8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Exalted's second hardcover sourcebook is finally here!, December 3, 2002
This review is from: Exalted The Lunars (Hardcover)
Exalted: the Lunars is the second hardcover sourcebook for White Wolf's exciting Exalted RPG. The book starts with an introduction vignette, featuring several characters from the main rulebook. Next are two chapters of background, one about the Lunar Exalted themselves and their society and the other about the barbarian tribes they usually come from (and, in some cases, lead). I particularly enjoyed the shapeshifting Charms, numerous amounts of which are detailed in the book, along with two-page write-ups for each Caste similar to the Solar Castes in the main rulebook and the Dragon-Blooded Aspects in Exalted: the Dragon-Blooded (which is also a superbly-written book that I highly recommend). The book also contains an entire chapter of storytelling ideas (for those of you who aren't familiar with White Wolf's games...the Storyteller is similar to a Dungeon Master or Game Master) with info on how to possibly integrate the other types of Exalted into a Lunars story.
The one thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that it's a slight bit shorter than Exalted: the Dragon-Blooded, although it does cover the Lunar Exalted in much detail.
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1.0 out of 5 stars
Familiarity (and a better second edition) breeds contempt, January 20, 2011
This review is from: Exalted The Lunars (Hardcover)
I see three reviews here, all positive.
While most of us who were there back in the day don't need to be told the Emperor has no clothes--and even in the greatly improved second edition he's merely sporting a well-placed tea towel--I think that what follows needs to be said.
The Lunar Exalted of the First Edition were just not very good. Each type was meant to function in a different milieu: Solars as the standard fantasy hero, for instance, and Sidereals as a kind of divine Man In Black. The Lunars were placed as savage, Conan-style fantasy, which could have been interesting, save for a few factors:
1.) Their history just wasn't particularly compelling. The sum total of their achievements in the 1500 years between their Exile and the start of the game can be summed up in a short paragraph. And before the Usurpation of the Solar Exalted, they were even more vague.
2.) Whoever wrote the powers for them did not do it particularly well. Some charms are literally useless, while the sequence of attaining powers resembles less the trees of any other Exalt type, and more like clouds instead. Further, while other Exalted took vague direction from their World of Darkness counterparts, the Lunars sharply resembled the Werewolves: powerful, brutal, and despite whatever roles they might be meant to take, ultimately a warrior at heart. And while the Lunars had tools to make them perfectly effective warriors, these were more or less mandatory for any long term survival and also permanently impacted a character's ability to disguise himself--especially painful for a playable character type with amazing shapeshifting powers.
3.) The pitch of the Lunars within the book was also more than lacking. Above and beyond the relative lack of history or general relevance to the setting, it's very clear that whoever was writing large portions of the book took "Barbarian" and "old World of Darkness Garou" and ended up with savage heroes who didn't just eschew advanced civilization, they actively warred against it, complete with raping, burning, and pillaging. Lunar concepts were by and large shoehorned into various shades of Hates-Indoor-Plumbing.
The first edition iteration of the Chosen of the Moon was easily one of the least-liked options for playable characters, and the fanbase rejoiced when the Manual of Exalted Power: the Lunars came out several years later. It isn't perfect, but it's much better than this.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exalted never fails to shine brightly, February 25, 2004
This review is from: Exalted The Lunars (Hardcover)
Exalted, the epic anime-style fantasy roleplaying game from White Wolf Game Studio, continues to dazzle like the sun with this, the second hardcover sourcebook, detailing the barbaric Lunar Exalted, the barbarians that worship them, the chaotic realm known as the Wyld, and the beastmen offspring of Lunar mating.
This hardbound gives the prospective Storyteller endless material to work with, from a chapter on barbarian culture, to a thick and healthy chapter on the Charms (i.e., special powers) of the Lunars.
I heavily recommend this book to all Exalted players.
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