Exalted Rework Part 3: Assets

So in canon Exalted there are a large number of character elements all of which serve to be non-dice based bonuses to combat power.  In general, these had the severe problem of imbalance, and nowhere was this more visible than in Backgrounds.  Two points of Contacts gave you two people who you could seek information from, assuming you treated them well and did favors for them occasionally and a 2-die bonus to find others like them.  Two points of Artifact gave you a magic sword that dramatically increased your combat potential.  These two were from a character point value perspective identical.

Artifact weapons are by far the most unbalancing part of original Exalted, but hardly the only one.  There was also the persistent problem that some Backgrounds were only worth taking if taken at 4 or 5 points, most notably Resources and Influence, though Followers was another problematic Background.

Part of the intent of a simplified system is to remove the complicated power-calculus of Bonus Points and reduce character customization to a more straightforward matter of what they can do and cannot do.  For this purpose, we now have a set of 'Asset Slots' that characters receive in the place of bonus points.

In 'old Exalted' terms, an Asset is worth about 7 Bonus Points.  Charms in this system cover the space of two or three original Charms, though I will be working toward rebalancing them, as some charms were straight up more useful or more effective than others.  Similarly, an Artifact Weapon will be a single Asset Slot with a near-permanent substantial bonus to combat.  For Background-based Assets, we will say that a barony or duchy which makes the character quite rich, provides access to a handful of Heroic Mortal lieutenants and functionaries and the temporal influence such power implies is worth about a single Asset.  Likewise significant position in a major city or organization would also qualify.

I haven't worked out the exactness of starting character balance, how many Assets a starting character should have access to.  My estimate is, in addition to the powers inherent to their Exaltation, Five Charms and two Bonus Assets, but I'll work on that later.

Since it's late I guess I'll get to Essence next time.  Thanks again for reading!