GURPS Exalted - Once More, From The Top

[Jürgen Hubert]

I still haven't quite given up on converting Exalted to GURPS. This time, I've decided to take a slightly different approach. I want to leave the templates for the Exalted aside for now, and instead concentrate on skills and charms (the innate magical powers of the Exalted) - in particular, as these apply to the Solars, who are paragons of skill.

First of all, some basic guidelines:

- No mortal in the setting, and no Exalted below the age of 100 years, can have a base skill level higher than 20 (elder Exalts may have higher skill levels). If a skill should be increased to higher than 20 because the underlying attribute is increased, the character is "reimbursed" the excess points (which should preferably be invested into charms related to that skill.
- The effective skill level may be boosted by charms beyond the base skill. For Solars, the maximum effective skill level they can reach is (base skill level)x2 -10. For example, if you have a base skill level of 18, you can boost it up to 26 with magic. Other modifiers (like Accuracy bonuses from ranged weapons and the like) can be added afterwards.
- Generally, all Solar charms should be linked to one or more appropriate skills (if in doubt, the GM decides what is appropriate). The maximum number of character points that can be put into a particular charm depends on the base skill level. If several skills are appropriate for a particular charm, the highest skill level determines the number of character points. The following rules apply:

If the use of the charm in question is not obvious and it can function continuously without any drawbacks, the limit is:

(base skill level - 10)x2

Thus, a Solar with an age of 99 years or less could spend a maximum of 20 character points in a single charm of this type.

If the charm either has the Nuisance Effect (Obvious), the Costs Essence limitation, or the Temporary Disadvantage (Reduced Energy Reserve - see below) the limit is:

(base skill level - 10)x10

Thus, a Solar with an age of 99 years or less could spend a maximum of 100 character points in a single charm.

- The character point limits apply after all enhancements and limitations are factored in, so it is entirely appropriate to pick several limitations to get a more powerful effect.

[Jürgen Hubert]

In the original rules, 25 different "Abilities" (the equivalent of skills) exist. Solar charms are all linked to a particular Ability, and each Solar has five "Caste Abilities" depending on his type, and five others which he may choose freely. For this purpose, I decided to keep those Abilities as a way of organizing the GURPS skills into different groups. Again, each Solar has five Caste and five Favored Abilities. So, why do these matter?

First of all, it has a huge effect on training. Solar characters should gain huge amounts of character points during play (more guidelines on that at a later date, but at least twice as much as in normal games is probably appropriate), but they cannot necessarily spend them instantaneously to increase skills - often, lengthy training times are necessary. Use the following table:

Learning the first level of a skill (i.e. putting a single character point into it): 3 weeks
Improving a skill or technique associated with a Caste/Favored Ability: Instantaneous
Improving a skill or technique not associated with a Caste/Favored Ability: 4 days per character point
Learning a charm associated with a Caste/Favored Ability: 1 day per 5 character points.
Learning a charm not associated with a Caste/Favored Ability: 1 day per 2 character points.

Learning anything without a teacher will double the time required. Thus, Solars will improve rapidly at their core areas of competence, but other fields will take significantly longer to learn.


The Abilities and Skills associated with the various Castes of Solars are:

Dawn

* Archery: Artillery, Beam Weapons, Blowpipe, Bow, Crossbow, Fast-Draw (ranged weapons), Gunner, Guns, Innate Attack, Liquid Projector, Sling, Zen Archery
* Martial Arts: Boxing, Brawling, Judo, Karate, Pressure Points, Pressure Secrets, Sumo Wrestling, Wrestling
* Melee: Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Cloak, Fast-Draw (Melee weapons), Flail, Force Sword, Force Whip, Garrote, Jitte/Sai, Knife, Kusari, Lance, Lasso, Main-Gauche, Monowire Whip, Parry Missile Weapons, Polearm, Rapier, Saber, Shield, Shortsword, Smallsword, Spear, Staff, Tonfa, Two-Handed Axe/Mace, Two-Handed Flail, Two-Handed Sword, Whip
* Thrown: Bolas, Dropping, Net, Spear Thrower, Throwing, Throwing Art, Thrown Weapon
* War: Soldier, Strategy, Tactics


Zenith

* Integrity: Autohypnosis, Dreaming, Meditation, Mental Strength, Mind Block
* Performance: Captivate, Combat Art, Combat Sport, Dancing, Enthrallment, Erotic Art, Fire Eating, Group Performance, Kiai, Makeup, Mimicry, Musical Composition, Musical Influence, Musical Instrument, Panhandling, Performance, Poetry, Public Speaking, Religious Ritual, Sex Appeal, Singing, Stage Combat, Suggest, Sway Emotions, Ventriloquism
* Presence: Brainwashing, Fast-Talk, Hypnotism, Interrogation, Intimidation, Leadership, Persuade
* Resistance: Body Control, Breath Control, Hiking, Immovable Stance
* Survival: Animal Handling, Falconry, Fishing, Naturalist, Navigation, Packing, Scuba, Survival, Teamster, Tracking, Urban Survival


Twilight

* Craft: Architecture, Armoury, Artist, Bioengineering, Carpentry, Chemistry, Cooking, Electrician, Electronics Operation, Electronics Repair, Engineer, Explosives, Farming, Gardening, Jeweler, Knot-Tying, Leatherworking, Machinist, Masonry, Mechanic, Metallurgy, Photography, Sewing, Smith
* Investigation: Criminology, Detect Lies, Forensics, Fortune-Telling, Intelligence Analysis, Market Analysis, Research, Search
* Lore: Anthropology, Archaeology, Area Knowledge, Biology, Cartography, Computer Hacking, Computer Operation, Computer Programming, Current Affairs, Expert Skill, Games, Geography, Geology, Hazardous Materials, Heraldry, Herb Lore, Hidden Lore, History, Hobby Skill, Literature, Mathematics, Meteorology, Paleontology, Philosophy, Physics, Professional Skill, Prospecting, Spacer, Teaching, Theology, Weather Sense, Weird Science
* Medicine: Diagnosis, Esoteric Medicine, First Aid, Pharmacy, Physician, Physiology, Poisons, Surgery, Veterinary
* Occult: Alchemy, Astronomy, Exorcism, Occultism, Ritual Magic, Symbol Drawing, Thaumatology


Night

* Athletics: Acrobatics, Aerobatics, Aquabatics, Breaking Blow, Climbing, Flight, Flying Leap, Forced Entry, Free Fall, Jumping, Lifting, Mount, Parachuting, Power Blow, Push, Running, Skating, Skiing, Sports, Swimming
* Awareness: Blind Fighting, Body Language, Body Sense, Forward Observer, Lip Reading, Observation
* Bureaucracy: Accounting, Administration, Economics, Finance, Freight Handling, Housekeeping, Law, Merchant
* Dodge: No skills, but the character's unencumbered Dodge value counts as "skill level" for the purpose of charms.
* Larceny: Acting, Counterfeiting, Disguise, Escape, Filch, Forgery, Gambling, Holdout, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Scrounging, Sleight of Hand, Smuggling, Streetwise, Traps


Eclipse

* Linguistics: Cryptography, Gesture, Linguistics, Propaganda, Speed-Reading, Typing, Writing
* Ride: Battlesuit, Bicycling, Diving Suit, Driving, Environment Suit, Piloting (small vehicles), Riding, Vacc Suit
* Sail: Airshipman, Boating, Crewman, Piloting (large vehicles), Seamanship, Shiphandling, Submarine, Submariner
* Socialize: Carousing, Connoisseur, Diplomacy, Politics, Psychology, Savoir-Faire, Sociology
* Stealth: Camouflage, Invisibility Art, Light Walk, Shadowing, Stealth

[Jürgen Hubert]

A few general guidelines for Solar charms:

- Solar charms should always be associated with particular skills - they should improve them or heroically exaggerate their capabilities.
- For the purpose of Solar charms, it is permissible to treat skill and technique character points as advantages, and modify them with enhancements or limitations.
- Techniques, in particular, are useful fodder for Solar charms, and players and GMs are encouraged to come up with new techniques which eliminate modifiers for unusual circumstances and convert them into charms. They shouldn't be so overpowering as to make the main skill useless, but the GM should cheerfully ignore if the results of the technique are implausible or unrealistic - after all, Solars are the quintessential heroes who go "beyond the impossible" on a daily basis!
- In GURPS Exalted, there are no charm trees with weaker charms acting as prerequisites for stronger charms - only lots and lots of example powers which may be modified by players as much as they want, as long as they fit into the overall themes of Solars and don't exceed the usual limits for their character's skill level.
- Solar charms are generally powered by a special Energy Reserve, called their Essence Pool. Points in this Energy Reserve are called "motes".
- Some charms require that you "commit" motes to them. This is the equivalent of a Temporary Disadvantage, and represents a limitation worth -3% per mote committed. This is lower than the normal Costs Energy limitation - but it has the advantage that you don't need to spend more energy after a minute has passed and thus perfect for long-duration charms.

[Jürgen Hubert]

And now, let's work out some sample powers.

(Skill) Excellency
Ability: Any, except for Dodge
CP Cost: Determine the maximum skill level you want to achieve, up to the usual limit of ((base skill)x2 - 10). Figure out how many character points it would cost to increase the skill to that level normally. Add a (Costs Energy) limitation with a modifier of (maximum bonus + 1)x5%.

Solars are known for their peerless use of their skills. This charm may be purchased for each skill a Solar has. For each mote put into this charm, the Solar may boost the effective level of the skill by +1 for one second, up to the maximum permissible.

Designer's Notes: The limitation cost for this advantage was calculated as per the explanation for variable fatigue costs on p. 101 of GURPS Powers.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Flawless Impersonation Style
Ability: Larceny
Prerequisite: Acting at 12+
CP Cost: 12

If a member of the Night Caste wishes to impersonate someone, even strangers will welcome her as her own. By committing 7 motes to this charm he negates all penalties for either unfamiliarity with the subject being impersonated, or trying to fool acquaintances (even close ones) of the subject. However, a disguise is still necessary.

Designer's Notes: This was built as a combination of two custom techniques, one of with eliminates the -5 modifier for lacking acquaintance with the subject, while the other eliminates the -10 modifier for fooling close acquaintances. As he effectively loses 7 levels of his Energy Reserve, this is the equivalent of a Temporary Disadvantage worth -21 points. Without it, the charm would cost 15 CP and require an Acting skill level of 18!

[Jürgen Hubert]

Craftsman Needs No Tools
Ability: Craft
Prerequisite: Any appropriate Craft skill at 11+ for levels 1-2, 12+ for levels 3-5, 13+ for levels 6-7, and 14+ for levels 8-10.
CP Cost: 4/level

The genius of the Copper Spiders cannot be constrained by the mere lack of tools. By committing 7 motes to this charm, the Solar can reduce the penalties for insufficient equipment (see GURPS Basic Set, p. 345) for creating and repairing items by one per level of the charm - and if he has bought the maximum 10 levels, he can create and repair items without any tools at all! However, only one particular skill can benefit from this at any one time, although the character may switch to a different skill after concentrating for one second.

Designer's Notes: Reducing penalties for insufficient equipment is treated as a technique worth 1 point per level. The ability to use this on all Craft-related skill is treated as a Modular Ability (Cosmic Power) worth a base 10 points/level, with a -40% limitation for "subset of a medium-sized class" (see GURPS Powers, p.64) and -21% for committing 7 motes, for a total of -61%.

[Balthial]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm an old Exalted fan but I don't know GURPS too well. I agree that Exalted 2E is an epic disaster. A few thoughts:

1. I agree that you shouldn't try to emulate rules too carefully - I might go even further in this direction, I mean, I'm not sure I would bother with charms at all. But OK, I don't want to rain on your parade.
2. (not used)
3. What rules set are you using? Ie which cinematic rules, what advantages?
4. What is the base template for Solar Exalted?
5. What are the stats for Daiklaves et cetera?
6. What advantages must be taken as charms? Can I take Combat Reflexes normally?
7. Is there a general "Power Modifier" for taking powers as Charms?
8. How do you handle Anima Manifestitations? A 500 m column of light that advertises your presence is worth something in any setting.
9. I think you're going to struggle to get everything pointed using existing GURPS guidelines.
10. Am I right that one mote of essence = 1 FP?
11. How do you deal with Sorcerery?

On specific charms:

1. Excellency: I would stat this as a talent. The math is easier and it more closely resembles the original. I would say any of the 25 Exalted abilities would be a 5 point talent.
2. Craftsmen Needs No Tools: To me it seems like at most a 10 point advantage. Although I guess it is dependent on tech level.
3. Wonder Forging Genius: Personally I would just let people learn the higher TL skills as they have the opportunity. If they can learn them without a tutor that's something like "Ally (Sidereal Librarian) or Ally (First Age Self Appears in Dreams)". To me Tech Levels are really only "Current" and "First Age".
4. Ox Body Technique: I think the cap is too low. To me you're looking at up to 60 total hit points for the high end Solars.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Originally Posted by Balthial

1. I agree that you shouldn't try to emulate rules too carefully - I might go even further in this direction, I mean, I'm not sure I would bother with charms at all. But OK, I don't want to rain on your parade.

For my system, "charms" is mainly a shorthand for "advantages used in a framework similar to GURPS Powers and GURPS Psionic Powers" (especially the latter). I will only rarely bother with prerequisites and the like.

3. What rules set are you using? Ie which cinematic rules, what advantages?

Most cinematic stuff, probably. Definitely the Chambara rules.

4. What is the base template for Solar Exalted?

I will get to that later, as I judged the Charm framework the most difficult and yet most central part of the conversion. The template will contain Trained By A Master.

5. What are the stats for Daiklaves et cetera?

Also to be done later. Once I've figured out the charms, I can see how they interact with artifacts.

6. What advantages must be taken as charms? Can I take Combat Reflexes normally?

In general, most mundane advantages - Combat Reflexes included - can be taken normally, without being bought as charms.

7. Is there a general "Power Modifier" for taking powers as Charms?

Yes, though it is +0%. Solar charms don't really have much in the way of weaknesses, or else the Priomordials would have used them in the Primordial War. It was the whole point of the Unconquered Sun to triumph over all opposition, and this is reflected in his Exalted.

8. How do you handle Anima Manifestitations? A 500 m column of light that advertises your presence is worth something in any setting.

An Obvious limitation to the Peripheral Essence Pool.

9. I think you're going to struggle to get everything pointed using existing GURPS guidelines.

Well, I think that using the Charm/Charm Techniques framework outlined above it should be possible to create a conversion that is no more complex than the original, and a great deal more robust and flexible.

10. Am I right that one mote of essence = 1 FP?

For the purpose of limitations, yes. The Essence Pool is essentially an Energy Pool.

11. How do you deal with Sorcerery?

That's admittedly a major headache. I will probably have to build spells as custom advantages, and maybe simply introduce a cap on the various Circles of Sorcery/Necromancy to represent their various power levels.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Oh, and regarding Supernatural Martial Arts:

The basic writeups of skills, techniques etc. will be as in GURPS Martial Arts (which I am not very familiar with, so this part of the conversion will have to wait). However, in addition to those, each style will also have charms and charm techniques similar to what is described above. Furthermore, instead of the level of the highest prerequisite skill capping the character points of the charm, the lowest primary skill will cap it. The character point multiplier will depend on whether the Martial Art is Terrestial, Celestial, or Sidereal (Sidereal Martial Arts will likely get a multiplier of x8 or x9 - slightly weaker than equivalent Solar charms, as it should be. Since Elder Sidereals will have very high skill levels, this will still make them a potent threat...).

The main advantage of Martial Arts (apart from having very high base combat skills) will be that you can get charms in this way which are completely out-of-theme for your type of Exalted. For instance, Solar charms won't give you the ability to generate poison as that's out of type - so you learn a Martial Arts style that does give you that ability...

[Jürgen Hubert]

I think it would be a good idea to demonstrate how my system works:

Archery

Glorious Solar Bow
2.8 points per level
Prerequisite Skills: Artillery, Beam Weapons, Blowpipe, Bow, Crossbow, Gunner, Guns, Liquid Projector, Sling, Zen Archery

The Solar internalizes the essence of bows, developing his own understanding of what a bow should be. This "internal bow" hs the following statistics:

Damage 1d imp/level, 1/2 D 500, Max 500, Acc 3, RoF 1, Shots 1 (2), Recoil 1.

Alas, the real world is rarely as good as the Solar can imagine it to be. The Solar still needs to hold a physical bow to use this charm, and whenever the physical bow and the internal bow have different statistics, the worse value is used (though in case the physical bow has better statistics, the Solar can still use these values to attack normally, without using the charm). By itself, this charm doesn't do anything - its real purpose is to enable the various charm techniques which improve the performance of the bow, and any such improvements may exceed the base statistics of the physical bow (though they derive from them, if the relevant statistics of the physical bow are worse than those of the internal bow).

Solars may develop similar Charms for other ranged weapons, such as crossbows, firewands, artillery and so forth. All these count as Alternate Attacks, which means that all but the most powerful of the Charms cost only 1/5 in character points. Furthermore, all charm techniques developed for one version work for all other versions of this charm, using the relevant skill values as the defaults.

Statistics: Impaling Attack (Increased 1/2 Range x50, +25%; Increased Max Range x5, +10%; Solar Charm +0%; Breakable (DR 3-5, Size Modifier -2), -35%; Can be Stolen (Contest of ST); -30%; Limited by Power of Physical Bow -20%; Limited Use (2 seconds to reload a single shot), -15%).


Accuracy without Distance
Hard
Default: Prerequisite-5; cannot exceed prerequisite.

This technique allows the archer to ignore all range penalties.


Arrow Storm Technique
Hard
Default: Prerequisite-5; cannot exceed prerequisite.

The arrow arches high into the air, and then duplicates in flight, attacking everyone in a 2 yard radius. For a greater penalty, a larger area may be attacked. As usual, a Solar may buy off up to -20 worth of penalties from this technique.

Radius Penalty
2 yards -5
4 yards -10
8 yards -15
16 yards -20


Essence Arrow Attack
Hard
Default: Prerequisite-2; cannot exceed prerequisite.

The will of the Solar shall not be denied by the frailties of his tools. Using this technique allows the Solar to use the statistics of his internal bow instead of his physical bow.


Lambent Bolt of Annihilation
Hard
Default: Prerequisite-5; cannot exceed prerequisite.

The arrow explodes upon impact in a golden flare. Anything near the darget receives "collateral damage" equal to basic damage divided by (3 x the distance in yards from the blast) (any Armor Divisor does not count for this). Increasing the penalty to -10 decreases the divisor to (2 x the distance in yards from the blast), and increasing the penalty to -15 decreases the divisor to the distance in yards from the blast. These penalties may be bought off as well.

Radius Penalty
2 yards -5
4 yards -10
8 yards -15
16 yards -20


Phantom Arrow Technique
Hard
Default: Prerequisite-2; cannot exceed prerequisite.

Lack of arrows will not deter a Solar archer. This technique will allow a Solar to shoot an arrow made out of pure Essence with otherwise normal statistics, avoiding the need for ammunition and reloading.


Rain of Feathered Death
Hard
Default: Prerequisite-4; cannot exceed prerequisite.

The arrow duplicates in flight, giving the bow a RoF of 2. For a greater penalty, a higher RoF may be gained. As usual, a Solar may buy off up to -20 worth of penalties from this technique.

RoF Penalty
2 -4
3 -5
4-7 -7
8-15 -10
16-30 -15
31-70 -20
71-150 -25
151-300 -30


There Is No Wind
Hard
Default: Prerequisite-10; cannot exceed prerequisite.

You order the Little God of your arrow to seek the target on its own. The arrow gains the Homing quality (see GURPS Basic Set, p.106), using a Para-Radar (see GURPS Basic Set, p. 61) with an increased range of 1000 yards.