Nearly two years in production, Exalted was one of the most anticipated new role-playing games to be released in recent years. For White Wolf, it represented their first independent step into the fantasy genre. Exalted is a large hardcover book filled with artwork that runs the gauntlet from mediocre to excellent, as is typical for the industry. There are a number of typos that detract from the overall excellent writing and design; poor copy editing has been the chief complaint made against this game on related forums and message boards. A few book owners have also criticized printing errors or described problems with the spine and cover. There are two versions of the core book in print, the Unlimited edition and a much pricier $70 leather bound Limited Edition that is packaged with a “Making of Exalted” art book and character generator demo cd.
Exalted is the flagship product of a new epoch game line called “Age of Sorrows” which is meant to serve as the nebulous prequel to White Wolf’s popular “World of Darkness” cosmology. In the core book, players are offered the opportunity to portray the Solars, a race of once vanquished demi-gods. Solars begin their lives as average humans who undergo a miraculous Exaltation when they prove themselves worthy to the Unconquered Sun, patron god of the Solars. According to the Exalted mythos, at the beginning of the ages of Man, a young pantheon of gods led by the Unconquered Sun chose to rebel against the ancient primordials and used the Exalted as their champions. The Solars, leading armies of lesser Chosen, defeated and killed the primordial gods and so began the Golden 1st Age. However, as the primordial gods were dying, they cursed the Solars, sowing the seeds of tragedy and betrayal. Now, deep in the middle of the Second Age, the Solars are returning to save creation- or destroy it.
Beyond the Solars, the Exalted universe is full of other champions of the gods, Fair Folk, beastmen and other monsters, ancient artifacts, magical treasures, diverse human cultures- all combining to create a fascinating and self-contained epic fantasy setting. The game system is capable of providing an unlimited number of campaigns and/or chronicles. The style of Exalted leans more to anime-manga than traditional Western fantasy, which capitalizes on the growing popularity of Asian style fantasy in the US.
The dice system and basic game mechanics of Exalted are similar to other White Wolf games, and easy for most experienced RPG players to learn. They are based on the use of the 10-sided die, and copious amounts of dice may need to be rolled during combat involving Charms (some of which can double already generous attack or dodge pools). Starting characters are expected to already be heroic warriors or masters of their field, and game play can get extremely cinematic and grand. Players are rewarded with extra dice if they are able to describe their character’s amazing stunts in a way that amazes and delights the Storyteller and the rest of the players.
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