Automatic one-die stunts in PbP?

[JayTee]

Stunts are considered to be the bread and butter of Exalted, the thing that really gives the game its 'kick'. Simply describe your action in a way that is awesome, and you get a bonus, with a bigger bonus if you make your description even more awesome.


In PbP games however, people rarely write out a simple "I punch her in the face" or "I steal the artifact from him". It's almost always "Radiant Jen Zi lashed out in fury, seeking to shatter the mocking, sneering face of the Magistrate." Or "With deft precision, Thousand-Fingers Wu pocketed the Orb of Wind and Wave, sliding it smoothly off the neck of the Thaumaturgist who wore it."


These descriptions are nice, flavorful and stunt worthy, but the sheer commonality of them means that the stunt value rarely goes recognized. How do the Story Tellers and players out there feel about the ability to automatically award yourself a one-die stunt for any description that goes beyond "I punch the magistrate"?

 

[Skrakes]

The stunt system is very carefully calibrated for resource recovery, and a lot of the game assumes that you can recover a willpower once per turn with that +2 stunt, and that you'll always usually aim for a +2. As it is, I don't see much use in mucking about with it; too much of the system is calibrated around the stunt rules as written.


Now, that all said, I see the issue. The stunt system was not written with text play in mind. And, on top of that, you'll almost always see people envoke the environment somehow for that +2. Never mind always getting a +1, you almost never see +1 stunts because Exalted are always backflipping off of conveniently-placed objects!


There's no easy answer to this, other than to see how the new edition handles it. Stunting could do with reexamination.

 

[WlfSamurai]

I, personally, would rather not allow the player determine when it is considered a stunt for two reasons:

1. I may have a specific game theme or mood in mind that stunt awarding will help shape.
2. Potential for misuse by the player.

I agree with the issue. Just about EVERY post is a 1-die stunt as per the book. So, for PbP, I've adjust what I give stunts for. In my games, stunts are awarded for the action taken, not the description of the action. It's subtle by very different.


In real life, at the table, if someone sat and described to me for two minutes how their Exalt picked up a spoon in a artful or detailed manor, I might consider awarding them. Especially for sheer entertainment value. Then I'd grab a handful of pretzels, stick them in my giggling gob, and wash it down with some Mountain Dew.


If someone does that in PbP, I say, "you're trying to hard, that's not the type of game this is, let's move on".


The difference is not only in theme and mood, it's intent. When you're at the table in real life, you don't get to sit and edit your responses for 10 minutes before submitting them to the ST. In PbP, you do. That to me says it's deliberate and thought out.


So, what do I mean by reward for action? I don't mean swinging on a vine and unloading a clip of ammo before scooping up the girl. I mean how surprised am I by what you're doing? How creative is what you're doing? Is what you're doing adding to the fun? Is what you're doing just freakin' cool? Even if it's what I expect, how well was it executed? All of these, and others I can't think of, are how I gauge stunts in PbP. Character actions drive the story. I reward for special, different, thought out, or cool actions. It evens out to be about the same as rewarding for description at the table.

 

[Shadowmarch]

I'm not 100% sure how stunts are handled PBP and sorry if this how it's already done, but wouldn't it be a little easier if the ST just rolled the stunt dice in an OOC tab when they post the whether the attack is successful or not. It would take a little more work for the ST but it seems like that could cut out on a little of the waiting.

 

[WlfSamurai]

I failed to mention that I actually do this. I roll the stunt dice in OOC.

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

I usually balance it with a double-edged sword. I reward successes instead of dice, to streamline pbp more, but, in return, I expect a longer description of the stunts.