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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Every Saga has a beginning..., May 5, 2005
This review is from: World of Darkness: Ghost Stories (Hardcover)
So you wanna play a horror RPG that steers clear of the hack & slash violence prevalent to most RPG's? May I suggest WoD 2.0 Core Rules plus Ghost Stories.
Ghost Stories is an anthology of five Ghost Story scenarios that you can use to introduce your character's into the Monster Hunting world without getting campy, losing mood, or letting players get overly physical.
I always enjoyed the concept of Hunter: The Reckoning, but also disliked the campiness of the powers and the 'Imbued'. Thanks to WoD + Ghost Stories, I finally have a dark, mysterious campaign with monster hunters that are 'real'!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spooky, August 4, 2007
This review is from: World of Darkness: Ghost Stories (Hardcover)
This was one of the first World of Darkness books for general use, instead of a specific game line, though it is also intended for mortal games. It has an introduction that expands on using ghosts from the Rulebook, and five stories intended both for use and for showcasing how to create ghost stories for the World of Darkness. Before I go any further, I want to point out that I am very fond of ghost stories. This is one of the first World of Darkness books I bought, and I bought it because I like ghost stories, not, then, because I knew and liked White Wolf's style. So, if I start waffling on about how enjoyable a particular story is, keep in mind that I reading this for the entertainment value, not necessarily the gaming.
Having said that, I thought the introduction opened the book on a high note that kept going. The intro begins a good little overview of why people keep telling, and listening to, ghost stories. After that is a general breakdown of all the elements of Storytelling a ghost story, such as suggestions on types of ghosts, how to balance their attributes, when and how to break the rules for story purposes (primarily to throw off players that think knowing the core rulebook means knowing everything about World of Darkness ghosts), and a guide to the story elements. That also features a comparison of the differences between ghosts in a mortal game and ghosts in a supernatural game.
The stories break down into roughly three types. The first and fourth are more about supernatural sites with ghosts. The second is a haunted house. The third and fifth focus on one ghost. The first story is about a literal ghost town - the town has died, but in so doing has created a lingering presence. This story is one of the classic "trapped and can't escape" types. It is intended as a good story to bring a disparate group of mortal player-characters together. The second story features a big, creepy mansion that is now haunted. According to the author, played at full strength it could wipe out a group of mortal characters, so it is intended as either a stand-alone story or the characters survive a brief initial encounter and return later to (try and) end the haunting. It is also intended as a showcase of how to design a haunted house, with descriptions of the ghostly echoes for each room. My main criticism for this story is that the author created an incredibly detailed and involved backstory for the people that became the ghosts, and also states that the characters are extremely unlikely to ever find much of it out. I love how the White Wolf writers go into such detail for so many of their characters, but this is one time when the type and level of detail seems more than the story would ever require. Also, I think it does better at being a showpiece than as a playable setting in its own right.
The third and fifth stories, focused on individual ghosts, are the "special effect" stories of the book. Each ghost has a particular power used to incredible effect. The third story involves a tangled home life, a corrupt business life, and a series of murders for which the prime suspect is a man already dead. It seems like a good story for investigative characters. The main issue is that a lot of the drama of the story is in the realisation that a ghost is the killer, which may not be that dramatic for players that know to expect ghost stories. The fifth story has no reservations about presenting the ghost immediately. It is the story of a murdered man and about redemption, either for the murderer, or for the community that stood by and watched. It is a good but slightly restrictive story, as resolving the ghost's issues are almost the only way to deal with it, unlike in the other stories.
The fourth story is my favourite. The characters go beyond dealing with ghosts and have to deal with something creates ghosts - a source of evil one might say, instead of just a being that commits immoral acts. This is an investigation story that ends with a battle. As such, it could be used with characters getting their first glimpse of the true World of Darkness, or the number of ghosts could be increased to challenge Mages or even Werewolves. That puts this story in contrast with the others, as I feel they are probably only suitable for investigative supernaturals intent on laying the ghosts to rest rather than just the easier option of destroying them.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Ghost Stories" -- A Good Beginning For A Good Scare, February 13, 2007
This review is from: World of Darkness: Ghost Stories (Hardcover)
If you're in the mood for something different in a role-playing game, why not check out WORLD OF DARKNESS: GHOST STORIES?
This book is primarily for Storytellers, and if you're looking for something beyond the typical hack-'n-slash, [...], shoot-'em-up, blow-'em-up combat games which are fine to play, but can become dull and boring very quickly, this book should fill the bill, because the five stories contained in this slim volume can give Storytellers some good ideas to work with, and build upon.
The introductory chapter gives you a brief overview of the five stories, along with helpful ideas on how to storytell ghost stories, and how to design a ghostly character which will give you (and your players) a good scare. A basic summary of the nature of ghosts and the ways they use to keep a foothold in the mortal world are discussed, as well as the types of ghosts which player characters may encounter during a particular story.
While you can use WORLD OF DARKNESS: GHOST STORIES with the WORLD OF DARKNESS core rulebook to introduce your players' mortal characters to the "unseen world", you can also use it with any of the other World Of Darkness games, including VAMPIRE: THE REQUIEM and WEREWOLF: THE FORSAKEN. I'll be using GHOST STORIES as the prelude to my World Of Darkness: Chicago chronicle, and if you have any of the World Of Darkness city setting books (WORLD OF DARKNESS: CHICAGO, CITY OF THE DAMNED: NEW ORLEANS or BOSTON UNVEILED), you can use GHOST STORIES with them as well. After all, Chicago, New Orleans and Boston are three of America's most haunted cities, and adding GHOST STORIES to any of these city setting books will give your VAMPIRE, WEREWOLF of MAGE chronicle a little more zip.
The ghost stories contained in the book span a wide range of genres; from ghost towns, to the classic "haunted house" genre, to the tale of a man who discovers that death doesn't put an end to his complex domestic drama. A story about malevolent forces who can manipulate nature, along with a tale of unholy revenge are also here, including with ideas on how you can use these stories as either a prelude to your World Of Darkness chronicle, or it can be incorporated into your World Of Darkness chronicle as a one-shot story, a subplot in your current story or as a particular character's backstory.
So, if you want a good way to introduce yourself and your players to the World Of Darkness, without resorting to the usual hack-'n-slash tales, WORLD OF DARKNESS: GHOST STORIES may be just what you're looking for. I highly recommend it.
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