So, I've been running Exalted for a while now and love the game, but am acutely aware of the system getting in the way of people's fun.  I have also recently gotten into playing Apocalypse World and been enthralled by the system and mechanisms of the game, and how they enhance the play experience.  So, I'm working on a hack to run Exalted under an AW-system.  There are some big, big differences between the setting of Creation and Apocalypse World, but I think the actual ideals of play are actually closer than I realised at first.  To make thinds easier for myself I'm going to work it out for the Solars first, and then think about adding in playbooks for all the other Exalt types.

In Exalted, the characters are special, Heroic (although not necessarily nice), mighty and likely to shape the world around them.  They are able to swat aside many threats with casual ease and are unlikely to ever end up hungry, sick or destitute.  However, they are getting caught up in charged situations and having to deal with the consequences of their choices and power.  There are no sacred cows in setting (well, actually there are, but only literally) and even the King of the Gods can end up in the crosshairs, in theory.  One Apocalypse (or Usurpation) has come and gone, and another one may well be on the way if the PCs or someone like them don't do something about it.  They haye have more trappings of wealth and power than the average Chopper or Hardholder but their world is just as precarious.

I want to see the fiction be more like that of the Epic Heroes of myth, like Odysseus, Gligamesh and the like.  In an animistic world like Creation the local scenery can easily be a Front, as rain gods Unionise and go on strike or a forest is warped by the energies at the edge of Creation into a single predatory organism.  Rather than apocalyptica, Creation is a world of wonders and horrors.  There is the mundane, brutal or beautiful as it may be, but also the works of ancient god-kings alongside day to day Gods and being from before or outside the world.  All of these forces have a face, an agenda and possibly an axe to grind.  With enough dedication almost anything is possible in this world, for better or for worse.

So, that's my initial thoughts and motivations.  I'll add some more detail on what I expect to change or keep the same in subsequent posts, and what new stuff I've come up with.  Hopefully I'll get to playtest it some time soon too :)

DISCLAIMER: Exalted is the property of White Wolf and CCP Games, as is all the intellectual property relating to it.  This work is purely intended to build on and make use of their existing material in a new light and is not intended to infringe on anything of theirs.  Should any complaints or concerns about this arise on their part I will be more than happy to remove any offending material.