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Exalted 3rd Edition
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Anthony S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/29/2016 13:52:23

Exalted 3rd Edition is a beautiful, rich, deep experience of an RPG that vastly improves on the clunky but functional framework left behind by Exalted 2nd Edition.

As a veteran player and Storyteller of 2nd Edition, and now as a Storyteller for 3rd, I am finding both myself and my players enjoying a considerably more streamlined experience. It is now easier to built a character that makes functional sense, and it is now easier to place them in a world that makes functional sense.

Backstory/Geography/Woldbuilding: The components of the world are succinctly and logically laid out and the folks at Onyx Path have done a very nice job in letting you read about how things are NOW as opposed to the journey they took in the past, with only a short snippet on the present. While history is important to understanding any culture, in the context of an RPG that here-and-now element is much more important. Third edition delivers much more soundly than Second.

Character Creation: 2nd Edition was not a simple game. Character creation, while never terribly complicated, involved a large number of ambiguous choices that led to exigent problems with the later parts. It felt as if there was simply far too much information in order to make a sound decision. Success in this format was NOT possible without the supplements created by third party participants that provided much more clean and clear decision trees and advise.

Third Edition has adopted much of that feedback and given one the option and the hope to develope really any archtype at all into a powerful Exalt, and this is apparent from creation. There are minor conflicts in clarity, for example no lack of strong tie between a character's Merits and their Intimacies, although the game strongly implies you should have them.

Storytelling System: The dice and mechanics of Exalted were never really complicated, but they were definitely not simple. Much of 2nd Edition was obfuscated more than anything, with complex interaction between charms and artifacts and other interactions between Social DV and your normal DV, and on and on. It was a thing overwhelmed by its own breadth and often required isolating and featuring one aspect at a time in order to let anything at all shine.

While I still require more time to precisely evaluate the efficacy, I can say for certain that it is much -easier- on all involved, Player and GM alike, to make the pieces of the game fit with one another. I took my players and we all remade characters into 3rd, so essentially ported them over, and have played multiple sessions since then. It's gone over very well for us all!

Combat and Mechanics: One of the most pleasant differences between 3rd and 2nd has been the clear "end game" charms for literally each and every Ability. In combination with the neat feature of Supernal designations which allow you to accelerate your power in a specific category, it has become very easy to sell all of my players on the long-term viability of much more diverse skills. Lore is great, Martial arts is great, Occult is great, Sail is great. Everything can do a number of AWESOME things that players love to have in their arsenal!

Additionally, much of the seriously problematic issues have been addressed, such as the removal of Solar Hero Form and other such "instant win" mechanics. With one exception: Players generate 5 Essence motes every round. I am still not sure how to feel about this, but at this time the rule seems appropriate. The above remains tenative, pending the other materials in the series. No telling what horrors further books might unleash.

Overall, Exalted 3rd Edition was well worth the wait and is excellently prepared. The art is beautiful, the layout is appropriate, the details are crisp yet robust. The book itself does have a small handful of editing mistakes but they are not experience-breaking and are well within my expectations for quality on a work such as this. A nearly 700 page book or PDF delivering one of the most robust roleplaying experiences in existance. Definitely worth your money.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Exalted 3rd Edition
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