Ask the Devs

[Eric Minton]

Dear Exalted fans, as you may be aware from the latest Onyx Path Monday Meeting notes, Robert Vance and I have been honored with the opportunity to take on line editor duties for Exalted Third Edition. As part of that, we want to make ourselves available to the community as a resource to keep you informed as best we can about the line. Obviously there will be some questions we can't answer! But when we're not working on upcoming books, we'll drop in to touch base.

We'll be using this thread as our port of call so that we can easily find questions, and so that you only need to keep an eye on one place to read our answers.

[Robert Vance]

I notice there are stats for Heavy Thrown weapons, but no examples. Even Javelins are only Medium thrown weapons.

I also notice that there's a total of 1 Heavy Archery weapon (the Firewand), and it has serious disadvantages: it has the Slow tag, it's range is Short, and the ammunition is pretty expensive.

Presumably this is partly for balance reasons, ie because Heavy Thrown+Archery weapons don't have the lower accuracy that Heavy Melee weapons.

So, could you have a Heavy Thrown weapon, it'd just need some disadvantages to balance it?
I was thinking of something like Grenades of some kind (firedust bombs, alchemical acid flasks, etc), which would have the Slow tag as you'd have to draw each one separately, and probably Short range because they're heavy.

Seems likely.

[Elfive]

Yeah, that's what he said. Non-gods can create exalted (Autochthon, for example) but only gods can use exigence.

[shkspr1048]

You don't have to be a god to create Exalted, incidentally. Just to use the Exigence.

But I thought only gods could use the Exigence?

[The Wizard of Oz]

I notice there are stats for Heavy Thrown weapons, but no examples. Even Javelins are only Medium thrown weapons.

I also notice that there's a total of 1 Heavy Archery weapon (the Firewand), and it has serious disadvantages: it has the Slow tag, it's range is Short, and the ammunition is pretty expensive.

Presumably this is partly for balance reasons, ie because Heavy Thrown+Archery weapons don't have the lower accuracy that Heavy Melee weapons.

So, could you have a Heavy Thrown weapon, it'd just need some disadvantages to balance it?
I was thinking of something like Grenades of some kind (firedust bombs, alchemical acid flasks, etc), which would have the Slow tag as you'd have to draw each one separately, and probably Short range because they're heavy.

[Robert Vance]

Aw, I'd hoped Lunars might have some way of crafting artifacts from materials acquired from mighty legendary beasts, like the Nemean Lion's skin or the Golden Fleece. Still, I suppose it's understandable to keep the magical materials as a required part of artifact creation.

There might still be some things you'd like in their crafting Charms. ^_^

[Robert Vance]

I may be misconstruing either what you're saying or the history of the setting, but didn't the incarna only ascend to their current heights of divine power by usurping the rule of heaven from their masters?

I don't believe the Incarnae have ever been portrayed as gaining personal, metaphysical power from their triumph—only political power, and freedom to take their leisure at the Games of Divinity rather than toiling away in slave labor.

[Robert Vance]

What does numinous divinity even mean?

It's spiritual grandeur. It's transcendent. It's what sets the likes of the Unconquered Sun and the Five Maidens apart from the countless divine functionaries of the celestial bureaucracy. It's that which makes something capable of being perceived as a God—not in the sense Exalted uses the world, but in the sense that real people use it to describe YHWH or Shiva.

[Robert Vance]

Is there some sort of weapon (mundane or artifacts) that employs piercing unarmed style pressure point strikes? Sort of like how tiger claws are similar to claw strike unarmed attacks. Asking for a friend...

Hand needles, one of the form weapons for White Veil style, are probably the closest equivalent.

[The Wizard of Oz]

Certainly the question I asked was referring to Jade, Starmetal, etc.

[GenericMaleNPC01]

Aw, I'd hoped Lunars might have some way of crafting artifacts from materials acquired from mighty legendary beasts, like the Nemean Lion's skin or the Golden Fleece. Still, I suppose it's understandable to keep the magical materials as a required part of artifact creation.

It's possible I'm wrong, but i believe he meant out of the five magical materials. Orichalcum, jade, etc. The Tusk of Galaech-Ma in Arms is a moonsilver direlance, but the spear tip is primarily behemoth tusk plated in moonsilver. So it's a moonsilver weapon but has exotic components.

[Matt the Bruins fan]

Nah. Want to focus on the Lunars' signature material.

Aw, I'd hoped Lunars might have some way of crafting artifacts from materials acquired from mighty legendary beasts, like the Nemean Lion's skin or the Golden Fleece. Still, I suppose it's understandable to keep the magical materials as a required part of artifact creation.

[Isator Levi]

I think reasonable minds could differ on that point.

Note that "the same height of numinous divinity as an Incarna" ≠ Essence 10. It's something that dots and numbers can't capture.

Sure, sure. The topic coming up just brought the question back to the front of my mind.

It's always felt a little bit weird to me for fetich souls and Yozis to have the same Essence. Not to say that everything with Essence 10 should have the same kind of immense power, just that when one is a component of the other, it felt a bit off. Sometimes made me think it contributed to occasionally seeing the fetich as just the Yozi in miniature.

[Zardoz]

You'd need to be at the same height of numinous power as an Incarnae.

I may be misconstruing either what you're saying or the history of the setting, but didn't the incarna only ascend to their current heights of divine power by usurping the rule of heaven from their masters?

[Sticks]

What does numinous divinity even mean?

Oof, asking the big questions there.