White Wolf gets a lot of flack for publishing cookie-cutter books. The worst of these offenders are the faction books, such as Vampire's plethora of Clanbooks, but there are others. The player guides are another series of formulaic books, but unlike the faction books these quickly become essential; this leads to being lumped together with the game's rulebook and GM screen as the core of the game. Some of them, like both editions of the Vampire Player's Guide, are questionable in their quality- if not their utility- while others are marvels to behold.
Until recently, Mage's player guide- The Book of Shadows- held my top spot amongst the lot; I kept it around for any of my Storyteller projects, and so did many of my friends. It is an example of how to create a formulaic book and still retain your pride as a designer and as an artist; the new edition of the Werewolf Player's Guide takes the lessons of the Book of Shadows and applies them to Werewolf- a game that needed them.
As a player's guide, the Book of Shadows has the usual stuff in it: Merits, Flaws, essays, new rules, expanded or clairified rules, articles concerning Mage factions and metaphysics, lists of neat stuff, a bibliography that should've been in the rulebook, etc.. Unlike the other four World of Darkness games, this book doesn't scream for a revision. (It will come, but the need hasn't arisen yet.) Most of the mighty meaty content between its covers remains useful; this is quite an achievement for a First Edition suppliment, and doubly so for one so important as this. Certain bits need adjust to the Second Edition rules, such as Certamen and the many rotes, but the overall utility of the book remains high.
The worst thing I can say about this book is that, being a First Edition book, it's awash with the muddled gobbledy-gook that plagued Mage's metaphysics then. This makes some of the articles and essays difficult to read, and it makes others weak because of the obsolete nomenclature. The best thing I can say is that it's still easy to find; some are still sitting on the new book shelves, while more sit in the used book bins. Unlike many old White Wolf books, this one is still worth getting.
As a warning, I'd advise waiting until White Wolf annouces at least a third of its 1999 releases. There's no sense in getting an old book when a new edition is right around the corner. If there is no new edition of the Book of Shadows looming on the horizon, then go get a copy. If so, wait and snatch up the new version. Either way, you're going to get one of White Wolf's better books.
Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)
