But seriously, mortals are the Exalted equivalent of an NPC class. Getting archetypes for the Aristocrat class would be cool and all, but not having mechanics to make the backwoods Baron distinct from the Grand Vizier (who would of course get Sneak Attack) isn't really a big deal. Because if those guys become important to your game it's not because they have a mechanical widget but because they're your sovereign lord or the sage dispensing plot hooks and excuses to spend some XP wisdom or whatever.
edited 4th Nov '15 12:31:02 PM by rikalous
The problem is that their existence and making sense is a root of character backstories (WHY does that order of martial artists in your backstory exist when there is no sense for it to be), as well as reflecting on the system (WHY does that merit exist and costs so much).
There are also plot hooks. For example, an underground kung-fu tournament that your character infiltrates is a boring slog because none of the opponents have anything but a standard dicepool to them.
3e promised to remove the logical disparities of 2e's "Martial Arts World". They didn't. They even made it LESS possible via categorical removal of Enlightened Mortals with TMA.
edited 4th Nov '15 12:46:52 PM by Adannor
the thing is, I could totally see 4 dots being at least /more/ reasonable if techniques hadn't been Dummied Out. 4 dots of merits for something I can occasionally use without spending motes? Yeah probably a bit more worth than "I'm just a charm tree needlessly locked away"
"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"Another strange thing someone mentioned to me. Martial Arts takes a 4 dot merit, and a separate skill for each style (which are all penalized if you try to learn more than one before mastering any of them) AND you still have to buy the damn charms. Terrestrial Circle sorcery though is an Occult 3, Essence 1 charm that you don't even need to think about ever again, boom, you're now a rare and powerful wielder of sorcery. Free spell and shaping for you!
edited 6th Nov '15 3:15:12 AM by Lanceleoghauni
"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"Yyyup. You can't Supernal your way to early Celestial or Solar Circle sorcery, at least.
On an unrelated note, the Twilight anima familiar power is the handiest thing. No matter what your specialty is, Malfeas has spat out a race of first circles for you. Medicine-focused? Sesseljae. Bureaucracy? Aalu? Craft? Marrotte, Firmin, Heranhal, take your pick.
Onyx Path, someone does a bit-by-bit review and critique of 3e: Irked Reads Ex3
(sigh)
You mean the one question someone answered over two weeks ago? I don't really think that counts as "moving on"...It's less than a handful posts after it, doesn't really have much content, and it's basically been dead for quite some time.
Point taken though. I just don't really like having to prove what I'm saying isn't off-topic, I think if you're not sure you should just check upthread. You know, like five posts up...?
Just more easily irritated than usual lately, maybe because of winter.

I think it's a good sign that Exalted is now in a place where the houserules are things like "and the Merits to buy martial arts are gone" rather than "oh by the way I've rebuilt the combat system from the ground up".