One thing I would like to say is that a lot of this review is the same as my previous reviews only because the first three chapters and the last three chapters are the exact same as the Book of the Unliving and the Book of the Light. That said here goes the review of The Book of the Spirits.
The first thing you come across is the introduction, a collection of short stories describing the setting in brief detail. All of the stories are combined forming an almost complete story. If you own The Book of the Unliving and the Book of the Light the stories are continued from those books.
Book One: Orientation has three chapters and is, you guessed it all about the setting, rules, and the character creation process
Chapter One: Entering the Secret World details the various aspects of the setting. Here is where you will find history, definitions, and a brief list of what you will need to play.
Chapter Two: Protagonist Creation explains everything you need to know about creating your character. Character creation can be a nine step process if all of the optional material is used. Characters can be created four different ways, first is point buy followed by card draws, next is dice rolls, and last is freeform (which is only recommended for experienced roleplayers). The first step is choosing your Race or Gentes as it is called here. Following that come Concept creation, Ethos choice, Persona choice, Aspects (Stats), Aptitudes and Skills, Distinctions, Preternaturae and Magick, and last the Final details. Also included are brief descriptions of the various spirit races you can play. Following all this are sections on Destiny points, Backlash points and experience. Choosing your race will be a tough decision as there are numerous choices. To get all the information on a race you will have to turn to different chapters, but that is not that hard since they did a good job of putting them in there own sections. Concept creation is a simple process for some but the author included a list of 20 questions to help you out. Choosing your Ethos (which defines the role of your character) is an optional step in the creation process. Here you will find 19 different ethoses to choose from, ranging from the gloryseeker to the prophet. Following Ethos is Persona choice (your characters personality) which is also optional step. Next comes Aspects (Stats) are broken down into three categories; Mental, Physical, and Spiritual. Each category breaks down into three individual stats. Under mental the stats are Instincts, Intellect, and Perception. The physical stats are Dexterity, Resilience, and Strength and the Spiritual stats are Inspiration, Presence, and Spirit. The next step is Aptitudes and Skills. Aptitudes are a category of skills while skills are the individual skills in that category. Distinctions are next and are broken up into two different sections, Benefits and Drawbacks Distinctions are a way to add a little more to your character. They range from biographies to servants. The section and magick and supernatural abilities are rather small but that is because the majority of the abilities are located in the other chapters. The last three sections are about Destiny points, Backlash points, and Experience. Destiny points are points that the character has that allow him to change effects and outcomes of certain events. Backlash points are the exact opposite of destiny points; they are given to the character for going against his nature and can be used by Npc’s to affect outcomes against the characters. Last are experience points. There are two charts here one is for determining levels and the second is for determining how much it will cost to raise a stat or skill, etc. Raping it all up is an example of character creation. There is also a small section on numerology.
Chapter Three: Basic guidelines, is where you will find all you need to know about the game mechanics. In this chapter you will find out about combat, hit points, skill checks, and healing. The basics are you roll a number of dice or draw a number of cards equal to your stat. You get one success for each die or card equal to or grater than a difficulty number. Base difficulty number is nine with modifiers for various situations. This is the way all actions are decided. These rules are a little confusing at first but once you read them a few times you will get them.
Book Two: The Earthly Spirits is broken up into three chapters and concentrates on the three main races of this book (Gargoyles, Manitou, and The Possessed).
Chapter Four is all about the Gargoyles. This chapter goes into detail about the various types of bodies they may inhabit or create, there life, histories, and specialized magick, and martial arts styles. Also here are rules for what happens when gargoyles eat to much sin. All of the material about the gargoyles from chapter two is reprinted here for easy reference.
Chapter Five is all about the Manitou. This chapter goes into detail about the life, histories, and the three spirit groups as well as 22 or so different totems to choose from. All of the material about the Manitou from chapter two is reprinted here for easy reference.
Chapter Six is all about the Possessed. This chapter goes into detail about the two main types of dream entitles that possess mortals bodies (Yugtuhal or evil ones and Benedera or good ones), their histories, as well as other aspects of the dream spirits abilities. All of the material about the possessed from chapter two is reprinted here for easy reference.
Book Three: Secrets and Mysteries is broken down into four chapters as well with three chapters detailing the rest of the races for you to choose from to play or as enemies. The fourth chapter is about the ordinary and the mystical places of the world.
Chapter Seven: Abominations is about the enemies of the spirits. The abominations are creatures created by a sentient alien plant from a different reality called Otgon and are used by it to take control of the earth. There are at lest eleven different types of abominations presented her for use against the spirit races.
Chapter Eight: Djinn are creatures that are half-spirit and half-mortal. Presented here are the nine different tribes of djinn along with their abilities. The two main types are lunarians which will help the demons or fight against them depending on what is best for them and the solarians which are the enemies of the demons. The nine tribes are Efrit, Marid, Ajam, Hatif, Jann, Dalhan, Serimm, Nasnas, and Sutekh. Each tribe has different abilities and members of both factions.
Chapter Nine: The other Everlasting give the ten or so other gentes to choose from. The races are Angels, Daevas, Dragons (the most powerful of the everlasting and not recommended for characters), Elves, Faeries (not of the nice magical fantasy type, these are mean and cruel), Ghuls, Osirians (a race of people that are constantly reborn into new bodies and keep all their memories), Questers, Revenants, and Vampires. Each race has a description, vital statistics, what gives them backlash points, and what hurts and can kill them permanently.
Chapter Ten: Mysterious Worlds would give details on the various realities that exist within or just outside of our own. The places described here are geared towards the spirit races.
Book Four: Beyond the Basics is where you will find extra information for running the game, it is also where you will find the section on magick.
Chapter Eleven: Advanced guidelines is where you will find all the information fro those situations that will arise when you least expect it. Some of the things you will find are rules for fire damage, radiation damage, what protection armor will give you. This is also where the section on magick is located. Magick is simple to use but a little confusing at first. Basically you have points of Animus (which is the energy that powers supernatural and magical powers) and by spending these points you cast the spell. The part that may give you problems is you have to figure out that cost for each and every spell you cast. The way to do this is to figure out what kind of spell it is, if it affects you, if it affects your enemies, if it affects neutral people (bystanders), once you get this down it will be simple to do. The best part of the magic system is that you can make your spell do anything you want if you can pay the cost.
Chapter Twelve: Storytelling gives advice for running a game, adventure creation and types of themes for your campaign. This chapter is useful because it helps you get and understanding of the system and the world setting.
Chapter Thirteen: Legendmaking deals with really getting into the game. In this chapter you will find guidelines for using make believe ceremonies to help bring a sense of realism to the game. I didn’t find this chapter very useful but some people might.
Now that I got that out of the way there were some things I didn’t like about this book. First I thought there was just too much reprinted material throughout the book, as there was in the last two books as well. The layout of this book is better than the last two. Now for the things I liked first there were not that many typos that caught my eye which is not bad for a book of this size. The art was a little better than the last book (the Book of the Light). This book also held up better than the last one. Another thing is it has a good index which makes it easy to find the things you are looking for. Overall this book is as good as the previous ones in the series and although it can be used separately it would be better off used in conjunction with the other books in the series.
