Quote from: jrientsYes, but the Forgotten Realms isn't a game, it's a setting.  You yourself just said we were comparing Exalted to other games.  And as I said upthread, one of the key differences between Exalted and D&D is that one game puts a huge chunk of setting infodump in front of the chargen.  The clear implication is that you need to read all that crap before making a character.  That the Forgotten Realms is also chock full of setting has little to bear on it, given that we were discussing the difference between D&D and Exalted.  You can play D&D as written without the Forgotten Realms.  I don't think you can make the same claim about Exalted and Creation.

Right, like I said: Exalted is a setting and a game. I was only discussing the setting part from it. You are right that it's much more difficult to divorce the two. Doable, but you'll lose a lot in the process.

Quote from: RPGPunditThe equivalent term in spanish is "comparando salchichon con velocidad", which means "comparing sausages to velocity", which are actually far less comparable things than apples and oranges.

Cool. I'll have to remember that.

Quote from: King of Old SchoolYou do grasp this, yes?

Yeah. And, somehow, the point still stands.

Seanchai

Quote from: jrientsI don't think you can make the same claim about Exalted and Creation.

I don't really know that that's strictly true, though. Many starting characters won't need to know much more then about the town they're starting in, and maybe that there's a city within 500 miles. It's very, very simple to be over 1000 miles from the nearest 'canon city', as it were. Any cursory knowledge their character might have is easily summed up by the GM.

I dunno, it's kind of like the D&D game I'm running. Now, the charm set of Exalted is tied into the backstory of the setting, but none of that is relevant information at all. The canon of the game is, imo, heavily divorced from the majority of play unless you're actively running around the world at breakneck speed. Something, I should point out, that isn't as easy as some people make it out to be.

True, but pulling other parts of the setting out is much tougher. For instance, a campaign that wants to use the charms but not the exalt subspecies and castes would take some work. A D&D campaign that doesn't want the nonhuman races is much easier.

That's not really a bad thing though. Exalted wasn't meant to be modular. It does what it does very well, at the expense of not being as good at other things.

Quote from: James McMurrayTrue, but pulling other parts of the setting out is much tougher. For instance, a campaign that wants to use the charms but not the exalt subspecies and castes would take some work. A D&D campaign that doesn't want the nonhuman races is much easier.

That's not really a bad thing though. Exalted wasn't meant to be modular. It does what it does very well, at the expense of not being as good at other things.

Of course, that never seems to stop the RPGnet crowd from insisting it can be used for anything and everything . . .

Just because a couple of dumbasses think something doesn't mean it's true, nor that a lot of people think it's true. That said, you probably could use it for anything and everything, but in a lot of (probably most) cases it would be more trouble than it's worth.

Quote from: J ArcaneOf course, that never seems to stop the RPGnet crowd from insisting it can be used for anything and everything . . .

No kidding. But they are not right.

Oh, and I see what you mean about that one particular game, and how it uses its charms now. It's not so much the canon as the scope, which is pretty particular to Exalted.

I think you could get away with nixing the subspecies just by, essentially, letting people pick whatever favored abilities they want and just letting everyone be Exalts (without the backstory), but changing the premise means going back and editing all the charm trees. An amazing pain in the ass, and not easy.

Quote from: James McMurrayWhat is your judgement on the act of sticking your dick in a baby?

so i herd you liek mudkips?

I have no idea what a mudkip is. The question was asked in order to disprove the silly idea that you have to try something before you can formulate an opinion on it.

Quote from: Thanatos02I don't really know that that's strictly true, though. Many starting characters won't need to know much more then about the town they're starting in, and maybe that there's a city within 500 miles. It's very, very simple to be over 1000 miles from the nearest 'canon city', as it were. Any cursory knowledge their character might have is easily summed up by the GM.

While I agree with your assessment, I think the fact that they put a whole bunch of setting info in front of the chargen section strongly implies that White Wolf wanted to people to swim deeply in Creation before whipping up their PC.

Quote from: jrientsWhile I agree with your assessment, I think the fact that they put a whole bunch of setting info in front of the chargen section strongly implies that White Wolf wanted to people to swim deeply in Creation before whipping up their PC.

I think so. WW layout is always a huge pain in my ass, and it's the same with every book, really. It's not that they want you, specifically, to tie mechanical bits directly to the setting as a whole, but have always considered setting more important then mechanics and rules.

Which makes my life, as a mechancal tinkerer, very difficult indeed.

I think it's partly design philosophy and partly reaction to D&D. WW is looking to grab those players that value fluff over crunch, while D&D is aimed at the opposite side of the spectrum.