Customer Reviews

Exalted 2nd Abyssals (Exalted: Second Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Exalted Abyssals is a well written book with a good deal of wit. It is clear from the beginning that White Wolf wanted to make these characters more playable, so their moral ambiguity is certainly played up. The text itself is set up much like the past books in this series, giving an intro to the history and world of the Abyssal, followed by a character generation chapter and then one explaining the traits in more detail, a chapter on new Abyssal charms, a chapter on Necromancy and technology ("necrology"), and finally a Storyteller's chapter.

The general information this book yields is useful. Granted much of this is either rehashing what was already discussed in the Second Edition base book or further explanations, the Neverborn are better explained as is the Underworld. I would have liked to have seen a new map of the Underworld included in this book as it was in First Edition, or even a map of where the Deathlords' lands are. Such things exist on-line, though that is not always an acceptable option in the middle of a game.

The artwork is up to Exalted standards, and the comics have a very dark humor to them. As my friends and I pealed through the pages, we found ourselves chuckling on a regular basis at some of the more disturbed bits of evil. Make no mistake that this book is dark, and should have come from the Black Dog press at White Wolf. Brief nudity is in this book, though only a minor amount (no more than in the core book). The blackness of the book is pretty intense, which can become training on the eyes. Everything is black and dark gray, so you will occasionally have to squint to see what you are reading or to fully see what is in the picture.

If you have a gamer who tries to pull Mr Welsh style stunts in your games, do not give them access to this book. It is full of devilish ideas that, while funny, are fairly asinine. That is a major feeling one gets from this game.

Gripes about the book are pretty small. In general, the Abyssal Exalted seem pretty confining to play. When reading the Dusk caste, for example, the author all but shoves down your throat that you are an uncontrollable psychopath who must kill every living thing she sees. Exalted has usually been good about not making those kinds of comments limiting play-style, so it was a little disappointing to read. It felt like they were sucking some of the fun from the character creation process. Aside from little problems such as that, the book fits in well with the rest of the game. Again, it is not that suggestions are not good for character concepts, but telling the player they must strictly play this did not seem right.

In the end, this book is incredibly useful for both ST and player, though for most games this will likely become a book for generating NPCs rather than something characters will make a regular use of. That is, of course, you are playing a rare Abyssals game. Get the book. Read the book. It at least has pretty pictures.

Like the Manual of Exalted Power: Dragonbloods this seems to me, now having purchased it to be a must have for Exalted 2nd. This book will not just help a GM to make well-rounded and tough adversaries for a Solar, etc series, but will also give players all the tools they need to make Abyssal characters for a darker Exalted game. Furthermore, the book gives some very good background on the Deathlords and how they interact with each other and the Underworld.

Like all of the Exalted books Abyssals is heavy on flavor, but also very poor in terms of organization (like all White Wolf books). For example, consider the seventy pages of Abyssal Charms which likely will be the most often-consulted portion of the book. Over half of these Charms are mirrors of Solar Charms found in the core rule book, but for these charms the original text is not reprinted. Instead, the reader is directed to the appropriate page in the other book. Anyone who has not memorized all of the Solar Charms will find it tiresome to have to consult both books each time they come across an unfamiliar mirrored Charm. There is also no alphabetical index of Charms (in any 2nd Edition book). Charms are arranged according to function and order of acquisition, so if a reader comes across the name of an unfamiliar Abyssal Charm with no context indicating its purpose, he/she will have to flip through seventy unalphabetized pages in search of it.

Anyone interested in this book should not be deterred, but for poor organization I deduct one star.

Everyone wants to play the villain, even if they won't admit it. Manual of Exalted Power: Abyssals, gives players of Exalted Second Edition that chance. The characters are created from warped, twisted Solar Exaltations that are possessed by the Deathlords, who rule the Underworld. While the players can do a game dealing with their character's evil, there is also the option of an Abyssal being able to redeem themselves and becoming a true Solar once more, not that this would be easy, of course. New charms, spells and Necrotech (creating weapons and such from body parts) are in here as well as details on nine of the thirteen Deathlords (the other four are for the Storyteller to create). The book is dark in scope, considering its subject matter, and deals with mature themes that might be disturbing to some (Remember, if you're easily offended, you don't have to read it).

Exalted Abyssals (Exalted Second Edition)

This is an amazing corebook. Period.

Has a lot of ideas, potential, cool Charms (although most are Mirrors of the Solar Charms) and good view of what the Deathlords are, their plans, metaplot, ideas, vague description of their places and all. Clean, intelligent, more stuff is revealed in this book, several new things that was not said in the first edition, plus necrotech stuff, ideas for playing with other types of Exalted and great illustrations.

It is a MUST buy for the Exalted fans!

I've been waiting for this for a while. I was depending on my 1st edition copy and the Storyteller's Companion to make my Abyssal work. This book does a great job of clearing up everything about resonance vs. limit and other aspects of the rules that are different for Abyssals. If you want to run an Exalted game with a dark tone, or just have some interesting antagonists or player characters this is a must have. The only gripe I had is that I liked the artwork for the first edition a lot better.