Chaotic Evil Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry
By now, I'm sure you're all used to me ragging on my Wednesday night gaming group. But as they say, the pendulum swings.
The new Exalted fat-splat came out this week, detailing they who had previously only been spoken of in rumor and hearsay; the Infernals. One glance at the book and I was sucked in. These guys are chaos incarnate. They seek one thing and one thing only; destruction. Not for them is the Fair Folk's backward decadance or the Deathknights' morose beauty. These guys play loud, messy, and unbridled. One archtype character told his friend that he ate the survivors of an airship crash. Why? Not because their flesh gives him power, not through for some demon-worshipping ritual, but BECAUSE HE WANTED TO. The Abyssals are emo/goth/black metal, and the Infernals are punk rock.
And what do my friends have to say about the new supplement? "Ugh, I hate this archetype character." "Helltech? Groan..." "Ew, she's a bley."
In all fairness, "she" was a bley. (Bley n. a terrifying, twisted, or otherwise visually disturbing creature. See also: horror, beastie, monster). But still, I don't think I heard a single positive thing about the book. Call me a glass-half-full kinda guy, which I have not historically been, but come on, try and find something good in it.
This (paired with a session of me doing just about nothing) got me thinking. Now, I enjoy the game Liz is running. Don't think for a second that I don't. It just feels like sometimes all we're playing is a kinda-Asian Dungeons & Dragons. For me, one of the reasons I enjoy Exalted so much is that it's not D&D; there's more customization, it's more dynamic/cinematic, the setting is so unique. One of my favorite things about Exalted is the First Age; a time of great prosperity and technological advancements. The tech itself can get a little out of hand (cloning tanks and "IAM," which was essentially the internet, immediately come to mind), but the First Age acknowledged something; the fact that a new power source has been harnessed.
Think about this; when man harnessed the power of fire, it changed technology. We were able to refine minerals, cook our food, and illuminate the night. Same thing happened with coal. Same with electricity. So why, in so many fantasy settings, hasn't magic done the same thing? Here is a power source that creates energy from thin air. Why not use that as a power source? Create trains powered by Thunderstones. A gun that shoots concentrated quintessence. A carriage that doesn't have a horse because, frankly, it doesn't need one.
Also, and I know if anyone reads this, I'm going to get crap upon crap for it, I want more action. I love dramatic games. Really I do. But a stunt-based game is only so good if you cant do any impressive-looking stunts. I know our group is currently mired in red tape, bureaucracy, and protocol (thanks for that, Connor), but there is so much more to a game than that, even a game where the popular ruling body is a fascist bureaucracy. We're freaking demigods! Demigods that that same fascist bureaucracy despises! Why do we have to play ball?
In short, I play Exalted because I'm bored with the same old pseudo-realistic "ancient world" RPGs. And yet, this is what it's becoming.
See why I want to play an Infernal now?
"Yeah, scarecrows in hometown!"
--Gogol Bordello
The new Exalted fat-splat came out this week, detailing they who had previously only been spoken of in rumor and hearsay; the Infernals. One glance at the book and I was sucked in. These guys are chaos incarnate. They seek one thing and one thing only; destruction. Not for them is the Fair Folk's backward decadance or the Deathknights' morose beauty. These guys play loud, messy, and unbridled. One archtype character told his friend that he ate the survivors of an airship crash. Why? Not because their flesh gives him power, not through for some demon-worshipping ritual, but BECAUSE HE WANTED TO. The Abyssals are emo/goth/black metal, and the Infernals are punk rock.
And what do my friends have to say about the new supplement? "Ugh, I hate this archetype character." "Helltech? Groan..." "Ew, she's a bley."
In all fairness, "she" was a bley. (Bley n. a terrifying, twisted, or otherwise visually disturbing creature. See also: horror, beastie, monster). But still, I don't think I heard a single positive thing about the book. Call me a glass-half-full kinda guy, which I have not historically been, but come on, try and find something good in it.
This (paired with a session of me doing just about nothing) got me thinking. Now, I enjoy the game Liz is running. Don't think for a second that I don't. It just feels like sometimes all we're playing is a kinda-Asian Dungeons & Dragons. For me, one of the reasons I enjoy Exalted so much is that it's not D&D; there's more customization, it's more dynamic/cinematic, the setting is so unique. One of my favorite things about Exalted is the First Age; a time of great prosperity and technological advancements. The tech itself can get a little out of hand (cloning tanks and "IAM," which was essentially the internet, immediately come to mind), but the First Age acknowledged something; the fact that a new power source has been harnessed.
Think about this; when man harnessed the power of fire, it changed technology. We were able to refine minerals, cook our food, and illuminate the night. Same thing happened with coal. Same with electricity. So why, in so many fantasy settings, hasn't magic done the same thing? Here is a power source that creates energy from thin air. Why not use that as a power source? Create trains powered by Thunderstones. A gun that shoots concentrated quintessence. A carriage that doesn't have a horse because, frankly, it doesn't need one.
Also, and I know if anyone reads this, I'm going to get crap upon crap for it, I want more action. I love dramatic games. Really I do. But a stunt-based game is only so good if you cant do any impressive-looking stunts. I know our group is currently mired in red tape, bureaucracy, and protocol (thanks for that, Connor), but there is so much more to a game than that, even a game where the popular ruling body is a fascist bureaucracy. We're freaking demigods! Demigods that that same fascist bureaucracy despises! Why do we have to play ball?
In short, I play Exalted because I'm bored with the same old pseudo-realistic "ancient world" RPGs. And yet, this is what it's becoming.
See why I want to play an Infernal now?
"Yeah, scarecrows in hometown!"
--Gogol Bordello