[RPG]: Exalted: the Autochthonians, reviewed by MeiRen (5/4)

2nd Level RPGnetter · #1 03-06-2006, 01:00 AM

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12028.phtml

Alexander Lampros's Summary:

Interwar sci-fi meets epic fantasy. Enormously Creative, tons of cool crunch, but not sure what to do with it.

Go to the full review for more information.

DannyK · #2 03-06-2006, 11:49 AM

Thanks for the review. I like the visual and thematic influences you mention very much; how good a job does the book do of making these actually playable?

And seriously, WTF? Why no Storytelling chapter? Some of these chapters have been useless (Lunars), but some were great, such as the Sidereal and Abyssal ones. It's genuinely weird that there would be room for three different scenarios, but not for generally useful advice for ST's.

Flibbertigibbet · #3 03-06-2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DannyK

Thanks for the review. I like the visual and thematic influences you mention very much; how good a job does the book do of making these actually playable?

And seriously, WTF? Why no Storytelling chapter? Some of these chapters have been useless (Lunars), but some were great, such as the Sidereal and Abyssal ones. It's genuinely weird that there would be room for three different scenarios, but not for generally useful advice for ST's.

The invasion scenarios took up 100 pages, the second crunch chapter took up maybe 30 pages. The invasion scenarios were not worth quite that many pages IMO, but that's why there's no Storytelling chapter.

The art and the charmset support the visual images. But I don't think I could run a game of Alchemicals, there just isn't enough setting material here. You'd have to run an Invasion scenario, and those tend to have their own themes.

Brandon Schmelz · #4 03-06-2006, 11:16 PM

Bias disclaimer: I worked on Autochthonians.

I had no problem running an Alchemical game set in Nurad. The players loved it and I didn't touch on the invasion once.

They wanted to get to it eventually, but there was far too much to do in Autochthonia first.

Flibbertigibbet · #5 03-07-2006, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunshineblind

Bias disclaimer: I worked on Autochthonians.

I had no problem running an Alchemical game set in Nurad. The players loved it and I didn't touch on the invasion once.

They wanted to get to it eventually, but there was far too much to do in Autochthonia first.

You gave Goodwin charm advice, right? Did you work on other parts too?

I'd be interested in hearing more about your campaign, cuz I'm not entirely sure what to do. I'm sure there's a lot going on in the setting I just don't know if I can do it.

DannyK · #6 03-07-2006, 08:35 PM

Hmm, I think I could probably pull a lot of the setting out of my imagination, if it's really an amalgamation of classic science fiction tropes. I mean, it was nice that Abyssals had such exhaustive information on the cultures of the Underworld, but I would have been fine without it.

Information on how to tell stories about Alchemical Exalted would be nice, though. Metal men whose greatest aspiration is to grow up to be cities... that's weird stuff.