[OT] White Wolf's Exalted? Is this a good or bad product?

[Wraith Form]

OK, so it's off-topic for a d20 board, but not off-topic for an RPG board.

Anyway, are there any reviews about this line of books? Is it worth getting? Dish, gush, elaborate...please! Thanks.

 

[barsoomcore]

It's certainly one of the most beautiful RPG books I've ever owned. Haven't played it yet (loaned my copy to one of those folks who keep saying they're going to start a campaign one of these days), but the ruleset is clear and it sure looks like it'd be fun to play.

Did I mention it's gorgeous?

 

[Wraith Form]

Yeah, yeah....but does it look good?

 

[Enforcer]

It's my favorite RPG, hands down. For reviews, check out rpg.net, there are a lot of Exalted fans on their forums too.

It's amazingly cool, especially the setting (which is pretty integral to the game). But, if you don't like games where the characters are over-the-top superheroes, Exalted won't be for you.

Check out rpg.net, there are reviews that have actually taken the time to explain what the game is about, whereas I have to leave for class five minutes ago.

 

[Skade]

I think its a perfectly on topic discussion for this particular forum.

I love Exalted. Its very different from d20, obviously, using a varient of the Storyteller system used in the Vampire and other World of Darkness games. There are some conceptual similarities in the systems as Jonathan Tweet was involved in the development of Exlated's ancestor Ars Magica, and of course helped develop d20.

Aside from mechanical differences you will find that the two systems are designed to play two different types of stories. While both are fantasy, and both go for heroic action rather than realism, Exalted is far moe similar in its action and power level to an anime like Ninja Scroll than to Conan the Barbarian. The charcaters can leap many many feet, run so fast they leave streaks in the air, balance upon the tip of a swaying pine, and break open stone walls with bare fists. The characters in an Exalted game are powerful.

The game world is set for you. Its a big epic place, very much unlike almost anything you have seen before. It is a place of mythology, where belief and msyticism set the rules of reality, not science or logic.

I would strongly suggest picking up the Exalted book, and a couple of the Caste books. The caste books are pretty good reads, and give some nice background to work with. The ocean book (can't remeber its name) was not very useful to me, so I would avoid that one.

The one thing you may seriously want to look at is a book of creatures. I belive WW may have made one, but I am not certain as that was after I stopped playing and buying books. There was a fan written one somewhere on the net, which was not bad at all. The reason I say that finding a book of creatures is a good idea is that with the unique mythology and creration story of this world, there are lots of unusual beasties out there. Its a dangerous place, and most never leave the village they were born in, much less travel through the wilds. It should be made scary and dangerous to do so, even for Exalted.

 

[Tsyr]

Exalted is, after D20, tied with spot 2 for all-time-most-loved games with Shadowrun.

And if you know me and my love for Shadowrun, that's high praise.

Get the main book, and "Book of Three Circles" (BoTC is almost a must if you want to run magic users).

Skip the splats, at least a first, would be my suggestion, and go for Fatsplats... hardcovers with entirely new types of exalted in them.

Of the ones out so far, in order of my preference, we have Dragon Blooded, Sidereals, Abyssal, and Lunar... and mind, the difference is so slight from most favorite to least as to be negligable.

I would suggest picking up DB first, because the DB are kinda the main protagonist of Solar Exalted (The exalted covered in the main book), but are also very doable to run as players if you want to. DragonBlooded are the weakest of the Exalted individualy, but there are TONS of them. They are elemental-focused... Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Wood.

Sidereals are hard to run as players, but not impossible. They are based on celestials.

Abyssal are hard to run as players (But rewarding if you manage it!), but make GREAT villans. They are the karmic inverse of Solars, a twisted mockery of them.

Lunars are shapeshifters. Easy to run as players. They are combat powerhouses... Though Solars are the "most powerfull" exalted overall, particularly through access to Solar Circle Sorcery, Lunars can easily compete with or outstrip Solars in pure physical combat.

Not out yet are Alchemical Exalted or Wild Ones.

http://exalted.rpgcompendium.com/ is a good starting point.

 

[Wraith Form]

While both are fantasy, and both go for heroic action rather than realism, Exalted is far moe similar in its action and power level to an anime like Ninja Scroll than to Conan the Barbarian.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to gush & rave! I especially appreciate the recommendations as to what "order" I should purchase the books. Avoiding mini-splatbooks and focusing on mega-splatbooks is exactly the type of advice I wanna hear!

I think Skade's quote sums up everything I need to know. I strongly prefer a setting that is more "realistic" (ironically, Conan--as written by Robert Howard exclusively--exemplifies what I *do* want in a D&D game).

Having said that, it sounds as if Exalted has a slightly "Planescape-esque" feel to it...and I actually do like Planescape (just a darker, grittier, more 'urban' version of the Planes).

That's not to say if I find the core Exalted book on E-Bay I won't take the $$ to check it out--it just means that I'm less interested in Scarred Lands/Forgotten Realms-style over the top superhero-ish-ness and more interested in Midnight, Ravenloft and Kalamar.

Please keep the comments coming, however--there was enough enthusiasm expressed to (at very least) pique my interest in the series and give a look on E-Bay!

 

[Tsyr]

Ironicly, I, too, normaly prefer a more down to earth, realistic game... Part of why I like Shadowrun (which, for all it's magic, is a very gritty, down to earth game on many levels). Strangely, though, Exalted works for me.

It can be very dark and gritty, super-hero-ish levels of power aside. In fact, I would say that that is very much intended to be one of the ways to run it.

 

[Wraith Form]

Cool. Thank you very much for the info! I'll check it out.

 

[barsoomcore]

One more comment on realism -- Exalted doesn't feel "unrealistic" in the way that D&D can get when munchkinism runs rampant or pointless dungeon levels abound.

Exalted succeeds in creating a world where the ability to glow different colours seems realistic.