Exalted - Dummy's Guide to Backgrounds

***Note: This is NOT a complete guide to Exalted and is not intended to be used on its own. This is meant to be used in conjunction with the main rulebook and is a HELP, not a SUBSTITUTE***

Need a little help with the Backgrounds and figuring out what they do? Exalted for Dummies is here to help! This little guide will provide short, easy-to-remember explanations of what each of the core Backgrounds does. Just scroll to the Background you're interested in and scope it out!


ALLIES – Pretty straightforward. Buy a dot in this, get a buddy that you can ask for help. It's a two-way street, though – he can do the same. Any Allies you get will be roughly on your level of power. Think of them as that NPC who shows up in a video game to pull your ass out of the fire. Note that you do NOT need this to represent the other players.

ARTIFACT – See all those wonderful, shiny toys in the book with an Artifact rating? That's what this is for. One rating here = one shiny awesome thing. Want more shiny awesome things? Get this background multiple times. If you want a character with lots of magic items and cool trinkets, invest in this one; you'll need it for all those neat Artifact weapons and bits of armor too.

BACKING – This makes your character important in some kind of powerful organization, like a government, a military, a famous mercenary company, or even an organized crime syndicate. The more dots you have, the higher your rank... but rank comes with responsibility and obligation. Fail to fulfill your duties, and you'll get demoted... or worse.

CONTACTS – You know people. You know people that know people. You get the idea. Every dot here gives you one major contact – other characters that you stay in touch with and with useful positions, like Guild members, military officers, and small gods – and one extra die to roll when you go sniffing out minor contacts – people you can just get info from regardless of where you are.

CULT – In Creation, worship grants anyone who can use their Essence (meaning you) power. Having dots here means that people revere you as a god, and the more dots you have, the more people worship you – giving you better Willpower recovery and even helping you regain Essence faster.

FAMILIAR – Ever wanted a magic pet? Here you go. Admittedly this one is, as-written, a bit gimped, but most Storytellers will work around that. The more dots you have, the better your pet is. High level ones are bigger, tougher, might have special powers, and provide you with a small backup reserve of Essence. I personally am running a game where a player has a 4-dot Familiar that's basically a secondary character, albeit one that's highly specialized.

FOLLOWERS – This gives you people loyal to you. They're devoted, faithful, and intelligent, but they aren't blind. You have to take care of them! This means pay, food, supplies... in other words, you gotta have some kind of grease for the wheels. In order to support all of your loyal minions, you'll need Resources, Backing, or Influence equal to your Followers. Something else to remember is that these guys are extras, and never Exalts, small gods, or other magical beings.

INFLUENCE – Ever wanted to be famous? With this Background, you can be! The more dots you have here, the more pull you have in society, for whatever reason. You could be known as an entertainer, have a political office, maybe even be a religious figure or openly known as an Exalt. With more dots, you've got more weight, and the more widespread your influence is. Just be careful – the Realm has a habit of destroying things they consider threats to their power.

MANSE – This one gives you a neat hideout/base, but it also has a couple more benefits. First, it helps you regenerate Essence faster. Second, you get a Hearthstone – a cool gem that provides you with cool powers depending on the Manse's level. The number of dots here is the level of your Manse. Just don't forget to have an Artifact with a Hearthstone socket to set it in!

MENTOR – With dots in this Background, you have someone more badass than you are that has taken you under their wing. They can teach you Abilities, Charms, and other stuff, even Sorcery. More dots means more badass, but it also means that they have higher expectations.

RESOURCES – This one is CRITICAL. This one means you have money, gear, and a place to live. Hey, an Exalt's gotta eat. Without any dots here, a character is completely destitute – nothing but the clothes on his back. This also comes in handy if, say, that poor, tired, overworked-and-underpaid guard needs a reason to go ahead and let you go ahead and go on in....