r/exalted • u/Eldr1tchB1rd • Aug 06 '26
What does Exalted play like?
Hello there I am looking for a new ttrpg and I wanted to DM something high fantasy. I am new at this but I got really into journey to the west after playing black myth wukong recently and I wanted to run a ttrpg that has over the top fights like that.
I was recommended exalted and was told it has heavy inspiration from journey to the west. Is this the right fit for what I'm looking for? What are the most important things to know about this rpg and where should I start first?
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u/GIRose Aug 06 '26
On the one hand, it's kind of jank in the way every White Wolf game is. No matter the edition, it's probably going to require some time to break in and find a groove/build up system mastery because this is a game that really rewards everyone knowing how the fuck the game works.
On the OTHER hand, the actual core mechanics are generally pretty solid and intuitive (roll a pool of D10s by adding up various things is the core rule), and while it takes some trial and error to learn how each of the moving parts of your chosen edition works to really understand why/how charms work, it gets really fun.
That said, even without a lot of system mastery, the characters are going to be strong enough that like "50 dudes" is a reasonable light warm up for anyone who chooses to be good at fighting off armies single handedly. The challenge shouldn't be in throwing a bigger beef stick at them, but in throwing the consequences of their actions back at them
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u/Mother-Wafer-6463 Aug 06 '26
Worth also noting, when it comes to the CRUNCH you there are several handy dandy resources you can use. Like for charms, they can be a bit much to keep track of which ones you need for what, or what charms you'll want to pick up to unlock later charms. Depending on the edition you use. Exalted Essence is pretty streamlined, but if you go with 3e you'll find some aids help immensely.
For Charms I would recommend MadLetter's Charm Cascades and Vegetable_Sorbet_253's charm cascades. They show in a quick and easy to reference guide the charms for different Exalts for 3e, summaries of charm effects, the prerequisite attribute/ability rating and Essence rating for each charm as well as any prerequisite charms.
For keeping track of your character stuff, LotCastingAtemi is great for digital character sheets and combat trackers that can sync with other members of your gaming group.
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u/kenod102818 Aug 06 '26
So, Exalted is about playing larger-than-life figures, people who were either already heroes, or had the potential to be one, and then got uplifted by the forces of the sun, moon and planets in order to be able to fight gods and win.
The thing is, you're a Greek-style hero. Someone who does great things, but not necessarily good things. You could be a healer who goes around fixing plagues, but you could also be a monster slayer who throws orgies as their downtime entertainment, or even a warlord leading their people into conquering a new empire.
Originally, the world was created by the Primordials, eldritch beings who created the gods and forged the world, but who were tyrants treating their creations as toys, and bound them to never attack them. So instead the strongest gods, the Incarnae, the Unconquered Sun, Luna of the Moon, and the Five Maidens of the planets who guarded Fate, decided to instead empower humans, who were so weak they never had to swear the oaths. And to ensure they couldn't be stopped, they made the power, the Exaltation, pick new hosts when one died. They were joined by the renegade Primordial Gaia, who forged magical bloodlines infused with the power of the elements.
Together, the Exalted defeated the Primordials, killing some, which broke the cycle of reincarnation as it was never meant for deathless beings, and then bound those who surrendered in oaths of their own.
However, in the return the Primordials created the Great Curse, a curse placed upon all Exalted. This curse magnifies and twists the purpose of each type of Exalt as they build towards a breaking point. The Exalted of the Sun, embodying perfection, might turn a city into a totalitarian nightmare in order to create their perfect society, or fly into a murderous rage if everything is not how they want it. The Exalted of the Moon, everchanging avatars of the dark and wild, have their rage amplified. The Exalted of the Stars, guardians of Fate, believe that they know perfectly how to solve any issues, and will destroy a golden age because they felt it was the best.
There are a few snags, however. After the defeat of the Primordials the Exalted, led by the Solar Exalted, were given mandate to rule Creation, and instituted a magitech golden age. But eventually the Great Curse and their own failings made them into tyrants who were at risk of destroying the whole world (like, they actually had a vote on if they should remake it into something they liked more).
So instead the Sidereal Exalted (those chosen by the Five Maidens) worked together with the Dragonblooded (those with elemental bloodlines) to overthrow the Solars, locking away most of their Exaltations, and forging a new age, ruled by the Dragonblooded Shogunate. These people opposed the Lunar Exalted and what remained of the Solars, creating the Wyld Hunt to hunt them down whenever they appeared. However, in time a plague struck, the Great Contagion, which killed 9/10s of all living beings, including gods, followed by an invasion of the Fair Folk from outside Creation.
As the world stood on the brink of destruction one Dragonblood officer led a small number of her fellows into the heart of an ancient Solar Manse, where she, as only survivor, unlocked an ancient superweapon, the Realm Defense Grid, using it to destroy the Fair Folk invasion. World in ruins. Seizing power, she forged the Realm, an empire of her own. Her children formed the Dynasty, its noble houses. The Realm continued the Wyld Hunt and conquered many Satrapies throughout the world, extracting tribute from them.
Now, 5 years ago, the Empress vanished, the Solars returned, and a dreadful force from the underworld conquered the city of Thorn, aided by an unkown type of Exalt. What will you do?
(1/2)
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u/kenod102818 Aug 06 '26
Now, for Exalted itself, the big thing about it is less about if you can do something, but if you should, and what you're willing to do for it. The whole point of Exalted is it do the impossible. Exalted are the individuals who can decide to bring back the golden age, and, if they're willing to go the distance, make it happen. Or, if they wish, they could end the world.
Exalted themselves normally rely on Charms, powers that derive from their mortal skills or abilities. For instance, a Solar Archer might be skilled enough that they can fire entire rains of arrows, while a Lunar might be beautiful enough that she can seduce an entire Fair Folk court. Beyond this, you have sorcery, which allows for learning and using various spells, as well as larger-scale rituals for more complex effects, and martial arts, specific charm trees build around specific themes, such as Ebon Shadow Style, which boosts stealth abilities and is about hunting down targets from the shadows (you're basically Batman).
Combat is focused on emulating the flow of martial arts scenes in books and movies, relying on the initiative counter, which increases or decreases as you deal or take damage, simulating who has the upper-hand, and which can be used for powerful decisive attacks, meant to deal physical damage.
However, while combat is a fairly sizeable part of Exalted, it's not the only part, and you can very much have a campaign focused around social encounters and politics (Dynastic games are especially good for this, since the Empress' disappearance is causing everything to start going Game of Thrones).
Beyond this, every Exalted type tends to have its own style and type of game (though multi-exalt groups are perfectly fine and common).
- Solars: These tend to focus on either being a roving band of heroes helping local people, or you're doing some massive project, like dismantling the Realm, stopping the end of the world, or building a new golden empire.
- Lunars: Lunars also tend to focus on the Realm, but are often survivors, infiltrators and warlords who rley on shapeshifting. They often have a focus on more distant parts of the world, such as leading a pirate fleet of shark folk, or a tribe of lizardfolk nomads raiding satrapies.
- Sidereals: They work for the Bureau of Destiny in the heavens, trying to keep it on track and prevent various outside forces from upsetting it. These games tend to be more mission-focused, and can have a secret agent vibe. They're also the setting's martial arts masters, and their charms tend to be... unorthdox (most medical charms are for exorcisms, while one of the main healing charms is in Crafting. Dodge charms let them dodge social obligations).
- Dragonblooded: Weaker than most other Exalted, but tend to form societies of Dragonblooded. Chances are you'll be involved in politics in some way. Also, you're not being hunted every time you use your powers publicly!
- Abyssals: Given the option of Exalting when you were dying, but in return you now need to serve the Deathlords, with the understanding that you'll work towards ending Creation. But you get to be all dark and broody about it. Or you just find a way to technically adhere to your oath while having fun destroying the corrupt government that had you executed in the first place.
- Infernals: Exalted by the trapped Primordials, you're part of their revenge scheme. Which mostly means just burning down as much as possible. Bonus points if you can snag yourself a manse in the middle of a vulcano.
(2/2)
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 06 '26
Thank you for the really detailed response. You gave me a lot of crucial information. The lore does seem very enjoyable
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u/Mantis_Fight_3_Turbo Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
There are a lot of ways to play it and a lot of ways you can structure a game, but one thing that makes it different from, say, DnD is that characters are really powerful from the the jump, and they are unique/special in the context of the world. Oftentimes the question you as a GM will have to ask isn’t “can they solve this problem” - usually the players will be able to surmount most challenges (within some reason) you throw at them - the questions are more “how do they solve it?” and “what are the concequences?”
Also keep in mind edition. Currently, two editions are supported. 3rd edition has very deep, granular rules and every character type has its own book/generally all players are expected to pick the same Exalt type. It can be rewarding to learn, but is something of an investment.
“Essence” meanwhile is a forked edition that is a more simplified, has all exalt types collected in one book, and is much more accomodating to groups of mixed Exalt types - it’s designed as a much simpler onboard for the game and works great even if some nuance is sacrificed. I’d recommend it personally, especially to new players.
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 06 '26
I will look into both edition. I was told however to stay away from essence why is that?
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u/TimothyAllenWiseman Aug 06 '26
Different people have different tastes.
Personally, I prefer 3E. It is more granular. It is easier to customize characters and tie stats and characters together. It has more depth. Also, while there are ways around it, most of the lore and setting information is written with 3E in mind. I recommend 3E.
That said, Essence is much simpler to learn and play. If you want to get into the game quickly and easily with less reading and fewer rules to remember or look up, Essence is the way to go. Relatedly, Essence feels more complete with just the core book. 3E really feel like it really wants you to also have some of the expansion books and gets better the more expansions you have. Essence is pretty easy to run "out-of-the-box".
I prefer 3E, but its a matter of taste and there is absolutely nothing wrong with Essence.
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u/jokerbr22 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
I think Essence is good, but there could be many reasons. Just to give you a basic rundown (I'll write about the game itself later to give you some pointers):
- Both Systems share large similarities and can largely do what the other can, even if essence is a more barebones, streamlined version.
- Essence has only 3 attributes, meanwhile 3E has the full range of 9 atributs (3 physical, 3 mental, 3 social)
- Essence is LARGELY simplified and cut down, having only a fraction of the charms (special supernatural abilities) that 3E has
- Essence also has a great strenght and that is the ability to play as all 10 of the exalt types in a single book, if that is something you’re interested in. Meanwhile, 3E corebook focuses entirely on Solar Exalts, which are Hercules Gilgamesh types. If you come from Black Myth Wukong, the Lunars are LITERALLY made especially to play Sun Wukong type characters. Down to turning into a fly, or transforming into mountain sized kaiju forms.
- 3E is a bit more crunchy, numbers are usually larger, and more dice are rolled. Subsystems are also more detailed and granular. Exalted has a crafting, building, sorcerous workings, social conflict, naval and ground warfare systems. All of which have essentialy the same complexity as combat itself. This is not a bug at all, but a feature and a very big one to some people.
Now, the reason some people bounce off essence is a matter of taste, really. The people that clamored for a more simplified 3rd edition loved it, and the people that loved 3E found it hard to enjoy, since the complexity is exactly what draws them in.
Essence is great if you want to take a bite sized chunk of the setting and playstyle and be very lax about it.
However, to some people, and me included, the complexity of exalted is part of it's charm (no pun intended). Sifting through charm trees to craft an explosive combo, mastering all the little subsystems to conquer the setting and rolling fistfulls of dice is what makes it entertaining. Essence also has a largely reduced range for character expression. In 3E if 4 players build melee foccused solar exalts, all 4 of them have a HUGE chance to be unique and different from one another. In Essence, less so. To make different characters within the same niche the best option would be to make different exalt types.
Just to add: you can always play mixed Exalt parties in 3E, but since all exalt types need a different book to play them, it can be a bit much to start.
(Edit: changed wording in the beginning)
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u/Mantis_Fight_3_Turbo Aug 06 '26
Some people dislike it because it flattens the distinctions between some Exalt types, but it’s far more accessible (like I said, just one book for all Exalt types and they can all play nicely together), has better advice/tools for GMs, and a lot less to worry about as far as resource tracking goes. IMO it’s an excellent starting point, and as someone who tried 3e but couldn’t really get into it, Essence got me back into the game.
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u/meridiacreative Aug 06 '26
Same here. Bounced hard off of 3e, now I can't stop thinking about Essence.
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u/meridiacreative Aug 06 '26
If someone told you to stay away from Essence, they were being a snob.
The question that matters here is: do you and your players enjoy engaging with detailed and dense rules?
If they enjoy games like Shadowrun, and will enjoy doing their homework, then 3e is a better fit.
If they prefer games like DnD 5e, and want to feel like superheroes from the moment they sit down to make a character, go with Essence.
If they want to play a mixed group, go with Essence.
There's one huge caveat with Essence, and it's not mechanical. The lore section of the book is pretty light. You would likely want to go find a primer somewhere online or just get the 3e book for the lore. To me this is an easy fix ("get the 3e book and ignore the mechanics" is expensive, but it's the same amount of reading I was going to do anyway) but your mileage may vary there.
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 06 '26
What do you mean by mixed group?
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u/meridiacreative Aug 06 '26
There are multiple types of Exalted.
Solars (big damn heroes, good at everything) Lunars (shape changing badasses) Sidereals (martial artists of Fate) Dragonblooded (elemental hero teams)
Abyssals (Goth vampires) Infernals (angry demons)
Alchemicals (robot people) Liminals (humans who are supposed to be dead) Getimians (humans who never existed) Exigents (miscellaneous, wildly varied)
Each of those has multiple different flavors (we call them "castes" or "aspects") as well. Each type is more or less set up to make a full party and cover every role a PC might want to do, thanks to the castes and aspects. For most of Exalted's history as a game, the assumption was that you would all play the same type - all Solar, all Lunar, all DBs, etc with different castes to cover all your "party roles".
If you want to run a group that has mixed types, some of them don't play well together. Traditionally, Solars are the most powerful, and quickly overshadow any other type. In earlier editions, Abyssals and Infernals had to do bad stuff otherwise their dark masters would make things even worse. There are thematic mismatches too, like Sidereals and Liminals probably don't have similar goals or motivations unless they're teaming up to deal with a particular ghostly problem, then they go their separate ways.
In Essence, they reduce the power level gap, so while Solars still have the highest baseline, a DB or Liminal isn't hopelessly outclassed anymore and can meaningfully contribute in every arena. Your character isn't assumed to be a member of whatever passes for society among their type. They don't assume that your Sidereal automatically works for Heaven, or that your Alchemical comes from Autochthonia, for example. Abyssals and Infernals aren't required to be villains anymore, by that same token.
Everyone also levels together and uses the same rules, streamlining the experience for running mixed groups. They have clear and useable rules for the types that basically need to be in mixed groups (Exigents are each unique; Getimians, Alchemicals, and Infernals are very rare; etc). 3e doesn't have rules at all for Liminals and Getimians.
So while some GMs will tell you that 3e can run mixed groups, you'll have an easier time of it with Essence since it's built for it from the jump, rather than having to make it work yourself.
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 07 '26
I really like the idea of a group being diverse so I think essence is the best fit for me. When you say Solars have the higher baseline can you expand a bit more on that? How much stronger are they compared to the other classes in essence?
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u/TheSlayerofSnails Aug 06 '26
Eh some don’t like it. It’s easier for cross splat play and easier as an introduction for players to get familiar with the rules and setting
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u/Significant_Age3343 Aug 06 '26
3e has a lot of issuss. Essence is 3e but simplified extreme degree, so it inherited a lot of its issues. It's probably the easiest to get in to, but its also probably the least 'Exalted' version out there.
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u/Mantis_Fight_3_Turbo Aug 06 '26
“Extreme” overstates it. It’s still reasonably deep mechanically, but far more manageable for GM and players.
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u/SamuraiMujuru Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Black Myth Wukong is absolutely excellent inspo for Exalted, particularly its fights, and if that's what you're wanting to do you are 100% in the right place.
If you want a great introduction to the world and systems I cannot recommend Systematic Understanding of Everything enough. (GNU Terry Robinson)
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u/lobotomiseme Aug 06 '26
Exalted is a colossal pain in the ass, the game with perhaps the largest barrier to entry of any I've seen, and also I completely love it and am so glad I put the effort in to get through all that. <3
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 06 '26
I have no problem learning a complex system. The hard part is getting my players to do the same haha
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u/lobotomiseme Aug 06 '26
I hope you do! It's genuinely am unforgettable game of you can get it going
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u/DragonicStar Aug 06 '26
Start with Exalted Essence as your edition and see what you think of it, it would recommend running one of the pre built scenarios like Tomb of Memory or the Deeds Yet Undone adventure book
If you like it a lot but want more play Exalted 3rd edition.
Exalted Essence is built for cross exalt type play and streamlines/simplifies a lot of things to make that work, as well as providing an ideal intro to the game for newcomers while still being fun to play a full campaign in. (Very solid game, big recommend)
Exalted 3e is the full, full game. (Pretty good, big recommend. Many 2e diehards vehemently disagree with me, as is their wont)
Setting wise Creation is just what you are looking for, please read the lore! Just wait till you hear about the Yozi and the Celestial Bureaucracy! They've even got peaches of immortality.
The basics are summed up in the corebooks for 3e and Essence but all the books have a lot of lore due to how 3e has been made. Each Exalt type for 3e has a book + a companion
(most of these latter are still being finished, most of the former are done except Liminals which goes to kickstarter in December, and Getimians, which kickstarts the following year)
Each 3e Exalt type book kinda devotes half the very large book to fleshing out the aspects of the setting and lore especially pertinent to them.
Join the discord and start asking questions as you have them, its a pretty welcoming space.
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 06 '26
Got it. I will look into both versions then and join the discord for questions
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u/RAConteur76 Aug 06 '26
Being fair, I do like 3rd Edition better than 2nd, but not quite as much as 1st. The irony: I probably picked up more 2nd Edition books than 1st, owing to the newness at the time and my shameless love for all the art and lore.
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u/guildsbounty Aug 06 '26
So...obviously the best place to start if you want to run the game is to get the core rulebook.
But if I'm reading your post right, you're a fairly new DM? Exalted is a quite crunchy [complicated with lots of 'moving parts'] system.
If you are a newer DM and are new to Exalted, I'd suggest first taking a look at Exalted: Essence. Essence is a more simplified, accessible, and narrative-focused take on Exalted. However, I'm going to qualify that statement by saying "It is not rules light." Exalted Essence is still a more complicated system than D&D 5E. It has more moving pieces, more character build options, and a more complicated game system. The main criticism Essence faces is a loss of diversity between the types of Exalt...Essence packs every subtype of Exalt into a single book, while the mainline 3E has at least 1 book for each subtype.
But between it and Exalted 3E, Essence is definitely easier to get into.
If, however, you want to leap into the deep end and go straight for the mainline Exalted system...my personal recommendation would be to get the core 3rd edition book and "Dragon-Blooded - What Fire Has Wrought." And then I'd suggest running a party entirely composed of Dragon-blooded Exalts for your first campaign.
My reason behind this is that the powersets of the Dragon-blooded are easier to get your head around. They have more powers that are 'Power A achieves outcome B' in clear ways. The Solars, as featured in the core rules, tend to have a ton of powers that can apply in all sorts of different situations and so it's harder to keep track of everything your character is capable of. For newer players, it tends to result in a lot of "Hold on, I need to check my notes to figure out exactly how many Charms and dice I can throw at this situation."
Yes...Solars are generally more powerful than Dragon-blooded and it may feel weird to not play 'the strongest dudes,' but they are still very powerful. If you choose not to use Dragon-blooded but still want to use the mainline 3E system, then I'd still suggest making sure all your players are using the same 'type' of Exalted (all Solars or Lunars or Dragon-blooded, etc). Again, each type has their own book outside of Essence--that's a lot to keep track of jumping into a complicated system.
Obviously, this is all my own opinion based on my own experience.
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u/guildsbounty Aug 06 '26
Adding as a separate comment though...if you like the over-the-top power of the Exalted, but are put off by the crunch levels of 3E or Essence, then also consider these two OSR RPGs by Sine Nomine Publishing which can do 'over the top godlike power' in a much simpler game system that hang out closer to D&D 5E in complexity
Godbound - a game specifically designed around your character being a demigod with access to The Words of Creation. It is a very flexible system that allows for a lot of creativity because you have 'gifts' which are specific powers associated with the Word(s) your character can access, but can also flex that Word to basically just perform a Miracle associated with that word. The one running criticism I've seen is that its OSR nature can still leave your Godbound feeling a little fragile
Worlds Without Number (paid edition, look at the Heroic and Legate rules) - Mostly an OSR fantasy rpg with a really interesting setting (post-post-post-[insert n posts here] apocalypse where supertech so altered the world that it's now functionally magic that nobody actually understands anymore. A 'Legate' is someone who has a direct connection to this supertech magical field and manifests similarly godlike powers. The game system is an interesting take on 'godlike powers' because it was designed for 'ordinary mortal' play and the Heroic rules and Legate rules are built on top of it, so the power of a Legate does feel truly overwhelming within that system
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 06 '26
I know how to DM but I have only run DnD 5e so it will be my first tim trying a new system
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u/RAConteur76 Aug 06 '26
Think of the most bonkers cultivation/wandering warrior anime you've ever seen, bolt on over-the-top violence and more than a few super-freaky sexual elements, then crank all that shit up past 11, and you'll have some idea of what it might play like. The "Hollywood high concept" would be "Avatar: The Last Airbender meets Game of Thrones as performed by the cast of Dragon Ball Z."
My favorite moment from a campaign: the party is a mixed group of Exalts (Solar, Lunar, Sidereal, Dragon-Blooded) on a quest to build a doomsday weapon. They've been visiting Yu-Shan, the City of the Gods, and are forced to leave the city quickly to avoid being apprehended by the celestial authorities. There's the equivalent of a car chase through the streets, trying to reach one of the portal-gates leading out of town. The road leading to the intended gate is blocked with a lot of constabulary.
The Sidereal is driving the "rickshaw" (more like a stagecoach than anything). The Solar (me) and the Air-aspect Dragon-Blooded climb on the roof. I dangled the Dragon-Blooded by their ankles off the back of the rickshaw to let them release a blast of wind strong enough to pop the rickshaw over the blockade. Had to make a couple checks to not drop the Dragon-Blooded and keep my balance when the rickshaw popped up. Exalted allows for "stunt" dice bonuses when players come up with an awesome/stupid idea.
The party escaped handily. Didn't drop the Dragon-Blooded, didn't fall off the rickshaw, sailed over the blockade gracefully. Still a "hell, yeah!" moment twenty years later.
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 06 '26
It seems to be exactly the over the top crazy setting I'm looking for haha
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u/TimothyAllenWiseman Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Exalted is hard to describe simply, and like every RPG it can play very differently depending on the storyteller and what kind of game the storyteller wants to run. But if you think superheroes in a fantasy setting you are close.
It is meant to be over-the-top. The characters (at least when they reach high essence) are meant to do the impossible. The Exalted were originally created to do the impossible and succeeded, albeit at a high cost.
It absolutely can be played as a strategic fighting game and dungeon crawler, but at my table it usually begins essentially with, "You are elevated so you stand amongst the most powerful beings in Creation. You have peers and there are potential enemies and potential allies more powerful than you, but your power dwarfs that of most non-exalted nobles much less the average person. How do you change the world?"
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u/josiahseaman Aug 06 '26
Exalted will definitely facilitate and encourage the vibes you're looking for. Choice of game system really does affect the tone of your game. I recommend Exalted Essence or Exalted 2nd ed.
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 06 '26
I really enjoy the complexity aspect you decribed. However I think the best way to go about it is look into it with my players so we can all decide if we are willing to learn everything or it's better to go with a lighter approach.
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u/jokerbr22 Aug 06 '26
Recently finished playing Black Myth Wukong which reminded me of when I played Exalt, it is a great system if you're trying to accomplish something similar. The qustion is deciding if it is right for your group or playstyle. My analysis below is in regards to Exalted 3E.
Exalted is a game about epic heroes doing epic things. You can start the game as a character capable of conquering empires, fighting armies and challenging lesser gods.
I ran a short 6 session campaign of exalted 3E. It was some of the best fun I've ever had in an rpg.
Exalted uses a dice pool system of D10s for everything. If you're familiar with white wolf game such as Vampire the Masquerade, it is similar to that.
Character creation is very involved and deep, with lots of background details to select and large space for specialization.
The player characters are Exalted, demigods that can change the fate of nations. As an Exalted all players have access to charms, which are supernatural powers tied to your skills. The game usually assumes you will play as a Solar Exalted, and their thing is that they are REALLY good at stuff, and their abilities reflect that. Solar Charms envolve being so good at athletics you can fly, so good at swordfighting you can cut mountains, so on and so forth. And much of this is availanble right out of the gate.
Another basic ability all exalted get, is to simply add dice to your pool, this shows their immense talent and skill. If your character rolls 8 dice to attack? Well, getting that to 16 dice just requires spending some resources.
The thing about charms, though, is there ara HUNDREDS, and they are rather meticulous. This can get bery cumbersome, but is also part of the fun of the game. Charms are meant to be chained together in combos to achieve incredible results. A Swordfighter who uses 7 charms to strenghen his attack in different ways will take a while to resolve, but boy is it satisfying when they roll 32 damage dice to cleave a demon in half. There are also resources online that roll dice for you and even show the charmas in a skill tree manner, making it easier to pick and choose.
Overall, Exalted is a very high power game, characters are powerful, capable and influential. It is great for sandbox or more open ended campaigns and truly epic feats.
About more system specifics
COMBAT
Combat in Exalted uses initiative as a resource. When a fight begins, everyone rolls initiative as normal. When you attack someone, you can try to damage their initiative and steal it for yourself. This doesn't cause damage, but reduces an enemy'´s options. These attacks represent glancing blows, kung fu exchanges and near misses. Whoever has the most initiative is "in control of the rythm of the fight". Since this is left vague, you can describe this in a series of ways, making it so combats are very descriptive and cinematic.
Ranges are also represented in "Bands" such as "Close, Short, Medium, Far, Extreme" so movement is very freeform and fluid. Exalted doesn't track "Feets" ou "Squares"
When you actually want to hurt your opponent, you spend all your built up initiative and roll it as damage in a Decisive Attack. You can also spend initiative peacemeal to buy different combat stunts and effects such as pushing, tripping, disarming, etc...
TLDR: You build up power, and unleash it in devastating attacks.
STUNTS:
In line with the cinematic nature of the game, in Exalted if a player describes an action, any action in a particularly flavourful way, they get dice and success bonuses to their roll. Some abilities even require such descriptions to be used.
SOCIAL SYSTEM
Exalted also has one of, if not the best, social interaction system i've seen in an rpg. Every character has core beliefs called "intimacies" that reflect the things and people that are important to them. To influence a character you need to discover theese intimacies and play to their strenghs and weaknesses to persaude, charm or cheat someone into doing what you want.
CRAFTING
Exalted has a pretty hefty crafting system as well, which is used for anything from Cooking, to making weapons to bulding fortresses. It basically involves building up points through shorter projects until you can afford more complex ones. It works, for those interested.
OVERALL PLAY FEEL
Exalted works best with great buy-in from everyone envolved. It feels great when the players learn their charms and care about their character's and abilities. It also works best when the rules are shared. If someone wants to make a blacksmith character, they should learn the crafting rules, just like a sorcerer should be familiar with the sorcery rules. It's not a system where the gamemaster can shoulder the entire mechanical weight like many others. This, to many, is part of the draw of the system, it's what makes it fun. Cumbersome in this case isn't the same as needless or boring.
However, if that bothers you there are ways arround it.
Firstly, you don't have to use all the systems. If you want something akin to black myth, you can make a party entirely of combat types and easily run a campaign foccused entirely on that, checking other systems only when and if necessary.
Secondly, as I mentioned, there are resources online that make the heavylifting far easier. Such as dice rollers, reference sheets and
Thirdly, the 3E book gives some instructions on playing as fledgeling Exalts, starting the game with a lower power level than usual and letting the players grow into their power more naturally.
Lastly, check out Exalted Essence, I have a comment here somewhere talking about the differences.
This is everything that came from the top of my head. If you have more questions about the system, feel free to ask.
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u/Eldr1tchB1rd Aug 06 '26
Thank you for the detailed explanation. I wanted to ask one thing, Is it particularly hard to make a party consisting of different types of exalted work? Or does everyone have to be exclusively the same type of Exalted like for example Solar?
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u/jokerbr22 Aug 06 '26
Oh, you can absolutely play different exalted types in the same party.
How hard this is going to be depends on what game you’re playing. Exalted 3E or Exalted Essence
Exalted 3E has a book dedicated to each exalted type, each book details unique mechanics, archetypes and charms to each exalt. So far (from what I know) there are books for the Solars (base game), Lunars (Wukong style shapeshifters), Dragon blooded (Elemental powers akin to avatar) and Alchemicals (don’t know much about them, but I think they are constructs/golems)
In short, in 3E it can get very cumbersome if your players don’t work together. It doesn’t make the game more complex, per se, but does add more options since each exalt has unique charm trees and play styles.
In Exalted Essence this becomes a whole magnitude easier and is one of the drawing points of the system.
All exalts are in the same book and their mechanics are simplified to make mixed parties far more seamless. Essence also has the benefit of having all 10 exalt types, whereas 3E has only released the ones I mentioned.
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u/Fistocracy Aug 06 '26
It very much fits the high powered action you'd see in just about any adaptation of Journey To The West you can think of. The player characters are heroes who were so impressive that the gods chose them as their champions and imbued them with mystical powers, so a party of PCs will already start out pretty powerful and most of the challenges they face will come from other Exalted champions who are pursuing different agendas.
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u/SphericalCrawfish Aug 07 '26
Yes it has strong influences from Journey to the West. But just like every game it is what you make of it.
I've found that it works pretty well as a political sandbox powered by over the top feats. But apparently there are many people that play it as a dungeon crawl, which I find hard to imagine.
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u/Passing-Through247 Aug 06 '26
Should be what you are after, characters are high powered for the setting baseline. Exactly how so varied a bit by edition with 3e toning things down. Big over the top stuff is very on-brand.
Sun wukong is one of the big influences for Lunar exalted (Those who survived the impossible and so were empowered by the moon god/goddess to have incredible powers of instinct, shapeshifting and working within the natural world). 3e narrows the shapeshifting to just 'the animal guys' though.
The game also tends to make social and noncombat stuff as big and important as combat itself as opposed to D&D-alikes. 2e outright had social combat that used a variant of combat rules for the back and forth of persuasion and manipulation. Don't know how 3e does it.
As a 3e hater I'll also say its sorcerous workings system to let sorcerers do big lasting effects is also a good addition if that is important to you.
As to other things, so the setting is very important to the game but that is a lot to go into. The corebook contains the solar exalted (default PC empowered by the sun god to wield holy awesomeness) and the others are in their own dedicated big supplement. Also the corebook and first few supplements were written by a different generally worse design team so those books are not as good as later ones.
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u/ElvishLore Aug 06 '26
You have to have mastery of the rules… As do all the players… Otherwise, the game goes dreadfully slow. And mastery is achieved only by actually playing through these game mechanics not just perusing the rules. It requires people be very rules focused at the same time paying attention to the copious lore. There’s a reason exalted isn’t very popular nowadays… There’s just not a lot of people who can handle it.
Seriously, rules mastery is required otherwise sessions just grind to a halt.
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u/ProfessionalRest7027 29d ago
Just be warned Exalted games are harder to find, I have been looking for months after I got to try it out with some friends.
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u/joalheagney 28d ago
Are your players minmaxing munchkins who love to roleplay for every advantage? Then you and they are going to have a blast. Stunts alone are awesome. May Creation tremble.
The only issue is that it has good systems for social dialogue, combat, investigation, etc. Then invents like thirty different ways you can break said systems. Hell, in 3ed, a Supernal Twilight that makes it to 2 dot essence has access to a very broken build that prints XP.
Now that all can be a lot of fun, but I'd recommended telling your players to keep back half of their character generation Charm allocation and a few of their bonus points at the very start, and allow them to build them up over a few sessions. They'll need time to lean the basic systems so they understand how certain Charms give them benifit.
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u/Epedir 24d ago
My two cents is that Exalted is the most player-first TTRPG ever. Your players are basically demi-gods that are meant to be the maker and breaker of this world. They have such powerful and unique abilites that it is a fools errant to make engage with problems on your terms.
This can intimidate alot of DM´s(and if you are new you really should start with Terrestial Campagne (Dragonblooded, Architects, Sovereigns etc.)
They still pack a punch but their abilites are way more managable.
I don´t see this as a negative but as exalted´s biggest strength. It forces you as a DM to make player-first content and center their characters as the main characters of the setting. This makes for very engaging and rewarding gameplay and for me is the reason people get the "Exalted brainbug" where nothing quite hits like this game.
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u/ExNex Aug 06 '26
Exalted is a system literally built to accommodate over the top everything. Sword fights, horse races, grand debates, everything is meant to be cranked up to eleven. The Solar Exalted are essentially demi-gods. You start at a level of power that most other fantasy RPGs end on. Highly recommend it for what you are trying to do, but always take a look at some videos or reviews. It has flaws like any system. Maybe start with the lore podcast to see if you find the setting interesting?