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OK so for those of you who do not know Dread. Dread is a modern action horror game by Rafael Chandler. It is a rules-lite action heavy game of horror where the players are Disciples. They are Earth's last line of defence in the last war with the minions of Hell. Initially the setting of Dread was not my cup of tea, it was the rules-lite aspect of it that intrigued me, however once I read it the background drew me in. It has now become one of my favourite games of all time. Dread is a very popular game and there are numerous threads on RPG.Net and reviews as well singing its praises and just to be clear this very has no Jenga blocks in sight.
Rafael has developed the Books of pandemonium line giving opportunity to other authors so they can develop their own books. This has allowed the line to grow with some excellent fan material; Wake is one of those books and a damn fine one as well.
After Dread came Spite, the second book of Pandemonium. This tells the story from the Angels side of the War and not in a way many people would expect it to. Angels are not the saviours of mankind, in fact in many ways they are worse than Demons, judging humanity for its sins. Players became Zealots whose role was to protect us mere mortals from the Angels heaven sent to cleanse us of our sins. Spite expanded and revised a number of the rules in Dread opening up new ways for players to fight the forces that would eliminate mankind. It introduced new types of antagonists for the players to fight and generally was bigger and bolder work than Dread. Spite introduced many new things but this is a Wake review, not a Spite review. I will do one of those next I think.
Wake is a supplement for Dread by Christopher Peter that brings Dread into line with the evolution of the series with the arrival of Spite. Weighing in at a hefty 150 pages this is a guide on how to combine Spite and Dread to make a bigger and nastier game as well as make your Dread game as bad ass as Spite. Owning Spite is not entirely necessary to get the best from Wake but as there is reference to rules changes in Spite I would advise it.
So on to the review.
The cover of Wake is possibly one of my favourite RPG covers of all time. It is a dark cover depicting some malevolent being with wings and a tail shrouded in a hood. In the foreground a man in a full face gas mask holds what looks to be a shotgun of some kind. This is set to a backdrop of a street which looks eastern European. For some reason this cover reminds me a lot of the general architectural theme of some of the levels of Half Life 2. Anyway the artist is George Cortonis and I feel he has done an excellent job of capturing the dark tone of the game. The style and layout of the book has been done by Rafael Chandler and this ensures it conforms to the overall look and feel of the other books in the line. Interior art varies in style and quality and has been supplied by Bob & Jennifer Noberini, it supports the style of art in the other books of Pandemonium so all in all it fits nicely with the game line and I enjoyed it.
The hefty tome covers the following subjects.
1. Characters 2. Magic 3. Combat 4. Advancement 5. Demons & Monsters 6. Direction - For the GM 7. Setting
Most chapters start with a piece of fiction as seen in both Dread and Spite. The fiction I found to be enjoyable and fitted the overall theme of the book well it generally follows the exploits of the same few characters and as I say is atmospheric and well written. The fiction aspect of the previous books was always something I liked so I was happy to see it return here.
1. Characters - One of things with Dread was that there were 3 types of character "class" as it were and a limited number of ways to customise them. This resulted in only so many ways you could string a cat and the potential for characters of a similar class to mechanically be very samey, potentially. With the introduction of Spite there were new options for characters that allowed not just variation within a particular "Class", Combat Disciple, Sorcerer or investigator but different persona's that a player could be as well. This resulted in some 90 potential configurations, so I am told, so vastly improving the mechanical canvas with which to work with when making your character. For those who do not own Spite, a persona is a type of personality type which a player gets to chose on top of his character "class". Each persona gives the player a choice of powers on top of the abilities their class gives them. A welcome addition to Dread and not just a carbon copy of what was in Spite. Each new persona has been thought out specifically along with the powers they bring.
2. Magic. One new antagonist type introduced in Spite was the mighty Ophanim. Gargantuan creatures of destruction sent to Earth to pass judgement on the cities of man. In order to fight these terrifying monsters Zealots (the Spite equivalent of Dread's Disciples) use Imprecations, powerful magic designed to help combat Ophanim. Wake introduces the Megiddim, demonic equivalents of the Ophanim. In this chapter it introduces the 3 types of Imprecations Disciples can use to fight the Megiddim. The new spells are broken down into 3 types, Invocations, Consecrations and Benedictions which are tied to the specific characters types of combat, investigator and sorcerer respectively. All are designed specifically for Megiddim combat, mechanically not a lot of variation is seen between the spells but the narrative effect is where the difference lays. One thing to be aware of with using imprecations is their affect on the world where they are used. As they are powerful beyond the normal Disciples spells they have consequences for their use, so they should be used wisely. Spite is required to get full use out of this chapter as specific rules are referenced from that book relating to the use of imprecations. There is also a discussion in this chapter around the potential crossover between the different types of magic Disciples & Zealots use.
3. Combat. The combat section outlines the subtle differences between Dread & Spite when it comes to combat. With Spite Rafael tweaked the lite rules and added just a few more options, addressing some concerns but without damaging the speed and simplicity of play. On the whole there is little in this section that an experienced Dread/Spite GM couldn't derive himself but it is still nice to see it stated here. One interesting addition though is the way the author discusses exempting Angels & Demons from the range penalties of the system whilst still imposing them on the players. Previously Demons were constrained by having to be in close range to players to fight them, for the weaker Demons this was a serious disadvantage. With the new rules suggestion things just got a bit more interesting, this mechanically and with imaginative narrative description can make both enemies more deadly, especially the less combat orientated ones. Frankly I would have never have thought to go this way with combat so I take my hat off to the author for thinking out of the box. This chapter is quite slim but has some though invoking ideas in it.
4. Advancement. Something lacking in Dread were character advancement rules that had some substance to them. There were notional rules that merely tipped their hat at the idea of Disciples getting better. Despite the fact Disciples start off pretty rock hard anyway many players need that feeling of progress in their character when playing. So along comes Spite and offers bigger & better rules to cater for this. This chapter basically offers the Disciple the same capability. In addition to that in Spite there were rules for War machines. Warmachines are normal vehicles that are converted to be of assistance to Disciples in the Last War. Again Christopher has done a Dread conversion of this and called them Baphomets. These biomechanical vehicles actually have Demon body parts fused to them that become alive; the whole process turns the vehicle into more than just a sweet ride with a very base level of sentience, very groovy but not subtle. Driving one of these around the streets of Soho in London will draw all kinds of attention unless of course the Last War has reached a point where everyone knows about it and is cowering in their houses waiting for the inevitable. Also in this chapter are similar rules for creating enchanted weapons as in Spite, and how to make a substance called Sarx. Sarx is a gross concoction made from Demon body parts, when eaten it bestows special abilities upon the consumer. This chapter is a welcome update to Dread not least for the advancement rules.
5. Demons & Monsters. The demons section covers the Megiddim and the Abaddim. The Megiddim are gargantuan creatures of destruction as I mentioned earlier in the section on magic. They are generally unique and not just a type of Demon so the destruction of one is something the forces of Hell do not recover from very easily as they as difficult, if not impossible to recreate. Frankly and my comments go for Spite here as well, the use of the Megi or the Ophanim in Spite will only work for a certain type of campaign. If you are hell bent on running the Last War as a game of subterfuge with the events going on in the shadows of alleys and dark dank sewers the Megiddim and Ophanim are not for you. Creatures that tower hundreds of feet high trouncing through central London will convert your campaign irrevocably, the secrets out guys, the lids off and there is no going back. However if you campaign runs on a path of escalation then these will be ideal for the closing days if you want there to truly be Hell on Earth. These creatures are not for the faint of heart and only the most experienced and organised groups of Disciples/Zealots will be able to tackle them. There are 9 of them and each is truly terrifying to behold. Another nice touch in Spite was the inclusion of the Erelim. The Erelims sole purpose and design is to hunt down Zealots. Wake introduces the Abaddim so Disciples will not feel left out. Unlike Spite the Abaddim are unique creatures not types like the Erelim. There are 6 in all and again terrifying for Disciples as they are very well equipped for the task. These are again something to be used on experienced groups only otherwise the usual high death toll in Dread could become a complete party wipe out. There is also a brief discussion in here on how the more traditional monsters introduced in Spite, werewolves, aliens etc, can be used in Dread. Nice and well thought out and truly terrifying.
6. Direction. A section designed to guide the Director on how they can run a game using both Disciples and Zealots together. It also explores subjects such as alternative themes to Dread/Spite as opposed to the straight action horror style of play. It covers how to role-play Demons & Angels as well as how you may handle encounters where they may come face to face. A short but useful section for the Dread director on how to handle the new elements introduced in this book for your game.
7. Setting. This section begins by stating "Everything in this chapter is absolutely true, or maybe none of it is". Essentially the author has devised a number of options to add to the existing background of the last war. A director could determine that some items are completely true or they could just be rumour and speculation. Interestingly some of this explores the subject of God and his place in the last war, something that neither Dread nor Spite touched upon. This chapter contains some interesting ideas, as well as a number of new beings and organisations that are involved in the last war. Either way none of it is considered canon, so whether you use it or not is up to you but I liked some of it.
Overall Wake is an excellent addition to the Books of Pandemonium line. It takes Dread and gives it the update it needed to bring it in line with Spite. Production quality is high with me spotting I think one typo in there, there may be more but if there are they are far from obvious. Content is overall very good and offers more than just a few extra ideas on upping the ante on your Dread game to bring it in line with the power upgrade Spite introduced. Wake is now one of the largest source books for Dread and at a modest $13.99 plus shipping (more if you are outside America) offers excellent value. Even for myself living in England I still felt I have paid a bargain price for it at approximately £15 from Lulu. It can also be obtained in PDF format for a bargain $6 from Drivethrurpg. I heartily recommend Wake to any Dread director, as I have said you don't need Spite to use it but it helps for the odd rules reference but if you don't own Spite get it anyway it will supercharge your Dread game!
