Exalted

Rating:
Summary: Thorough system without direction
Review: It's a nice system; in many ways, it successfully generalizes the myriad variants of the other White Wolf systems. All of the "later" types of supernatural creatures have ancestors here, and the development of the parallels between them is very clever and creative.

It's very thorough; every trait and ability has a whole family of "charms" (i.e., ways that magic/Essence can be focused through the trait or ability to produce dramatic effects). However, this is something of a mixed blessing. The majority of the book is an encyclopedic description of these charms, giving it the rather dry feel of a spellbook rather than an exciting description of a world. The charms seem somewhat arbitrary in their costs and effects; although the balance at first glance is reasonable enough, there's no sense of guidelines or rules that went into the design of them other than whim. And there's no mechanisms provided to allow formalization of new abilities and charms (although the selection given is quite impressive and would take considerable time to exhaust, other possibilities are only limited by imagination).

The book offers extensive mechanics and reasonable background, but little direction; although character creation is spelled out, and examples of individual conflicts are presented in prose, there are no insights given as to what sort of stories and plots and arcs fit well with the world; and the world is unique enough that no established genre suffices for it. A Storyteller with a campaign idea already in mind would do well with the system, but if you're looking for a new reasonably-defined genre to explore through roleplaying, you'll have to wait for the supplements.

I would have given the rating an additional star if it gave more direction or even a sample adventure that I could run to give the system a trial; I would have given it an additional star if the charm lists had been formalized into a charm design system. (I would have ideally liked to see the charm encyclopedia moved to another book, with the charm design mechanics and a few families of sample charms left in the main book.)

Rating:
Summary: Thorough system without direction
Review: It's a nice system; in many ways, it successfully generalizes the myriad variants of the other White Wolf systems. All of the "later" types of supernatural creatures have ancestors here, and the development of the parallels between them is very clever and creative.

It's very thorough; every trait and ability has a whole family of "charms" (i.e., ways that magic/Essence can be focused through the trait or ability to produce dramatic effects). However, this is something of a mixed blessing. The majority of the book is an encyclopedic description of these charms, giving it the rather dry feel of a spellbook rather than an exciting description of a world. The charms seem somewhat arbitrary in their costs and effects; although the balance at first glance is reasonable enough, there's no sense of guidelines or rules that went into the design of them other than whim. And there's no mechanisms provided to allow formalization of new abilities and charms (although the selection given is quite impressive and would take considerable time to exhaust, other possibilities are only limited by imagination).

The book offers extensive mechanics and reasonable background, but little direction; although character creation is spelled out, and examples of individual conflicts are presented in prose, there are no insights given as to what sort of stories and plots and arcs fit well with the world; and the world is unique enough that no established genre suffices for it. A Storyteller with a campaign idea already in mind would do well with the system, but if you're looking for a new reasonably-defined genre to explore through roleplaying, you'll have to wait for the supplements.

I would have given the rating an additional star if it gave more direction or even a sample adventure that I could run to give the system a trial; I would have given it an additional star if the charm lists had been formalized into a charm design system. (I would have ideally liked to see the charm encyclopedia moved to another book, with the charm design mechanics and a few families of sample charms left in the main book.)

Rating:
Summary: Exciting, but muddlesome
Review: Many of the previous reviews accurately sum up the overall setting and tone of Exalted, which is excellent. Anyone who has ever been a big fan of eastern legends and mythology, drawn out martial arts films (whether as campy as "The One" or as elegant and theatrical as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), or the often explosive action of typical Japanese anime, can probably find something to appreciate here. Excellent guidelines are given for managing such over-the-top action, making sure that new Storytellers are well prepared for the sort of epic, Odyssean drama that this game lends itself to.

For its rich (but not restrictive) background and thoroughly original take on the exagerrated, psuedo-superhero approach, this game is not without flaws. The highwire fights and rapid-fire action sequences tend to get bogged down by the ridiculous numbers of successes the average Exalted can accrue or lose (using a version of White Wolf's typical, but still effective, D10 rules). By the time you're done subtracting penalties and adding bonuses to a roll, the thrilling narrative you've just given for your heroic, elaborate attack has gotten a little stale. Also, Charms tend to be somewhat muddy. Rather than keeping it down to general archetypes, some Charms (the supernatural abilities of the Exalted) are painfully broad while others are exactingly specific, requiring incessant re-reading of the rulebook to remember what does what and making the otherwise fine Combo system (which allows players to string together multiple charms in devastating conjunction) painfully difficult to draw anything out in. Weapons are also dazingly complex, each with their own speed, variable damage, defensive values and what-have-you, but thankfully, these rules are not hard to omit if one desires a more high-speed game.

All this is counterbalanced in the end, however, by the narrative freedom and vast, luxurious setting lent by the story. Although details are somewhat scant on certain groups or types of Exalted (leaving the average Storyteller perhaps a bit unsure of how to portray their machinations), everything is left open-ended enough to allow a Storyteller to sculpt whatever sort of world they desire, whether dark, gritty and political or just world-scouring action reminiscent of the Final Fantasy games or Lord of the Rings. If you like White Wolf's system but have gotten just a little tired of brooding and lamenting about the Beast, the apocalypse, or the nature of reality, the action-packed but surprisingly deep world of Exalted may just fit your bill.

Rating:
Summary: White Wolf Strikes again
Review: Many people have said it looks just like a dungeons and dragons theme transformed into the storyteller system. Yea, it has some of that, but the whole setting sets for an anime kind of crhonicle. And what kind of storyteller and gamers don't like anime. The characters are powerful, there is intrigues so you don't have a buch of kids who just happened to be in the same crossroad. You can create a story... so it brings anime and RPG in a fantastic setting toghether, without loosing the plot and intrigue of a good rpg game.

Rating:
Summary: Most Interesting
Review: One part Anime, One Part Dungeons and Dragons, and a dash of X-Men, and you've got your average Solar Exalted.
This game has a lot of potential, and White Wolf is cranking out quality supplements for it, building upon every aspect of the main book. Definately worth a look-over by any gamer!

Rating:
Summary: Potential
Review: The game of Exalted is a high fantasy type role-playing admittedly heavily influnced by Anime and computer games. If you like characters you can perform awesome stunts like running across the heads of a crowd, or destroying a dozen opponents with a single swipe of your sword this is the game for you. In Exalted you play characters called the Solar Exalted Champions of the Undying Sun. You are the reincarnated heroes who once ruled the world but were treachorously slain by the other types of Exalted. Now you have returned, the world is at a crossroads, it can head either for a new Golden Age or down the dark road to White-Wolf's World of darkness games. The System is White-Wolfs time tested Stoytellers system with tweaks for Exalted, in particular the charms system is a bit diffrent but I found it quite interesting and smart. But some of the newer rules were a little confusing and I had to read through them a few times to fully get them. Otherwise I thought the game and the setting had a lot of potential.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent setting, great rule set
Review: The setting is absolutely great, rich and complex. It takes place before the World of Darkness setting used on other Storyteller titles, such as Vampire, Werewolf and Mage.

Also, the rules are absolutely great. The Charms system, specifically, is wonderful, the best I've seen around.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Concept
Review: The world of Exalted is utterly unique, drawing from sources as diverse as anime and The Odyssey. White Wolf is to be commended for coming up with something so original.

But I finish the book not really knowing what to do with it. The setting is explored in adequate detail, but we're not told enough about who exactly the Solar Exalted are or -- more importantly -- what they *do*. I found it very hard to garner ideas for chronicles from just the hardcover.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Concept
Review: The world of Exalted is utterly unique, drawing from sources as diverse as anime and The Odyssey. White Wolf is to be commended for coming up with something so original.

But I finish the book not really knowing what to do with it. The setting is explored in adequate detail, but we're not told enough about who exactly the Solar Exalted are or -- more importantly -- what they *do*. I found it very hard to garner ideas for chronicles from just the hardcover.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Refreshing
Review: This book is a story and an entire playing system in one. It is a refreshing break from the Dungeons & Dragons style of fantasy that seems to have a chokehold on the fantasy market as of late. The world is both creative and detailed while still leaving enough room for a story teller (A.K.A. game master/dungeon master/etc..) to create a world bent towards his/her style of game play.

The system is similar to other white wolf products but has a larger than life feel to it. Abilities of characters within the game are extremely flexible allowing a player to create almost any type of character he/she can imagine. I highly recommend this book and the game system in general to those looking for a way to get away from the normal mainstream fantasy systems currently available.