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Exalted 3rd Edition $24.99
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
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by Stefan H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/29/2016 19:09:01

Let me preface by saying that Exalted is my favorite game in my nearly 40 years of table top gaming. I own all of the 1st and second edition books and eagerly awaited the 3rd edition. I have to say overall I am impressed and I have to agree with their reviews here the systems are solid and streamlined. I love the addition of new Exalted types and the massive amount of info they crammed into this book, even if it did take a long time, too long for some, to get to market.

The is one key issue I have to address which is not enough to make it fall short of 5 stars for me. I know my gripe may seem small to so but they say the devil is in the details and there is one detail related to the setting I can't get past. I apologize if it takes a bit to explain. the vast majority of fantasy settings conform to the archetypes of either Western Europe or Japan and/or China. One of the primary reasons I was initially drawn to Exalted was that while it leaned heavily of the Japan/China archetypes it had ample influences from Tibet, Africa, India, SE Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc.), and even Mesoamerica (mostly in the Old Realm writing and the architecture). So imagine my chagrin when almost all of the background layout art evoke, China and Japan, primarily the latter. In fact, none of it would be out of place in a Legend of the Five Rings book (a game I also love). While Exalted draws much from wuxia and anime those two setting types have a ton of representation in the hobby. Now I would never expect Oynx Path to not use such archetypes to some degree, they are too popular to ignore. But it would have put this game over the top if those other influences had been more evident in the art. You can’t remove them from the game, they are embedded, but if I had picked this book up all those years ago rather than the 1st ed. Book I would have written it off at frost glance as another in the very long line of wuxia and/or anime games. Again I know the gripe seems small and nitpicky and to be fair maybe it is. But since the accepts which made this game may favorite have been pushed aside, at least visually, I feel a bit justified in the complaint. All that off my chest the setting is still amazing and worth every bit of praise it gets. Some have decried the art but other than the above I sort of like it. The combat system seems an improvement over past incarnations, though it needs a bit more test driving before I can be fully sure. However, that is true of even the best games, you need to give them a good amount of runtime to find any cracks in the system, as they relate to your particular play style.

Lastly, I’ll comment on the Red Rule. I am not sure whether to be happy it is there or deeply saddened that it needs to be. I all my years of gaming I have been lucky enough to play with some amazingly mature gamers who handle adult situations well (even in my younger days, not to say would could be sophomoric from time to time but nothing of an adult nature was ever done without a player’s consent), but I also realize there are those out there who just don’t---Sigh.



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