# Exalted tags: #game/rpg/exalted ![[Exalted 2e (cover).jpg]] ![[Exalted 3e (cover).jpg]] # GAME INTELLIGENCE: EXALTED ## Summary _Exalted_ is a high-fantasy roleplaying game about tragic hubris, god-kings, and rolling enough dice to physically injure your wrist. While the default mode assumes you play as the **Solar Exalted**—ancient rulers returned to reclaim their throne—you are by no means the only demigods in the setting. You share the world with a colorful assortment of rivals, ex-spouses, and bureaucratic ninjas. The setting is a flat world floating on a sea of chaos, currently mismanaged by the **Dragon-Blooded** empire. Your job is to survive their Wyld Hunt, rebuild your legend, and argue with the Storyteller about whether parrying a falling mountain counts as a two-point stunt. ## The Exalted Host (It's Not Just You) While Solars are the poster children, the game supports playing as any of the following, provided you enjoy different flavors of angst: - **Solar Exalted:** The Lawgivers. Chosen by the Unconquered Sun to rule creation. They are the best at everything, which is why everyone else murdered them. - **Dragon-Blooded (Terrestrials):** The elemental foot soldiers who usurped the Solars. They are weaker individually but come in large, angry families (the Realm). They currently run the world, largely into the ground. - **Lunar Exalted:** Shapeshifting survivalists and the Solars' eternal mates. They spent the last age hiding in the edges of the map, turning into giant monsters and holding a grudge. - **Sidereal Exalted:** Kung-fu fate ninjas who work for Heaven’s bureaucracy. They accidentally broke the world while trying to save it and now spend their time fixing history and filing triplicate forms to authorize a punch. - **Abyssal Exalted:** The Deathknights. Solars who were corrupted by the Deathlords. They serve the void and look great in black, but their existence is a literal crime against reality. - **Infernal Exalted:** Solars corrupted by the Yozis (demon princes). They are essentially rock stars from Hell who want to turn reality into a surrealist nightmare. - **Alchemical Exalted:** Cyborg champions from Autochthonia, a steampunk dimension inside a sleeping titan. They are made of clay and brass and install magical subroutines to feel emotions. - **Getimian Exalted (3e):** Agents of Rakan Thulio, a rogue Sidereal. They are walking paradoxes involved in a celestial civil war, designed to disrupt the status quo of Heaven. - **Liminal Exalted (3e):** Frankensteinian constructs brought to life by the darker urge to survive. They stand at the boundary of the living and the dead, ensuring neither side trespasses. - **Exigents (3e):** The "Indie" Exalted. Chosen by lesser gods (like a god of a specific volcano or a particularly aggressive river) who were granted a one-time permit to make a champion. They are bespoke and weird. ## Core Die Resolution Mechanics The engine is the **Storyteller System**, which runs on d10s and player ego. - **The Dice Pool:** Combine an **Attribute** (e.g., _Dexterity_) and an **Ability** (e.g., _Melee_). Roll that many ten-sided dice. - **The Target:** The target number is **7**. Every die showing 7, 8, or 9 is one success. A **10** counts as **two successes**. - **The Botch:** Rolling zero successes and at least one "1" is a botch. This usually results in comedic tragedy. - **Stunts:** The mechanic that bribes you to be interesting. Describe an action coolly ("I vault off the table and stab him mid-air"), and the Storyteller grants you 1–3 bonus dice. More importantly, stunts regenerate **Motes** (mana) and **Willpower**, so being boring is literally fatal. ## Edition Variations The system has undergone significant surgery over the years to fix the "features" of previous iterations. ### _Exalted Second Edition (2e)_ - **The Battle Wheel:** Turns were abolished in favor of **Ticks**. Actions had a "Speed" rating; a dagger shank might be Speed 3, while a grand daiklave swing was Speed 6. It turned combat into a timeline management simulator. - **Static Defense (DV):** Instead of rolling defense, you had static **Parry** and **Dodge DV**. If the attacker's successes didn't beat your number, they missed. This led to "Paranoia Combat," where everyone bought "Perfect Defenses" because getting hit once meant instant death. - **Social Combat:** A formalized system where you could debate someone into submission, essentially attacking their mental health track until they agreed with you. ### _Exalted Third Edition (3e)_ - **Cinematic Combat (The Momentum Shift):** The Battle Wheel was scrapped for a dual-attack system. - **Withering Attacks:** Do not hurt the target. They steal **Initiative** from the enemy and give it to you. - **Decisive Attacks:** Spend your built-up Initiative to deal actual health damage. - **Intimacies:** "Social Combat" was replaced. You cannot mind-control people; you must exploit their **Intimacies** (Ties and Principles). You have to know what someone loves or hates to manipulate them effectively. ## References - [Exalted Third Edition Core Rulebook - DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/162759/exalted-3rd-edition) - [Exalted Second Edition Core Rulebook - DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/3671/Exalted-Second-Edition "null") - [Exalted Hub - Onyx Path Publishing](https://theonyxpath.com/category/worlds/exalted/ "null")