Contagion: Virulence
Contagion uses the Open Game License from Wizards of the Coast. So anyone familiar with D20 is well on their way to knowing the Contagion system. This review will focus on Contagion: Virulence which is the latest sourcebook for the Contagion horror role-playing system.
The first chapter of the book deals with the history of the world as it pertains to the Contagion environment. You get to learn a bit about the start of the war between heaven and hell and how each era in our world was affected by the war. The history brings you all the way up to our own timeline. To be honest, if I had to choose one portion of the book that I do not care for, it would be this chapter. Do not get me wrong though, the writing is excellent and parts of it draw me back for a few glimpses. I am just not big on pre-made histories and like to fill a lot of that stuff in myself. That is just my personal GM style and there are plenty of people that will love having as much of the back story as possible.
The second chapter brings us a good sampling of existing agencies or schools for the arcane. You might think that this would be another area that I do not care for, but I actually enjoy looking at the different schools and their connection to the Contagion world. This is a great section for players that are looking to play a magic-oriented character for background information. It is also a great section for GMs to have that much needed seedy government organization.
The third chapter deals with the eight choirs (types) of angels. Each comes with a description, a brief history, the choir’s philosophy, and archangel for each choir. This is another great section, especially for GMs. Whatever you do, do not think that the angels are all soft and feathery and always on mankind’s side; because you may be in for a rude awakening on Judgment Day! This was definitely a great section to read and to get to know the different faces of angels.
The fourth chapter deals with the eight castes of demons. You get the same information as listed for the angels, including the archduke for each caste. Again, this is a great section for GMs to utilize. Who wouldn’t want to toss a few demons in the path of unsuspecting players? I love the Mastim’s archduchess, Ba’al. The fact that she oversees thousands of religions and cults and the reason she started doing it is simply poetic in my mind. Very cool chapter.
The fifth chapter takes a look at the core classes from the main book, and adds one or two, and gives a nice write up on how each class interacts with the Contagion environment. It is a nice primer for players trying to determine what class they should play. It might give a few GMs some fresh ideas for NPCs as well. I think this is especially true for the Vagrant class write up, because that has been my hardest sell to get people to give more than a casual glance at. Once the core classes are out of the way, we get a taste of some advance and prestige classes that players can strive for. These classes definitely add another layer to distinguish characters and make them less ‘cookie cutter.’ I look forward to more additions like this in future sourcebooks.
The sixth chapter gives us some new races for the players to choose from. I personally tend to leave the more fantasy-oriented races out of the picture, or make them extremely rare. Again, that is my personal GM style. I want my horror games to be horror and my fantasy games to be fantasy. I just have a hard time picturing a half-orc running around in the here and now. Although the TV series Angel did it well enough. The bottom line is that the information is presented here for you to decide how best to fit in into your campaign (or not). We also get a look at some of the new core classes, advanced classes, and prestige classes that players can choose from. There are some new feats to help customize characters a bit more. We are also introduced to the metamagic feats for spellcasters. This is a cool set of feats that allow spellcasters to customize their spells. Next we are introduced to some new occupations that players can choose for their characters. Next up is a nice addition to the Contagion mechanics and that is the advanced arcane spellcasting system. I am not sure how others will feel about it, but I love the addition of burn from arcane magic. Magic is a force that should be tampered with lightly, and burn represents what happens when that warning is not heeded.
We round out the book with new spells for the spellcasting classes. This was a much needed addition to Contagion and I hope to see more original spells in future sourcebooks. While not all of the spells listed are original, there is enough flavor mixed in to set them apart. Something things you just expect a spellcaster to be able to do and are a staple to include, but it was nice to see some of the newer stuff that did not come straight out of the norm for a D20 system.
My overall impression of the book is that it is a solid addition to the Contagion world. The schools, angels, and demons offer new areas for players and GMs to explore. The primer for core classes will give players a few choices to think about. There are very few areas within the sourcebook that I will personally ignore for my games, but nothing that is not worth taking a look at and deciding for yourself. The advanced arcane spellcasting system offers some new twists for arcane magic. The addition of new spells is a major bonus as well. Mix all of that with a personal shout out to RGC in the credits and how can you fail? ;-}