Exalted

Exalted, released in the Summer of 2001, is something of a paradox among its fans--initial ads tied it strongly to the World of Darkness setting, while the actual course of the game was less so.

Stepping away from the moody and goth-punk-gritty World of Darkness, the world of Exalted (called Creation) is a setting that was created for mythic adventure (the world is flat, with five "poles"--the desert of fire to the south, the forest of wood to the north, the great western ocean to the west, the arctic pole of air to the north, and the titanic mountain of Earth in the center of it all), and to allow for drastic change on behalf of the characters--often the Exalted of the title, chosen of the Gods. While often cited as anime-style, the setting could perhaps be more plainly described as "high-energy," opting for the big and dramatic over the small characters, who often could be expected to have elders and betters to listen to for all time, in such games as Vampire.

The corebook details rules for the Solar Exalted, mightiest among the Exalted, and gifted in the area of general excellence. Later books would detail other Exalted--The Dragon-Blooded (also called the Terrestrial Exalted, weakest but most numerous), the Lunar Exalted (shapeshifters and counterparts to the Solars--reduced in the current day of the setting to oten-monstrous barbarians), Abyssal Exalted (Solar reincarnations who have been tainted by darkness), and Sidereal Exalted (least numberous, but potent seers who alone among the Exalts work even today in the Bureaucracy of Heaven), and further beyond that open up other player types: The Players' Guide detailed rules for the offspring of mighty beings such as gods, ghosts, and Exalts, as well as mortal magicians (Thaumaturges) and the Dragon Kings, who were the dominant race of Creation before humans. Most recently, hardcover books have made the soul-stealing Fair Folk available for play, as well as the Alchemical Exalted, heroes of a world that is composed of the dying body of one of the surviving and free Primordials (see below).

As per most of White Wolf's games (to a greater or lesser degree: Quiet in Mage, Vampire and Werewolf's Frenzies, Changeling's Bedlam, etc.), the Exalted can be thrown into temporary bouts of madness, invoked upon them by the Primordial forces who shaped Creation and the Gods, who in turn crafted their champions (the Exalted) to strike them down. This is used to simulate the epic flaws of epic characters--Exalted can be overcome by rage, pride, self-righteousness, cowardice, or any number of bitter things that, when the character comes to his or her senses, can leave devastating consequences.

This proclivity only increases with the raw power of the Exalts--after the overthrow of the Primordials, the Gods stationed the Exalted on Earth to rule in their stead, but over the centuries, the Solars were overthrown by their curse, and then by a secret alliance of the Sidereal and Terrestrial Exalted, the latter of whom took over stewardship of the world: while the spark of power that granted the Sidereal, Solar, and Lunar Exalted (Collectively called the Celestial Exalted) their abilities, Terrestrials instead could increase their numbers. Children of Dragon-blooded could manifest Exaltation on their own, or failing that pass it to their offspring.

Eventually, a single Dragon-blooded military hero ascended to dominance, taking the title of the Scarlet Empress, and imposed order, taking many lovers from which to spawn a dynasty of Dragon-blooded children.

To add a sense of urgency, though, many things have recently changed the setting: the Solar Exalted have begun to return to the world in mass numbers, the Scarlet Empress has disappeared, and angry ghosts have begun to tear down the walls between the lands of the living and the dead.

The game is popular--running second only to Vampire in sales, and most hardcovers sum up what players like about it on the back: after a summary of the situation of the world as a whole from the relevant character type's standpoint and a brief overview of the Exalt type, it asks the players "What legends will they tell of your deeds?"