Orpheus (role-playing game)


Orpheus is a role playing game by White Wolf Game Studio, set in a microcosm of the World of Darkness. Unlike the other World of Darkness game lines, Orpheus has a specifically planned metaplot and a set number of books that were published. Although it uses the same system as White Wolf's other games, ghosts and spirits are the exclusive focus of this story. Other supernatural creatures in the World of Darkness are strongly discouraged from entering the events of Orpheus. It is, however, tied with , White Wolf's previous game dealing with the afterlife; some of the events in Orpheus are related to Ends of Empire, the final book in the Wraith: The Oblivion line.

Volumes

There are six books in total in the Orpheus line; the first is the main rulebook, which holds the rules used throughout the series. The five that follow carry out a specific, albeit optional, plotline, told through fiction and roleplaying, as well as expanding on the roleplaying tools presented in the first game. They are, in chronological order:
Orpheus is noteworthy in that it began the trend of White Wolf creating game series with limited numbers of supplements. This concept continued on with the new World of Darkness games ', ', ', and ', all of which were initially planned as limited releases.
There also was an anthology based on Orpheus named Orpheus: Haunting the Dead.

Character types

Characters in Orpheus are either living individuals capable of astral projection or are ghosts of the recently deceased. It is assumed that characters work for the Orpheus Group, a company that employs the talents of projectors and spirits to investigate and clear ghostly activity and perform other tasks difficult for those without access to the world of the dead. The way a person manifests as a ghost is called the Lament; two Laments are projection-based, while two are based on a person being dead.
Each character has a set of special traits, called a Shade, which determine how they manifest and what ghostly powers they are able to use and which ones they cannot. There are eight Shades in total; the first five were introduced in the Orpheus corebook, while the remaining three were introduced in three of the supplements.
Along with ghosts as antagonists, there are also rival projection companies, such as Terrel and Squib, and a new designer drug called pigment or black heroin that allows users to see the spirits of the dead. There are also dark spirits called Spectres, some of which are corrupted spirits and hues, and others that have spawned from an unknown but powerful source. These create much of the storyline and challenges the players must face as they move through the series.