Exalted: The Dragon-Blooded

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Add On - Wish it stood alone
Review: Exalted is an excellent RPG series, and Dragon-Blooded is a spectacular addition to the game. Because you still need the basic exalted book for the majority of the mechanics, most of its 224 pages is taken up with background material, including histories and profiles that will be very useful to any GM who wants to stick as closely as possible to the "cannon" of Exalted.

The castes are interesting, and the way in which the favored skills are broken up between them is much more satisfying than it was with the Solar Exalted.

As a matter of fact, the only reason this gets four stars instead of five is that I really really wish it could be used without the original Exalted book. The Dragon-Blooded are generally more dynamic, interesting, and well-rounded than the Solars are, and it's a shame that you have to spend close to $60 in order to play them.

Still, this is definitely worth your money if you're into medieval/martial arts action/adventure roleplaying or you are already a fan of exalted in general.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Add On - Wish it stood alone
Review: Exalted is an excellent RPG series, and Dragon-Blooded is a spectacular addition to the game. Because you still need the basic exalted book for the majority of the mechanics, most of its 224 pages is taken up with background material, including histories and profiles that will be very useful to any GM who wants to stick as closely as possible to the "cannon" of Exalted.

The castes are interesting, and the way in which the favored skills are broken up between them is much more satisfying than it was with the Solar Exalted.

As a matter of fact, the only reason this gets four stars instead of five is that I really really wish it could be used without the original Exalted book. The Dragon-Blooded are generally more dynamic, interesting, and well-rounded than the Solars are, and it's a shame that you have to spend close to $60 in order to play them.

Still, this is definitely worth your money if you're into medieval/martial arts action/adventure roleplaying or you are already a fan of exalted in general.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest supplemental books for any system ever!
Review: First of all Exalted is probably the best thing to come along for pen and paper RPing in a good long while.Particularly, it's the freshest thing to come to the fantasy genre in a good long time. I love White Wolf products, their other games are a change from other good but overplayed systems but this is something really new. The Dragon Blooded Supplement only adds to this. It contains a wealth of information on the realm, the dragon blooded, the immaculate order, and so much more. Though this background info comprises at least half the book, evert page of it is full of new and interesting material, next to nothing from the core Exalted book about the Dragon Blooded is repeated, that's how thorough it is. Furthermore, if you're dealing with intelligent gamers rather than pokemon-style "I want to be the very best" and kill everything people, then Dragon blooded make truly deep and excellent characters with opportunities for most any type of story. Even if your players don't want to play Dragon Blooded, this supplement is worth it for the background info and the detail you can include for Dragon Blooded storyteller characters. I can't reccomend this enough.

Rating:
Summary: Good take on an alternate perspective
Review: The Dragon Blooded. Hailed as gods among men, wielders of semi-divine authority, heirs to vast wealth, power, prestige and authority. And, ultimately, second bannana to just about everyone.

This sourcebook is great material for Dragon Blooded NPCs or players alike. It gives a great deal of insight into the strict, austere shadows of the Dynastic Houses and Immaculate Order, and the mixture of power and obligation that such lofty positions entail. The only issue I would take with the book is that of balance. Realistically, the Dragon Blooded command the key strength of superior numbers and peerless levels of social and political power. However, for a group which is supposed to be the weakest of the Exalted, they seem to have an awfully large array of powerful and well-thought-out charms, as well as powerful, unique martial arts styles which seem conspicuously absent from supposedly more powerful types of Exalted. Nevertheless, if these are perceived as problems, then most judicious Storytellers should be able to find ways around them, and I can't say anything bad about the writers' skill at portraying the simultaneous strength and weakness of the legendary Dragon Blooded. Whether you just want more realistic NPC interaction with your non-Blooded group or a foundation for Dragon Blood players, I can certainly recommend this addition.

Rating:
Summary: this should be fun
Review: their is no game i like playing more then exalted and no type i like playing as more then dragon blooded.

the idea of having the backing they do is fun but more importantly since you are not a god you can deal with smaller problems and still have them be a challenge. also since dragon blooded are then only exalts that can walk the blessed isle openly, which adds a whole new dimension to the game, less fear and more awe.

their are only two problems with dragon bloooded. you more or less have to only play with other dragon blooded because all the other types of exalted are a lot more powerful then the dragon blooded.

the other problem is i have a feeling that they thought out the DB charms better then the solar charms so in a lot of respects their charms are nastier.

over all it is a great game and i recomend it.

Rating:
Summary: The first of Exlated's Big Books.
Review: This was going to be an important book in many ways. It's the first big supplement for Exalted, and the figures it details are going to be the most common enemies for any Exalted game.

But it suceeds. Hugely.

The books is dedicated to fleshing out the Terrestrial Exalted, or 'Dragon-Blooded'. They're the weakest but most numerous Exalted, and currently control Creation from the Blessed Isle at it's centre.

A sizable portion of the book is given over to explaining how the Realm's society works. It comes across as a credible system of government in a world where the ruling classes are individually far more powerful than the plebians. You can believe that this system of government could actually exist, which lends quite a bit of credibility to the setting. It also explains how things are breaking down now that the immortal ruler of the Realm has vanished and the families she established are battling for position. Also mentioned here is what it's like for a Terrestrial Exalted to actually grow up, undergo education and make their way in the hostile world without and the twisting mazes of obligations and politics within. Also detailed are the Immaculate monks and their belief system and abilities. (Yes, as in martial arts movies, the bald-headed monks are the most terrifying fighters.)

Though this makes up about half the book, it doesn't seem a page too long. You can tell the authors have thought about how these superhumans would interact with each other, mortals and the outside world. As a result, the setting of the Realm and it's inhabitants has a consistency and credibility that a lot of other fantasy settings lack.

Then we move on to the game material. Pleasingly, the powers of the Terrestrials have not been beefed up so much as varied--the average Solar, Lunar or Abyssal will chew up a Terrestrial of equivalent experience and spit them out. They are, however, geared towards working as a team as opposed to Solar characters who can be built up into one-man armies. There are Charms that allow a group to enter a 'hive-mind' where they can draw on each other's knowledge of a battle, enhance the courage of their followers or allow a group of allies to all attack one enemy with no penalty. The Immaculate martial arts are also detailed, adding five new Styles to them. Finally, you get to use the quote "Your Snake style fighting is strong, but my Water Dragon style will defeat you!" Or maybe I've just watched too many kung fu movies....anyway, though the Martial Arts powers are deadly (The higher-level Charms let you rip people's souls from their bodies, burst into flame or transform into living stone) they carry an increased cost and can be accessed by other Exalted.

New character creation rules are introduced. To go briefly over them, Terrestrials don't have Allies or Contacts, they have Connections and replace Followers with Legions (up to 1000 soliders). Also, they have extra skill points (but have required minimum ratings for some skills) easier access to Artifacts and Hearthstones. They also have a Background called Breeding that allows them to alleviate their small Essence pool problem. While this doesn't make them overpowering (they're supposed to be the weakest Exalted type, remember), it does give them flavour and edges.

The book is rounded off by a section detailing possible uses for the source material. Campaigns with the PC's all being young Terrestrials at boarding school or with them being several generations of the same family over several centuries. There's also a thoughtful segment on how to present the Realm's less savoury practices in a game, and whether to impose 20'th century sensibilities on a fantasy culture or whether to accept 'that's the way things are here'.

Problems? Maybe that the book tries a bit too hard not to reprint information from the core book or supplements, sometimes leaving out quite important information like the names of the Elemental Dragons, the beings the Terrestrials worship. Also, there's little information on the Exalted-hunting organisation the Wyld Hunt, which is annoying, given that that's probably one of the main ways Terrestrial and Solar PC's will come into contact.

But that's a minor niggle. Whether you want to send a group into the Realm, run a lower-powered Exalted game (Spiderman level, rather than the Superman level of the Solars) or just want some detailed NPC's, this book will satisfy.

Given what a good job they've done here, I await with bated breath for the Lunar Exalted sourcebook.