Stunts, or Being Amazingly Strong and Fast, Being Exalted

Lets talk a bit about stunts:

I realized that very few ever try to do a stunt, and exalted is a stunt game.

What is a stunt?

Is is something cool your character does. It could be anything, think about your favorite anime, your favorite action movie, you'll find stunts. Let's take some examples:

Animatrix, the flight of the Osiris: when the girl jumped in the middle of a huge scaffolding it is a stunt (and not a very difficult one for an exalted).

The Matrix: when trinity jumps off the chopper, firing at the rope while it is crashing, this is a stunt again.

House of flying daggers: when wind shot an arrow at a soldier protected by a shield and hit this one by making his arrow bounce on a shield.

The last example happened during the last exalted game we played at my place: spirit of freedom carved a tunnel to a door 10 yards burried in stone with a single martial arts blow, it is a stunt and not a charm...

Stunt or charms?

Many of your exalted charms could be described as stunts, but they are only charms (means far beyond the reach of any human being) if you want your character to be amazing, I would suggest you see a fight as a dynamic environment and not just: "how many actions I'll take?" or "Do I use an attack charm or a defence one?"
If your characters interact with the world around them (especially during a fight) it makes the scene more interesting and it helps to transorm your characters in something more than just "inhumanly powerful"...

How stunts work?

You notify the game master at your initiative that you want to try a stunt. Then you describe it as much precisly as possible, then GM and you work out how the stunt could be performed: how many actions you need, what kind of rolls you'll need and the level of the stunt.

The stunt's level is going from 1 to 3. level 1 stunts are basic ones (jumping, tumbling around...), level 2 stunts are the amazing ones, using environment, performing feats of dexterity or strength, great description and great outcome, level 3 stunts are beyond that, it happens when every player around the table says: "oh my god! amazing!".

The stunt level is a bonus which is applied to all your rolls during the turn the stunt is performed. So usually doing a stunt, characters split their dice pool but the GM is able to give them this bonus to help them.

Is a stunt always physical?

No, a stunt can be social or even intelectual, it is up to you to make your characters doing incredible stuffs, it can be anything...

What is the point of stunts?

beside making your character appears mighty...
it gives you 1 extra experience point at the end of the adventure (only 1 even if you performed 10 stunts...) and this is a big bonus!
it makes you recover some motes of essence.
it can gives you some willpower points back as well.


So, remember it, stunts are the main difference between you and the others...

Just be aware that your exalted opponents have the possibility to do stunts as well, they won't do it often but don't be surprised if they do...

If you want to write here the best stunts your character ever made, feel free: