Exalted is a
tabletop RPG set in a high fantasy world known as Creation. The player characters are usually the Exalted, people who've been chosen by the gods to receive a portion of divine power. As for what they do with that power... well, one of the running themes of
Exalted is, "Welcome to Creation, here's your shovel."
The Exalted were made by the gods to make war on the Primordials, the Titan-like beings who had originally created the universe. The Exalted come in numerous varieties, each one depending on the god or elemental force who Exalted them:
The Solar Exalted, chosen by the Unconquered Sun, are celestial powerhouses who have the potential to be masters of all they put their mind to. Once upon a time, they were pretty much the kings of the earth (more on that later).
The Lunar Exalted, chosen by Luna, are shapeshifting infiltrators and social engineers who were created as boon companions and mates to the Solars.
The Terrestrial Exalted (a.k.a. Dragon-Blooded), chosen by the Five Elemental Dragons, are meant to oversee Creation and make sure that mortal society operates as normal. In the First Age, they were the underlings to the Solars.
The Sidereal Exalted, chosen by the Five Maidens, oversee Fate itself, and make sure that gigantic Creation-wrecking disasters do not come to pass.
The Abyssal Exalted (a.k.a. Deathknights), chosen by the Deathlords, are evil beings who work to consume and destroy Creation to satisfy their masters and the Neverborn. Between their inherent natures, rivalries between Deathlords, and the free will borne of humanity, even their masters do not entirely trust the Deathknights.
The Exalted managed to defeat the Primordials, but not before having a "Great Curse" placed upon them. The Curse was slow to manifest; at first, the Exalted saw Creation through into a shining golden age. Then they started going crazy. The Sidereals saw that a possible disaster loomed on the horizon, so they talked the Dragon-Blooded into overthrowing the Solars and their Lunar mates. They succeeded, and while Creation may have been saved, it quickly started going to pieces. A powerful Dragon-Blooded known as The Scarlet Empress managed to grab the reins again, and for hundreds of years, things went okay. The Solars and Lunars were cast as demonic "Anathema" by the state religion of the Dragon-Bloods, and the Exaltations of the Solars were rounded up and kept under careful guard by the Sidereals to make sure they never came back.
Recently, things have started reaching epic levels of going to pieces. The Scarlet Empress, the only thing holding the Dragon-Bloods' grip on Creation together, vanished mysteriously five years ago. The ghosts of the dead Primordials have been Exalting people of their own, and sending out these Abyssal Exalted to deliver all of Creation to a merciful death. The
Fair Folk, extradimensional horrors, keep plucking at the borders of reality and feasting on human souls.
Oh. And those carefully guarded Solar Exaltations? They've been released, they've found new champions, and they are
very angry.
Is sometimes hinted at being a
prequel RPG to the
World Of Darkness, which takes place eons later after things have
really gone down the tubes. Others have even
theorized for it to be sequel to the
World Of Darkness. Or maybe just an
Alternate Universe. The original
Tag Line was "Before there was a
World Of Darkness..." but the second edition in particular seems to have moved away from this concept.
This RPG provides examples of:
- A God Am I -- Probably the major reason why the Solars got bumped off in the First Age.
- Anime Hair -- Unusual hair colors are stated to be common in various areas of Creation; blue and purple in the West, green in the East, etc.
- Atlantis-- Pretty much the entirety of the First Age.
- Badass Normal -- Heroic Mortals. The best of them are a fair match for Terrestrial Exalted. Also, almost every Exalt out there was this before their Exaltation.
- Barehanded Blade Block-- What kind of Exalt or Heroic Mortal wouldn't be able to do that? (See Rule Of Cool.)
- Battle Aura-- The anima banner.
- BFS-- Daiklaives, powerful weapons made out of magical materials and capable of great things.
- Cargo Cult -- The game actually allows some characters to take on a cult of people who worship them as a god, providing them with an extra boost of power.
- Cosmic Horror-- You've got the ghosts of dead gods, who seek to drag all of Creation into the maw of Oblivion; the still-living siblings of said dead gods, who've had their very natures inverted and who seek to pry open their prison and run roughshod over Creation; and the formless fairies from the chaotic depths of space who feed on the virtues of your average mortal. Of course, this being Exalted, the whole point is to get to the level where you can eventually kick each and every one of these threats square in the nards.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu -- See above.
- Dysfunction Junction -- the Great Curse makes sure of this.
- Hammerspace -- Justified : the "Elsewhere" is a specific space which characters can use charms to reach, stock then take back various weapons and items.
- The Empire -- The Realm
- The Fair Folk -- The Fair Folk (but of course)
- Fantasy Kitchen Sink -- Creation is probably the ultimate fantasy kitchen sink. Highly-advanced technology, powerful sorcery, more empires and kingdoms of various stripes than can be counted, gods of everything, dinosaurs that pee heroin (don't ask), and of course, assorted demigods of all stripes.
- Five Man Band -- a Solar Perfect Circle.
- Five Races -- There are five standard types of Exalts: the Solars, the Lunars, the Dragon-Bloods, the Sidereals, and the Abyssals.
- Functional Magic -- pretty much all kinds under the sun, though Exalted usually make use of Inherent Gifts (Charms) and Rule Magic (Sorcery).
- Gender Bender -- Luna and Lunar exalted can have the power to change sex at will.
- I Am Not Making This Up -- countless examples, most notoriously the dinosaurs that eat opium and piss it out as heroin which is then extracted and sold.
- Magitek-- You've got your guns that shoot fire, your automatons, your warstriders...
- Martial Arts And Crafts -- If a Sidereal starts practicing katas, run.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot -- This game has, among other things: a family of demon-worshipping pirates (who themselves have demonic blood); a lost city run by a mad shapeshifting sorceress and her army of half-man, half-ape hybrids; magical giant robots galore; and armies of extradimensional robot invaders seeking to strip mine Creation to feed their dying god/world. Then there's the Underworld's armies, which often feature gruesome combinations of dead flesh and unholy machinations, and always involve the undead.
- Omnicidal Maniac -- The Abyssal Exalted.
- Path Of Inspiration -- The Immaculate Faith.
- Rule Of Cool -- Is implimented by the rules. Describing awesome actions, called stunts, is rewarded by bonus dice.
- Sourcebook-- In one key example, while the corebook makes the presumptions that players of the game will want to play the recently-returned Solar Exalted, various Splatbooks provide rules for playing the other Exalted-- Lunars, Dragon-Blooded, Sidereals, even Abyssals.
- Took A Level In Badass -- For Solars and Abyssals in particular, and all Exalts to some extent or another, the Exaltation itself is taking a mortal (usually but not always already formidable, for a mortal) and giving them a level of badass.
- Unstoppable Rage -- Part of the Great Curse. When an Exalt acts against their character or marshals their willpower against unnatural mental influence, they accrue Limit. When they reach a breaking point, they undergo a Limit Break and act either towards or against their guiding virtue in a fashion that makes "extreme" look mild. There are some Charms that also do this.
