Lunar Exalted
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| Lunar Exalted | |
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 Exalted: The Lunars front cover. |
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| Designer(s) | Bryan Armor (Author), Chris Hartford (Author), James Kiley (Author), Malcolm Sheppard (Author), Ethan Skemp (Author), Scott Taylor (Author) |
| Publisher(s) | White Wolf Publishing |
| Publication date | November, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | High fantasy |
| System | Storyteller |
The Lunar Exalted are a sub-category of semi-divine heroes from the high fantasy role-playing game Exalted published by White Wolf Game Studio. They are briefly described in the game's core rulebook, but are given full attention in the "fatsplat" (hard-cover sourcebook) entitled Exalted: The Lunars (ISBN 1-58846-657-4). The book draws heavily on another White Wolf product about lycanthropes: Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
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[edit] Overview
The central premise of Exalted is that gods have the ability to infuse ordinary mortals with a shard of their divine soul, exalting the individual into a demigod. The Lunars, obviously, derive their powers from the goddess of the moon, Luna, the Fickle Lady, who typically chooses men and women who are best described as determined survivors. In terms of raw power, the Lunars rank behind the Solar Exalted and Abyssal Exalted, but ahead of the Sidereal Exalted and the Terrestrial Exalted, or Dragon-Blooded.
During the First Age, the Solars ruled an empire of unparalleled beauty, and the Lunars served as their lieutenants and lovers. But the Solars grew arrogant, and the Sidereal and Terrestrial Exalted schemed to overthrow them. The Solars were slaughtered, and the chosen of Luna, outnumbered and outmaneuvered, scattered to the edges of creation. There, some waited hopefully for the return of the Solars, while the rest grew bitter and plotted revenge against the upstarts.
Unlike the other four categories of Exalted, who are often sophisticated and refined, the Lunars are nearly always barbarians: savage warriors, cunning shapeshifters and wise shamans. They live outside the Realm, the empire now administered by the corrupt Dragon-Blooded. However, they can never stray too far from civilization without crossing over into the Wyld, the fae realm of formless chaos and seductive madness.
[edit] Gameplay
Each and every Lunar has the unique ability to consume the Heart's Blood of an animal or human, which allows them to attain the shape of the consumed. There is no limit to the number of shapes they can attain. When each Lunar is chosen, they gain a craving for the Heart's Blood of an animal they feel an affiliation with, which becomes their totem. A Lunar who changes their totem becomes Chimera.
Whereas their brethren, the Solars, are glorious heroes, the Lunars are far more bestial and animalistic, and most of their various Charms (simple sorceries) have to do with shapeshifting. One of the more significant Charms is called the Deadly Beastman Transformation, which melds the traits of the totem and human shapes to create a formidable hybrid war-form. Unlike the Charms of other types of Exalted, the Lunar Exalted channel their Charms through their innate attributes, rather than their learned abilities.
All Lunars have a tell, an inhuman feature such as vivid green eyes, that varies with each Lunar but remains constant no matter what shape he or she assumes. The result of this is while Lunars can change their shape, they may still find it difficult to hide their identities.
The Lunars have a unique affinity for the magical material of moonsilver, and consider it their gift from Luna. Therefore, they consider it a grave insult for a non-Lunar to wield the protean metal.
There are three castes of Lunars, corresponding to the individual's method of survival. Full Moons live by their incredible strength, legendary agility, or unstoppable stamina. Changing Moons get by with their ability to manipulate others through charisma, charm or cunning. Lastly, the No Moons rely on intelligence, perception and, often, sorcery. Unlike other Exalted, Lunars do not have a caste upon Exaltation. Rather, after a battery of tests by elder Lunars, they're assigned the caste they're best suited, to, and fixed into that caste via ritual scarring and tattooing. Lunars who do not have their caste fixed have their abilities change with the phases of the moon. In the First Age, there were five Lunar castes, but the methods for fixing the Waxing Moon, Half Moon, and Waning Moon castes were lost, and were amalgamated into the Changing Moon caste.
The Lunars call their code of honor the Silver Way, which was originally created as a defense against the Dragon-Blooded's genocidal Wyld Hunt. From that code grew a loosely-held and far-flung culture known as the Silver Society, which exists to both unify the Lunars and prevent the Casteless from suffering.
[edit] Controversy
Mechanically, Lunars seem to be the weakest of the Celestial Exalts, a status that directly contradicts their initial portrayal as being second only to the Solars themselves. It is difficult to believe, looking at their charms, that the Lunars were the Solar's Bodygaurds and Military Generals of the First Age. Their Charm-Trees are often described as a convoluted and nonsensical mess, and on the whole much weaker overall than the similar charms of other Exalts. Some rationalize this by saying the very powerful Deadly Beastman Transformation charm balances these drawbacks out, though many Lunar fans are still disgruntled with the overall mishandling of the Lunars. While it's true that starting Lunars do begin the game much stronger than other Exalts, many complain at being unable to keep up with their Sidereal, Abyssal, and Solar counterparts at later stages of developement. Many point at the Alchemical Exalts as ideal examples of what the Lunars should have been.
[edit] External links
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| Types of Exalts and other Magical Beings | Solar Exalted | Abyssal Exalted | Infernal Exalted | Lunar Exalted | Sidereal Exalted | Alchemical Exalted | Terrestrial Exalted (The Dragon-Blooded) | Raksha (The Fair Folk) | Dragon Kings | God-Blooded | |
| Major Magical Beings | The Primordials | The Yozis | The Neverborn | Gaia | Autochthon | The Unconquered Sun | Luna | The Five Celestial Maidens | The Five Elemental Dragons | The Deathlords | |
| Five Magical Materials | Orichalcum | Moonsilver | Jade | Starmetal | Soulsteel | |
| Signature Characters | Solar Exalted: Dace | Yurgen Kaneko, the Bull of the North | Panther | Samea | Arianna | Harmonious Jade | Swan Abyssal Exalted: Maiden of the Mirthless Smile | Lady of Darkness in Bloodstained Robes | Seven Degreed Physician of Black Maladies | Disciple of the Seven Forbidden Wisdoms | Prince of Shadows | Falling Tears Poet Lunar Exalted: Lilith, the Owl Woman | Strength of Many | Magnificent Jaguar | Anja Silverclaws Sidereal Exalted: Shepherd of the North Star | Iron Siaka | Crimson Banner Executioner | May Blossom | Chejop Kejak | Black Ice Shadow | Sad Ivory Terrestrial Exalted: Tepet Arada | Mnemon | Cynis Denovah Avaku | Sesus Rafara | Peleps Deled | Sesus Nagezzer, the Slug | Tepet Ejava, the Roseblack Alchemical Exalted: Stern Whip of Industry | Fair-Spoken Rishi | Excessively Righteous Blossom | Unhesitatingly Loyal Weapon (?) | Lissome Avid Engineer Infernal Exalted: Lintha Ng Hut Dukantha The Raksha: Lord Kazour | Neshi of the Double Whips | Subarto | Dilari of the Sea Foam | Nlassa of the Lion's Mane | Laughing Boy | Shikuzi the Weaver | Judge Nehemeth The Mountain Folk: Kravah |
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| Exalted Universe | The Scarlet Empress | The Blessed Isle | Creation | The Threshold | The Scavenger Lands | The Underworld | Yu-Shan, the Heavenly City | Malfeas, the Demon Realm | The Imperial City | Denandsor | Lookshy | Nexus | Thorns | Shadowlands | Whitewall | The Lap | The Imperial Mountain | The Skullstone Archipelago | Celestial Gateways | The Heptagram | The House of Bells | Elemental Poles | Rakshastan | Anima Banner | |
| Source Materials | Sourcebooks | Novels | Comics | |
