Twinking for the sake of a well rounded character.

One of my characters had the Archery specialization of 'Flashy Shooting.' Emant that I had to come up with a creative stunt every time, but...it was worth it. =)
 
Bows might be a bit broad.... but definitely "long bows" or "composite bows", or "arbalest" or "crossbows".


I definitely like the "Flashy shooting" idea. On the one hand, you get insane bonuses everytime you do a stunt (a stunt would per definition always qualify as "flashy shooting"), on the other hand, you have to work for it, and have extra motivation to do so.
 
Or maybe with a particular type of ammunition?  Maybe he's an expert at using Target Arrows to maximum efficiency?
 
I'd approve of Archery specialties involving a specific type of weapon (i.e. Powerbows), a specific range (i.e. close combat, long range), a specific ammunition (i.e. broadheads), or something conditional (i.e. firing from horseback, taking multiple shots, moving targets).


-S
 
Same as you would any other Specialty.


Longbows.  Shortbows.  On Horseback.  Trick shooting.  Disarming shots.  Fire arrows.  Sharpshooting.  Hunting.  Quickdraw.  Blind shots.  Long distance.  Short distance.  Moving targets.  Firing from cover.  Inanimate targets.  Night shots.  Quiet kills.  The list goes on.


Methinks your players just aren't thinking very hard...
 
Stillborn said:
I'd approve of Archery specialties involving a specific type of weapon (i.e. Powerbows), a specific range (i.e. close combat, long range), a specific ammunition (i.e. broadheads), or something conditional (i.e. firing from horseback, taking multiple shots, moving targets).
-S
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I allowed a player once to take an archery specialty of "charm" so whenever he used a charm he'd get the specialty dice, add to that his high ability, his sweet-ass bow and some nifty combos and he kicked some major ass.


I personally prefer specialties to be more along the lines of what that player had, or with things like "flashy shooting" like someone else said, I've also accepted specialties like "while drunk" or blind shots.  I think they're vastly superior to broad and/or general specialties like "swords" although something like "long bow"  and specific types of swords or ammo is a bit better.  Although I will generally accept 'swords' I tend to ask that they be a bit more specific.  I have an NPC currently who has craft and investigation specialties for doing things without the use of eyesight.
 
I know all those specialities Jakk. What Im arguing against, is that you can't specialize it on a broad area such as "bows." since that would be the equivalent of specializing melee to "sword" - two different weapon categories, and should be possible.  Of course, specializing it to use bows would be incredibly good and be used every time you use the skill, but for someone who has "sword" as specialization, it's more or less used 99% of the time as well.


But I guess the flaw is really in how the skills were designed - if I wanted realism, I'd need to skip all the combat abilities and instead invest in abilities like "Sword", with a penalty to use weapons that aren't swords but similar.


A bit like the swedish RPG "Eon". :P
 
If it's any consolation, I don't like the idea of "Specializing" with "Sword".  


Too broad a category for specialization.  Longsword.  Broadsword.  Slashing sword.  Chopping sword.  Reaper Daiklaives, all very good, but not so much just "sword."


Then again, you get the same option with Archery.  You can take a particular style of bow, just the same as you take a particular style of melee weapon.  Wanting to specialize in "Bows" is just like wanting to specialize in "Melee."


It would be "useful" to be able to specialize in Bow as much as it would be nice to get an extra die or three to throw at Melee.  


While the skill set is similar, longbows aren't the same as shortbows. Same as the long pointy part of a katana are similar to a scimitar, but they're different weapons, and used in a slightly different fashion, and with different strategies.
 
It's not quite so bad specialising in "Swords". Look at the range of weapons there: Hammers, Axes, Tables, etc.


Although I would demand that the speciality be in a specific breed of sword, as Mr. Bey just noted.


However, I much prefer interesting specialisations. An assassin might go for "Surprise attacks", gaining the bonus when he catches someone unawares, but not doing quite so well if they survive the first few hits and draw their own weapon.


Another interesting one is "Duelling", where you might have excellent formal training and could act as a champion for your team if facing an honourable opponent, but you get flustered on the battlefield; too many enemies, and they're poorly trained and difficult to predict.


In L5R, which Battousai is almost certain to jump in here in praise of, it was possible for two armies to face off but never come to blows because the commanders entered a formal duel on the field, and the loser's side conceded the battle and quit the field. I think there is ample room for this in Exalted, and that sort of thing should be worked into a game with honourable characters with duelling specialties and Face 5.
 
This is one of the reasons I find Lookshy so appealing as a setting.

In L5R, which Battousai is almost certain to jump in here in praise of
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L5R is great and everyone should play it.


On topic:


I'm guilty of having a 3-dot specialty in "swords" on my current character. Iin my defense I have always tried to stick to a particular theme When I fight armed, even to the point where I was willing to spend two freebie points to buy the absolutely apalling Signature Style, and also when I can, I tend to stick to a very specialised weapon (Described by one GM as a "Super Rapier") and am working to incorporated my characters specific fighting style into the world of the game as well os just being dots on the sheet.


As a GM I would be in favour of specialties being a bit more indepth, or even stylish would be good enough for me. I've always enjoyed somewhat of a cinematic aspect to my games, even before I played Exalted.


Finally, I would like to add that I think Face is a great advantage and everyone should use it all the time. This is more of L5R seeping in (I'm contractually obliged to plug it wherever I can) but I find the concept of the honorable duel, the single combat etc. to be very appealing.
 
An optional Martial Arts-Based background found in the end chapter of the Players Guide. It is easily altered to represent a swordsman's honour. Essentially, if you and another character with Face are talking/interacting, the person with higher face gets a social bonus equal to the difference.


It only affects those who acknowledge it, but it's nice for people in places like lookshy, or for a Samurai Jack character.
 
I'm gonna second L5R being great and that everyone should play it. I haven't gotten a chance to thoroughly check out the 3rd edition rules, but it looks like they've gone back to the 1st edition rules, making it more like a 1.5 edition in terms of how it relates to the others. Fucking love that game though. Its a great setting, and perfect for balancing combat and etiquitte, because no one faction really considers any of the others evil. They might be at war with eachother, but still act with some degree of civility towards eachother.


As for weapon specialties, if sword or bow seems to broad for you, you might try the name of your artifact weapon (you did name it, didn't you?). Daiklaves might be swords, but I'd imagine one would have to adjust from weilding their personal daiklave to weilding a regular sword, or even a different daiklave.


I'm also playing in a setting which has, to a limited degree, firearms, so there's a huge range of options for specialization there.
 
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