Editing Exalted Power Combat 101 (section)

== Part One:  Power Combat Is Not Just Combat ==

=== Unskilled Penalties For Exalted ===

Alakra roams the underways at will, seeking ever to uncover that which has lain hidden for far too long, and nothing can bar the passage of a determined Chosen of the Unconquered Sun.  Sadly for our brash young hero, this means all too often he wanders into areas of exceptional danger just as easily as the safer parts of the Underways.  While hurtling along at incredible pace, he stumbles across a chamber whose secrets the ancient Dragon Kings wished to see never again come to light--and accordingly, as he steps on the first flagstone, ancient mechanisms seek his doom...

<i> Alakra has set off a trap!  How very D&D.  Alakra's ST calls for a Perception + Awareness roll.  The young Exalt has a decent Perception (3), but being exceptionally optimistic, has never seen a need to buy any awareness.  If Alakra was not of the Exalted, this would levy a two dice penalty on his roll, leaving him with only 1 dice (3 - 2 = 1).  However, the Exalted (and only the Exalted) do not suffer a dice pool penalty for being unskilled.  Hence, Alakra rolls 3 dice, and luckily scores 2 successes. </i>

=== Hardness ===

A gnarled and spined wooden spear hurtles from its hiding place, flung by the mechanism tripped by Alakra's unwary foot.  The Exalt's keen senses notice the barb just as it is about to strike him, and a burst of golden essence ripples over his skin, shattering the spear into a thousand sun-bleached splinters.

<i> Having succeeded his roll, Alakra notices the trap and may defend himself against it.  Deciding to look tough about it, he decided to allow the spear to hit him, at which point he will use a soak charm to save his precious health levels.  The ST declares that the spear does 7 lethal base damage, and asks how the unarmoured Alakra intends to soak.  The Solar activates 'Durability of Oak Meditation' for 3 motes, gaining not only +9 lethal soak (for a total of 10 in conjunction with his 2 stamina), but a Hardness of 8 against this one attack. </i>

<i>Because the raw damage of the attack is less than Alakra's Hardness (7 < 8), he ignores the attack entirely--it does not even roll the normal one die of minimum damage.  The hardness would also have allowed Alakra to ignore the attack if the raw damage had been equal to it--8L. </i>

<i>If the spear's raw damage was 9L, it would have been above the hardness, but still less than Alakra's soak of 10L.  Hence, while he could not have ignored it, he would only have taken the minimum damage of 1 die.  Remember, Hardness applies <b>before</b> soak. </i>

=== Dice Pool Penalites For Essence Users ===

Sadly for the young hero, however, the spear was but one of the mechanism's organic assaults.  A hideous cloud of spores seeps into the chamber, filling his lungs and forcing him to cough uncontrollably.  This is of particular note as he stumbles forward, and the next flagstone grinds beneath his feet, eloquently speaking of a second mechanism...

<i> The horrible spores levy a 2 dice penalty to all of Alakra's pools.  How sad!  Even worse, there is another trap on the next flagstone, and the ST calls for another Perception + Awareness roll.  Surely this time Alakra will fail--with a 2 dice penalty from his Perception of 3, he'll have only one die--right? </i>

<i>Actually, no.  As an Essence User, Alakra is attuned to the world, and thus there is a limit to which his ability to affect it may be diminished.  No Essence User can have their dice pool reduced beneath their Essence by dice pool penalties.  As such, Alakra rolls his full 3 dice, since his Essence is 3. </i>

<i>He scores one success--luckily. </i>

<i>Note that wound penalties are explicitly an exception to this rule.  Multiple action penalties are also an exception (though not explicitly stated in the Player's Guide).  Note also that this rule applies to all beings with access to their Essence pools--unlike the unskilled penalty rule above, which is the exclusive purview of the Exalted. </i>

=== Minimum Damage ===

Despite the disgusting sensation of spores clogging up his lungs, the young Solar's attunement to the world is such that he notices the silently swinging pendulum of razor-sharp obsidian swinging at him from the ceiling.  Summoning the might of his god-like body once more, he braces himself for the blow, but despite stopping the pendulum's arc cold upon his essence-reinforced flesh, a single drop of blood trickles down from its point of impact.

<i> Alakra decides to repeat his soaking trick, not noticing the wicked grin on the ST's face.  Cheerfully, Alakra's player asks for the damage. </i>

<i>27L. </i>

<i>Ow. </i>

<i>Alakra <b>could</b> activate Iron Kettle Body again, but since the raw damage of the attack is above the Hardness provided by the charm, he would not be able to ignore it, and even Iron Kettle Body's considerable soak bonus would still leave him suffering many dice of damage.  Instead, he activates Iron Skin Concentration, costing 3 motes, which can reduce any attack to minimum damage, as if it had been entirely soaked.</i>

<i>In this case, that's a measly 1 dice of damage.  The ST rolls, and Alakra's luck holds--no damage (though the player and ST agree a cosmetic cut would be nifty).</i>

Having survived the sequential trapping calamity with little but his pride bruised, the brash young Solar brings the secrets of the chamber out into the light, much to the delight of his circle's Twilight.