Full disclosure: I have never played Forsaken not read all the way through the core Forsaken book, though I am aware of the concepts and themes.

Volume two in this series further expands on toolbox options for your werewolf games. The theme of the first volume was to isolate and now we are to rebuild core concepts for tweaking and refining.

The first kit involves Uratha's role as supreme hunters of spirits and expands on rules given in the Appendix of the core book. In addition to merely consuming the Essence of the spirit if you engage it in the Sacred Hunt rite and take it down you can gain additional benefits. The swiftness of a hare can be translated into a boost in Speed for a few scenes. Taking down an elk or moose spirit would give benefits to Health or Stamina, perhaps. If you conduct the rite on a spirit not within the natural ecology of wolves' prey things go sideways pretty fast. You might get a fleetness boost from ‘eating’ a motorcycle spirit, for instance but emit noxious carbon monoxide exhaust for a few days. I think this is the strongest kit in this volume but I was left unclear on details. For instance coercing a spirit into taking part in the Hunt capital H involves a contested roll or a spirit may submit to it voluntarily. Why would they ever do that? Some kind of Faustian bargain perhaps? I’ll chalk this up to my lack of knowledge of the New World of Darkness spirit world. I’m far better read on Changeling, but I doubt I’ll be reviewing a new Lost product anytime soon. The metaphysical concepts are pretty solid as are the crunch mechanics and I can see this leading to a lot of interesting roleplaying. I particularly liked the NPC in this section, a werewolf who consumed too many of the wrong kind of spirits and became Su’ur. He’s pretty scary.

The next section is werewolf Fight Club. Yeah. It presents a scenario where Loci loose essence all over the world leading to an orgy of Uratha infighting and the only way to put a stop to it was formalization and creating a lore around what you can and cannot do in a challenge. Werewolf boxing, werewolf mixed martial arts and wrestling, there is even a ritual and ceremony for werewolf chiefs in culinary competitions. If you’re a fan of sports you might be able to get some good gameplay out of this kit but if not it seems kind of silly. I can see the utility if you are of the right mindset. As a Trinity Universe fan I certainly did not balk at the tounge-in-cheek Aberrant wrestling circuit supplement.

The third kit centers around the doomed fight, providing shades of Werewolf: the Apocalypse. The spirit world becomes a desolate wasteland so spirits have been escaping en masse to the material world and in some locations nearly one in ten humans is Ridden or some other spirit-haunted creature. Uratha have been pushed back to the fringes of civilization, few dare to form a resistance in the cities to take down as many as possible before being slain themselves. I rather liked this one, it was a bit more evocative than Apocalypse while still firmly retaining its Forsaken feel. It might become a bit too bleak after a certain point but if you want a chronicle with a lot of action it is a good choice.

‘To rebuild’ is an very interesting addition to the Forsaken line and really conveys a very different vision of the Spirit World. The main focus of the opening segments is on the ‘Predation Chronicle’. In this type of chronicle, the PCs are actively engaged in hunting and consuming (sometimes) spirits for Essence. A variety of motivations for doing so are given (and they all make sense from a Werewolf point of view); as well as creative alternatives which align with each of the types of Renown in the game. There are some great thematic storytelling tools and ideas in this section, and extended rules and advice for running a Hunt are offered. It caps off a brilliant chapter with a discussion on two types of antagonists. The Damuth are apex predator spirits, that consume everything from ideas and dreams to the Uratha. There is some advice on designing them around real-world predators, and the example (based on the blue-ringed octopus) is pretty damn scary (and made even more so by the somewhat disturbing accompanying artwork). The second are the Su’ur, the Uratha who have become addicted to consuming spirits and now can only be nourished by preying on the Uratha. Again, the example given is chilling and could be used to great effect. The second section dealt with ‘The Circuit’ or ‘Fight Club for Uratha’ and didn’t do too much for me. Whilst the writing and ideas were very sound, the ideas just didn’t grab me in the same way as the Predation Chronicle. The supplement ends with ideas for a Resistance-themed game, and offers an alternative look at the WoD through the Uratha. This has a lot of potential, especially as it gives a wide range of tools for the ST, but then goes on to give advice and new rules for players to tailor a character to this type of chronicle. Well worth reading.

Overall, I like the modularised format of this supplement. The design is well-thought-out and there are practical ideas for running slightly skewed version of the setting we all take for granted.