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The Everlasting: Book of the Unliving
From: Visionary Entertainment
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
The Everlasting: Book of the Unliving is a Foundation Book from Visionary Entertainment.
Every November, I am the gaming coordinator for a small local gaming con here in the Carolinas called MACE. This year at MACE, a company called Visionary Entertainment attended and had heard that I occasionally write game reviews for GR as well as Nth Degree Magazine. By the end of the con, I had six Everlasting rule books in my lap, with someone asking me to review them. I have to be honest - I was not overly excited about reviewing them. The primary reason is that the author of the game is a former White-Wolfer, and I am not a huge fan of White Wolf games. So this game initially came across to me as a World-of-Darkness-wannabe.
I have to say, after reading into the background and the system, I was wrong on many levels. I was also right in a few areas.
It was interesting to first find out that this game has been out for a while. The copyright for The Book of the Unliving is 1994, and it apparently has had a strong resurgence because the most recent books have been released in 2003 and 2004. So this is not a new game, but a game worth noting regardless.
From the page 15: “ Do you believe in the supernatural? ”
The Everlasting: Book of the Unliving is one of the four foundation (core) rule books for The Everlasting role playing game. Reviews of the other three are forthcoming along with the two sourcebooks recently released. Each foundation book is a core rule book in and of itself, and the others are only needed if the players want to play the other supernatural beings or genets (plural for genos) available in The Everlasting universe. Each book explores an aspect of the universe. The other books are The Book of the Spirits, The Book of the Light, and The Book of the Fantastical.
Content: The Book of the Unliving, as the name implies, explores the world of the undead. This is where I get the World of Darkness (WoD) feel to the game. However, this is also where it ends. Yep, there are Vampires, but there is also so much more. Contained within this book, along with the rules to play, is a rich mysterious background of the Secret World and the dimensions within. The Secret World is a supernatural world of several dimensions and plains of existence, overlaying our real world. Very few mortals are aware of it and fewer interact with it. Supernatural creatures occasionally interact with it, while at the same time living within our modern world, some leading normal everyday lives.
The first few sections describe the type of role playing game The Everlasting is. It claims to be an interactive legend-making experience. The whole concept of "legend-making" and that role playing The Everlasting is a "higher plain of consciousness" (pg 20) is where I get turned off somewhat. It is a little too touchie-feelie for me. It is a game - nothing more. Sure, I appreciate the "art " of role playing a storyline, but it is still a game. This is what turned me off from World of Darkness - this sense that it is a more mature and better way to game when in reality, it is just another role playing game (RPGs). One of the primary books the author sites is The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, which is a classic cross-cultural study of the hero's journey which is said to have inspired George Lucas's Star Wars saga.
The Everlasting does, however, make an attempt to be different from other RPGs. One aspect is the concept of a "guide." Initially, I thought it was their word for gamemaster, but upon reading further, I realized it is more than that. The Everlasting encourages the group to share the role of guide. One person can act as the primary plot guide, while another person can control certain NPCs and another may control combat situations. It is one of their many efforts to change the standard dynamic of role playing, and I can see the pros and cons of this approach. On one side, I am not, however, 100% convinced long-time GMs would embrace the idea wholeheartedly, and I feel many would revert back to the standard way of role playing. On the other side, I can see this method developing interesting stories and adventures. I can also see the benefit of transferring the power of plot development between participants - there are some days I just run out of plot ideas and would love it if someone else came up with it.
Another concept it introduces is Protagonists as Communal Property. In essence, the characters of a party are the property of the party and can be played by anyone. So, a character may be played by a different player each session. An interesting idea, but my players had a hard time wrapping their minds around it. It could create interesting stories, but in the end, there is nothing in the game one can claim as their own, and I do not think that would be attractive to many players. One could argue, however, that the party ends up owning the legend they create and this kind of gaming takes the focus off the character and more on the story. It all depends on your GMing style, in the end. I feel that the character's role in the story is as important as the story, and it is hard to stay focused on that when the player is changing from one game to another.
In the end, these approaches are more or less optional because The Everlasting can be played like a regular RPG. However, I am sure the author would say that if you do, you are missing out on the true essence of legend-making.
Towards the end, the book gets further into the concept of legend-making, personal mythologies and several other "high consciousness" concepts that take this way out of the realm of "just a game." It includes the encouragement of rituals in your game sessions for opening and closing ceremonies, exploring ones personal mythology, achieving altered stages of consciousness while gaming, and dream control. They have asked up-front to approach this game with an open mind, and I feel that I have. However, I personally have a strong objection to this kind of new age notions invading my hobby, so I will leave that to the reader to explore. It is one thing to apply it to the game universe and it is a totally different thing to try to apply it in real life. It is almost like they are trying to turn your game session into a religious experience. It is a game! Just a game! This is the kind of stuff that some less-informed Christians like to pounce on, calling gaming evil and corrupting.
I should note that the author appears to have a Christian background because he thanks God and the Bible in his dedications and special thanks. I do not think it was the authors intention to offend or create controversy. I do believe the author is extremely passionate about his gaming and what he would like his readers to get out of it. The book does include a strong warning stating that the game "is an experience in make-believe" and the "whole purpose is to have fun." I just feel that his notions of having fun expand out of the game-sense further than I would like, bridging in certain new age notions that some would object to and would say have no place in gaming. This is of course my opinion and may not be shared by everyone.
The background of the universe is rich and full of opportunities for adventure and "legend-making." As mentioned above, it's called the Secret World and has many 'onion layers' of existence. The onion is called the Reverie. The layers are dimension like the Astral plane and the Dreamworlds. There are several sub-realms loosely defined that can be explored including the Collective, Menagerie, and the Netherworlds. In general, however, the majority of the action and adventuring occurs in the modern day on Earth.
At the heart of the background is the Death Knell - an event that has brought on war and demonic terror to the many plains of the Reverie. This event threatens not only the supernatural world but the mortal world as well, so it is usually up to the players to stop the evil plots the Death Knell and its demons create. On the other hand, they could play creatures working towards this apocalyptic end. It is up to the group.
From the page 62:“ After all, neither honor nor love have any meaning in the world I come from. ...” - Vampire Hunter D
Players choose from gentes or supernatural beings. Each foundation book supplies several gentes as well as other beings that are strictly for use as NPCs. In The Book of the Unliving, the primary gentes available are Vampires, Ghuls, and Revenants.
Vampires are what you would expect - more like the legendary creatures than the World of Darkness version. They are divided out into bloodlines, including some more well-known lines like Dracula and the queen of the White Worm. Many of the vampire lines are from cultures that had vampire-like creatures, and their bloodlines are inspired by these legends.
Ghuls are not the ghouls of World of Darkness - those would be a type of vampire called Dhampir. Ghuls in The Everlasting are more like the Lovecraftian ghouls - creatures that feed on the dead. They have expanded the mythos of the ghoul to many different types, including those that can walk normally amongst us. They base the origins of the ghoulish races on an elixir called Anecro - the elixir of immortality.
Revenants are the dead who walk the Earth in a shroud of illusion, sucking the lifeforce out of mortals. In many ways, they are like vampires, but they are not. Revanents can hide their decaying self and walk among mortals freely. They do not feed on blood, they feed on the raw energies of life. This usually puts them at odds with the Vampires.
There are also two dark gentes players could look into - Dead Souls (ghosts) and Reanimates. Both are described in the third sub-section of the book called Dark Immortality. Although dark, they are not necessarily the bad guys - just creatures harder to role play in the everyday modern world and so considered more monstrous than the primary three. Dead souls vary in existence and form, ranging from shades and phantoms to the ankou or grim reaper. Reanimates are like your stereotypical Frankenstein's monster - pieced together and reanimated bodies. These are creatures that did not choose to come back to life, but were forced to by some other person like a mad scientist or magician.
Each genos has its own breakdown of factions, sub-types, torment, culture, magick, weaknesses and special abilities. Torment is a measure of how far along the monstrous path the character is. An example of torment is the Ghul Torment of Degeneration representing the mental devolution and the physical deterioration of the character. All of these are defined in full chapters dedicated to each genos.
The remaining sections do cover briefly the other gentes available including elves, dragons, gargoyles and manitous, but not enough really play them as characters. They are covered in more detail in their own respective books. It also covers the realms of the unliving, including the Underworld and the subterranean worlds of the ghuls.
The final section contains expanded combat and character rules as well as Guide advice in creating plots and adventures. One interesting gem from this is integrating emotion into the system to gain bonuses and penalties. It also lays out the Magick system for The Everlasting and supplies a few sample spells. It ends with a sample adventure or Odyssey as well as several adventure seeds. The short adventure is very general and vague, leaving much of the details to the Guide, but it creates an interesting plot to start the group on.
From the page 55:“ There are no 'rules' in The Everlasting, only guidelines.”
System:
Character Generation: There are three methods of character generation - point-allocation, random card-draw, and random dice-roll. This again is indicative of the flexibility and broad appeal this game will have to gamers. It has an interesting approach to Aspects (base ability scores), Aptitudes and Skills. In the basic dice or card system, the Ability defines the number of dice rolled or cards drawn, and the Aptitude or Skill subtracts from the difficulty value. It's an interesting balance to allow the raw character ability scores to effect the situation as much as the focused skills. It is a character concept based system, with a 20-question system that helps you flesh out the history, motivation and overall story of the character. It encourages a lot of thought invested in the character and encourages a good knowledge of history to flesh out your immortal character. It is amazing how many in-depth character background stories one can get out of something as 'mundane' as history.
Game Mechanic: The approach to the game system is unique and very flexible for many types of gamers. It supplies the reader with two simple ways of playing - dice or cards. The author is one of those types of game designers that approach a system from the point of view that it is a necessary evil, which is why he supplies several different methods to resolving tasks, etc. In fact, he states upfront that there are no rules, just guidelines. I feel that this point of view is a carry-over from the WoD philosophy and can either attract players or turn off players. I am a game-player and I like some structure in my games. I like to know I am playing a game, and so I like to have rules to guide me through it. I do not consider myself a rules-lawyer however, because I've been known to bend the rules as a GM when necessary.
Dice: The core die is d12 , with difficulties ranging from 0 through 13. This system is similar to the White Wolf's WoD in that each die is compared to the difficulty, and successes are counted. D12 dice are reserved for supernaturals. Mortals role d8 and mortals with supernatural powers role d10, so some things supernaturals can do, mortals can not. I liked this system. Optionally, towards the end of the Guidelines chapter, the author provides percentile dice system for The Everlasting, for those that prefer the bell-curve of the percentage system. The only drawback to the percentage system is that it is a completely different system from the core systems (d12 dice and cards), so some conversion needs to be done as one reads.
Cards: The cards system also has two options: regular playing cards or Tarot. This is refreshing, although not entirely unique. It still works much like dice, comparing the value to a DC. Face cards have values. The duel system between cards and dice is handled well within the text because they are so similar.
Combat System: The combat system is simple but surprisingly robust compared to other systems of this nature. Many games like this (that treat rules as a necessary evil) usually put combat in a very abstract and boring system but The Everlasting tries not to do that while still not being bogged down by some of the more clunky details that other combat systems tend to have. Based on a simple system of ten actions within a 12 second round, each player based on his Speed score, can do a certain amount of actions within that round. Some things take multiple actions, and thus take longer in a round. Actions are declared at the beginning of a round and can not be changed mid-round. In an attack, both attacker and defender make a roll (or draw cards). The number of times the attacker's successes exceeds his opponent's successes acts as a modifier to the base damage of the weapon used. The defender does get a resistance roll/draw to resist the damage. Every character has Life Points, which is what the damage is applied to.
Magick System: The Magic system is similar to the skills system with some complexity added to it. Difficulty is based on effect, target and magnitude. There are also forms of magick - spontaneous, spells and rituals. I found it interesting that added spontaneous. The system encourages the players to create their own spells through a system of turning a spontaneous effect into a permanent learned spell. I found that unique and interesting. It seems simple enough, but I would have to see it in practice.
Layout: The Book of Unliving is a sharp looking book from cover to cover. With its very liberal use of public domain renaissance-era art and card art from the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck and a smattering of original art that ranges from really impressive to decent, it shows a lot of thought and passion was put into the art design and overall look of the rulebook. It conveys a feeling of ancient mystery and dark adventure. The cover art is very attractive and dynamic. The color use is powerful and inspiring. Everyone that I talked to about the books at MACE said they liked the cover art.
The occasional quotes from random resources are impressive. From Joseph Campbell to Bram Stoker; from Plato to Queensryche (80s metal band), it added further flavor to a rich modern fantasy world.
In conclusion, I am torn over The Everlasting based on the first book, Book of the Unliving. The game itself, the core universe, and the opportunities for adventure and story-making all fascinate me and inspire me to at least play a game or two. I find the unique ways they try to change the gaming group dynamic inspiring and interesting and may even be worth a try with the right group of gamers. I initially approached this game with a negative view because of who the author was and the overall look of the game, but found that I actually like the game, its system and its universe. I found it inspiring and already have some ideas for possible campaigns. It was a pleasant surprise to be proven wrong on my initial assessment.
However, the sections that include the new age concepts and touchie-feelie aspects almost turn me off from the game, but I am glad they are presented in an optional way. I have already stated my feelings on the new ages concepts introduced in the text. I felt it was a step too far into making role playing more than a game. I do feel this is a game for more mature role players and I do not see myself buying this for someone like my 14 year old step-son. If I had read these sections alone, I do not think I would have reviewed these books or would have bought them. I am glad I read more than this, but it is this type of subject matter that gives gaming its stigma.
Overall, however, it is a very good game with a solid game system(s) and deep background. I would recommend it to my more mature gamer friends with a wholehearted recommendation of the game itself, but a short forewarning about some of the sections I object to. There is one thing that this and all the books are - thorough and detailed. From the sidebars on some pages defining lexicons and special terms to the details on each genos, it leaves very little out. It is an engulfing world that leaves very little room for questions or confusion. It is a flowing and engulfing world with lots of room to explore, however, with its own mythos and feel.
An extra bonus is given to the writers for a quality index in the back.
For more details on Visionary Entertainment and their Foundation Book “The Everlasting: Book of the Unliving” check them out at their website http://www.visionaryentertainment.com and at all of your local game stores.
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