I am glad I could help motivate you :)
Exalted might not be the best to leave DnD behind if you are looking for suggestion, it's basically what if the dudes behind the World of Darkness made DnD, but it did have a similar idea to yours, sadly it is still very mechanics forward.
My bad on the "holding my thumbs" xD, it's a German expression that I failed to translate, its basically like "crossing my fingers"
and just means I hope you succeed or I wish you well in something you are doing.