Dragon Blooded

You want to play a Dragonblooded game because

You're an elementally-charged demigod raised from birth to rule the world amidst a corrupt, decadent and decaying empire dedicated to worshiping you as a living warrior-bodhisattva. Will you be swept into your elders' incestuous and bloody schemes as the empire caves inwards to civil war, or will you cut a path to power, glory and perhaps righteousness for yourself? Will you drain the world dry as your brothers do, or will you be the hero your religion proclaims you - or both?

What legends will they tell of your deeds?

The Treasures of the Imperial Manse

or what books to pick up

Indispensable: Exalted Core and Exalted: The Dragonblooded.

The Exalted Core provides the basic mechanics of the game (and a set of ready made antagonists in the shape of the Anathema Solar Exalted); Dragonblooded provides the mechanics necessary to play as one of the chosen of the dragons, as well as all the information to run their basic setting, The Realm.

Very useful: All five Aspect Books (Air Earth, Fire, Water, and Wood), Exalted; the Outcaste, Book of Three Circles (out of print), Games of Divinity (out of print), The Exalted Players Guide, The Storytellers Handbook, and Scavenger Sons.

The Aspect books provide extra information on their titular aspect, given in an “in character” style by the signature characters of the books, as well as extra charms and artifacts for player characters. Additionally, each book provides several pre-generated characters of varying power level to insert into your game.

The Book of Three Circles and Savant and Sorcerer are the big books of Exalted Sorcery, with dozens of spells, ranging from basic sorcery to world-shaking effects. Savant and Sorcerer is the current Exalted Magic Book (having superceded the Book of Three Circles), and both have rules for crafting Artefacts of power, as well as rules for the massive armoured mecha war engines of the Exalted: Warstriders

The Players Guide provides additional antagonists in the shape of the Dragon Kings (ancient lizard warriors from before the time of men), Akuma (Demon corrupted Exalted) and God Blooded (Half breed offspring of mortals and Exalts/Gods/Demons). It also provides Merits and Flaws to customise characters with, and has the alternate Power Combat combat rules (if you intend to use these, this book becomes an indispensable purchase)

The Storytellers Companion provides a Storytellers screen, as well as simplified rules for using other Exalted as antagonists.

Games Of Divinity is the Exalted book of Gods and spirits. It provides expanded information on running the gods in a world where everything has a god. As such, it’s full of useful information and story ideas. Where Scavenger Sons is the book about the world of Mortals, Games of Divinity is the book of Gods. This book would be indispensable if it were not out of print. The difficulty involved in obtaining it means it is only very useful instead.

Scavenger Sons provides an overview of the world of Exalted, Creation, it’s brimming with adventure hooks for a party of Solars, and leaves plenty of room for a GM to insert his own kingdoms and ancient ruined cities. For most other exalt types, Scavenger Sons would be indispensable, but the Dragonblooded can play a perfectly complete game without ever leaving The Realm, so it’s not necessary to the game.

Exalted: The Outcastes: This book provides rules and guidelines for creating and playing Dragon-Blooded who have not been born into the Realm's dynasty. It covers the soldier-society of Lookshy; describing the society, its armed forces and some of the more common artifacts available to her armies. Eos and Ossissa describes a group of western based pirates who dwell in the wyld, whilst the Forest Witches cover a group experimenting with forces that grant a strange version of immortality. Finally, the book also covers many of the other paths open to Outcaste Dragon-Blooded; from making it alone to the formalised procedures the Realm has enacted to train those 'lost eggs' it claims.

'Useful:' Any of the other hardbacks, a region book useful to the region you are running your game in (if outside The Realm), Creatures Of the Wyld, Manacle and Coin

The region books provide more in depth information on a specific area of creation, so if you intend to run your game in a region covered by one of these books, they are an excellent resource.

Creatures of the Wyld: The Exalted book of Monsters. Useful if you want something strange (like a rhino made entirely of magical metals) to throw at your players as a random encounter, as well as providing bigger plot hooks with the more powerful creatures. Find it, slay it, take its stuff….

Manacle and Coin is an overview of the seedier side of creation, the trade in slaves, drugs and money. It gives an in depth view of the most powerful mortal organisation in Creation, The Guild, and is useful for providing non Exalted antagonists and allies for player characters.

The Scarlet Empire of the Princes of the Earth

or the primary setting of the Dragonblooded

The primary setting for the Dragonblooded is the central island continent of creation known as The Realm, and its many tributaries and satrapies. This Realm is a decadent empire ruled in name by an incompetent regent, but in actuality by the factions engaged in a cold war for the throne. At the same time, it is the most advanced and enlightened empire in Creation, with a religion which, while elitist, preaches tolerance for those below you, and respect to your betters. The dominant political powers of The Realm are the Dragonblooded noble families. They manipulate the system of the realm to insert the agents of their choosing into important governmental positions, and seek to find a way to seize the throne and declare their chosen representative emperor or empress. Furthermore, the Byzantine bureocracies which make up the One Thousand Scales continually attempts to wrest power from one another, and in the absence of the Empress to reign in the Houses or the One Thousand Scales, The Realm slides ever closer to outright civil war.

Lost Eggs

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Original Author: Ubermonkey on RPG.net