The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Wendigo is the final tribebook for Werewolf: the Apocalypse. It is fitting it's written by Bill Bridges, the man who developed the game for several years, and helped bring it to the point it's at today (where it is ably managed by Ethan Skemp).

If you're familiar with the Werewolf Tribebooks, this book contains the standard information. Thankfully, it doesn't feel formulaic as some splatbooks do.

In Wendigo, the information is presented as a lesson to a garou from a group of elders (although there's something special about the elders that you can pick up on early if you're paying attention). The presentation is interesting, and because it's presented as being done by four separate groups, comes off more interesting than a 'this is the history of our tribe. Can anyone name this ancestor spirit? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?'

The toys chapter (called Power in this book) gives us an assortment of new stuff, including several gifts of the now extinct Croatan tribe. There's a flaw that seems made for me (Bitter), and a set of rites that's quite interesting. The totems are quite fun, and the fetishes are quite interesting (including the Ghost Canoe, Stone Bow, and Ghost Dance Shirt).

The templates are interesting, although seem rather short on Rage for the fiery Wendigo. The mere idea of templates is somewhat divisive among fans; I like them, if only to help get games started quickly.

If I have to pick a quibble with this book it's the lack of a glossary. While most terms get explained in the course of the book (or make sense in context), some don't. One example is in the introductory comic (which is very nicely done for one of these). One of the characters calls out "I will summon our Tuunrat, Amikuk!" I assumed from context that Tuunrat is totem, but it left to wonder what the HECK an Amikuk is?

Minor things like that detracted a little from my enjoyment of the book, but all in all it was very nicely done, and a fitting capstone to the Tribebook series.

Until we get Tribeook: White Howlers, of course.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Tribebook: Wendigo
Author: Bill Bridges Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Cost: $10 Page count: 72 ISBN: 1-56504-334-0 Capsule Review by Justin Mohareb on 11/27/98. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Horror	Wendigo is the final tribebook for Werewolf: the Apocalypse. It is fitting it's written by Bill Bridges, the man who developed the game for several years, and helped bring it to the point it's at today (where it is ably managed by Ethan Skemp). If you're familiar with the Werewolf Tribebooks, this book contains the standard information. Thankfully, it doesn't feel formulaic as some splatbooks do. In Wendigo, the information is presented as a lesson to a garou from a group of elders (although there's something special about the elders that you can pick up on early if you're paying attention). The presentation is interesting, and because it's presented as being done by four separate groups, comes off more interesting than a 'this is the history of our tribe. Can anyone name this ancestor spirit? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?' The toys chapter (called Power in this book) gives us an assortment of new stuff, including several gifts of the now extinct Croatan tribe. There's a flaw that seems made for me (Bitter), and a set of rites that's quite interesting. The totems are quite fun, and the fetishes are quite interesting (including the Ghost Canoe, Stone Bow, and Ghost Dance Shirt). The templates are interesting, although seem rather short on Rage for the fiery Wendigo. The mere idea of templates is somewhat divisive among fans; I like them, if only to help get games started quickly. If I have to pick a quibble with this book it's the lack of a glossary. While most terms get explained in the course of the book (or make sense in context), some don't. One example is in the introductory comic (which is very nicely done for one of these). One of the characters calls out "I will summon our Tuunrat, Amikuk!" I assumed from context that Tuunrat is totem, but it left to wonder what the HECK an Amikuk is? Minor things like that detracted a little from my enjoyment of the book, but all in all it was very nicely done, and a fitting capstone to the Tribebook series. Until we get Tribeook: White Howlers, of course. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Tribebook: Wendigo