Overall, I enjoyed this book. I waffle between a 3 and a 4 (really 3.5) because there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of really cool and interesting gifts that I will be using for current and future games. That said, there are a few gifts that feel either under powered, over powered, or setting breaking (specifically the Rank 6 gift Fertility for setting breaking) that with some tweaks could have been VERY interesting and cool. That said there is a lot more good than bad in this book, but because of that it might be easy for new or moderately experienced Storytellers might get nipped if they don't pay attention. So, I would say people should pick this product up if they're interested in new and interesting gifts, just be cautious that some players might feel cheated with some gifts or you might have a juggernaut you weren't expecting on the other.

I'll be the first to admit that I didn't like Changeling the Dreaming when I came across it the first time. I decided to be a completionist and picked up the Dreaming 2nd edition a few years ago. The game fell flat as I read it and it didn't help that my first experience with Changelings was the Lost. That said I was skeptical regarding Changeling 20th. I decided to pick it up based on the recommendations of a few people and finally cracked it open and started reading. This game is great, the setting is more coherent, the system felt like something I could really get behind, and I fell in love. I personally can't speak to if this captures the original spirit of Changeling when it first came out (apparently, I didn't get it), but if you weren't a fan of the Dreaming I highly recommend checking this game out. I felt instantly inspired for several games within the first two chapters.

So, I really like how this book is laid out and it really drew me in and sparked some ideas for future games. A large part of this is personal taste, I have always enjoyed sections written in character and enjoy the way this book handles it. Each chapter covers a major meta-plot event with in character transcripts, letters, emails, ect and then followed up with brief overview of the "flashpoint" event, story threads to involve the players, and twists to make sure players could potentially play these events again and it can end up being a completely unique experience.

The last chapter covers how to use metaplot in your chronicles, how much you might want to involve meta-plot, if you want to follow said meta-plot points, and additional suggestions on how to involve players. Which are good for STs who either just throw metaplot in or toss them in as big info dumps (sadly guilty) or avoid them all together because they don't have all the major events (due to the lack of books) or it feels overwhelming.

If you like Vampire, you'll like this book. If you enjoy lore presented in creative ways, you'll like this book. If you don't care for the in-character perspective or just don't want to use the metaplot at all and are dead set against mining these events for ideas, then I guess pass on it. Otherwise grab this book, its spectacular.

Tome of Secrets is packed with a lot of information and while I got this book with the Kickstarter I have to say you get a lot of bang for your buck here.

The book starts bye diving right into the different paths of Thaumaturgy for various clans feel wholy unique and seem to draw from and add flavor to the clans they're associated with. These gifts can be a treat for players skulking around in the Dark Ages or even terrifying, ancient rewards for kindred in modern nights or even devilish powers they come up against (most of the milage I've gotten from this book so far) from elder antagonists. The book then expands the medevil world of vampire and adds knight organizations, backgrounds that help define a knight's reputation, holdings, and training, and special combat maneuvers.

My favorte part of this book however is easily the Dark Thaumaturgy, has a lot of great powers and cross over bait with Werewolf which I appriciate and I plan on using in my Apocalypse games.

This book is fantastic and a storyteller can get a lot of mileage out of this book. The four settings are very well written. Of course different people are going to like different settings (I'm a big fan of Gunstar Autochthonia and Burning Legend myself). So I think the best way to do this is to go through the different shards.

1 Gunstar Autochthonia: The primordials won. Exiling the Exalted host into space riding on Autochthon who is now a giant spaceship. Hounded by the new Infernal Exalted and shaken by the mysterious abyssals. This setting comes with a fantastically written charm set for the the Empyreal Chaos for antagonists or if you're feeling bold an Infernal game.

2 Heaven's Reach: Exalted in space!! A game set were a Lunar rules over a galactic empire controlling several systems. While the "Frontier" space is filled with mystery and adventure. As the Solar Exalted seem to be returning and gaining strength. Fills the need of the Scifi fantasy need in us.

3 Burning Legend: A more anime/manga take on exalted. The Exalted are not empowered by the gods but are fighters who channel their powers into devastating martial arts techniques. It feels very similar to Dragon Ball (not Z) or Fist of the North Star. This system is the most changed out of any of the others. Giving you different powers and making the entire game feel new and fresh.

4 Exalted Modern: Pretty straight forward. Creation is now modern. It's not our world with exalted in it. It is if Creation resembled our world. Familiar cities come up and and have a new modern twist. There are other major changes as well such as the Solars are just now appearing for the first time in History.

Finally the last chapter is filled with all sorts of goodies. This includes new charms for modern era Exalted and futuristic space settings. Weapons for each setting including guns, lasers, and bombs. It also comes with several setting hacks. Including Sidereal Astrology, Abyssal Resonance, Modern Alchemicals, and rules for Dramatic Chase scenes.

I was rather excited to pick up this book. After getting into Apocalypse after the hype died down (by several years actually) I was excited at the idea of having the Apocalypse setting in the Forsaken setting. This guide does an admirable job of accomplishing this. It offering good tools and easy do it yourself guides on how to convert gifts between the systems. That being said I think this book falls short of the Vampire Translation Guide.

1) Only a few gifts are converted between systems. Now I understand not doing every single gift from every single book. That would be beyond what word count would allow. However adding in all the gifts from the Revised Core would have been a nice touch I think and the guides in the book could be used for any supplements we might have that weren't covered by the umbrella conversions.

2) Having the Apocalypse Tribes as actual tribes in Forsaken. Now I like them being lodges too. It was helpful and well presented. However I now have to some tweaking. When I think that feature should have been standard. A "hey this is what they look like as a tribe and this is how they'd look like as a lodge" kind of thing similar to how Vampire did it's translation guide.

3) It appears to me that Forsaken got more love in that more of it's system was translated into Apocalypse then Apocalypse into Forsaken. There were relatively complete gift lists for the Forsaken tribes if added into Apocalypse, as as I mentioned above, since the Apocalypse tribes were only lodges we weren't given favored gifts for them. Which I think is a bit of a let down and a shame.

Over all a solid book. I recommend anyone who wants to get started on converting Forsaken or Apocalypse to the other pick up this book. It's a good starting point if you don't know where to go. If you think you can convert them yourself this book might be a bit redundant but you might get something out of this book.

This book is amazing. I picked it up and now there is no way I'm putting it down. The plethora of charms and new paths of ascension are brilliant!