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 Exalted Second Edition front cover, featuring the images of Arianna, Swan, Panther, Harmonious Jade and Dace | |
| Designers | Alan Alexander (Author), Rebecca Borgstrom (Author), Carl Bowen (Author), Conrad Hubbard (Author) |
|---|---|
| Publishers | White Wolf Publishing |
| Publication | March 13, 2006 |
| Genres | High fantasy |
| Systems | Storyteller |
Exalted is a role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing. The game is classified as high fantasy, but may be more accurately described as "mythic fantasy," as the original developer specifically avoided drawing on J. R. R. Tolkien for inspiration. A second edition of the core rule book has been published, and new supplements for this edition are being released. First Edition is no longer in development, but was originally designed by Geoffrey C. Grabowski and the original core rulebook was published in July of 2001.
Overview
The basic premise of the game is that the player characters are chosen by a higher being (such as the Unconquered Sun, Luna, the Neverborn, Autochthon, the Five Maidens, or the Five Elemental Dragons) and imbued with the powers of a demigod (thus, "exalted," or "raised high."). The default PC type are the Solar Exalted, and information on Solar Exalted is included in the main rule book. The game system was originally designed with the Dragon-Blooded as the main protagonists, but when Geoffrey Gabrowski took over the project he had the team shift focus to the Solars.
Originally, the Exalted were created by gods in order to overthrow the Primordials and to rule Creation. However, as the Primordials were killed or imprisoned, thus becoming (respectively) the Neverborn or Yozis, they laid a curse upon the Exalted; the Solar Exalted worst of all. The rulers of the First Age grew decadent and corrupt in their great power before they were usurped by their Terrestrial Exalted servants under the direction of the Chosen of the Five Maidens, the Sidereal Exalted. During a time known as the Usurpation, the Solar Exalted were hunted to extinction by the Terrestrials, and their mates and consorts, the Lunar Exalted, Chosen of Luna, were driven to the very fringes of Creation. Since each Solar "shard" moves on to a new host when the demi-god it is exalting dies, the Sidereals had to capture each Solar shard and imprison it within the Jade Prison, so that it could not return to exalt another Solar. To that end, they were mostly successful, the few random shards that they missed exalting new Solars throughout the ages which were quickly hunted down and killed, using astrological magics to find the newly Exalted. For hundreds of years, the Sidereals, working behind the scenes and fading from public knowledge of their very existence, promoted the divine right of the Terrestrial Exalted to rule over Creation and the role of any other Exalted as hideous, evil monsters that were nothing more than Anathema to Creation.
After the rule of the Solars was broken, the Terrestrials organized themselves into a Shogunate, similar to the real shogunate of 18th and 19th century Japan. During this time, they ruled over the peoples of Creation in imitation of their former Solar masters, but that rule didn't last. A virulent plague known as the Great Contagion was the beginning of the end of the Terrestrial Shogunate, wiping out ninety percent of humanity, and hot on the heels of the Great Contagion were the Fair Folk, inhabitants of chaos, who desired nothing more than the destruction of the order that is Creation in favor of the chaotic energies of the Wyld from which Creation was originally formed by the Primordials. Between the Great Contagion and the Balorian Crusade of the Fair Folk, almost all of humanity was destroyed. The only thing that saved humanity was the actions of a small group of Terrestrial Exalted who broke into the Imperial Manse of the Solar Exalted and activated the reality-generating engines and weapons of the Solars of old. Only one of the Terrestrials survived, rising to power as the savior of humanity and establishing a dynastic empire, taking the role of the Scarlet Empress with the assistance of the nearly-forgotten Sidereal Exalted. From then on, she was the most powerful force in Creation and her empire became the center of culture and stability in the world. During her reign, the hunt against the Solars continued and although the world fell into decadence and disrepair, life continued on and the world recovered.
At the time that the setting takes place, the Scarlet Empress has disappeared five years earlier and the Scarlet Empire is on the brink of tearing itself apart. The Solar shards have escaped their imprisonment and new Solar Exalted are emerging into Creation, their numbers growing. Now it is a race to see if the newly-risen Solar Exalted will survive their enemies long enough to make their mark upon the world, for good or for ill.
Influences
The setting is strongly influenced by pulp fantasy such as Tanith Lee's Tales from the Flat Earth; Robert Howard's Conan; Michael Moorcock's Elric, Corum, and Hawkmoon; Glen Cook's Black Company; and Lord Dunsany's Gods of Pegāna; as well as ancient epics such as Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh, Journey to the West, the Iliad, the Odyssey, Beowulf, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Bible; and finally Chinese and Hong Kong Wuxia movies such as Hero, The Storm Riders, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Visual and lesser thematic influences include Japanese anime and manga, as well as video games and specifically console role-playing games such as Final Fantasy, Jade Empire and Chrono Trigger, and White Wolf's own Sword & Sorcery setting, the Scarred Lands.
Types of Exalted
- Solar Exalted: are the default protagonists of Exalted and the champions of the Unconquered Sun. There are five castes of Solar Exalted - Dawn (the warriors and generals), Zenith (the priest-kings of the Unconquered Sun), Twilight (the scholars and the sorcerers), Night (the spies and assassins) and Eclipse (the ambassadors, diplomats and negotiators). In the era that the game is set, the Second Age of Man, the Solar Exalted are returning to the world for the first time in thousands of years, and their actions and choices can shape the fate of nations. The Solar Exalted are the greatest of the Exalted and during the First Age, they were the rulers of the world. Their achievements were a beacon to humanity, and their power flows from the sun. The Dragon-Blooded murdered the Solars at the fall of the First Age. However, it was not possible to destroy their essences, so most were captured with the assistance of the Sidereals and were imprisoned, but those that were not imprisoned continued to reincarnate again and again through the ages. Each time a Solar re-emerged into the world, they were hunted down by the Wyld Hunt and killed. Considered to be Anathema to the rest of the world, the Solars are considered to be monstrous demons and are feared by anyone with the knowledge of who and what they are. While they lack the ability to specialize in the shapeshifting of the Lunars, the raw death-dealing of the Abyssals, the elemental manipulation of the Terrestrial Exalted, or the Fate-weaving of the Sidereals, their raw prowess in most skills easily exceeds any of the others, and the mightiest of sorceries are their purview alone. Their two greatest advantages are their large essence pools that give them more raw power to work with and their ability to use the highest of all forms of sorcery, that of the Solar Circle.
- Abyssal Exalted: These twisted souls are the loyal servants of the Deathlords, who in turn serve the Neverborn, the dead husks of what were once the ancient Primordials that were slain by the Exalted during the great war between the Primordials and the gods. Now, they sow their revenge from beyond the grave through their terrible Deathlord servants. Although no one in Creation would suspect it, each Deathlord could be one of the corrupted remnants of a fallen First Age Solar and they are easily among the most powerful beings to walk the Underworld. As their masters do, the Deathlords seek not to conquer or corrupt Creation but rather to wipe it and everything else out of existence, although conquering and corrupting Creation are among their tactics. Their agents in the world of the living are the Abyssal Exalted, also known as Deathknights; these abominations are dark reflections of the Solar Exalted and are their equal in power. Deathknights find themselves bound to their dark fate; holding onto the trappings of life inevitably spells disaster for those who rebel. Only recently have they and their Deathlord masters begun to corrupt Creation with the power of the Underworld and they field vast undead armies, bolstered by ancient knowledge and powerful necromancy. Though they only have a tentative foothold in Creation, they likely represent its gravest threat. Abyssals cannot draw essence from Creation as other Exalts do and can only replenish their essence in the underworld or with powerful artifacts. The easiest way for an Abyssal to restore their essence, away from their dark realm, is by feeding on the living.
- Lunar Exalted: These Exalts are the Chosen of Luna and are the most chaotic and savage of the Exalted. In the First Age they were cunning shapeshifters, skilled fighters and capable generals. Very commonly bonded in wedlock with the First Age Solars, those that were not killed along with their Solar mates fled to the edges of Creation. There, at the borders of the order of Creation and in the chaos of the Wyld, they were changed over a great many years. Shunning civilization, some of them lead and seeded sometimes anthropomorphic barbarian tribes; others went into deep seclusion in their territories; and still others, perhaps haunted by their abandonment of their Solar mates, let their shapechanging animalistic instincts overtake them for centuries until their humanity was a distant memory. Some even lost that memory in the Wyld, becoming terrible monsters beyond thought. Now with the return of the Solar Exalted, the teetering of the Scarlet Dynasty of the Dragon-Blooded, the encroaching influence of the Wyld and its Fair Folk manifestations, and the new and deadly threat of the Deathlords, the Lunar Exalted may once again return to a Creation that has changed as much as they have. It is important to note that the Lunars follow a tribal hierarchy and protect themselves from the warping effects of the Wyld with various charms and tattoos that further serve to mark them as different from the rest of humanity. In addition to their self-inflicted distinguishing marks, each Lunar has a "Tell" that manifests as an animal-like characteristic that is visible to some degree or another in their human forms, further setting them apart from mortals.
- Sidereal Exalted: Celestial Exalted and Chosen of the Five Maidens, are the least numerous of all the Exalted types, yet are major players in the fate of Creation, nonetheless. Sidereals, in addition to their unparalleled mastery of martial arts, excel at foreseeing and manipulating fate and were the viziers and cunning advisors of The First Age. They also work in the Celestial City of Yu-Shan, the home of the Gods, ensuring that Creation follows the path that they choose to guide it along. Toward the end of the First Age, a most fateful prophecy came to them that seemed to offer two options: either destroy the Solar Exalted or watch Creation be destroyed instead. In their pride, possibly under the effects of the Great Curse laid upon them by the Yozi, they blindly followed their predictions without taking the time to verify them and orchestrated the end of the First Age and of the rule of the Solar Exalted, known as the Great Usurpation. It was with their behind-the-scenes guidance that the Dragon-Blooded were able to completely wipe out the Solar Exalted and effectively direct the Wyld Hunt to the predicted Exaltation of new Solars. Always working behind the scenes, almost all Sidereals work for the Bureau of Fate in Yu-shan (Heaven), but because of the effect of the great curse on them they now slip from the minds of those who meet them, mortal and Exalt alike. Recent events, such as a devastating plague known as the Great Contagion which eluded their predictions, have jarred their faith, and the loss of the Scarlet Empress, their secret ally at the top of the Realm, has marginalized their influence. Now, with the emergence of the terribly powerful Deathlords (inscrutable to their power of prediction), the return of the Solars, and a growing rift within their ranks (taking the form of the Bronze and Gold Factions), the masters of fate are anything but certain of their future. The Bronze Faction of the Sidereal Exalted supported and orchestrated the purge of the Solar Exalted from Creation. The Gold Faction worked to support the Solars and lost much in the way of power and influence at the end of the First Age, but are now gathering their power and directing it into an organization known as the Cult of the Illuminated.
- Terrestrial Exalted: They are also known as the Dragon-Blooded, as they are the Chosen of the Elemental Dragons. They were the elite infantry and servants to the rest of the Exalted in the First Age. Though less powerful than other types of Exalted, they gain their strength from inheritance - rather than being chosen by a god, the Dragon-Blooded have the potential to pass their Exaltation on to their children although some Dragon-Blooded Exalt into families that have no history of any Dragon-Blood in their genealogy. These Dragon-Blooded are commonly known as Lost Eggs. The Dragon-Blooded are not limited by a set amount of 'Exalted essences' like Celestial Exalted, although First Age accounts put their numbers at 10,000. Because of this, they are by far the most numerous of the Exalted and were able to usurp the power of the Solar Exalted at the height of their power with the help and guidance of the Sidereal Exalted, thus ending the First Age. The majority of the Dragon-Blooded in Creation make up the ruling class of the Realm, the most powerful empire in Creation. The state-sanctioned faith, known as the Immaculate Order, paints the Solar and Lunar Exalted as dangerous Anathema who will bring ruin to the world if allowed to exist. Because of this, the Realm organizes the Wyld Hunt, which actively seeks out newly Exalted Celestial Exalted (Solars and Lunars, although they also hunt Abyssals and God-Blooded) and overwhelms them before they can master their new powers. This practice, which had effectively kept the Solars from rising to power again since the end of the First Age, has faltered lately because of the recent disappearance of the Scarlet Empress, the absolute monarch of the Realm, and the stability and leadership that she was able to bring to the Dragon-Blooded. The mad rush by the great Dragon-Blooded houses to fill the resulting power vacuum has destabilized the Scarlet Empire and allowed the Solar Exalted to escape the purges of the Wyld Hunt and rise in Creation once more. The greatest advantages of the Dragon-Blooded are the considerable resources granted to them by their noble status and their ability to work cooperatively with each other to create greater effects with their Essence. There are five elemental aspects to the Dragon-Blooded: Air (also known as the Azure Children of Mela), Earth (also known as the Ivory Children of Pasiap), Fire (also known as the Scarlet Offspring of Hesiesh), Water (also known as the Ebon Offspring of Daana'd) and Wood (also known as the Verdant Children of Sextes Jylis). The ruling Dragon-Blooded of the Realm are made up of the Eleven Great Houses, which in turn were formed by the scions of the Scarlet Empress herself. The houses are as follows: House V'Neef (Wood), House Ragara (Earth), House Cynis (Wood), House Cathak (Fire), House Nellens (which has no dominant Aspect), House Tepet (Air), House Mnemon (Earth), House Sesus (Fire), House Iselsi (Water), House Ledaal (Air) and House Peleps (Water).
- Alchemical Exalted: These Exalted are constructs built in the world of Autochthonia - in essence, android creations made from clay and the Five Magical Materials. They are infused with the Souls of dead Autochthonian heroes and serve Autochthon, the Great Maker, directly. Autochthon himself is one of only two primoridals that was not imprisioned or killed. They serve as protectors of the inhabitants of a parallel world made up of the body of Autochthon himself, and enforce the will of the Tripartite, the theocratic government of this world. They define themselves into castes according to which material was mainly used in their construction. The Alchemical Exalted are a newer breed of Exalted, possibly an improvement over the other types, as Autochthon created them after he had left Creation. Instead of wielding essence directly and using their charms in a "magical" fashion like other Exalted do, the Alchemicals have charms "installed" like peripheral parts and fuel these machine implants with essence from their own bodies. The Alchemical Exalted are latecomers to the game; they are the only type of playable characters besides the Dragon Kings that were invented after the core rulebook was released.
- Infernal Exalted: Little is known about these Exalts. It was long believed that they where the fifty corrupted Essences of Solar Exalts that were paid to the Yozis (the living Primordials) by the Neverborn (the slain Primordials) so that the Neverborn could learn how to corrupt Solar Essences to create the Abyssals. Canonically, there are no Infernal Exalted. There is, however, an Akuma; Akumas being former Exalted of another type who have given themselves over to the cause of the Yozis and have been remade according to their desires. The only one in print is Lintha Ng Hut Dukantha (detailed on pages 91 and 92 of the First Edition Exalted supplement, Blood and Salt ). Lintha was a Water-Aspected Dragon-Blood before his change into an Akuma. This detail, and the spell in the Exalted Players Guide that is used to create Akumas from any Exalt type brings some speculation to the nature of Infernal Exalted and their connection, if any, to the fifty Solar Essences. Whether or not White Wolf plans on releasing more information or game mechanics on the Infernals is a subject of debate among Exalted enthusiasts.
Other Magical Beings
- Fair Folk: These creatures aren't really Exalted at all, but they are, in game terms, an alternative player character or non-player character race, so they are included here. Referred to in the first person as Raksha, they are creatures composed of raw essence, and inhabit the Wyld, the place that exists between the ordered Creation and pure Chaos. Inhuman and beautiful beings born from chaos, they feed on the dreams and aspirations of the inhabitants of Creation in order to give them strength and form in their own intermediate realm. In essence, they are the "kissing cousins" of the Primordials, their territory having been pushed back when the Primordials formed Creation. They prey upon the dreams of mortals and do a brisk trade with The Guild (a powerful economic organization in Creation) in slaves.
- God-Blooded: This term is used to refer to any number of offspring of a mortal or animal and a magical being. The resulting offspring bears traces of its mystical parentage. As a collective whole, such children are referred to as "God-Blooded". They stand somewhere between divinity and mortality, less than Exalted, but more than human. Of those categorized as being God-Blooded, there are several subtypes. God-Blooded are the children of gods or elementals, while Demon-Blooded are Half-Damned children of demons. Ghost-Blooded are the children of ghosts using powerful Arcanoi, and Half-Caste are the children of powerful Exalts (although exceedingly rare). Lastly, the Fae-Blooded are the children of a union between the Raksha and mortals.
- Dragon Kings: While like the Fair Folk the Dragon Kings are not Exalted, they are supernatural creatures offered as a player-character type. The Dragon Kings are large lizard-like beings of great power, resembling dinosaurs. The Dragon Kings are sworn in allegiance to the Unconquered Sun, their creator. Once, before the time of the Exalted, the Dragon Kings ruled Creation and the mortals who dwelled there but as the methods of Exaltation were crafted and improved they become obsolete in the God's eyes. The Unconquered Sun used them as powerful servants to his chosen whom they served faithfully, honoring their Exalted brethren. After the First Age ended in war and disease few survived. Their numbers grow slowly but steadily in the Second Age, though the once great Dragon Kings remain hidden in the furthest corner of Creation. Their most powerful stronghold would be Rathess, an ancient home filled with a variety of powerful artifacts made by the Dragon Kings in the glory days of the First Age. There are four types of Dragon Kings, each living in a quadrant of Creation. The graceful flying Pterok (North), the nimble and lithe Raptok (East), the powerful and loyal Anklok (South), and the clever amphibious Mosok (West).
Gameplay
Exalted has mechanical and thematic similarities to White Wolf's previous game series, the old World of Darkness, but exists in its own product line, called the Age of Sorrows. The game has an excellent sales record, on par with the company's flagship title, Vampire: The Masquerade, the second edition core rulebook achieving a sales ranking at #23,558 on Amazon.com with a 5-star user review rating based on 9 user reviews as of Friday, February 9th, 2007. Perhaps to maintain a sense of continuity, the First Edition published material initially suggested the Age of Sorrows as the pre-history of the old World of Darkness -- however, this has not been officially confirmed outside of early promotional materials. It should be noted that White Wolf has continually inserted names and themes familiar to players of their previous World of Darkness line into the material, adding fuel to the fire of the speculation that it is a pre-history. However, the Developer has commented that the connections are tenuous, for players to grasp or let go – with the end of the old World of Darkness and the creation of the new World of Darkness, these similarities have become even weaker. Moreover, Exalted Second Edition seems to imply that its story is the prehistory of our own world.
The game uses ten-sided dice and a rules system similar to the Storytelling System to arbitrate the action, and, as with many other RPGs, requires little beyond the rulebooks themselves, dice, pencil, and paper. The ten-sided die storyteller system is one where the storyteller (or game master) is the person setting up a story and creating the adventure. The players create their characters using a pre-assigned number of points and begin to interact with the story that the storyteller presents them with, much like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book, although the possible actions are limited only to the imagination of the players and the discretion of the storyteller. When a challenge presents itself to the characters, they roll a number of dice determined by the statistics of their character with a difficulty assigned by the storyteller. If they gain the required number of successes (7 or higher on any given die, 10's usually counting as double), they succeed in their efforts. If they do not gain the required number of successes, they fail. The storyteller describes the nature of the success or failure and the game and story continue on. Since the stories are player-created (by the storyteller, of course), there is no one way to "win" the game, except to achieve the goals set out in each individual story.
The rules system used in Exalted differs from the standard Storytelling System in several ways. Most notably, the two systems use different attributes and skills. The standard Storytelling system uses the following attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Presence, Manipulation, Composure, Intelligence, Wits, and Resolve. The Exalted system, on the other hand, uses the attributes from the old World of Darkness system. These are Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance, Intelligence, Wits and Perception. There are many differences in skills, in line with the difference in setting. For example, while the standard Storytelling system uses the skills, Academics, Firearms, and Politics, the Exalted system uses the skills, Lore, Archery, and Bureaucracy. For these and other reasons, the two systems are not directly compatible without adaptations. White Wolf’s Scion game uses the same attributes, but not the same skills, as Exalted.
Characteristics of Exalted
Books
1st Edition (2001-2006)
See the list of Exalted sourcebooks for further information.
2nd Edition (2006 - present)
See the list of Exalted sourcebooks for further information.
References
- "Exalted 1st Edition Collector's Checklist". White Wolf Publishing. April 30th, 2006.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Exalted reviews on Amazon.com". White Wolf Publishing. February 9th, 2007.
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External links
- The White Wolf Exalted page
- Official White Wolf Exalted Wiki
- Exalted Wiki, a Wiki containing fan-created material and archived quotes by the developers
- The Exalted Compendium Redux
- Conrad Hubbard (author) personal website
- A site containing fan-created character sheets and charm cards for Exalted 2e