In the past year of intermittently playtesting Exalted Third Edition, I’ve gone through most of the systems and subsystems for combat and social actions, but I didn’t get a chance to try out the crafting rules until last weekend. While those rules aren’t directly related to the design work I’ve been doing on Arms of the Chosen, it still seemed like a good idea to get a feel for what it’s like to build such items as a player.

My friend Pat, who plays Mato Leaf-Dancer in the Marst Chronicle playtests, ran me through a full evening of crafting scenarios, ranging from mending a horseshoe to fabricating one of the artifact daiklaves that’s written up in the corebook. The system definitely feels like nothing I’ve ever used before. Instead of being fully self-contained, it has multiple points of engagement with actual play, so your crafter can’t simply sit alone in a room and churn out enchanted devices.

Solar Craft Charms add another layer to the system. They interlock in a variety of interesting emergent ways that feel like you’re building something. It has a bit of a Puzzle Quest-ish vibe. I only used a handful of Charms during the playtest, and I’m looking forward to trying out other Charms in future games.

Next on the schedule is another playtest to put various artifact weapons and armor to use along with their Evocations. As in this post, my ability to report on that playtest may be impaired due to NDA restrictions. But I’ll do what I can to share the adventures of Clovis, the Doomed Prince of Ysyr, as he pits the power of his living blade against who knows what perils!