing to parse. Without the in-the-moment feel of a tabletop, games become muddled sometimes. But I've not run a tabletop since 2008 (even then it was a wild change, I'd been running PBP...