The Inside Scoop on Gaming

How do you hurt someone who's lost everything?

The canonical answer is "give him back something broken," but if only it were that easy in the World of Darkness. The Book of Madness is definitely one of the darker parts of Mage, dealing as it does with Nephandi, Marauders, infernalists, and a little about the Umbrood. Is this just an attempt to make Mage look more like the rest of the World of Darkness, or is there some real substance here?

For those who aren't as familiar with Mage, the Nephandi and Marauders, and their bastard children Infernalists, are all magi who've lost something. In the case of the Nephandi, they've given up their avatar so that certain dark lords can destroy the earth forever. Marauders have lost their minds one way or another. Infernalists trade their souls for power on Earth, not necessarily to destroy it. "Umbrood" is just a collective term for spirits and those from beyond the Gauntlet and Horizon. These are broad categories, and not nearly as organized as the Traditions, but they can serve to give some view of what you're dealing with.

I can see the light...

Probably the best part of this book is its style. Not necessarily artistic style, or even writing style, but the unity of viewpoint that it keeps about mad magi. Gone are the few hints that the Nephandi were somehow necessary, a dark foil so that good can exist. They want to destroy the world, period, and no matter who they worship or what they've sold their soul to, the end goal is not just domination - it's destruction.

Gone (probably excised with the fluffy-bunny style Malkavians) are the wacky, goofy Marauders who occasionally popped up. This isn't to say that there aren't funny things about the Marauders still in the book (especially with sidebars entitled "Where are my pants?" and "Excuse me, can I use your paradigm"), but mental illness is treated in a much better and more accurate way than it was before. There can be something funny about mental illness, but only if you're not close to the person in question (and I mean close in an emotional sense, not a physical one) (ok, maybe a physical sense too). The book encourages storytellers to make Marauders as personal as possible, to make other Magi see exactly how it feels not to really be in control of your own mind.

As for nuts and bolts, the system for selling your soul is rather nice, quantifying something that had before been left as "you're the GM, fudge it." There are also some neat merits and flaws for Marauders, in case someone wants to play one. No kidding.

One more thing I want to point out as nice is the description of how the different Traditions and Conventions see all of these darker factions, and how they deal with those from inside their own group who turn to the dark side.

... now turn it off.

There are a few things I would have been just as happy to do without in this book. Number one on the list is more about the Umbrood. I think it's been done in enough books that it doesn't need to be done again. And, while the in-character conversation describing the Umbrood was pretty useful, it was more useful for an example of how magi have problems communicating because of their paradigms than as an actual source of information. It's not that it's a bad section of the book, just maybe not necessary.

There's also one thing that makes me worry a little, and that's the inclusion of the widderslainte. Although the idea of being born with a certain type of soul is central to Mage, the idea of a magus being born with a totally evil, irredeemable, twisted blackened inverted soul is kinda bothersome. Basically, these kids will never, ever, EVER want to do anything but be evil little bastards for their entire lives, and things like environment and loving parents and all that makes no difference. It can be a good story element once in a while, but I hope it doesn't become too prevalent in White Wolf's material.

Oh, and there's no index. Geez, people, make indices, or at least a table of contents that has more than just the chapter names. Don't make us flip through 148 pages every time we need to find something.

The Oncoming Train

There's a good amount of GM info in this book, and most of it is clearly designed not to be read by players. Since I'm a GM myself, and a sucker for metaplot, this makes me happy. However, for those of you who aren't lucky enough to get a review copy of the book, I will now post a little spoiler about the metaplot. It seems that the Nephandi are getting weaker, and less able to contact their masters. This is partly the Avatar Storm, but the effect is continuing to grow. The reason for this is that the Malfeans - nasty evil umbral baddies from before the dawn of time - are waking up. The Nephandi contact the Malfeans in their dreams, and no dreams means no power. The Technocracy is apparently contemplating forcing them awake so that all the Nephandic power will dry up. Of course, waking up horrors from before time isn't always the best plan, so we'll see if this little bit of plot gets followed up on. I think it's pretty cool myself, and could easily be something to build a game around.

The Last Spark

So what's the final score?

For substance the book gets a 4. Everything that's useful here is indeed quite useful, and even the repeated stuff is good. Substance would have been a 5 if there were an index and the discussion about Umbrood were put into a more appropriate book.

Style also gets a 4. As usual, White Wolf's done a good job of layout and placement, and it's all quite readable. The art is a little sparse (which is ok because it means more text), and doesn't always have something to do with the text nearby (the "GURPS Syndrome" as it used to be known), but it does serve to lend a bit more atmosphere to the book.

All in all this is a must-have for anyone including more than a single Nephandus, Marauder, or Infernalist, or anyone who wants to see these magi as more than just stereotypes.

The Book of Madness (revised)
The Book of Madness (revised) Capsule Review by Colin Fredericks on 08/04/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A good look into what happens to magi who lose their mind or soul. Product: The Book of Madness (revised) Author: Bryan Armor, Zach Bush, Richard Dansky, Heather Grove, Will van Meter, David Wendt Category: RPG Company/Publisher: White Wolf Line: Mage Cost: $20 Page count: 148 Year published: 2001 ISBN: 1-56504-442-8 SKU: WW 4602 Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Colin Fredericks on 08/04/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Modern day Horror	How do you hurt someone who's lost everything? The canonical answer is "give him back something broken," but if only it were that easy in the World of Darkness. The Book of Madness is definitely one of the darker parts of Mage, dealing as it does with Nephandi, Marauders, infernalists, and a little about the Umbrood. Is this just an attempt to make Mage look more like the rest of the World of Darkness, or is there some real substance here? For those who aren't as familiar with Mage, the Nephandi and Marauders, and their bastard children Infernalists, are all magi who've lost something. In the case of the Nephandi, they've given up their avatar so that certain dark lords can destroy the earth forever. Marauders have lost their minds one way or another. Infernalists trade their souls for power on Earth, not necessarily to destroy it. "Umbrood" is just a collective term for spirits and those from beyond the Gauntlet and Horizon. These are broad categories, and not nearly as organized as the Traditions, but they can serve to give some view of what you're dealing with. I can see the light... Probably the best part of this book is its style. Not necessarily artistic style, or even writing style, but the unity of viewpoint that it keeps about mad magi. Gone are the few hints that the Nephandi were somehow necessary, a dark foil so that good can exist. They want to destroy the world, period, and no matter who they worship or what they've sold their soul to, the end goal is not just domination - it's destruction. Gone (probably excised with the fluffy-bunny style Malkavians) are the wacky, goofy Marauders who occasionally popped up. This isn't to say that there aren't funny things about the Marauders still in the book (especially with sidebars entitled "Where are my pants?" and "Excuse me, can I use your paradigm"), but mental illness is treated in a much better and more accurate way than it was before. There can be something funny about mental illness, but only if you're not close to the person in question (and I mean close in an emotional sense, not a physical one) (ok, maybe a physical sense too). The book encourages storytellers to make Marauders as personal as possible, to make other Magi see exactly how it feels not to really be in control of your own mind. As for nuts and bolts, the system for selling your soul is rather nice, quantifying something that had before been left as "you're the GM, fudge it." There are also some neat merits and flaws for Marauders, in case someone wants to play one. No kidding. One more thing I want to point out as nice is the description of how the different Traditions and Conventions see all of these darker factions, and how they deal with those from inside their own group who turn to the dark side. ... now turn it off. There are a few things I would have been just as happy to do without in this book. Number one on the list is more about the Umbrood. I think it's been done in enough books that it doesn't need to be done again. And, while the in-character conversation describing the Umbrood was pretty useful, it was more useful for an example of how magi have problems communicating because of their paradigms than as an actual source of information. It's not that it's a bad section of the book, just maybe not necessary. There's also one thing that makes me worry a little, and that's the inclusion of the widderslainte. Although the idea of being born with a certain type of soul is central to Mage, the idea of a magus being born with a totally evil, irredeemable, twisted blackened inverted soul is kinda bothersome. Basically, these kids will never, ever, EVER want to do anything but be evil little bastards for their entire lives, and things like environment and loving parents and all that makes no difference. It can be a good story element once in a while, but I hope it doesn't become too prevalent in White Wolf's material. Oh, and there's no index. Geez, people, make indices, or at least a table of contents that has more than just the chapter names. Don't make us flip through 148 pages every time we need to find something. The Oncoming Train There's a good amount of GM info in this book, and most of it is clearly designed not to be read by players. Since I'm a GM myself, and a sucker for metaplot, this makes me happy. However, for those of you who aren't lucky enough to get a review copy of the book, I will now post a little spoiler about the metaplot. It seems that the Nephandi are getting weaker, and less able to contact their masters. This is partly the Avatar Storm, but the effect is continuing to grow. The reason for this is that the Malfeans - nasty evil umbral baddies from before the dawn of time - are waking up. The Nephandi contact the Malfeans in their dreams, and no dreams means no power. The Technocracy is apparently contemplating forcing them awake so that all the Nephandic power will dry up. Of course, waking up horrors from before time isn't always the best plan, so we'll see if this little bit of plot gets followed up on. I think it's pretty cool myself, and could easily be something to build a game around. The Last Spark So what's the final score? For substance the book gets a 4. Everything that's useful here is indeed quite useful, and even the repeated stuff is good. Substance would have been a 5 if there were an index and the discussion about Umbrood were put into a more appropriate book. Style also gets a 4. As usual, White Wolf's done a good job of layout and placement, and it's all quite readable. The art is a little sparse (which is ok because it means more text), and doesn't always have something to do with the text nearby (the "GURPS Syndrome" as it used to be known), but it does serve to lend a bit more atmosphere to the book. All in all this is a must-have for anyone including more than a single Nephandus, Marauder, or Infernalist, or anyone who wants to see these magi as more than just stereotypes.

The Book of Madness (revised)

How do you hurt someone who's lost everything?

I can see the light...

... now turn it off.

The Oncoming Train

The Last Spark