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Silver Ladder $17.99
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Silver Ladder
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Silver Ladder
Publisher: White Wolf
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 08/03/2016 08:11:41

Treason, plots, conspiracies, networks of power, political manoeuvering - the opening fiction sets the scene for the essence of Silver Ladder belief: that it is a duty for those blessed with magic to seek power and wield it responsibly, using both other mages and sleepers as tools to achieve their goals. Power and influence make them tick, and all those studies are but means to an end rather than a route to personal enlightenment.

Chapter 1: Hand Over Hand discusses the history of the Silver Ladder, starting with chaos and the establishment of order - by people working together, by individuals of wisdom and power taking the lead and directing the others. The dream of an ordered cooperative society draws members of the Silver Ladder on, a dream that has them at the pinnacle of society, of course, wielding power. Many legends and stories are told to reinforce this concept, that those who rule must be the ones who are most fit to rule... but who decides? That's where it gets interesting!

Next, Chapter 2: The Silver Dream examines the internal culture of the Silver Ladder, their philosophical approach and the way in which they organise and regulate themselves. At its core, the Silver Ladder regards every member as a prince in search of a kingdom to rule and seeks to equip him to take his place at the head of the Awakened, for if only those mages would just work together under proper leadership, just think of what they could accomplish! Their entire philosophy is wound around this concept.

Then Chapter 3: An Enlightened Crusade takes matters further, looking at Silver Ladder society and practices, and even their rituals. They see themselves as leaders and moral guides to the rest of the Awakened and work towards getting themselves into positions where they can exert influence and control. They don't see themselves as aristocracy despite their conviction that they ought to be the people in charge. This chapter looks at how they select and recruit new members, and at what said new recruits find once they are inducted into the order. It also talks at their controversial use of Sleepers.

This is followed by Chapter 4: Factions and Legacies, which looks at the various groups that all vie for power within the order. Unity of purpose does not mean a shared view of the methods or even the goals that should be pursued, and so this is perhaps the most politically active of orders with different groups vying to push their ideas - by debate, by subterfuge, by brute force... it doesn't really matter at times. Tread carefully through this morass, pick your way through the myriad groups... plenty of scope for those who like lots of intrigue and political manoeuvering in their game.

Finally, Chapter 5: Magic explores the resources at the Silver Ladder's disposal, including spells and artefacts. Their techniques tend to the traditional, conservative even, but this gives their style the weight of history, and of course the methods they employ are tried and tested ones, none of this experimental stuff, these magical fads. Very much the Establishment in a wizard's gown!

The Silver Ladder is an intriguing organisation, power-hungry yet with purpose beyond just being top dog or amassing power and the wealth that often goes with it just for its own sake. If your players like intrigue and politics a chronicle built around this order might work well, but nobody is safe from being caught up in their machinations - mages can get involved whoever they might be, as pawns or standing up in opposition to what they view as an abuse of power or a wrong-headed idea. Even if they don't play a big role in your game, they ought to be muttering along somewhere in the background...



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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