Before the Impergium before the Mythic Ages before the Sundering before there was a World of Darkness there was something else. And now it is revealed, at last. Come adventure in the Second Age of the World, the fantastic world of the Exalted.

Now Play the Game

Though thematically related to the modern-day World of Darkness, Exalted begins a whole new line of fantasy products from White Wolf. This hardcover rulebook invites you to become one of the Exalted, an heir to an Age of Heroes. Created to be saviors and Prometheans to humanity, the first Exalted were corrupted and slain by their own brethren. But now, new Exalted are being reborn into the Second Age of the World. Can you survive in a world that needs you yet reviles you? The fate of this new world is in your hands.

The story behind the game is that certain exceptional people in the Exalted game world of Creation are selected by the Heavens and granted a spark of divinity in a process known as Exaltation. These former mortals (called Exalted) have the ability to manipulate the energy - Essence - that flow through all of Creation channelling it to power their Charms and Sorceries. Charms tend to be action-oriented moves of limited effect (just think of them as Special Attacks) whereas Sorcery produces much more powerful effects but takes longer to prepare. Since their abilities were exceptional to begin with, coupled with the additional power of Charms and Sorcery, even a starting character will have more than enough power to make just about any number of mortal enemies flee like frightened rabbits (very satisfying). The ability to use essence is limited, but while it lasts, players can throw trees around, leap onto the roof of buildings from a standing jump, and slay a dozen foes each round.

This book does just about everything right: it is beautifully produced and bound (many expensive rulebooks come apart with regular gaming) with a hefty chunk of details on the geography and politics, and a large section on character creation including the very cool charms and sorcery. But truly the best part about this game is that it is written with such flair and passion that makes the gamer want to try it out at once.

The only (minor) faults I can find is that a sample adventure was not included and some of the illustrations are not particularly inspiring. Highly recommended if you have any interest in heroic fantasy on a epic scale. And PC gamers, if you have ever wanted to visit the excitement of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy series, this game is your ticket.


This Is What Aberrant Should Have Been   September 19, 2001
 7 out of 12 found this review helpful

Aberrent, as a game system, was boring and inbred, and a world which was bogged down with lots of background information, but no feeling or flavor.

Exalted, however, is the opposite. It's a world formed just enough for a good GM to add what he wants to it with all the hints you'd need instead of spoon-fed concrete details and conspiracies that are nebulous, and hardly conspiracies to anyone who even glances at one of the books. But at the same time, you get a real feeling of what it's like to be an Exalted character, what's expected of you. It's hard to imagine being a superhero in Aberrant, however, in Exalted, the powers they give you, and the descriptions they provide with how you do stunts, or charms, it's more cinematic, more anime, dare I say a better comic book game than Aberrant itself? Change a few names, and I'd say you've got a good modern campaign, with fantastic, vibrant, rooftop hopping, arrow sidestepping, castle smashing heroes that make your powerful but bland superhipsters seem like the legion of cyphers they are.

White Wolf fumbled the ball starting with Wraith, but the new breed books and Exalted MORE than make up for this!


World of Light...it is about time...   December 14, 2001
 7 out of 9 found this review helpful

It is about time. White Wolf finally produced a system for all of those of us who prefer there to be some chance that the heroic characters can actually make a difference. And they managed to do so without being fluffy! There are still vast challenges and dramatic evils. But now there is hope!

Other reviewers have questioned whether Exalted will even appeal to hard-core WoD players. My answer is: yes! Sure, there is hope in Exalted, unlike the doom-n-gloom of the typical WW game. But a storyteller who just can't let go of his angst can always play up the dread empire of the Dragon-Blooded, and still gain the benefit of a fresh new genre.

Paul G. says it took flak for being the ancient history of the WoD; myself, I think that is yet another strength of Exalted. If you've ever enjoyed pondering the mystic connections between the genres of the WoD (as I have), you'll find no end to pondering the links and implications of Exalted. My favorite is this: Where are the Solars in the WoD?

[The answer I'd like to see for 'where are the Solars': Aberrant was a figment of your imagination...what will really happen in the future of the WoD is that at the Apocalypse/Gehenna/LongWinter/etc, the Solars will return again and bring some light back to the WoD, setting the struggle into a still-hard-but-not-hopeless situation. Maybe WW can learn from their Exalted and find a way for some of the light to leak into the WoD?]

Of course, aside from all that, Exalted stands well even if you haven't played a WoD game before.


Exciting, but muddlesome   January 8, 2004
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

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.


Potential   August 3, 2001
 6 out of 9 found this review helpful

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.