The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This review is for the Witchcraft RPG (2nd edition), by C. J. Carella. I have the softbound version put out a year or so ago. Currently the game is available only in hardcover. The book measures 9.5" by 7.5", not sure if this trade paperback or some similar standard. It is a perfect-bound softcover with a beautiful cover painting by George Vasilakos, featuring a Wicca holding a Book of Shadows with a raven and moon in the background. I have liked a couple other books written by C. J. Carella, but this cover is what made me actually take the book from the shelf and give it a look-through. The book is 320 pages long with 12 point text that is very easy to read. There isn't too much white space, and the interior art ranges from average to excellent. The game actually had an editor worth something! I can't recall any typos off-hand, which means they were few and far between, something very rare in the RPG industry (which makes no sense to me, since they rely on books). There is a decent glossary, and a very good index. One thing that was really nice is that all the changes between editions were explained in sideboxes in each appropriate section, which would really help those GM's switching from 1st to 2nd edition. It didn't mean much to me personally, but I like to see that kind of stuff in books. It shows that the publishers actually kinda cares about his product.

The book opens with a short piece of game fiction which nicely illustrates the setting. It is a good read, and leaves the reader with a slightly unsettling feeling. The story is the start of Chapter One, which is the Introduction. This consists of the standard What is roleplaying, dice and game terms, and a bit of history on the author. Pretty standard fare.

Chapter Two is the Setting. The world is modern-day earth, but one that has working magic. The Time of Reckoning is coming, in which lots of REALLY BAD THINGS are going to happen. Terrible, long-forgotten gods will reawaken and lay waste to the world, unless their followers can be stopped. Kinda like Cthulhu. The Gifted, those with access to magic, are explained, as is Essence, which is the force of magic in the world. The Basic types of magic are introduced. They include Magic, The Sight (think psionics), Necromancy (seeing and speaking with the dead), and Divine Inspiration (performing miracles). The idea of Covenants, or like-minded groups of mages, is also discussed. Think of a small coven of witches for this. Game fiction is interspersed throughout, giving a very good viewpoint for all the major covenants. Mainly this chapter just introduces stuff that will be discussed in detail further on in the book. It gives a nice overview of the world without losing the reader in details. It's relatively short, but helps build the interest of the reader.

Chapter Three is about Roles, and is all about Character Creation. They suggest starting with a basic Concept and building your character around it, which I think is a good idea. Basic background suggestions are given for a number of concept archetypes, which will help newer GM's. Next is the big divider for characters, where they can choose to be Gifted, Lesser Gifted, or Mundane. Gifted are very good at magic but are poor in skills. Mundanes are very good at skills, but have no magic. Lesser Gifted are somewhere in-between. Skills and spells are point bought, and it seems to be pretty balanced. Characters can be human or bast, which are intelligent spell-casting cats (some of whom can turn into human form). The bast idea is neat, but I imagine most players will go with humans.

Next are the character Associations. First are the Wicce, who are hippy, tree-hugging spellcasters who use Magic. The believe in the Goddess, and pay particular attention to nature. It is based on the Wicca Neopagan religion in this country. Next are the Rosicrucians, who are rich, highly-educated businessmen who use Magic. After this are the Sentinels, who are basically soldiers of Christ (or Buddha, Allah...). They use Divine Magic to destroy monsters and evil spellcasters. After this is the Twilight Order, which consists of Necromancers. They communicate with the dead, putting spirits to rest and defeating evil ghosts. Following them are the Cabal of the Psyche, who are masters of the Sight. They basically try to keep a low profile, and attempt to predict where problems with cultists or monsters may occur and then confront them. Lastly are the Solitaires. They are basically people who can use one of the types of magic and do things their own way, preferring not to depend on a greater Order or maybe they just have never met someone with magic and so have developed it on their own.

Next comes the Character Attributes, which range from one to five. The attributes are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception, and Willpower. Pretty standard fare. Secondary attributes are base on these, and are: Life Points (think hit points), Endurance Points (used to resist fatigue), Speed (how fast you run), and Essence Points (your available magic pool). After this are the standard Qualities and Drawbacks (bonuses and negatives such as Adversary and Contacts). Following them are the Supernatural Qualities and Drawbacks. These are relatively standard, though they are well explained with a decent amount of text per entry. Next is the skill list, also pretty standard. After this is character possessions and finishing off the character. Then a number of archetype beginning characters are given. I personally would have preferred just one, which would be built step-by-step in the text, but I guess I can't have everything.

Next comes Chapter Four, the Rules. The game uses the Unisystem, which is also found in All Flesh Must Be Eaten, a great zombie game. The game is basically run by the following dice mechanic: roll a ten-sided die, then add the attribute and/or skill numbers required. The "Chronicler" (oh yeah, they changed the GM name), then adds or subtracts any situational modifiers. If the final result is a 9 or higher, the action succeeds. If not, it failed. It's very simple, and works extremely well. Other dice may be needed for damage rolls, but the ten-sider is your main requirement. One neat thing they did is give all the weapons, armor, explosions, etc. number values that you can use for damage if you don't want to roll dice (the numbers are the average value). This could speed up the game, but will remove a bit of the fun of doing a whole lot of damage with really good rolls. There is also a table for critical success, where the higher you roll over nine, the better you do. Combat and various situational modifiers are discussed in detail. The rules are very well done, being both quick and accurate. Oh yeah, combat is DANGEROUS. You can't run around expecting to get shot and live. Characters should be cautious when entering dangerous situations, or their lifespans will be quite short. The experience system is very nice. You will actually get more xp by doing something that could really hurt your character if it is how he normally reacts than if you try to "cheat" and avoid an encounter. I like this a LOT! Experience is completely based on roleplaying instead of beating up things. I wish more games would do this.

Chapter Five is about the Associations. All the main Associations are explored in more detail. The Wicce, Rosicrucians, Twilight Order, Divinely Inspired, Cabal of the Psyche, and the Solitaires are given explanations about the basic association, how they feel about each other, etc. A creepy solitaire group of Solitaires who ride around in a van and perform sabotage against people their leader doesn't like is also included as an example. More game fiction is also included. Overall, a pretty strong chapter.

Chaper Six is about Metaphysics. All the types of magic are explained. How magic is cast is explained in detail. One thing I really like is how having extra casters working in a group will improve the power of the spell. Also, large crowds of mundane "normal" people will negate magic, as their disbelief will not allow it to occur. This could be very bad for PC's who think they can hold off an angry mob or gang. Places of Power are discussed, as well as times when magic is more powerful (midnight, full moon, Samhain, etc). Circles and Pentagrams, as well as the effects of crystals and salt are also introduced. This chapter is just full of good information, and the spells haven't even been discussed yet!

There are actually only a fairly small number of spells in the book, but they are generally powerful and can often be used in multiple ways. Each type is divided into the Invocation, which is the spell itself, and Effects, which are different ways it can be used.

The Invocations of Magic include Affect the Psyche, Blessing, Cleansing, Consecration, Communion, Elemental Air/Fire/Earth/Water, Farsight, Gateway, Insight, Lesser Curse, Lesser Healing, Lesser Illusion, Shielding, Soul Projection, Soulfire, Spirit Mastery, Symbols of Protection, and Warding.

The Sight has the following Seer Powers: Mindsight (ESP), Mindtalk (talk to people mentally), Mindrule (take over peoples minds), Mindhands (telekinesis), Mindheal (healing), Mindfire (pyrokinesis), Mindtime (see into the future), Mindkill (mental attacks), and Mindview (improved senses).

Next comes Necromancy, which has the following Necromantic Powers: Death Speech (see, speak with, and summon the dead), Death Vessel (communion with the dead), Death Lordship (exorcism, control spirits), and Death Mastery (identify murders and such, force people's souls out of their body, wishing death upon someone).

Lastly is Divine Inspiration, which gives the user access to the following Miracles (which may or may not be granted): The Binding (of supernatural beings), The Touch of Healing, Exorcism, Divine Sight (see things as they Truly are), Holy Fire, Strength of Ten, and Visions (from your deity). Prayer is also examined, and is VERY important. It can allow a mundane who is very devout to actually be able to cast a Miracle. This would be very rare, but is possible. Overall, a very solid chapter, and the main purpose of the book.

Chapter Seven deals with the Supernatural. This chapter goes into the history of mages a bit, and explains the Reckoning in more detail. Next are rules for various supernatural creatures which can be encountered in the world. Nature Spirits, Elementals, Wildlings (evil, twisted nature spirits), Spirits of the Dead, Ghosts (which can become a PC race), Undead such as the Relentless Dead and Vampyres, Bast, Demons, Seraphim (Angels), The Mad Gods and their followers (who will bring about the Reckoning), and the Combine (a mysterious agency which controls much of the world behind the scenes) are all discussed. Basic powers for each are given, and a sample NPC of each type is presented. I especially like Razorhand, a Relentless Dead who was killed after having his hand cut off by his murderous father. He replaced his hand with a big cleaver and has since killed off pretty much anyone he knew in life and now wanders about slaughtering those who happen to get in his way. This chapter provided a lot of neat details that the GM should have no problem putting into his game. I like it.

Chapter Eight is a short section entitled Chronicling, which is just basic GM advice. Game power levels are discussed, and a few campaign ideas are presented. Nothing too major, but it could help beginning GM's.

After this is a glossary of game terms, then an appendix which contains most/all of the tables in the game. An index, several character sheets, and a few pages of ads for Eden Studios games finish out the book.

Overall, I really like this book. It has a hard edge, with powerful characters being forced to deal with events beyond their abilities. You can easily run a campaign at the street level, never showing off a lot of magic, or you could take on the servants of the Mad Gods in an attempt to prevent the Reckoning. The game will support both levels of play. The system itself is easy to learn and play. GMing it isn't hard, considering the amount of coverage given the various situational modifiers, which aren't that difficult to pick up. There isn't a ton of dice-rolling, either, which will often slow a game down. The setting background was fairly light, yet it didn't have to be anything major, being set in the current world. The overall feel of the game is a bit dark, but there is hope presented by the chance to defeat the Mad Gods. (In the Eden Studios line, the Reckoning occurs, but in a different game line). The closest competitor I can think of would be Mage, and I personally say this game beats that one (especially the Revised Edition) hands down! If you like Mage, you owe it to yourself to buy this game (this is coming from someone who has Mage Revised).

Witchcraft RPG
Witchcraft RPG Playtest Review by Dan Buterbaugh on 09/04/02 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) An excellent Modern Day mage game, with a twist of horror. Product: Witchcraft RPG Author: C. J. Carella Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Eden Studios Line: Witchcraft Cost: 28 Page count: 320 Year published: 1999 ISBN: 1-891153-40-2 SKU: EDN4000 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by Dan Buterbaugh on 09/04/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Modern day Horror	This review is for the Witchcraft RPG (2nd edition), by C. J. Carella. I have the softbound version put out a year or so ago. Currently the game is available only in hardcover. The book measures 9.5" by 7.5", not sure if this trade paperback or some similar standard. It is a perfect-bound softcover with a beautiful cover painting by George Vasilakos, featuring a Wicca holding a Book of Shadows with a raven and moon in the background. I have liked a couple other books written by C. J. Carella, but this cover is what made me actually take the book from the shelf and give it a look-through. The book is 320 pages long with 12 point text that is very easy to read. There isn't too much white space, and the interior art ranges from average to excellent. The game actually had an editor worth something! I can't recall any typos off-hand, which means they were few and far between, something very rare in the RPG industry (which makes no sense to me, since they rely on books). There is a decent glossary, and a very good index. One thing that was really nice is that all the changes between editions were explained in sideboxes in each appropriate section, which would really help those GM's switching from 1st to 2nd edition. It didn't mean much to me personally, but I like to see that kind of stuff in books. It shows that the publishers actually kinda cares about his product. The book opens with a short piece of game fiction which nicely illustrates the setting. It is a good read, and leaves the reader with a slightly unsettling feeling. The story is the start of Chapter One, which is the Introduction. This consists of the standard What is roleplaying, dice and game terms, and a bit of history on the author. Pretty standard fare. Chapter Two is the Setting. The world is modern-day earth, but one that has working magic. The Time of Reckoning is coming, in which lots of REALLY BAD THINGS are going to happen. Terrible, long-forgotten gods will reawaken and lay waste to the world, unless their followers can be stopped. Kinda like Cthulhu. The Gifted, those with access to magic, are explained, as is Essence, which is the force of magic in the world. The Basic types of magic are introduced. They include Magic, The Sight (think psionics), Necromancy (seeing and speaking with the dead), and Divine Inspiration (performing miracles). The idea of Covenants, or like-minded groups of mages, is also discussed. Think of a small coven of witches for this. Game fiction is interspersed throughout, giving a very good viewpoint for all the major covenants. Mainly this chapter just introduces stuff that will be discussed in detail further on in the book. It gives a nice overview of the world without losing the reader in details. It's relatively short, but helps build the interest of the reader. Chapter Three is about Roles, and is all about Character Creation. They suggest starting with a basic Concept and building your character around it, which I think is a good idea. Basic background suggestions are given for a number of concept archetypes, which will help newer GM's. Next is the big divider for characters, where they can choose to be Gifted, Lesser Gifted, or Mundane. Gifted are very good at magic but are poor in skills. Mundanes are very good at skills, but have no magic. Lesser Gifted are somewhere in-between. Skills and spells are point bought, and it seems to be pretty balanced. Characters can be human or bast, which are intelligent spell-casting cats (some of whom can turn into human form). The bast idea is neat, but I imagine most players will go with humans. Next are the character Associations. First are the Wicce, who are hippy, tree-hugging spellcasters who use Magic. The believe in the Goddess, and pay particular attention to nature. It is based on the Wicca Neopagan religion in this country. Next are the Rosicrucians, who are rich, highly-educated businessmen who use Magic. After this are the Sentinels, who are basically soldiers of Christ (or Buddha, Allah...). They use Divine Magic to destroy monsters and evil spellcasters. After this is the Twilight Order, which consists of Necromancers. They communicate with the dead, putting spirits to rest and defeating evil ghosts. Following them are the Cabal of the Psyche, who are masters of the Sight. They basically try to keep a low profile, and attempt to predict where problems with cultists or monsters may occur and then confront them. Lastly are the Solitaires. They are basically people who can use one of the types of magic and do things their own way, preferring not to depend on a greater Order or maybe they just have never met someone with magic and so have developed it on their own. Next comes the Character Attributes, which range from one to five. The attributes are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception, and Willpower. Pretty standard fare. Secondary attributes are base on these, and are: Life Points (think hit points), Endurance Points (used to resist fatigue), Speed (how fast you run), and Essence Points (your available magic pool). After this are the standard Qualities and Drawbacks (bonuses and negatives such as Adversary and Contacts). Following them are the Supernatural Qualities and Drawbacks. These are relatively standard, though they are well explained with a decent amount of text per entry. Next is the skill list, also pretty standard. After this is character possessions and finishing off the character. Then a number of archetype beginning characters are given. I personally would have preferred just one, which would be built step-by-step in the text, but I guess I can't have everything. Next comes Chapter Four, the Rules. The game uses the Unisystem, which is also found in All Flesh Must Be Eaten, a great zombie game. The game is basically run by the following dice mechanic: roll a ten-sided die, then add the attribute and/or skill numbers required. The "Chronicler" (oh yeah, they changed the GM name), then adds or subtracts any situational modifiers. If the final result is a 9 or higher, the action succeeds. If not, it failed. It's very simple, and works extremely well. Other dice may be needed for damage rolls, but the ten-sider is your main requirement. One neat thing they did is give all the weapons, armor, explosions, etc. number values that you can use for damage if you don't want to roll dice (the numbers are the average value). This could speed up the game, but will remove a bit of the fun of doing a whole lot of damage with really good rolls. There is also a table for critical success, where the higher you roll over nine, the better you do. Combat and various situational modifiers are discussed in detail. The rules are very well done, being both quick and accurate. Oh yeah, combat is DANGEROUS. You can't run around expecting to get shot and live. Characters should be cautious when entering dangerous situations, or their lifespans will be quite short. The experience system is very nice. You will actually get more xp by doing something that could really hurt your character if it is how he normally reacts than if you try to "cheat" and avoid an encounter. I like this a LOT! Experience is completely based on roleplaying instead of beating up things. I wish more games would do this. Chapter Five is about the Associations. All the main Associations are explored in more detail. The Wicce, Rosicrucians, Twilight Order, Divinely Inspired, Cabal of the Psyche, and the Solitaires are given explanations about the basic association, how they feel about each other, etc. A creepy solitaire group of Solitaires who ride around in a van and perform sabotage against people their leader doesn't like is also included as an example. More game fiction is also included. Overall, a pretty strong chapter. Chaper Six is about Metaphysics. All the types of magic are explained. How magic is cast is explained in detail. One thing I really like is how having extra casters working in a group will improve the power of the spell. Also, large crowds of mundane "normal" people will negate magic, as their disbelief will not allow it to occur. This could be very bad for PC's who think they can hold off an angry mob or gang. Places of Power are discussed, as well as times when magic is more powerful (midnight, full moon, Samhain, etc). Circles and Pentagrams, as well as the effects of crystals and salt are also introduced. This chapter is just full of good information, and the spells haven't even been discussed yet! There are actually only a fairly small number of spells in the book, but they are generally powerful and can often be used in multiple ways. Each type is divided into the Invocation, which is the spell itself, and Effects, which are different ways it can be used. The Invocations of Magic include Affect the Psyche, Blessing, Cleansing, Consecration, Communion, Elemental Air/Fire/Earth/Water, Farsight, Gateway, Insight, Lesser Curse, Lesser Healing, Lesser Illusion, Shielding, Soul Projection, Soulfire, Spirit Mastery, Symbols of Protection, and Warding. The Sight has the following Seer Powers: Mindsight (ESP), Mindtalk (talk to people mentally), Mindrule (take over peoples minds), Mindhands (telekinesis), Mindheal (healing), Mindfire (pyrokinesis), Mindtime (see into the future), Mindkill (mental attacks), and Mindview (improved senses). Next comes Necromancy, which has the following Necromantic Powers: Death Speech (see, speak with, and summon the dead), Death Vessel (communion with the dead), Death Lordship (exorcism, control spirits), and Death Mastery (identify murders and such, force people's souls out of their body, wishing death upon someone). Lastly is Divine Inspiration, which gives the user access to the following Miracles (which may or may not be granted): The Binding (of supernatural beings), The Touch of Healing, Exorcism, Divine Sight (see things as they Truly are), Holy Fire, Strength of Ten, and Visions (from your deity). Prayer is also examined, and is VERY important. It can allow a mundane who is very devout to actually be able to cast a Miracle. This would be very rare, but is possible. Overall, a very solid chapter, and the main purpose of the book. Chapter Seven deals with the Supernatural. This chapter goes into the history of mages a bit, and explains the Reckoning in more detail. Next are rules for various supernatural creatures which can be encountered in the world. Nature Spirits, Elementals, Wildlings (evil, twisted nature spirits), Spirits of the Dead, Ghosts (which can become a PC race), Undead such as the Relentless Dead and Vampyres, Bast, Demons, Seraphim (Angels), The Mad Gods and their followers (who will bring about the Reckoning), and the Combine (a mysterious agency which controls much of the world behind the scenes) are all discussed. Basic powers for each are given, and a sample NPC of each type is presented. I especially like Razorhand, a Relentless Dead who was killed after having his hand cut off by his murderous father. He replaced his hand with a big cleaver and has since killed off pretty much anyone he knew in life and now wanders about slaughtering those who happen to get in his way. This chapter provided a lot of neat details that the GM should have no problem putting into his game. I like it. Chapter Eight is a short section entitled Chronicling, which is just basic GM advice. Game power levels are discussed, and a few campaign ideas are presented. Nothing too major, but it could help beginning GM's. After this is a glossary of game terms, then an appendix which contains most/all of the tables in the game. An index, several character sheets, and a few pages of ads for Eden Studios games finish out the book. Overall, I really like this book. It has a hard edge, with powerful characters being forced to deal with events beyond their abilities. You can easily run a campaign at the street level, never showing off a lot of magic, or you could take on the servants of the Mad Gods in an attempt to prevent the Reckoning. The game will support both levels of play. The system itself is easy to learn and play. GMing it isn't hard, considering the amount of coverage given the various situational modifiers, which aren't that difficult to pick up. There isn't a ton of dice-rolling, either, which will often slow a game down. The setting background was fairly light, yet it didn't have to be anything major, being set in the current world. The overall feel of the game is a bit dark, but there is hope presented by the chance to defeat the Mad Gods. (In the Eden Studios line, the Reckoning occurs, but in a different game line). The closest competitor I can think of would be Mage, and I personally say this game beats that one (especially the Revised Edition) hands down! If you like Mage, you owe it to yourself to buy this game (this is coming from someone who has Mage Revised).