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In Short

The Good: The examples of Prometheans made from things other than flesh are fun and interesting. The new Refinements are surprisingly well done and can easily find a place in any Promethean game. Many short rules modifications and mythos reinterpretations both stimulate the imagination and offer different play experiences.

The Bad: The included adventure is very poor, forcing the characters to work in a horrific meat processing plant and a mine among other things. Railroady even by published adventure standards, I find even the individual scenes to be too scripted. The Storyteller-oriented discussion of characters going to the wastes and temporary characters is uninspired and unlikely to assist most Storytellers.

The Physical Thing

The Ideas

Under the Cover

This is the most inspiring part of the book, and the chapter I enjoyed the most. It begins with a discussion of Prometheans being built out of different types of materials. Some are sculpted from wood, others from marble. Some are accidents, others intentional. The example NPCs convey the mystery and uniqueness of these Prometheans well, and it’s impossible to read this chapter without coming up with a few cool ideas of your own. New, simple mechanics are used to ensure the rarity of these Prometheans and to slightly separate them from the dead-corpse versions.

That’s not the only new twist in the rules offered by Magnum Opus. Serendipitous creation focuses on Prometheans created by powerful natural events – perhaps through a magnificent natural phenomenon or the appearance of an arch-qashmallim. These Prometheans are different, literal forces of nature in some cases. While there are no explicit rules here, the suggestions are flavorful and easy to implement. A Promethean born from a tsunami might be able to regenerate from contact with seawater, for example. It’s a neat idea for anyone who doesn’t care for the idea of the demiurge and would rather add even more mystery to the life of the Promethean.

Scions also make an appearance. No, not those scions, but human children born from Promethean parents. While it’s an interesting idea the only real twist here is that these children are immune to Disquiet and feel perfectly natural attachment to their Promethean parent. Any Storyteller interested in adding pregnancy and birth as themes to a game will take a lot out of this section, as example milestones for such events are even included.

Prometheans made of dreams and animal Prometheans also receive some attention. Prometheans made of dreams journey from dream to dream, bringing their disquiet along while they attempt to understand humanity and become real. It’s a neat idea, but it’s also pretty vague and there are no solid mechanics for bringing it to the table. Animal Prometheans just involve adding a Promethean template to an animal. They’re sapient and typically are trying to understand what a real animal of their type is like. I really like this idea, but wish it could have seen more follow through.

Chapter One wraps up with the Seer’s Pilgrimage. The idea is that an almost religious figure (among Prometheans), called the Seer, journeyed across the world and left being Revelations about his milestones. Prometheans who uncover these stories sometimes experience a strong compulsion to journey to certain locations the Seer had once been to and, upon arriving, experience a powerful revelation of one of their own milestones. It’s an interesting idea, though most likely included as a way to push characters down a set adventure path. Still, for a way to reveal some more interesting milestones to players this could be a lot of fun. Many example stories and locations are provided to support the Pilgrimage, corresponding to the principle Refinements in the hope of finding something to appeal to everyone.

Chapter Two Rare Alchemies

This chapter presents four new Refinements along with supporting transmutations. It’s good stuff, and if you felt constrained by the core five then this is an excellent resource. Every Refinement includes a new Athanor, suggested Milestones, and an example NPC.

Aes: Refinement of Bronze (Aid) - the Sentries live to serve and protect the Prometheans around them. They study and embrace relationships in all their pain and glory, and dedicate themselves to preserving those they travel with. Example milestones include gaining the trust of another, saving a life, and experiencing the failure of a group endeavor.

Argentum: Refinement of Silver (Mystery) - the Mystics study not just mystery, but the sorts of mysteries native to the World of Darkness. They peel back the night to find vampires, werewolves, mages, and other creatures. When they succeed at finding one of these things they seek to understand it, its connection to humanity, and what its nature can teach them of humanity. Example milestones include encountering a supernatural creature, uncovering the involvement of a supernatural creature in the lives of humans, and gaining a derangement.

Cobalus: Refinement of Cobalt (Impurity) - the Cathar carefully study sin so that they may better understand humanity. Understanding flaws is more important to them than anything else, because without understanding of the flaws it’s impossible to understand what the unflawed would look like. Example milestones include suffering from curiosity, learning something from watching one human harm another, and triggering Disquiet in its most severe form.

Plumbum: Refinement of Lead (Source) - the Originists study what it means to be Promethean. They believe that only in understanding who they are and where they have come from can they hope to progress to the next state. Example milestones include adopting an Athanor, becoming part of a Branded throng, and teaching another Promethean about the strengths and weaknesses of being Promethean.

That I enjoyed reading the 5-6 pages each of these Refinements was given, and could happily play any of them, really speaks to how well done these Refinements are. In addition to the Refinements Magnum Opus provides seventeen pages of new Transmutations to play with. These Transmutations are interesting, and while many are narrowly focused (as are many Transmutations generally) they do add a lot of flavorful options. More importantly, they compliment the new Refinements perfectly.

Chapter Three The Long and Winding Road

This chapter focuses on supporting the Storyteller when a character goes to the Wastes and when character turnover occurs in a Promethean game. A variety of example situations are provided in an attempt to guide the Storyteller through dealing with these situations. Unfortunately, the advice isn’t very good. Some of it, such as heavy handed tactics to ‘deal with’ problem players, addresses what are most likely out of game problems with in game solutions that are more likely to cause further bad feelings before they solve anything.

Ways to structure Milestones based on the length of the campaign and cross-over adventures also see some attention, but both are pretty dry. Easier and more mechanically beneficial Milestones are appropriate for shorter games, for instance. The brief coverage of cross-overs provides some basic ideas – Milestones related to action are easier to obtain while spending time with Werewolves, for example. These ideas are worth considering, but they’re too obvious and probably wont inspire Storytellers already planning short campaigns or crossover scenes.

Chapter Four To the Wastes

“To the Wastes” is a bad adventure. First, the adventure takes into account some of the optional game-changing material from this product. That would normally be an excellent choice, it is in the other Promethean adventures, but given the more optional nature of these mechanics it’s a little surprising to see the adventure focus around a Seer’s Pilgrimage. The adventure is highly scripted and often hoses the PCs unnecessarily. Should one of them kick a dog that takes an interest in them then dog-loving gang members attack them. Another scene involves a traffic stop where the PCs are abused by police officers and, should any of them cause any problems, the scene escalates to a major conflict. But these scenes are unrelated to the rest of the adventure and seem like they’re there just to invite mindless chaos – they serve no other purpose.

That the adventure goes on to require the characters to take a menial job in a slaughterhouse just continues the parade of bizarre forced decisions. Reasons for characters to do so based on their Refinement are provided, but they might as well not be. Few Ferrum characters are really going to want to work in a slaughterhouse because it’s physically demanding work, and it’s unlikely the players are going to be excited about it either.

The slaughterhouse is, of course, horrific. It loses some of the subtle horror feel I’ve come to expect from World of Darkness products, however, by embracing the grotesqueness of the scene. Shit and blood come up to the characters’ ankles, workers vomit in trash cans, and the whole scene is just disgusting. Eventually the characters are driven out by a Disquiet created mob. Fortunately their employer saves them (they can’t save themselves from the mob) and gives them a job in a mine instead.

The mine later collapses. To my great amusement, the adventure instructs the Storyteller to get the players to discuss ways to escape the mine (but escape is impossible at this time) and when they finally decide on something the Storyteller interrupts them with a ‘new discovery.’ It’s such an awful, time wasting technique I’m amazed to see it. Why get people to discuss solutions if there aren’t any? Perhaps for the illusion of choice, but even the most forgiving player will have difficulty with how intense the railroading is here.

There’s more going on here, a lot of it as bad as what’s mentioned above, but for the sake of brevity know that characters ultimately discover marks from the Seer’s Pilgrimage. The adventure can be incorporated with the rest of the Promethean adventure cycle, but this adventure is of such lower quality many Storytellers may choose to skip it.

My Take

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