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Doomslayers seems to me to be a book of two minds (well, that really shouldn't shock me, since it is a book of three authors).

It bills itself as "a guide to the Labyrinth and those who dare it". And it's chock full of info on The labyrinth and the Doomslayers, wraiths who are brave/dumb enough to plumb its depths. The info given on Doomslayers in interesting (and a shadow's eye view of events is always cool), giving us info on playing them.

The biggest flaw with the Doomslayers segment? The five pages spent on describing how they use artifacts & relics. The problem with this? It's all references to other books. While it's nice to know that the authors had access to the other books in the series, perhaps they should consider the fact that many of the readers might not. This space could have been much better spent by showing us tools unique to the Doomslayers. At the least, they could have given us a short description of what each artifact did in mechanical terms. The tossing out of "Yeah, these are DARN useful!" critiques while not telling the players what, exactly, they use the artifacts for, is kind of useless.

The information on the Labyrinth was actually more interesting than the data on the Doomslayers themselves. It gives us an in depth view of Spectral society, and loads of info on the various castes of Spectres, the use of Arcanoi in the labyrinth, and some of the beasties to be found (including the evil anti-ferrymen).

The problem is this info expands the scope of the book a bit too much. From Doomslayers, I would expect a bit on the Labyrinth. The mounds of info on the Labyrinth, Spectral society, new Specter powers, etc, seems like it would have been more appropos for a book of its own; perhaps inclusion in a second ed Spectres book?

All in all, D:itL is a useful book, but it seems to lack focus. Storytellers who want to run games in the Labyrinth, whether for spectres or plucky/crazy wraiths, will find it invaluable.

But, just one question: who really cares about Spelunking? Really, now.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Doomslayers: Into the labyrinth
Author: Bruce Baugh, Geoffrey Grabowskit, and Fred Yelk Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Cost: $18 Page count: 168 ISBN: 1-56504-635-8 Capsule Review by Justin Mohareb on 11/23/98. Genre tags: Horror Espionage	Doomslayers seems to me to be a book of two minds (well, that really shouldn't shock me, since it is a book of three authors). It bills itself as "a guide to the Labyrinth and those who dare it". And it's chock full of info on The labyrinth and the Doomslayers, wraiths who are brave/dumb enough to plumb its depths. The info given on Doomslayers in interesting (and a shadow's eye view of events is always cool), giving us info on playing them. The biggest flaw with the Doomslayers segment? The five pages spent on describing how they use artifacts & relics. The problem with this? It's all references to other books. While it's nice to know that the authors had access to the other books in the series, perhaps they should consider the fact that many of the readers might not. This space could have been much better spent by showing us tools unique to the Doomslayers. At the least, they could have given us a short description of what each artifact did in mechanical terms. The tossing out of "Yeah, these are DARN useful!" critiques while not telling the players what, exactly, they use the artifacts for, is kind of useless. The information on the Labyrinth was actually more interesting than the data on the Doomslayers themselves. It gives us an in depth view of Spectral society, and loads of info on the various castes of Spectres, the use of Arcanoi in the labyrinth, and some of the beasties to be found (including the evil anti-ferrymen). The problem is this info expands the scope of the book a bit too much. From Doomslayers, I would expect a bit on the Labyrinth. The mounds of info on the Labyrinth, Spectral society, new Specter powers, etc, seems like it would have been more appropos for a book of its own; perhaps inclusion in a second ed Spectres book? All in all, D:itL is a useful book, but it seems to lack focus. Storytellers who want to run games in the Labyrinth, whether for spectres or plucky/crazy wraiths, will find it invaluable. But, just one question: who really cares about Spelunking? Really, now. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Doomslayers: Into the labyrinth