Editing Exalted Redux:Characters (section)

==Equipment==

===Weapons===

Weapons now simply give a damage bonus that is added to the wielder’s Strength to calculate damage dice. Accuracy, parry, and rate have been removed.  The damage bonus for a weapon is a 3 if the weapon is one-handed, 6 if it is two-handed.  Artifact weapons gain an additional +3 to their damage bonus.  If the weapon is of a magical material aligned to you, it gives an additional +1 Attack die and +1 Parry die when used.

Wielding two one-handed weapons gives one extra Attack and Parry die, to represent the additional attack options and better defensive coverage afforded by this fighting method.  This is difficult to do properly, however, and so to get these bonuses, the character must have at least a 3 DEX and a 3 Melee/Martial Arts.

Ranged weapons suffer a +1 difficulty to attack rolls for each range increment past the first you are from the target.  Range increments are 40’ for bows, 20’ for slings, 10’ for thrown weapons.  Range increments are doubled for artifact ranged weapons. Slings do damage as per one-handed weapons.  Thrown weapons do damage based on their handedness.  Bows are two-handed weapons, but their wielder’s strength is treated as a 2.  Artifact bows use their wielder’s Strength instead, in addition to the +3 for being an artifact.


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:: ''I changed this for two reasons.  One, I didn’t like having to reference weapon tables.  Secondly, I felt that the bonuses given by weapons were too great, and wound up outshining the capability of the characters.  Characters should be the stars of the fight, not the tools they wield.  Additionally, this removes a source of extra attack dice, mitigating  the ‘buckets-of-dice’ Exalted is known for.''
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===Armor===

Armor gives a bonus to soak, against all three types of damage (bashing, lethal, aggravated).  Armor also gives a mobility penalty that is applied to all Dexterity based actions as a difficulty penalty, except for Attacks and Parries.

Regular Armor has a 1 point mobility penalty, and gives 3 soak.  Heavy armor has a 2 point mobility penalty, and gives 6 soak.  Superheavy gives a 4 point mobility penalty, and gives a 9 soak.  Artifact versions of armor give an additional +3 soak.  Armor of a magical material aligned to the character reduces the mobility penalty by 1 (minimum 0).


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:: ''Again, I am trying to get rid of the need for charts, as well as balance the armor types with the weapon types.''
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===Shields===

Shields give extra Defense successes as long as you’re aware of the attack, 1 for regular shields, 2 for artifact shields.  These successes are automatic, and do have to be accompanied by a defense action.

===Hearthstones===

Hearthstones must be set into an attuned artifact to gain any benefits from them.  An artifact with a hearthstone set into it has no attunement cost, as the hearthstone provides the power.  The unique special abilities of hearthstones are unchanged.  Level 4 and 5 hearthstones also provide extra Essence Pool, 1 point for level 4 stones, and 2 points for level 5 stones.  This is treated as extra available committable essence, and is unaffected by Power Level.  You may only gain the benefits from a number of hearthstones equal to your Permanant Essence at one time.


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:: ''My reasons for this change are twofold.  First, the restrictions on number of hearthstones, and requiring them to be set in artifacts both increases the value of artifacts, and deals with problems created by overabundance of hearthstones in high-end games.  This adds some tactical decision making to hearthstone use.  Second, I needed to bring hearthstone use into line with the new essence system.  Providing extra essence from all hearthstones was too much, so I opted for that benefit to only apply to the really powerful stones.  The elimination of attunement cost still makes the lower end stones desirable.''
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===Artifacts===

Artifacts can be wielded when not attuned, but provide no artifact benefits when used this way.  Attuning an artifact requires a commitment of 1 point of Essence Pool, and 10 minutes of concentration.  This Essence Commitment can be released, as normal, but doing so immediately de-attunes the artifact, and it must be re-attuned to regain the benefits.  Any ongoing effects from the artifact immediately end when the attunement is severed.  An artifact with a hearthstone set within it requires no committed essence to attune, only the 10 minutes of concentration.  The attunement can still be severed at will.  

Attuning an artifact with a hearthstone also attunes the hearthstone, granting it’s benefits in addition to those of the artifact.  Hearthstones can only be attuned to a wielder in this way.  Hearthstones without an artifact to channel their energy grant no benefit.

The Hearthstone Bracer Artifact proves +1 die to the Dodge Skill while attuned, in addition to having a hearthstone slot.

Some artifact levels have been adjusted, to match the changes to weapons and armor, as follows:

#Regular Armor
#One-handed Weapon, Shield
#Heavy Armor
#Two-handed Weapon
#Superheavy Armor


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:: ''These changes help balance artifact use among PCs, cutting down on the D&D-esque problem of characters practically dripping in magic items.  At the same time, the Essence Commitment cost is much harder to bear under the new Essence Pool system, so making all artifacts have an attunement cost of 1 mitigates some of this problem, as well as lending simplicity.  Allowing hearthstones to remove this cost increases the utility of hearthstones, and also limits the number of ‘free-artifacts’ because of the Permanent Essence limit on Hearthstone use.''

:: ''On another note, the level of a two-handed weapon artifact has been increased for a simple reason.  Using the above chart, the three major Melee fighting styles now require 4 points of artifacts to be fully equipped.  1h Weapon + Shield costs 4 dots, 1h Weapon x 2 costs 4 dots, and a two-handed weapon costs 4 dots, leading to a pleasing balance.''
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