Overview
About two years ago, Geoffrey C. Grabowski (the Line Developer for Exalted) said that there would be splatbooks for Exalted other than the Solars of there was enought interest. Since Aspect Book: Air hit the shops in August it seems fairly evident that White Wolf believe that there is enough interest for at least Dragon-Blooded splatbooks.
Package
Aspect Book: Air is a 96-page softcover, just like the Solar Caste Books. The cover has the same layout but with a differnet colour scheme - dark red with a white spine. The front cover has a signature character, Tepet Arada, from the Dragon-Blooded sourcebook posed in front of the symbol of Mela (the Elemental Dragon of Air). The back has a black and white sidebar taken from one of the chapter art and gives a quick thumbnail of the Aspect's characteristics.
My only complaint about the book is the spine - I don't like the white or the pale blue Exalted heiroglyphs used. Granted there are only so many colours available to be used but it doesn't quite look right to me. The red on the other hand is very nice with subtle imagery that looks vaguely chinese to me - an improvement on the flat black of the Solar caste books.
Chapter by Chapter
The book follows the same format as the Caste books so it opens with a four page section of fiction featureing one of the signature characters, in this case the same fellow featured on the front page - Tepet Arada. I have a certain fondness for him after reading this part and it displays some of the strengths and weaknesses of even the best of the Dragon-Blooded.
The Introduction covers the usual ground - stereotypes, in-character social pigeonholing (more of a concern to the Dragon-Blooded than to Solars), source material and a brief lexicon that only includes two terms, both of which could have been summed up in the text just as easily IMHO. There is also a sidebar that discusses the Elemental Dragon of Air and her worship.
The first chapter introduces our five signature characters and covers their childhood and education, including their exaltations. Fair spread of characters - two pampered dynast brats; one street kid born outside the dynasty; and a pair of dynasts who got handed some much needed discipline through their schooling. The similiarities between the characters worried me a little at first but they become distinct as they develop through the book. The dynasts have a fairly formal education system so the experience of going through that isgiven some detail, as are the somewhat dysfunctional (by our standards) family environments that are considered normal for dynasts.
Next up we come to the chapter discussing the adult lives of the signature characters. All of them, in their way, serve the Realm and this chapter gives a new perspective to the lifestyles of the Dragon-Blooded. Some of the characters receive more or less attention, depending on how old they are - the young sorcerer simply hasn't seen as much as the veteran of the Vermilion Legion. Insider views of the bureaucracy, high society and Immaculate Order and Legions give a definite colour to the institutions of the realm that simply can't be conveyed by the outsider view presented by the DragonBlooded sourcebook.
As usual the next two chapters deal with the characters' views on others and the views of the signature characters. Sometimes they come out with stereotypes - the almost textbook statement on the place of mortals is a mark of naiveity on the part of one young Dragonblooded. Older characters know better and are more cyncial. The Air Aspect are by no means monolithic in their opinions and it shows. The opinions of the familes of the signature characters are particularly interesting: a proud mortal father; a loving but independent spouse; a mother intent on hammering her daughter into a tool of her house; an grand-daughter's disappointment in a falliable ancestor. The Dynasts are a sprawling family and that comes across clearly in these chapters.
Where the Celestial Exalted have memories of past lives, the Dragon-Blooded have documentation of their rule before the Usurpation. This chapter gives some pictures of the Realm that had lost much since the exile of the Celestial Exalted and was still immeasureably more advanced than that of the Second Realm.
The last chapter gives additional charms for the DragonBlooded. None are as powerful as those of the Celestial Exalted but they are flexible and subtle in their effectiveness. Most require no more than Essence 3, but are more demanding in skills than most Solar Charms, which is as it should be. Most of the Hearthstones are Air aspected but there are a few others, several would be useful to a sorcerer. Most of the artifacts are low level but some are more powerful, such as the unique artifical engine created accidentally by one of the signature characters.
Finally in the appendices the signature characters are summariesd with full stats, and a number of notable Air Aspect Dragon-Blooded are mentioned. Interestingly, only two of the signature characters are starting characters: Cathak Meladus, the artificer-savant, and Kasif, the outcaste Immaculate Monk. Since many Terrestrial Exalted, unlike the recently reborn Solars, have had lifetimes to develp their abilites, the other three are older and more powerful, suitable for NPCs. The legion officer turned magistrate, Tepet Elana, and Ledaal Kes (a decadant conspirator) are in their prime, active and experienced agents of the Realm, while Tepet Arada is a retired General and Monk, just starting to suffer from age but easily the equal or better of a young celestial Exalt.
Artwork
Not much I have to say about the artwork. There isn't anything particularly memorable about most of it but it does have an unfamiliar feel to it. Checking the credits I don't recognise any of the names so at a guess these artists are new to the Exalted line, which is nice to see. So, nothing wrong, just different.
Conclusion
It's hard to say how much the book gives the Air Aspect a distinct feel since there are not yet other splatbooks to give a different feel to the other Aspects. Having said that, the book does a brilliant job of giving a personal feel to the broad sweep of DragonBlooded. I would strongly advise any Dragonblooded player to pick up this book - and if you don't want to play a lowly Terrestrial Exalted, you will after reading this book. What will be interesting will be to see how the other Aspect books work - there is a concern that this is less a sourcebook for the Aspect than it is sourcebook for the Dynasty and there is a question of how the other books will be able to cover different aspects of the DragonBlooded.
Review Summary