Games of Divinity is a setting supplement for White Wolf’s
Exalted, and it presents the spirit worlds of
Exalted’s Age of Sorrows in the same manner as
Scavenger Sons presents the rest of Creation. As such, it’s neutral towards the setting’s primary actors—the titular Exalted—and leaves the details up to the Storyteller to decide how to use the contents. The cover sports a piece by well-known comic book writer and artist Adam Warren (with Ryan Kinnaird) that gets the point of the book across instantly: two Exalts surrounded by spirits—gods, elementals and demons—great and small. The presentation follows the same style as
Scavenger Sons and other books in this particular product line, so the text flows and the artwork next to a particular piece complements it perfectly. Is
Games of Divinity classy and well done? It’s as good as all of the others, and that’s a good thing.
The content of Games of Divinity splits into three chapters and an appendix. There is an introduction at the front that explains what the book is about and how to use it. Chapter One is all about the gods, Chapter Two is all about elementals and Chapter Three is all about demons. The appendix has some new Spirit Charms and a new Background: Cult. (Dots in this Background represent a group of mortals that worship the character; their devotion translates into a constant flow of Essence and Willpower into the character.) Each of the chapters follows the same structure: present the big picture first and go down the ladder to the least members of that hierarchy from there, with descriptions of sample NPCs—either unique entities or representative samples, with more of the ladder later on in the chapter—to show the reader what the text describes in a playable format. I like this approach; it’s immediately useful, limits the information to that which is most useful to most users and leaves the Storyteller with both plenty of material to use as well as room to maneuver- this approach to the subject is much appreciated.
Chapter One, as mentioned above, is about the gods- the spirits of the Celestial Sphere. The whole of Creation teems with gods, from the greatest of them—the Unconquered Sun, Luna, the Maidens—to the least of them—the god of the sapling in the back yard—these spirits are everywhere and in all things: places, things, creatures, etc. A Celestial Hierarchy once ruled spirit dealings in Creation with absolute power and efficiency, but it fell apart at the end of the First Age. The city of the gods—Yu-Shan—once was the greatest city of all existence. Now the hierarchy is ruled by graft, corruption and vicious petty politics. The greatest of the gods—the Unconquered Sun, etc.—are too often wrapped up into the titular Games of Divinity to actually execute their responsibilities. Yu-Shan has ghettos, run-down areas and other manifestations of urban blight. It is as much in decline as the mortal world to which these gods are both rulers and functionaries. I dig it.
The inspiration for this spirit hierarchy—the Chinese Celestial Bureaucracy model, as known to most in the West—is quite clear. To be honest, I am quite appreciative of it; this cosmological model, filled to the brim with spirits that both players and characters can understand and deal with because the spirits are just like other people, makes for good gaming. I can have a group of PCs encounter little gods of murder, servitors of the War God of the South or the Goddess of Secrets and in all cases I’d run characters with motivations (be they good ones or not) that are easy to understand; this makes executing such encounters easy on the Storyteller, which is always a good thing.
The sample NPCs in this chapter—as in the rest—are characters that most PCs are likely to encounter, for one reason or another. The unique samples include two war gods, the god of luck, two goddesses that deal in secrets and the goddess of intoxicants. The more general samples include celestial lions (nasty guardians), lion dogs (not-so-nasty ones), dryads, bloody hands (murder spirits) and a very general template for the most minor of gods. As expected, the stat blocks line up with expectations: the least of them are good matches for Heroic Mortals, the more powerful ones for Terrestrial Exalts, the middle tiers are good for experienced Terrestrials and rookie Celestial Exalts while the war gods and their ilk are best left to experienced Celestials or a perfect circle of hardcore veteran Terrestrials of the Immaculate Order. (A campaign that culminates in the death of either of the war gods described here is definitely a feat equal to any in real world mythology.)
The God-Blooded (mortals decent of or infused with godly blood) appear here, and they are—in terms of game-play—between Heroic Mortals and Terrestrial Exalted in raw power. This makes God-Bloods one of the weakest character types in the game; only the various mortal types could be weaker than this group. However, God-Bloods are also the only character type in the game (prior to this book’s publication, at least) other than the Solar Eclipse caste (and their Abyssal counterparts) that can learn and use Spirit Charms. That’s a very big deal; a God-Blood has access to powers that most Exalts can’t mirror or match, and it is this access to spirit powers that makes a God-Blood a viable choice as a player-character or as an ally.
At the end of the chapter is a sidebar with two new spells; one of them is a Terrestrial Circle spell (“Open the Spirit Door”) and the other is a Solar Circle Spell (“Transference of the Sanctum”), but both of them have to do with Exalts forcing their way into or about the spirit world. The former spell allows the caster and those she wishes to force their way into a spirit’s sanctum; the latter spell allows the caster to force a spirit’s sanctum to enter the mortal world. Neither spell is likely to make the caster a lot of friends amongst spirits, but both of them are logical uses of Sorcery and thus should exist. As both of the spells are specific to spirit matters, I see no problem with publishing them here; if a game doesn’t deal often with spirits, then these spells aren’t going to be used.
Chapter Two focus upon the elementals- the spirits of the Terrestrial Sphere. The five elements are, as expected, in constant conflict. Like the gods, they’re organized in a hierarchy. It wasn’t always that way; the five original elementals were monolithic creations of the gods with Gaia’s help, but the other Primordials slew them during the gods’ uprising. The survivors and successors are far more plentiful, but also far weaker; like the gods, they too are now formed into a spirit hierarchy- one that is connected to the Celestial Hierarchy at its apex. Like the gods, the spirit courts of the elementals are weak and fractured by corruption and politics.
Again, the sample NPCs begin at the top of the playable end of things. In this case, this means lesser elemental dragons. All of these NPCs are worthy as master villains, grand patrons or any major campaign role; they are encounters worthy of the greatest of Exalts. (For comparison, one greater elemental dragon is briefly described; he has no stats for the number of beings that could possibly defeat him can be counted on one hand, and none of them are available as PCs.) After this, the examples break down by element and go from greatest to least- starting with Wood. The Kings of the Wood remind me of the Shishigami from Mononoke Hime, and look like they ought to be played in a similar manner to that great character. The Garda Birds, Ifrit and Need Fires (Fire) are all very useful and playable creatures; they make sense within the cosmology and each entry just bursts with adventure hooks and encounter ideas. (Likewise with all of the water spirits.) The earth spirits might as well be a ready-made set of NPCs for adventures in the South, particularly near Gem, but they are applicable everywhere that mining or caving goes on. The air spirits are the ones to fear; they’re potent, organized and absolutely loyal to their masters. This element has the most violent spirits as well as the most pacifistic, and all of them are great material for encounters, allies, enemies and more gaming goodiness.
As with the stat blocks in the previous chapter, there are elemental creatures or characters for all levels of play. The same comments apply: the least are best for mortal characters, some of the lesser races are good for Terrestrial Exalts, the mid-level creatures for newly Exalted Celestials and the most powerful creatures are meant for those Exalts with both the experience and raw power necessary to face them on an equal footing. The details in the creature descriptions make it easy for Storytellers to life the adventure hooks, etc. and use them to craft their own gaming material.
Chapter Three has the demons. It also has the demon realm, Malfeas, and how it differs from the mortal world of Creation. Malfeas is exactly, and always, five days from Creation regardless of how you get there so you might as well take it easy. (Yes, mortals and Exalts alike can travel freely between the two realms; it’s a lot like walking through Shadow in Amber.) It’s also made up entirely from the forms of its primary inhabitants: the Yozis, those Primordials that the gods didn’t slay during their uprising before the First Age. The Demon City (which dominates the realm), the endless desert beyond, the green sun above, the silent wind that slays all its touches: all of these are the bodies of a Yozi. Within this realm are the demons of the First, Second and Third Circle. As with the gods and elementals, the demons organize themselves into a hierarchy.
The difference is that, unlike the other two spirit types, the demons’ hierarchy stems from the very nature of the Yozis; they decentralize their existence into a series of souls, in a manner like that Egyptian mummies, and thereby ensure their immortality while they keep both their corporeal form (such as it is) and their unified consciousness. The souls of the Yozi are themselves self-aware beings that split their souls across a group of still lesser demons, and they likewise maintain their own form and will while doing so. From these split souls of split souls spawn forth the races of common demons. Thereby does the hierarchy come: Yozis beget Third Circle demons, who in turn beget Second Circle demons and they spawn hordes of First Circle demons. It’s enough to make your head spin if you think too much about it.
It’s also a ready-made campaign structure. Pick a Yozi—the Ebon Dragon ought to be a popular target—as the Big Bad Evil Guy. Create a number of Third Circle demons to be its souls and primary servitors, one of which its its heart. For the heart and a few others, fill in the Second Circle demons that make up the Third’s soul. Appoint or create a few First Circle demon types to serve the whole hierarchy. Start at the outer ring with your PCs and have them hack, blast and cajole their way inward until they get both the mojo and the chance to rip out the Ebon Dragon’s heart; you won’t kill the Yozi, but you will put it down long enough to destroy the Master Plan du jour that it intended to achieve. Put some world-shattering goal on the stick—saving the Scarlet Empress from herself, and the legions of Infernal Exalted that would follow her back to Creation if the Ebon Dragon gets its way, for example—and you’ve got a campaign worthy of becoming a Final Fantasy game.
This chapter also lets out a little more information—but only a line or so—on the Infernal Exalted: they existed in the First Age, and they’re the causes for much of the problems that caused the Dragon-Blooded to flip out and kill all of the Solars. (Some of them are still extant from the fall of the First Age.) The Ebon Dragon gets a special mention, as do a few others, but otherwise the chapter focuses upon life in Malfeas and sample demons of every circle. The information regarding living in Malfeas includes environmental hazards, the local environment and how the various demons interact (broadly speaking) while the sample demons follow the general trend established previously; some of the Third Circle demons—those well-known to sorcerers—come first (None have stats, as they aren’t within the power of most PCs to destroy.), followed by a sample of Second Circle demons (They have stats that make them matches for accomplished Celestial Exalts.) and then First Circle demons (Good for Terrestrial Exalts and rookie Celestials).
Each of the demon entries, as with all of the others, teems with useful hooks that good Storytellers can use to craft encounters or adventures around. As usual, more powerful demons are better used as the focus of an adventure or even a campaign than a simple encounter while weaker demons are better used as either the focus or an element of an encounter. The sample creatures described here should be sufficient for Storytellers to use as templates and examples when they decide to create their own. I like approach, as I have throughout the book, and I appreciate it.
The appendix at the back describes a few new Spirit Charms, and they run the gamut from utilitarian to awe-inspiring. Most of them are aimed at Eclipse/Moonshadow caste Exalts and God-Bloods, in terms of likely sorts of PC users, as they have Essence requires of 3 or less and the ability to learn Spirit Charms. One—Soul Rapt—has a requirement of Essence 4, and it is as potent as that requirement suggests. The new Background—Cult—is definitely of limited use in most games, as the PC that takes it usually isn’t around that often to keep up the necessary devotion. That doesn’t mean that it’s not useful; dots in Cult aide in the regeneration of Essence motes and temporary Willpower, both of which are necessary for any active Exalt, spirit or God-Blood. It’s just not useful to most PCs; NPCs are a different story, so Storytellers ought to take to this like fish to water.
There are no maps—not of Yu-Shan, not of Malfeas, not of any location mentioned in this book—but that’s nothing unusual. Cartography never was a strong point for White Wolf’s Storyteller products, so rather than let it be a crippling flaw the book makes a virtue of it by speaking of locations only broad, evocative swathes that fire the reader’s imagination and leave the mapping to the Storyteller that needs it. Believe it or not, those location descriptions are sufficiently evocative for many readers to get a good idea of what the place looks like and is laid out like. It’s refreshing after all of the d20 modules I’ve read and reviewed, and I like seeing a strong non-d20 competitor to Dungeons & Dragons put out stuff like this.
In conclusion: Get Games of Divinity sooner or later. It’s not quite so vital a purchase as Scavenger Sons or The Book of Three Circles, but if you’re going to have any significant spirit presence—great or small, of any kind—then you’ll get a lot out of having this book.
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