A Preview of "Giest: The Sin-Eaters" With Writer, Matthew McFarland
The guys over at AtomicArray.com have given us a lovely bit of insight on the upcoming "World of Darkness" pen-and-paper RPG, "Giest: The Sin-Eaters." They were able to sit down and record an interview with contributing writer, Matthew McFarland. Plus, they have new "Giest" quick-start rules available for download.
Ed (not our one-and-only Ed Gross) and Rone from Atomic Array managed to wrangle some of the most information about Giest: The Sin-Eaters we have as of yet. While the supply of info becomes more and more coming up to Gen-Con Indy (one of the largest gaming conventions), there is no lack of demand. Giest is easily one of the most anticipated games this year. Finally bringing "playable" ghosts into the World of Darkness arena, gamers are foaming at the mouth to jump in and play.
Some of the highlights from the interview include a much more in-depth look at the archetype for playing a Sin-Eater, as well, what it means to be a Sin-Eater. Unlike other World of Darkness games, you do not get to just be your character, but rather, a makeup of two. As a Sin-Eater, you play a person who did not cross over into death, but are standing on the border between it and life. While there, you come in contact with a giest, a spirit who wants to return to life, but needs a body to inhabit to do so. Your character makes a pact with the giest to share your mortal body, and in return you get to go back to life as a Sin-Eater.
During game-play, you will need to be able to switch your personalities from your "mortal" character, to that of the giest which inhabits your body. Personally, this is one of my favorite parts of the game so far. This will obviously make for very interesting scenarios, and give a great twist on the normal RPG character play-style. As well, it seems very reminiscent of one of my favorite DC comic characters, Jason Blood, who must share a body with the demon Entrigan.
For your character, you will keep track of different aspects that measure what you can or can not do. One such aspect is that of Synergy, which is essentially how synchronized you are with your giest. In other words, if you get along with your roommate, or if you both work to a similar end. When you have a lot of Synergy, it means that your Giest will not ask as outlandish tasks of you (or of your body), as well, in return he may do much of what you ask. As a Sin-Eater, some of your power is not yours to control, but comes from the giest.
Your measure of energy for your powers comes from Plasm, which as it implies, is a paranormal substance. McFarland puts it as, "the stuff of ghosts." Plasm is gained through your actions. For example, in the World of Darkness games, you have your vices and virtues. In Giest, your Plasm is derived from the actions that are linked to your character's vices or virtues. If you have a character who is strong in the virtue of Justice, then perhaps bringing an escaped murderer back to face trial will help generate Plasm.
During the interview they also talk about the aspect of Thresholds, which is essentially, how your character came to the border of life and death. There are five Thresholds, the Torn, who are those that almost died directly due to a violent act. the Prey, who would have died from an act of nature, such as drowning. the Forgotten, who are those that would have died due to a shear freakish incident. Their example in the interview is being struck by a meteor. Finally, the Silent, who would have died due to some sort of deprivation, such as starving.
The interesting thing that they point out during the interview, is that the Thresehold is not always clear. Say your character was shot, but did not (almost) die from the bullet. Instead, he/she passed from losing to much blood after being wounded. This would make the Sin-Eater of the Silent rather than the Torn.
There is a lot more discussed during the interview, such as how a Giest game can be taken into the realm of a murder mystery versus the usual horror setting from World of Darkness. They also talk about how a Sin-Eater may interact with other World of Darkness characters, such as a Vampire or Werewolf.
I highly suggest you give the interview a listen, not only is it chocked full of tasty giesty goodness, it is a great interview overall.
The release for Giest: The Sin-Eaters is set for August 2009 and I am hoping that means a Gen-Con release so I can pick up my copy first-hand from the publisher itself, White Wolf.
You can listen to the full interview on Atomic Array HERE
You can also download the quick-start rules from them HERE.
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Your friendly neighborhood Falcon,
John "Falcon" Ayers
The Falcon's Nest
Image from White Wolf Publishing.
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