Systematic Understanding of Everything podcast

[Jutlander]

Monica and I both loved 2e, but we've definitely been focused on the negative aspects. I think what's going on is we're call out specifically when something negative came out of 2e but not calling out the positive aspects. I'll talk to the rest of the team about how we can adjust on that.

That is cool!

Anyway, I get it. There is a lot of fun in collectively poking fun at something that you used to love, but sometimes it is done to the extent that it sounds like the love was never there.

And I am not specifically talking about you guys here.

My oldest gaming friends and I do the same thing: We laugh at the expense of the AD&D 2nd ed. games that we played more than twenty years ago to the point where the people who have joined our group since then have to ask us why we kept playing if everything from the system to the game master was so laughably bad.

Because we had fun.

And that sometimes gets lost in the retelling.

Both first edition and second edition Exalted had flaws, obviously. For me, it was mostly (but not exclusively) in terms of mechanics that slowly unraveled the more games I played.

But they are also games that took some big swings and I respect them for that.

By the way, listening to the episode on the North, I was reminded of something I wondered about during the previously mentioned episode about Abyssals:

Have the Bishop of Chalcedony Thurible relocated?

Neither episode makes it sound as if the Hidden Tabernacle is in the North.

[ElfSpeaker]

Gotcha!

I actually just realized today that we missed Bishop in our episode on the North. I'll probably not it at the top of the Northeast episode.

[Aliasi]

Hi Jutlander,
I'm glad to hear you stuck with it. Monica and I both loved 2e, but we've definitely been focused on the negative aspects. I think what's going on is we're call out specifically when something negative came out of 2e but not calling out the positive aspects. I'll talk to the rest of the team about how we can adjust on that. We'll be drawing from a lot of 2e content over the next couple tour episodes. (I have a stack of 5 2e books on my desk for reference as I'm working on the show notes for the next episode.)

I definitely felt like the Infernals episode was dunking on everything stupid in the book (which, as it turns out, is a lot of the book) quite a bit. But even as someone who came around to liking the Green Sun Princes from an initial 'ehhhh' attitude I have to admit the 2e rendition led to.... a lot of trends in late-2e Exalted I consider as harmful to the game.

On the other hand, the enthusiasm for Build-an-Exalt via Devil-Tigers seems to have contributed to Exigents, and the Infernal charm set remains evocative even if Sexy Nun and Angry Scotsman are not.

[ElfSpeaker]

I'm a day behind the release, but here's the link to the latest episode of the Systematic Understanding of Everything: https://www.exaltcast.com/2020/12/14...ted-mechanics/

[Greyman]

The Myriad Laws of Creation. An exalted title, as always, and an educational and entertaining episode.

We begin with a nice talk through of the dice system. A very good summary plus some insight into how Exalted Essence handles difficulty rating and stunts -- something we might have heard elsewhere, but appreciated just the same.

Then we revisit the Tarpan Wastes, for some rolls and role play. A fun little scene with some show your working commentary. Sweetness.

[ElfSpeaker]

Coming up with the episode titles has been really fun. We set out with the goal of using an existing charm or spell name for every episode, but once we got to the direction episodes, we realized we couldn't continue to carry that forward. So now we get to come up with our own titles, which is always a fun conversation right at the beginning of recording.

[GhanjRho]

New episode time!
https://anchor.fm/exaltcast/episodes...rtheast-eo9k2b
This fortnight, the Northeast gets covered. Highlights include the deeply questionable presentation of the Linowan, Star Wars references ahoy, and at 30:30, Monica rants about the Bull of the North (and company).

[Lioness]

I'm used to Bull of the North rants being more vulgar but it hits the key notes.

[Greyman]

New episode time!
https://anchor.fm/exaltcast/episodes...rtheast-eo9k2b
This fortnight, the Northeast gets covered. Highlights include the deeply questionable presentation of the Linowan, Star Wars references ahoy, and at 30:30, Monica rants about the Bull of the North (and company).

Meanwhile www.exaltcast.com itself does not seem to have been updated.

[ElfSpeaker]

Meanwhile www.exaltcast.com itself does not seem to have been updated.

Thank you for posting, I'll get it sorted out.

[ElfSpeaker]

We have more Exaltcast out today, this time diving into Exalted's social systems and also highlighting a little bit of what they'll be like in Essence: https://www.exaltcast.com/2021/01/11...ocial-systems/

[GhanjRho]

New episode out, covering that most classic of Exalted locales, the Scavenger Lands: https://www.exaltcast.com/2021/01/25...avenger-lands/

[ElfSpeaker]

Thank you! I knew I forgot to post somewhere.

[Lioness]

Glad to see Nexus getting called out as an oligarchy right out the gate. Over the years I've seen a lot of players fall for the anarcho-capitalist propaganda.

[ElfSpeaker]

Glad to see Nexus getting called out as an oligarchy right out the gate. Over the years I've seen a lot of players fall for the anarcho-capitalist propaganda.

Yeah, that's one that bugs me. It's very obviously an oligarchy that sets the working class against each other with the promise of possible wealth and a monopoly of power and violence.