Revision as of 01:16, 6 April 2010

Inspirations for my Exalted games

I like ludicrous high-fantasy stuff for my games, so be prepared for that in the following sources.

In no particular order...

• The anime King of Bandits: JingInspiration/Falcon/I> is a fantastic portrayal of a Night caste Solar. He's got a familiar and a shed-load of Larceny charms.
• I also like <I>Ninja ScrollInspiration/Falcon/I> for cool superpowered bad guys, although that's mentioned in the main book.
• Also from the main book are the <I>TaltosInspiration/Falcon/I> series of novels by Steven Brust, which I find more D&D than Exalted. Still, they provide a good object lesson for GMs on how to make life difficult for the god-powerful. Example: Vlad is going to assassinate someone, only to find that that someone has asked for - and received - sanctuary with one of his best friends.
• The manga <I>Blade of the ImmortalInspiration/Falcon/I> is a great source of stunts, as well as being an excellent example of character-driven storytelling.
• Many many kung fu movies for excellent stunt fodder, as well as insane over-the-top plot lines and characters. See <I>Ninja in the Dragon's DenInspiration/Falcon/I> for novel ways of defeating insanely powerful martial artists, <I>Iron MonkeyInspiration/Falcon/I> for seriously badass kung fu action, the ubiquitous <I>Crouching Tiger Stance, Hidden Dragon BloodedInspiration/Falcon/I> for any scene where Zhang Ziyi gets to strut her stuff with Green Destiny, and <I>New Dragon Gate InnInspiration/Falcon/I> for archery charms and nudity wars. And that one with Jet Li and the absolutely insane powers, and the line "it says here it takes thirty years to master Ghost Form, or six hours if you have already mastered one of the other great forms". Favoured abilities, anyone?
• The comic <I>The AuthorityInspiration/Falcon/I> for, once again, good examples of how to challenge PCs who can casually annihilate cities. <I>PlanetaryInspiration/Falcon/I> for an even cooler take on much the same thing.
• Any kind of noir for examples of how to build a good multi-layered intrigue plotline.
• The anime <I>EscaflowneInspiration/Falcon/I>. It's a fantasy setting, with just enough magi-tech to make it Exalted-plausible, and that sword Balgus wields is probably the best example of a grand daiklave I've seen yet.
• I've drawn character inspiration from anime-style fighting games, the best of which is <I>Guilty Gear XXInspiration/Falcon/I>. My favourite Dragon-Blood is lifted pretty much wholly from that game.
• The whole <I>Devil May CryInspiration/Falcon/I> series of video games. Cool stunts and nice monsters to steal. Plus, style.
• Asian art. Specifically, the big wooden statues they have at the Freer gallery in Washington, DC, and all the random bits and pieces in the Art Institute in Chicago.

• Oh, and the anime <I>Read or DieInspiration/Falcon/I>. That's the original three-episode mini series rather than the later TV series. The TV series is cool, but the miniseries is awesome. It's not very Exalted, but I think everyone should see it. And that means you.