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Wraeththu: From Enchantment to Fulfilment

Started by jdrakeh, January 15, 2007, 02:15:09 AM

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jdrakeh

January 15, 2007, 02:15:09 AM


The official Wraeththu (pronounced RAY-THOO) roleplaying game is based on a body of fiction by Storm Constantine. I should note that, prior to reviewing the product in question, my exposure to Ms. Constantine's fiction has been exactly none. That said, after reviewing the RPG, I'm tempted to look into it. I found the game itself to be conceptually intriguing, though its execution leaves much to be desired. Something appears to have gone horribly awry between the initial spark of inspiration and the finished product.



The subtitle of the game "From Enchantment to Fulfilment" probably should have served as a giant red flag. It speaks more to the design team's love of the source material than the actual source material itself. To clarify, the world of Ms. Constantine's novels (and, thus, the world of the RPG) is a post-apocalyptic Earth where humanity has been replaced as the world's dominant apex predator by a newly evolved race of sexually androgynous beings -- the titular Wraeththu. Sexuality and humanity (or rather, the drive to adapt as humans) are clearly of thematic importance in the setting, though the designers have (unwisely) eschewed these deeper themes in order to concentrate on producing what is, ultimately, the slickest piece of fan-fic ever.



Barring the actual setting description, the designers (not Ms. Constantine, I gather) take every opportunity to place the Wraeththu (as the creation of Ms. Constantine, not as an element of the setting) upon a pedestal in what amounts to overt fetishism. What's worse, they very much chose to focus on the most base elements of the setting -- the sex (as opposed to the sexuality), the in-fighting between Wraeththu clans (as opposed to the politics), and big honking combat (as opposed to the arguably deep philosophical issues addressed by the source material).



All of these choices would be much easier to forgive if the chapter devoted to the setting (and much of the game's accompanying descriptive text) didn't make it clear that there is much, much, more to the source material than sex, violence, and war. The game, sadly, deals with little of it, either mechanically or thematically. I think that this is, arguably, the most crippling aspect of the product. Indeed, "From Enchantment to Fulfilment" seems to describe the journey of the design team rather than the game itself. It also explains some of what went wrong with the rest of the game. In a word -- fandom.



While the game's already narrow focus was tightened like a noose by the design team to encompass an incredibly myopic view of the source material (again, as expressed in the chapter of the game devoted to setting), this apparently wasn't good enough. Which brings us to the second nail in the coffin -- the system. Not only is the game's system highly derivative of other popular products (notably the old World of Darkness line and D&D), but the few areas where it does manage to depart from those other design standards are poorly implemented.



During my initial skimming of the book, I managed to catch some rather glaring mechanical faults -- some that even minimal play testing should have picked up. Notably, in the Wraeththu RPG it is possible for a character to have a better chance of successfully performing a given task with absolutely no training in a related skill than they would should the possess minimal training (i.e., Some training) in the same said skill. This is, in my opinion, a rather serious mechanical failing. This will probably be more meaningful if you understand how skills work. . .



All characters have six Primary Stats (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Perception, Willpower, and Intelligence), each of which is rated from 1-20 and bestows a modifier that ranges from -2 to -5. Skills are linked to one or more of these Stats, with the modifier of the influencing Stat(s) being added to the Skill's final rating. Skill ratings are purchased  with a pool of points.So, what about using Skills? To successfully use a Skill, you need to roll under its current rating on a d20. If your character doesn't haev an appropriate Skill, they'll need to roll under the controlling Stat rating, minus six. And that's the problem.



We'll use the example that the book does -- Climbing. If one character has a rating of three in their Climbing Skill, their a player will need to roll a three or less in order for them to successfully climb anything. If another character has no rating in Climbing -- they get to roll under their Strength Stat rating, minus six. If this second character has a Strength rating of greater than nine, they'll actually be at an advantage over the first character (regardless of the first character's strength).



This is, sadly, indicative of the overall design to be found in the game. I’ll avoid a bulleted list of potential problem areas as there’s no need to be petty, though take note – they do exist. Indeed, some further play testing may well bring to light things that I myself missed. There is, simply, much room for improvement where even the basic underpinnings of the system are concerned. Indeed, I think that the game does a good job of showing the fundamental problems with altering existing systems to function differently without wholly understanding those systems first.



Now having brought the hammer to bear on the game, it's worth pointing out that the product does some things very well. For starters, the black and white artwork (with a handful of exceptions) is very well rendered. Likewise, the layout is clean and crisp. Further, the editing is far above the caliber that I've come to expect from most roleplaying games in recent years. The real tragedy is that none of these otherwise excellent production values redeem the game in terms of it finding a wider audience.



As I mentioned earlier, I've had no exposure to Ms. Constantine's works outside of the Wraeththu RPG. The setting detail in the game (notably that found in the "Megalithica and Beyond" chapter) describes a world that I'd very much be interested in exploring, one that appeals to me on a deep philosophical level. Sadly, the designers have failed to mechanically support social roleplay much past "make a skill check" while simultaneously narrowing the thematic scope of the game to focus largely on what they personally like, as opposed to the many themes that the setting seems capable of offering.



Ultimately, I think that this could have been a reasonably successful game with the right people at the helm. The promise is definitely there. Sadly, I feel that Ms. Constantine chose the wrong people to breathe life into this particular project. I know that there isn't such a thing as a "Post-Apoc Heartbreaker" in Ron Edward's personal lexicon -- but if there was, I have a hard time thinking that the Wraeththu RPG wouldn't illustrate it perfectly.

 

David R

#1
January 15, 2007, 11:48:55 AM
Good review James. I wonder, is there anything worth salvaging in this book which could be used some place else? Locations, characters, guilds...anything?

Regards,
David R

jdrakeh

#2
January 15, 2007, 01:21:26 PM
Quote from: David RGood review James. I wonder, is there anything worth salvaging in this book which could be used some place else? Locations, characters, guilds...anything?

Regards,
David R

Actually, yes. . .

I can see the chapter devoted to setting being of use to people who are familiar with the novels and wish to use the setting with another system of their choice (incidentally, I plan to pick up some of the novels for this very reason).

Likewise, the descriptions of the har clans/tribes in the book seem like they'd serve as good descriptive archetypes for Wraeththu PCs (feel free to ignore the White Wolfish skill and power breakdowns that accompany said clan/tribe descriptions, however).

Other than that, I think that the game is largely a collection of missteps. As Jeff says elsewhere, it isn't "Synnibarr bad" -- but it screams 'work of fandom' and the fact that its authors weren't practiced game designers shows (the amount of stuff lifted from other systems and then shoe-horned into the source material is staggering).

This is a game that I honestly wouldn't mind seeing again, though it really deserves its own system and, more importantly, it deserves a system that shines light on the struggle between humans and the har, as well as the themes of romance, sexuality, and political skullduggery that apparently play a large role in the source material.

The setting chapter is kind of like a carrot on stick. . . the fact that the larger game doesn't allow the reader to catch the carrot is very disappointing.
 

Dominus Nox

#3
January 15, 2007, 06:10:25 PM
Well, as to salvaging elements from wraethu, I can think of one right off just from what I've heard: Take the game setting and turn it around so that the players are playing humans fighting the wraethu to keep from being pushed into extinction.

Hey, the wraethu need this flower thingie sex to survive, and die horribly without it, right? Well hell, there's a way to interrogate them or just torture them as an example to others right there!
RPGPundit is a fucking fascist asshole and a hypocritial megadouche.

jrients

#4
January 17, 2007, 11:34:11 AM
Great review.

Quote from: Dominus NoxWell, as to salvaging elements from wraethu, I can think of one right off just from what I've heard: Take the game setting and turn it around so that the players are playing humans fighting the wraethu to keep from being pushed into extinction.

Hey, the wraethu need this flower thingie sex to survive, and die horribly without it, right? Well hell, there's a way to interrogate them or just torture them as an example to others right there!

Nox, you had in me in the first paragraph then lost me in the second.
Jeff Rients
My gameblog

Dominus Nox

#5
January 17, 2007, 03:10:53 PM
Quote from: jrientsGreat review.



Nox, you had in me in the first paragraph then lost me in the second.
Well, you're kind of easy to get ahead of and lose. :p

As to the second paragraph, we always hear in Wraethu that they are so fucking awesomely superior to humans in every way, but they need that flowerpenis sex with other wraethu or they die slowly and horribly.

So if you capture one you just need to hold him prisoner somewhere he can't get his flowerpenis sex thing on, and use that as a method of interrogation, or just as a way of killing them slowly and horribly as a way of terrorizing the others.

A mission for humans in a reversed wraethu game might be to capture a single one and get him to a human stronghold where he can be kept until he cracks and reveals important information, or dies, then his body could be dumped out as a warning to other oh so superior wraethu: Don't fuck with this town, freaks.
RPGPundit is a fucking fascist asshole and a hypocritial megadouche.

The Yann Waters

#6
January 17, 2007, 03:24:21 PM
Quote from: Dominus NoxAs to the second paragraph, we always hear in Wraethu that they are so fucking awesomely superior to humans in every way, but they need that flowerpenis sex with other wraethu or they die slowly and horribly.
Not quite.

"Aruna is indulged in either for pleasure, the intimate communication of minds and bodies that all Hara need for spiritual contentment, or else for the express purpose of conceiving. Although it is a necessity for Wraeththu, the amount of physical communion preferred varies from Har to Har. Some may seek out a companion only once a year, others may yearn for aruna several times a week." (From the appendix to The Fulfilments of Fate and Desire.)

Aruna is one of the two "legitimate" and accepted forms of intercourse among Wraeththu. The other is grissecon, a form of ritual magic which among other things thwarts a bioweapon attack against a Wraeththu village early in the first novel.
Previously known by the name of "GrimGent".

Dominus Nox

#7
January 18, 2007, 04:14:58 AM
Quote from: GrimGentNot quite.

"Aruna is indulged in either for pleasure, the intimate communication of minds and bodies that all Hara need for spiritual contentment, or else for the express purpose of conceiving. Although it is a necessity for Wraeththu, the amount of physical communion preferred varies from Har to Har. Some may seek out a companion only once a year, others may yearn for aruna several times a week." (From the appendix to The Fulfilments of Fate and Desire.)

Aruna is one of the two "legitimate" and accepted forms of intercourse among Wraeththu. The other is grissecon, a form of ritual magic which among other things thwarts a bioweapon attack against a Wraeththu village early in the first novel.

Hmm, I could have sworn I read something about the wraethu needing the "flower penis sex" for som physical reason, or they died. Oh well, as ranting and incoherent as the bashing on wraethu has been, epsecially the "review" or rpg.net that segued into a hate diatribe against overweight people, I'm not surprised some data  got misconstrued.

Still, the fundamental basis of my assertion that you could play wraethu as a "Humans fighting back against the oh so fucking superior wraethu" is a valid one, hell we might get pundy to join in on a campaign like that.

The real problem would be finding a GM willing and able to play the waethu as written. Any volunteers feel up to that? Anybody?

(Oh, and don't try to cop that ONLY the wraethu can use magic, there have been shamans, witch doctors and so on thruout HUMAN history, so if magic exists, humans can use it too.)
RPGPundit is a fucking fascist asshole and a hypocritial megadouche.

The Yann Waters

#8
January 18, 2007, 06:32:46 AM
Quote from: Dominus Nox(Oh, and don't try to cop that ONLY the wraethu can use magic, there have been shamans, witch doctors and so on thruout HUMAN history, so if magic exists, humans can use it too.)
Well, sure: even the novels state that all humans have at least some degree of psychic power. It's just that most of them are completely unaware of their potential talents, and that the Wraeththu are much better at them in any case. (Then again, the Kamagrian are more powerful than the Wraeththu...)
Previously known by the name of "GrimGent".

jrients

#9
January 19, 2007, 12:17:21 PM
In the RPG there's a Magick skill or Occult or something like that.  Both humans and wraeththu can take that skill.  There are absolutely no rules provided regarding what can be done with the skill.
Jeff Rients
My gameblog

Dominus Nox

#10
January 20, 2007, 12:32:16 AM
Quote from: jrientsIn the RPG there's a Magick skill or Occult or something like that.  Both humans and wraeththu can take that skill.  There are absolutely no rules provided regarding what can be done with the skill.


You gotta be fucking kidding!!!!!!!
RPGPundit is a fucking fascist asshole and a hypocritial megadouche.

jdrakeh

#11
February 01, 2007, 04:03:26 AM
Quote from: jrientsGreat review.

Thanks. I would have gone into more depth, though you cover the specifics in such detail that I decided a capsule review would suffice. For me, I've decided that the Wraeththu RPG is a bit like Blue Rose -- a game that promises something but, mechanically, does very little to deliver on that promise.  

Where Blue Rose was ostensibly a game of romantic fantasy despite providing little in the way of mechanical support for that premise (light rules alone do not make fantasy romatic), Wraeththu is ostensibly a game of romantic post-apocalyptic fantasy that fails for much the same reason. That said. . .

At least Blue Rose's mechanics met some kind of need (specifically, the need for a commercially supported minimalist d20 variant). Wraeththu takes a potentially interesting IP, shoehorns it into the overt thematic framework of V:TM and then bolts on some untested (or, at least, not thoroughly tested) d20 variant mechanics for reasons that remain unclear (though based on correspondence with the IP owner, I suspect that the lead designer argued that such was necessary to ensure commercial appeal).

The Wraeththu RPG doesn't read like what you'd expect a Wraeththu RPG to read like based on the setting overview, but rather, it comes off as a thinly veiled omnibus of house rules for somebody's Wraeththu/oWoD homebrew (although, admittedly, if one has no familiarity with the Storyteller system, this might not be immediately obvious). Ultimately, it's a huge disappointment (though the setting chapter did convince me to seek out the novels with an eye toward mining them for use with another system).
 
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