Dice Trial by Fire - Exalted 2e OOC

[Rykon]

Unfortunately that's super late-game, but there are some goodies in the journey there.

This one I think is going to be more of a staple for thrashing goons though.

Spoiler

Note: From the Errata. Original charm is Martial Arts 6, Essence 6 from Dream of the First Age: Lords of Creation. You can take Divine Trancendence of Ability at Martial Arts 5, Essence 5, to qualify for MA6, E6 charms though, so there's that bonus. In the meantime, there's other options to increase baseline damage.

 

[D. Rex]

Ooh that looks fun too!

I'm actually just starting reading about the charms. A lot of them look pretty fun.

 

[D. Rex]

Though going martial arts, I take it there is a lot of reliance on combos? Or is that normal?

 

[Rykon]

Almost everything is like that. Though, thanks to the Errata, you no longer need to buy combos with xp. As long as they have "Combo-OK" you're good to go.

 

[D. Rex]

That definitely makes things easier.

What are the advantages between unarmed and weapon based combat? Just so I can best decide how to build the game. An make an informed decision rather than just winging it.

Though I'm perfectly happily winging it too!

 

[Psychie]

Having a character focused on unarmed fighting is never without his/her weapon. If you snag a Daiklave from a Exalt, he only has a hand with some skin on it. A good brawler or martial artist doesn't have that problem.

The downside to unarmed is that it usually has a lower base damage to add to. That Daiklave may be a +6 to +12 Lethal, making it that much more deadly than your simple strength.

 

[D. Rex]

Mmm. But those sound fun too...

 

[Rykon]

Weapons give you a weapon damage rating, but rely on the melee ability (mostly) to use and are therefore limited to the melee charmset. Unarmed don't have the weapon damage, other than kicks which are +3. There are some weapons you can use with martial arts, but for the hercules style of brawling, Solar Hero Style will be your goto choice. It's allowed weapons are Smashfists, Khatars, and Tiger Claws though I don't think those would necessarily stack with something like Orichalcum Fists of Battle. Once you have that charm and perfected Kata Bracers your base damage before other effects is 30 (if you are Strength 5, and why wouldn't you be if that's the route you chose). Which is double what a Grand Daiklave could do in the same person's hands.

That said, if you want a sword... might I suggest the Daiklave of Conquest?

 

[D. Rex]

I do like the "Ragnar smash" style of fighting. Especially if it works doesn't get me killed


But a Daiklave of Conquest you say? I dont know what that it is, but it does sound pretty cool. Definitely sounds like something I could see Oseidon having.

 

[Rykon]

Page 392 of the Core Rulebook. It's something only a Dawn caste can use. All enemies are penalized by the wielder's valor rating to all rolls (provided they succeed at a fear check to stay in combat after you draw the weapon). Allies gain +1 die to all combat rolls and +1 success to all valor rolls.

Long story short, it makes enemies take a hefty penalty to fight you and your allies if they haven't already fled, and allies get a slight buff. It is rather costly, but there is nothing else quite like it.

 

[D. Rex]

I am very very tempted. A general could make very good use of that.

 

[Rykon]

Also before I forget, power armor is a thing we are working toward slowly but surely (big thanks to MasterDAF ). Both Melee and Solar Hero fighters are more than capable of making use of it when the time comes.

 

[D. Rex]

What's the viability of going in buck naked? Figuratively speaking. Mostly.

 

[Rykon]

It's doable. There are such things as perfect parries, perfect dodges, and perfect soaks. You would want to be relying on hits not landing in the first place (parry or dodge) but the perfect soak would nullify any damage provided an attack did land. That is very expensive to your mote pools though.

 

[D. Rex]

Hmm. But how noob friendly such an approach? Relying on notes as a defense.

 

[Rykon]

Not very, you're playing a dangerous game of attrition if you have to constantly spend motes of essence for defense.

That's why I generally advocate for a few things in a given combat kit.

1. At least one perfect defense (dodge, parry, and/or soak)
2. A way to negate onslaught penalties for a scene (Parry and Dodge, you can get this from the melee tree for parry and it will still be useable unarmed)
3. A way to negate surprise (Awareness and Dodge have charms that do this)
4. Nice to have, Ox-Body Technique. Thanks to Sherwood's hardy rules most Resistance charms that you'd grab for a perfect soak would grant you Ox-Body stacks for free. These give you additional health boxes so you could take more wounds before being taken out. While you would be taking wound penalties for having damage, it keeps you alive, so there's that.

 

[Sherwood]

Ok, a few things for D. Rex to know about for character creation. During the initial build, you can raise your Essence up to 3 with Bonus Points but no higher. After you have spent your Bonus Points and have a finished sheet, I'll give you a lump sum of 65 xp, with which you can raise your Essence up to whatever level you now wish.

Keep in mind that you can use your Xp to raise up your Backgrounds at a cost of 3xp per 1 dot.

 

[Rykon]

Would he still get the artifact dots and / or free dot of essence afforded to other late comers?

 

[Sherwood]

I had forgotten I had given you guys a Essence boost. Allow me to amend your points to say it is the 65 plus a free dot of Essence to raise you up. Xp wise, it makes more sense to use your Bonus Points to buy Essence 3 in character generation, then get the free dot. For your Backgrounds, you will have 12 dots to allocate to what you wish, including Artifacts if you want them.

 

[Psychie]

Cool beans for you, D. Rex !

 

[D. Rex]

Surely noted. I'll be sure to take those when I create the guy.

Ok, a few things for D. Rex to know about for character creation. During the initial build, you can raise your Essence up to 3 with Bonus Points but no higher. After you have spent your Bonus Points and have a finished sheet, I'll give you a lump sum of 65 xp, with which you can raise your Essence up to whatever level you now wish.

Keep in mind that you can use your Xp to raise up your Backgrounds at a cost of 3xp per 1 dot.

Aye aye boss!

Thanks!

I probably wont be able to start in it today. But I will probably need some help with the CS. The formatting, and probably a lot of noob related questions.

To try and head that off at the pass, I have Exalted 2nd Edition, but nothing else. And it doesn't seem to contain a lot of skke of the stuff I had seen mentioned. Is there any other reading material I should be aware of that I can make use of?

 

[D. Rex]

Cool beans for you, D. Rex !

Indeed!

 

[Rykon]

It's an old edition with a lot of books. Even just for Solars there's a lot of material available.

My complete list off the top of my head is:

Scroll of Errata (current updates to effects, some new charms), Lords of Creation (solar charms and artifacts), Ink Monkeys compilation (solar charms), Glories of the Most High: Unconquered Sun (solar charms), Oadenol's Codex (artifacts), and Wonder of the Lost Age (more artifacts)

 

[D. Rex]

Any place that would be good to find those?

 

[Sherwood]

Any place that would be good to find those?

I have all the books on PDF, and with my Dropbox account I can share them with you. I just need an email, and poofta! Link sent.