I had similar experiences with 1st and 2nd. Loved the background of 1st and learned to ignore enough of the system to make it work (though rolling scene-long active defenses was a fucking slog). 2nd just never resonated with me and the whole rocket-tag thing was a major turn-off. That said, while 3rd is invariably as system-heavy as the previous two editions, it's probably the first edition where I don't have to ignore 50% of the rules and heavily house rule it just to play a session. Combat is fun and tactical without any of the gotchas that 2nd was known for, while not being the slog that high-essence 1st edition combat turned in to, the social system is probably one of the best I've ever read (and does away with the terribly kludgy number-heavy system of 2nd that treated social interaction too much like combat). The sorcery sub-system is also pretty damn neat (and very Sword & Sorcery ala Howard). That said, I can definitely get not wanting to learn a system that heavy from the ground up again. I often feel the same way coming back from long breaks from Infinity and find that each hiatus I take makes me less and less enthused to re-learn the whole thing again (thus leading to shorter and shorter play intervals between hiatuses). But beyond that, I can definitely say Exalted 3rd Edition has so far managed to deliver probably the best overall background the setting has ever had. It's scaled back a lot of the cringe-worthy 2nd Edition background as well as vowing not to repeat it (especially things like Infernals) and basically gone back to a more pared down 1st Edition approach, preferring less wonder-destroying setting minutiae and going for broader strokes and a bit more mystery. As someone that fell in love with the setting as presented in 1st Edition, I will freely admit that 3rd's background is so far my favourite of the bunch. So at the very least, even if the system isn't your cuppa, I'd still recommend them for the new and improved setting. The core book is damn solid, Arms of the Chosen (despite basically being just another artifact manual) contains some of the strongest background printed for the exalted setting since Manacle & Coin, and the manuscripts for the DB book have been excellent so far (I mean, hell, they made House Cynis more than a Harkonnen expy and made Mnemon interesting rather than just a more insufferable Cersei Lannister clone). As an aside, the new devs they've got on it have also been fantastic at communicating with the community. *cough* *cough* *HINT* *HINT* Even if I weren't generally a fan of the system (because I'm still a hefty system lovin' gearhead at heart), I'd say the background is probably worth the price of admission if you want to run the game in something lighter (FATE, Godbound, etc.). Ugh, yeah, Infernals is just... It's not great. 2nd Edition was really bad for this. Not only did it over-describe the setting to the point of draining all mystery, but too often it came of as grossly exploitative and a bit magical realm-y in some of its nastier bits. I'm glad the new edition has basically decided to retcon most of the stuff that 2nd Edition brought along from the over-explained setting metaphysics to the squicky crap that polluted the setting's feel.
I don't think there as much cross pollination as you might think, the success of the MCU hasn't resulted uptick in sales of the comics for example.
nah, I meant that they pieced the IP and gave the rights for certain things, with smaller and less stellar parts to less known studios as a test of sorts. For example, look at all those mobile phone turn-based games, or the chess-like ones, or... they only feature a single chapter and a single enemy xenos each, etc... And, well, Sisters of Battle, in plastic, next year... I was never a fan of the fanatic part, but the models and aesthetic were right on what I like (black-based with clear colors, like the Black Templars, the Deathwatch or Infinity's Hospitalers, the Fleur-de-Lys, tons of fire for an inquisition force... not a fan of things like the flagelants or the penitent engine, too much Dark Eldar for my taste, though). Back on topic, was it mentioned that next week the PDF with the "tagline" data for this narrative tournament box will be released? With the return of the Armory missions...
I'm reading the book (got it yesterday). As expected, the writing is quite frankly sometimes horrible. I'm talking "this was written by a 16-year-old" horrible: redundancies, bad editing, the same adjective used almost adjacently ("the strong impression they made was strongly felt by everyone"-not a quote, just an example of what I mean). The content is... meh. Again, reads like fan fiction. I think they should start hiring writers. Professional writers.
Reading the book myself, it looks like the Kempeitai were pretty vicious towards ISS personal, even hunting down off-duty ISS personal. Yu JIng has some victories along the way but the Pano steel wall basically screwed up the offensive. Through secret talks, Pano did allow Yu Jing to evacuate their troops. Rather than incompetence, it seems that Pano's repeated interference is what stopped Yu Jing from crushing the JSA rebellion. Man, theres going to be some serious bad blood between Yu Jing and Pano after this, but then that was already the case. Amusingly, it looks like Pano repeatedly announced official support to the JSA but provided little actual support. It seems like Pano wanted the JSA split to bloody both sides. How dirty of Pano. Of interesting note, it seems like the kempeitai commitied more atrocities than Yu Jing during this war. Its repeatedly mentioned that the Kempeital hunted down and executed ISS members. Theres mention of a Yu Jing high command memo to refrain from bombing civilian zones because of the intense international pressure. The JSA position isn't exactly secure either. It has territory on several planets, some vulnerable to continued harassment from Yu Jing. It remains to be seen if the JSA can keep all its far flung territory.
Did you expect something less from the Hexahedron? And details on exactly *how* the Steel Wall worked would have been interesting... also interesting to contrast the situation in all the theatres outside of Shentang.
The Steel Wall seems like a non fly zone, any aircraft flying will be shot down. Losing air superiority was a major blow to Yu Jing. Even then the state empire put up a damn good fight. It seems probable that if Yu Jing was able to bring in reinforcements, they could have won. In other words, the JSA split is far less about how kick ass the JSA was (they did put up a fanatical fight) and more about how Pano screwed Yu Jing in this war. Side note: Ariadna seems opposed to both Yu Jing and JSA having territory on their planet. Their official stance seems to be "get off my lawn". lol
Another snip of fluff thats important, uprising lasted only 6 months. Its mentioned if it had lasted even one more month, the JSA would have far less territory. JSA got a victory on the Japanese islands but were losing momentum in a lot of the battles on other worlds. A lot of that off-world territory is vulnerable to continued harassment by Yu Jing.
Well, much of the story does lay out that it was less about the JSA ejecting YJ from their territory, more a matter of a quick strike, and then holding on for as long as possible, keeping favorable facts on the ground for the negotiators.
And all openings of uprising started with Keimpetai agents viciously murdering any and every ISS personnel in the territories of the uprising, most in their homes or blowing up the entire precinct instead of fighting them. No wonder why ISS had so much bad blood with Japanese in the uprising many of their comrades (friends, loved ones) and their families were viciously murdered by the revolutionaries.
More keeping in line with the book being related from the POV of pretty much everyone except for YJ. JSA/Haqq/PanO aren't going to talk up the atrocities of the Kempeitai, but they will focus on (and leak from the conflict zones) ISS overreach.
To be expected. Maya net is dominated by Pano. As I said, reading the book theres more mention of Kemptai atrocities than Yu Jing ones. The fact that Yu Jing got targeted by the Media really is one sides bias. This shitpost is more accurate then I thought. lol
So a lot of IS units died by having their office buildings blown up from under their feet. Possibly while asleep. And I'm supposed to take them as a serious super police unit? Jacques R Chirac, this is terrible. We really need that Gorbachov recreation, just go home, this shit isn't worth it anymore.
