Geist: The Sin-Eaters Review Part 2: Chatper 1 - At the Cemetery Gate

Geist review part 2! Today we look at the first chapter of Geist: The Sin-Eaters. This chapter acts as a more complete introduction to the "fluff" or mostly story-related elements of playing a game of Geist. Confused that this is the second part of the review when I'm reviewing chapter 1? Of course you are! Check out the first part of my review, found here.

Chapter 1, At the Cemetery Gate, introduces more about the general concepts of Sin-Eaters. I can now confidently say I know what a Sin-Eater, along with his Krewe, actually does.

I would summarize the Sin-Eater's concept as two words "secretive" and "disorganized." Secretive because they are a secret society that even other supernaturals don't know about, and disorganized because their culture is, as the author describes it, "cannabilistic." It's a neat concept that SE culture (kulture? sorry) is unique to each krewe and geographic area. I'm now looking forward to reading the chapter that describes creating a krewe since the game seems to give the players and ST (story-teller, White Wolf's equivalent of a game master) a wide range of flavors for their unique group while still being in continuity to the overall world of Geist.

A Sin-Eater is an individual who has had at least a touch with death and pulled back to life with the help of a geist. A geist is a spirit/god/ghost that can be an archetype (like the mad surgeon or the lover scorned) or have more of an individual personality. The geist bonds itself to the actual soul of the SE and the two together have powers neither would have apart. Those powers are only hinted at here, but generally a SE sees ghosts constantly and interacts with them, can enter the underworld freely and interact with the bizarre/terrifying creatures that exist there, and can help a lingering ghost in the mortal world better than any other being of supernatural profession (much better than those pesky Hunters who, the book reminds us, can't even see the ghosts they're trying to battle. what. punks.)

This chapter goes into great detail explaining SE culture including krewes, parties, and the Twilight Network. I felt that, although it was all very informative, it was a little difficult to get through the details. The Twilight Network seemed to go on and on. I'm sure this information will be more valuable once a group began making a krewe and a ST was developing his story, but these sections often came off as thick blocks of text that could have been shortened.

A note here: If you know about Geist, you likely have heard about the next general nWoD release, Book of the Dead, due out in October. It looks like this will be the first and only supplement WW has planned for Geist.. What's more: this book is also considered a nWoD release as well, so it's not even a true supplement. With this in mind, the completeness of this first chapter is more welcomed since we probably won't see another book address the issues of the game unless Geist does very well and earns a real supplement somewhere down the line.

Sin-Eaters love to have parties, it says so right in the book. There are several types of gatherings a SE can attend, but not all are happy. The types are outlined, and I found the the idea of a market gathering very interesting. I'm a sucker for Fae markets, and if I do end up running a game of Geist, there will definitely be a death market for my players to visit.

The Twilight Network is a horse of a different color. The name conjures images on an online community, and it is that, in part. As anything with SE culture, it's incredibly disorganized, but universally an aspect of the SE zeitgeist (SO pleased I found a use for that word at least once here). Krewes and SE's use it to pass on messages and important information. It seemed standard stuff until the section that outlined the dangers of the TN. This was one of the best sections of this chapter as I love taking concepts that should be safe, taken for granted by my players, and then flipping them. Without getting too specific, the TN can't always be trusted.

This chapter also sheds some light on the other denizens of Geist as well as where SE's fit into the world of darkness as a whole. Lightning Round explanation of how other supernaturals view sin-eaters!

Vampires?
Nuisances that get in the way of my food, hey, wait, they could be food!
Werewolves?
What's a Sin-Eater? Ghosts = kids' stuff.
Kerberoi?
I AM THE LAW *
Mages?
I was using that ghost, thank you very much. Dick.
Hunters?
Hey, these guys are pretty goo... OHMYGODAGHOST!

*Kerberoi are neat. The picture in the book is terrifying with a bit of a Clive Barker feel to it, but mostly feels like an impossible creature. Basically these are found only in the underworld, and they serve the ancient and arcane laws written for those realms (written by who? great question). They're great because A. they are incredibly powerful and brutal in their enforcement of the law and B. no one (ghost or SE) knows even a small portion of the laws they enforce or if they're even breaking them. A Kerberoi is a ST's best friend and can act as Deus Ex Machina feared by SE's.

The first chapter of these core books usually fill me with equal parts dread and anticipation. I was more excited about Geist's first chapter than others because I wanted to know more about this unique concept. I found Sin-Eaters to be part ghostbuster, part ghost, part I don't know what. Their goal is to relieve the anguish of the lingering ghosts around them and may also act as immigration officials for things that are worse than ghosts from the Underworld and wreak havoc on the living. It's a complex game from what I've gathered in the first chapter. It's full of mysteries just waiting to be solved.

Locke: the character sheet.

So I'm actually going to end up playing my character concept for below in an online pbp game of Mouse Guard. I thought it would be cool to post the actual play stats for Locke as a follow-up to the character concept write-up. I did my best to stay true to the description as I wrote it, and hopefully you will enjoy reading it! The questions at the end are part of the character build process to help determine nature, circles, and resources, which are all states that play a big part in the game. This is part of why I love Mouse Guard so much - when you build your character you really think about how he or she interacts with the world. Enjoy.

Sidenote for the guys: TheBro and I discussed playing some mouse guard with a smaller group (like when not everyone's there, obviously), and we're rolling around the idea of doing some character creation this coming friday. It's pretty much a game in and of itself, so start thinking of a badass mouse guard concept for yourself.

Locke

Age: 39             Parents: Richard and Martha - boatcrafter
Home: Port Sumac       Senior: Willem - armorer
Fur Color: Grey            Mentor: Rook - survivalist
Rank: Patrol Guard      Cloak: deep green - portrays Locke's
                                inquisitive and persistent nature.

Enemy: Raff (pronounced similarly to "Raft") the bandit. He
has his own group of bandits, the sharp claws, who have
been active near Lillygrove and Oakgrove. Locke spend a
few years in this area, waiting out winter in the small
quad-villagearea and even going out in the Winter to foil
plans of the sharp claws. Raff's gangwas dismantled slowly
and methodically in no small part due to Locke's efforts.
There are rumors that Raff was rebuilding his gang or
beginning to establish a newone. The rumors started near
their old stomping grounds, but they've spreadthrough the
territories, making it difficult to establish where the source
is growingfrom. Raff holds Locke personally responsible
for the fall of the original sharp claws.

Friend: Joan the apiarist in Flintrust. Flintrust, being a
small town, only has one or two active apiarist, and Joan
is the senior of the two.During Locke's timehunting the Sharp
Claws, Joan was incredibly helpful as a mouse he could rely
on to provide a safe house for him to stay in. She alsohelped
Locke by sending her bees on messenger runs back and
forth from Flintrust to Lockhaven.

Nature (Mouse): 4      Resources: 5
Will: 4                         Circles: 2
Health: 4

Belief: A guard mouse has to get his hands dirty if he's to do
any good in this world.

Goal: TBD

Instinct: Always throw myself between danger and those
needing my help.

Skills:

Boatcrafter 2      Weather Watcher 2

Deceiver 2         Armorer 3

Fighter 4            Survivalist 4 (specialty)

Scout 4              Armor - wise 2

Bandit - wise 2   Guardmouse - wise 2

Traits:

Tough 1            Determined 1

Gear: Light Armor, Rapier (sword)


Nature:

Do you save for winter even if it mean going without
something now? Or do you use what you have when you
need it?

Locke learned to conserve from his mentor, Rook, so
yes, he saves for Winter +1 - not bold or generous

When confronted, do you stand your ground and fight
or do you run and hide?

Locke tends to throw himself into a fight when needed,
so he stands his ground.

Do you fear owls, weasels, and wolves?

Locke may at one time have feared such creatures,
but his years in the Guard has taught him understanding
and strategy.

Resources:

In winter, do you still practice a trade like weaving, smithing,
or pottery for the Guard?

Yes, every winter, Locke returns to Willem's Armory and
keeps a small apartment there, earning his way through
working for Willem, sometimes producing new armor for
himself - +1

Are your parents smiths, politicians, merchants or apiarists?

No.

Do you like to buy gifts for yourself and your friends?

Who has the time? Locke does not live a frivolous life, outside
of the random sweet.

Are you thrifty?

Absolutely, you never know when bad times will come, always
be prepared. - +1, no generous

Have you ever been in debt? Or are you generally bad with
money?

Nope.

Do you always pack carefully for a journey, ensuring you have
everything you need?

Not at all, Locke believes in his skills to find what he needs
on the road and prefers to spend his strength carrying his
armor and tools of the trade.

Circles:

Is your mouse gregarious? Does he have lots of friends?
Does he make friends easily?

No, plenty of acquaintances, but few true friends that Locke
would trust with his life.

Do you have strong ties to the Guard? Perhaps a family
tradition or allies within the Guard?

(This is my least favorite question. I want to say "yes" to all,
but Locke's mentor is not his brother and his parents weren't
guardmice, oh well). No.

Has your character accomplished some great ask in the
guard? Does he already have a reputation?

Yes, he asks lots of discreet questions, and his style of
fighting with his armor has gained some notoriety for
Locke. - +1

Does your enemy have powerful enemies in the territories?

Yes, Locke has been hunting bandits for quite a while,
mouse - to - mouse combat is a specialty of his, and many
non-guard mice throughout the territories don't welcome
him with open arms. He suspects his questions within the
guard may have made him an enemy or two as well... -1

Is your character a loner, tough and cool?

Absolutely, Locke prefers to act alone and only begrudgingly
will enter into a patrol with other guard mice. Of course he
feels he owes Gwendolyn at this point and will always follow
an order to complete an assignment. - -1, no extrovert.