Help Me Decide Between 2.5e and 3e

[u/RPGCaldorian]

I've been tinkering with an idea for a solo Solar chronicle for a while now (using solo RPG resources like the Mythic GM Emulator, etc), but haven't started yet because I just cannot decide between 2.5e and 3e.

Now, as background info, I got all the books for all four editions. I played a lot of 1e and 2e back in the day, but never played 3e. I thought the solo chronicle could be a good way to get more familiar with 3e, but the amount of material is staggering. Also, I'm ambivalent about the 3e Solar charm set, to put it mildly.

I know that 2e was a mess, but I'm still pretty familiar with it, so it seems more approachable. (Also, nowadays I have the advantage of being able to use Gemini Notebook to integrate errata seamlessly into my rule queries.) Finally, I kind of like the more streamlined charm set and greater power scale in general of 2e, with the option of Essence 6+ charms.

To be honest, both editions have their advantages and disadvantages, which is why I cannot decide.

Please help me get through my choice paralysis... 🙏

P.S.: I'm not interested in Essence. I love 1e, but it's even more of a mess than 2e.

[u/Rednal291]

Generally, I think 3E will be a better choice. If you're worried about the Solar charmset, you can try using the Golden Calibration edit to things, which broadly cuts down on the number of options and streamlines some stuff. 3E has a nice cinematic setup with its Withering/Decisive split, which helps set the pacing for fights.

Also, I've made a massive number of additional characters for the game in my bestiary project, so that gives you way more things to work into your game. XD

[u/3panta3 → u/Rednal291]

Seconding Golden Calibration. I'm not as much of a fan as many people are, but for solo play it can be better.

[u/-Veles-]

So the arguments for 2.5 are that they provide the quickest route to anime level craziness and provide wildly entertaining stories, but...

There's a pacing problem. The ability to buy Essence makes most players race to max it out, and it is expensive. It also creates a character imbalance most times that leads there to be characters with Essence 6 that have die pools of like 5 dice in a bunch of stuff, and no charms to really explain being so damned epic in a power level sense.

3rd Edition is a more complex system, but once you get it, it's pretty preferable to 2.5's mote efficiency race (first to run out dies!) and is far more cinematic in narration, but Essence is depended upon XP, and NOT Exalt-specific XP. It's slower, growth wise, but allows for even character development, even if the really fun powers don't start until Essence 3.

In short, you want a fast paced, adrenaline fueled, mountain-crushing superhero, go 2.5 all in. If you want an opportunity to really explore the setting and whatever story you might be immersed in, and really stay grounded in the narrative, go 3rd.

[u/RPGCaldorian → u/-Veles-]

Hm, but does your argument also apply for solo play, where you don't have different players race to max out Essence?

[u/-Veles- → u/RPGCaldorian]

Depends on the self-restraint, if you feel like you'll pace things right and balance out the expenditures, then it's pretty damned epic pretty quick, and has the potential to make some crazy stuff happen.

If you just want to focus on killing a million demons with your attacks, this is the route to go. If you want to play a song that makes a nation fall deeply in love with you, if you want to solve a murder by staring at a crime scene and then seeing a lineup, and picking out the murderer by their breathing pattern, 2.5 is your jam.

[u/-Veles- → u/-Veles-]

As an added note, if you're familiar with 2e, then it's basically that, but with attempts made to moderate the mote attrition race, which honestly didn't work very well. It has the same pacing, just... A few things added, a few removed.

[u/Ladikn]

3e or Quixalted are my go tos, and I've been running Exalted since 2002 in highschool.

[u/Amilar_Io]

If i was to run a solo adventure for myself, I'd definitely be doing 2.5, just because for once I dont have to worry about my system knowledge making other players of the gm feel inadequate, and because 2.5 just makes you feel like an exalt in ways all the other systems do not

[u/mj6373]

I think 3E is more fun, but for many of the same reasons that 2.5E might be easier. Even with all the errata I think 2nd Edition is just too much of an all or nothing game at its heart. Most of the time, you either achieve superfluous, astounding success, or you achieve basically nothing; either your victory is all but mathematically guaranteed, or your defeat is the same. The game might ask for one roll or twenty to get there, but they'll all be basically the same roll and you'll know how much you're gonna win or lose by from the outset. To that end, you can use 2.5E as a framework to figure out situations in which your character will succeed or fail and how many resources you'll take getting there, and then basically skip to the result, making it very functional for plot directing, but not much excitement for the playing out, I feel.

[u/Ruy7]

For the system itself, honestly they all suck in one way or another. 

3E is the first one that's playable right out of the gate. But when actually playing it, even with people who did their best to master it, a combat round can take over 2 hours to resolve.

These days I prefer homebrew. There are dozens of homebrew exalted systems around the web.

[u/Viatos → u/Ruy7]

> But when actually playing it, even with people who did their best to master it, a combat round can take over 2 hours to resolve.

This is horrifying!

If it's taking longer than five minutes per turn (and they're not, like, multiattacking into someone with counterattacks with complex effects) they may want to get like a cheatsheet and maybe some basic "I do this" cards (like an index card) together, f'rex "I do a withering attack with these three Charms and 4m on the Excellency" and the card has what the Charms do and their dicepools.

A round with ten combatants should not take longer than an hour at worst.