WISH 36: Supplements
Ginger writes: Today's WISH is not about game systems, but about supplements:
What do you think about supplements to game systems? Do you like the additional material, or are you just annoyed about spending the money for the additional rules? Name up to three supplements you've really enjoyed, and describe why you liked them.

I have a love/hate relationship with supplements. I hate paying for them and most supplements don't end up being worth their price, especially at the prices of today's RPGs. As a GM of game set in White Wolf's "World of Darkness", I have bought countless supplements for White Wolf games and they represent the whole spectrum of how good a supplement can be. Many of them add very little of value to the game besides some interesting but poorly written "fluff." However, I'd say about a third of them have quickly found themselves indispensable. In my experience, here are the makings of a great roleplaying supplement:

• They help a player get into character: WW releases a supplement for every possible clan/tribe/tradition/kith/etc. in their games. In fact, it's a formula for them that seems to have been successful. A few of them are so well written that just by reading the "fluff" pieces, a player can truly get a feel for what a character of that type can be. (Kithbook: Redcap immediately comes to mind.) They have also added new abilities that help a player build a character that can explore different concepts that are possible within the character type.


• They help a GM get a feel for the setting: As a GM, I always like to read or watch things shortly before a game that gives me "the feel" of a genre or setting. For example, if I were going to run a cyberpunk game, I would read a William Gibson novel or re-watch Bladerunner. If I can "feel" the setting, I can better give the players the feel. Some of my favorite supplements give have things written in them that instantly give me the feeling that I want to integrate into the game.


• They are good for giving quick game ideas: Years ago, I had a Star Wars supplement from West End Games that had pages and pages of little adventure ideas. I loved that supplement. It would only have a paragraph or two of a plot but it was often enough to get the creative juices going. All a GM had to do was read a plot he/she liked and fill in the details. I never have liked "adventure modules" that have the whole scenario written out. I can fill in the details, but sometimes I just want a quick idea. GURPS supplements are great for this. Many of their supplements include "adventure seeds." That's all I need. A seed.


• They add something new to the game: I love supplements that add new elements to an existing game such as new character types and abilities. Sure, I can make up the stuff myself but it's always nice when someone else has already done the work.

Ok. Now for my list of three great supplements:

• GURPS: Creatures of the Night: This book gives descriptions of several horrific monsters ands creatures that can be used several kinds of games. It gives stats in GURPS, but for all the times I have used creatures from the book, I have never used any of them in an actual GURPS game. Besides having some of the coolest and most original monsters I've seen in a rpg book, the bok also gives 2-3 adventure seeds for each creature. This book is a must-own for any GM. I can not recommend this book enough. GURPS has a lot of great supplements, but this is one of the best I've read. I also highly recommend GURPS: Supporting Cast, which has similiar write-ups for several pregenerated NPCs like a Bartender, a Taxi Cab Driver and a Fireman. I don't know if either book is still in print but they would both be worth hunting down a used copy.


• Werewolf Storytellers Guide: This book is amazing. It has chapters for a Werewolf GM on how to construct a good story, how to describe things using the sense of smell (an important sense in Werewolf), how to make games creepier, how to describe the rage the characters feel inside waiting to explode, and how to describe a city to a Werewolf and make it...or even a suburb seem like a horror setting. There's more. Much more. It's the first GM guide I've ever read that goes well beyond the basics and getsinto the important things about GMing the setting the book is actually for. So many GM guides just repeat the same old stuff. If I read another GM guide describe Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey one more time, I may throw up. This GM includes the Joseph Cambell but gives so much more....and it's all tailored for the Werewolf GM. I think that a GM of any horror game would find use for it, but Werewolf GM's have to buy this book...and live by it.


• Kithbook: Redcap: Until reading this book for Changeling: the Dreaming, I had a very limited view of Redcaps. They were either the villainous thugs of the unseelie court or the ultra-noble paladins paladins trying to make up for the bad reputation of the Kith brought on by their unseelie cousins. This book made them a hundred times cooler for me and made one of the two kiths I originally didn't care for in Changeling to one of my favorites. Now, if White Wolf would just come out with a Kithbook: Boggan....