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I have just recently realized that Wraith: the Oblivion is my favorite World of Darkness game, and was for some time, I just did not get to play it enough. A friend of mine, being aware of this, was on the look out for material I did not have, like The Quick and the Dead. Thanking him for nabbing the book for me, I found that I was initially very pleased with it, and then it spiraled rapidly downhill.

The fiction has its moments, but was nothing to harp about. A nice, solid story with some very interesting elements.

It is the first chapter of real information that made me think that this book would be wonderful, and that chapter is damned good, it is just not good enough to carry the rest of the book. The chapter is all about the various groups that deal with wraiths (although called hunters in the general, not all of them actually hunt ghosts) and they are divided up and associated according to motivation, whether power, greed, hate, or simple thrill. Not all of the groups are in the know, nor are all of the groups wide-spread. I enjoyed getting information on the extensive and organized Orphic Circle as well as the wandering and scattered Benandanti and the street gang the Bloo Moons. It is the sheer variety and thought of the groups that made me like them so much. There are genuine articles, hoaxes and even the genuine sometimes hiding behind a hoax. There were also scientists (with no mention - thankfully - of the Technocratic Union) who are interested in wraiths for many reasons, from alternate sources of power to simple curiosity. Chronicle and story ideas of all sort flooded my head when I read this chapter.

Following that is the character creation chapter, and it is about as lukewarm as almost every such chapter. There are slew of new Abilities, and the chapter leans upon the standard mortal creation rules. The only really interesting bit in all the Abilities is that the level descriptions really do play up the ignorance of hunters, and that is a good thing, although they might be rather specialized in my opinion. There are also the new backgrounds of Personal Library and Sidekick. The Numina included are the standard fare for mortal books, and have never been able to really excite me, with a few exceptions. All of the magic has since been redone in World of Darkness: Sorcerer and the psychic powers are just as bland as ever, really. There is also a chapter on special rituals, some of which are quite good. I highly appreciated the information on the Benandant.

The next chapter is the storytelling chapter, looking at the types of hunter chronicles. It was not particularly motivating, I must say, but it was well organized and reasonably short.

Chapter five is all about creating an organization by the rules. Unfortunately, those are actually rules with point costs and whatnot. I am definitely not a fan of point-based groups, I think it would have been immensely more helpful to be a simple question and answer chapter, noting things to take into consideration with hunter groups. As it stands, the chapter is of little use.

The equipment appendix is similarly work-horse and not exciting with a few neat exceptions, mainly in the unique occult gear. Oddly enough, there is even a fair bit of information on security systems.

On the whole, the book seemed incomplete somehow, like I was waiting for the rest of the information. It also did not help that the book became less and less interesting and information-packed as it went on. It started off so well, but almost without exception, I could have simply ignored the second half of the book and not have missed much of interest.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

The Quick and the Dead
Author: Elizabeth Fischi Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Line: Wraith: the Oblivion Cost: $12.00 Page count: 101 ISBN: 1-56504-613-7 SKU: WW6008 Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 07/14/99. Genre tags: Modern_day Horror Gothic	I have just recently realized that Wraith: the Oblivion is my favorite World of Darkness game, and was for some time, I just did not get to play it enough. A friend of mine, being aware of this, was on the look out for material I did not have, like The Quick and the Dead. Thanking him for nabbing the book for me, I found that I was initially very pleased with it, and then it spiraled rapidly downhill. The fiction has its moments, but was nothing to harp about. A nice, solid story with some very interesting elements. It is the first chapter of real information that made me think that this book would be wonderful, and that chapter is damned good, it is just not good enough to carry the rest of the book. The chapter is all about the various groups that deal with wraiths (although called hunters in the general, not all of them actually hunt ghosts) and they are divided up and associated according to motivation, whether power, greed, hate, or simple thrill. Not all of the groups are in the know, nor are all of the groups wide-spread. I enjoyed getting information on the extensive and organized Orphic Circle as well as the wandering and scattered Benandanti and the street gang the Bloo Moons. It is the sheer variety and thought of the groups that made me like them so much. There are genuine articles, hoaxes and even the genuine sometimes hiding behind a hoax. There were also scientists (with no mention - thankfully - of the Technocratic Union) who are interested in wraiths for many reasons, from alternate sources of power to simple curiosity. Chronicle and story ideas of all sort flooded my head when I read this chapter. Following that is the character creation chapter, and it is about as lukewarm as almost every such chapter. There are slew of new Abilities, and the chapter leans upon the standard mortal creation rules. The only really interesting bit in all the Abilities is that the level descriptions really do play up the ignorance of hunters, and that is a good thing, although they might be rather specialized in my opinion. There are also the new backgrounds of Personal Library and Sidekick. The Numina included are the standard fare for mortal books, and have never been able to really excite me, with a few exceptions. All of the magic has since been redone in World of Darkness: Sorcerer and the psychic powers are just as bland as ever, really. There is also a chapter on special rituals, some of which are quite good. I highly appreciated the information on the Benandant. The next chapter is the storytelling chapter, looking at the types of hunter chronicles. It was not particularly motivating, I must say, but it was well organized and reasonably short. Chapter five is all about creating an organization by the rules. Unfortunately, those are actually rules with point costs and whatnot. I am definitely not a fan of point-based groups, I think it would have been immensely more helpful to be a simple question and answer chapter, noting things to take into consideration with hunter groups. As it stands, the chapter is of little use. The equipment appendix is similarly work-horse and not exciting with a few neat exceptions, mainly in the unique occult gear. Oddly enough, there is even a fair bit of information on security systems. On the whole, the book seemed incomplete somehow, like I was waiting for the rest of the information. It also did not help that the book became less and less interesting and information-packed as it went on. It started off so well, but almost without exception, I could have simply ignored the second half of the book and not have missed much of interest. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)