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My expectations upon recieving the Book of the Wyld were very high. I am a proud owner of the original Book of the Wyrm, and it is one of my favorite White Wolf accessories ever. However, the more I read through this book, the more disappointed I became. Most of the ideas presented in the book were not new, and it seems to me that a GM who wants to run a Wyld centered chronicle and didn't think up most of the material in this book on his own, shouldn't really be running a Wyld chronicle.

Each chapter in this book can stand on its own, therefore I will write about each chapter individually. Here goes:

Openning Fiction: The Birthing To be frank, I don't like White Wolf's fiction. It tends to be rather repetitive (More on that later in the review), and this piece ain't different. A pregnant Garou recieves a lesson from a Garou elder because she neglects her child. While there is a slight connection to the Wyld, this story seems to be much more about Gaia, and pretty much misses the point by miles. A pity.

Chapter One: Cosmology The chapter begins with what is for some reason thought to be Cosmology, but is actually Cosmogeny. It's time people learned the difference between the two. The texts, some of which are informative and some of which are fiction, promise to hold big surprises at the begining, but they can all be summed up into one sentence: "The Wyld is not neccesarrily the good guy". Big news. It then proceeds to describe some creatures/spirits/whathaveyous of the Wyld (Cosmology?). Why were they not included in the third episode, dedicated to the children of the Wyld, I do not know. It then proceeds to describe some places of note in the Umbra (Again, Cosmology?), though barely in as much detail as one could possibly hope for. Compared to the 14 page chapter about Malfeas in Book of the Wyrm, this half a page about flux leaves a lot to be desired.

Chapter Two: The Great Wyld World This chapter includes two sections: The connection of Garou and other shapeshifters to the Wyld, and some information about thresholds. The information about the shapeshifter isn't anything to write home about. Of the 13 tribes, only two were seriously mentioned. The Black Furies got a piece of fiction in a style that can be seen in many White Wolf books. The brash young Mage/Vampire/Werewolf who seeks power goes to some old lady whom he doesn't respect. He considers killing her when he sees she doesn't help him, and ends up being the weaker of the two, going away from the place with nothing of what he aspired to get (Read the Mage 1st Edition fiction). The other shapeshifters seemed even worse. Barely any information was given, definately not enough to use, and it all ended with "Buy this and that book to get more information about that race's connection with the Wyld". So the whole thing is already written somewhere. If you got that other book, you don't need the Book of the Wyld, and if you don't, this book won't help you, it will just tell you what other book you do need to own if you want this information. The book gets two thumbs down here.

Thresholds are places where the Wyrm manifests on the physical world. They seem like something that should have been detailed in the main rulebook, but then again, you can't detail everything in the rulebook. They somewhat contradict something called "Broken Lands", mantioned in the first chapter, and they only got about two paragraphs of background, and then lots of mechanics and examples. Still, they were quite nicely done. Not a bright spot, but the brightest in this book so far.

Chapter Three: Wyld Children I can't write much about this chapter. Ever since I stopped Hack and Slashing, I found books similar to the D&D Monster Manual rather dull. When combat isn't very common, these books don't help you much. And that's why I was so disappointed to find a chapter that was just about that in this book. Simply a list of creatures to put in the characters' way, either as friends or foes. That's all this chapter is, and while the creatures are nice, they're nothing special that you couldn't think of on your own.

Chapter Four: A Handful of Chaos Not everything is bad in this book. This is the one good chapter (Though it too has a bad point at the end). It gives GMing tools for running a Wyld campaign, and while a lot of them seem trivial, not all of them are. It expands on the point of the Wyld not necessarily being your friend, which is nice as well. The height of the chapter is the suggested alternate world, where the part of the triat that got out of hand isn't the Weaver, followed by the Wyrm, but rather the Wyld. This leads to a high fantasy campaign, which could be very interesting, though I haven't tried it yet (Hard to change an ongoing campaign in the middle, and in such a drastic way).

Then comes the weak part of the chapter: Rules for madness. The effects of madness are highly exagarated, it seems like the folks at White Wolf think that people with mental disorders are all psychotic killers. Then the disorders themselves are listed, and instead of coming up with new disorders for Garou, they simply explained some human disorders, and assumed Garou would suffer the same disorders. The worst is that the way they explained the disorders is bad, and far from being accurate. When writing about disorders, opening a Psychology book is a very basic step, and it seems like it's a step the writers did not take. A pity.

Chapter Five: Tools of Creation Another chapter I did not like at all. A few pages with Talens, Fetishes and Rites (Magic Items and Spells), and nothing more. Again, nice, but nothing special. Not anything one couldn't think of on his own.

The Artwork The artwork standarts were rather low. It had nothing to do with the Wyld, not in content and not in the way it was shown. These pictures could go to any other Werewolf book just as easily.

The Bottom Line Out of the 120 pages this book contains, maybe ten are worth reading. As good as they are, they are not worth the book's cost. Unless you are a real freak of the game, I can't recommend this book. Even if you are, I'm not sure how much you will enjoy it. The subject has a very high potential, and it's a pity that the outcome looks the way it looks.

Book of the wyld
Book of the wyld Playtest Review by Itay Horev on 24/04/02 Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 2 (Sparse) Bottom line is: You probably don't need this book, but it does have a few good ideas Product: Book of the wyld Author: Richard Dansky, Lisa Clark-Fleishman, Shannon W. Hennessy and Rick Jones Category: RPG Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Line: Werewolf: The Apocalypse Cost: 17.95$ US Page count: 120 Year published: 2001 ISBN: 1-56504-367-7 SKU: WW3113 Comp copy?: yes Playtest Review by Itay Horev on 24/04/02 Genre tags: Modern day Horror	My expectations upon recieving the Book of the Wyld were very high. I am a proud owner of the original Book of the Wyrm, and it is one of my favorite White Wolf accessories ever. However, the more I read through this book, the more disappointed I became. Most of the ideas presented in the book were not new, and it seems to me that a GM who wants to run a Wyld centered chronicle and didn't think up most of the material in this book on his own, shouldn't really be running a Wyld chronicle. Each chapter in this book can stand on its own, therefore I will write about each chapter individually. Here goes: Openning Fiction: The Birthing To be frank, I don't like White Wolf's fiction. It tends to be rather repetitive (More on that later in the review), and this piece ain't different. A pregnant Garou recieves a lesson from a Garou elder because she neglects her child. While there is a slight connection to the Wyld, this story seems to be much more about Gaia, and pretty much misses the point by miles. A pity. Chapter One: Cosmology The chapter begins with what is for some reason thought to be Cosmology, but is actually Cosmogeny. It's time people learned the difference between the two. The texts, some of which are informative and some of which are fiction, promise to hold big surprises at the begining, but they can all be summed up into one sentence: "The Wyld is not neccesarrily the good guy". Big news. It then proceeds to describe some creatures/spirits/whathaveyous of the Wyld (Cosmology?). Why were they not included in the third episode, dedicated to the children of the Wyld, I do not know. It then proceeds to describe some places of note in the Umbra (Again, Cosmology?), though barely in as much detail as one could possibly hope for. Compared to the 14 page chapter about Malfeas in Book of the Wyrm, this half a page about flux leaves a lot to be desired. Chapter Two: The Great Wyld World This chapter includes two sections: The connection of Garou and other shapeshifters to the Wyld, and some information about thresholds. The information about the shapeshifter isn't anything to write home about. Of the 13 tribes, only two were seriously mentioned. The Black Furies got a piece of fiction in a style that can be seen in many White Wolf books. The brash young Mage/Vampire/Werewolf who seeks power goes to some old lady whom he doesn't respect. He considers killing her when he sees she doesn't help him, and ends up being the weaker of the two, going away from the place with nothing of what he aspired to get (Read the Mage 1st Edition fiction). The other shapeshifters seemed even worse. Barely any information was given, definately not enough to use, and it all ended with "Buy this and that book to get more information about that race's connection with the Wyld". So the whole thing is already written somewhere. If you got that other book, you don't need the Book of the Wyld, and if you don't, this book won't help you, it will just tell you what other book you do need to own if you want this information. The book gets two thumbs down here. Thresholds are places where the Wyrm manifests on the physical world. They seem like something that should have been detailed in the main rulebook, but then again, you can't detail everything in the rulebook. They somewhat contradict something called "Broken Lands", mantioned in the first chapter, and they only got about two paragraphs of background, and then lots of mechanics and examples. Still, they were quite nicely done. Not a bright spot, but the brightest in this book so far. Chapter Three: Wyld Children I can't write much about this chapter. Ever since I stopped Hack and Slashing, I found books similar to the D&D Monster Manual rather dull. When combat isn't very common, these books don't help you much. And that's why I was so disappointed to find a chapter that was just about that in this book. Simply a list of creatures to put in the characters' way, either as friends or foes. That's all this chapter is, and while the creatures are nice, they're nothing special that you couldn't think of on your own. Chapter Four: A Handful of Chaos Not everything is bad in this book. This is the one good chapter (Though it too has a bad point at the end). It gives GMing tools for running a Wyld campaign, and while a lot of them seem trivial, not all of them are. It expands on the point of the Wyld not necessarily being your friend, which is nice as well. The height of the chapter is the suggested alternate world, where the part of the triat that got out of hand isn't the Weaver, followed by the Wyrm, but rather the Wyld. This leads to a high fantasy campaign, which could be very interesting, though I haven't tried it yet (Hard to change an ongoing campaign in the middle, and in such a drastic way). Then comes the weak part of the chapter: Rules for madness. The effects of madness are highly exagarated, it seems like the folks at White Wolf think that people with mental disorders are all psychotic killers. Then the disorders themselves are listed, and instead of coming up with new disorders for Garou, they simply explained some human disorders, and assumed Garou would suffer the same disorders. The worst is that the way they explained the disorders is bad, and far from being accurate. When writing about disorders, opening a Psychology book is a very basic step, and it seems like it's a step the writers did not take. A pity. Chapter Five: Tools of Creation Another chapter I did not like at all. A few pages with Talens, Fetishes and Rites (Magic Items and Spells), and nothing more. Again, nice, but nothing special. Not anything one couldn't think of on his own. The Artwork The artwork standarts were rather low. It had nothing to do with the Wyld, not in content and not in the way it was shown. These pictures could go to any other Werewolf book just as easily. The Bottom Line Out of the 120 pages this book contains, maybe ten are worth reading. As good as they are, they are not worth the book's cost. Unless you are a real freak of the game, I can't recommend this book. Even if you are, I'm not sure how much you will enjoy it. The subject has a very high potential, and it's a pity that the outcome looks the way it looks.

Book of the wyld