# Who wants to play Exalted? (White Wolf RPG) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 23, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408 "2009-05-23T18:35:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/1 "2009-05-23T18:35:19Z")
Hey all, I’ve been itching to find a play group for a game of Exalted, but one just doesn’t exist around where I am. So I thought I’d turn to my favorite bunch of online geeks and see if anyone here was interested. I’m willing to fill the Storyteller role or hand it over to somebody with more experience, as this would be my first game in the setting. The basic theme of the world is as follows: > [@](#): > > Exalted is a game of epic fantasy set during the Second Age of Man, a time before our own. > It is an age of magic and adventure, when heroes of legend are reborn into a time of woe. > > At the dawn of the First Age, the gods gave power to men that they might slay the gods’ Primordial enemies. Anointed by the gods, these beings were thereafter known as the Exalted. > > The greatest of the Exalted were the Solars, the Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, the mightiest of the gods. So great was their power that, when a Solar died, his power was quickly made manifest in a new individual - a reincarnation of sorts, but into a mature adult rather than a newborn. > > The Exalted triumphed over the enemies of the gods, and in reward, the gods gave the Exalted dominion over the Earth. For a timeless age, the Exalted ruled justly over Creation, and their kingdom was invincible. > > But the enemies of the gods had pronounced a terrible curse against the Exalted. This dark magic ate away at the hearts of the Chosen. The benevolence of the Solars turned to tyranny, and peace turned to civil war. It was prophesied that the madness of the Solars would bring about the destruction of the world. Seeing no other alternative, the lowliest of Exalted, the Dragon-Blooded, murdered the decadent Solar Exalted and locked their souls away. > > And so, a Second Age descended upon Creation. > > The greatest of the gods’ servants no longer walked the earth, and the Realm of the Dragon-Blooded was but a shadow of the lost old Realm. Solar Exalted whose power escaped to be reborn were slain by Dragon-Blooded inquisitors known as the Wyld Hunt, and the Realm claimed dominion over Creation. For more than a thousand years the Solar Exalted remained imprisoned and defeated - until now. > > The Scarlet Empress, the Dragon-Blooded ruler of the Realm and controller of the Wyld Hunt, vanished five years ago. Without her might to enforce order in the Realm, the Great Houses of her Scarlet Dynasty have fallen to squabbling over the reins of power. And in this time of crisis, the Solar Exalted have returned. It is as if a gate was opened and the heroes of old rushed through it and returned to the world. > > Your character is among those individuals who have become Solar Exalted. You are a being of legend, as mighty as a demigod and as cunning as an asp. Will you be the savior of Creation or one of the terrible menaces that beset your world? For more detailed descriptions of things, check out the [Exalted Wiki](http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Exalted_(game)). I’ve got the core rulebook in PDF that I can share around info from if you’re a novice like me. Let me know and we’ll try to get things started! ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/2 "2009-05-23T19:44:04Z")
Over the internet, or in person? If the former, how are you going to resolve rolls? If the latter, where do you live and where would you want to arrange a meet? (I’m not too big a fan of tabletop gaming, as I find it to involve way, way too much rolling during the combat sessions and most of the people I game with don’t care much for the roleplaying aspect, but Exalted was a system I could sort of live with.) ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/3 "2009-05-23T19:49:54Z")
Over the internet. I was planning on using [http://www.umbralechoes.com/ExaltedRoller.php](http://www.umbralechoes.com/ExaltedRoller.php) for rolls, as it allows transparency but I’m open to better options. Oh and I’m not a huge fan of constant dice rolls, though there’s only so much you can do about that in combat. I _do_ like the stunt system, as it encourages thought and roleplaying. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/4 "2009-05-23T20:36:47Z")
Mark me down as interrested, although I know almost nothing about the rules etc. (I’ve tabletop gamed for… Let’s see… Going on 29 years now, but haven’t done this particular one.) ---
**Author:** ![CatInASuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@CatInASuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatInASuit)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/5 "2009-05-23T20:44:32Z")
Exalted is a fun game with a lot of dice for some of the rolls. Having played it before on several occasions, the system is pretty good. **Priam** , if you are going to run a game I suggest looking at how **What Exit?** has run his game and get the players to describe their actions leaving you to handle all the dice rolls. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/6 "2009-05-23T21:31:41Z")
First or second edition? I’m totally in, but I’d need to refresh myself on the rules. Never actually played. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/7 "2009-05-24T11:34:54Z")
Woohoo! Glad to see some folks are interested. **dotchan** and **CatInASuit** : are you both interested in playing or just chiming in with some advice? Trying to get a head count. **E-Sabbath** : Second edition rules, definitely. Who so far has access to a copy of the 2nd Edition core rule book? As previously stated, I’ve got a PDF copy to share around but I’d like to get a handle on who has what resources. I’d like to have five players before we kick off. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/8 "2009-05-24T13:30:47Z")
I got second edition rules and access to the guy who wrote first edition. And a webcomic. This is for Exalted what Order of the Stick is for D&D. And it’s _almost_ as good. [http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0001.html](http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0001.html) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/9 "2009-05-24T18:15:50Z")
If you are going to play Exalted, it’s important to understand what kind of game you intend? Will there be a lot of social manipulation? A rise of glorious power? A bunhc of wandering crazy adventurers killing things for xp? Because characters can very rapidly become ridiculously powerful (this is the game which lets you have an immortality-granting item as a starting character), you need to have a lot of definition, and be prepared if somebody decides to be childish about it. I know of one game which had every combat end with one character using his unstoppable death discipline to attack everything instantly. Then again, he got whiny if he didn’t kill everything instatly, so they just ignored everything else which happened in combat until he attacked, which was usually the first action anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/10 "2009-05-24T18:28:31Z")
All very true, **bandit**. You interested in being Storyteller? I’ve got some ideas kicking around, but as previously stated I have little to no experience Storytelling this game. So if anyone else has more skill and is interested, I’d love to pass it over. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/11 "2009-05-25T02:17:45Z")
Alright so let’s tentatively assume I’m the Storyteller for this adventure. I’m cribbing from **What Exit’s** start up thread. 1. Please let me know what sourcebooks you have from Exalted and what edition they are! I’ve got a full set from [drivethrurpg.com](http://drivethrurpg.com), but I’m trying to get a feel for information you all might have at your fingertips 2. How much, if any, experience you have playing Exalted 2nd Edition. 3. Any major likes or dislikes/variants you’ve picked up from past play sessions of Exalted (i.e. social combat and intrigue heavy, RP emphasis, frequency of dice use) 4. If you have any character sheets already made up that you’d like to use. The turns will be 2 days or when all are in. I think 5 players is the maximum I’ll handle dice rolls for people using [http://www.umbralechoes.com/ExaltedRoller.php](http://www.umbralechoes.com/ExaltedRoller.php). There’s a limited log of past rolls if you want to check up on me. This session will ONLY use rules from 2nd Edition sourcebooks, though I’m planning to use characters locations that have only been mentioned in 1st edition as of yet. This will be a pure Solar Exalted player character game set in the Scavenger Lands. I’m not locked into people being a Perfect Circle (i.e. one character from each Solar caste), but I will mandate a certain variety to stay balanced. Characters will be at starting experience level, as powers ramp up VERY quickly in this game and I want a little experience playing Storyteller before we get into that. To get a start on character creation, I’d recommend reading [this page at Exalted Wiki](http://wiki.white-wolf.com/exalted/index.php?title=Solar_Exalted) for the caste descriptions of Exalted. Keep in mind that castes are merely archetypes that lean your character’s skill development one way or another, though the system allows great freedom to make characters unique. So think of a character type and what class MOST SUITS that character, though it should ideally not be a perfect fit. I’m working on getting some of the character creation pages put up for folks to read through. Stay tuned! Players confirmed so far: ArrMatey! E-Sabbath If anybody else who’s posted wants to confirm, let me know! ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/12 "2009-05-25T02:51:41Z")
1: I can have access to all Exalted books. 2: Zero experience playing 2nd. Some playing 1st. This may be bad. 3: Eeeh, not so much of anything. Long as the DM doesn’t try to railroad, and allows me to try to pull off completely unconventional things. 4: Nope! ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/13 "2009-05-25T03:14:58Z")
I’m thinking Twilight or Night caste. You got any input or suggestions there? ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/14 "2009-05-25T03:52:53Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > I’m thinking Twilight or Night caste. You got any input or suggestions there? My personal thought would be that, if you want to “pull off completely non-conventional things”, Night caste is probably your best bet. They’re all about not fighting fair and striking where it’s unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/15 "2009-05-25T14:54:22Z")
OK so I’ve got the Core Rulebook uploaded to a secure link! I’ll PM it to folks who need a copy. Think I’ve also got a good handle on the campaign I want to run, which is very exciting 🙂 It will involve both social and physical combat, so keep that in mind when designing characters To start with, even before you go flipping through the rules, I’d suggest you consider the following (taken straight from the book): > [@](#): > > Before filling in a single dot on your character sheet, think of a concept. You don’t need to know every detail of your character’s life right now, you just need a general feel for who she is and her current place in the world. Decide on something you’ll enjoy playing for the long haul. As you progress through character creation, you may alter this concept to suit your needs or wants, but it gives you a starting point. An example might be “my character was kidnapped by bandits as a child and Exalted as a teenager, transforming the bandit gang into the nucleus of her conquering army.” Your concept should be unique and interesting, to satisfy you and the Storyteller. Everything flows from there. Once you’ve got a character concept that you’d like to run with, let me know what it is and I’ll help you walk through the steps of character creation! ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/16 "2009-05-25T18:24:49Z")
More of, yes, I wanted some help with the concept problem. Should we have exalted already, where should our characters be from, how do they know each other, and so on? I’m thinking petty thief/prankster for my concept, but… ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/17 "2009-05-25T18:42:43Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > More of, yes, I wanted some help with the concept problem. Should we have exalted already, where should our characters be from, how do they know each other, and so on? I’m thinking petty thief/prankster for my concept, but… All the characters are fairly newly Exalted (maybe two or three years out max). Creation is a VERY big place and hardly safe to travel through, so it makes the most sense to have a character who grew up somewhere in or very near the Scavenger Lands. If you can make a compelling case for why your character concept has to be from somewhere else, I’m up for hearing it! The characters will just meet each other at the beginning of the story. I plan on working out a Prelude with each of you that basically skips through the events of each character’s life and Exaltation, giving everybody a chance to test out their concept and how they like roleplaying it before they’re thrown together. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/18 "2009-05-26T08:10:05Z")
I love exalted, any game that lets you use surfboard sized swords, gives you extra dice for stupid( but really cool looking) stunts and has perfect defence charms is more then all right in my book Our table top group uses [anathema](http://anathema.sourceforge.net/?page=downloads)as a character generator, its has all the charms of all the books (first and second ed.), when you are done with creation you can use it to keep track of xp I’m not sure how a message board rpg game would work especially with an action based game like exalted, you said turns would be every two day, what kind of time period will covered in each turn? A day? A combat turn? ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/19 "2009-05-26T12:39:57Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > I love exalted, any game that lets you use surfboard sized swords, gives you extra dice for stupid( but really cool looking) stunts and has perfect defence charms is more then all right in my book > > Our table top group uses [anathema](http://anathema.sourceforge.net/?page=downloads)as a character generator, its has all the charms of all the books (first and second ed.), when you are done with creation you can use it to keep track of xp > > I’m not sure how a message board rpg game would work especially with an action based game like exalted, you said turns would be every two day, what kind of time period will covered in each turn? A day? A combat turn? Ooo I’m liking the creation tool. Thanks for the heads-up! As for time-frame, I’m gonna let people play a little fast and loose with that outside of combat. Extended action rolls will all be handled on my end with the actual in-game timeframe decided (within reason) by the player in their descriptive post. Within combat? Things have to run slower just to give everyone a chance to chime in, but you could view it as an advantage: it gives you plenty more time to think about your next (overwrought, stunt-filled) move! Also please keep in mind that two days is an _outside_ limit. If everyone checks in before then, I’ll move ahead. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408/20 "2009-05-26T15:19:34Z")
Anyone else got any feedback on what they want to make? I like it when a group’s vaugely coherent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wants-to-play-exalted-white-wolf-rpg/497408.md?page=2)