Hello everyone looking for a new fantasy tabletop game!
As it nears backer release, there's never been a better time to pre-order Exalted: Essence
Pre-ordering gets you access to the beta document and the early release backer pdf.
Exalted is an epic fantasy TTRPG where players play the titular Exalted - humans elevated to superhuman/demigod status - in a wild and unique setting that draws inspiration from the ancient world rather than medieval Europe. Creation (the setting) draws key inspirations from the entire world. If you're used to having to make yourself visible on your own in other fantasy, there's probably some representation in Exalted.
It has explicit queer and trans themes about finding your people, creating your own identity, and having the power to punch back at the people who hate you. This isn't incidental. The writing staff is queer as hell. You can hear me break this down more here.
Curious to learn all you can? Well you can get a detailed overview of the entire game on the podcast Systematic Understanding of Everything hosted by myself, @presidentofbirds and @phillycuriosity
If I'm used to D&D 5e why should I pick this up?
Well, I presume if you're reading this post you're already interested in trying something new, so:
The entire game in one book. Exalted: Essence is self contained, character types, equipment, enemies and all!
An exciting style of fantasy that's different than classic D&D but like, textually gay, and very easy to have scenes like ballroom fights, epic galas, and touching homoerotic healing scenes - no house rules required.
But also, tactical depth and combat you can really sink your teeth into if fighting monsters and villains is your bag.
An excuse to use all your d10s at once
Character building and advancement mechanics designed to be familiar to a 5e audience. Characters "level up" based on story beats, and have Advantages, which are functionally similar to class and race features.
A world welcoming to most heroic archetypes, so it's easy to convert your favorite OC.
Extremely kissable dragons, demons, gods, elementals, ghosts, faeries, and unnamed ancient horrors
I'm a fan of a previous edition, what's Essence got for me?
Design focused on alleviating some of the previous versions' missteps
2e fans will find it an improvement from second edition's mechanical strengths - it's pretty easy to convert all your favorite 2e Charms to XS.
Streamlined versions of familiar rules to make it painless to introduce new friends to the game we love.
The Cliff's notes on Ex3's new Exalt types.
Did I mention it's all of Exalted in one book?
d10 dice pool looking for 7,8,9 as successes. 10s count as two successes, which can lead to explosive, heroic outcomes
Combat system designed to keep all players engaged the entire time - even characters who aren't focused on fighting at all.
Combat also narrows the gap between experienced and new players and players who want to win at RPGs and players who just wanna vibe so GMs aren't tearing their hair out trying to balance encounters.
Social system designed to resolve in a single roll so you can be immersed in role play and not interrupt it with constant rolling - without sacrificing a variety of social approaches
"Ventures" system for characters working on long term projects from traveling across the world to crafting magical wonders to building communities without forcing this to be "downtime" activity
Characters have access to Charms - exception-based special powers that make them extremely good at whatever they focus on.
It's easily my favorite game (and the project I developed that I'm the proudest of), so I'm excited for everyone to try it out.
