So often when a Storyteller is spooling up a Wraith: the Oblivion game, they become preoccupied with the setting of the chronicle – because Wraith can have so many – and the antagonistic factions at work within the chronicle – because, again, Wraith can have so many – that simple yet critical details get lost in the shuffle of things that happen in between character generation and the first night of sitting at the table to begin the story. Arguably, one of the most important things that seem to get left at the truck stop isn’t so much “How did your character die?” but rather the investment of time, thought and, in fact, emotion, that should be attached to the answering of that question.
One of the things that makes Wraith: the Oblivion so emotional, and to be certain, one of the things that has endeared the game to those who love it the way that they do, is the emotional investment required of both the Storyteller and the characters who run and play the game, respectively. Within the overarching setting of the World of Darkness, there is no other game that demands of you to think about the most horrible thing that could possibly happen to you – a death so untimely and, in many or most cases, unfair – that it will literally define your character and everything that your character does throughout the duration of a chronicle’s lifespan. The Psyche, the Shadow, the Corpus, Memoriam, Fetters, Passions, Thorns… all these things are born from how your character met her end. People who die peacefully in their sleep do not generally leave ghosts behind. They simply “Transcend” into the next phase of existence and bypass the dark horror of the Underworld, the Shadowlands, the Dark Kingdoms of the Dead and the Labyrinth.
Shadows of the Masquerade’s Guide to Dying supplement is a kick-starter in its best-possible incarnation. Not for a story, but for characters entering a story. Not for setting a scene, but for the players on the stage, and for the director who will guide them through the gossamer of the Underworld. The supplement asks the question "How did you get here, anyway?" of the reader, and shifts the player out of a "comfort bubble" and into an area of thinking about things that most people do not want to think about on a regular basis.
Or even on rare ocassions, for that matter.
While presented as a “Guide,” it is more of a toolbox of thought exercises than anything else. When I see the word “Guide” in a title, I think of mechanics and step-by-step instruction on how to do this or why you would want to do that. This is not necessarily the case with the Guide to Dying. In the most liberal sense, some of the explanations of causes of death could be viewed as a sort of mechanic… but even that is a bit of a stretch. What the Guide to Dying does do – and does well – is takes the time to clarify no only how a character’s death is reflected directly in the ghost that death creates across the Shroud, but why.
First off, the supplement is absolutely beautiful in the same way that all Wraith: the Oblivion products are. The solemn melancholy of the artwork lends to the mood of the subject matter, and the reader is stricken with a sense of wanting to curl up under a quilt to read it on a deep-gray Winter’s day.
A nice funerary bouquet of Internal and External causes of death are presented and explained – For example, “Malicious Intent,” “Freak Accident,” or “Death by Illness” – and then, in turn (which I found exceptionally cool, to be completely honest) there are three example characters proved who died in any number or, if you’d like, combinations of these causes.
Now that would be enough for a beginner coming to Wraith: the Oblivion for the first time. But Shadows of the Masquerade takes it a step further; for each cause of death that has befallen the given character, given their background and given a couple of the clarifications on their general disposition as conceptualizations, the overall effect that each cause has on their Fetters, Passions and Shadow is afforded and explained. This is an awesome tool for people who have a hard time with the concept that playing a ghost is actually about playing two distinctly different characters that are, while arch-enemies, also the most fundamentally closest of allies and, in fact, the same being. It’s a tricky concept for people new to the game and the systems, and the Guide to Dying handles this exceptionally well.
I had one, single heartache with the example characters as provided and written; each one of them, based on a given cause of death, is assigned to a Guild. Now, while this is somewhat helpful to an extent, I think what would have been even more useful would have been assignment within a Legion given the nature and causation of the deaths of the example characters. Sure, the Haunters might Reap a ghost who was accidentally killed by a Good Samaritan, and I roger that as being completely logical. However, The Reapers of the Lady of Fate would probably also have dibs on such a poor soul, and would have, additionally, Hierarchy “sanctioned” Haunters within their ranks. This doesn’t take away from what is presented in the Guide to Dying, but I do think that it bears mention that there are a lot of other factions and forces-at-large in the Underworld than just the Guilds Reaping Cauls on the regular.
With Wraith: the Oblivion being opened up to the Storytellers Vault in just the last week, Guide to Dying is a top-notch debut supplement that does a lot to set the standard for what Wraith: the Oblivion Storytellers and players will look for to enhance and enrich their trans-Shroud Chronicles.
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