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OVERVIEW
- THE GOOD
- Includes two different types of Fair Folk to play, the Raksha and the Mountain Folk, both supporting very different styles of play. Innovative mechanics to handle free-form wyld-shaping contests.
- Lots of fun info on the wyld (now called Rakshastan)
- Lots of fun info given on the Faerie Courts (pardon me, Raksha Courts)
- Many creative effects can be put together with Raksha magic.
- Raksha themselves look both fun an challenging to play.
- Mountain Folk also look to be fun to play, though in a very different way.
- THE BAD
- Players who like the Raksha might not like the Mountain Folk, and vice versa.
- Free-form system does not always mesh terribly well with other Exalted mechanics.
- Info on the wyld is very general and Storytellers will still have to do a good deal of work to include specific wyld regions into their campaign.
- Info on the courts is also general and Storytellers will also have to do a good deal of work to include specific freeholds in their campaign.
- There are no rules governing how Raksha wither in creation, nor when and where they normally gain essence back.
- Some groups might find Raksha too challenging to play.
- The Mountain Folk are quite different then as presented in the main Exalted book.
- Mountain Folk chapter really too short.
WHAT THIS BOOK IS
"Exalted: the Fair Folk" is the sixth hardcover 'type' book for the Exalted game line (counting the main book). "Exalted" is a diverse (and rapidly diversifying) mythic/anime/heroic/fantasy roleplaying game, this product expands the information available on the Fair Folk. It details their environment, their history, and their culture; and gives rules to make and play Fair Folk characters. It's not a stand alone product, but requires the Exalted main rules to play.
It's kind of an odd duck.
For starters, the book details two wildly differing types of Fair Folk, the Raksha and the Mountain Folk. Aside from a long-past common origin, the two types have little in common. They each get their own section, and the two sections make only passing reference to each other. Each could have easily been their own book.
Each type has further peculiarities. The Raksha are quite alien. They're really just sentient bits of chaotic energy that pretend (sometimes) to be people. Presenting this alien mindset in a playable format was obviously challenging. They also exist in a very free form environment, where they are able to shape both themselves and their surroundings. The rules of Exalted, on the other hand, are fairly concrete and mechanistic; fitting a more free form rule set into this creates an unusual (and sometimes confusing) hybrid.
The Mountain Folk are mechanically less confusing, but the section has its own quirks. They were previously introduced as a few thousand dwarf-like creatures that had relatively little impact on the grand scheme of things. This book reveals that they number in the millions, and are engaged in a titantic struggle against hoards of bad guys living under the earth.
The two sections read like they were written by different authors, and the two types are designed to appeal to very different types of players. As such, this review will address each of these large sections separately.
THE RAKSHA
At one time (in the main Exalted book), we were told these creatures were named "Faeries" (similar to Celtic Fairies) though everyone called them "Fair Folk" for fear that using their true name would attract their attention. Now they are named "Raksha" (similar to Hindu Rakshasa), though still called "Fair Folk". Apparently, it was decided that the word "Faerie" brought the wrong image to mind; these creatures are not happy, dancing elves. I think this decision was silly, but I'm not about to let a silly name interfere with my enjoyment of a product. Pre-Victorian European fairies were every bit as alien and frightening as these creatures are supposed to be (then then again, so were rakshasa). Regardless, the first five chapters of the book deal with these creatures, as does the seventh.
Chapter One: Rakshastan
This chapter deals with the environment in which the Raksha live, called Rakshastan. The world of Exalted has holes in it, and through these holes lies the primal chaos that everything was created from. Between this pure chaos and fully structured creation lies areas that have some order, but are still highly chaotic. This in-between realm (also called the wyld) is where the Raksha dwell.
It first gives a general overview, then breaks Rakshastan into the four elemental directions. Each of these is subdivided into bordermarches (places that resemble creation with just a few quirks), middlemarches (places that resemble creation less, and have a lot of quirks), and the deep wyld (places that bear only a cursory resemblance to creation, and are very quirky). The geography and flora/fauna of each of these is discussed. Of course, the Raksha can shape Rakshastan to look like whatever they want; so this chapter is really just giving the background for players and the storyteller to work with. It has fun stuff like solid water, liquid fire, and islands floating in the air.
For people wishing to make Raksha characters, this chapter is oddly placed. While knowing where a character comes from is important, at this point we barely know what Raksha are. I skipped this chapter originally, and only came back to it after digesting the rest of the book. This was probably a wise thing to do, since it makes more sense once you have a grasp of the rules (since these rules are referenced with little preamble). Having done so, I found this chapter to contain numerous ideas to flesh out a character's background.
Storytellers of other Exalted games will probably find this to be the most useful chapter in the book. It presents numerous strange and fantastic lands to travel in, as well as interesting creatures to interact with. Helpful rating are given to judge how dangerous these creatures and hazards are, which is necessary given the span of power Exalted characters can have. There are challenges for everyone from heroic mortals to Solar Exalted.
In fact, this chapter will prove useful to anyone who is searching for ideas of less-then-normal magical realms. Some of the ideas are original, while others are simply new takes on a classic concept
Chapter Two: The Raksha
This chapter focuses on the most potent of the inhabitants of Rakshastan, the Raksha themselves. It gives us their history and politics, and tells us a little about some of the more important personages of the various courts. Like the previous chapter, it starts with a general overview but is further broken down into the four elemental directions (also telling us of the five major Raksha courts). It even tells us what sort of roles Raksha are likely to have in each direction and in each court. What it does not do is tell us much of their specific nature (that is left for later chapters).
What we are told is (for the most part) quite interesting. The Raksha were originally inhabitants of the Wyld, a chaotic land with no rules other then those they chose to impose themselves. Then the Primordials took a good chunk of this Wyld and turned it into creation; a static land with fixed rules. This offended or threatened many of the original inhabitant, and they chose to war with creation in an attempt to destroy it. Their initial attempt failed, but they did manage to weaken it enough so that parts of creation are tainted with the Wyld (these parts make up Rakshastan, as detailed in the previous chapter).
But the Raksha were tainted by creation as well, and have developed much more structure and form as a result of their contact with it. Boredom was their greatest danger, and creation has made their lives much more interesting. Their main pastime is to tell stories with their own lives, and many of them have found that a certain amount of structure can make a story more interesting (though they might not admit it). Many of them are still theoretically trying to destroy creation, but they allow themselves to be distracted with art, politics, and romance (often borrowing ideas heavily from creation to conduct all three activities). They sometimes venture into creation to break stuff, but more often it is to feed, steal/trade for resources, or just amuse themselves. They prey upon the dreams of creation, and (like many predators) have become somewhat dependent on their prey.
Chapter Three: Character Creation
This chapter starts to skim the surface of mechanics, and tells the reader how to create characters. It explains how they differ from usual Exalted characters, and gives you some things to think about concerning the character's background and whatnot. It by no means tells you everything you need to know about the creation a Raksha. The preceding chapters are necessary in order to know the setting these characters exist in, and the proceeding chapters are necessary to know the effects of the traits you're choosing for your character.
Compared to other Exalted characters, Fair Folk have a lot of Attributes (more then even a Lunar in Deadly Beastman form, though they'll be more evenly distributed) and higher skills (both can be as high as 7 at character generation). They can start out with some impressive magic, but all of their magic is restricted to a greater or lesser extent in creation. They don't have much essence, and apparently have a hard time getting it back in creation (though this is never detailed well in this book).
Chapter Four: Traits
This chapter extends the previous one, explaining what the traits actually mean. Raksha play very differently from other Exalted characters; they posses traits unique to them, and use many of the standard traits in a unique fashion. These traits are described, but their mechanics are mostly addressed in the next chapter. The main addition are the four graces. Based loosely on tarot suits, the graces determine how the Raksha define themselves and how the interact with Rakshastan. They're initially based on the character's virtues and what type of Raksha they are.
Chapter Five: Raksha Magic
This chapter is where the mechanics of the Raksha are presented. Not only do they have new mechanics to govern their magic, these mechanics have a very different flavor from much of the rest of Exalted. They're often complex, but there's a lot of neat stuff that can be done with them once you understand them. Now that I understand how it all works together, I'm quite fond of most of the Raksha mechanics.
Unfortunately, one of the main problems of the book becomes evident in this section, in that the mechanics presented here do not entirely support some of the information provided in the previous chapters. We have information on how the Raksha feed, but we don't know why they feed. They can get essence (the stuff that powers magic in Exalted) from draining Virtues and willpower from creation's creatures, but it's unclear if this is their only way to regain essence. Further, it's implied that Raksha wither in creation, but mechanics for how this manifests are not included.
From reading other Exalted books, I suspect that Raksha get essence back as Exalted do when in the wyld, but get nothing normally in creation. Further, they lose one mote per day while in creation. This means that feeding on mortals is always kinda useful, but only really necessary when operating in creation (and even then is not vitally so). Not including this info with the Fair Folk book is a major mistake, and will doubtless confuse many players.
Regardless, I'll try to touch upon some of the other interesting weirdness of Raksha Magic, to give people an idea how is can be both cool and confusing.
Shaping combat involves the Raksha summoning anything from vast armies, elemental forces, or abstract concepts to defeat their foes. They can also change their own shape, so it might look like the Morpheus/Chorozon duel from "Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes" or the Merlin/Mad Madam Mim duel from "The Sword in the Stone". The mechanics pretty much resemble the standard Exalted combat system. More stats are used, weapons can get pretty strange, stunts are more important and can get far more outlandish, and damage and the effects of victory/defeat are different. One one hand, it's kinda nice for this very abstract process to have familiar mechanics. On the other hand, weird things can happen when you try to map this abstract process onto a relatively concrete system (one player might attack with a chimera, while the other parries with "a small handful of powerful emotional elements").
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Raksha have four new traits (as explained in chapter four), called graces, which determine how they can shape the wyld. The graces are based (kinda) on tarot suits and are named: cup, ring, staff, and sword. The Graces also determine how a Raksha feeds, as well as what sort of Charms they have.
A Raksha still technically has access to their shaping action in creation, but it doesn't usually do anything since they have no innate ability to shape creation. To get around this, they use a magical substance called "gossamer". Gossamer is halfway between the stuff of the wyld and the substance of creation, in that it can effect creation but is subject to a Raksha's shaping ability. Effecting creation with gossamer requires a Charm, and any Charm which works in creation requires some amount of gossamer. This sharply limits a Raksha's power in creation.
Like other Exalted, the most basic type of Raksha magic is the use of Charms (the original Exalted book said that Raksha didn't use Charms, but the change makes a certain amount of sense). Some Charms let them do more in the wyld (giving a bonus to shaping magic), while other Charms let them do stuff in creation (requiring gossamer). Charms which effect creation are also usually somewhat illusionary in nature (creating glamors rather then real effects), and have a good chance of not working on things which are more real then them (further limiting their power in creation).
Many of their Charms will last a very long time (often the entire story, which is also defined differently then in other Exalted games), and either give them a continuing benefit (which they might have to spend some essence to activate). They can't even exist in creation without a special type of Charm called an "assumption" Charm. There are several different types of assumption Charms, allowing them to embody elemental forces, emotions, or even people and places.
Most Charms which have a gossamer cost can also be made permanent, by taking them as a mutation. Rather then pay each story, the Raksha permanently weaves the effect into their being. The problem is, a Raksha can only do this so much before their nature unravels.
Furthermore, these Charms make up the artifacts and spells of the Fair Folk. These might resemble the more mundane artifacts or creatures of creation, but can also be of a more esoteric nature, such as oaths the Raksha has sworn or a location that the Raksha carries around with them. These effects are generally described in terms of mutation points, which gives the Raksha a much more robust item system then normal Exalted characters.
Chapter Seven: Storytelling
THE MOUNTAIN FOLK
While the Raksha are Fair Folk who've come into creation from the outside in an attempt to destroy it; the Mountain Folk are Fair Folk who were trapped by creation when it formed and have become an integral part of it. They don't shape the wyld or feed on mortal dreams; in fact they operate much like most inhabitants of creation (though they have powerful magic and technology).
Readers who like the Mountain Folk more then the Raksha will undoubtedly feel gypped, since the latter get six chapters of the book while the former only gets one. Everything one needs to know about them is included in this chapter, however. It starts with their history and culture, then gives us character creation rules and tells us how their powers work, gives us a good sampling of their technologies and many of the bad guys that live underground with them, then concluded with advice on how to storytell a Mountain Folk game.
They most resemble dwarves, though there are enough differences between them and standard Tolkienish fantasy dwarves to make things interesting. As mentioned, they were trapped when creation formed, but freed by the Primodrial Autochton. He placed a geas on them to defend creation from certain enemies, and not muck with mortals or interfere with the Exalted's running of creation. As such, they live underground and avoid contact with surface dwellers. They've formed a mighty, technologically advanced empire under the Imperial Mountain. Which is good, because they are hardly the only creatures living under the surface of the Age of Sorrows. Everything from buried gods to failed experiments of the primordials can be found down there, and it takes all of the Mountain Folks vast power to keep these baddies at bay.
Though the Mountain Folk themselves are reasonably well described, the rest of these underground dwellers are less so. Some examples are given, but not quite enough to get a picture of what the war must be like. The hoards are apparently endless, but everything specifically mentioned look finite (though in some cases incredibly powerful).
Given the space constraints, the Mountain Folk chapter is a gem. Compared to the Raksha, they are much more conventional and easier to follow. I suspect that many people who got frustrated with the Raksha will find Mountain Folk quite enjoyable. They cater to a much different style of play, one which I suspect more people are familiar with.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I'm very fond of this product, despite its flaws. It's disparately in need of an errata (to explain to us why the Raksha need to feed, if nothing else), but hopefully White Wolf will put one on their website within a few weeks. People who enjoy investigating an alien mindset (and who want mechanics that allow for the shifting of both shape and environment) should look at the Raksha, while people looking for a more conventional roleplaying experience will find much to like about the Mountain Folk. I even approve of both being included in the same book, since together they demonstrate the polar extremes the Fair Folk have achieved in creation.
Though chapter six deals with the Mountain Folk (and is thus addressed below), chapter seven pretty much focuses on Storytelling Raksha campaigns. It talks about the sort of prep work a storyteller should do and gives the storyteller advice on actually running a campaign. It suggests some elements to include in a campaign, focusing on the type of stories that this book was designed to tell. It again talks about how Raksha must feed in creation (without specifying the mechanics that make feeding necessary). Advice is given on running both intrigue and quests in a campaign. Several sample series are presented, including how a crossover series with the various other types of Exalted characters might work. Finally, it lists the experience costs that Raksha must pay to advance the various aspect of their character. This chapter gives good advice, though much of it should be obvious to veteran Storytellers. It helps the reader understand how some of the mechanics are supposed to play out, but I would have liked even more of a "behind the scene" look at how to handle certain things.
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