Mummy: The Resurrection
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| Mummy: The Resurrection | |
 Mummy: The Resurrection cover |
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| Designer | Justin Achilli, Tim Avers, Andrew Bates, Kraig Blackwelder, Philippe R. Boulle, Carl Bowen, Ken Cliffe, Jess Heinig, Conrad Hubbard, Richard Thomas, Stephan Wieck, Stewart Wieck, Jim (Looking Eagle) Estes, Graeme Davis |
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| Publisher | White Wolf |
| Publication date | March 19, 2001 |
| System | Storyteller System |
Mummy: The Resurrection is a role-playing game released by White Wolf Game Studios, where the players assume the role of resurrected mummies living in the modern world.
[edit] Setting
In 1999, a catastrophic storm (the Sixth Maelstrom, a major event in White Wolf's metaplot) shook the Underworld and -among other things- awaked Osiris from his long slumber. Osiris took a glimpse at the Earth and realised that the world was a very dark place, very much in need of his help. Osiris decided to issue an announcement to his worshipers on Earth, in which he assured them that they were not forsaken, and then he granted them a new spell -the Spell of Life- to resurrect the chosen ones who would do battle in his name. Thus the Amenti (as the newly created mummies referred to themselves) were created, armed with Hekau magic to do battle against the servants of Apophis, the game's main antagonist.
[edit] System
In its first inception (circa 1992) Mummy was released as a mere softcover rules supplement for Vampire: The Masquerade which allowed you to play as an immortal mummy that almost always came from ancient Egypt, though it was also possible to be originally from ancient China or the ancient Andes. This resurrected mummy character was revived by combining his original soul with his mummified body using a magical spell granted by the god Osiris himself (in the case of Egyptian mummies), ancient Inca spirits (in the case of South American mummies) or the Eight Immortals, in the case of Chinese mummies. In either case, the player characters were centuries-old, and they managed to live undetected among humans throughout history.
The Second Edition of the supplement (circa 1995) was similar to the first, mainly useful for updating rules regarding mummies and for updating mummies role into the metaplot to match the background of Vampire: TM's second edition.
Mummy: The Resurrection (circa 2001) was quite different. It was a hardcover book, and was released as an actual game in its own right, complete with its own campaign setting, its own cast of antagonists and its own unique take on the World of Darkness. The player characters of the later version of the game were the result of the mystical meld of the soul of a recently deceased person with an Egyptian/Mesoamerican/Chinese ancient soul, which resulted in a modern-day person enhanced with parts of an ancient spirit that compensated for the character's personality flaws.
Mummy: The Resurrection was relatively unpopular amongst World of Darkness games (or at least, it didn't match the sales of White Wolf's more popular game lines, Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Mage: The Ascension). Some likely reasons are that it focused on a positive outlook, which is a contrast to the gothic feel of most World of Darkness games. Also, some think a much higher importance was placed on roleplaying than combat in Mummy, which might not have appealed to the fans of White Wolf's other games. Many do not share this belief, though, as the basis of the Storytelling system was roleplaying, and combat was often cluttered by excessive amounts of dice. However, many players who failed to understand the game's setting and mechanics felt the game was simply unbalancing, as there was no finality to your character. According to these people, there was no "oblivion" as that faced by wraiths, nor "final death" as that feared by vampires. Mummies were, in their opinion, guaranteed to survive in the Underworld until they could reconstitute their bodies and resurrect themselves thousands of years later. In reality, however, the Amenti were supposed to face dangers to life and limb (and soul) very frequently, and, according to the game's core book, they couldn't simply rely on being resurrected on demand if they strayed from the Path of Ma'at (the code of conduct that the Amenti use to rule their actions, and a way to keep roleplaying on top of a player's list of priorities).
The system in the First Edition was more akin to Dungeons & Dragons, with large scales for expenditure of magic points, a mechanism that bore no resemblance to the other Storyteller Systems. The focus of the game's magic system was on creating amulets that could apply subtle changes to the weather or to other phenomena over a long period of time. The supernatural abilities of the first edition's Mummies also had a strange disposition towards being immensely overpowered in comparison with other supernaturals, but also immensely useless from an immediate perspective. Mummies could glance far in the future using the stars, summon enormous earthquakes, and raise the dead, something most commonly reserved for NPCs of, say, Vampire: The Masquerade, yet these powerful abilities took so long to summon that they tied in nicely with the general theme of 'waiting forever' that Mummy essentially portrayed.
The first Mummy game system appeared more suited to long role-playing sessions over millennia of time and historic events, and it provided little to no possibilities for any fast-paced combat that seemed to be the main attraction to the other Storyteller System games on their early years. There was also great emphasis on the extreme rareness of these creatures and their unwillingness to work together, which just doesn't make for a good roleplaying troupe in the first place. Getting five or more Mummies working together in one group was highly improbable, but the main weakness of the system was its complete incompatibility with the other Storytelling Systems.
The Third Edition of the system improved the game dramatically and was a lot more streamlined with the other World of Darkness products, which were also greatly improved by the end of the old World of Darkness. Mummies became more powerful, and more suited for combat as well, and the character sheets were similar to the other systems. The game also improved thematically, following the line of plot-driven, politically correct products that were common in the "Revised" era of the Old World of Darkness. However, this version of the game was released right before the end of White Wolf's World of Darkness series (3 years before its end in 2004) and did not manage to distance itself from the difficulties of the First Edition. Overall, the Mummy system received limited support of only 2 books (a move planned from the beginning), a significant contrast to the enormous number of Sourcebooks created for the other systems. Mummy characters ended up as NPCs in many stories, as inexperienced players found themselves hard-pressed to think of mummies in different situations. Even the gaming troupes that did manage to enjoy the game to its maximum (assumed to be veteran roleplayers) resented the lack of source material to further expand their campaigns
