sol invictus.indd

CHAPTER 1 • CHARM DESIGNthis principle to other key “framework” defenses— if Melee has a “hanging” defense (as it does inProtection of Celestial Bliss) then Dodge shouldalso have one.Outside of the framework Charms, each abilitycan detour slightly into unique defensive tricksthat are not shared by the other. Dodge illustratesthis effectively with Leaping Dodge Method andReflex Sidestep Technique; Melee branches offinto counterattacks. Other Charms of this sort areappropriate for both defenses, as long as any trulyfundamental effects continue to be shared betweenboth.INAPPLICABLE DEFENSESSolars have access to effects like Cascade of CuttingTerror — attack Charms which completely preventa certain type of defense from being used. Solarsare also the only Exalt type to possess applicabledefenses — Charms like Heavenly GuardianDefense that can defend against even unblockableor undodgeable attacks.These Charms play an important role in Solarcombat. Solars can become unable to damagean opponent due to a strong wall of persistentdefenses or a single powerful perfect defense.Undefendable attacks provide the Solar with anace in the hole, helping to bypass such tactics andquickly end the fight (or force it to shift its tactics, atleast.) At the same time, defenses such as HeavenlyGuardian Defense provide insurance against suchattacks, helping maintain the primacy of defensein Exalted.In general, unblockable and undodgeable attacksshouldn’t be available until Essence 3; these effectsare powerful and can’t be easily be defended againstat lower Essence levels. In addition, they can’t beeasily defended against by non-Solars at all; theseeffects can prove a powerful trump card againstlesser-powered foes.Sol Invictus chooses to balance these attacks bygiving Archery access to both unblockable andundodgeable effects, Brawl and Thrown one each,and Melee neither. Melee, with its straightforwardtrees and built-in defense, is arguably the strongestcombat ability and doesn’t need such Charms tosucceed in combat; Archery focuses on precisionand is particularly adept at striking at targets’weaknesses. These levels are chosen to encourage agreater level of overall balance between the combatabilities, but can be adjusted for an individual game—you may find that unblockable Melee attacks poseno threat to balance or fun in your chronicle.PERFECTION AND INVULNERABILITYHaving your huge attack Combo defeated witha single application of the Heavenly GuardianDefense can be frustrating. To counter this, manylayers come up with the idea of an attack thatbypasses perfect defenses. While this might seemlike a fun Charm, it has a detrimental effect oncombat as a whole. Exalted combat is based aroundthe principle that defense trumps offense. Allowingsuch a Charm into the game suddenly reverses thisprinciple — with a single Charm, an attacker canrender his opponent’s strongest defenses useless.To remedy this problem, you might try to create abetter defense, one that defeats even the perfectbeatingattack. But this leads to an even worsesituation. What’s to stop the attacker from generatingyet another attack now, one that bypasses even yourbetter defense? This can go on indefinitely. Not onlydo these Charms engage in an unwinnable armsrace, they quickly stop having any relationshipto events in the game world. Heavenly GuardianDefense works in an obvious way — it’s a defensethat blocks any normal attack. But what does itmean in roleplaying terms to block any attack thatdefeats defenses that can block perfect-trumpingattacks? That way lies madness. It’s far moresensible to cut this line of thinking off immediatelyand maintain the sanctity of perfect defenses.23