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Core Rulebook Exaltations - Revised; Because Sacred Cows are the best to Slaughter
Topic Started: May 21 2017, 11:50 PM (5,218 Views)
Traskus
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Spitball Wizard
Anyone can post in this thread as long as they contribute balance changes.
Discuss mechanical balance changes only. Their fluff is fine, and if you disagree please create your own fluff thread to discuss it there.
When posting changes, present the entire Exalt's mechanics clearly and in full and clearly mark changes. Then explain how this makes the Exalt more balanced.

Only discuss Core Exalts. If you wish to discuss homebrew, please do so in their threads.
If posting single mechanics changes, also include mechanics they interact with.

Revisions as created by the poster known as MHG

Revisions as created by the zetaboards forum community.

Revised Atlantean


Revised Chosen


Revised Daemonhost


Revised Paragon


Revised Promethean


Revised Vampire


Revised Werewolf


Revised Wraith


Revised Dragonblooded
Edited by Traskus, May 27 2018, 10:56 PM.
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I'd argue that Wraiths are more powerful than Daemonhosts when played intelligently but Daemonhosts are sure easier. I'm not sure if many things really need changing but I suppose I can post some ideas I've had in the past.

Daemonhost:
The easiest exalt to be strong with, the biggest reason for that is the busted resource regain. I say take out the will roll for resonance erupting altogether and let them only come back by hurting yourself or someone else. This does mean they functionally have a massive cap since they can convert hitpoints into resource and vice versa, but it is harder to stay topped off and it's an all or nothing done that way. I'd also say let the bite only restore 1 essence at the time if it deals a wound, no matter how many wounds it deals. It still needs to deal at least 1 though.

Rejected by Creation:
Whenever a Daemonhost spends Essence, he gains Resonance. The only way to regain spent Essence is to eliminate the Resonance caused by its use. Resonance Eruptions (turning the resonance back into essence) are made as a free action. The Hero loses one hit point, converts one Resonance back into Essence, and repeats this action if he has any Resonance remaining. While the Hero has Resonance, a 9 on any die when making a magic Test forces the character to cause a Resonance Eruption immediately unless the Daemonhost passes a TN 5+5xArcanoi Willpower Test. (Multiple 9s stack!)
Feeding:
A Daemonhost may feed on the living to fuel his power. By consuming the flesh and blood of an living creature, the Daemonhost may recharge their horrid abilities. Daemonhosts gain a Bite weapon (1k1 R; Melee; Brawling). If they inflict at least one wound with these bite attacks, they convert one Resonance back into Essence. If a Daemonhost is feeding on a helpless or willing target, they may choose to feed only on a small amount of blood, leaving almost no mark.

I'd say nerf Daemonic if you're nerfing too, by removing some of the benefit of it to limit it a little. Could go off just Arcanoi, but I prefer the idea of going off just Constitution:
Daemonic -
Daemonhosts reduce damage they take from every source by an amount equal to their Constitution except for damage inflicted by magical effects or silver weapons.

Could also restore the penalties to the assets that version 1 had, but perhaps that is not needed. A nerf was suggested to Unholy Might as well, although it may be overkill:
Unholy Might:
By spending one Essence per rank added, you may increase the rank of your Magical School for a single Magic Test.

Chosen:

Much of the problem with the Chosen is how expensive it is to advance compared to other Exaltations due to the necessity of raising the Devotion stat to be able to raise the Power Stat after a certain point, which ends up being very expensive for little benefit. There are propositions to ways to make Devotion more interesting and organic for everyone, but to simply address the issue I have a suggested a change to the Chosen's Conviction power, with the new change bolded:

Quote:
 
Conviction: Your power stat (Faith) is capped at 1/2 of your Devotion (rounded up) as well as your level. If you lose points in devotion sufficient to bring the cap on your power stat down below the level you have actually purchased it at, you lose access to the powers granted by higher ranks in the power stat until you have increased your devotion sufficiently. When you purchase a point of Faith, increase your devotion by 1, to a maximum of 10.
This will allow you to reach up to 5 Faith at the same cost other Exalts buy their Power Stat, although you still have extra restrictions from the devotion and can still lose it and lose the function of your higher Power Stat just like before. It also has the side effect of letting you increase your devotion if you would die and cheat death by losing Faith, incase your Devotion has dropped in the mean time although Faith is still generally very expensive since it is a Power Stat.
Also, I recommend either making Redeemed a Powerstat 2 ability by switching it with Divine Protection, or making it go off Devotion rather than Faith.

Paragon:

Some people think they need to be buffed. I'm not certain I agree, but they are a bit boring. As alluded to elsewhere, one suggestion would be to make Swift as a Coursing River their Powerstat 1 ability and then make all the Legendary Characteristics their Power Stat 2 ability, bringing it in line with the Daemonhost's Unnatural Characteristics. Also makes it harder to snag 6 dots in a characteristic at level 1 as a Paragon, something that was easy to do before with Wheel Vets.
Flash: You are never surprised and are aware of every attack that is directed at you. You may treat the Dangersense Feat as optional for class progression.
Edited by Username, May 22 2017, 12:26 AM.
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weredrago2
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He Who Posts Too Much
Pure Faith and Virgil's Guidance go well with the Chosen. If it needs a shot in the arm, we can give the Chosen those feats to start with.
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Eisenritter
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Old Iron Knight
Devotion does seem rather appropriate to fuel Redeemed with, especially taken with the proposed "buy Faith, get Devotion" fix.
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Chosen already get a type of Pure Faith, Leeway. They do well to get both but that's for them to build their character, like how Atlanteans are smart to go Magic User but they don't need to do so.

Vampire
Vampire's are very middle of the road, except with Celerity they can kick major ass. Some good assets too, but I suppose addressing assets is a topic for a later time as I skipped it before. The changes I would probably make would be to Auspex, Dread and Dominate. The change to Dominate is somewhat iffy since boosting the fear can get really, really nasty. I'd probably make it a bit weaker than the Necrodermis Promethean's fear, since they can likely do it more.

Auspex - The Hero can see in the dark and +1k1 to all perception checks.
Dread - The Hero may spend 1 Vitae to gain Fear equal to half their Blood Potency, rounded up, until the end of the scene.
Dominate - The Hero may use the Dominate spell as a spell-like ability, using Blood Potency + Charisma instead of the normal Magic Test.
Edited by Username, May 22 2017, 12:53 AM.
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Marr965

Atlanteans should have a slight tweak:

Past Lives - Atlanteans gain the feat Jack of All Trades. They also begin play with Speak Language (Syrneth).
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Nobody Important

Quicken Spell should probably be more expensive. For one Mote, you should realistically be spamming it every turn. Capstones should be good, but they shouldn't be game-breakingly overpowered, though, I'm sure some people would disagree, and they shouldn't be shattering the action economy over their knees. It's just not good for game balance. Vampires, at least, are prevented from doing the same half-action twice, but you can still free-action a spell, and then full-action or half-action another one. I would suggest the cost being increased to two motes, though that may not be enough.

Maximize Spell may need a look, though I can't think of any good way to nerf it outside of increasing it's Mote cost or just flat-out breaking it, which doesn't really help matters.

Edit: Additionally, while the rest of base Wraith is fine (Curse is a bit strong, but the rest of the features are middle-of-the-road), Childen of Salt needs some toning down. Rules-as-written, it's effectively game-endingly overpowered.
Edited by Nobody Important, May 22 2017, 11:41 AM.
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weredrago2
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He Who Posts Too Much
You can only do one Focus Power action a round, so while Quicken Spell still breaks the game over it's knee, the power is slightly less broken than you'd think. Perhaps Quicken Spell could also be nerfed so that Half Action spells are quickened to Free Actions, and Full Action spells are quickened to Half Actions?
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GuardianTempest
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+8:00 GMT || Unlucky & Miserable
Another thing about Paragons is that their capstone feels...very underwhelming. It has to be the same action the Paragon stunted on, having spent a sizeable amount of Pressure, and all Allies must benefit from it within one round. Which strikes the power as very situational but I could be wrong, that's something someone else said.
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weredrago2
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He Who Posts Too Much
No, I agree with you. I'm playing a Paragon now and see no reason to increase my Power Stat besides getting more Action Points and more resource spending per round.
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