The Good, The Bad, And The Worst Of Exalted
I hope that whatever they do with the Third Edition the writers don't change anything about the Solars. If everything about Exalted was done as well as the Solars I would have nothing to complain about. Luckily, since they're the default characters, they hit the nail exactly on the head. In retrospect this seems relatively easy since the Solars have quite a simple core character concept. Whatever the case, it stands as an example of what the writers are capable of. When they venture into deeper water however things start to go awry.
Ironically it's the Exalted themselves that come off very badly. Most of the Abyssal Charms were thankfully well written, on a few occasions they show genuine flair. The characterisation of the Abyssals however was a major let down. The Lunars were also very badly handled. It sounded like they were trying to adapt Werewolf the Apocalypse into Exalted. The reason Exalted stands out is that it's not ADnD or based on conventional 'Lord of the Rings' folklore. Simply grafting shapeshifters into it like that is unoriginal and self-contradictory. The Dragon-Blooded was frankly the pits. Avoiding conventional elementalism was a good idea. But trying to pull off the same trick without the solid aesthetic to work on wasn't. The Sidereals was somewhat better, if not particularly impressive. As an example of a Sidereal operation they describe how several agents are ordered to perform fate manipulation that achieves absolutely nothing in a typical of Exalted stupid double-action. The Infernals surprised me by creating an interesting set of Charms without Ability or Attribute minimums. The presence of Charm flow diagrams was a major factor in this. Their background was pretty good too, and although I wasn't hugely inspired by Helltech it was a sight better than the lame Necrotech of The Abyssals (just the name was enough to arouse interest.) The Alchemicals were the best of all after the Solars.
The Compass of Terrestrial/Celestial Directions
Both these series can best be described as hideously bland. The only one that evoked any real interest was The Underworld. The histories of the different lays of Creation are essentially a retelling of the same story. Although when looked at from the point of view of history of Creation there isn't any story to speak of. Characters in these and other supplements appear to perform one act and that's the extent of their impact. They're basically non-entities. There's no epic story which is what Exalted is supposed to be all about. None of their actions make any difference. It's more like the history of the world is set and characters just skim through it hardly making an impact. Creation may get bigger and smaller but nothing about it really changes.
Among all the peoples written about in these books the only ones that evoked any interest in me were the Lintha. Here was something I could get my teeth into. This wasn't just an ineffectual rambling but an epic tale. Aside from the Lintha the most interesting book in the Terrestrial directions series was The Scavenger Lands. It gave me a great idea for how to improve the Terrestrial Exalted. One difference between this and region based supplements in Warhammer (apart from the fact that one has to describe an entire world where the other's rules pertain almost exclusively to combat) is that in Warhammer areas of the world are populated by a wide variety of races and cultures, whereas in Exalted all the books are for the most part describing humans. Also the gods and spirits that live in these lands are often not very powerful and even not very intelligent.
Given that dark atmosphere of The Underworld it was almost impossible that it could miss. I think the conspiracy of the three Deathlords about the Great Contagion was brilliant. Including rules about Underworld manses and Creation was a good idea to but it didn't give any concrete details of how to create or remove a shadowland. Yu-Shan was bland and rather oddly so was Malfeas. The problem is that the characters of the realms are also dull. Spirit Charms are interminable, not organised into any great order. Even the name Demons doesn't cut it. Reading The Wyld felt more like a marathon.
As a series, the first part of the Books of Sorcery is unquestionably my favourite. In Wonders of the Lost Age they really start to take the breaks off (although not enough in my opinion.) The White Treatise was a tour de force in how to write a book about sorcery without sounding like everyone else. The Black Treatise on the other hand I didn't quite like so much. The aesthetic of it seems rather off, kind of weird in an unenjoyable way rather than a gratuitously morbid way. Oedenol's Codex I particularly like for it's way to spice up manses. Thaumaturgy though needs a major overhaul in my opinion. It's extremely dull and underpowered (who the hell pays resources 5 for a pathetic little trick.)
Scroll of the Monk unveils some of Exalted's true power. Aside from the Terrestrial martial arts I thought it was great. Border of Kaleidoscopic Logic Style was disturbing. The Dragon Kings cover of Scroll of Fallen Races looked like it had been drawn by primary school children and the Mountain Folk? Dwarves? The armour that woman on page 7 is wearing should be looked at by people who write about artefacts though. The Scroll of Kings- an examination of the most interesting aspect of all the world's cultures could hardly go wrong. I have some ideas changing the basic precepts of combat itself but I still liked this one. Scroll of Exalts- a cash in. What use is knowing what Charms an Exalted has if you need to buy the Manual of Exalted Power to find out what they do? Put all this stuff in the same book. The Scroll of Heroes was surprisingly fascinating. Having Merits and Flaws it made me understand a whole new approach to character creation, creating the character as an extention of their mortal self rather than an Exalted of some experience.
Glories of the Most High succeeded somewhat where Dreams of the First Age copped-out (namely Sidereal powers.)
Graceful Wicked Masques is unquestionably my favourite supplement. The 'culture' of the Fair Folk is based on a single strong source which gives them a firm sense of identity and their exploration of the Wyld and it's existentialism is inspired. I wish all their books were so deep. It reminds me of the 2nd Edition Chaos and Eldar Codices.
The artwork of Exalted deserves mentioning. It's quality varies wildly. In some places it's nothing more than a series of bare lines and looks like those paint in the space pictures. The 'jade' style is quite innovative and reflects the aesthetic of the game. Generally it's sorely inadequate and rushed. Recently I was reading the Warhammer Quest Roleplay book and it struck me just how much more developed the pictures were compared to the shoddy ones you find so often in Exalted. They were fully detailed right down to the blades of grass, an attempt to make real art than slapdash pictures. The cover of Roll of Glorious Divinity II was a split from the game's unofficial code of not mimicing standard fantasy and is embarassing to be seen looking at in public.
