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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Feel for the Bad Guys!, May 7, 2009
This review is from: Manual of Exalted Power: The Infernals (Exalted) (Hardcover)
In the latest expansion for the Exalted tabletop RPG, we are finally presented w/ the Infernal Exalted!! I say finally, as Infernals were mentioned frequently throughout the last 8 years of books, but only in passing, no details provided... only shadowy myth and terrifying implication. Until now! Finally we get a book dedicated to the Green Sun Princes, as they are also called, that details their origins, their patrons, their might and mysticism and the mysterious helltech they employ in their nefarious plot... and don't ask for more detail than that. That would be spoiling the fun!
The book itself feels a little light in comparison to some of the other "fatsplats" we've seen from Exalted, but they've decreased font style slightly and decreased the margin size, so while the book feels thin, it is as dense w/ information as the other books (in fact, the Charms section is actually longer than the 2Ed lunars and sidereals charm chapters.)
I also not as impressed w/ the art this time around as I have been in past books... I don't know why, but i find myself constantly craving details or angles that weren't provided. What is there is certainly well done, but this is a White Wolf product and they've set the bar extraordinarily high in the art department, having employed some of the very best in modern fantasy art. Here, we get mini comics for each of the signature characters, but w/o that dense paragraph of information, I didn't feel like i got to know them as well as I did in books past. The narratives given in these mini comics though could each easily be turned into a chronicle, so to that end, they are unique to be sure.
For those not very familiar w/ Exalted, I will simply say, you'll need the core rulebook for Exalted's 2nd edition to fully play and understand this supplimental work... and then, you'll blame me for getting you hooked on the coolest RPG in a very long time. I can't say enough good things about the franchise, pick up these books if you enjoy tabletop RPGing at all... this game WILL entertain! In a world that has seemingly moved on to video games for recreation, tabletops really get to show off their strengths, because unlike a video game, a tabletop game is only constrained by your imagination and that that of your fellow players: Want to go on a crazy insect-monster hunt w/ giant magickal swords, jacked up power armor and Essence Cannons? Exalted can do that. Like your games full of puzzles and storied intrigue? Yup, Exalted can do that. Are you more the kind of person who likes a straight up fight hurling flaming energy spheres or rippling lightning racing down your hands, in a group or mano e mano? You guessed it, Exalted can do that too. Heck, if you're a fan of racing games, we have skyships, dinosaurs, fire breathing gondolas, and spectral horses... now what video game gives you options like that?
To conclude, Manuel of Exalted Powers: Infernals provides the statistics to flesh out these newest (and yet one of the oldest) types of Exalted and plenty of flavor material to get you in the mood to be the bad guys!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Strange terrible things are in this book..., October 6, 2009
This review is from: Manual of Exalted Power: The Infernals (Exalted) (Hardcover)
If you are looking for an evil like that of the Abyssals, these folks are not it. Enter the Green Sun Princes: The chosen of hell. Gifted with the remade solar exaltations given to the yozis by the Neverborn, that, rather than being merely corrupted, they have been reforged into similar but at the same time very different forms. Their charms are based more off of the nature of the one of the Five Architects of the Reclamation: Malfeas, Cecylene, She who live in her name, Anhjoran, and, the Original Creature of Darkness himself, the Ebon Dragon. Their abilities tend to be very strange in some ways, like one from Malfeas that makes your character stop to sleeping and in stead live in a strange dream like state. Many have absolutely no analogue with their solar counterparts, save things like devil body, which is their version of ox body. when all is said and done, they are rather a sort of rock star evil as opposed to the more dour or depressive one of the Abyssals. In fact they are not capable of redemption like the Abyssals, as they are, in fact, heros of a sort, those of hell. Bombastic and inhumanly amoral, they are an odd and fun addition to the exalted setting.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightfully savage and innovative, November 30, 2009
This review is from: Manual of Exalted Power: The Infernals (Exalted) (Hardcover)
To those who play Exalted 2nd ED, the Infernals are unlike anything you have played before. Their power is earthshaking, but it is also completely different than that of the other exalted. Their powers are based in the moods and whims of their patron Yozis. Rather than having several different charms for many different situations, the Green Sun Princes only have a few charms, but they all build upon each other cumulatively. Rather than simply growing in power with their essence to perform potent charms, they actually change the very nature of their being. Many, if not most, of their charms are permanent, actually altering the physiology and psychology of the characters.
More interesting is how they are portrayed in contrast to the other antagonists of the series. While the Abyssals are grim, fatalistic, and austere and the Fair Folk are aloof, eccentric, and alien, the Infernals have an unrivaled ferocity and savageness with a clear goal: Make Creation into Hell. They do not seek to destroy like their Abyssal cousins, but rather corrupt everything. The Yozis do not seek oblivion, but rather they want the world they created back in their control. They poison society and wreak havoc on the world around them and bring a little bit more of Hell to the world with each act they perform. Even if they must break the world in the process, they want to take it back.
To those who want to play as the greatest generals and soldiers Hell has to offer, this is an amazing book.
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