Best order to get the book in

[LaFreeze]

Hey I'm on a budget and can only generally afford one exalted book per month. I've got both the 1st and 2nd edition core rule books from half priced books but I seemed to have tapped out their exalted selection and I was going to just start purchasing either the books directly from White Wolf or the PDFs from Drivethru.


So I was wondering if anyone had some recomendations as to which books it would be wise to get first? The Manuals of Exalted Powers perhaps? The Compass of Celestial Directions volumes? The aspect of [insert Element Here] series?

 

[Plague of Hats]

So I was wondering if anyone had some recomendations as to which books it would be wise to get first? The Manuals of Exalted Powers perhaps? The Compass of Celestial Directions volumes? The aspect of [insert Element Here] series?

Aspect books were First Edition, if that matters to you, but they were by and large excellent sources of fiction.
You should buy what might interest you, or what seems necessary for the game you plan on or want to play in. Talk about the parts of Exalted that intrigue and you'll get better recommendations. That said, there are some pretty universal bits of advice:


• Roll of Glorious Divinity I contains some key setting information, and information about the most common Essence users encountered in Creation.


• The Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier, a PDF-only product right now, is a very good thing to have if you also have Manual: Dragon-Blooded. The errata is available free, of course, but it also contains some good setting material as well as a hefty handful of new Charms.


• Scroll of the Monk, Scroll of Heroes and Manual: Sidereals are woefully lacking mechanically and, in some ways, thematically. As with everything in Exalted, some people get along just fine with them, anyway.

 

[Ledaal Kajiri]

Generally, you'd be best off getting the Manuals of Exalted Power, and the updates to them, like Glories of the Most High series and Thousand Actions of the Upright Soldier. You will probably also find the Black and White Treatise and Scroll of the Monk and the Imperfect Lotus useful in many games, particularly if you have Sorcerors, Necromancers and/or Martial Artists. Oadenol's Codex greatly broadens out Hearthstone options, gives more Artifacts, and greatly broadens out what all Thaumaturgy can do. Wonders of the Lost Age is a great trove for Magitech in particular. The Rolls of Glorious Divinity are...quite useful for when you have Sorcerors about, or Necromancers a bit...or just for broadening out Spiritual allies, enemies and color. Beyond that, the Compass of Terrestrial Directions books and Compass of Celestial Directions books are often quite good. Personally, I find the Blessed Isle book and the Scavenger Lands book to be two of the best, and generally more worthwhile than the others of those lines, though the others are quite useful. However I will admit a bias towards the cultural depth of the Realm and the militant heroism of Lookshy. Still, the Realm is the single most influential nation in Creation, and has significant influence on areas well outside the Blessed Isle, so the additional cultural knowledge of the Blessed Isle book is highly useful in many games. I'd generally save books like the Scroll of Fallen Races and Scroll of Kings for last. There's considerable argument about the Scroll of Heroes. I'm very fond of it and make heavy use of it in many games. Many here hate Godbloods, hate Heroic Mortals and HATE merits and flaws, so disagree. I personally feel they are wrong, but...that's my personal opinion. If you aren't interested in making use of such, then ignore it. I will suggest actually giving it a look before making and decision one way or the other.


For Dreams of the First Age...really, its main use is for getting a view of what the First Age was like. Useful, but not necessary. Unless you get the updated version with fixed charms, mechanically...it has some flaws. Particularly in the Solar Charms. Many of the other charms are actually quite solid.


The Alchemicals book and Graceful Wicked Masks are really...a toss up. Similarly Infernals. If you intend to make use of their campaign elements in your game, highly useful. If not. Not so much. Alchemicals is quite well written and has some nice toys even for other games. Graceful Wicked Masks is...much better than the 1E Fair Folk Book, but still tends towards...somewhat less usefulness in most games. It's once again...not really all that built for use in Creation, though unlike the previous version, isn't a complete piece of fecal matter that should never have seen print. It does have some uses, just...it's not that important.


Get the Errata. It's free.


Read Ink Monkeys.


As for the commentary of the above...I disagree on Scroll of Heroes myself, and on...many of the complaints towards Scroll of the Monk. I will agree with most that the Sidereal Styles within are...problematic in most cases. However the Terrestrial and Celestial Styles are quite useful. Imperfect Lotus actually has some better Celestial Styles in the Four Arguments of Virtue...which are just...cool. Sidereals. Well. Someone hit Copy Pasta using an already badly flawed 1E Sidereal book, instead of fixing things like with Lunars. And we had such high hopes. :cry:

 

[LaFreeze]

Thank you for the advice. Part of my problem is I'm still not sure exactly what I'd enjoy in a game since most of my exposure to Exalted is through Keychain and no one I know actually plays it. I mean the Alchemicals for example really interest me, but since I know so little about them I don't know if I'd actually enjoy playing them.

 

[Persell]

beware he who has the most books is often the one having to run... and create lots of extra characters you never get you use

 

[LaFreeze]

beware he who has the most books is often the one having to run... and create lots of extra characters you never get you use

Truer words have never been spoken in all of creation.

 

[wordman]

Remember that your fellow players aren't going to know anything about the setting either, so you don't really want to bury them under a ton of setting and rules information at the beginning. I'd start with a game focused on solars (or possibly dragon-blooded). These are the easiest to wrap your head around, with obvious ways to start a story. Don't mix exalt types in your first game.


Some people will tell you that it is great to start the game with everyone being mortal, and then playing through their exaltations. I think this is horrible advice, especially for your first game, but you will see it over and over. The game isn't called "mortals who eventually might exalt". It's called "Exalted" and, as such, you are better starting off in media res, with their exaltations some time in their past.


Also, start with a focus on a particular area. I happen to like the southeast (Harborhead), but Nexus or Gethamane are popular choices. Point is to focus on a relatively small area at first. This does two things: 1) limits the number of books you have to buy and 2) limits how much your players need to know about the setting. When your story doesn't really focus on the larger world, you don't have to provide detail about it. As the campaign grows, you can get more information as the players want it.


So, personally, I'd buy the main core rules, one "terrestrial direction" book, Games of Divinity I and maybe the dragon-blooded book, then play. Once you play, you'll know what else you want to get.


Also, I highly suggest that you tell everyone from the beginning that the first game will only last some small number of sessions, then the group will start all over. The reason for this is that you will totally screw up the game for a while. Players will build their characters "wrong" and not realize why until playing for a bit, and so on. Also, you'll run into a bunch of rules problems that you will "fix" in what seems like a good way, only to find out that the "fix" is actually bad several sessions later. Get people used to the idea that the first game is just for playing around and experimenting. For some reason, this helps a lot in Exalted, more so than in other games.


Lastly, I highly recommend reading my terminology comments and, at least, understanding what they are about. I'd also be interested in if you find my unconscious mythology at all helpful in "getting" the setting for you and your fellow players.

 

[LaFreeze]

Thank you, while I honestly think I can say I get the Exalted setting for the msot part (though I still have more to learn) mechanically I'm still getting the hang of things.


My intention was to join a play by post game and then when I feel confident in try and introduce some of my friends to Exalted. I'm already easing them in by adapting some Exalted concepts as house rules into the games we are playing now.


I was actually thinking the Wyld (well not litterally starting in the Wyld but players leaving creation for an adventure in the Wyld) might be a good place to start as it is less think with history and back story...but I don't have any books on the Wyld yet so I'm not sure if that would be more confusing rather than less.


Your terminology was useful to me personally. I think I'll hold off showing my players I like unconscious mythology except perhaps for the part about the Neverborn whom I happen to view a little bit differently since I think Chaos trumps Oblivion in the Exalted universe from what I've read. Conversely the sections I found most helpful was on the Yozi which I thought was very well written. That said it seems better for defining Exalted concepts for new players then introducing them as it is a little brief in some parts. I'll let you know what my players think when I get around to that point.

 

[wordman]

I was actually thinking the Wyld (well not litterally starting in the Wyld but players leaving creation for an adventure in the Wyld) might be a good place to start as it is less think with history and back story...but I don't have any books on the Wyld yet so I'm not sure if that would be more confusing rather than less.

It would be much, much, much more confusing. Unfortunately.


The issue is that, as bad as Exalted editing, writing and game mechanics typically are, they are about three times worse when it comes to "how to run Creation-born people in the Wyld" games. It's a shame, because it is a really neat idea in a really neat setting, but it falls down even worse than the rest of Exalted does.


Such stories are not impossible, but you need to do a lot on your own mechanically to make it work. As written, the game provides very little help, and the help it does provide is not particularly satisfying.

 

[Dracogryff]

A game set in the true Wyld:

ST: You are running through duck smoke. You smell fresh crystals in your toes. Underhead, angry chairs rupture your strangest desires. What do you do?


Player: What?


ST: Roll Charisma plus Throwing.


Player: Uh, three successes.


ST: The milk dragon entwines your hopes in a ocean of screaming snails. Your psyche has separated from your consciousness and run off with your foot.


Player: What?


ST: (throws book at player)


Player: Ow! What the hell is wrong with you?!


ST: I'm just trying to be totally random. Keep you on your toes, you know? Capture the feel of the Wyld.


Player: Let's just go back to playing Solars.

 

[Mr. S]

You expressed interest in playing alchemicals, and I think it might be wise to actually start there. Most of the information about alchemicals is pretty nicely encapsulated in one splat, and you don't have to worry about nearly so many outside forces coming into play when in autochthonia. Plus, I'm of the opinion that the book is fairly well written. I think it would make a good starting point if you don't want to run a completely vanilla solar game (which is probably what exalted really seems designed around). While I'm not a big fan of alchemicals personally (I don't like robots in my magic), I think it would be a neat place to start and perhaps give you a different perspective from many veteran exalted players.


tl;dr: get alchemicals.

 

[josiah42]

LEARN FROM MY FAIL!


Don't buy all the books and try and do them all simultaneously, even if it may be tempting. Focus on one PC Exalt type, you may have one NPC Exalt type in addition.


What snuck up on me is that Exalted mechanics are a collection of layers of "Exception based power systems". Charms are the most obvious example of this. So while no one layer is killer, the cost of knowing and running them all adds up.


My game went like this: Solar Charms + Dragonblooded Charms + Artifacts + Hearthstones + Abyssal Charms *grind* + Martial Arts + More MARTIAL ARTS *ack* + Infernal Charms + Elementals *choke* + Lunars + Manse Creation + Mandate of Heaven + Faeries!!! *world collapses*


DO NOT BUY THE FAE FOLK BOOK, or probably the Wyld either. Faerie mechanics cause brain hemorrhaging.


P.S. I second the statement about Alchemicals + Core being the simplest. Wonders of the First Age would be a good book to supplement those. If not Alchemicals, buy a direction book for setting. I recommend Scavenger Lands or the East as the most "Vanilla Exalted".

 

[magnificentmomo]

Graceful Wicked Masques has gotten serious Errata, so at least their charms aren't a mess now.

 

[Lord Kamina]

I agree with whoever said starting with Solars or Terrestrials, I also agree with wordman in that starting as mortals sucks balls...


With that being said, I think this...


If you're looking to start a group and your budget is limited... find your group and find out what they might be interested in playing and THEN buy a couple of books accordingly.


If you just want to read and eventually start a game in the future, just buy what interests you most, but still try to keep it useful for future games...


I'd personally recommend at least one Manual of Exalted Power, One Directions book (usually terrestrial), and one Book of sorcery (I'd say Oadenol's)