Taking the Secrecy out of being a Solar Exalt (lil'Rant)

[Bodhisattva]

Be clever and role-play, rather than breaking out your Heavenly Guardian Defense all the time.  There are good reasons to use obvious charms and good reasons to not use them.  Knowing the difference can make the difference between a good role-player and a bad one.  One of the gripes I had about D&D was that everything was hack/slash/Fireball all the freaking time.  Sure, you can fry a whole bunch of goblins with your third level fireball, but you can make even more of 'em tumble off a cliff with a well placed first-level Grease spell.  You stunt something like that in Exalted and you get rewarded by your Storyteller.  There was no such system in D&D for rewards like that unless your Dungeon Master was particularly generous or clever.


Use thy powers wisely, Chosen of the Unconquered Sun.

 

[Silence In Daylight]

Really? You guys didn't have DMs who rewarded innovation?


 Besides, there are in-game bonuses to using the Grease to eliminate the goblins instead of Mr. Fireball, the primary being you still have Mr. Fireball to use on someone else.

 

[Bodhisattva]

Saving the Fireball for the bigger bad guy...  I like your style.


And no, I never gamed with a DM that rewarded innovation.  Rather, they seemed to sneer down their nose at you as you suggested the idea, sigh heavily, then watch disdainfully as you roll.  If you succeeded, they'd try to screw you over in some fashion 'cause they thought the idea was bolloxed to begin with, and if you failed, they'd gloat mercilessly while your companions tried to save your bacon after being irritated that you didn't just fry them in the first place.


Although, the grease could have made thing interesting in combination with the fireball...  Grease fire!

 

[Silence In Daylight]

Oh dear, you had those DMs...the ones who had their script perfectly scripted, and heaven help the hapless PC who dared take a step off his clearly marked path...


  I'm rather bitter about those bastards; I've seen too many gamers lose interest because of them.

 

[Bodhisattva]

My brother once gamed with a DM who'd been gaming so long, his idea of playing with new D&D players was to put them on an island with no way off and pit them against whatever monster his finger landed on out of the DMG.  If they survived, great.  If not, oh well.


Roll your spot check.


I failed.


You suddenly notice that your arm is missing.


I made my spot check.


You notice three hellhounds bearing down on you.


But we're only level one characters!


So?


Or, his other favorite trick was to dictate your attire and dress your character in the most ridiculous of clothing, with all the social bumblings that naturally followed.  If you tried to buy new clothes, there were none available.  My brother got so fed up with this DM and having to roll two or three new characters a night, he just started having his characters commit suicide at the first sign of trouble.  The DM made him roll for it and if he failed, he wasn't allowed to commit suicide again with that character.

 

[Silence In Daylight]

My brother once gamed with a DM who'd been gaming so long, his idea of playing with new D&D players was to put them on an island with no way off and pit them against whatever monster his finger landed on out of the DMG.  If they survived, great.  If not, oh well.
Roll your spot check.


I failed.


You suddenly notice that your arm is missing.


I made my spot check.


You notice three hellhounds bearing down on you.


But we're only level one characters!


So?


Or, his other favorite trick was to dictate your attire and dress your character in the most ridiculous of clothing, with all the social bumblings that naturally followed.  If you tried to buy new clothes, there were none available.  My brother got so fed up with this DM and having to roll two or three new characters a night, he just started having his characters commit suicide at the first sign of trouble.  The DM made him roll for it and if he failed, he wasn't allowed to commit suicide again with that character.

 Justifiable homicide, anyone?

 

[Bodhisattva]

Find a DM that's not a wanker, yeah, totally.