Forked Thread: Tell me about Exalted

[jdsivyer]

Forked from: Other fairly recent, high-quality, professionally-produced, original fantasy RPGs?

Would Exalted do?

In the above thread, people were giving their suggestions as to alternative fantasy games (original ones), they are not D&D.

Many people mentioned Exalted.

Now, I know of Exalted, have seen the books in the rpg shops over the years, but have yet to give it any serious looking over.

Can someone please tell me what's so good about it and how well it plays...if that's ok?

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Dinosaurs that urinate heroin.

 

[(un)reason]

It's a fairly high crunch (2nd ed moreso than 1st) game, which covers a wide range of powerlevels and themes, while managing to fit them into a fairly coherent setting and cosmology. It does allow for some pretty complex build and combat strategies. It can be a great deal of fun, and I've had plenty of fun with it in the past

It's primary flaws is that it can become very slow at higher power levels if you don't learn the rules properly, and as with any point buy system, even characters built with equal points can have very different effectivenesses. It has lots of supplements (whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you. ) most of which are good. It has a pretty big fanbase (2nd biggest selling seting from the second biggest game company, so yeah) so it shouldn't be too hard to find people who like it.

 

[doppelganger]

The setting for Exalted is very well detailed and also very interesting. There are all sorts of places, themes and plot hooks just waiting to be used in adventures/stories. I personally believe the setting to be one of the best RPG settings that I have ever encountered in a lifetime of playing RPGs.

The rules of Exalted are so bad and damaged that the game is almost unplayable without houserules. Even the core rulebook manages to contradict itself in various places and the supplements are written by freelancers who sometimes do not seem to know how the rules work.

The setting is so good, however, that slogging through the rules can still result in a very good gaming experience.

 

[Ydars]

The Backstory of Exalted is very good. It is loosely based on Anime and Manga elements but brought together in a compelling way. There is alot of magitech with things like warstriders; constructs that are about 40-50 foot high that are mech-like and used as assualt machines. Magitech is rare though and the means to make most of it is lost and these items are regarded as artefacts.

The comics based on the game are also very good and give you a great feel for the game and there are novels as well.

Once, the Solar Exalted were the Champions of the Gods. They were the leaders of men and the most powerful of the Exalted. They led the armies of the gods against the Primordials. But, due to a curse, they fell victim to their own vanity and became proud and selfish.

Then, their servants, the terrestrial Exalted who were far more numerous, formed a plan to over-throw them. They ambushed their former masters and locked their souls into a Jade Prison beneath the sea (solar exalted do not pass on their powers to their offspring but are reincarnated almost at random in people who were already adults).

A great Empire arose commanded by an Empress and for an age she ruled creation with her jade fist. She created a religion that branded the solar exalted as Anathema and evil and created a wyld hunt to stalk and slay any solars who escaped the jade prison. in time, normal people forgot the truth..............

Recently, the Empress has disappeared, leaving the world in disarray and the terrestrial exalted in tumult as they war with each other and the empire grows weak. Meanwhile, the solar exalted have begun to reincarnate in even greater numbers that ever before. The PCs are usually solar exalts battling to find their place in the world.

Hope this helps. If you want to check it out, RPGnow has the "Tomb of Five corners" a quickplay exalted Scernario, for free. It has some basic rules and works quite nicely.

Enjoy.

 

[Ydars]

Return to the Tomb of Five Corners is here

DriveThruRPG.com - White Wolf - Return to the Tomb of 5 Corners

It contains pregenerated characters, quick start rules and some backstory. It should allow anyone to evaluate Exalted and is FREE!!! You just need to sign up to get it.

 

[Khairn]

jdsyiver .... Exalted is built around an "Epic High Fantasy" and well created / detailed setting where a semi-divine PC can grow into an Empire shaking hero or villain.

The rules are indeed crunchy, but they are also very appropriate to the setting and the over-the-top fantasy the game is designed around. The GM (ST) really needs to know the rules well because the PC's can be broken by even a moderately skilled munchkin. If the GM knows his stuff, the game play is fun, fast and very epic.

In flavor and style its not remotely close to a D&D game. The players, even as starting characters, can take out a squad of city guard. But the antagonists Abyssals, Fae, Dragon-Blooded and even their fellow "heroes" (Sid's and Lunars) are more than up to the challenge.

Can you be a little more specific about what you want to know?

 

[Rechan]

The system is built strongly into the setting and vice versa; it's hard to un-marry the two. The setting feels like Fantasy Greece and China had a baby. Powerful entities that are quasi-demigods like Hercules stomping around dealing with big issues, be it divine turfwars or, well, anything.

The idea is that instead of atoms, magic is the building block of everything, and that magic is called Essence. Solar Exalted (and other entities) can basically manipulate Essence. Essence is also a real thing, and people use it (A prayer, for instance, is a tangible thing that holds power, and is also sent to the god it's being sent to).

They definitely take a page from Chinese religious mythology; Gods literally are in a bureaucracy. Prayers = paperwork. Each god has a domain, and then you have a chain of command or a hierarchy over that, down to a god in charge of cooking fires of that block over there (if you wanted to be specific). Of course, this hierarchy is messed up in the current age, with things either neglected, or gods overstepping their bounds and gobbling up things they don't deserve. I loved the fluff so much, I'm co-opting it for my 4e game.

When it comes to mechanics, I definitely like it. There are powers that also facilitate social things. For instance, a power (Charm) that lets you look into someone's heart, and find out the one thing that if you could give them as a bribe, they would do what you wanted. Another, a Bureaucracy charm, can shut down a government's activities, or speed it up to accomplish something you need. It's very fun and evocative.

Another nice aspect, when it comes to character creation, is that it's pointbuy. And while there are "classes" in a sense, it's very easy to "Multi-class", if you will. A Wizard (or Twilight Caste) can easily be just as good in an area like Archery or using a Sword as a Fighter (Dawn Caste). Except that the Dawn Caste has a much larger breadth of choices (Dawn start off with "Proficiency" in Melee, Brawl, Martial Arts, Archery and Thrown).

The power level is definitely a change. A fresh Exalt is roughly on par with a 12th level PC in D&D. However, there are definitely some differences in the system. There's barely any healing magic, and next to no ressurection. Also, MAGIC (or Sorcery) is a whole different kettle of fish; there are only 3 levels of Sorcery, and even the lowest level would be on par with Stone Skin (or cause effects like making a square mile instantly produce harvestable crops and impregnate/force birth all livestock in the area).

 

[roguerouge]

Does it have modules or adventure paths? Having burnt out once making everything from scratch, I'm reluctant to even think about a system without that kind of DM support.

 

[Khairn]

Modules? Yes. Regional books, books on magic items, books on new celestial races, abyssal races, and a boxed supplement all about the First Age, after the Solars had helped the Gods defeat the Titans, (but before the Great Curse had fully unfolded) are just a couple of them. There are a few adventure modules (including 1st Ed) but given the tremendous scope and power level of the game, most supplements work towards giving the GM the tools needed to craft you own.

Adventure Path per se? No. But the adventures and supplements out there do give you plenty of plot hooks and storylines that an entire campaign can be based on.