Disclaimer II: The majority of this review is opinion; your actual enjoyment of this product should vary accordingly.

Orpheus's second book and first supplement, Crusade of Ashes, takes the cozy corporate world the characters have gotten used to and turns it upside-down. Orpheus is assaulted, and the media and FBI blame the characters--sort of.

Let's step back for a moment, in Orpheus White Wolf has reopened the world of ghosts for the World of Darkness fans who missed Wraith: the Oblivion but nicely avoided just a rehash of that game line. Orpheus takes its cues from the cinematic world, a movie formula if you will, that allows the metaplot to drive forward to its conclusion. Crusade of Ashes is the second act of the movie, where the world once known is changed, like the elder father figure wanting a sex change after establishing that he is the source of his family's success. In Crusade of Ashes, Orpheus falls after a spectre raid during a company party. Unfortunately, the crucible's (the player group) characters were absent, and are now being hunted down.. by the Feds, the spectres and the person who set the raid up in the first place.

Crusade of Ashes deals with new spectre types, new missions and stories to help bridge the main rulebook to the last sourcebook of the Orpheus limited series. It also sets out detailing changes to the player characters' resources and backgrounds now that they are hunted. Crusade of Ashes deals well with the logistics of fugitive living and projecting troubleshooting. (Like, how does a sleeper operate now that the FBI holds his cradle? Where do skimmers project now that their bodies may become possessed by raving spectres while their out of their body tracking down some enemies?) The book also allows for Orpheus, the corporation, to survive its assault and provides Orpheus style missions.

Crusade of Ashes covers new merits and flaws for those hoping to cash in on their misfortune of being fugitives. It presents crucible merits and flaws, as well, allowing for more cooperative (or destructive) playing styles.

Overall, Crusade of Ashes takes the world of Orpheus and changes it. No longer do the player characters get a clock to punch in on, no holiday pay, vacation time or time-share apartments. Characters that survive the fall of their company are not looked on too nicely, as the FBI is trying their best to capture the projecting business and use the technology themselves. The media has decided, as media does, to run the Orpheus renegades as either darlings or dastards of the daily news cycle.

Overall, Crusade of Ashes builds more hints for the future of the Orpheus game line (pigment makes hues, there are ghosts older than three years old, a storm of spectres was unleashed) and sets the paces quickening for those characters going through it.