Editing Lunar Exalted (section)

==The Lore of the Wilds:==
''Or, What Books do I Need?''

Indispensable: <u>Exalted Core</u> and <u>Exalted: the Lunars</u>

The Exalted Core provides all the basic rules for running the game, while the Lunars book provides information on creating and running Lunar characters, including their society and powers, as well as details on the wild lands of the Threshold that they tend to live in, and the chaotic forces of the Wyld that they battle against.

Very Useful: <u>Scavenger Sons</u>, <u>Kingdom of Halta</u>, <u>Games of Divinity</u> (out of print), <u>Savant & Sorcer</u> or <u>Book of Three Circles</u> (out of print), and <u>Exalted Players Guide</u>.

<u>Scavenger Sons</u> details many of the more interesting lands of the Threshold. Most of them are more civilized than barbaric, but some walk the line, and either way, the Lunars are likely to interact with the civilized lands on their borders in some fashion. Obviously, this book is also very useful for city Lunars, as it gives them somewhere to come from.

<u>Kingdom of Halta</u> details a "barbaric civilization" that has been heavily influenced by Lunars from the earliest days of its inception right up to the present. It can give you a good idea of what many more far-seeing Lunars might want to replace the current version of civilization with, as well as just being an interesting setting all-around.

<u>Games of Divinity</u> detail the gods, elementals, and demons of the Exalted world. This is very useful for Lunars in general, because they deal with the gods of the wilderness and those who have abandoned their duties in Heaven on a day-to-day basis. It is especially important for No Moons, because they are the ones most likely to make pacts with or coerce service from gods or elementals, and also the most likely to be summoning sorcerous aid.

<u>Savant and Sorcerer</u> is, in some ways, the newer edition of the <u>Book of Three Circles</u>. Both are viable resources on magic in the world of Exalted in general and sorcery in particular, and their information is not 100% identical - Book of Three Circles focuses more on the nitty gritty of individual Hearthstones and such, while <u>Savant and Sorcerer</u> gets more into the theories of sorcery, manse-creation, artifact-creation, demon-summoning, etc. Either one will do just fine, but having both is not entirely redundant, and allows one to pick and choose to his or her taste.

The <u>Exalted Players Guide</u> provides a wealth of other character types for the characters to interact with, including Dragon Kings (ancient lizard warriors from before the time of men), Akuma (Exalted servant/slaves of the demon princes), and god-blooded (the offspring of powerful spirits or Exalts). It also provides Merits and Flaws to customize characters with, and has the optional Power Combat and Mail and Steel rules sets. (If you intend to use some or all of Power Combat, vice classic combat, this book becomes an indespensable purchase).

Useful: <u>Exalted Storyteller's Handbook</u>, <u>Creatures of the Wyld</u>, <u>Exalted: the Fair Folk</u>, or potentially any of the other hardbacks.

The <u> Exalted Storyteller's Handbook</u> provides a Storyteller's screen, and simplified rules for using the various Exalt types as antagonists in your game (quite useful if you don't have the relevant hardback, significantly less so if you do), as well as some information on spirit courts, elementals, and demons.

<u>Creatures of the Wyld</u> is a beastiary of interesting and dangerous creatures from all over Creation. Many of them are the product of the dangerous mutating properties of the Wyld, and as such, are especially likely to be encountered by the Lunar Exalted, who deal with the Wyld quite often.

<u>Exalted: the Fair Folk</u> gives another look at the Wyld from a different perspective - that of the alien princes of chaos who call it home. It is useful in a Lunars game not only for allowing more fleshed-out statistics for what might be considered the Lunars primary antagonists, the Fair Folk, but also for its information on the Wyld and its dangers, and for the fact that Lunar Exalted are able to learn any Fair Folk Charm at all - provided they have a mystical Grace forged for them.

The other hardbacks are useful for the detail they bring antagonists. For example, if you plan for the main plot of the story to pit the characters against the forces of the Underworld, Exalted: the Abyssals is very useful to have.