I didn't understand Mummy when I finished reading the corebook. The player's section described a Tier 3 character, but the Storyteller's section described Tier 1 personal conflicts. After reading this supplement I now get Mummy: they are religious warriors, empowered and evaluated by the Judges like a fantasy RPG cleric or paladin. Ammut the Devourer is the Adversary. This supplement provides details on the Guilds that allow for Tier 2 local political play, and The Avarice Chronicle provides a Tier 3 confrontation over faith that all mummies can take a side on.

The book is split into the Intro, 5 chapters one for each Guild, two Storyteller chapters, and the Chronicle. At least one review here has criticised the Guild chapters for not having uniform layouts. I think that was done to show as well as tell what each Guild thinks is important, and to showcase different elements of the game in different chapters, which I agree with. However, having the Storyteller section contain supposed secrets is hurting the presentation of this game. Frankly, the only reason to have 'secret' info seems to be to facilitate player-vs-player conflict. The Guild chapters have lots of information from the Storyteller section of the corebook, so it's no longer secret once the players start reading this. A lot of the Storyteller material here is common knowledge and systems for the Guilds and should have been in the Intro. The Storytelling sections of this game line's books need to have less 'tools' and more advice on how to run the game.

The Guild chapters describe how the Guild operates and how they see and interact with the modern world, both to varying depth. The Maa-Kep chapter is all about getting others, whether mummies or mortals, to operate how the Maa-Kep want without realising it. The Mesen-Nebu (Alchemists) are all about lording their individualistic awesomeness over others. The Sesha-Hebsu (the Scroll) describes how they act as judges, how they carry out sentences, and how their record of history is written to glory of the the Judges, not accuracy. The Tef-Aabhi are described as the self-chosen master planners of the Arisen, whether the others like it or not.

The Su-Menent chapter is different enough that it deserves special mention. It goes into much more detail than the others on Irem itself, on the Guild in Irem, and how the Su-Menent Guild is breaking in the modern world. Like the Maa-Kep chapter, it has a section on the Guild's activities around the world, but it is less successful and bleaker outlook. The Su-Menent and Tef-Aabhi chpaters go into much more detail on Cults than the others and show how the three types can cover an incredible range of operations.

In the Storyteller's section, chapter six is game systems and new powers. It's not worth keeping from the players. Chapter seven actually has some things that should restrict it to the Storyteller. It has more Affinities and Utterances for each Guild, and something unique: relics, magic, NPCs. It also, finally, has some genuine dark secrets within Guild operations.

Chapter eight, the start of the Avarice Chronicle, is dramatic. The Heretic is the Arisen's Martin Luther and this is about taking Apotheosis public and potentially starting a religious schism that could lead to the Mummy equivalent of the Thirty Years War (which had more death and destruction than World War I). It also describes Ammut the Devourer as a more active adversary of the Arisen than the corebook makes clear (at least to me).

I don't think this player's guide is as good as similar books for other game lines. However, for me it indisuputably explained a lot of the game better than the corebook did. So I guess I have to give it four stars. Like Mage's Tome of the Mysteries, this is likely to be regarded as either essential or irrelevant.

Guildhalls of the Deathless is a comprehensive and dense book that expands upon the philosophies, objectives and structures of the Guilds. Where the descriptions for these groups are limited in the core book of Mummy the Curse, we are presented lengthy explanations of the Guilds, and of course these descriptions provide many interesting plot hooks for stories.

While the book does add excellent descriptions of each Guild, there are times where some of the descriptions felt overly verbose, and can at times make the book feel rather dense and not providing any more information than was already presented in the core book or earlier in this book.

The real strength of the book is having the power structures of the Guilds fully presented, and seeing the complex interplay between the Guilds and their goals and intrigues. In particular we get a very real understanding of the threat of heresy in the ranks of the Arisen, and how they struggle against it.

Building upon this the later Storyteller chapters present a whole host of new powers and items and rules, and in particular rules for handling disputes and tribunals between the Arisen, events which of course are important when relics are stolen or one of the Arisen is charged with Heresy.

Listen to our review of the book on Darker Days Radio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyspTZ40yVo

This book is invaluable to understanding the Arisen and the various guilds that they can belong to. From the core rulebook you begin to get a vague and general idea about the guilds and while this works at first they can seem rather flat and boring, this book takes all of that and corrects it, adding a lot of interesting information about the guild and the roles that they play. I honestly think that if you have any intention of running mummy that you need this book.

This book really powerfully fleshes out the guilds of the Arisen and makes multiple-mummy parties much more reasonable. Reading through this took the guilds from a background element of the setting that I wasn't sure what to do with, to a major facet that I'm eager to explore. A must-have for any group playing Mummy: the Curse.

Originally posted at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/10/15/tabletop-review-mummy-the-curse-guildhalls-of-the-deathless-world-of-darkness/

After an extremely successful Kickstarter, Mummy: The Curse was released at the beginning of this year to both critical and fan acclaim. If you read my extremely long and enthusiastic review, then you know that I consider it to be one of the two best releases of 2013 so far (along with Numenera). Guildhalls of the Deathless is the first supplement for Mummy: The Curse, and it’s a worthy second release for the line. Although it’s not as impressive as the core rulebook, and there are a few issues I have with the book here and there, they are minor ones, and with a fifteen dollar price tag, Guildhalls of the Deathless is an exceptionally good deal considering you are getting nearly two hundred pages of content that will help to flesh out your Mummy: The Curse campaign. You even get an extremely long adventure that should take multiple play sessions to get through, which is only the tip of the iceberg for an extremely long metaplot based campaign.

So let’s talk content. There are eight chapters to Guildhalls of the Deathless. The book is divided into two parts – one for players and one for Storytellers. Unlike the core rulebook, I can’t say that there is anything in Guildhalls of the Deathless that would spoil the playing aspect of the game – unless you read the adventure before you played it of course. You also don’t NEED to read or own Guildhalls of the Deathless to play Mummy: The Curse, but the book does give an extremely in-depth look at how the five guilds view themselves and each other, in addition to a long history of each organization and how they work towards restoring the glory of Lost Irem. If you’re picking up Mummy to read or run a game, then you will probably WANT to get Guildhalls of the Deathless as it is extremely informative and well written, helping to better define the five guilds. This will let the Storyteller better design inter- and intra-guild relations and give characters a chance to better understand their place within the organization they chose at character creation, as well as the place in the grand scheme of the Judges.

The first five chapters comprise the entirely of the player’s side of Guildhalls of the Deathless. Each chapter is devoted to a specific guild. Chapter One is for the Maa-Kep (middle management), Chapter Two is about the Mesen-Nebu (alchemists), Chapter Three talks about the Sesha-Hebsu (scribes), Chapter Four is about the Su-Menent (priests) and finally Chapter Five gives us the Tef-Aabhi (masons). I’m really glad each guild received their own chapter in which specifics were talked about, as they received a level of depth, history and philosophical discussion the core rulebooks imply but didn’t have room for. It’s great to see all five guilds in a single book too, instead of spread out amongst five small “Clanbook” style releases. Here we get everything at once, early on into the life of the game, and for far less than if you had to purchase the content in five smaller books. This is simply the best way to do this style of content and it really benefits the player. Note that reading these five chapters is bound to change your original impressions for each of the five guilds. The extra depth will change how you look at each one, and also give you insight into their own goals… as well as the internal issues plaguing each organization. All five chapters are really worth reading if you’re even remotely interesting in playing or running a chronicle of Mummy: The Curse.

The only real problem I had with the player side of the book is that the five chapters for the guilds are neither equal nor uniform. What I mean by this is that some guilds have more pages devoted to them than others. So, for example, you’ll learn far more about one guild than you would another. As well, the information you are given isn’t presented in a stable format, so one guild might see a sample PC presented within its pages, but the other four won’t have NPC stat blocks at all. I think editorial could have done a better job by telling the writers to outline each chapter in a uniform format. For example, maybe do a brief overview, then the information, then what other guilds think they know about the guild in question, followed by what the guild of topic thinks of the other guild. So on and so forth. That would have made the book flow a lot smoother, and it would be easier to find the information both players and Storytellers might be hunting for in a pinch. Instead, the chaotic way each chapter is written might make it enjoyable to read, but it certainly makes using the book as a resource while PLAYING a lot harder. An index would have been a godsend. It’s also extremely obvious that there are different writers for each guild, as the voice, writing style and content are so different from each other. Whether or not you would prefer a more uniform voice is subjective however, but I do wish the voices for the book would have blended together better, as the end result feels piecemeal instead of cohesive. I can’t emphasize enough how MINOR the above issues are, but they are noticeable and thus worth pointing out.

The last three chapters of the book are for the Storyteller. It’s odd because the bulk of the book is the Storyteller sections rather than the chapters on the guilds themselves. Those first five chapters and the introduction take up 78 of the 178 pages in the book. That’s less than half. In fact, the longest chapter (roughly 45 pages) is the adventure, which is only part one of a Chronicle. To get the rest of the chronicle, you’ll have to purchase a different book (most likely the upcoming Cursed Necropolis: DC release). I would strongly have preferred to see the Avarice Chronicle be released as its own separate supplement rather than spreading it as a tagalong throughout other books. That way, if you wanted the chronicle, you could get it in one shot instead of having to purchase multiple, possibly unrelated or unwanted, books and then having to cart all of those around (physically or in e-reader format) instead of having them in a single book. It also makes looking up information insane, as you have to hunt through multiple books (without indexes BTW) instead of, again, a single release. This was bad form from WW/OPP and I have to say I’m very disappointed with their decision to release the chronicle in this format. Again, this is a minor issue to me, but one I know other people will probably feel strongly about, so I’m bringing it up now as a head’s up that you will need to buy multiple books if you want the full chronicle.

Chapter Six is entitled “Keys to the Chamber” and it’s mainly about rules for guild (inter- and intra-) disputes and how to resolve them with dice and roleplaying. Obloquy takes up the bulk of this chapter, and it is an interesting read, but not something that will come up often (or at all) in your Chronicle unless you really want to tell a story about it or you are running M:TC like V:TM. The rest of the chapter is about creating and designing talismans (a magic item within the game) and some new abilities for your character. Guild Affinities can be purchased in relation o a character’s Guild Status rating. There are also new rules for Mummies combining their powers into one channeled effect. This is known as Unison. This can create effects up the equivalent of Level 10 Sekhem, which is insanely powerful. I like the Unison idea, although I do wish the rules for it were more defined and also not tucked into the tail end of Chapter Six in a supplement. I can see this being missed by a lot of gamers. There’s some great new rules and content in Chapter Six, and I can see why they were put in the Storyteller section instead of the Player area, as it lets the person running the game decide if they want to use these and if they want to make DISCOVERING this new option part of an adventure.

Chapter Seven, “Beyond the Door,” is mostly mechanics. Here you have more Guild Affinities, but these are geared towards specific guilds rather than the universal ones found in the previous chapter. Again, these are very much tied into Guild Status, so if a player didn’t take any during creation these are unavailable to him or her. You’ll also find magic items and NPCs here as well. The chapter is grouped by guild, which makes looking for information easier, but an index would have made finding and using the pieces in this chapter so much easier.

Finally we have Chapter Eight, which is the first part of the Avarice Chronicle. This is a huge chapter, the largest in the book, and the Chronicle is a mini campaign in and of itself, meaning it will keep players busy for many a playthrough. Now, will it keep them busy long enough for the second part of the story to be released? That I don’t know. This is White Wolf/Onyx Path Publishing, after all, and they do have some issues getting things out on time, even more so than most companies in the tabletop industry. As such, you might want to hold off on running this until part two is in your hands to ensure your characters aren’t stuck without anything to do until the new release. I’ve seen this happen to many a Pathfinder gamer after all…

The adventure itself, Crucible of Fate is an excellent one. It takes place in Washington D.C. (my backyard – literally; I look out my window and there’s the Washington Monument), which is a good place to hold the Grand Conclave – the largest gathering of mummies in thousands of years. After all, D.C. is rife with Egyptian style art and motifs. Who is to say that the inspiration for these things is not far older than the mortals suspect? Such a large gathering gives a fine explanation as to why there would be a clutch of mummies able to have adventures together all in one spot. After all, the hardest part about writing a Mummy adventure is figuring out a task that requires ONE Mummy, much less three or four. This particular adventure touches on all the basics. You get to interact with multiple Arisen, witness mummy politics, discover some potential heresy against Irem, Duat and the Judges, fight some unholy creations, and most importantly see the schism between multiple mummies regarding how to view the modern day world, as well as exactly where an Arisen’s loyalty should lie. The adventure is a lot of fun and you can definitely feel the metaplot hammer hitting the characters repeatedly here, so even if you don’t want to play Crucible of Fate, you will probably want to read it to see how the world of the Arisen is about to dramatically change.

All in all, Guildhalls of the Deathless is a wonderful release, and it compliments Mummy: The Curse beautifully. It’s not a flawless however, and whether the flaws Guildhalls of the Deathless contains are minor or major will vary by the reader. I was quite happy with this book and Mummy: The Curse continues to be the crown jewel in the New World of Darkness for me (although The God Machine Chronicle came close and Blood and Smoke might surpass it, but I’m starting to think the latter won’t hit until 2014).

Mummy the Curse has received some criticism due to the vague rules for social interactions between guild mummies. Well this book is the developers response to this. Perhaps it was always meant to be the case that the supplements, similar to Changeling the Lost, will further develop the game. Essentially, this book is to Mummy the Curse what Tome of Mysteries is to Mage the Awakening; the most indispensible supplement to fully realize the game. Here you'll find fully detailed rules for guild membership, what mummies do during periods of their Ascent, roles played by various guilds and story seeds to socialize mummies. Each guild is given exclusive content, detailing purpose, functions, ranks, hierarchies. Additionally, this book offers a wide range of additional Guild Affinities and Guild Utterances unique to the various guilds as well as added Merits, such as the Temple Merit. This book is big, and covers alot of information. For all intents and purposes this is the Players Handbook to Mummy, and like all upcomming Mummy the Curse supplements, is divided into a Players section and Storytellers section (I imagine this will be sold separately to help storytellers preserve the mysteries of their campaigns, and making the pdf's easily affordable). All in all this is the book that has answered alot of questions left vague or unclear in the core book, and comes right at the heels of the beautifully colorful Mummy the Curse Deluxe Kickstarter corebook. I cannot wait to put these new rules into play at my table.

This book has made Mummy infinitely more playable and easy to run, at least from my perspective. These additions also make it a good purchase for people who were skeptical about Mummy when limited to the content available in the corebook. It contains a number of missing mechanical bits and a great deal of social context that allows the setting and the characters within it to make a great deal more sense, and are fun in their own right on top of that.

The Guilds are fascinating organizations, and any concerns about how they might continue to organize and operate across the ages are basically addressed throughout the book. Their powers are elaborated upon, finally, and a great deal of the capabilities they were said to be known for in the Mummy corebook have been made available in some form or another. There are also all sorts of goodies that were not hinted at in the corebook, which expand on the material there in potent and useful ways.

So, what keeps me from giving this a five out of five? There is a certain lack of uniformity in the layout and presentation of the Guilds. By this, I mean that there are certain pieces of information and mechanical materials that certain Guilds received, but others did not. For instance, only the Maa-Kep and Su-Menent received new Relics, and we are still left mostly eyeballing how to balance the mechanics of new ones. Only one or two Guilds have detailed analysis of how they operate in specific regions of the world. Little things like this detract from the entire experience, though you can generally extrapolate from what other Guilds received and what information is presented in general to fill in the gaps.

Still, despite its flaws, Guildhalls of the Deathless is a wonderful addition to the game and I heartily recommend it.