Customer Reviews

Promethean: The Created

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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Promethean: The Created enables extremely tragic roleplaying where players take on the roles of Prometheans - created beings similar to the Monster from Frankenstein. These creatures want more than anything to become human, which involves a long and difficult journey of self discovery and personal evolution that most Prometheans fail to complete. Humanity offers the promise of eternal life (Prometheans become nothing when they die), acceptance (Prometheans exude a supernatural aura of distrust), and peace (Prometheans suffer from great mental distress).

This is not a game for everyone. For many people this game is going to be too depressing. Humans (even the supernatural) turn against the character at every turn, nature fears and rejects the Promethean, and anywhere the Promethean stays becomes a desolate Wasteland. The character will develop mental derangements during the course of play, create another lonely monster in the quest for Humanity, and even at the end of the long road may fail to become human. If you enjoy playing action and adventure games, where the heroes battle the forces of evil and ultimately save the day, then this one might be worth a pass.

However, for those who are interested in a thought provoking examination of the good and bad of human life this could be a wonderful game. It serves as an excellent vehicle to pose questions like "What is the nature of morality?", "What does it mean to be human?", and "What would you do for acceptance?" A narrowly focused game, Promethean is meant to tell a certain sort of tragic tale and the mechanics reflect this at every turn.

Promethean The Created is a new hardcover book for use with White Wolf's mega-popular World of Darkness RPG, and represents a broad new canvas for fans of the game. Promethean offers a new type of character to build and play...soulless corpses, reanimated with life and representing pure Greek Tragedy in their scope, or pure gothic horror...or maybe even both to players. The book bases its background on the myths of things such as the Frankenstein monster, golems, and other such constructs. First, the book does a fantastic job of providing background on these creatures as well as source books and films, giving payers a wide array of options. These created need not be pieced-together bodies of corpses. As pointed out, even creatures such as DC Comics' The Swamp Thing are considered a created being.

Chapter One is vital and provides the player and GM with the setting and background for Prometheans. This is very key as the background of these characters is perhaps more important than any other type of WOD character. All manner of sample Prometheans and methods of creation are included...from alchemical to electricity to primordial beings. You'll find yourself mesmerized for hours by the depth of research done by the game designers. I'm not sure how much of this will ever be used, but it makes for interesting reading nonetheless.

After you've read about these various types of constructs, chapter two will not get you into the character creation phase. Let's just say there's a heck of a lot more to do here than rolling a few dice. Select the character's attributes, skills, specialties, features, and various advantages. There are some excellent examples provided to get players moving in the right direction in creating their Prometheans. There's a boatload of skills and powers with which to equip your character. These include various uses of fire and electricity, but also subtler mental powers as well. This is one of the very best sections in the book and one of the best such sections I've ever read for any RPG system. The amount of detail that the eclectic nature of the promethean abilities is stunning, and even a bit intimidating.

Succeeding chapters deal with Promethean antagonists and storytelling, as well as the Promethean condition and how they affect those around them. The book is capped off with a lengthy appendix. There is so much in this 280 plus book that it's impossible to cover it all in this review. Suffice to say this is one of the most richly detailed RPG supplements I've seen in quite some time. The book is accompanied by the usual outstanding art that you've come to expect from White Wolf.

This is a grand new book in the World of Darkness mythos that opens up a whole new landscape for its fans.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

The concept of this game is great. You play a souless creature seeking to understand the human condition and what it means to be human, as well as become human.

While a great concept, the game isn't for everyone. Due to the very presence of Prometheans creating Wastelands and inciting a mob mentality, hatred if they stay too long in an area, the Promethean troop or character always needs to be on the move.

So if you're not willing to have your chronicle on the move or playing with a mixed group of other Supernaturals, the very nature of Promethean will create some problems and based on group maturity, this can be good opportunities for rp or break the group.

I personally think Promethean does best as a stand alone chronicle. And it does involve some reading to fully grasp the concept.

Mature, well-written, rich both in dramatic ambience and in-game setting. Promethean could well be considered the New World of Darkness' top game of top games. Sure Vampire, Mage, Werewolf, Hunter and Changeling are fantastic - and the World of Darkness generals alike - but this one is so special you just cannot get enough of it. An extremely happy purchase, and a confirmation of its qualities above all greatest expectations. Highly recommended.

Unlike other World of Darkness books, the introduction of Promethean creates a new, albeit depressing, atmosphere for the story. Unlike most of the other types of supernaturals, Promethean's have little to no access to any social aspect in the game. If they try to gain a place in society, nothing but woe and hatred can come of it. While the powers of Promethean's (Transmutations) are an amazing interpretation of alchemy, the players will be more concerned with other things in the game. Combat takes a back seat to getting through each day, not making wherever the player goes a desolate hell-hole, trying not to awaken ravenous Pandoran abominations, and of coarse striving towards the goal of true humanity. Promethean is a great addition to any storyteller's arsenal. One recommendation is to have games either strictly, or mostly Promethean based to to the different nature of the game.

excelent book, i love WoD and this complement the hole world, now i have WoD core, mage the awakening, vampire The Requiem, changeling the lost, promethean and we can play a very cool game jeje

Had to pick this up with all the buzz on what an excellent game this is. Basically you play a Frakenstein type creature, a golem as such who is questing for mortality and a soul. This book uses the World of Darkness rules set, so you need that book to play this one. This game is also a limited run game, which means that besides this core book and the 4 supplements there are not going to publish any additional expansions. Also, when it goes out of print it will probably be gone for good, so probably best to snag your copy while its available (although you could buy it on electronic pdf).

I enjoy the WOD and most of it's associated products on the whole i find the production values higher then wizards of the coast. I have purchased all the other supplements for wod and while i still value changeling as the best I very much enjoyed promethean. The idea of the golem and frankenstien appeals very much especially since a great many of us feel misunderstood at some time or another. the book is well layed out and a joy to read I especially like the opening piece as i believe it really captures the feel of the game. This book will appeal to those who value a strong story line set in a world like our own but whose darkness is personified in various supernatural species. But be forwarned the tone of this game is all about isolation and loneliness in an attempt to garner enough good karma to become human and while we can relate many gamers might not like the idea of playing a character who is reviled by everything and everyone. overall high production value, well thought out and an entertaining system of tranmutations. this tome can be mixed with the others but on the whole promethean don't really play well with others even their own so the story teller might have to make some modifications to make this one work.

For this new release, White Wolf again shows his incredible sense of personal introspection in a dark and insane world. The new race of monsters for the World of Darkness is a new look to the humanity, in the terms of those who seek her as a utopia; not the minds of those who preys on it (vampires), the ones who live in their society but belongs to their primal rage (werewolves) or the awakened ones (Mages).This solid effort is based more on the paradigm of the knowledge of humans making monsters, that wants to be humans.

The art is not as good as Mage or Vampire, but it makes his work. Also, the tales and the first chronicle gives you the opportunity to refresh your ideas for new campaigns in your version of WoD. Their difficulty of playing (due to the Disquiet, a natural condition of the Prometheans) can push the player to make alliances, or to make strategies to keep your condition from the eye of hunters or other creatures, at the time that you search for your goals.

After reading the book, the sensation is very similar to the one that you may feel after reading the masterpiece of Mary Shelley. Is the life an accident? is somebody authorized to play as God? Romantic, terrorific and human: this is the Promethean Mood. a Must-Have for the lovers of the good terror rpgs.

Now THIS is a game for the new World of Darkness

Yeah vamps are OK and so cliche in movies, wolfies are crying for been Forsaken, mages take time and a lot of experience to learn their stuff, meh... PROMETHEANS are REALLY looking to become human!

How many settings talk about been human? About wanting to get a soul? About to learn how to be something they were and that the animals, people and even Earth scorns for been a blasphemy against natural life?

Yes you also have powers and can become a deadly machine, but in the end the Pilgrimage takes you through Milestones so your Pyros can get purified with the Azoth that lives in you and you can create the Lapis Phillosophorum: a Soul. All this means that you travel to learn what you need to become human. A true human not an animated corpse.