Whispers is the character's level of psychic connection to the Neverborn and how much their voices reverberate through the character's mind. The Labyrinth is filled with the voices of the Neverborn, things like the Labyrinth that are constantly being consumed by Oblivion yet never diminish. Abyssal characters may have Whispers from character creation without ever having been to the Labyrinth. They appear in the character's mind with no known cause like the visions in the mind of Jack Walters.
Avatar represents the character's connection to the Void. All Nephwracks have it as well as Spectres unless you'd rather have Spectres being ghosts that serve Oblivion whereas Nephwracks have been 'consecrated' by it. The dark hunger that exists within the Void exists in them.
Showing posts with label Abyssals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abyssals. Show all posts
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
Manual of Exalted Power: The Abyssals
Looking at some of the reviews on Amazon.com I need to make the following points. Firstly I didn't find the colour of the book a problem when making out the words. Secondly this is not poorly organised. I don't know why one of the buyers said this, they exaggerated the number of Mirror Charms.
This was one of the few books I originally intended to buy to let me develop some characters I'd thought of after buying the main rule book. The short section in the core rulebook was promising. Unfortunately with a lot of Exalted publications they show more potential and realisation. From what I've read so far the Manual of Exalted Power series is the ultimate example of this.
For one thing I was expecting the characters to be death knights. In this book they are unquestionably Abyssal Exalted. In the rulebook it said some Abyssals are taken to the Mouth of Oblivion, but in The Abyssals it's a part of each Exalted's education and a part of becoming a death knight. I was expecting a more deathly, morbid edge to their powers and an association to Oblivion and even a direct association to the Deathlords to be more optional. The character's relationship with the Deathlords is one of the most troubling things about their conceptualisation of Abyssals. I can't even remember if I thought one of the Deathlords was responsible for Exalting the Ghostwalker when I first thought of her (probably) but they spell everything out in chapter and verse that gives you little room for your own ideas. Much worse if the grip the Deathlords and the Neverborn have over the characters. Each Abyssal Exaltation, when not inhabiting a body is contained in a object called a Monstrance of Celestial Portion (once amusing misunderstood by a god as a Monstrous Centennial Partition) and whoever has control over this artefact has control over the Abyssal whose Exaltation it belongs to, giving the Deathlords control over the character allowing them to punish them at will. On a more understandable note the characters build up Resonance (a trait they possess since they are relieved of the Great Curse) which build up by performing benevolent actions. This was a good idea when I read about it in a book review but I think it was mishandled, suggesting they would gain resonance for even the smallest good act. In the review that was part of it but it was more along the lines of doing things that were unfitting for the living dead.
The thing I disliked most about it was their dictatorial approach to character creation. Games exist to serve the players not force them to do things. The character's motivation has to be to do with destroying something. Also the player has to chose between being a 'slave or fugitive' the character is either a slave to their Deathlord and the Neverborn or is running away from them. Frankly it's frustrating and bad story writing and just turns me off the book and their perception of the Abyssals completely. Another annoying fact that also comes up in the Underworld is a failure to explain where the lines of power are between being in the service of the Neverborn and being in the service of Oblivion. The book has a very intolerant, and sometimes intolerable, overbearing and fatalistic tone. It also is printed in black and white. The main rulebook was in technicolour to great effect and that wasn't too expensive. Considering the importance of the supplement series about the Exalted at least these should be as well. This book in particular is screaming to be printed in colour with dripping blood emblems in the background. Also the writers didn't channel one obvious influence for the Neverborn and that is the work of H. P. Lovecraft. There are major parallels between Call of Cthuhu especially and the Neverborn but they totally fail to use them. Also some ideas that have inspired me greatly are the Path of Shadowcrafting, a Thaumaturgical Path from Clanbook Tremere (p. 53-56.) It is brilliantly described and would inspire anyone with a penchant for Oblivion. The original film version of Ring is also another big one. With it's sinister Lovecraftian angle where the sea almost takes on the status of a character, it's otherworldliness of Shizuko and the sheer, deep, ubiquitous blackness (watch it at night on a cathode ray TV to see what I really mean) and this should get you thinking.
Another disappointment was the technology associated with the Abyssals. I was looking forward a great deal to a description of how they made soulsteel instead all there is is one rather limp Craft Charm. There's a chapter on 'Necrotech' unfortunately all is amounts to is stitching pieces of bodies back together, adding some metal components if you want and casting a Necromancy spell to animate your creation. It does have a full set of rules, but completely lacks vision. There was no juicy mixing of life and death in obscene and blasphemous ways. Herbert West- Reanimator is a far more imaginative alternative for what they could have used in Necrotech. Chapter five if especially good with a gory description of a 'necrotech' laboratory. Another obvious source of inspiration was Dr. Logan's lab in Day of the Dead. For my creation of Black Magitech I was initially inspired by the mentioning of 'soul capacitors' in The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross.
This book does do some things right. The Charm section in general is good (that God they got that bit right) taking the chance to use juicy phrases like 'Abyssal surgeons can quickly determine whether a particular patient will recover from her ailment or belongs in the flesh vats with the rest of the raw materials.' The Martial Arts section at the end of the chapter was the most interesting for me covering Dark Messiah Style and the extraordinary Hungry Ghost Style. However I don't think they really hit Dark Messiah Style on the head, making it about inflicting malice and cruelty (good) but I didn't like the wording and it made it sound more like a martial art for bullies rather than something that could be developed into something altogether more sinister. In my mind Abyssal Charm should be more associated with death, but Dark Messiah Style is truly what the Abyssals are all about, not just killing but destroying. If you want to get the idea just listen to Come to Daddy.
Altogether this book didn't live up to my expectations. They try to dictate what the Abyssals are to the players saying 'you have to do this' and don't leave enough to choice. It feels a bit too much in some ways like Vampire which Exalted is really the polar opposite of.
As a final note it does contain an number of new Solar Charms which players might want to check out.
This was one of the few books I originally intended to buy to let me develop some characters I'd thought of after buying the main rule book. The short section in the core rulebook was promising. Unfortunately with a lot of Exalted publications they show more potential and realisation. From what I've read so far the Manual of Exalted Power series is the ultimate example of this.
For one thing I was expecting the characters to be death knights. In this book they are unquestionably Abyssal Exalted. In the rulebook it said some Abyssals are taken to the Mouth of Oblivion, but in The Abyssals it's a part of each Exalted's education and a part of becoming a death knight. I was expecting a more deathly, morbid edge to their powers and an association to Oblivion and even a direct association to the Deathlords to be more optional. The character's relationship with the Deathlords is one of the most troubling things about their conceptualisation of Abyssals. I can't even remember if I thought one of the Deathlords was responsible for Exalting the Ghostwalker when I first thought of her (probably) but they spell everything out in chapter and verse that gives you little room for your own ideas. Much worse if the grip the Deathlords and the Neverborn have over the characters. Each Abyssal Exaltation, when not inhabiting a body is contained in a object called a Monstrance of Celestial Portion (once amusing misunderstood by a god as a Monstrous Centennial Partition) and whoever has control over this artefact has control over the Abyssal whose Exaltation it belongs to, giving the Deathlords control over the character allowing them to punish them at will. On a more understandable note the characters build up Resonance (a trait they possess since they are relieved of the Great Curse) which build up by performing benevolent actions. This was a good idea when I read about it in a book review but I think it was mishandled, suggesting they would gain resonance for even the smallest good act. In the review that was part of it but it was more along the lines of doing things that were unfitting for the living dead.
The thing I disliked most about it was their dictatorial approach to character creation. Games exist to serve the players not force them to do things. The character's motivation has to be to do with destroying something. Also the player has to chose between being a 'slave or fugitive' the character is either a slave to their Deathlord and the Neverborn or is running away from them. Frankly it's frustrating and bad story writing and just turns me off the book and their perception of the Abyssals completely. Another annoying fact that also comes up in the Underworld is a failure to explain where the lines of power are between being in the service of the Neverborn and being in the service of Oblivion. The book has a very intolerant, and sometimes intolerable, overbearing and fatalistic tone. It also is printed in black and white. The main rulebook was in technicolour to great effect and that wasn't too expensive. Considering the importance of the supplement series about the Exalted at least these should be as well. This book in particular is screaming to be printed in colour with dripping blood emblems in the background. Also the writers didn't channel one obvious influence for the Neverborn and that is the work of H. P. Lovecraft. There are major parallels between Call of Cthuhu especially and the Neverborn but they totally fail to use them. Also some ideas that have inspired me greatly are the Path of Shadowcrafting, a Thaumaturgical Path from Clanbook Tremere (p. 53-56.) It is brilliantly described and would inspire anyone with a penchant for Oblivion. The original film version of Ring is also another big one. With it's sinister Lovecraftian angle where the sea almost takes on the status of a character, it's otherworldliness of Shizuko and the sheer, deep, ubiquitous blackness (watch it at night on a cathode ray TV to see what I really mean) and this should get you thinking.
Another disappointment was the technology associated with the Abyssals. I was looking forward a great deal to a description of how they made soulsteel instead all there is is one rather limp Craft Charm. There's a chapter on 'Necrotech' unfortunately all is amounts to is stitching pieces of bodies back together, adding some metal components if you want and casting a Necromancy spell to animate your creation. It does have a full set of rules, but completely lacks vision. There was no juicy mixing of life and death in obscene and blasphemous ways. Herbert West- Reanimator is a far more imaginative alternative for what they could have used in Necrotech. Chapter five if especially good with a gory description of a 'necrotech' laboratory. Another obvious source of inspiration was Dr. Logan's lab in Day of the Dead. For my creation of Black Magitech I was initially inspired by the mentioning of 'soul capacitors' in The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross.
This book does do some things right. The Charm section in general is good (that God they got that bit right) taking the chance to use juicy phrases like 'Abyssal surgeons can quickly determine whether a particular patient will recover from her ailment or belongs in the flesh vats with the rest of the raw materials.' The Martial Arts section at the end of the chapter was the most interesting for me covering Dark Messiah Style and the extraordinary Hungry Ghost Style. However I don't think they really hit Dark Messiah Style on the head, making it about inflicting malice and cruelty (good) but I didn't like the wording and it made it sound more like a martial art for bullies rather than something that could be developed into something altogether more sinister. In my mind Abyssal Charm should be more associated with death, but Dark Messiah Style is truly what the Abyssals are all about, not just killing but destroying. If you want to get the idea just listen to Come to Daddy.
Altogether this book didn't live up to my expectations. They try to dictate what the Abyssals are to the players saying 'you have to do this' and don't leave enough to choice. It feels a bit too much in some ways like Vampire which Exalted is really the polar opposite of.
As a final note it does contain an number of new Solar Charms which players might want to check out.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Realm of Death
It's impossible to enter the Labyrinth without feeling the tide of hate that emanates from the tomb Neverborn. Whether any will lies behind that hate is a mystery to wise men but those listening to it are too strong in their convictions to listen to reason.
Simply entering the Labyrinth itself would be a sanity threatening experience. Many ghosts who enter it have already been infected with it's madness. The Labyrinth is a soliloquy, the last act of creation of the Neverborn. The Labyrinth may even be the inside of the Primordials' minds when they died, a psychic dimension flooded with hate. Spectral cults who worship the Neverborn, which is hardly a surprise since they were greater than the gods, have complex and often conflicting beliefs on the nature of the Neverborn. It's uncertain if sentience still lives in their tombs or if their minds spilled out into the Labyrinth. If so the Labyrinth is actually the minds of the Neverborn, which would be no surprise to those who've seen it's twisted, warping depths. Others contend that the constant ringing of hate, a scream you can feel with your body that almost invariably induces an overwhelming desire to kill, is only the voice of the Neverborn and their minds are far worse.
However twisted these Spectres and Nephwracks are, the shadow of Oblivion gnaws at their minds and fills their hearts with terror. Only the recent advent of the Abyssals have given Oblivion champions. They wield the power of the blackest evil. A mindless horror that threatens to consume everything. They scare even the most fanatical and violent Nephwracks with displays of Oblivion's power. Some are content to use their morbid powers and live their unlives as death knights. Others feel there is something more to their existence and search for a deeper meaning to their lives now that they have escaped death. These are the ones who travel to the Labyrinth on a vision seeking quest.
All the Deathlords would learn Labyrinth Circle Necromancy that's a given. Abyssals don't know Void Circle yet but have the potential to do so and that scares the living Fuck out of the Deathlords. A Spectre might learn Shadowlands Circle Necromancy. As bearers of shattered reflections of souls of the Neverborn the Deathlords, who are ghosts, can learn Labyrinth Circle Necromancy as the Celestial Exalted who created Necromancy and developed it learned from the Neverborn. But only the Abyssals, whose power comes from Oblivion itself can learn Void Circle Necromancy if they seek for it and gain Whispers of Oblivion.
There may still be remnants of First Age Solars who created the first Void Circle spells. The nature of Chiaroscuro Nos Veresus' mysterious companion points to such a possibility, that at least he may have tried to do so.
Simply being an Abyssal gives them access to the power to learn Shadowlands Circle Necromancy. Labyrinth Circle Necromancy requires the hatred of Whispers of the Neverborn. Void Circle Necromancy requires Whispers of Oblivion.
How Much Does Black Exaltation Change Them?
It depends on how much they allow it to. Oblivion inspires but it does not create. Some feel drawn to seek out the source of the dark power within them.
Necromancy- power over death
Do the Deathlords have unique powers from possessing the spectral remnants of the souls of the Neverborn. What allowed them to encorporate their ghostly souls in the first place? Was it because of a psychic resonance that they hated Creation as much as the Neverborn?
I think it's important to distinguish between the power of the Neverborn and the power of Oblivion. That fact that Abyssals' powers and those of others beings like the Deathlords seemed to come from both without much distinction was a weakness of the rulebook. I like the way the Oblivion is portrayed more as an entity than as a force, like Mr. Shadow in The Fifth Element. The get the feeling that there's a malevolent intelligence lurking in there rather than it just being a black hole. The outright presence of sentience in the Neverborn annoys me though. It should have been made much more unclear whether they are dead or alive. Call of Cthulhu was an obvious potential source of inspiration for the Neverborn and possibly the Yozis but it's one the writers seemed to ignore. They could have created a realm of great msytery which would have been excellent to explore through but instead they chose to spell things out. The Neverborn are obviously not truly dead and I think it would have been far more interesting for the game if no one knew really if there were dead or not. All they have to go by are the Whispers that emanate from their tombs and the apparent miracles they cause.
Simply entering the Labyrinth itself would be a sanity threatening experience. Many ghosts who enter it have already been infected with it's madness. The Labyrinth is a soliloquy, the last act of creation of the Neverborn. The Labyrinth may even be the inside of the Primordials' minds when they died, a psychic dimension flooded with hate. Spectral cults who worship the Neverborn, which is hardly a surprise since they were greater than the gods, have complex and often conflicting beliefs on the nature of the Neverborn. It's uncertain if sentience still lives in their tombs or if their minds spilled out into the Labyrinth. If so the Labyrinth is actually the minds of the Neverborn, which would be no surprise to those who've seen it's twisted, warping depths. Others contend that the constant ringing of hate, a scream you can feel with your body that almost invariably induces an overwhelming desire to kill, is only the voice of the Neverborn and their minds are far worse.
However twisted these Spectres and Nephwracks are, the shadow of Oblivion gnaws at their minds and fills their hearts with terror. Only the recent advent of the Abyssals have given Oblivion champions. They wield the power of the blackest evil. A mindless horror that threatens to consume everything. They scare even the most fanatical and violent Nephwracks with displays of Oblivion's power. Some are content to use their morbid powers and live their unlives as death knights. Others feel there is something more to their existence and search for a deeper meaning to their lives now that they have escaped death. These are the ones who travel to the Labyrinth on a vision seeking quest.
All the Deathlords would learn Labyrinth Circle Necromancy that's a given. Abyssals don't know Void Circle yet but have the potential to do so and that scares the living Fuck out of the Deathlords. A Spectre might learn Shadowlands Circle Necromancy. As bearers of shattered reflections of souls of the Neverborn the Deathlords, who are ghosts, can learn Labyrinth Circle Necromancy as the Celestial Exalted who created Necromancy and developed it learned from the Neverborn. But only the Abyssals, whose power comes from Oblivion itself can learn Void Circle Necromancy if they seek for it and gain Whispers of Oblivion.
There may still be remnants of First Age Solars who created the first Void Circle spells. The nature of Chiaroscuro Nos Veresus' mysterious companion points to such a possibility, that at least he may have tried to do so.
Simply being an Abyssal gives them access to the power to learn Shadowlands Circle Necromancy. Labyrinth Circle Necromancy requires the hatred of Whispers of the Neverborn. Void Circle Necromancy requires Whispers of Oblivion.
How Much Does Black Exaltation Change Them?
It depends on how much they allow it to. Oblivion inspires but it does not create. Some feel drawn to seek out the source of the dark power within them.
Necromancy- power over death
Do the Deathlords have unique powers from possessing the spectral remnants of the souls of the Neverborn. What allowed them to encorporate their ghostly souls in the first place? Was it because of a psychic resonance that they hated Creation as much as the Neverborn?
I think it's important to distinguish between the power of the Neverborn and the power of Oblivion. That fact that Abyssals' powers and those of others beings like the Deathlords seemed to come from both without much distinction was a weakness of the rulebook. I like the way the Oblivion is portrayed more as an entity than as a force, like Mr. Shadow in The Fifth Element. The get the feeling that there's a malevolent intelligence lurking in there rather than it just being a black hole. The outright presence of sentience in the Neverborn annoys me though. It should have been made much more unclear whether they are dead or alive. Call of Cthulhu was an obvious potential source of inspiration for the Neverborn and possibly the Yozis but it's one the writers seemed to ignore. They could have created a realm of great msytery which would have been excellent to explore through but instead they chose to spell things out. The Neverborn are obviously not truly dead and I think it would have been far more interesting for the game if no one knew really if there were dead or not. All they have to go by are the Whispers that emanate from their tombs and the apparent miracles they cause.
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