"The Everlasting" by Vision -- Anyone Have It?

Mordane76

First Post
I've been reading about a new system and setting from Vision called The Everlasting. So far, they've published three books of a series of four core, with other books expected. Has anyone bought any of these first three books? I've read some reviews, but I'd like to know if anyone here has actually PLAYED with them (because I trust you guys more than some reviewer with whom I'm unfamiliar).

There seems to be some freaky stuff in them for rules, like dream manipulation and ritual opening and closing ceremonies... also, the system mechanics described sound haphazard.



ANY first hand information would be GREATLY appreciated!
 

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Yup, I've played it. Just one session with a visiting friend two or three years ago, so I don't have too much to say.

The system's a little rough, but quite playable. There are a few different ways given to resolve tasks (cards, multiple dice methods, etc.) and the game is set up so that each player can pick his favorite to use and everything stays balanced, which is way interesting.

Like I said, though, the system's a bit rough around the edges. There are a few holes here and there and it's sometimes a bit muddled. Overall, the quality of the actual rules and writing is along the lines of the 1st edition of Vampire: the Masquerade. There's a lot of flavor, but you're screwed if you're looking for anything in a hurry.

If nothing else, the books are filled with great ideas to mine.

The "Book of the Unliving" features multiple vampires. It's also got ghouls, which are a bit like a cross between D&D liches and WoD mummies. There are different types, but they all must feed on flesh and are themselves rotting to some degree. Some are indistiguishible from a living person, but must eat well putrified flesh for sustinence; while others look like zombies, but can pretty much eat a steak. I believe that there are also ghosts and a few other types of undead, all available as PCs.

The "Book of the Righteous" (IIRC, maybe "Book of the Divine") is filled with all sorts of stuff you'd expect to find in "Deities and Demigods". You can play a Questor which is like a Knight of the Grail, someone who has been granted immortality because of a task they have undertaken. You can also play angels (or a rose by another name). There are hero-gods and even true gods (I think, I played a vampire, so didn't spend as much time in this book) on the order of Thor or Anubis that can be played as PCs.

I know my friend was pretty psyched about the "Book of the Fantastic" coming out. Mostly, he wanted to see how they did dragons. I have to admit, I'm more than a little curious, myself.

The two unifying principles in the game is that the PCs are all immortal and the PCs are always the good guys.

Most have a way they can be killed (eg. vampires), but at least one divine type is absolutely, possitively immortal. Compare that with the Questors, who are barely immortal (basically just unaging and without disease) and you'd think there would be some balance issues, but it comes together reasonably well. There is some serious potential for Monty Hauling it, but there are enough checks built in that a good GM should be able to keep things in check. Also, the game is really built around the idea of a plot or story. I mean, really, how long can the thrill of razing every last when you're playing a god?

Also, no matter how vile you think some of the archetypes are (vampires, flesh eating ghouls, angels of destruction, etc.), the PCs are the good guys. Sure, you could bastardize the game and run amok, but the backstory really points you in the right direction. The author seems to feel pretty strongly about this and even has a couple of passages to the general effect of "If you just want to be a bad guy or revel in destruction or mayhem, I disapprove of you using my game to do so. Please go find something else to play until you can grow up."
 
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I haven't played, but someone gave me The Book of Light at Gen Con. I saw two others at the local half price book store and was thinking of picking them up.
 

See... I started playing White Wolf, so I have tons of books for WoD. I know they're about to nuke their setting in the next few months (for which I'm both psyched and dismayed), but I worry that I won't like what they're shadow-hyping as coming out after they destroy the WoD. Someone else started a thread about the Everlasting, and said something to the effect of it being billed as "World of Darkness done right," so I was immediately interested.


From the reviews I've read, there are a lot of holes in the powers mechanics, simply because some of the purchasing engine hasn't been written. This is important to me, because I like to know just how advancement is supposed to function before I start running a game -- I don't want to have players of different types (considering the diversity of Eldritch they display as part of their marketing) become too unbalanced against one another.


Also, I've heard they've delayed the Book of the Fantastic (the last of the core four Eldritch books) indefinitely to pursue other projects relating to the Everlasting name. While obviously a business needs to pursue opportunities to increase its marketability, I worry that if I sink $90 into the first three of the core books, I'll end up without the fourth or any other support of the system.
 

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