A very good supplement for Geist with the addition of being useful for other lines.

This book includes a few Merits, and other Player tools, but is primarily an expansion on the deep underworld.

The storyteller hooks scattered throughout the various chapters are solid. The various samples of Deep Domains along with the "Laws" is extremely helpful.

The graphic work and layout to this book keeps to White Wolf’s standards, although it isn’t overly engaging. One frustrating bit about this PDF was an error message I continued to receive whenever I opened it. It could be an issue on my end, so I won’t dwell . . . much. The initial fiction was a bit too dark (not so much in tone as in printer toner). A combination of dark backgrounds and sometimes odd fonts made for a difficult read. The good news is that this stops once the game material begins on page 10. There are several “letters” laid out throughout this book and these are used to good effect. Enterprising Storytellers could use these as in-game props and great results. Sidebars and breaks in information look great throughout the book; several tables run seamlessly alongside the borders of the book. Yeah, this book has some hiccups; nevertheless, it still looks good.

Let’s talk about this book’s artwork. Artwork tends to have a direct relationship to the importance of the text. With that said, Book of the Dead must be a critical addition to the White Wolf line. The cover art, which features a Mercy Thompson look-alike, is exactly the kind of cover that prepares me to dig into a book. I would LOVE to mention this artist by name, but (whoops) he or she remains uncredited in the PDF. The interior artwork also shines (or darkens if that is your thing). I think the full-page artwork on page 14 is one rocking little piece. It features a boy decked out in a Green Lantern shirt (and carrying a bit of the dead within him) who seems to have a man scrambling away in fear. Some of the art might prove to be offensive to some sensibilities (see page 106), but a fan of death and the underworld shouldn’t be squeamish about an act that brings about life . . . right? Yeah, well, I had to do a double-take on that page. There are also several pieces that seem to take on the appearance of a chiseled work.

What about the words?

I rarely gush about artwork, focusing instead on the arrangement of sentences and properly spelled words. Book of the Dead is a dense read, riddled with more that two hundred pages of jargon. I think players of Geist will find the material most useful; however, there are ways that any being in the World of Darkness can just, well, fall right through an Avernian Gate.

As I said earlier, the book comes in at 201 pages. The first ten pages are fiction, which is typical White Wolf format. It then turns over to a four page introduction. This introduction sets up the purpose of the book, a quick overview of how to traverse the underworld, and a quick Lexicon for phrases that will appear heavily throughout the book.

Book of the Dead doesn’t mess around. It’s a hoss of a book that says a lot about a rather specific thing. It seemed a little too big to me at times, but the writing remained strong from beginning to end. I’m sure some locales could be edited out, but tastes vary. They decided to hit all the stops with this release.

Read the full review at Flames Rising:

http://www.flamesrising.com/book-of-the-dead-rpg-review/

Although much of the content here is admittedly Geist-centric, 'Book of the Dead' does an admirable job of extending support to devotees of the other core lines, as well as those whose interest lies with mere mortals. The various World of Darkness books are frequently at their best when they weave their fictional webs through elements of real world history and mythology, and the work here is an excellent example of that.

Particular note must be made of the art - always a highlight - but the imagery here is especially impressive and consistently evokes the feeling of what might be pressed upon your mind in a trip to the underworld. Layout, font & typeface are all up to White Wolf's usual standards and the book is both pleasing to the eye and nicely arranged for easy reference.

For someone with a neglible interest in the themes presented in Geist, this would obviously track somewhat lower but for those whose interests cross multiple product lines, there is more then enough content and inspiration here to nurture many happy storytelling sessions, if not ample happy endings to dark underworld journeys.

Fantastic book, it is a Storyteller supplement though so players will be disappointed if they come looking for new powers and merits (though there are new merits and Sin Eater related powers - 1 new Key and Manifestation, as well rituals). This book provides the ST with the information they will need to use the underworld in any New World of Darkness genre, the example Domains at the end of the book are especially helpful in outlining the scope of the Underworld. I would recommend this to any ST who intends to incorporate the Underworld into their game.

I was looking forward to this release for a long time, hopping it would talk alot more about ghosts, and give alot more information about the world of the dead. It does so, but about 95% of the book only applies if you are playing Geist. I myself play Requiem nearly exclusivly, so it had very few helpful things in reguard to the Undead and the Restless Dead. Furthermore, it doesnt get into ghosts hardly at all from a standpoint of material world encounters. It assumes you have entered the Underworld, or at least have the capability to do so. This book is fairly well written though, and if I played Giest it would have been helpful. Unfortunately for most other venues it is nearly a worthless book for anyone but the storyteller.