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Review of Immortals
There are two major things wrong with this book. The first is the price $34.99 for 144 black and white pages. That’s an expensive book and one that many people will think twice about buying in this economy. The other major problen, he first chapter of this book is devoted to cheap shock tricks trying to get the media to report on the book as a “criminal RPG”.
Chapter One
The first substantive chapter of Immortals is devoted to blood bathers. As the name implies, these are immortals that need to periodically bathe in blood to maintain their immortality. There is detailed crunch on how to create different variants. We also get a detailed discussion of the mind of a mass murder and explicit instruction on how to avoid police detection and dispose of a body. That last bit crosses the line and does not look back.
To put it simply this is a publicity stunt. The blood bathers section includes accurate detail on how to dispose of a body. Most people would not think of these without having had, at least, an undergraduate course in forensics or police procedure. It also includes advice on how to minimalize the chance of detection and federal involvement while engaging in serial murder. This goes well beyond simply role a d10 and see if you succeed. Non US based retailers may want to check their countries laws before stocking this book.
As the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. The only conclusion that can be drawn from the blood bather’s section, and the additional rules to allow for playing morality 0 characters, is that White Wolf is trying to garner media attention. If you ask World of Darkness players which they’d rather have, rules on ghoul blood bathers or an in depth essay on how to play a serial killer, most players will opt for the missing ghoul material.
Chapter Two
Chapter two covers body thieves. These are mortals who either magically or psychically swap consciousness with another person. Four examples are given of societies of body thieves two psychic two magical. While the societies of thieves are interesting, various forms of spirit possession already play a large role in the new world of darkness. Simply including some mortals who are getting into the act doesn’t really add anything.
Chapter Three
Chapter three details the purified. These are powerful mortal occultists who have died and merged their souls with the spirit world. Completion of the rite restores a purified’s body to its mid twenties and bestows superior healing. If the body is killed, even if burned or otherwise destroyed, the spirit animating the purified can spend essence to revive it. Additionally, the purified can detach their mind from their body, projecting into the shadow as a spirit. While in this state the purified is subject to all the weaknesses of any other spirit. If reduced to zero essence and zero corpus, in spirit form, the purified is destroyed.
Essence plays a major role in the existence of the purified. Unlike spirits, they do not naturally regain essence, nor though do they loose it daily. In order to obtain essence many purified ally themselves with, and act as agent in the mortal world for, the gods of the spirit realm. This is an extremely inventive and well done revision of the old Word of Darkness mummies. Setting wise the purified are much more playable and interesting then the original mummies. Playing the immortal agent of one of the gods, as your patron maneuvers against others, just seems downright run. It’s too bad then that the crunch that goes with the purified is such a disappointment.
While all purified started out as extremely capable mortal thaumaturges, it seems that they’ve lost these abilities upon becoming immortal. Instead purified have a selection of powers and can learn a limited, and expressly listed, number of spirit numina. Purified powers, called Siddhi, are limited to three levels each level taking rank * 7 XP to learn. This would be an interesting mechanic if it wasn’t for the fact the summoning, binding, warding and banishing a spirit, are each different Siddhi. To go from no dots to minimal competence in these areas would cost 63 XP. This does not make much sense for a supernatural type that started as powerful mortal magicians.
A better solution would have been to have Siddhi only effect the purified’s physical or spirit forms. The ability to buy a limited number of numina, which feels like an afterthought, could be replaced with a system of ritual magic similar to various types of blood magic in Vampire: The Requiem. All of this goes to the prime weakness of this chapter, purified should be a book of their own if not a White Wolf limited line. White Wolf’s policy of “no supplements for supplements” means that now that we’ve seen of the purified all and everything that will be written about them.
Chapter 4
Chapter four contains quick write ups of various types of rare immortals. For the most part a two or three page write up is sufficient. There are some exceptions. For example, the Eternals, who serially reincarnate with complete memories of all past lives resurfacing sometime around puberty. I can easily see turning this concept into a character that struggles to maintain their personality against the weight of a thousand lives, loosing a bit of themselves every time they use a skill or power from the past. Unfortunately, it seems that White Wolf isn’t much for this idea.
The Numbers
This book should be a 4/4. The purified concept is absolutely brilliant. It looses a point to style for being overpriced. The Blood Bathers chapter is likely to be seen as a “manual on serial killing” by authorities that don’t understand the context. It’s a publicity stunt, but one that might land gamers, not doing anything wrong, in hot water with either overzealous school administrators or local law enforcement. The book looses one point to substance for the publicity stunt and another point for the potential for the stunt to rebound on customers.
Thema: [nWOD] Brainstorming - Dämon bzw. Geist (Gelesen 1965 mal)
