White Wolf’s Mind’s Eye Theatre challenges us to enter a world just beyond the mortal senses, to look into the shadowy mirror of ourselves and find a world populated by the supernatural — vampires, mages, and others wage an eternal battle for dominance and survival. Choose your role in this World of Darkness … are you a defender of humanity, or a predator of the night?

Many sequels have a hard time living up to the original. “The Ring 2” is no exception. However, it depends if you’re comparing it to the American version of the film, “The Ring” by Gore Verbinski, or the Japanese version, “Ringu” by Hideo Nakata. So, in this comparison the failure of “The Ring 2” makes sense. Let’s face it, “Ringu” was bad, therefore it’s not shocking that “The Ring 2” was bad as well. Maybe if more people had seen “Ringu” and compared it the “The Ring” they may not have been so eager to have Hideo Nakata direct it.

Imagine everything is quiet. You’re a foreign exchange student from American in Japan subbing for a nurse who disappeared. You enter the house of a woman who is mentally unstable in the middle of Tokyo. Of course something isn’t right. All that is going on in your mind is summed up in one thought: “The whole time I was in that house, I knew something was wrong.” You are now in the world of “The Grudge”.

In this interview we discuss Wraith: the Oblivion and Forgotten Realms fiction. Richard also hands out a little advice for up-and-coming authors and tells us about some of his other work.

In this interview we talk to artist Ken Meyer Jr. about his work on a vareity or projects throughout the gaming industry. He also tells us a bit about working with comic books and calendars.

The plot of this game revolves around a pretty little English schoolgirl named Alyssa. During a stay at boarding school she receives an unsettling message from her mother, which prompts her to run home only to discover a creepy old man and a challenging destiny. Alyssa soon finds herself traveling through different decades in time to solve various mysteries, confront deranged serial killers, and eventually discover the truth behind her family’s unique history.

Odds are that if you’re into role-playing, you’ve heard of White Wolf. They are the company behind games such as Werewolf, Changeling, Mage, and of course, the infamous Vampire: The Masquerade. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people seem to be aware of White Wolf’s fifth original World of Darkness, that of Wraith.

In this interview we discuss writing for various World of Darkness games, including Mummy: the Resurrection and Dark Ages: Vampire.

True to the standard nature of player’s guides, Wraith’s adds in the usual mixture of extra detail and handy charts. It sets itself apart (like so many Wraith additions) by adding considerably more history and societal analysis than virtually any other player’s guide out there. For a breakdown of what’s added, let’s go to the chapters:

First we come to Traits. As expected, we find new Knowledges, Skills, Abilities, and Backgrounds, but we also come across what became a dominant methodology in Wraith: Merits and Flaws. These simple additions act as a two-fold improvement. Primarily, they give bonuses and/or free up some freebie points (you’ll never get enough of those, even if you’re the Storyteller), but they also aid in the development and growth of a character. New players can select a few Merits, counterbalance those with some Flaws, and by working with their Storyteller add much more depth to their characters.

Taking several chances with Orpheus, White Wolf not only tries out this new limited series format, they also attempt to revitalize a previous World of Darkness concept, the Restless Dead. Wraith: the Oblivion was a powerful game, full of mystery, horror and extremely dedicated fans. Unfortunately, Wraith did not last; White Wolf ended the line far earlier than other World of Darkness games. Ends of Empire introduced story elements that shook other WoD lines and boldly attempted to bring closure to the Wraith line. Orpheus brings back some of the elements of Wraith, without being Wraith Revised. This is a risky move; are Wraith fans going to enjoy something that is similar to, but not Wraith? Are non-Wraith fans going to think it’s just a Wraith clone and not pick it apart?

Haunting the Dead features four novellas set in White Wolf’s World of Darkness featuring characters from the Orpheus game line. This is a break from the usual format that White Wolf uses when releasing a new game. Usually there is a fiction anthology featuring several short stories. The novellas in Haunting the Dead allow for more character development and (as with any good ghost story) more plot twists. This was a great idea and I hope White Wolf continues his trend.

Ghost Stories: Horror Mystery Adventures is a slim volume (36 pages) that aims to provide an entire horror gaming system for players and referee to use with the minimum of delay. The system is necessarily very light in terms of details and examples and there will be some who consider the lack of artwork as a problem. A straightforward trait and die roll system is provided to resolve tasks of various sorts. Players can play such character types as occultists, demon stalkers, clergymen, archaeologists and similar staples of popular ghost stories. Additional sections briefly cover sorcery, combat, skills and backgrounds.

InSpectres is described as a “fast, simple and fun game that mixes horror and comedy” and it lives up to that description throughout the entire book. The author has blended the mystery of X-Files and the humor of Ghostbusters and Men in Black. It features an easy system to learn that doesn’t get in the way of a fun night of gaming. No one should expect InSpectres to replace more serious investigation/hunter games like Call of Cthulhu or Orpheus, because that really isn’t the point of this game. InSpectres is about fun, it is full of jokes, one-liners and offers everyone a chance to cut loose for an evening of entertainment.

Rich talks to us about his work on Wraith: the Oblivion, Orpheus and other products from White Wolf Game Studio.

Stefan tells us about writing Orpheus fiction, Vampire comic books and Hunter short stories.

We talk to Sam about his work at White Wolf Game Studios in this interview and he tells us the ins-n-outs of good horror gaming.