Castebook: Dawn is the first of a series for White Wolf’s Exalted RPG, covering in detail the castes of the Solar Exalted. Despite my delight with previous Exalted products, I have to admit I was wary about Castebook: Dawn. My experience with splat-books goes back to the first of the breed, and they’ve all too often been excuses for power escalation, information creep, and poor In-Character narration. At worst, they’ve turned a useable organization into a band of ultra-powerful know-it-alls, and at best they’ve been like a horrible kind of gaming equivalent to light beer—they taste great, but are less filling than a normal supplement.
After reading Castebook: Dawn, I can honestly say: This is the kind of organization book that other splats want to be when they grow up. It compares favorably with the best of the nascent Exalted line, and succeeds not just as insight into the Dawn caste, but also as a useful sourcebook that conveys information on new Charms, new Artifacts and Hearthstones, and includes tantalizing glimpses of other groups and the First Age. In addition to this, the writing is fantastic and the typical problems that come with a “character narrator” are overcome.
Castebook: Dawn is a 96 page book that retails for $14.95. The book is initially split into opening fiction and an introduction, followed by six chapters and two appendices. The interior is filled with black and white art and the layout is similar to previous Exalted books. The art, as with previous releases in the Exalted line, has continued to get better, this time through the addition of some fantastic work by Chris Stevens, whose images utilize perspective and depth to great effect. There isn’t a bad piece of art in this book, although page 4’s picture of the Bull of the North locked in mortal combat with a Deathknight is a bit too stylized for my tastes.
The opening fiction is well-handled, describing an attempted closure of a Shadowland. Following it is a brief introduction describing what the book’s goals are, how the reader can make the best use of it, and followed by inspirational sources, including movies, television, classic literature, and 20th century fantasy novels.
What appears in the next three chapters is the Dawn caste warriors’ view of themselves, spoken through the voices of several characters. The Dawn narrators include Dace, the signature Exalted Dawn caste; Yurgen, the Bull of the North, from Scavenger Sons; Jalith, a Haltan commando; Demethius, a brawler from Chiaroscuro; and Lyta, a young girl under the control of the Gold Faction. Each speaker has different attitudes, goals, prejudices, and ideas about what it means to be a Dawn, and each one has a very distinctive perspective. Demethius is a humble righter-of-wrongs, while Jurgen is a man ill-at-ease with his new power in the context of the tribal existence he’s led so far, and Lyta is a budding fanatic, willing to slaughter hundreds to make sure that everyone knows she’s destined to rule.
Each of the narrators describes, over the ensuing chapters, their varied origins and Exaltation, their views on what the Dawn caste and Exalted should be doing in the new Age, and their thoughts on the other forces at work in the Second Age, from mortals to the Deathlords. These chapters hammer home the idea that the Solar Exalted are not a homogenous group and that they are shaped by their previous existence and the new power each has received. For example, Dace feels that the Fair Folk are vile creatures that one cannot treat with, while Jalith feels that a cunning warrior can use them as allies; Demethius believes that one should right wrongs at the local level, whereas Lyta hopes to eventually overwhelm the Realm and damn her perceived enemies to hell in an epic Crusade with its origins in the West.
The fourth chapter describes the opinions of other groups on the Dawn caste—some believe that they are the easiest of the Solars to manipulate, while others feel that they are the greatest threat of all because, after all, the cunning tongue of an Eclipse can be ignored, where a Dawn leading an army cannot. Each of these vignettes is told from the perspectives of members of the group in question, so we get several Dragon-Blooded views on the Solars, a pair of Abyssal opinions, several Mortal opinions, and more. This chapter plays up the idea that the Solar are immensely powerful—no one is blasé about the Dawn caste, and the tones range from fearful, to exploitative, to worshipful.
The next chapter describes the Dawn caste’s scattered memories of the First Age. Festivals, hunts, warfare and the betrayal of the Solars are all briefly touched upon, and the quality of the vignettes ranges from good to, quite simply, wonderful. The bit revolving around a Dawn caste memory of the betrayal is as good as a lot of the fantasy fiction out there, with a doomed heroic feel spiced with magic and romance, and all of it handled within a few short paragraphs. Each one of these visions of the past is fodder for the Storyteller, and each one fills in a blank in Exalted’s history, albeit vaguely. The authors get high marks from me for this chapter, if only for the idea of a love triangle between a Dawn, his Lunar consort, and his intelligent blade. Indeed, this kind of depth is apparent throughout the book—the authors have a vivid grasp of the quirks of the setting that draws the reader further into Exalted’s unique blend of epic sword and sorcery, Asian influences and classical heroism and godlike power.
Chapter Six is filled with the “crunchy bits.” Here are new Charm trees that tie into the old Dawn charms, new Charms for other abilities related to the Dawn’s role as warriors and generals, and several new Hearthstones and Artifacts. In addition, one of the new Charm trees is an original martial arts form based on the tiger. Many of the new Charms are powerful, with Ability or Essence requirements of 6, but all of them appear balanced, with the exception of the Tiger Form Charm, which seems a bit over-powered at first glance; time will tell if it actually is too good for what it costs and requires. The Hearthstones are all-well done and interesting, although the Gem of Perfect Mobility probably needs another paragraph of text to explain whether or not one can use two Charms in one turn with it. The Artifacts are again, clever and well handled, and each one is not only a good Artifact, but gives ideas for more toys the Storyteller can create; I know that after reading about the Flame Spear, whose head is a piece of fire forged magically into a spear-point, I had ideas on similar weapons forged from fire and other elements.
What follows that final chapter is an appendix containing write-ups for all of the Dawn narrators of the book, demonstrating that the interesting concepts we’ve read about are also viable characters. After these write-ups come a second Appendix with brief summaries of other Dawn caste NPCs, including potential foes, allies and plot hooks. Each one further demonstrates the versatility of Dawn caste character concepts.
There are a few mistakes in the book, but all are slight and there’s nothing that really impacts its value. There’s at least one error in the character write-ups that’s immediately apparent and easily fixed (an Essence of 1 on Jurgen’s write-up, where it should be 2.) One of the new Charms looks like it might be a touch over-powered, but only play will bear that out; compared to similar products, such as the D&D class books, one item that might be unbalancing is an incredibly good showing. As far as editing goes, there seems to be a few mistakes throughout the book, usually an extra letter at the end of a word, but nothing that interferes with my enjoyment of it as a whole. Some people have mentioned in various forums that the book doesn't come with the now ubiquitous (for this kind of supplement) expanded character sheet; I didn't notice the absence, and would much rather have the NPC write-ups in the back than a character sheet--indeed, there's nothing in this book I would cut out to make room for it.
Overall, Castebook: Dawn continues the trend of increasing quality in the Exalted line, a feat all the more impressive because this is a mere Castebook, the kind of product that you would expect to be a kind of “no effort” deal for the writers. Instead of a lazy bit of work to hold off Exalted fans until the next big supplement, readers get good writing, useful material, and a product that compares favorably with the best of the line so far, “The Book of 3 Circles.” Indeed, Castebook: Dawn is useful for Storytellers and the players of other Castes as well as Dawn players, due to the fact that the Charms, Hearthstones, Artifacts, visions of the First Age and vivid setting can be used by anyone. Castebook: Dawn comes highly recommended.
Style: 4
Substance: 4
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