Pyramid Pick: End of Empires

Pyramid Pick

Ends of Empire

Published by White Wolf Game Studio

Written by Bruce Baugh, Richard E. Dansky, Geoffrey C. Grabowski & Ed Huang

160 pages, $19.95

Wraith: Born, 1994 (conceived in the midst of some freaky Mark Rein*Hagen demon game), Died 1999. Survived by siblings Mage, Vampire, and Werewolf, cousins Trinity and Aberrant, and child Oblivion.

Damn.

It's over. All done. All wrapped up, as Homer J. said, in a nice little package.

At least it was done well.

On those of you who aren't Wraith fans (and I know there's way too many of ya out there), I'd like to place blame. This game was my favorite among the Storyteller games. It had everything you could for; there was a cool premise, a neat game world, good toys, powers, and a great story running through it.

The first edition was somewhat muddled (aside from the glow in the dark cover, which was kind of neat). But, like most games out these days, the second ed. more than resolved any issues from the first.

Of course, the inherent darkness of the topic scared off a lot of gamers. I mean, the game starts when your character dies. That's not something a lot of people want to role-play (Mortality: The Confronting). The fact that the game was probably one of the most hopeful ones out there was unfortunately ignored. Wraith was a game of second chances; you didn't get to do it over again, but you could try to make a few things right.

But, now, the point is moot. The last Wraith supplement has been . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.




Article publication date: October 15, 1999


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