Lunar Exalted
You want to play a Lunar Exalted game because:
In the midst of a vast jungle, feral beastlords gather around the ruins of an ancient ziggurat, holding council in preparation for a campaign of conquest that will shake the very pillars of Heaven and Earth. Above the gathering, the most ancient of them all, a survivor of two cataclysmic endings of epochs, addresses them with a voice that is as primal as it is hauntingly beautiful.
In the windswept plains of the South, great half-animal, half-man creatures stalk the vanguard of a Fair Folk army, alien and awe inspiring. Like shadows, they pass through the long savannah grasses with barely a ripple. They long to put an end to these princes of chaos, so far from the borders that their brothers and sisters enforce. The time is not yet, but soon...
In the snowy evergreen forests of the Northeast, a wise Elder, known for his effective teaching methods and his vast knowledge of the spirit courts, passes on his lore to the next generation. They are all No Moons, the keepers of lore, the singers of the songlines. Theirs is the task of preserving culture, and knowledge... for we must never forget that in our time of need, civilization failed us. Whatever we replace it with in this world, it must be something better.
In the stinking warrens of Thorns, surrounded by the open decay and necromantic filth that only a city of the dead could produce or endure, a tiny housecat slinks unseen. But the cat has seen much - learned much - and she now knows the weakness of the one called the Mask of Winters.
If these sorts of stories appeal to you, then a game of Lunar Exalted should be a shoe in! Of course, like all Exalted games, Lunars are very versatile, and there are many more potential stories to be told about them than I could possibly hope to write here. Whether you play the barbaric crusader against a corrupt civilization, the wise and compassionate idealist who wishes to start a new order, or the cunning ex-street urchin who lives by his own wits - or anything in-between! - the Lunars are where it's at.
Their power is centered primarily around shapechanging - and truly protean beings they are. They can assume the form of any animal who's heart's blood they have tasted. Perhaps their most well-known power is the Deadly Beastman Transformation, which allows them to assume a hybrid form of their human self and their totem animal - and makes them into truly deadly combatants. Of course, Lunars are not defined solely by Deadly Beastman Transformation (DBT), nor by their combat effectiveness. They have a society all their own, as interesting and as powerful in its own way as the Realm or Lookshy, in addition to all the variety and flavor that "uncivilized" peoples can provide. If you find yourself lacking inspiration, look at real-world cultures like the Native Americans, Inuits, Mongols, Zulu, or a thousand others. All of these and more are possible - even likely! - within the Exalted setting.
The Lore of the Wilds:
Or, What Books do I Need?
Indispensable: Exalted Core and Exalted: the Lunars
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: Scavenger Sons, Kingdom of Halta, Games of Divinity (out of print), Savant
