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Exalted Players Guide *OP
A core rulebook for Exalted, this book features fundamental game informationfor all players and storytellers.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 29, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 4, 2021
Okay, so, confession time: I am of two minds about most of the products White Wolf put out. I have always enjoyed the work that they produce, both for its quality and content, which are (with VERY few exceptions) of the highest caliber. The authors and artists are obviously talented, creative, and skilled in their respective fields, and they produce an immense amount of well-thought-out and finely detailed material. All of this combines to create something I would normally consume whole-hog and without hesitation.
That hesitation, well... yeah. That's the problem. That hesitation comes from a place that I had to spend a while winkling out from my unconscious mind, and I think I've gotten it nailed down. Most of my issues with the White Wolf line of material come from, I suspect, not the designers of the material, but rather the players and the originator of the game that started it all: Mark Rein*Hagen (or however you do that- I mean, seriously, what kind of pretentious dong-wit puts a bullet point into their surname?!). Vampire: The Masquerade created what could be considered a virtual revolution in how roleplaying was handled when it first came out, and this was both a boon and a curse. A boon, because the pastime opened itself up to a whole new flock of players who had no care or interest in the typical D&D game, but it also brought along the baggage of those individuals who felt they were, to some extent, better than the clod-witted, knuckle-dragging forbears of the tabletop genre who spent their time counting gold, killing orcs, and bashing their way through dungeon doors. I mean, hell, I absolutely ADORE the Kindred of the East series of White Wolf products, but in true contrarian fashion, I think that's at least partially because there was a massive, disappointed uproar from the typical WW masses at how the books turned out.
(Again, this is the experience I had, so I have little doubt that my views are colored somewhat by these events. Except for one thing: a fucking bullet point?! I mean, tell me you're pretentious and have an inflated sense of self without telling me you're pretentious and have an inflated sense of self, amirite?)
What does all this have to do with the Exalted series? Well, with what I've posted above, you might be able to piece together that I have a little bit of resentment at just how it might appear that these self-same elitists who turned their noses up at the original RPGs that I grew up playing are now co-opting the milieu and worlds they once scorned as beneath them. I even had a discussion (well, okay, snark-filled spraying of bile and venom) with a WW elitist about what made the Exalted series any different than a well-designed and well-written D&D game. Why, I asked, was this version of swords-and-sorcery any more acceptable than that which had come before, and had in fact allowed for the creation of the books he held in his greasy little mitts? (okay, yeah, I admit I'm being uncharitable, but for context, we had just spend a weekend at a con, soooo....yeah.)
His only argument effectively boiled down to the fact that the system was different, and that the writing was so much better. The dispute about what writing is better is and always will be a matter of opinion, but it is those experiences that have somewhat soured me on the near-entirety of the White Wolf library, no matter how much I might potentially enjoy the world, system, or games in the right company.
That hesitation, well... yeah. That's the problem. That hesitation comes from a place that I had to spend a while winkling out from my unconscious mind, and I think I've gotten it nailed down. Most of my issues with the White Wolf line of material come from, I suspect, not the designers of the material, but rather the players and the originator of the game that started it all: Mark Rein*Hagen (or however you do that- I mean, seriously, what kind of pretentious dong-wit puts a bullet point into their surname?!). Vampire: The Masquerade created what could be considered a virtual revolution in how roleplaying was handled when it first came out, and this was both a boon and a curse. A boon, because the pastime opened itself up to a whole new flock of players who had no care or interest in the typical D&D game, but it also brought along the baggage of those individuals who felt they were, to some extent, better than the clod-witted, knuckle-dragging forbears of the tabletop genre who spent their time counting gold, killing orcs, and bashing their way through dungeon doors. I mean, hell, I absolutely ADORE the Kindred of the East series of White Wolf products, but in true contrarian fashion, I think that's at least partially because there was a massive, disappointed uproar from the typical WW masses at how the books turned out.
(Again, this is the experience I had, so I have little doubt that my views are colored somewhat by these events. Except for one thing: a fucking bullet point?! I mean, tell me you're pretentious and have an inflated sense of self without telling me you're pretentious and have an inflated sense of self, amirite?)
What does all this have to do with the Exalted series? Well, with what I've posted above, you might be able to piece together that I have a little bit of resentment at just how it might appear that these self-same elitists who turned their noses up at the original RPGs that I grew up playing are now co-opting the milieu and worlds they once scorned as beneath them. I even had a discussion (well, okay, snark-filled spraying of bile and venom) with a WW elitist about what made the Exalted series any different than a well-designed and well-written D&D game. Why, I asked, was this version of swords-and-sorcery any more acceptable than that which had come before, and had in fact allowed for the creation of the books he held in his greasy little mitts? (okay, yeah, I admit I'm being uncharitable, but for context, we had just spend a weekend at a con, soooo....yeah.)
His only argument effectively boiled down to the fact that the system was different, and that the writing was so much better. The dispute about what writing is better is and always will be a matter of opinion, but it is those experiences that have somewhat soured me on the near-entirety of the White Wolf library, no matter how much I might potentially enjoy the world, system, or games in the right company.
April 12, 2008
It seemed like those who wrote the new Martial Arts weren't really keen on the rules.
February 21, 2014
A very nice addendum to Exalted, focusing on heroic mortals, halfbreed races (all very interesting) and a lot of goodies to enrich characters.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews