Editing Exalted Combos

''''Arianna Explains...Combos!''''

Combos trip up a lot of new players, but they're really easy once you get your head around them. Gather around and pay attention to Arianna, and soon you'll be inventing combos that let you mow down Sidereals by the divisio[1]*! Yay!

There's lots of other good combo guides out there, but we're going to go through this one slowly and carefully to make it as easy as possible.


;[1] - If you're a Sidereal yourself, you may want to include a reflexive alibi-creating charm.



<b>Are my charms Instant?</b>

Take a good look at all the charms you want to combo. Is their duration Instant? If so, great! If not, you can't combo the charm. Sorry. Try putting your long-duration charms up *before* the battle, since you can't combo them. I recommend having your Eclipse taunt them so you can buff yourself while they're shaking with rage.

To be absolutely clear: only charms with an Instant duration can be put in combos.

No, Dace, you CAN'T combo Fivefold Bulwark Stance with anything. Pay attention!


<b>How about Reflexive charms?</b>

Reflexive charms are great. You can put as many reflexive charms as you like in a combo. You don't have to worry which ability they're from - as long as they're Instant, they can go in.

Best of all, when actually using your combo, you can use as many or as few of the reflexive charms in the combo as you like, as often as you like.

For example, you could put both Essence Gathering Temper (an Endurance charm that works when you're hit by an attack) and Heavenly Guardian Defence (a Melee charm that parries an attack perfectly) in a combo, because they're both Reflexive. If you're attacked, and you activate the combo or have already activated it earlier in the turn, you can use Heavenly Guardian Defence to parry the attack, let the attack hit you and use Essence Gathering Temper, or neither.

NOTE: If you're a Dragonblooded, don't put Reflexive charms in combo. You can always use Reflexive charms, even if you've activated a combo, so don't waste your XP on putting them into combos!


<b>That's really easy, Arianna! I guess that means Simple, Extra Action and Supplemental charms are harder...</b>

A little. Unlike Reflexive charms, Simple, Extra Action and Supplemental charms have restrictions on both being put into combo, and on their use once you've activated the combo.

<i>All Simple, Extra Action and Supplemental charms in a combo must be from the same Ability</i>

So, for instance, I could have a combo of Arrow Storm Technique (Archery, Extra Action) and Wise Arrow (Archery, Supplemental) but not Iron Whirlwind (Melee, Extra Action) and Ferocious Jab (Brawl, Supplemental).

<i>You can only have one Simple charm in a combo, and you MUST use it</i>

So, if your combo has a Simple charm, and you activate it, you MUST use your action for that turn on the simple charm.

<i>You can only have one Extra Action charm in a combo, and you MUST use it</i>

Just like our friend the Simple charm above, if you activate a combo with an Extra Action charm in it, you must use that charm.

<i>If you have an Extra Action and a Simple charm in the same combo, they MUST be compatible, and you MUST use the Simple charm on each extra action.</i>

This is one of the trickier ones, so let's have some examples to make it clear, yay!

Old Dace is a bit of a fumbler - his silly player didn't buy him enough Dex. So he's worried he might drop his sword *a lot*, and tries to create a combo letting him pick it back up as often as he needs to - Retrieve the Fallen Weapon (Melee, Simple) and Peony-Blossom Attack (Melee, Extra Action). Dace CANNOT do this, because the charms don't work together - Retrieve the Fallen Weapon calls a weapon back to his hand, while Peony-Blossom creates extra attacks. Since he can't pick up his sword with the extra actions generated by Peony Blossom, he can't make this combo.

Swan is much, much more intelligent than Old Dace, and so his combos work (OK, his example combo in the corebook is totally messed up, but it's not his fault!). He wants to combo Essence Venom Strike (Martial Arts, Simple) with Striking Serpent Speed (Martial Arts, Extra Action) - and he can! Since you can use Essence Venom with a Striking Serpent action, this combo is OK. However, if he activates this combo, Swan MUST use Striking Serpent Speed, and he MUST use Essence Venom Strike on each action generated by Striking Serpent Speed. This can get very expensive - I hope Swan kills whoever he hits with that, because he might not have any essence left to defend!


<i>You can have as many Supplemental charms as you like in a combo, but you MUST use them when appropriate</i>

Unlike Reflexives, where you can use them as much or little as you like in a turn where you've activated a combo including them, with Supplementals you need to use them whenever you can.

So, for instance, let's say Old Dace made a combo of Excellent Strike (Melee, Supplemental) and Hungry Tiger Technique (Melee, Supplemental). Let's say he's fighting Mnemon (as you do), and activates his combo. He decides to take four actions, attacking twice and saving two defences in case Mnemon doesn't die (stupid tough Earth Aspects). He MUST use both Excellent Strike and Hungry Tiger on both attacks, since the charms supplement attacks. He can still use his defences normally, however, without having to activate the charms, since they don't do anything for defences.

To be clear: you MUST use the Supplementals in a combo when you can, but you don't have to take actions that the charms could supplement.

Here's a handy tip, though: even if you use a charm multiple times in a turn, you don't have to use it in the same way each time, even if it's part of a combo. So in the example above, Dace could spend 3 motes on Excellent Strike to add 3 dice to the first attack, then spend 6 motes to add 6 dice to the second. This means if you're *really* low on essence, you can spend the minimum amount on variable-cost charms to keep them cheap!


If you have a Simple or Extra Action charm in a combo, any Supplementals MUST benefit those actions

The rules for supplementals get a bit stricter if you have a Simple or Extra Action charm in the combo (or both!). In that case, the Supplemental must work with the Simple or Extra Action charms.

For instance, if Dace, clumsy person that he is, wanted to have a combo of Excellent Strike and Retrieve the Fallen Weapon, he couldn't - Excellent Strike only works with attacks, not picking up your weapon!


<b>OK...I THINK I can put charms into combo now, though I'd like some examples...is there anything else my combo needs?</b>

I'm glad you asked, Hypothetical Student! A Combo has two important elements you can't do without:

<b>Name</b> - any combo worth the XP you're blowing on it needs a cool name. Charm names are a good inspiration, or you could have the name reflect the reason you made the combo - "Owl-crushing Rain of Blows" for a combo you invented to kill Lilith, for instance!

<b>Signature</b> - each combo has a distinct look, which is instantly recognisable to anyone who's seen it before. This can range from a simple cascade of red sparks twisting off your blade, to the entire battlefield being drenched white with sunlight, your attacks appearing as golden caste-marks slamming into your opponent's body, and everything being slightly faded when the glare vanishes. Have fun! Generally you can have any aesthetic you like, so long as it's *roughly* appropriate to the mechanics. Feel free to be flexible with your signature during actual use, but make sure it's alway recognisable.


Let's have those examples, shall we:


<i>A basic combo - Arianna's Unrelenting Lance Storm</i>

Charms: Cascade of Cutting Terror (Thrown, Supplemental) + Precision of the Striking Raptor (Thrown, Supplemental)

Signature: Arianna leaps up into the air, and it seems as if the sun sets behind her, each ray of sunlight passing through her hands to become a javelin striking at her enemy.

Example of use: On her initiative, Arianna jumps out of the tree, startling the Fire Immaculate menacing Swan. She spends 1 WP to activate Unrelenting Lance Storm, and then makes two thrown attacks (taking normal multiple action penalties). She MUST use both charms on these two attacks, and pays for them normally. On her first attack, she pays 5 motes for Cascade of Cutting Terror, and 5 motes to add 5 dice with Precision of the Striking Raptor. On the second attack, she pays 5 motes for Cascade of Cutting Terror, and 10 motes to add 10 dice with Precision of the Striking Raptor. Result: One dead Fire Aspect! Yay!


<i>An intermediate combo - Dace's All-encompassing Invincible Retribution Stance</i>

Charms: Heavenly Guardian Defence (Melee, Reflexive), Solar Counterattack (Melee, Reflexive), Essence Gathering Temper (Endurance, Reflexive), Iron Whirlwind Attack (Melee, Extra Action)

Signature: A column of solar fire erupts around Dace as he plants his feet firmly in the ground, spinning his blade around at such speed that all who dare approach are cut down.

Example of use: Before his initiative, Dace is attacked by Prince of Shadows, who is using a horrific combo of his own. Dace spends 1WP to activate All-Encompassing Invincible Retribution Stance, and then activates both Heavenly Guardian Defence and Solar Counterattack against each one of Prince of Shadow's deadly blows, keeping himself perfectly safe and inflicting several wounds on his Abyssal foe. This leaves the Solar low on Essence, however, and so when the Abyssal's zombies attack him, he uses neither Heavenly Guardian Defence nor Solar Counterattack, but allows them to hit him, trusting in his armour , and activating Essence Gathering Temper to regain precious Essence from their blows. He is slightly wounded, but gains lots of motes! On his initiative, he MUST use Iron Whirlwind, and does so, butchering the zombies.




<b>OK, so how do I figure out what a combo costs to use?</b>

Sometimes combo costs are listed in confusing fashion. Don't be confused!

Here's what a combo costs to use: 1 willpower. That's it. You pay your WP, and the combo is activated for the rest of the turn.

After that, each activation of a charm in the combo costs what it normally would.


<b>When can I activate my combo? When should I?</b>

You can activate a combo the first time you use a charm in a turn. For instance, if you're attacked before your initiative, and you have a combo with a defence charm, like Dipping Swallow Defence, you can activate the combo then, and use Dipping Swallow Defence, even if your combo also has many other charms in it. You would then use the other charms later in the turn when your initiative came around. You should probably describe the signature in your stunts throughout the turn. Shouting the name of the charm is strictly optional.

Note, however, if you've already used a Charm that turn, you can't later activate a combo, even if the combo includes the charm you used. So if you used Dipping Swallow Defence to defend yourself early in the turn, you can't activate a combo containing Dipping Swallow Defence on your initiative to get access to other charms. You missed your chance, silly!


<b>Help! I killed the Abyssal half way through my combo, but the rules say I still need to use the rest of my Extra Actions for the Simple Charm in the combo!</b>

That's right! You'll just have to attack rocks and trees and the rest of the scenery.

There's no explicit rules for it, but your ST might be nice enough to rule that you don't need to take extra attacks if there's no sensible reason to do so.

It's generally considered bad form to attack your friends or their followers just so you don't "waste the combo".



<b>Can I combo charms from different Martial Arts styles together?</b>

Yes, that's one of the best parts of being a Martial Artist! Be careful, though - comboing charms doesn't ease weapon restrictions, so you while you CAN combo Armour Penetrating Fang Strike (Snake Style) and Spine-Shattering Bite (Tiger Style), you wouldn't be able to use the combo with Tiger Claws - you'd have to go bare-handed.


<b>Don't some charms break these rules?</b>

Yes they do! Examples include Leaping Tiger Attack and Ghost Eating Blow. Those charms explicitly state how they break these rules, however, so don't worry about it unless you're using those charms, and then simply follow the rules in their text.


<b>My crazy friend told me you can't take multiple actions ("split your dice pool") while you use a combo - is he crazy?</b>

He sure is! Actually a lot of people get this idea due to an errant example in the core book. The fact of the matter is, using a combo doesn't stop you from taking multiple actions - CHARMS stop you from doing that, in particular Simple and Extra Action charms. And as we know, if you use a combo with those charms in it, you must use them, and hence can't take multiple actions.

You can, however, take multiple actions normally and use a combo with only Reflexive and/or Supplemental charms. Yay!

Of course, this means you can't take multiple actions, or abort to a defence, or use your action in any other way, and then activate a combo with an Extra Action or Simple charm in it. If you use such a combo, you MUST reserve your action for those charms.


<b>What else should I know?</b>
*You can only activate one combo per turn
*Even without a combo, you can use a charm as many times as is appropriate in a turn - "One charm per turn" means "You can't use Excellent Strike and Dipping Swallow Defence" not "You can't use Dipping Swallow Defence five times".
*Lunars, Fair Folk, Alchemicals and some others have their own combo rules - check their books to be sure when you're making combos for such a character!

<b>But the corebook example with Swan says...</b>

::hits Swan with fan "Stupid Swan, confusing those people! Baka!"

Please ignore that example. It's quite wrong.


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Original Author:  Kasumi on RPG.net


[[Category:Exalted]]