| A modern
flawed soul longing for a new life. Part of
an ancient human soul that offers help. A
pact. A mission. A body is brought, half-decayed,
back to life. A quest for true resurrection.
The pure Lands of Faith. A temple. Acolytes
that follow ancient guidelines. Obedience
to the powerful Osiris. The Spell of Life.
The true Re-Birth and the judgement of Ma’at.
An immortal arises. He longs to bring balance
back into a world ruled by the foul Apophis.
A hunt begins. The hunter will come again
and again until the prey lays dead on the
ground.
The first thing I have to say about Mummy:
the Resurrection (this goes for the previous
versions too) is that these mummies don’t
resemble the "mummies we know" at
all. You won’t see any corpse wrapped
in yellowish white cloth limping to and fro.
You won’t see any beastie that consumes
human flesh to restore itself as with Imhotep
in the latest “Mummy” movie. Mummy’s
mummies are closer to Highlander than to any
mummy movies. They are, to define them briefly,
immortal magicians, that, if put to death,
rise from the grave in less than a year. That
doesn’t resemble the concept “mummy"
at all, does it? Then why did they call it
“Mummy: the Resurrection”?
It does have roots in Ancient Egypt. These
mummies’ lord is Osiris, the Egyptian
god. Part of these mummies’ souls are
Egyptian. Maybe that’s all the resemblance,
maybe not. Let’s explore a little of
“Mummy: the Resurrection” cosmology.
There was actually an Osiris. He was the
king of Egypt, and he became a Vampire. Set,
his brother, became a vampire, too, and a
long war began. Osiris was slain, and his
body was torn to pieces. Osiris’ wife,
Isis, had the body restored, save for one
part, and brought Osiris back to life. Set
and Osiris made war, and both used their own
legions of vampires to try and win. Finally,
Osiris was killed again, and Set won. Osiris’
son, Horus, created a host of immortal warriors
called Shemshu-Heru, to battle against Set.
Centuries of secret war passed. Osiris sat
on his throne of the Dark Kingdom of Sand,
located in the Underworld, and waited, patiently.
Recently, a war amongst the dead brought forth
a nightmarish storm called Dja-akh, that raged
across the whole Underworld, and tore apart
the city of Osiris, Amenti. Now, Osiris has
woken from his slumber of millennia, and he
has gifted his new warriors with immortality.
The character you play is a normal person
of our times, whose life is incomplete, and
who dies an untimely death. On the other side,
a fragment of a soul offers you the chance
to return to life, and to be full for the
first time. The catch is, you must fight for
Balance and destroy Apophis’ minions.
Apophis is, as far as I understand, the Werewolves
“Wyrm”, or at least one aspect
of it. This new character has the savvy of
the modern person, and the wisdom of the ancient
soul. Both parts become one after a trial
before the judges of Ma’at. Once your
character is back on his/her feet, he/she
is immortal. There’s no more aging,
almost no diseases, nothing to worry about,
except for the ubiquitous enemy.
This aspect of true immortality is what makes
this game interesting to me. No matter how
many times they kill your character, the corpse
always manages to rise from its grave again.
Your character can also have children and
any normal being’s experiences, plus
the ability of the ancient and powerful Hekau
magic.
As for the system, it uses the World of Darkness
Revised rules, that is, those of Vampire,
Mage or Werewolf 3rd Edition. You must have
one of those, because Mummy: the Resurrection
is written as a sourcebook and lacks many
important chapters to run a game, which you
can find in any of the three other books.
Some of the magic the mummies wield is very
powerful compared to other powers from the
other critters, except for Mage’s True
Magic, of course. I think of mummies as very
good supporting NPCs, and as PCs among a group
of different creatures, since mummies have
some powers that help them blend in. It is
also interesting to portray the story of a
group of mummies and their fight against Apophis.
This book also covers an interesting cannibalistic
cult, called Amkhat, among the antagonist
section and the stats for some animals, like
camels and crocodiles, if you’re in
the mood of throwing in some natural antagonists.
Mummy: the Resurrection gives you the chance
to explore the Middle East in a brand new
way… being both a local and a newcomer.
And you get to destroy the damned Setites
all in the same process. Free Egypt from the
vampiric rot. Free the Web of Faith from the
foul Amkhat. Destroy the servants of Apophis.
Who wants to live forever? You.
Reviewed by Matías Timm |
