Game Geeks #149 World of Darkness Geist the Sin Eater

[arononkorr]

I actually felt that Giest was a pretty interesting setting myself. Although I barely get to play it sadly,as everyone I know is into Vampire/Changeling around here, and even online. I think that's a bit sad, as this game has quite a bit of potential.

[LordSathar]

@Plissken07 As a long time RPer, i am always leery when someone brings up WoD, simply because I have been burnt before by groups who are interested in it. It seems to attract a kind of weird fanbase that you get the idea they kind of half beleive it is real.

[Kogerii]

Why does he go, "main line"?

WoD are the best RPG books I've read (haven't play-tested). They're so thematic and story driven they've alot more potential than RPGs that're more combat driven.

[Aparashi]

Kinda disappointing review Kurt...you didn't tell us anything about what you thought of the game.

[CaramelDancen]

Looking for a late night online game group. I have a pretty weird scedule so no one is available. And late night is impossible to find. I have DnD 3.5 edition and 4th edition books, along with pathfinder. So yeah, PM me or something. Anything would be great!

[Lupos1987]

It takes place in NY? LOL Ghostbusters!!!

[MastaThief688]

Yay more World of Darkness love!!! Thanks and I totally forgot about The Book Of The Dead. Look forward to that review. : )

[theBeorn]

damn kurt, good description but yeah, you should give us pointers as in how the game "feels" and all you do most of the time. you forgot this time, anyway, keep up the good work

[unquietsoul]

The sound and the video appear out of sync to me on this episode.... like watching a dubbed Japanese/Hong Kong Action flick...

[KitFoxtrot]

@Kriptap Not even remotely. The focus is more on the Sin Eaters, rather than on the ghosts. It's a bit closer to Morpheus, perhaps.

[CKNola]

Crew (or Krewe) in the New Orleans sense?

They throw beads at people?

(For those uninitiated, the Krewes are the organizations that stage Parades around Mardi-Gras.

The floats throw out beads to everyone) [the topless beading is done in the French Quarter, away from most parades]

[Phloid82]

7th Sea!

[KitFoxtrot]

@Phloid82 Would be nice, but that's a dead RPG. :(

[teldinn]

How does it compare to Wraith the Oblivion? Which one is better?

[hathiphnath]

@teldinn While I haven't read Geist, I don't really think these two games compare. Geist seems to be about _communing_ with the dead from our world, while in Wraith you ARE dead in a creepy underworld.

[JamesCGI]

I found this review odd and seemingly rushed and/or rather short, I really didn't get any sense of whether or not you enjoyed the line, the pros/cons of the system/story, etc. While you did a fine summary of the key points, I think one could get as much from wikipedia. I didn't even get a sense of how you though the game stacks up with other nWOD lines in terms of enjoyment/complexity/mechanics­.

[Anitropius]

No offense, but I thought that Kurt was... well, a bit dry in this one. He just covered what's in the book - not what he thought of it... what's actually in the book is important, yes, but to me this review came of as quite half-hearted. I'd like Kurt to show more personal input to the games he reviews; he often does, but at times it feels like he's just making a brief description what's in the book before saying "good day and good gaming."

[knwiegel]

@Anitropius Hold on for it- next week is the Book of the dead and I give more opinion then. these were always meant to be a 2-part ep.

[hathiphnath]

So, basically... Geists are to ghosts what werewolves are to the spirits?

[KitFoxtrot]

@hathiphnath Yeah, a good way to see it. Geists are essentially a type of personal totem. They're powerful enough that they cross the threshold between being a ghost and being a full-blown spirit.

[vinkeveen2]

@hathiphnath in a way... yeah you could say that.

[aderier]

I have never played a WoD game. I always think the settings are cool, i've just never done it, maybe someday i will. would this be a good book to start with?

[SamyueruHikage]

@aderier You should start with the World of Darkness core rulebook; I think GameGeeks reviewed that one already, so go check that out. Then, after you've read that, you'll have all the core rule knowledge that you need to play this. nWoD is an amazing set of games, and you should definatly check them out if you get the chance.

[aderier]

@SamyueruHikage I actually do have the core rules, so i have a basic understanding of the system. i just never knew where to start. or if anyone else in my group would be down with it.

[KitFoxtrot]

@aderier No. If you're going to get into nWoD for the first time, I suggest either Vampire (simple enough system that you can dig in quickly) or perhaps Changeling (which is a touch more complex, but really deep). That's if you intend to go supernatural. If you plan to go mortal, I suggest Hunter. Geist is pretty complex.

[aderier]

@KitFoxtrot thanks for the advice i have a couple of the WoD games, i just never knew where to start so that everyone in our group would feel good about it.

[hathiphnath]

@aderier I suggest you run a game with mortals first, be it modern or downright medieval. This way you can familiarise the players with the rules concepts before you move to the other books. Core book has no bows anor shields, but that's the only drawback for medieval play. If you don't have Armoury, have bows deal Strength worth of lethal damage, and add +10 (longbow) and -10 (short bow) to the base range of the crossbow. Have shields add to defense. Ain't too elaborate, but works well enough.

[Isaacd16]

This is the one review that I have been waiting for! YES! I hope Game Geeks will continue to do more WoD reviews.

[tcochu]

One review I was waiting for, since mostly heard bad things about this one, great that you reviewed it...

[ertai222]

cool

[humanzyx]

Thanks very much for reviewing this.

[Monly]

I am interested to see Champions RPG But I want to know what I need to play. What books I need to buy before the Champions book. If it is not too much of a hassle, can any of your next episodes be the Supers Champions RPG? That is obviously if you can ^____^

[sureshot73A]

At this point Hero Games is in a 6E version of their rules you would need:

-Hero System Vol 1 Character Creation

- Hero System Vol 2 Combat and Advenutring

and of course the Champions book

If you are not too sure about wanting to spend the money to buy all 3 books Hero Games also has something called Hero System Sidekick. Which is a cheaper smaller book that is to introduce you to the game system. Mind you since it is a starter into the system it has about 75-80% of the rules

[zorlak21]

Great review :)

[ThePenWolf]

So, it's kind of like Dead Like Me, only you're not a Grim Reaper?

[KitFoxtrot]

@ThePenWolf Not even close. You died, a Geist shows up and says 'hey, I can make you alive again, mind if I hitch a ride?' You agree, you're brought back to life, but you have this totemic-like ghost following you around from now on, and you can see the dead. If you die, the Geist will bring you back to life -- at the cost of your synergy with it. You can only do this about nine or ten times, before you're just the tattered remains of a person, and the Geist gets your body.

[ThePenWolf]

@KitFoxtrot So, then, there's an incentive for the Geist to see that you fail at what you're trying to do if it means the Geist gets to live in your body (if that's an incentive for the thing). Interesting.

[KitFoxtrot]

@ThePenWolf Not really. The Geist gains something from your being there. It wants to be in harmony with you (IE, you have a high 'Morality' trait -- Synergy). Just if you keep dying and such, it gets more annoyed with you, your soul winds up in tatters, and it takes over. It doesn't want you to fail, it has invested quite a bit into you. There's just a price if you're a complete and utter screw-up.

[vinkeveen2]

Each WOD book is expansion books is a stand alone product, ( with the core rule book ) Im a WoD GM and i use al book ( including this one ) as sources for antagonists. and if my players like to play around with them we can try and run a Geist story. we just finished a mortal story where i introduced werewolfs and some of there lore. and next month we plan on trying a werewolf game.

Thx for uploading this fellaz.

Looking forward to your Book of the Dead review. ( since i dont have that 1 yet )

[afromosaic]

A new game geeks, I wish we could see a new show each week!!!

[pugknowspro]

@afromosaic We have been weekly since the first week of Dec. '09, got to thank our sponsors for that. Look for us late Wed. - Early Thursday.

Thanks for watching

[Thanaeon]

@pugknowspro

You know, I think this review was not among your strongest. It seems like an overview of the concept but lacks detail on whether or how much you liked it, why, the kinds of stuff (besides the vague "deals with the dead") the characters are likely to do and so on.

[sureshot73A]

I wonder if Kurt could let us know if Geist will get more books? Seems to me they coulsd use more books for the game.

[KitFoxtrot]

@sureshot73A As far as I'm aware, Geist got one additional book, and all further books are going to be PDF only. Geist is one of the 'limited lines' which get a restricted number of books. Yeah, I know, I feel it should get a few more too.

[sureshot73A]

I had jeard that too but was hoping otherwise. Oh well stilla great game. Now if only WW could do something about updating their website and telling us what they actually have planned.

[KitFoxtrot]

@sureshot73A I've heard unsettling rumours about White Wolf doing poorly. I hope they're just rumours.

[sureshot73A]

I also heard rumours to that effect. I think imo they are rumours. Somehow I do not think WW has screwed up that badly to go under. It seems they re cutting back on dead tree books and focusing more on POD and PDFs. While I understand thhe switrching to that business model I do not like it. Funny supposely the merger with CCP was supposed to fic everything yet imo it has made thigs worse at least for WW.

[sureshot73A]

Not to mention they are doing nothing to calm the fanbase fears about the company. We have very little knowlefde of what they as a company want to do and their internet prescene quite frankly sucks balls. And their website has not seen any real update in ages.