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The Book o' the Dead, a Pinnacle supplement for their Deadlands line, tackles the Harrowed, undead heroes and villains who are moseying around when they should be pushing up daises. Although the main rulebook gave players a peek at the intriguing concept of running a character from beyond the grave, The Book o' the Dead has the whole enchilada, complete with new edges, powers, and hindrances. Like most of the Deadlands books, The Book o' the Dead is divided into three sections, one for the players, one for players on a need-to-know basis, and one for the Marshal (GM) only. I like this concept as it keeps players from knowing too many of the secrets about their character type.

The book opens with a somewhat dull intro from the Prospector, a recurring (and annoying) NPC character from many of the other Deadlands books. From there it goes on to creating a Harrowed PC. Normally Harrowed characters are a result of a PC dying and coming back from beyond, but the rules in this chapter allow you to start out dead. The author doesn't recommend it, however, as game balance can suffer. On the plus side, there are all sorts of new hindrances for Harrowed characters, some of which can offer excellent opportunities for roleplaying.

The next chapter is invaluable for anyone running Harrowed, as it describes the day-to-day aspects of being dead. It's nice to know how alcohol, food, and social interaction (even sex) work for the Harrowed. I'd say this is one of the key selling points of the book, allowing players a better handle on roleplaying someone who is dead.

After dwelling on the mundane aspects of the living death, we get a whole chapter on their myriad of weird powers. Some of these powers are probably a little over-the-top, but they all have recommendations so a worried Marshal can simply match up the PC's personality type with the power he would get as a Harrowed. I liked this touch.

The last chapter for the players ends with some words on control. A Harrowed character my be powerful, but he has to share his body with the evil demon (called a Manitou) that animates it. The character must constantly battle for control of his own actions, and he is bound to lose from time to time. The worst part is, when the demon is in control, the character displays no outward signs of possession. I can imagine this leading to some extremely paranoid parties.

The need-to-know section (No Man's Land) contains things that even Harrowed have to watch out for. Not everyone is blind to what is happening in the Weird West, and if the PCs run into a group of Blessed in the know, or Texas Rangers looking to "Shoot it or recruit it," they'd better run. This was another key section; sure Harrowed can seem powerful, but they have even more powerful problems, and any good GM can make life an (un)living hell for abusive Harrowed players.

Up next is the Marshal's section, dealing with even more ways to cause trouble for the Harrowed. Manitous are tricky, and a PC might not even know when he has lost control of his own character. Worse yet, even when he does lose control, he will generally refrain from doing any overt treachery, rather he will cause trouble behind the scenes at the worst time possible. This can lead to some rather interesting mysteries that follow the PCs wherever they go.

One of the most interesting parts of the Deadlands character sheet is a box on the back side which asks players to fill in their worst nightmare. This has to do with becoming Harrowed, but the players don't know this yet. The core rulebook gives some suggestions on running the Nightmare, but The Book o' The Dead goes into much greater depth on the player's journey towards Harrowdom. The scenario itself plays out in a surreal dreamy fashion that the writers captured quite well. Its emphasis on roleplaying was also top-notch.

The Marshal's section finishes off with an adventure, which is, unfortunately, one of the major down-sides to the book. Not only is it unsuitable for inserting into the middle of a campaign, it also misses the mark on being a good first scenario for a new campaign, so drastic are its repercussions. With its excessive railroading, over-reliance on an important NPC, and poor pacing, I can't see myself ever running this scenario. That's too bad, because Pinnacle could have made any number of interesting scenarios showcasing the Harrowed.

Overall, The Book o' The Dead is a mixed bag. The book has no index (a big no-no), but it does have a decent table o' contents. The artwork was fair, and nothing stood out, either good or bad. The adventure included is poor, and some of the Harrowed powers are overly powerful. On the other hand, you really do need this book if you want to run Harrowed well without making things up as you go.

How do the Pinkertons treat Harrowed? What happens when a Blessed or Mad Scientist or Huckster becomes Harrowed? How long before the town sheriff realizes that the hombre he's talking to is dead? The answer to these questions, as well as the other minutia that make up a Harrowed's unlife make this book worthwhile. Above that, several of the new Harrowed powers are reasonable and interesting, and the expanded take on the Nightmare scenario is excellent. What it boils down to is this: If you plan on running Harrowed PCs or major NPCs in your campaign, get this book, warts and all. The information in here is too good to pass up, if you don't mind digging for it a bit.

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

Book o' the Dead
Author: Lester Smith Category: game Company/Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group Line: Deadlands Cost: $20.00 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-889546-03-8 Playtest Review by Jonathan Witt on 11/16/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Horror Old_West	The Book o' the Dead, a Pinnacle supplement for their Deadlands line, tackles the Harrowed, undead heroes and villains who are moseying around when they should be pushing up daises. Although the main rulebook gave players a peek at the intriguing concept of running a character from beyond the grave, The Book o' the Dead has the whole enchilada, complete with new edges, powers, and hindrances. Like most of the Deadlands books, The Book o' the Dead is divided into three sections, one for the players, one for players on a need-to-know basis, and one for the Marshal (GM) only. I like this concept as it keeps players from knowing too many of the secrets about their character type. The book opens with a somewhat dull intro from the Prospector, a recurring (and annoying) NPC character from many of the other Deadlands books. From there it goes on to creating a Harrowed PC. Normally Harrowed characters are a result of a PC dying and coming back from beyond, but the rules in this chapter allow you to start out dead. The author doesn't recommend it, however, as game balance can suffer. On the plus side, there are all sorts of new hindrances for Harrowed characters, some of which can offer excellent opportunities for roleplaying. The next chapter is invaluable for anyone running Harrowed, as it describes the day-to-day aspects of being dead. It's nice to know how alcohol, food, and social interaction (even sex) work for the Harrowed. I'd say this is one of the key selling points of the book, allowing players a better handle on roleplaying someone who is dead. After dwelling on the mundane aspects of the living death, we get a whole chapter on their myriad of weird powers. Some of these powers are probably a little over-the-top, but they all have recommendations so a worried Marshal can simply match up the PC's personality type with the power he would get as a Harrowed. I liked this touch. The last chapter for the players ends with some words on control. A Harrowed character my be powerful, but he has to share his body with the evil demon (called a Manitou) that animates it. The character must constantly battle for control of his own actions, and he is bound to lose from time to time. The worst part is, when the demon is in control, the character displays no outward signs of possession. I can imagine this leading to some extremely paranoid parties. The need-to-know section (No Man's Land) contains things that even Harrowed have to watch out for. Not everyone is blind to what is happening in the Weird West, and if the PCs run into a group of Blessed in the know, or Texas Rangers looking to "Shoot it or recruit it," they'd better run. This was another key section; sure Harrowed can seem powerful, but they have even more powerful problems, and any good GM can make life an (un)living hell for abusive Harrowed players. Up next is the Marshal's section, dealing with even more ways to cause trouble for the Harrowed. Manitous are tricky, and a PC might not even know when he has lost control of his own character. Worse yet, even when he does lose control, he will generally refrain from doing any overt treachery, rather he will cause trouble behind the scenes at the worst time possible. This can lead to some rather interesting mysteries that follow the PCs wherever they go. One of the most interesting parts of the Deadlands character sheet is a box on the back side which asks players to fill in their worst nightmare. This has to do with becoming Harrowed, but the players don't know this yet. The core rulebook gives some suggestions on running the Nightmare, but The Book o' The Dead goes into much greater depth on the player's journey towards Harrowdom. The scenario itself plays out in a surreal dreamy fashion that the writers captured quite well. Its emphasis on roleplaying was also top-notch. The Marshal's section finishes off with an adventure, which is, unfortunately, one of the major down-sides to the book. Not only is it unsuitable for inserting into the middle of a campaign, it also misses the mark on being a good first scenario for a new campaign, so drastic are its repercussions. With its excessive railroading, over-reliance on an important NPC, and poor pacing, I can't see myself ever running this scenario. That's too bad, because Pinnacle could have made any number of interesting scenarios showcasing the Harrowed. Overall, The Book o' The Dead is a mixed bag. The book has no index (a big no-no), but it does have a decent table o' contents. The artwork was fair, and nothing stood out, either good or bad. The adventure included is poor, and some of the Harrowed powers are overly powerful. On the other hand, you really do need this book if you want to run Harrowed well without making things up as you go. How do the Pinkertons treat Harrowed? What happens when a Blessed or Mad Scientist or Huckster becomes Harrowed? How long before the town sheriff realizes that the hombre he's talking to is dead? The answer to these questions, as well as the other minutia that make up a Harrowed's unlife make this book worthwhile. Above that, several of the new Harrowed powers are reasonable and interesting, and the expanded take on the Nightmare scenario is excellent. What it boils down to is this: If you plan on running Harrowed PCs or major NPCs in your campaign, get this book, warts and all. The information in here is too good to pass up, if you don't mind digging for it a bit. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)