Exalted

Pen and paper table top role playing games are not really my thing. Part of this is because I'm too spoiled by video games and part because I'm either too nerdy or not nerdy enough to be invited to a game. However, I have taken some time to look into some games and one that really captures my attention is Exalted. Essentially it is the anime of RPGs, if you want to turn your favorite JRPG vide game into a table top experience, this is the one to go through. I have no idea how the mechanics actually play out, but the story is interesting, so I'll go into that. Before we get started,  I want to note that it was made by White Wolf, who also made World of Darkness, the series that allows you to play monsters in the modern world. Because that was their flagship, Exalted is modeled as the mythical origin of the creatures of  the modern World of Darkness, but despite several references, ever since the WoD reboot over a decade ago, Exalted has strayed into becoming it's own thing. Largely it is anime in the most over the top fantasy style you may ever play.

In the beginning there was nothing, then there was Shinma. Shinma wasn't anything, it was the precursor of existence, and from Shinma came the raksha, the most primitive and chaotic beings who couldn't even define themselves. From this chaos came the Primordials, beings which defied order and craved a consistency that opposed all that came before it. Then came Creation, the world that the Primordials built and ultimately the world we exist in. The Primordials created the gods to oversee Creation, then came the Dragon Kings to serve the gods and finally humans to serve the Dragon Kings. There was conflict at first, but eventually the gods and the Dragon Kings got everythign under control and the Primordials felt there was no need to remain in Creation and retreated to their own separate realm of Yu Shan to play the Games of Divinity. The gods were not pleased with the Primordals' laziness, but they were not given the free will to rebel against their masters, free will was unique to humans who were so weak they could do nothing. Then in a stroke of brilliance, the seven Celestial gods, the Unconquered Sun, Luna, and the Five Maidens, Exalted humans, granting them enough of their own divine power that they could stand equal to the Dragon Kings, the gods, the raksha, and even the Primordials themselves, ad they would have the free will to rebel. The Exalted killed a few Primordials, which scared the others since they had created the very concept of death itself and thought they were above it, and they surrendered to the Exalted. Those that surrendered were exiled as demons, and those that were killed formed the Underworld and gathered the restless souls of mortals who defied the cycle of reincarnation. Both groups of Primordials were kept outside Creation, the gods ascended to Yu Shan, and the Exalted took over the world, beginning the First Age of man. In the First Age, the Solar Exalted ruled, married the Lunar Exalted, advised by the Sidereal Exalted and served by the Terrestrial Exalted. But they also carried a curse from the Primordials and after a couple thousand years, the curse took root and the Exalted became corrupt. The Sidereals who understood fate saw that this would lead to the ruin of the world unless something changed. Half thought the Solars needed to more advice, the other half thought the Solars needed to be replaced. The latter won and got the Terrestria Exalted, the only Exalted who could breed, to use their superior numbers to make up for their other weaknesses and bring down the Solars. The Celestial Exalted reincarnated, so the essences had to be collected and imprisoned.So began the Second Age of man, when the Terrestrial Exalted ruled, the Lunars were hunted, and both the Solars and the Sidereals were forgotten, the latter because they brought upon a curse on themselves that prevents others from remembering that they are even there, which can sometimes help them when they want to manipulate events. However, the Terrestrial Exalted were not as powerful and could not maintain Creation, it has been deteriorating, and after another couple thousand years, the raksha, the undead, and even the demons are starting to creep back in, and the Solars broke free of their prison. Half of the Solars were captured, fifty possessed by the demons to become Infernal Exalted, and the rest of the captured became Abyssal Exalted, slaves of the undead. Five years after the Solars escaped and the Scarlet Empress of the Terrestrial Exalted went missing, the Second Age of man comes to an end, the question is who will inherit the world as the Third Age approaches?

Basically, Abyssals are vampires, Lunars are werewolves. Since Abyssals were Solars, their new forms reject the Sun and the Sun rejects them, hence the vampiric weakness regarding the sun. Lunars are shapeshifters with animal themes which can be any animal but explains what the moon has to do with werewolves. After that, it all sort of falls apart, but the divine power of the Exalted tends toward anime heroes and villains, complete with flashy anima banners. Martial arts play a heavy role, and then there's over-sized weapons like daiklaives (see also Buster Sword).  If you need something more than werewolves, vampires, sorcerers, and demons, the raksha are better known as the Fair Folk and fill the role of fairies, the Terrestrial Exalted are better known as the Dragon-Blooded and have elemental affinities that can make them the most fun to play with, but if you really want dragons then go with the Dragon Kings, which are actually humanoid dinosaurs that are disappointed by being rendered obsolete by the Exalted and range from enlightened fire-breathing flying Pterok and water master Mosok to savage monsters who forgot what they were, and the Alchemical Exalted, cyborgs that exist in the alternate world of  the one Primordial who escaped the wrath of the Exalted but now that Primordial and his world is dying and the people have begun to invade Creation out of sheer desperation. And all of that is just the playable characters, game masters can throw in a variety of undead to accompany the Abyssal Exalted and populate the world with the various spirits and gods that still walk among men. With a little imagination you can play out any anime fantasy in this world. Great practice for amateur writers and especially budding fan fiction authors.