Orpheus (role-playing game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Orpheus of Greek legend, see Orpheus.

Orpheus
Orpheus cover
Designer(s)	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(s)	White Wolf
Publication date	August 1, 2003
Genre(s)	unknown
System	Storyteller System

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, 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.

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. Some of the events in Orpheus are tied to the events of Ends of Empire, the final book in the Wraith: The Oblivion line.

There are six books total in the Orpheus line that expand on the series through roleplaying. They are, in chronological order: