I've been reading (like actual novels for a change) and came upon an unlikely piece of source material for Sorcerer & Sword: The Exalted - Trilogy of the Second Age series. The first two books are out and the last one comes out next week.
I know it's a White Wolf setting but let's look at all the S&S elements involved:
1. Spirits everywhere! Spirits, from animal spirits to demonic dead gods, are omnipresent in the setting. A great deal is spent on negotiating and dealing with spirits. Binding through contracts and favors also plays a big role.
2. Necromancy is a powerful tool. One of the main groups involved in the mess is all about the undead. Ghosts appear left and right, people die and return in dead bodies, etc.
3. Nonhumans are bizarre and unfriendly. The Fey in the setting are beings of Chaos and feed off the dreams of humans. They have no set shapes and freak most people out.
The setting has some odd points but for the most part a great deal of it can be done through Sorcerer. Even the powers of many Exalted are granted by higher powers who can give or take them as they choose.
And finally Humanity is a valid concern. Many forces exist to offer power in exchange for Humanity (the Dead Gods, the Fey, even the Imperial Church) and once a character Exalts they struggle further to retain control of the curse they suffer from.
The story's not half-bad, nothing great but it does show off some aspects of the setting really well. Just thought I'd pass this on.
I disagree that there's anything strange or unlikely about Exalted game fiction being suitable source material for Sorcerer.
When I re-read S&Sword after buying my own copy, reading the first chapter (or is it the second chapter? it's the one where Ron explains the genre-defining tropes of pulp fantasy) became a litany of "Yup, Grabowski* got that...yeah, he got that right too...boy, Exalted has that in spades..." and so on.
The reason, of course, is that Ron and Grabowski read many of the same books, and understood them similarly.
What I find strange and unlikely is that anyone would actually read gaming-related fiction, especially from White Wolf. Ugh.
*Geoffrey C. Grabowski is the Exalted line developer for White Wolf.
Well, the surprising part was that the game fiction was decent and useful as source material. I like Exalted and kung-fu powers aside think that it makes a great sword & sorcery setting.