Hi, gang. Last week, we wrapped up our preview of how magic works for mummies in Mummy: The Curse (accompanied by a bonus teaser in Portuguese as a thank-you to our Brazilian fans). This week, we dive into an even more fundamental aspect of the game and its characters: The nature and structure of the immortal soul.
In the ancient Egyptian belief system, the mortal soul was composed of five fully separate aspects: The Ab (heart), the Ba (spirit), the Ka (essence), the Ren (name), and the Sheut (shadow). Together, these five aspects conjoined to form the soul in its totality. For mummies — who are effectively ancient Egyptian souls made flesh — there is arguably nothing more than important than these five cornerstones, which they know to be the very pillars of their ceaseless existence.
Mummies believe each of these aspects to be both a cardinal manifestation of their own being and a manifestation of something wholly separate from themselves. A soul’s name, for example, was its master’s own, but the name itself also existed as a thing — able to be perceived, accessed, or even harmed — unto itself. Likewise the spirit, which at times leaves the body behind and flies ghost-like into the night, or the shadow, which stretches away from the body, occupying its own space… and role.
The pillars of the fivefold soul are so integral to the game’s protagonists and themes that they are represented by game Traits. Further, these Traits work to form the basis of a new departure in design philosophy for a World of Darkness RPG — a sub-system that flexes the muscles of the Storytelling System a little, while remaining true to its overall structure and design. Other game elements interact with, and occasionally derive from, this new Pillars system… including the way that mummy magic works in play.
Until next time,
Senebti!
Comments
32 responses to “Mummy: The Fivefold Soul”
Oooooh! Pretty… and, pretty interesting. You know, I think it’s really cool how much you’re bringing Egyptian philosophy into the fold. Speaking as someone fascinated by ancient European thought and philosophy, I kinda wish my favorite ST game, Changeling: The Lost, was more specific to the Celtic identity.
That said, you’re making me really interested, by ancient Egyptian culture. Time to start listening to more Nile.
Speaking of music, the city the mummies take should be, of course, Memphis.
Have you ever seen Mummies: Alive?
And I know I already asked this, but, will Mummy: The Curse see a hardcover release, even though White Wolf has been becoming specificly a pdf. only company? Please say yes.
Let’s kick Tut! XD
Howdy, mighty emo-slayer. Actually, part of the new philosophy at work here is reflected in the fact that Mummy is structured as a boxed set, not a single game corebook. There will be a hardcover version available (I’m pretty certain), but if things go well — and Kickstarterville is sufficiently kind to us — we’ll have print editions of this new core game in both boxed set and hardcover forms.
Can you give us more details about this boxed set. What exactly do you mean by that.
I have read all the blogs thus far, and I am quite intrigued. I am relatively new to WoD, only becoming familiar with it in the last couple years. I really like the world setting, and the option Mummy seems to represent: a supernatural being whose power stems not from suffering and death, but a natural energy directed to magical ends, the positive energy of life, overflowing and everlasting.
Now, I’m sure that there will still be plenty of horror elements. Mummies are hardly an appealing concept to the masses, and there’s always been clever emphasis on the psychological trauma of being a supernatural entity, and just how bad it can get. That said, I am looking forward to holding the day I can hold this book in my own hands.
Will the Ba and Ka traits be handled in a way that’s different from WoD: Mummy and its 2nd edition?
Yes, absolutely.
Very interesting. Thank you for the reply!
Kickstarter? When will the kickstarter launch?
And I love the idea of a system modification. The rules should serve the setting. Thank you for tweaking things to make sure the rules help support the setting rather than constraining it.
Ooh, box sets are cool. I may be pledging for both box & book, particularly if a deluxe hardcover book is available as a reward option. Question: Will a screen be part of the box set? Please say it is so.
And Im loving how the game is anchoring itself in Egyptian metaphysics, good work!!
World of Darkness 2.0 perhaps?!?!
Been hearing rumblings of the game utilizing NWoD rules in new, interesting ways. Can’t wait to see exactly what they are.
So, are all of the Arisen going to be Egyptian, or is there any room for other cultural backgrounds?
“For mummies — who are effectively ancient Egyptian souls made flesh ”
Hey,
assuming that all mummies are EGYPTIAN, this is actually a great disappointment.
I realize that there are lots of things we don’t yet know about the game, and as thus, there’s still plenty of room for surprises. I’m willing to accept a single origin point for the Arisen. But I don’t want it to be the Egyptian culture.
Totally agree with Christian A – all the love of nWoD was it was multicultural, with ideas to be fiex with your own regional mythology. Now Mummy looks like it will be “Egyptian-lovers” only thing, whitch is BAD THING in comparison to other nWoD lines…
Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. A defining characteristic of the classic WoD was its multiculturalism. For the nWoD, the opposite is essentially true, and always has been. Yes, some games include options to “flex the mythology,” as you say, but one of the primary design goals of the nWoD was a return to Gothic form — for all its games — and that involves, by definition, a narrowing of thematic and structural focus.
For the record, this new game isn’t just for “Egypt lovers” (and everything DaveB said herein remains true), but if it’s not to your taste, we’ll understand. Just do the game the courtesy of giving it an honest look when it comes out.
“all the love of nWoD was it was multicultural”
Patently untrue, as any Atlantis hater will gladly confirm.
You can play all sorts of mages in Mage: the Awakening. There is a seriously great deal of flexibility of both character concepts and ways of doing magic allowed in Mage: the Awakening.
All of them will be heirs to the tradition of Atlantis.
Werewolf: the Forsaken, too, allows for a wide variety of concepts and of things to do with the idea of playing a werewolf.
Most werewolves in the game will at least have heard about Pangaea and have some or other thoughts about it.
Promethean, now, is even more specific in that it’s a game about playing Frankenstein monsters as well as creatures from Greek, Egypt, Sibirian and Jewish (although older form of these myths exist, too).
I do believe that many (but not all) of the new World of Darkness games allow for a greater variety in terms of character concepts than their predecessors. That’s a bonus feature, but I don’t see this as being the main idea behind these games – these games are gothic horror games and fairly specific in what they’re meant to do.
Now. All Arisen are Egypt. I would have a huge problem with that, if “Egypt”, would mean “pharaonic Egypt”. I don’t mind it if “Egypt”, in this context, means “an era much devastatingly older than pharaonic Egypt”.
Moving the origin point of the Arisen so very far back in time to allow for Arisen characters to show up in pretty much *all* stages of human history makes it all ok. If I can play a character who remembers a lot more about living among the ancient proto-Chinese people than the culture that spawned the Rite of Return, whose Sahu will make him *look* Chinese, who’ll even *self-identify* as a Chinese, and if the game allows me to substitute any other culture instead of “Chinese”, then that’s all good. It’s not the same as playing a (insert culture here) mummy – it’s something I would find to be more interesting.
So one might presume any immortal Andean Mummy is a completely different phenomenon from the Arisen?
Shouldn’t it be? After all, that process is an outgrowth of a wildly different religion, undertaken with a completely different purpose and expectation. The more I think about it, the more I think it would be weird to expect those to be the same type of thing.
Define “ancient Egyptian”. It might not mean what you think it means.
🙂
I for one hope that “ancient” means “really, really ancient”. Predynastic Egypt. Mummies should have been old at the time of the pyramids. There needs to be a possibility for the Arisen to show up in ancient cultures all around the world other than the dynastic periods of Egypt.
Let me talk about the Naquada for a sec.
(Sorry about this, by the way – I was an Archaeologist, and am still a great big nerd when it comes to some things).
The Naquada were a people who lived in Upper (southern) Egypt. A very very [i]very[/i] long time ago. They started out as isolated villages, and ended up as a mighty empire that traded all over Africa, the Lebanon and the Mediterranean and controlled the Nile. They built the city of Nekhan and worshipped an early form of Horus. Their civilisation lasted over a thousand years. One of their rulers was the Scorpion King.
They’re a footnote. Long gone and absorbed into the Upper Kingdom for centuries before Khem was unified into the Old Kingdom of Upper and Lower Egypt.
They were ancient Egyptians in that they lived a long time ago in what is now Egypt. They weren’t “Ancient Egyptians” in the Pyramid-building sense, though their religion helped source the one you’re familiar with. Ancient Egyptians, but not [i]Ancient Egyptians[/i].
Egypt is a land where thousand-year empires get reduced to footnotes by the sheer weight of history. If they’d lived anywhere else, we wouldn’t know anything about them at all.
The Arisen aren’t Naquadans, either. But you get the idea.
I do, yes; and the implication alleviates my worries. Thank you! 🙂
And I wouldn’t mind seeing CAS’s definition of “ancient Egyptian” in the context of the game. 🙂
Hmm, not really sure what your getting at here..
Are you doing something like replacing the old nine-part attribute system that most WOD characters include?
I can see that being plausible, especially given that unlike pretty much every other game system, these characters are not based off of modern or pre-modern mortals, so there’s no reason to start with that rules structure then bolt on the extra mummy mechanics.
Regardless, ancient egyptian metaphysics are awesome.
More Mummy stuff! Today! Please!
.. I have this theory that there’s a logical relationship between me asking for more updates and more updates actually showing up. In the absence of any way to prove this theory, I’ll just have faith and keep asking for more stuff. 🙂
Good call 🙂 Though it looks like now Wednesdays is the day. Hopefully with the holiday they’ll decide to feed us ravenous Mummy fans.
Your wish is my command. 😉
I have to say, my opinion stands out in stark contrast to some of the other opinions stated. I am extremely pleased with the idea of all Mummies coming from some Egyptian or Proto-Egyptian culture. I don’t care if they show up all over the world, as long as they are inherently from the culture that created them. The postmodernist multiculturalism of Mage: The Awakening and Promethean: The Created have made them the least horror-ish of the NWoD games in my opinion. I want an OCCULT game. I do not want a game where responsible views of the magic and pre-christian religion are represented. I want black magic, human sacrifice, pre-human demons, and horrific levels of ritual cruelty and excess. I want demons, cultists, and the feeling that my character answers only to the dark geas that brews within his soul or lack thereof. I want classist monsters in black turtlenecks making snap decisions of total power that result in disproportionately little benefit in relation to the horrors they birth.
This game sounds like just the medicine I’ve been looking for. Thanks CAS!
Mutant, you’ll not be disappointed, methinks. As I said in the very first blog post, this is a World of Darkness game, with a focus on thematics and brooding horror. If folks want to engage postmodernist fantasies, the classic WoD is an ideal forum for it. The WoD (including Mummy)… not so much.
This sounds very interesting. I am intrigued by this Pillars system and wish to know more about it.
Also, about Boxed Sets, White Wolf did a boxed set for Exalted a few years ago and…well, suffice it to say things did not go well to the point that it wouldn’t surprise me to discover that the debacle had something to do with the fact that WW switched over to pdf and PoD.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t do a boxed set, just that you might wanna talk to whoever it was that did the one for Exalted, so that you can try and avoid having the same problems happen to you.
As a White Wolf fanatic and someone who teaches Coptic and lingustics and religion…
Yeah, good for you guys.
Mummy was always your second coolest game, after Wraith. Talk of the guilds with mummies has me jazzed. If kind of given up buying new games… Thought I had all the RPG’s I could ever want. You may have jsut proved me wrong.
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