- For the Clan Novel Saga omnibus, see Clan Novel Saga Volume 4: End Games
End Game is the last book in the six-part Orpheus game series. It details the final battles and struggles of a group of projectors and spirits hoping to stop the malevolent force known as Grandmother from devouring the world of the living.
Summary[]
From the White Wolf catalog:
- "Is Anyone Out There?"
- They're all gone. For a second time in memory, the world of ghosts falls silent...but that's about to change. It's time to take the fight across the Shroud, back to where it began... back to the Shadowlands. You have the means and abilities to make a difference, but beware. You'll need every trick in the book to survive this new battleground.
- Civil War
- In this terrible, lonely place where the wind has teeth and a howl to shrivel the soul, salvation awaits among ancient ruins and forgotten citadels. This is only the beginning of a new fight, one that will forever change this world and the next. A war of Spectres is brewing, and you are caught in the middle.
Prologue: Dancing in the Ruins[]
The final opening details one of the last stands of the Orpheus signature characters against an army of Spectres in the Shadowlands.
Introduction[]
As in all of the other Orpheus books, this chapter explains this book's part in the metaplot using movie structure analogies, and has recommended movies for the reader to watch to help them feel the atmosphere of the book.
Chapter One: Breach[]
This section details Grandmother's plan to destroy her largest hive to make a permanent breach in the Stormwall in order for her invading Spectre forces to battle the Malfeans one last time.
Chapter Two: Dead Cosmologies[]
This section deals with the current status of the Shadowlands, most notably the thick Stormwall and the effects of travel through the Wasteland.
Chapter Three: The Unearthed Players Guide[]
The last piece of the puzzle, this section adds three very important pieces of game play. The first is the Shade Marrow, the shapeshifters of Orpheus, the second is the Fourth-Tier Horrors available to all Shades, and the final are the protective Emblems that manifest in the Shadowlands.
Chapter Four: Storytelling the Dead[]
This section portrays many of the events leading up to the final battles in the Spectral War, as well as details two key locations in the story: the Nameless City and the Necropolis of New York City. It also gives details on the Malfeans involved in the war and the kinds of forces they and Grandmother are capable of commanding.
Chapter Five: Sturm und Drang[]
The very last campaign presents the ending scenarios for Orpheus, most notably the "God's Arrow" story, and how Grandmother can (or cannot) be vanquished.
Background Information[]
End Game was the last game book published for the World of Darkness until the revival that began with Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition.
End Game is the first and only of the six Orpheus volumes to mention Wraith: The Oblivion directly in its pages. In a sidebar, it finally reveals the fate of the Shadowlands following the Sixth Great Maelstrom: nothing survived. Of course, this is arguable, as Ends of Empire states that while wraith civilization was destroyed, wraiths themselves were not and went on to found new empires. Demon: The Fallen also hints strongly at some sort of surviving civilization of the dead. As usual, the ultimate fate of the Underworld is up to the Storyteller and players.
The sidebar also suggests a more direct link for chronicles: that old player characters from Wraith be allowed to act as "guides" for the Orpheus player characters in the Shadowlands.
One could also argue that End Game serves as Orpheus's Time of Judgment book, but it should be noted it was not officially denoted as such. In addition, not all of the possible ending scenarios are apocalyptic.
Memorable Quotes[]
"The moment between the last trick and when the curtain falls...it's a million years long."
— John Carruthers
Characters[]
- Annie Harper - Her true nature is finally revealed as the Marrow signature character
- Grandmother - Everyone's favorite life-devouring entity
- Vidod - The Malfean ruler of New York City
- Mr. Jigsaw - The Spectre with a shifty look about him
- Abel - Just hanging around the underworld...
Terminology[]
Grandmother, Marrow, Nameless City, nihil, Shadowlands (WOD), Stormwall
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