Customer Reviews

WoD Mirrors (World of Darkness (White Wolf Hardcover))

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are two principal reasons that any Storyteller (GM) must get this book. Yes, I said "must get." Reason one: it allows you to tailor/hack/modify/turn-on-its-head the Storytelling System that World of Darkness is built on. With this book you can inject more horror into Mage, more madness into Changeling, more degeneration into any mortals game. With this book you get (finally) rules for using miniatures in combat, detailed rules on system hacks such as Nature/Demeanor (from Old World of Darkness). You even get to include a nifty mechanic from Mage the Ascension: Archetypes. Stats-wise you can modify the system to only use 3 core stats: Mental/Physical/Social. It also gives you rules on point splitting rather than to assign attributes using the 5/4/3 system. Finally, there is a comprehensive system for incorporating an Insanity stat into the character sheet (players of Call of Cthulhu will love this). There is plenty more (its a big book) but we finally get rules for running WoD in a Historical, Sci-Fi or Fantasy setting (Skill swapping).
Reason two: There has been much talk that WOD is going to a new edition, (or electronic only pdf format or even print on demand). For all these rumors one thing is certain (and confirmed in this book): White Wolf is going to deliver the best MMO system in the next years to come and maybe it will incorporate a new mechanic/engine. For the loyal/true fan this is a collectors book because it is the last one that will be published in the World of Darkness imprint. I've been a strong/loyal fan of the Storytelling System, have run countless games and of all the pen-and-paper RPG's out there this has always been my favorite game mechanic. But I am excited because this book finally gives me all the tools/hacks/ideas I need to really make this system *my own.*
So this is a farewell, not goodbye. Cant wait to see what White Wolf delivers next!

WARNING: DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK FOR THE RIDICULOUSLY HIGH PRICES THAT IT IS BEING SOLD FOR!!! This book is STILL available on White Wolf's website for cover price.

It's a decent book, though it would've been nice to have a more precise idea of what it is. It provides a wide variety of interesting ideas for storyteller, and a few for players (variations/explanation of character creation, options for replacing virtue/vice, mortal "power stats", a new template: Extraordinary Mortals for making your own Sherlock Holmes/Hannibal Lecter, Social combat, rapport and relationships, a multitude of combat system changes some from OWoD and some brand new, new/altered morality systems, and my personal favorite: several post-apocalyptic systems: everything from mass spirit uprisings to nuclear winter to alien invasion). All in all Mirrors is something of a "Pandora's Box" of system hacks, game mechanics, and things that, generally, only the most twisted/bored/desperate ST would have a need for.

In a sense, Mirrors provides a look at WoD game mechanics that goes far deeper than most gamers are inclined to. With a little effort, it would be a fairly simple affair even to make your own merits, supernatural powers, and even completely new supernatural creatures to turn loose on/as players.

All in all, a good book for very serious gamers who want to add or tweak the basic game mechanics, or make house rules without making them game breakers. But it's about as far from "necessary" as can be since, in essence it is a "roadmap" of sorts to the skeleton system common to all of the NWoD games.

This is a gorgeous book filled with some truly useful hacks for the WoD system. In truth, many of the hacks are ones you game group could probably implement without the book. What I love about the book though is how masterfully the writes integrate the hacks into the system. Personally it gives me confidence to hack the system how I like, knowing how smoothly these hacks can be integrated. I also can't wait for any kind of cutting room floor editions to be released. I am still very excited for the Sci-Fi shard which they had to cut based on word count. This book is a great piece to pick up, if far from necessary for enjoying WoD. If you are a game designer, want to be one, or just like hacking a game just so, this is an excellent read.

This book was not what I was originally expecting. I had passed on it because I assumed it was another form of 'here's what you can do with urban legends.' It's not, it's the 'hack' manual for the World of Darkness...it is full of ideas for way to take the baseline games and turn them into something more: Futuristic Cyberpunk, High Fantasy settings, steampunk, etc. While any good storyteller can always adapt a game to a wide variety of genres, it's always nice to have some guidelines to work with!

This book adds a great deal to the WoD but it didn't follow through as well as I'd hoped. So many great possibilities are given but fewer examples than expected. Only four stories head up chapters and the story snippets explaining abilities and skills that should have been abundant are completely absent. MIRRORS does what it's meant to do, but a creative opportunity was wasted in the bare bones presentation.

They are charging $70 for this book, you can get it for the original cover price at DriveThru RPG, via the new Print on Demand. Identical to the originals because they are licensed by White Wolf. Be cautious and don't get taken advantage of.

This book only goes to show how far white wolf has fallen. Where once they released maybe 1 bad product a year with OWD. NWOD has a much less spectacular track record, a few lines (Werewolf & Changeling) stand out, but even they have more than their fair share of duds. Most of the books arent very useful or fun to read. This book continues this mediocre trend. The book contains about 6 pages of useful content and has some really great concepts that are absolutely horribly executed.