The Inside Scoop on Gaming

As the other Traditions Gathered books, this is not an original book but 3 different ones bundled in the same package. As I said in my Traditions Gathered Vol 1 review, this can be a good or a bad thing. It's good because you can get 3 books for the price of 2, but is a bad thing if you just wanted 1 because the Traditions books are no longer available by their own.

On with the review. As I did with Songs of Science, I'll split this review in the 3 books this package is composed of.

Verbena

The Verbena Tradition book is not as bad as many people say, but it's definitely missing a whole lot of information about these nature mystics. The book itself tells the story of 6 new Verbena apprentices, who come from different places and conditions. It also presents you with some of their instructors, including Talien, who at first sight doesn't seem much Verbena (although he is a Verbena by all means; just keep reading when you get to that point!) and a bunch of others (I'm not ruining the fun for you!).

The history section has a nice concept mixing some legends from the Norse, the Celts and others, but it's missing *a lot* of information and you have to figure out a lot for yourself.

The society section is probably the most scarce of all, describing just the old pagan festivals revered by the Verbena and the main four factions among them. I'd expected at least some information about Wicca (don't get me wrong: I didn't expected a treatise of Wicca, but at least some brief information like the one about Kabbalah in the Order of Hermes book), or maybe some mythology on pagan religions, but all you get in this section are these 8 pages.

The next chapters of the book concludes the story and then gives you the usual templates. Now this is an interesting part of the book, as the templates are the 6 characters of the main story.

The final part brings you some information about how Verbena view their Magick (not very extense but not bad either) and 3 famous Verbena that are also mentioned in other books.

The Verbena Trad book is easy to read, and quite enjoyable, but not very informative. I'd give it a 2 in style (my already mentioned in Trads Gathered 1 "first edition syndrome") and a 2 in Substance (enjoyable, but not very useful). Dreamspeakers

Now, this one's great! The Dreamspeaker Trad book is my third favorite one (behind Euthanatos and Order of Hermes), as it really shines bringing you the Dreamspeaker view on what others call "reality".

As with other Trad books, Dreamspeakers uses a story-driven narrative, this time being the tale of a Mohawk named Michael Skyhawk who works at high steel and is taken by an old Dreamspeaker as an apprentice. The first chapter, the usual history section, details the origins of the different main tribes that were later gathered together as one single Tradition by the Council of Nine. This section does a nice work describing shamans from the Americas, Africa, Asutralia, Polynesia and Siberia, as well as telling how they were gathered in the single Those-Who-Speak-With-Dreams Tradition and their evolution from that point on.

The next section describes the shamanic journey (the path all Dreamspeakers walk during their lives), their relationship with the Iwa (the spirits) and their internal protocols and relationships. Although the Dreamspeakers were originally a "catch-all" Tradition for those mysticks who didn't seem to fit anywhere else, the Tradition members have a whole lot in common and this is where this is clearly explained.

The external reations explains a little about what Dreamspeakres think of the other Mages, but it's a section describing more the relationships between the Dreamspeakers and the other creatures from the World of Darkness (especially the Changelings, the Changing Breeds and the Spirits). The Spirits section is probably the most detailed, and it gives you a very good approach to how the shamans view the spirits, opposed to the Hermetic view. Although a much more detailed section of spirits can be found in The Spirit Ways, this section gives you what a Dreamspeaker player initially needs.

Chapter Four is the templates and noted Dreamspeakers section. The templates are rather conventional, but the noted shamans section really shines, and gives the storyteller some good NPCs to throw to his/her chronicle. The final part is the usual magick section, but here the book shines again bringing you a completely different view of the nine Spheres, some great ideas for foci and some few information about Dreamspeaker familiars and totems.

All in all, Dreamspeakers is a great book describing in understandable terms one of the most strange Traditions of all. The layout and artwork are also great, and I'd give them a 4.5. For the content, I'd give it a 4.

Cult of Ecstasy

A really good book by Phil Brucato himself. I must admit that before reading this book I thought the Cult was just a bunch on worthless drug-addicts and I didn't find much use for them in the Traditions. Maybe that was because the only thing I had read about them came from 2 pages in the 2nd Edition rulebook, but anyway, how wrong I was!

As with the other 2 books in this package, CoX tells a story while explaining the Tradition; this time featuring a "nice girl" named Cassie who was brought to the Cult by a cultist named Aria, who, with a friend of her she only calls "Wolf", introduce her into new sexual practices and of course, the use of sense-heightening substances.

The history section is probably my favorite in this book, as it was the one that first showed me how wrong I was in my appreciation of the Cult. This section tells about the ancestors of the Cult, who were wise Seers from varoius different cultures around the world. It also mentions some elements of the next section as their philosophy and their nine sacred passions. This section shows that you can do a good job describing different origins of a Tradition, unlike the Verbena book.

The next section tells you about what the Cult believes to be Ascension, and how they relate between them. Probably my favorite part in this section was the one about the Cult's sects, as you can chose a character that is really against stereotypes. The sects are almost as varied as the Houses from the Order of Hermes, which opens the possibility of playing a Cult-only chronicle...

The 3rd chapter was probably the only thing I didn't like about CoX book. I usually enjoy looking at what the Tradition thinks of the others, but for a Tradition that usually fights against stereotypes, this small section is the most stereotypical thing Phil Brucato could do. It just describes some other Mages as "blockheads", and that is as much far as it goes.

The next chapter has some interesting character templates (I really liked the prince of pain) and one of the most controvertic "noted characters" section, claiming characters such as Rasputin, Isadora Duncan and Jim Morrison within the Cult's ranks; and for this book, I believe this is just great!

The book ends with an Ecstatic Arts appendix, which in my humble opinion is probably the best paradigm section of all Tradition books. It gives you a clear look at Perception magicks and their foci, as well as some really, really interesting rotes.

I liked the book layout too, although I've seen better art. I'd give it a 4 in Style, and a definite 4 in Substance.

The Bundle With 2 really good books and just 1 mediocre one, this volume is probably the best buy you can do of the 3 Tradition Gathered volumes if you're not looking for a specific Tradition but rather the best quality among them. Of course, if your tradition is not here and you really want that book, save the money and buy the corresponding volume.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Traditions Gathered Vol 2: Blood and Dreams
Author: Verbena: Nicky Rea, Sam Chupp, Lucien Dark; Dreamspeakers: Nicky Rea, Jackie Cassada; Cult of Ecstasy: Phil Brucato Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Line: Mage Cost: 20 Page count: 216 ISBN: 1-56504-446-0 SKU: WW4054 Capsule Review by Andres F Pabon on 04/12/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Conspiracy Gothic	As the other Traditions Gathered books, this is not an original book but 3 different ones bundled in the same package. As I said in my Traditions Gathered Vol 1 review, this can be a good or a bad thing. It's good because you can get 3 books for the price of 2, but is a bad thing if you just wanted 1 because the Traditions books are no longer available by their own. On with the review. As I did with Songs of Science, I'll split this review in the 3 books this package is composed of. Verbena The Verbena Tradition book is not as bad as many people say, but it's definitely missing a whole lot of information about these nature mystics. The book itself tells the story of 6 new Verbena apprentices, who come from different places and conditions. It also presents you with some of their instructors, including Talien, who at first sight doesn't seem much Verbena (although he is a Verbena by all means; just keep reading when you get to that point!) and a bunch of others (I'm not ruining the fun for you!). The history section has a nice concept mixing some legends from the Norse, the Celts and others, but it's missing a lot of information and you have to figure out a lot for yourself. The society section is probably the most scarce of all, describing just the old pagan festivals revered by the Verbena and the main four factions among them. I'd expected at least some information about Wicca (don't get me wrong: I didn't expected a treatise of Wicca, but at least some brief information like the one about Kabbalah in the Order of Hermes book), or maybe some mythology on pagan religions, but all you get in this section are these 8 pages. The next chapters of the book concludes the story and then gives you the usual templates. Now this is an interesting part of the book, as the templates are the 6 characters of the main story. The final part brings you some information about how Verbena view their Magick (not very extense but not bad either) and 3 famous Verbena that are also mentioned in other books. The Verbena Trad book is easy to read, and quite enjoyable, but not very informative. I'd give it a 2 in style (my already mentioned in Trads Gathered 1 "first edition syndrome") and a 2 in Substance (enjoyable, but not very useful). Dreamspeakers Now, this one's great! The Dreamspeaker Trad book is my third favorite one (behind Euthanatos and Order of Hermes), as it really shines bringing you the Dreamspeaker view on what others call "reality". As with other Trad books, Dreamspeakers uses a story-driven narrative, this time being the tale of a Mohawk named Michael Skyhawk who works at high steel and is taken by an old Dreamspeaker as an apprentice. The first chapter, the usual history section, details the origins of the different main tribes that were later gathered together as one single Tradition by the Council of Nine. This section does a nice work describing shamans from the Americas, Africa, Asutralia, Polynesia and Siberia, as well as telling how they were gathered in the single Those-Who-Speak-With-Dreams Tradition and their evolution from that point on. The next section describes the shamanic journey (the path all Dreamspeakers walk during their lives), their relationship with the Iwa (the spirits) and their internal protocols and relationships. Although the Dreamspeakers were originally a "catch-all" Tradition for those mysticks who didn't seem to fit anywhere else, the Tradition members have a whole lot in common and this is where this is clearly explained. The external reations explains a little about what Dreamspeakres think of the other Mages, but it's a section describing more the relationships between the Dreamspeakers and the other creatures from the World of Darkness (especially the Changelings, the Changing Breeds and the Spirits). The Spirits section is probably the most detailed, and it gives you a very good approach to how the shamans view the spirits, opposed to the Hermetic view. Although a much more detailed section of spirits can be found in The Spirit Ways, this section gives you what a Dreamspeaker player initially needs. Chapter Four is the templates and noted Dreamspeakers section. The templates are rather conventional, but the noted shamans section really shines, and gives the storyteller some good NPCs to throw to his/her chronicle. The final part is the usual magick section, but here the book shines again bringing you a completely different view of the nine Spheres, some great ideas for foci and some few information about Dreamspeaker familiars and totems. All in all, Dreamspeakers is a great book describing in understandable terms one of the most strange Traditions of all. The layout and artwork are also great, and I'd give them a 4.5. For the content, I'd give it a 4. Cult of Ecstasy A really good book by Phil Brucato himself. I must admit that before reading this book I thought the Cult was just a bunch on worthless drug-addicts and I didn't find much use for them in the Traditions. Maybe that was because the only thing I had read about them came from 2 pages in the 2nd Edition rulebook, but anyway, how wrong I was! As with the other 2 books in this package, CoX tells a story while explaining the Tradition; this time featuring a "nice girl" named Cassie who was brought to the Cult by a cultist named Aria, who, with a friend of her she only calls "Wolf", introduce her into new sexual practices and of course, the use of sense-heightening substances. The history section is probably my favorite in this book, as it was the one that first showed me how wrong I was in my appreciation of the Cult. This section tells about the ancestors of the Cult, who were wise Seers from varoius different cultures around the world. It also mentions some elements of the next section as their philosophy and their nine sacred passions. This section shows that you can do a good job describing different origins of a Tradition, unlike the Verbena book. The next section tells you about what the Cult believes to be Ascension, and how they relate between them. Probably my favorite part in this section was the one about the Cult's sects, as you can chose a character that is really against stereotypes. The sects are almost as varied as the Houses from the Order of Hermes, which opens the possibility of playing a Cult-only chronicle... The 3rd chapter was probably the only thing I didn't like about CoX book. I usually enjoy looking at what the Tradition thinks of the others, but for a Tradition that usually fights against stereotypes, this small section is the most stereotypical thing Phil Brucato could do. It just describes some other Mages as "blockheads", and that is as much far as it goes. The next chapter has some interesting character templates (I really liked the prince of pain) and one of the most controvertic "noted characters" section, claiming characters such as Rasputin, Isadora Duncan and Jim Morrison within the Cult's ranks; and for this book, I believe this is just great! The book ends with an Ecstatic Arts appendix, which in my humble opinion is probably the best paradigm section of all Tradition books. It gives you a clear look at Perception magicks and their foci, as well as some really, really interesting rotes. I liked the book layout too, although I've seen better art. I'd give it a 4 in Style, and a definite 4 in Substance. The Bundle With 2 really good books and just 1 mediocre one, this volume is probably the best buy you can do of the 3 Tradition Gathered volumes if you're not looking for a specific Tradition but rather the best quality among them. Of course, if your tradition is not here and you really want that book, save the money and buy the corresponding volume. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Traditions Gathered Vol 2: Blood and Dreams