A lot of people have expressed unhappiness at the "bloat" of 3e; the "dice tricks" and the like, the fact that trees like Dodge, Awareness, Stealth, and Performance are no longer four or five charms long, that Solars have a lot more charms in general and a lot of them have relatively minor-seeming effects.
Speaking as someone who preferred non-Solars in 2e, I perceive a major value to this that is not being recognized; it creates a gap. In 2e, Solar excellence was described through two functions: Having the Excellency, and having nearly inviolate charms that had relatively baseline effects, that noone else was allowed to get close to. This resulted in such aberrations as the infamous DB Performance charm to ignore a penalty that didn't exist; a desperation to create charms that allowed Solars to maintain supremacy, resulting in charms that ranged from boring and pale copies to pitifully useless.
The expansion of Solar charms upwards and outwards does make their power less concentrated, this is true. But I think most people who experienced 2e will recognize this as a blessing in disguise. Firstly, the onerous cost of purchasing excellencies is gone, allowing extra charms to be purchased elsewhere. Secondly, this makes it easier to distinguish someone who is totally focused on stealth from a dabbler. And thirdly - not obvious to Solar-primary players, I believe - this allows for more room beneath them.
By expanding the number of dice-augmenting abilities available to Solars, and restricting them from the others, disparity can be created without necessarily causing actual inadequacy. The core systems of 3e are better balanced to permit engaging with the mechanics with Mortal capabilities, compared to 2e, which means any abilities above mortals are actually "good" as opposed to "meager, compared to Solars".
Furthermore, and this is hypothesis: I think I've recognized a clever plan of the developers. By making "Reroll 1s on opposed roll" charm tech near-ubiquitous for Solars and scarce for everyone else, they create a definite divide when in direct conflict that less significantly hinders the others in dealings with Solars, but not with other entities. For example, when a Solar faces off with a Bronze Faction assassin, the Assassin cannot derive any benefit from the Solar's 1s [as they are all rerolled], while the Solar can still derive benefits from the Sidereal's. However, when facing off against Ligier, who also lacks "reroll 1s" charm techniques, neither is at an exceptional disadvantage.
The Craft tree is gigantic so that others can have actual crafting charms [as opposed to 2e Lunars' "I can turn a stone into a sword for a scene and that's about it"], letting them actually participate in some 'crafting of wonders' concepts, while still allowing Solars to be the potential absolute kings of crafting, as long as you don't make equal charms for everyone else.
Overall, I'm very pleased with what I'm seeing of 3e, and this is as someone who absolutely hated 2e's implementation of Solar supremacy.
"Why should I be happy with non-Solars being better?", some may ask? Well, what's a more exciting battle, fighting someone who's a step or two below you, or beating up a geriatric paraplegic who's currently suffering from a seizure? More capable non-Solars allows Solars to feel awesome by dint of being amazing both in their own right and by having worthy rivals.
Speaking as someone who preferred non-Solars in 2e, I perceive a major value to this that is not being recognized; it creates a gap. In 2e, Solar excellence was described through two functions: Having the Excellency, and having nearly inviolate charms that had relatively baseline effects, that noone else was allowed to get close to. This resulted in such aberrations as the infamous DB Performance charm to ignore a penalty that didn't exist; a desperation to create charms that allowed Solars to maintain supremacy, resulting in charms that ranged from boring and pale copies to pitifully useless.
The expansion of Solar charms upwards and outwards does make their power less concentrated, this is true. But I think most people who experienced 2e will recognize this as a blessing in disguise. Firstly, the onerous cost of purchasing excellencies is gone, allowing extra charms to be purchased elsewhere. Secondly, this makes it easier to distinguish someone who is totally focused on stealth from a dabbler. And thirdly - not obvious to Solar-primary players, I believe - this allows for more room beneath them.
By expanding the number of dice-augmenting abilities available to Solars, and restricting them from the others, disparity can be created without necessarily causing actual inadequacy. The core systems of 3e are better balanced to permit engaging with the mechanics with Mortal capabilities, compared to 2e, which means any abilities above mortals are actually "good" as opposed to "meager, compared to Solars".
Furthermore, and this is hypothesis: I think I've recognized a clever plan of the developers. By making "Reroll 1s on opposed roll" charm tech near-ubiquitous for Solars and scarce for everyone else, they create a definite divide when in direct conflict that less significantly hinders the others in dealings with Solars, but not with other entities. For example, when a Solar faces off with a Bronze Faction assassin, the Assassin cannot derive any benefit from the Solar's 1s [as they are all rerolled], while the Solar can still derive benefits from the Sidereal's. However, when facing off against Ligier, who also lacks "reroll 1s" charm techniques, neither is at an exceptional disadvantage.
The Craft tree is gigantic so that others can have actual crafting charms [as opposed to 2e Lunars' "I can turn a stone into a sword for a scene and that's about it"], letting them actually participate in some 'crafting of wonders' concepts, while still allowing Solars to be the potential absolute kings of crafting, as long as you don't make equal charms for everyone else.
Overall, I'm very pleased with what I'm seeing of 3e, and this is as someone who absolutely hated 2e's implementation of Solar supremacy.
"Why should I be happy with non-Solars being better?", some may ask? Well, what's a more exciting battle, fighting someone who's a step or two below you, or beating up a geriatric paraplegic who's currently suffering from a seizure? More capable non-Solars allows Solars to feel awesome by dint of being amazing both in their own right and by having worthy rivals.
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