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In Short

In addition to psionics and magical traditions the book focuses on horrors beyond space and time similar to those mentioned in various H.P.Lovecraft publications. Such horrors get a lengthy discussion, and rules for the cultists serving them are presented.

While the book states these abilities are not meant to be mixed with other types of supernaturals, such as vampires or werewolves, there’s nothing here to prevent a buyer from doing just that. Whether you’re looking for new powers to tack onto your Mages or a tool that will let you run a cabal of mystics dedicated to taking down the corrupt mayor of their town this product has a lot to offer.

The Physical Thing

The Ideas

That’s not to say there isn’t some serious power here. While a psychic is unlikely to be able to kill a vampire or other big bad supernatural, they can still pack a punch. Cryokinesis could allow them to lower temperatures by up to twenty five degrees Farenheit every round. Pyrokinesis could result in a lighter becoming a deadly weapon. Luck Magic might swing things in the magician’s favor just enough to make sure that silver bullet finds its mark.

Readers who are fans of the Mythos, the mythology surrounding the works of H.P.Lovecraft, will be able to strongly identify with much of the material in the last chapter here. Alien gods and demons from beyond our existence offer strange powers to those who dedicate themselves to the destruction of everything. This chapter provides an excellent tool for anyone wanting to use Mythos elements in their games.

Those looking to add even more paranormal activity to their games wont be disappointed. Note that all of the supernatural abilities in this book are simply purchased as Merits.

Under the Cover

This atmospheric piece of opening fiction is meant to underscore the idea of the whole book: that having powers is not necessarily a good thing. As with the protagonist here, powers tend only to complicate life and few have any worthwhile application. Powers are a vehicle for horror.

Introduction 4 pages.

This brief introduction to the book discusses the purpose of Second Sight and provides a simple chapter by chapter break down of what you get.

Chapter 1 Not Normal 10 pages.

Chapter 1 discusses how powers are most often used in the setting, often as a complication or vehicle through which to tell dark tales. Being able to see ghosts often results in grief and harassment, both by the dead and those who notice that there just isn’t something right about the character. Being able to control fire is great until you really think about it. There’s no real job application for such an ability, and an emotional person might even run the risk of setting dangerous fires around her loved ones.

One concept revisited in this chapter is that of Lesser and Standard Templates. Becoming a Ghoul, a Psychic, or a Magic User all involve applying Lesser Templates to a character. The book suggests a variety of ways to handle what should happen if a character were in a situation where they could have two Lesser Templates. In short, characters should only ever have one template. Standard Templates, such as from becoming a Vampire, Werewolf, or Mage, override Lesser Templates. During such a transformation a player is encouraged to take abilities to reflect the Lesser Template, so a Psychic turned Vampire may want to buy a few levels of Auspex.

I suspect that the motivation behind this rule is to prevent sickeningly powerful characters from being created by mixing Templates while also cutting down on player hunt and pecking through a variety of supplements to build the most powerful character possible. While it is commendable that White Wolf wants to keep the lower powered, subtle horror alive there is no reason these Templates have to be separate. A Psychic Werewolf, for example, is just a Werewolf that has purchased a few Psychic Merits. While the various Lesser Templates have access to strong abilities, they are generally weaker than what the Standard Templates have access to. Just know that this whole supplement is flexible enough that it could easily be used to supplement existing abilities in another World of Darkness game.

While the writing is spotty in areas on the whole the chapter provides an excellent discussion of ways to use these sorts of abilities in a World of Darkness game.

Chapter 2 Psychic Phenomena 42 pages.

This chapter begins with a discussion of the nature of psychic ability, including real experiments that have been performed in the past with interesting results. Different ways to handle psychic powers in a game are presented, such as a psychic being able to tap into an unusual type of energy and direct it with the power of their will alone. An interesting suggestion based on that example is: What if there is only a limited amount of psychic energy available at any one time? This could lead to psychic serial killers and conscientious psychics choosing to stop training their abilities so more people can experience what they have.

The meat of this chapter is, of course, psychic powers. The special abilities in this book are purchased as Merits. Generally they are meant to only be purchased at character creation, but psychic abilities could certainly be developed through a variety of ways during the course of a chronicle.

Psychic powers are split up into four different major categories: ESP, Mediumism, Psychokinesis, and Telepathy. Note that this is really just a classification for convenience sake. There is nothing preventing a psychic from having access to multiple categories, though the merits are expensive and tend to require prerequisites. In addition, many of the powers presented can be used with a gimmick for a bonus. For example, someone who can only tell the future by using a tarot deck would get a +1 to their Precognition roll but could only use Precognition with the tarot deck.

ESP stands for Extra Sensory Perception and involves access to otherworldly information. Forecasting the future through a crystal ball, astral projection, and psychometry are all examples of these sorts of powers. As with the other psychic power types, ESP powers often have other requirements before they may be taken. The root of the tree is Clairvoyance and the most advanced powers require about two prerequisites.

Mediumism focuses on the spirits of the dead. Mediums learn abilities that allow them to see the dead, summon the dead, and channel the dead. Unlike a powerful necromancer from fantasy fiction, the Mediums have no real ability to compel the dead to their will. Offering to do favors and help the dead person’s loved ones is the extent of their power, though for many ghosts that is a significant ability. Variants are presented so that psychics may be accessing the Universal Unconscious for the answers to their questions, for example, instead of the spirits of the dead. This adds a lot more flavor and gives the Storyteller more options as to how various abilities will work in a given campaign world.

Psychokinesis is the flashiest of all the categories, housing such powerful abilities as Cryokinesis and Telekinesis. These powers tend to be direct and very lethal, but still offer plenty of opportunity for subtle supernatural horror. Their power is largely kept in line by the penalties associated with targeting things the size of a human being, making them risky to use in combat situations. That means they’re only really strong when getting the drop on someone, and no doubt many Storytellers will enjoy having the players investigate a murder where the only evidence is a damp carpet.

The Telepathy powers cover more than just Mind Reading. Psychic Illusions, Mental Blasts, and Animal Possession are just a few examples of the choices available here. Prerequisite powers are again common, but that only makes sense given how Telepathy works. It only makes sense that a character must know Thought Projection in order to project Psychic Illusions into someone’s mind.

The chapter wraps up with a small assortment of abilities that don’t apply to any of the four classifications, including the classic Anti-Psi reflecting people who disbelieve in psychic phenomenon so strongly they suppress nearby psychic manifestations. Lucid dreaming, Hypnotic Voice, and other lower key sorts of abilities are presented.

This chapter, like the rest of the book, offers frequent suggestions for ways in which these powers can be used to create a horror focused adventure. These suggestions are compact, presented in boxes near the powers, and are often very interesting. Most importantly, they constantly reinforce the low key horror mood of this product.

Chapter 3 Low Magic 54 pages.

This chapter begins with a discussion of magic in the world of darkness, what the practitioners are like, and how they generally go about doing magic. Rules for ritual magic, the power of belief, and other general principles behind Low Magic are introduced.

The system for Low Magic requires players to choose a magical tradition based on real world ways of thought. Such a tradition describes how those magicians go about using magic, what Low Magic merits are available to them, and any relevant bonuses or penalties they receive while attempting to use magic. While some magical abilities are only available to specific traditions, there are still general magical abilities open to any practitioner.

The magical traditions are well written and evocative, though only a few are presented. These include Apostle of the Dark One, Ceremonial Magician, Hedge Witch, Shaman, Taoist Alchemist, and Vodoun. Some of these, such as Ceremonial Magician, may be broadly applied to a variety of different types of magic users. Others, such as Vodoun, are very specific. Each of these groups is flavorful, well researched, and interesting.

The magical spells, represented by merits, are very subtle. Geomancy, Alchemy, Aura Sight, and Luck Magic are a few examples of the sorts of magical abilities found here. Alchemy wont create magical healing potions, but it may change lead into gold or diamonds into coal. Luck Magic wont result in a car suddenly running over the target, but it will make a job interview more difficult. Weather Control might make a bright day cloudy, but it certainly wont create a tornado. The spell users abilities give them an edge principally in information and manipulation, and the most powerful mage likely uses their abilities to aid long term plans.

The only problem I see with this section is one of mixing characters. A practitioner of Vodoun wont have anything in common with a Taoist Alchemist or most anyone else. This chapter is going to work best for games where the characters are all devoted to one method of practicing or where there is only one character using Low Magic.

Chapter 4 Reality-Bending Horrors 28 pages.

The H.P.Lovecraft overtones of this chapter are immediate and obvious. This chapter is a welcome surprise as it aids in facilitating Call of Cthulhu style play using WoD. A discussion of things from beyond this time and space is presented along with a variety of ways to incorporate these ideas into a campaign.

The chapter also provides a lengthy discussion about villains. What motivates villains, classic villain archetypes, and how to use different villains in a campaign are all discussed. This clearly has a dark horror focus and topics as dark as cannibalism and forced impregnation, though tactfully presented in the brief discussion of the sorts of evil different villains are wont to do.

The chapter concludes with a discussion of cults and rules for building cultists. The general idea is that these creatures from beyond grand strange and frightening abilities to their most devoted followers, and a list of different abilities is provided to aid the Storyteller.

Appendix What Thou Wilt 9 pages.

The appendix presents a simple group of interconnected ideas and scenes that could be used as a spring board for telling a story using many of the abilities presented in this book. This section is fairly average, offering those who just don’t know what to do with all of this a few ideas to get them moving in the right direction.

My Take

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