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From Sidsfix
FAQ
Q: Who are you?
- A: Someone who is tired of watching John Chambers ignore the parts of Second Edition Exalted he doesn't care about, to the setting's detriment. As should be evidenced by the sheer magnitude of editing problems in the line since he became the developer.
Q: Why are you rewriting the Sidereal charmsets?
- A: As written, their powers are horribly staggered, fragile, and uneven. Several charms are either in the wrong trees, have willpower costs that are a holdover from First Edition, or are incorrectly keyworded. There is at least one tree which is almost entirely dependent upon Mass Combat and/or Mandate of Heaven in order to be more than a waste of player XP. (Come on, does anyone even USE Mandate of Heaven? Seriously? Be honest.)
Q: You're altering keywords?
- A: Yes. Two of the new keywords created for this splat - Fate and Maiden - have little real point to their existence beyond vindicating certain groups in the fandom, without regard to game balance. Fate has been altered. Maiden (along with Mandate) has been completely removed.
Q: Why did you remove the Maiden keyword? Wasn't it put there to keep PCs from abusing those charms?
- A: There are two reasons why I cut this out of the game entirely. One, it's pointless. Most STs are going to assume for the purposes of their game that the player has permission to use their Charms. As for abuse, any ST with common sense is going to step in if someone's character is causing drama or making the game unfun for everyone else. It's not White Wolf's job to babysit your players. Two, it'd be like a Solar having to ask the UCS if he could use Heavenly Guardian Defense which I think we can all agree is a pretty silly idea.
Q: What's the point of this rewrite?
- A: Ideally, once completed this charmset will put Sidereals on a roughly equal footing with the other Celestial Exalted, without making them absolute monsters in combat. A well-rounded (not even combat-twinked) Lunar or Solar of equal Essence should be fine against one of these guys, but they'll be an actual challenge instead of "lol paper ninja". They'll still be irritating to fight, in the way that most status-effect boss types are, but it's nothing you can't overcome.
Q: Why are you bothering? Sidereals are overpowered.
- A: Actually Sidereals needed a boost with 2e and didn't get one because people were too busy screaming about the few useful abilities they DO have. But since most folks who say Sids are overpowered are just parroting what they read off rpg.net and have never actually played a Sidereal character, I see little point in dignifying fanboy rage with a mature response. Your mom is overpowered.
Q: Are you going to do anything about Blade of the Battle Maiden?
- A: I've relegated Violet Bier of Sorrows Style to being just another CMA, though it's a style more often used by Sidereals due to its flavor. That's not the only charm getting a makeover, either: a Lunar or Solar who could use Secrets of Future Strife and BotBM as written would flat-out break the game, full stop. Worse than Sids could ever do. Moreover, with my changes, Blade of the Battle Maiden should no longer be necessary to make them effective in combat anymore - the shitty dice cap was the only reason this Charm even made it past playtesting. (Or the writer was just a sadistic jerk who likes to watch Sidereal fans suffer by forcing them to listen to BAAAAAWWWWWWW 24/7. Your call.)
Q: What's this about the Sidereal dice cap?
- A: It's now Attribute + Ability. Permanent Essence was a holdover from 1e that does nothing except make any dice-adders completely useless until about Essence 4.
Q: So if you're changing VBoS to just another CMA, does this mean you're giving Sidereals a hero style?
- A: Yes. With a petition to the Maidens, they can even create extensions to the style which only they can use.
Q: But I hate Sidereals, they're bastards!
- A: That's not what your mom said last night.
Q: Are you planning on doing the same for Dragon-Blooded eventually?
- A: Yes. I plan on restructuring the DB charms from the ground up. I would like to see the 2e mechanics back up the fluff for Sidereals and Dragon-Blooded. As currently written, the Usurpation should have been impossible. Maybe once I'm done, these two groups will be fun for people to play again.
Assorted General Changes
- The limitations upon Charms keyworded Fate still apply - if the Sidereal is in the Underworld, Malfeas, or beyond a bordermarch when attempting to use them. Otherwise treat attempts at unnatural mental influence/shaping upon creatures outside fate as a contested roll - Creation is seeking to force the entity to play by the Loom's rules, as it were. If it works one way it should work the other. Plz to give some consistency, White Wolf.
- I might create an Astrology keyword to replace Mandate so I don't have to strike certain charms entirely. Dunno. Still on the fence here.
- Now and forevermore, the First Excellency includes the option of a penalty buyoff that ignores the cap.
Impending Changes
- Resistance is Battles-favored.
- Ox-Body Technique has been expanded to include the option of a single -1 health level or -0 health levels, purchased a number of times equal to the Sidereal's Resistance.
- Water and Fire Legion, being a charm that requires Mandate of Heaven Rules, is gone.
- Sidereal War is getting an overhaul. DEAR WHITE WOLF: If 3/4ths of a full tree requires mass combat or Mandate to be remotely useful, you are doing it wrong.
- Sids now have a hero style! :D Violet Bier of Sorrows gets its own section, in a far less powerful form, as a general CMA.
- Duck Fate costs 5m, not 10. Leaving it as expensive as it is is just... weird, and nonsensical in 2e.
- I'm considering beefing up their Dodge tree with another charm, since it's kind of small as-is.
- Avoidance Kata has the Fate and Shaping keywords (not Illusion), which means any opponent with defense against such things will still remember there was a fate ninja about to get owned in the face, but no Lunars, you don't get to stop them from moving somewhere else. Given that Sids have to use this Charm within their first three actions in combat, its usefulness is pretty limited as-is, I'm not downplaying it further. Yes, it's frustrating. Yes, Sidereals are smug bastards. Deal.
- Graceful Crane Stance will be added to the Athletics tree.
- Defense of Shining Joy is still not a straight addition to DV, only Performance and relevant specialties as a modifier for calculation purposes. Check the example given in the fluff text to see what I'm talking about here. I am tired of people complaining about this charm. Sidereals are fragile. They survive combat because no one ever freaking hits them.
- Athletics is Journeys-favored.
Character Generation Rules
Bureau Sidereals
- Attributes: 8/6/4
- 35 Ability Points, no ability over 3 without bonus points. Your character MUST have the following: Awareness 2, Bureaucracy 2, Linguistics (Old Realm) 1, Lore 3, Martial Arts 2, Occult 2, Socialize 1, Stealth 1 and at least one dot in either Archery, Melee or Thrown. Other requirements by caste are as follows:
- Journeys:
- Serenity:
- Battles:
- Secrets:
- Endings:
- 12 Charms. None may be Sidereal Martial Arts.
- 7 College dots. At least one dot must be in a caste-related college.
- 13 Backgrounds
- 18 Bonus Points
Ronin Sidereals
- Attributes: 8/6/4
- 28 Ability Points, to be allotted anywhere. None over 3 before bonus points.
- 10 Charms. None may be SMA.
- 5 College Dots. Caste colleges ONLY, and you cannot take resplendencies.
- 7 Backgrounds
- 15 Bonus Points
Charms
JOURNEYS
Athletics: The Mast
Ride
Sail
Survival
Thrown
SERENITY
Craft
Dodge
Linguistics
Performance: The Musician
Socialize
BATTLES
Resistance: The Banner
Archery: The Quiver
Melee
War
Presence
SECRETS
Larceny
Lore
Occult
Stealth
Investigation
ENDINGS
Awareness
Bureaucracy
Integrity
Martial Arts
Medicine
Martial Arts
Celestial Martial Arts
Violet Bier of Sorrows Style
