A fleshing out, rather than something new If you don't have the old Scavenger Sons, then you should definately buy this book if you are at all likely to find yourself in the Scavenger lands. If you do have Scavenger Sons, ask yourself a question--how much more info do you need on Nexus, Lookshy and Great Forks? What about Chaya, the Marukan Alliance and Sijann? If you want a pretty detailed guide to these places, then Scavenger Lands is indeed an improvement on Scavenger Sons, but if you were more or less okay with the old book, then you should bear in mind that the new simply fleshed out already printed material. And that's the problem--there are no really new locations fleshed out, nor anything fundamentally changed in the existing locations descriptions. It would have been nice if the first Terrestrial Directions book had covered new ground--The South, for instance, or the farther East other than Halta, but oh well.
More detailed than Scavenger Sons and with better system support, but overall covering less material. Scavenger Lands provides a fascinating overview of one of the most turbulent and interesting areas in Creation. A variety of interesting cities are detailed in this product, along with complete support for The Mandate of Heaven rules found in the Exalted Storyteller's Companion. Additionally, the large tactical units of the various city states are presented for the purpose of mass combat. Finally, the various gods and ancient beings that reside in the Scavenger Lands are stated. By and large, however, this is a large setting product.
The largest downside to this product is that it is mostly setting information, and that setting information has been presented in an earlier 1st edition product. Some of the writing is at times boring, focusing on minor NPCs instead of the state (I'm using state to mean geopolitical entity, often city-states in this product) they live in. Finally, this product is much more narrowly focused than the earlier Scavenger Sons. It discusses the Scavenger Lands but does not move outside them. I consider that to be a strength, as later supplements are planned to explore the cardinal directions, but the product is not as broadly useful as the earlier Scavenger Sons.
The most interesting part of Creation The is the first of five setting books that look closely at Creation, the world of Exalted. I was glad to see White Wolf made the choice to tackle the East, a.k.a. the Scavenger Lands, first, as that is the best place for setting adventures, IMHO. It has the greatest variety of cultures, the best places for a Solar Exalted to hide, the most ruins, and it has Nexus, Great Forks, and Lookshy, the three most interesting cities. The Exalted campaign I played in recently was set primarily in the East, and when I run a campaign, it will be set there as well.
The book expands on the brief descriptions of the East from the main rulebook, and focuses on those three aforementioned cities, along with others such as Thorns and Greyfalls. It brings together information that appeared in other first-edition books, while adding some new info, but sadly leaving out some details due to space considerations. Newcomers to the game won't notice that last, however, and won't miss it--there is plenty here. It also includes some creatures and artifacts, and NPCs, Mass Combat, and Mandate of Heaven rules for all the societies described.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
