As with all White Wolf games currently published, the book begins with the setting and background, as well as the obligatory introduction to gaming and a brief list of inspirational resources. To sum the background briefly, the player characters are the Solar Exalted, the reborn heroes of the Unconquered Sun who were vanquished at the end of the semi-mythical First Age. Opposing their return are the Dragon-Blooded, the lesser heirs to the Exalted legacy, ruling their shrinking world-wide empire from the vast Isle of the Blessed at the center of the world. Other types of Exalted exist, too, such as the Sidereal Exalted who pull strings from behind the scenes, the Lunar Exalted who roam the wilds at the periphery of the world, and the Abyssal Exalted who seem to represent a mockery of every ideal for which the Solar Exalted stand. There are also the Fair Folk, beings of barely-restrained chaos from the wild, elemental edges of the world. Into this world the Solar Exalted are reborn, and they try to find their new destiny in a world that remembers them at best as failed sovereigns, and at worst as demons. Other than the Dragon-Blooded and perhaps the inhabitants of the Scavenger Lands, no particular culture is addressed much beyond describing their physiology and environment, but the overall feel is something like a pasticcio of ancient Greece, China, Egypt, and a smattering of New World cultures. Also, don't be surprised if any of a number of elements of the background seem familiar to you - the creators appear to have not been shy about borrowing heavily from their inspirational sources.

The background section of this game occupies a surprisingly small portion of the book, given White Wolf's emphasis on the settings of its other recently published games. Another surprising matter is how little of the background actually has anything to do with the Solar Exalted themselves. The problem here appears to be that the Solar Exalted can manifest from virtually any population (though it isn't clear from the text of this book if they can manifest from among the non-Dragon-Blooded population of the Blessed Isle), but given the vast expanse of the game world, it's hard to typify their background or behavior. The Dragon-Blooded, on the other hand, are described in quite vivid detail, which is ironic, given that they are the first of the other Exalted types to receive an expansion supplement of their own. One can't help but wonder if perhaps the Dragon-Blooded should have been the focus of the game line, and not the Solar Exalted.

In contrast to the Dragon-Blooded, the other types of Exalted are treated in rather brief fashion, though still a bit more directly than the Solar Exalted. The Abyssal Exalted are portrayed as one of the most serious threats impinging upon the world, and yet they are described in only the broadest and vaguest of strokes. The Celestial Exalted are similarly cast in a position of great influence, but remarkably little is told of who they are and what they do. The Lunar Exalted and the Fair Folk lurk at the edges of the story with great potential, but, again, hardly any exposition. It's evident that there was a lot to fit into one little 350 page book, and the fit is so tight the text implies that the Storyteller and players are going to have to develop much of the background themselves at first. Oddly enough, this is one White Wolf game that truly needs additional books to adequately lay out the world that the writers and developers have in store. On the other hand, one can take just this one book and use it as a springboard for his or her own imagination – the framework is certainly sturdy enough to handle that.

Getting down to the business of how to play the game, character creation follows much the same standard set by White Wolf many of its other games – i.e. archetypes. In Exalted, rather than being called Clans, or Tribes, or Traditions, we have Castes. The Castes follow the various positions of the sun: the Dawn Caste for the warriors and leaders, the Zenith Caste for the prophets and mystics; Twilight for the scholars and sorcerers; Night for spies and assassins; and the Eclipse Caste for ambassadors and diplomats. Now, despite much popular opinion, the use of archetypes is not necessarily a bad thing. The archetypal character outline provides a readily grasped summary of the themes to be portrayed in the game. You pick your Caste, this provides a general outline of your character's personality and motivations, then you build your customised concept around that. For those among you who contend that systems like this, while they may be fine for new and inexperienced players, may limit the creative character development of more experienced roleplayers, I have to point out that any experienced player worth his salt should have no problem tweaking Exalted's archetypes available to suit his goals. Add to this the fact that character generation encourages not only specialisation in Caste abilities, but also specialisation in an equal number of abilities associated with other Castes, and you realise that the designers had freedom from "Clan stereotypes" on the mind when they wrote the rules.

Now, this last comment has a bit of a downside, too, surprisingly. The designers have gone to such great lengths to break down the rigid stereotypes commonly associated with other White Wolf games, there is actually a bit too much overlap between the Castes as described. In fact, the Castes are so loosely defined, it isn't entirely apparent why there is a division between some castes at all – the Dawn and Zenith Castes being a particular example of this, both of which seem to emphasise warrior aspects. This, however, is another sign of the conscious effort to get away from the standard White Wolf formula and, I suspect, encourage the players to characterise their Exalted characters after their own interests and imagination, rather than adhering to a published stereotype.

The mechanics, based on the White Wolf house system, will be generally familiar to anyone who has played any other White Wolf game, and particularly familiar to those who have played Trinity or Aberrant. Add up the number of applicable character traits (determined by the GM), roll that number of dice, and try to roll higher than a static target number of 7, with 1s subtracting from your total successes and 10s counting as two successes each. It's simple and intuitive, and you get the visceral thrill of rolling a fistful of dice all at once. However, in Exalted, the fistful of dice syndrome has the potential to spiral out of control, a problem that also reared its head in the similarly over-the-top Aberrant. Consider that Exalted characters commonly excel at the traits they use most in a game, and that means 4 or even 5 dots in their applicable Attributes and Abilities. So, in a common Attribute Ability roll, the player might be rolling close to 10 dice right off the bat. But then add to this the option for players to declare Stunts (to be covered later), which can add 1 to 3 dice, and the varied effects of Exalted Charms (also to be covered later), and the player may now be rolling close to 15 dice. On the off chance that the player's character is wielding a magical artifact of some kind, you can count on throwing another couple of dice into the mix. The rules mention that you will probably want somewhere between 12 and 20 ten-sided dice to play, and they aren't kidding. Now, I mentioned the visceral thrill of throwing that many dice across the table, but, frankly, I've found it distracting on that scale, not to mention slowing the fast-paced scenes down considerably while players hunt and peck for 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, and 1s.

Since I mentioned familiarity with existing games, it bears mention that that the rather inspired Charms and Stunts rules will already be familiar to many players – players of Robin Laws' Feng Shui, that is. That isn't to say they're without merit, though. Quite the contrary, they were a good idea to begin with – too good to be cosigned to just a single game – and they really show well in this game. If the modified Storyteller system is the skeleton of Exalted, Charms and Stunts are the meat and marrow. As Charms make up the second lengthiest section of the book (second only to the setting chapter), let's have a look at them first.

Weighing in at a count of 61 pages, nearly 20% of the book, Charms are arguably what this game is all about, at least as far as rules and die mechanics go. Charms are paths of arcane mastery, each path corresponding to one of the Abilities, or skills, and allow the Exalted character to channel their spiritual Essence to miraculous effect. The paths are each formed of a hierarchy of sequentially more powerful abilities, often branching from one key power, sometimes dovetailing back together at another. As I mentioned above, Charms bear a great deal of similarity to the kung fu paths of Feng Shui, a very great similarity. However, where Exalted manages to improve upon them is that even non-combat oriented abilities each have their own Charms. While not always as spectacular as their martial counterparts, the non-combat Charms, they add a subtlety and variety to the game that allows players who don't specialise in kicking ass the opportunity to shine during the course of play. In addition to simple, singular Charms, characters may develop devastating Combos, or simultaneous combinations of Charms, even from different paths of mastery if they so choose. Yes, the Combos seem a bit like the means for characters who are already striding across the earth as giants to exert even more over-the-top devastation, but they also serve the purpose of representing a finer scale of mastery and personal "signature moves". Granted, some Combos will seem absurd in comparison to combat Combos (like devastating one-two punch of the Crack Mending Technique/Insightful Buyer Technique Combo), but any given Combo may serve its purpose within context.

Stunts serve a purpose not unlike Charm Combos, except that where the latter represents the advantage of eventual mastery, Stunts represent the advantage of fortune favoring the bold. Again, like Charms, Stunts appear to draw upon the example set by Feng Shui, where players who describe their actions, the setting, or even sound effects in vivid, evocative, and enjoyable terms derive a bonus to their characters' resolution rolls. However, in Exalted, this system is a little more structured in that it pertains only to character actions. The basic concept is the same – the more entertaining the description of a character's actions is, regardless of how improbable, the more likely it is that the Storyteller will grant a bonus of 1 to 3 dice to the resolution roll. The idea, as you've probably gathered, is to encourage participation and entertainment as well as reinforcing the theme of acts of epic heroism. While inherently freeform in nature, Stunts also benefit from scalability at the Storyteller's discretion. Should the action get too wild or out of hand, he can fewer or smaller Stunt bonuses, and if the action should begin to drag he can start awarding them more liberally. What's important, though, is that players will understand the mechanic by which they are available.

The final variation from the White Wolf house mechanics is Sorcery, which is given decidedly short shrift in these pages. If Charms are the basic arithmetic of the Exalted, then Sorcery is their trigonometry and calculus. While Charms represent the intuitive and instinctive manifestation of an Exalted character's spiritual might, Sorcery is the learned and willful manipulation of that same energy. In comparison to the fast, furious, and free-form rules that dominate the rest of the game, Sorcery is intended as a slow and methodical, yet ultimately vastly more powerful expression of Exalted power. This may put sorcerous characters at a bit of a disadvantage, though, as they spend vast amounts of time and energy preparing a response to a threat, only to find their efforts cut short by the whiz-bang Charms and Stunts of the rest of the party. As presented, the Sorcery rules appear remarkably uninspired, with only three different Circles, or themes, of spells, just a handful of spells for each Circle, and restrictive casting requirements. Still, they provide a counterpart in both pace and level of power that some Storytellers and players desire for their campaigns, perhaps put to best use with NPC opponents.

The book is rounded out with useful, if unsurprising, advice on implementing the game’s mechanics to advance story drama – in other words, how and when to roll the dice. It’s good in its specific application to Exalted, though, as this particular game represents a significant departure from the typical Storyteller die-rolling conventions. Following this advice are stats on people, animals, and beings to be encountered, as well as weapons, potions, and arcane devices to discover during the course of play.

On a more serious note, something that is lacking in most roleplaying games is a list of cited references. Though a number of publishers are taking pains to remedy this bad habit, White Wolf is not among them. On page 17, you'll find a brief section titled "Resources." This page is intended to guide the reader toward books, movies, and, yes, computer games that players may find inspirational for their games, many of which are mentioned as being actual inspirations for the development of the book. Oddly, though, some obvious inspirations are not mentioned. For instance, Michael Moorcock's Hawkmoon books are mentioned, but not his Elric series, both of which appear clearly evident in the game. Also, as mentioned earlier, the roleplaying game Feng Shui is not mentioned, though the system of charms and stunts are undeniably patterned after this game. The time for game publishers to admit that writers do not create in a vacuum is long overdue, and a simple nod to Feng Shui was merited among the resources.

So, all in all, Exalted is a game of great potential, one that excited my gaming interests on a number of levels that haven't been piqued in a long time. It's not without its problems and shortcomings, but these are matters that I'm sure are going to be addressed in White Wolf's aggressive release schedule for the line. Please, try ignore the hopelessly cynical exhortation of consumerism from the Exalted website of "Exalted is as much a hobby as it is a game – collect 'em all!" Okay, that last little bit was mine, but the world of Exalted may very well be a game world worthy of exploring through subsequent releases. However, if you're looking for a game with a solid foundation that won't require endless purchases of "splats", you can still find it within the pages of this game.