History YMMV / Exalted

*** The Martial Keyword, whose purpose was to make multiple combat styles less of an XP-sink can easily become a game breaker and remove a layer of choice for the sake of convenience (which has its merits).

* CreepyAwesome: The Infernals are the Exalted of the Yozis, who's Charms can warp their minds and bodies, and are slowly turning into Primordials, yet are still loved by the fans.

* CreepyAwesome: The Infernals are the Exalted of the Yozis, whos Charms can warp their minds and bodies, and are slowly turning into Primordials, yet are still loved by the fans.

** 1st Edition started, with the first paragraph of the first chapter of the first book, with the idea that the world was in fact doomed in the default setting, in the manner of a Greek tragedy.

** The Gods are ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' addicts. Or crack addicts.

** Is the Exaltation of the Dragons, or from the Dragons?

** The city of Gem is always [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom doomed.]] ALWAYS.

** [[FoeYay Lyta X Peleps Deled, OTP.]]

** AVOIDANCE KATA!

** What the Christ are you talking about!!!?
** Mask of Winters can't read.[[note]]The writer of his 2nd ed stats forgot to include a Lore ability rating. Characters without at least one dot in Lore are illiterate.[[/note]]

* CargoShip: The Scroll of Swallowed Darkness mentions an artifact invented to allow a Solar to seduce a mountain. Not the [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent spirit]] of the mountain, the actual ''mountain''. Thousands died in the eruption at the, er... climax.

** Zeal from ''Dreams of the First Age'', which was an attempt to break the game by breaking perfect defenses. It didn't succeed (and the errata clarified this for all to see) but it still caused a legendary degree of InternetBackdraft. Nearly all [=STs=] banned it before the errata came out, replacing it with a very different Charm.

* InternetBackdraft: OhMyGods, yes. The most popular and enduring subject is the Bronze vs. Gold debate (whether Chejop Kejak was right in eliminating the Solar Exalted instead of trying to redeem them), but any book, mechanics tweak, bit of errata, or bit of FanWank will set off another wildfire.
** Started up again during the 3e kickstarter, during which one of the authors admitted they were ''deliberately'' leaking the most risky things in most of the previews to test out which parts would need to be changed heavily ''now'' rather than making it into the books. Even then, some Abyssal preview Charms that through poor phrasing ended up with rather heavier rape overtones than were intended, combined with some rather tasteless commentary on Website/SomethingAwful from one of the developers (who later ended up [[NeverLiveItDown apologizing profusely,]] and which led to an official apology as a Kickstarter update), managed to kick off one beyond their wildest dreams and confirmed that the vampire/succubus tree in question would be ''heavily'' edited before the Abyssal book came out.

*** Lightspeed Body Dynamics, which can make characters invincible by letting them regain resources whenever someone attacks them and misses, unless you're up against an opponent who never misses... [[CaptainObvious which would be just as broken]]. In fact, it was so bad, the writers removed it altogether!

** The massive success of the [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/deluxe-exalted-3rd-edition 3rd edition Kickstarter campaign]] resulted in the book's length doubling, with some sections being rewritten entirely, which pushed back the release date by over two years. This has lead to [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment some disgruntlement in some fans]].

** No, no, no; the Lunars have always been scorched earth opposition to the Sidereal/Terrestrial hegemony that followed the Usurpation, chiselling away at the Shogunate and then the Scarlet Dynasty as quickly and quietly as they could given their circumstances. Some of them hang out with barbarians, some of them make societies, but neither of them are really more than means to the end of wearing down a civilization that can't make more of its limited supply of superweapons.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: ''Lunars: Fangs at the Gate'' aims to do this with the elders of the Silver Pact, and seems to have done a fairly good job of redeeming Ma-Ha-Suchi from a cruel, fairly genetic madman into a more noble BrokenAce who wants to rebuild the First Age as he remembers it, and making Raksi from an AxCrazy PsychopathicManchild into a [[EvilIsCool ruthlessly effective]] EvilOverlord without changing her being a ''monster.''

*** On Autobot going to the Wyld: Wasn't he fleeing the Solar Exalted? Cause they can go through the Wyld. Don't they have a Charm that lets them impose Creation-standard physics anywhere?

* TheWoobie: Been said before, on this page even, but poor Lilith... In fact, ''many, many,'' sympathetic characters could be up here in varying amounts. Most of them are {{Jerkass Woobie}}s, such as Chejop Kejack or many [[JerkassGods gods]], but it's implied that even ''the Unconquered Sun'' has had a nervous breakdown due to a combination of stress and betrayal, and fallen into a depression which he alleviates by submerging himself in [[LotusEaterMachine the Games of Divinity]].

*** Interestingly, the devs seemed to anticipate this. They said later that they deliberately released the most objectionable parts of the draft material to gauge audience reaction and see if they needed to change it. Turns out they did.
*** Odd that this wasn't mentioned at the time, then. The devs seemed to virulently defend their inclusion (Holden's "it's not 'hold her down and stick it in' rape" statement at Something Awful being perhaps the most infamous example).

** The Yozis. Not only do they choose their Infernal servants from [[MyGreatestFailure failures and cowards,]] they actually punish them for resisting the MindControl powers of their enemies, because they want them to follow orders no matter what. And how do they make the Infernals atone for their mistakes? By putting their enemies in {{Death Trap}}s, playing CriminalMindGames, and giving JustBetweenYouAndMe speeches. No wonder the chances of the Yozis actually winning are rated as slim to none by WordOfGod itself.\\

* NoYay: Consider this: the most powerful Malfeas charms can only function within the confine of a city. Meanwhile, Alchemicals eventually turn into a city. Judging from how Primordials interact with each others, this can only mean that Malfeas is ''really'' into Autochthon. Pass the BrainBleach please.

* NightmareFuel: Enough for [[NightmareFuel/Exalted its own page]].

* ComplainingAboutThingsYouHaventPaidFor: People who quit the game over Ink Monkeys content, which was released free online.

*** Odd that this wasn't mentioned at the time, then. The devs seemed to virulently defend their inclusion (Holden's infamous "it's not 'hold her down and stick it in' rape" statement at Something Awful being perhaps the most infamous example).

* EnsembleDarkhorse: While most of the Exalted have a lot of love, during 2e Infernals in particular had the largest amount of homebrew material dedicated to them, thanks to the thematic structure of Yozi charms and to the general conceit that they can redeem themselves or even become nascent Primordials themselves. To some extent the same applies to their Yozi patrons.

* DemonicSpiders: Anuhles, [[{{Pun}} Ahaha]]. Seriously though, the Demon Spiders can be this for mortals. Exalts, on the other hand, tend to view them as minor inconveniences.
* DesignatedHero: Due to the Great Curse, most of the Solar Exalted will eventually become this, becoming so jaded and perverse that their "heroic" designation comes largely from what they fight against: [[TheUndead Undead]] {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s, {{Demon Lords|AndArchdevils}}, and {{Eldritch Abomination}}s from beyond Creation. This is largely why the Dragon-Blooded [[TakeAThirdOption Took a Third Option]] and deposed them, although they now have kind of a DeadlyDecadentCourt thing going on, too. (Emphasis on ''most''...)
* EvilIsSexy / EvilMakesYouUgly: While they can start out looking normal, as the Abyssal Exalted grow in power they must choose whether to spend experience to raise their Appearance to as high as it can go, or allow their bodies to decay hideously.

* NightmareFuel:
** The villainous factions (the Yozis and Infernals, the Neverborn and Abyssals, and the Fair Folk) are positively ''dripping'' with this. It's a natural consequence of having such massively epic heroes; anything that can make ''them'' nervous is going to be terrifying beyond all reason by our standards.
** The Organ of Agonies, from the Compass of Celestial Directions: Malfeas, deserves special mention. What is it, you ask? It's a musical instrument that you strap innocent victims into before playing... which it will then ''torture to death, making [[SoundtrackDissonance paradoxically beautiful music]] out of their agonized screams.''
** The Phylactery-Womb, the storage entity for the Infernal Exaltations. Everything about... ''it''... will torment your mind on the threshold of your sanity. For just a few of the horrifying facts: [[spoiler: She was a little girl named Lillun, who was raped, physically and spiritually, by the Ebon Dragon. This process warped her body into a malformed monstrosity that is mostly a [[{{Squick}} semi-transparent flesh bubble]] with her child-like head, arms and legs dangling futilely outward. And though she is mostly mindless, alternating between staying silent or raving in mad tongues, sometimes, ''sometimes,'' she has enough sanity to try and call out to her mother and father for help.]] Oh yes, and there are ''pictures.''
** The fate of the author of the ''Broken Winged Crane'', as detailed in ''Return of the Scarlet Empress''. [[spoiler: The Empress herself penned the original, which was actually a portal straight to the Ebon Dragon's prison. The book describes him skinning her in slow motion as a hello. [[FromBadToWorse It only gets worse from there]].]]
** You do ''not'' want The Timeless Order angry with you.

* RonTheDeathEater: An interesting case with the Solar Exalted -- while everyone agrees that what many of them did during the First Age was bad, that tends to be the only thing people see about the First Age, with the "good" Lawgivers being reckless ''at best''. This is understandable (particularly given a line that states that if you lived on the Blessed Isle and didn't know someone who had been abused by the Solars, you were that person), except many people seem to believe that the Second Age Solars will pick up right where their previous selves left off, despite repeated emphasis this is not the case.

** The Craft system in 3rd Edition is considered to be overly complex by some, often being compared to games like VideoGame/CookieClicker. The most important distinction in the system is between "basic" and "major" projects, which the former providing a special sort of experience point needed for the latter. This results in perceptions such as an armourer needing to forge a dozen knives to get the points needed to make a suit of armour, or a tailor needing to stitch embroidery samplers to get the points needed to cut and sew a dress. Of course, ''repairing'' items also counts as basic projects, so it's actually quite realistic for a craftsman to accumulate the required experience in the course of the tasks one would normally expect of them. The exalted also have charms that allow them to side-step this and pull superweapons out of nowhere whenever it's dramatically appropriate.

* BlackHoleSue: The defining feature of the Ishvara that separates them from all other Raksha is that their story is so strong it drags everyone into it.

** And whether or not the 3E Abyssals Charm preview endorsed/railroaded the player into rape. Opinions varied from "The devs are misogynistic bastards ruining our game!" to, "These are Charms from the ''Deathlords,'' what did you expect?" to, "Who the hell cares?" to, "Why is Solar brainwashing and [[DeliberateValuesDissonance canon sex slavery]] acceptable, but not this?" to, "The Charmset is perfectly fine, you're imagining things," to, "The Abyssals are ''supposed'' to be evil (itself the cause of a BrokenBase)" to, "No one is being forced to use it, what's the problem?" to, "My God, people, shut up. The whining about this is poisoning the forums," to... [[LongList you get the idea.]]

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome:
** The game rewards players for creative and over-the-top descriptive. The highest level of reward is reserved for Crowning Moments.
** On the part of the Ink Monkeys: They did a series of articles on the Daystar, following up on the successes of Glories of the Most High. For parts of the fandom, it was sheer concentrated awesome.

** Hoping to counter the trend, the developer's last outline at the beginning of 2nd Edition urged that SavingTheWorld is neither [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption hopeless]] nor [[PyrrhicVictory pointless]]. This was [[WriterOnBoard not necessarily taken to heart by the writers.]]
** However, some 2nd Edition publications worked hard to drive home alternative perspectives: the Incarnae are interesting and not just distant divine losers, Infernals sure are capable of [[AntiAntiChrist a rebellion]], and Autochthonia presents a fascinating world in which the [[WhatMeasureIsAMook mortals]] clearly matter as more than just scenery. The newer vision has set off more than one debate, and writers with strong opinions on exactly where Exalted belong on the scale have nicknamed the darker trends "shitdark".

* DemonicSpiders: Anuhles, [[IncrediblyLamePun Ahaha]]. Seriously though, the Demon Spiders can be this for mortals. Exalts, on the other hand, tend to view them as minor inconveniences.
* DesignatedHero: Due to the Great Curse, most of the Solar Exalted will eventually become this, becoming so jaded and perverse that their "heroic" designation comes largely from what they fight against: [[TheUndead Undead]] {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s, [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Demon Lords]], and {{Eldritch Abomination}}s from beyond Creation. This is largely why the Dragon-Blooded [[TakeAThirdOption Took A Third Option]] and deposed them, although they now have kind of a DeadlyDecadentCourt thing going on, too. (Emphasis on ''most''...)
* DoingItForTheArt:
** The (former) Ink Monkeys have a lot of enthusiasm for the game. And all the Ink Monkey material was written up for free. Although it has been discontinued as the writers are now the line developers--and now have a production schedule of paying work for the line--it did a good job of keeping interest and enthusiasm, both positive and negative, up.
** Many of the authors for "Masters of Jade," went well over the wordcount limit, without being paid for the additional words, just to make the product as awesome as possible. The general--albeit not universal--consensus is that they succeeded.

* FanonDisContinuity:

** Character creation. It uses flat costs, while advancement has each dot in a trait (except backgrounds) cost more than the last. If, during chargen, Dace buys his primary attributes at 5/5/1 and the Maiden of the Mirthless Smile buys 3/5/3, it will cost Dace 40xp to get to 5/5/5 while the Maiden will pay 56. Advancement in Exalted goes at 4-6xp per session, and that this is just one set of traits where this can happen - there are still two other sets of attributes, plus abilities, plus Charms, where careful investment can leave [[DragonBall one player as Goku while]] [[CantCatchUp another is left to be]] [[OvershadowedByAwesome Krillin]]. For the fan response, see ScrappyMechanic below.

* JerkassSue: Arianna, again, would be this... were it not for her ButtMonkey status.

* MoneyDearBoy: Revealed to be the reason why the Ink Monkeys stopped making new material -- they got greenlit to actually be paid for things.
* NamesTheSame: Just to be clear: the Void that afflicts Autochthon isn't the same Void as Oblivion. Autochthon's Void is a manifestation of his [[FanNickname robo-cancer.]]

* OldShame: ''Scroll of the Monk'' and the much-reviled Void Avatar Prana for Ink Monkey Dean Shomshak.

** In fact, [[spoiler:all of the Abyssals' [[{{MagiTek}} necro-tech]] in Abyssals 2nd Edition.]]

** The Ink Monkeys are also a source of broken base. While the official forums seem to adore them ([[FandomHeresy seriously, it's not safe to bash them there]]), the larger fanbase is markedly split.

To top it off, they're on at least some level trusting the Ebon Dragon to handle the Reclamation. Yes, they're ''trusting'' a being composed ''entirely of treachery and vice'' -- but, then again, the Ebon Dragon controls the Scarlet Empress and without her there ''is'' no Reclamation. Not much choice in the matter.