Tell me about Exalted

I'm considering running Exalted as an alternative to high-level D&D.

So you know where I'm coming from- I find the "anime" feel of Exalted appealing. I want over the top, uber-powerful demi-god characters, but not all the work that goes into running and playing a high-level D&D game (but that doesn't mean I want something rules light.)

I'm not familliar with the mechanics of any of the World of Darkness games.

What are your experiences with Exalted? How does it compare to high-level D&D?

Exalted, at least when you are playing Solars, is probably a lot more power than you need for high level DnD.

High level DnD still sort of fits in the world. Your overcoming bigger threats than you otherwise would.

Exalted your more sort of framing the threats in terms of the power you can bring to bear.

All in all though, it's sort of weird match up.

On the most basic level, Exalted is telling a very different story than DnD. DnD is all about working your way up to the high level of power and then figuring out how to deal with the consequences of that working.

Exalted is about having that high level of power given to you and then figuring out what to do with it. At least it is for the Solars.

Dragon-Blooded PCs are actually fairly comporable to high level DnD characters, though their magic is a little bit limited. You might pick up that book and then just let the players who want to go the wizard route pick up some more magical power either through artifacts or through innate rules breaking.

The system itself is sort of, mmm, clunky. It's far better than normal white wolf, particularly for the story that's being told, but it's lost its charm for me at this point.

The system of charms, the actual pc powers, is pretty neat. It's the basic mechanics that underly them that I don't like.

The world itself is fantastic, even though one of the major NPC races and the PC race itself are done fairly poorly the setting is simply phenomenal.

hexgrid said:

I'm considering running Exalted as an alternative to high-level D&D.

So you know where I'm coming from- I find the "anime" feel of Exalted appealing. I want over the top, uber-powerful demi-god characters, but not all the work that goes into running and playing a high-level D&D game (but that doesn't mean I want something rules light.)

I'm not familliar with the mechanics of any of the World of Darkness games.

What are your experiences with Exalted? How does it compare to high-level D&D?

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They had almost this exact thread on rpg.net a couple of weeks ago; over there, there is a large exalted contingent.

For your reading pleasure

To answer your specific question, D&D characters seem to have exaltedesque capabilities around 15th level+, I think. That is, the character is clearly a demigodish creature above mortal men, takes on the powerful forces of the world and can reasonably expect to triumph, can deal with an army of mooks without any trouble at all, that kind of thing.

Running exalted isn't really less work than running high-level D&D. Picking charms, artifacts, etc for powerful opponents is at least as much work as picking feats/spells/magical items for high-level D&D characters, and there's a fair amount of resource management to handle during play.

DanMcS said:

Running exalted isn't really less work than running high-level D&D. Picking charms, artifacts, etc for powerful opponents is at least as much work as picking feats/spells/magical items for high-level D&D characters, and there's a fair amount of resource management to handle during play.

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What he said, plus the management is sometimes hampered by attempts to tamp down the level of management. The highly abstracted wealth system is the most annoying example of this behavior.

Magic in Exalted is lots of fun on every level, though it does function differently from DnD magic.

I really like the feel of exalted too. Clunky dice pools notwithstanding. Who cares about dice anyway.

Dr. Strangemonkey said:

Magic in Exalted is lots of fun on every level, though it does function differently from DnD magic.

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For those uninitiated in the mysteries of Exalted, there are basically three big levels of magic in the game. The first is mortal magic, which is pretty darn weak. It's so weak they pushed it off to a supplement (Player's Guide).

The second is Charms, which is sort of the bread and butter of what the Exalted do. Charms generally work in conjunction with skills - for example, solars have archery charms that let them shoot at all opponents in sight, medicine charms that let them heal with a touch, stealth charms that let them become invisible, and bureaucrary charms that let them speed up or slow down the workings of a big organization by a factor of 10. Each type of supernatural creature have a different set of charms - Solars have one, Dragon-blooded have another, as do Lunars, Abyssals, Sidereals, and Spirits. Some of these have charms that aren't based on skills - Lunars' charms are based on attributes (Strength, Charisma, Wits, etc.), while Spirits' are based on Virtues (Compassion, Valor, Conviction, Temperance). Charms can be compared to D&D's feats, with the way they're organized into trees and usually are focused on improving the character's innate abilities.

The third, and most powerful, are Spells. Spells are divided into two major groups: Sorcery and Necromancy. Sorcery is more generalist, while Necromancy is highly focused on death and destruction. Each of these is then divided into three circles - Sorcery has Terrestrial, Celestial, and Solar circle, while Necromancy has Shadowlands, Labyrinth and Void circle. Casting spells requires the knowledge of the appropriate charm, and in addition spells are learned as charms as well (at least at the start of the game - in-game, you also need to worry about finding a source from which to learn the spell). However, they differ from charms in being slower to use (charms are usually used pretty much instantly, while spells take at least 2 rounds), usually being more costly in terms of Essence (magic-points) and Willpower, and having more spectacular and long-lasting effects. High-level spells can do some pretty frelling amazing things - there's a Celestial circle spell that razes the walls of a city, for example.

I never played it, though I did work on a licensed Exalted Playstation game.
It's an interesting world. The PCs are too powerful for my tastes (as one person at WW put it, "a starting Solar Exalted can take out a t-rex all by himself) but if you're into that sort of thing I'b sure you'll have a good time. From what I hear they did a really good job of managing the power of the combat abilities and magic so offense is slightly weaker than defense, so even if you come up with a great power combo it's slightly cheaper for your opponent to block it, so you need to be cautious in the use of your power (against equal opponents) else you risk being left with no energy while your opponent still has enough to finish you off.

I heard that the game is a blast for players, but a real chore to GMs. If you intend to be the GM and lessen your workload, it's probably better to look somewhere else. If it's over-the-top power play in a fantasy setting you are after, then it's probably for you.

The background IIRC,

In the beginning, the Primordial Gods wove Creation and all the creatures within it. To rule the mortal realms they put a portion of their own power into exceptional mortals. The Unconquered Sun created the Solar Exalted, the leaders and powerful generals of the First Age. The Moon Goddess created the Lunars to act as their consorts and companions, while the Five Maidens created the Sidereals to act as wise counsellers and sages. The great elemental dragons created the Dragon-Blooded to act as enforcers of the Solar's will, and to serve in their armies. Though these Exalted were weaker, they were much more numerous. This was the First Age, an era when unimaginable wonders were crafted.

However, the Solars became arrogant in their rule, claiming to speak for the Unconquered Sun. He withdrew his favor, and the Dragon-Blooded rose up in revolt, slaying the Solars and sending the Lunars and Sidereals (some of them anyway) into exile. The Dragon-Blooded ruled for many centuries, until the Great Contagion. This wiped out 9/10ths of the population, and really signaled the end of the long decline since the rule of the Solars. It was after this time that the Scarlett Empress reunited the Realm under her banner. Through her negotiations and marriages she secured a firm hold on the Realm.

Five years ago, the Empress vanished. The Dragon-blooded nobles have pulled most of their armies from Threshold back to the Blessed Isle, waiting for any sign of weakness amoung the others. And the Solars have returned, in vast numbers. The long tradition of the Wyld Hunt, where newly exalted Solars were hunted and slain as demons, has started to collapse as there aren't enough troops to maintain it. There's a new variety of Exalted as well, the Abyssal. These creatures are mirror image to the Solars, having domain over the undead and cursing their foes.

This is the world that the PCs come into. The character is basically a demigod - a reincarnation of heros of a lost age. He is thought to be a demon or 'anathema' by much of the population and is hunted whenever he shows his power. And that power is considerable. Starting Exalted can defeat mortal armies, start cults that will last for generations, and change the face of the world. They get some XP and they can do really fancy stuff.

I really like the game myself, much better than high level D&D.

maddman75 said:

The background IIRC,

In the beginning, the Primordial Gods wove Creation and all the creatures within it. To rule the mortal realms they put a portion of their own power into exceptional mortals. The Unconquered Sun created the Solar Exalted, the leaders and powerful generals of the First Age. The Moon Goddess created the Lunars to act as their consorts and companions, while the Five Maidens created the Sidereals to act as wise counsellers and sages. The great elemental dragons created the Dragon-Blooded to act as enforcers of the Solar's will, and to serve in their armies. Though these Exalted were weaker, they were much more numerous. This was the First Age, an era when unimaginable wonders were crafted.

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You missed out the first part of the history. In the beginning, as much as there can be said to be a beginning, the Primordials created Creation out of the Wyld. Then, they decided that they had better things to do than actually manage the thing they had wrought, so they created the gods of various levels in order to deal with the day-to-day operations, while they kicked back and played the Games of Divinity. After a while, the gods became tired of doing all the drudgework, and wanted some of that Games action for themselves.

However, the primordials weren't totally stupid. When they had created the gods, they had also made them unable to act directly against the primordials. Instead, the top gods (Unconquered Sun, Luna, the five Maidens, and the five Elemental Dragons), with the help of a renegade Primordial, created the Exalted in order to bring down the Primordials. The neat thing about the Exalted, other than being pretty darn powerful, was that when they died, the shard of divine power that was put into them instead sought out another "host" - so when the Primordials and their forces killed one, another would take its place.

Eventually, the armies of the Gods managed to kill or exile all the Primordials. As the remaining Primordials were driven into exile, they (secretly) tried to curse the gods for their treachery. However, the gods weren't totally stupid either - they had taken precautions to shield themselves against such things. Instead, the curse bounced off them and hit the Exalted instead. This means that the Exalted are fundamentally flawed. In Solars, this expresses itself as a predilection for extreme passions - in Greek mythology, Hercules was magically driven into a rage where he killed his wife and children. Had it been Exalted, that could have been the result of the Great Curse.