Orpheus (role-playing game)
From Free net encyclopedia
- For the Orpheus of Greek legend, see Orpheus.
{{Infobox RPG |title= Orpheus |image= Image:OrpheusRPG c.jpg |caption= Orpheus cover |designer= Bryan Armor, John Chambers, Genevieve Cogman, Richard E. Dansky, B. D. Flory, Harry L. Heckel, Ellen Kiley, James Kiley, Matthew McFarland, Dean Shomshak, Colin A. Suleiman |publisher= White Wolf |date= August 1, 2003 |system= Storyteller System |footnotes= }} 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 to be published. Although it uses the same system as White Wolf's other games, it does not allow for the other types of supernatural creatures in the line to exist, as ghosts and spirits are the exclusive focus of this game.
Characters in Orpheus are either living individuals capable of astral projection (via meditation or cryonics) 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" to clear haunted houses and perform other tasks difficult for those without access to the world of the dead. 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 others that have spawned from an unknown source. These create additional challenges that players must face as they move through the series.
Orpheus is also very loosely tied in with Wraith: The Oblivion, White Wolf's previous game dealing with the afterlife. The Ends of Empire expansion book has a particularly strong effect on some of the events in Orpheus.
There are six books total in the Orpheus series that expand on the series through roleplaying. They are, in chronological order:
- Orpheus
- Crusade of Ashes
- Shades of Gray
- Shadow Games
- The Orphan-Grinders
- End Game
There is also a fiction compilation involving characters from the main Orpheus plotline, Haunting the Dead.