Customer Reviews

*OP Traditions Gathered 3

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This installment of the Traditions Gathered series bundles the Akashic Brotherhood, the Celestial Chorus and the Euthantos into one complete package. The material included in this volume is a must have for any chronicle, especially in regarded to the section detailing the Celestial Chorus. The reliocentric mages of the Chorus are given a new life and stereotypes are broken down and destroyed.

As with the other 2 Traditions Gathered books, this one covers 3 different Tradition books. In this ocasion, White Wolf delivers Akashic Brotherhood, Celestial Chorus and Euthanatos in one single book. As a whole, the book increases it's quality.

AK Brotherhood is the worst Tradition book you can imagine. They are depicted as shaolin temple dwellers, who know nothing about outside world. They're much better developed in the 2-page description in Mage 2nd Edition than in the Tradition Book.

Celestial Chorus is a mixed bag. Some good info and some info which could be better developed. The style is fine, though.

Euthanatos is the best Tradition book ever published (maybe along with Order of Hermes), with great information about the death mages, and presented in a very enjoyable form (the story of a trial).

Overall, 1 bad one, 1 enjoyable (but nothing more) and 1 excellent one.

Swords of Faith (The Traditions Gathered, Vol. 3) completes the reprinting of the Tradbooks with the Akashic Brotherhood, Celestial Chorus, and Euthanatos. Tradbook: Euthanatos is generally considered the best read of the Tradbook series and my personal favorite. It continues the House of Helekar storyline mentioned in the Preludes to the other Mage supplements and Horizon: The Stronghold of Hope.

This compilation featured the Akashic Brotherhood, the Celestial Chorus, and the Euthanatos. This book was really three assembled into one. Much like the first two editions, this book had one book that was not so good, and two that were decent. The worst one was presented first.

The Akashic Brotherhood book was the first one featured. I have to say this was the worst of all the tradition books. It was a really dry and boring read loaded with a ton of kung-fu philosophy. Their tradition was so stereotypical that it appeared as though the authors based all their information on cheesy kung-fu movies. Their paradigm was mixed in with a lot stereotypical martial arts lingo and it made it difficult to isolate. After reading the book I was still confused as to how the mages in this tradition did some of their magick. There was some interesting information regarding the Akashic record and some neat Kung-Pow rotes. The amount of useful information was miniscule and the templates were cardboard cutouts, except for the superhero. I'm sure true fans of the Akashic Brotherhood would find the book entertaining and maybe even useful, but it was just a waste of time for me.

The Celestial Chorus book was something completely different. This tradition had always been labeled as the Christian Mages. Though that does describe a good number of them, it does not describe the entire tradition. This book had a lot of history and clarifications and made a valiant effort to prove that anyone who believes in a divine and righteous creator could be a Celestial Chorus member. There was plenty of information on the paradigm, practices, and secrets. The Celestial Chorus actually gave birth to a group that would eventually become a Technocratic Convention. This book is a must for anyone who wants to play a no nonsense good mage. It is loaded with a lot of useful information and is presented without a holier than thou attitude.

The Euthanatos tradition book was the last one in the compilation. It was quite possibly the best first edition tradition book in the series. This book completely illuminates the practices of the death mages, their paradigm, history, beliefs, and the risks they take. The Euthanatos are not psychotic killers created for power-gamers. They were described as the keepers of the Great Wheel who actively work to keep it in top shape. They also have a few covert duties that were instigated to police the Traditions. Very useful rotes were presented as well as a new game mechanic that is a great storyteller/player tool for mages who spend so much time with the macabre. After I was through with this book I placed the Euthanatos up with the Sons of Ether and Virtual Adpets as my most favorite traditions.

Overall the compilation was nice. Get it for the Celestial Chorus and the Euthanatos. Don't get it just for the Akashic Brotherhood. Their revised tradition book is a lot better; at least that's what I've read from other reviewers.