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It provides the second major arc in the storyline, revealing many of the antagonists hinted at in Crusade of Ashes while still keeping a lot of secrets hidden. Whereas CoA focused on Orpheus Group's sordid past, Shades of Gray turns its attention to the matter of Pigment. What it is, why it does what it does and who it ultimately responsible for its manufacture and distribution.
Opening with an unusual, but well written, fiction piece by Lucien Soulban; the book manages to keep up with White Wolf's high standard of production. The editing of Orpheus has been superior compared to some products I have seen come out of the White Wolf Studios as of late. Overall presentation is fantastic. If anything, the only let down in SoG is a general feeling that the book felt a little rushed compared to CoA.
Shades of Gray
Key Event - The Pale Rider
I mentioned in my review of Crusade of Ashes that each of the Orpheus supplements follow a standard layout. Each book is an arc in the overall storyline, with each arc being focused around a particular event. Shades of Gray's event is a little different in that it acts as a catalyst to help the PCs get out of the fix that CoA left them in, and nudges them into a different direction - that of uncovering the truth behind pigment and its distributors.
Again, I don't feel that I need to mention what the event is to provide an effective review - after all, it will spoil the fun of reading it yourself and also there is the risk that players may read it. Essentially, the main event here explains how someone takes advantage of the confusion caused by the events of CoA to further their own agenda - and it is up to the PCs to try and stop a tragedy of massive proportions from occuring.
Unlike the main event of CoA, The Pale Rider felt to me like it was notes taken by the writer without fleshing out the details. Orpheus in Wane provided maps, timelines, NPCs, motivations and numerous tools to use. SoG could have easily used the missing eight pages (CoA was 168pgs long while SoG is 160pg) giving a better description of locations and more NPCs as well as hooks for players. In the end, The Pale Rider event relies too heavily on the GM pushing the PCs into discovering what is about to occur and fails to provide enough alternative entry points into the scenario. Given Orpheus in Wanes' more open structure - I was somewhat disappointed, and even almost bored, by this event! Lucien Soulban's fiction piece did a better job exciting me about it than the actual chapter itself. In the end, I foreshadowed the event in my own game by having the antagonist show up early to do a test run of something that happens on a larger scale later.
Despite the weak chapter, the actual event itself is dramatic enough to give the PCs a chance at changing their luck. If they take the bait and act heroically enough, the game shifts back to being about investigation. After the clues given in the CoA arc, SoG opens up more about what is really happening.
Campaign Advice - Standing up for what is right
Now that the players have (hopefully) placed themselves in a better position, they can now start building alligences to help them overcome the enemies of the previous arc. The book provides a players' eye view of the various factions that ought to have been revealed over the course of the Crusade of Ashes arc. Given that the game is fairly open-ended, there is a chance that some of the information hasn't come to light for the players yet, so any GM who is running the CoA arc may want to make sure that they have read up on the players section before letting any players read it. The storytellers section of the second chapter pretty much makes up for the lack of detail in The Pale Rider. It revisits all the factions listed in Crusade of Ashes and updates their attitudes and mentions about how they might respond to the PCs - whether they approach as friends, neutrals or enemies. If anything, the PCs now become freelance investigators - searching out information to help clear their names and gain a foothold in the complex web that currently surrounds them.
Of special note is the revelation about the true nature of Radio Free Death - the enigmatic voice that occasionally provides the PCs with aid.
The Unearthed Players Guide
In a definite improvement over previous Unearthed Players Guide, Shades of Gray provides a new Shade for players to choose - the Phantasm. This is a ghost with the ability to use illusion as well as tap the dreams of mortals. Furthermore, there are new third-tier Horrors provided for each shade from the original rulebook. These are powers of a higher level, often more fine-tuned for specific uses. Finally some new roles and backgrounds help to finish off the chapter - overall providing a horde of new options for players and this time without revealing too much about what is truly going on.
Storytelling the Dead
The best chapter in the book. There are several new threats revealed, one of the two mysterious antagonists is unmasked, and the true nature of pigment is detailed in full - from who originally created it to how it is made and distributed. There is also a new Spectre threat described in detail, hinting at a darker design. The chapter also provides a new threat in the form of Pigment Cults - radical sects that use pigment as a form of ecstatic release or a conduit to a higher plane of being...
Final Thoughts
Although it does sound like I am being hard on the book, Shades of Gray still manages to deliver. Even with the lack of detail in the first chapter, the book contains a horde of ideas and hooks to flesh out, and manages to remain a fantastic toolkit for tidying up the fallout from Crusade of Ashes. However it isn't really an arc so much as a bridge between arcs. While The Pale Rider is an event that alters the direction of the game, it isn't one that so much starts anything rather than helps finish off what was already begun in Crusade of Ashes.
Crusade of Ashes was a self-contained campaign, it had plenty of scope and room for a roleplaying group to use. On the other hand, Shades of Gray is a supplement of bits and pieces. It doesn't stand on its own as an arc, and really serves to tidy up the details of CoA so as to have them out of the way in time for the next arc.
The definite draw in this book is the number of secrets revealed and the Players Guide. The second chapter provides the GM with a lot of answers - but the players campaign advice felt more like filler material than necessary. Most of it just had no real purpose. All in all, compared to the fantastic opening volley that was CoA, Shades of Gray is definitely a weaker supplement...
Should I buy it? If you liked Orpheus and Crusade of Ashes, yes. Shades of Gray provides more of the same, and the new Shades, Horrors and Backgrounds - along with the behind the scenes material - more than make up for the weaker elements of the book. This is a great bridge to help set players up for the next arc, but is more a supplement of rules than a campaign in its own right.
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