It's coming!

[Azahul]

So I have to ask: what's everyone hoping for out of a new edition?

I've got a bit of trepidation, honestly. Even mechanically, Mummy remains one of my favourite games in spite of using first edition rules. Coming in at the tail end of the system, it really felt like it made perfect use of the established mechanics and Utterances in particular were exquisitely well balanced. It really struck me going from Mummy to Demon just how slipshod a lot of Demon's mechanics (particularly powers) were by comparison. Sybaris could use some tidying up, but beyond changing the Morality element of Memory to better match second edition and integrating Conditions and Tilts into the mechanics there isn't a huge amount I would change. Maybe raising Mummies' power level in the same manner as most second edition splats, I guess?

And of course, in terms of the game's world and story I wouldn't change a thing. If Mummy gets a reworking on the same scale as, say, Changeling, I'm going to be real worried.

But if I had one major point on my wishlist it would be Apotheosis. I hope that the game "taking place" 5-6 years after first edition means that Apotheosis will be a more established element of the setting (going by the release of Rio and the existence of post-Apotheosis Mummies there, that's already first edition's own take on the matter), so more detail on the mechanics of both reaching it and playing as a post-Apotheosis Mummy would be good. I'd even be intrigued by the prospect of making playing post-Apotheosis Mummies be the default and casting regular Mummies as antagonists, but on reflection that strips Mummy of everything that makes it unique in the first place so... better not.

[Cleverest of Things]

It would be great if some of the straggling mechanics were consolidated into the core--neithan architecture, talismans, mortal sorcerers, the merits from dark eras that would still apply to modern times, that sort of thing.

It feels like the 1e core's ''storyteller's section'' caused me more confusion in regards to the meta story than clarification. While the Death Cycle was golden, a lot of the extraneous details were so light that they were barely secrets. Plus, some of it implied secrets that later books deny. There are lots of ideas present in the core that felt unnecessary to the game (apotheosis mechanics, details about Anpu besides his silent presence) right out of the gate that could've easily been saved for a supplement, while certain ideas in the supplements change the game setting so thoroughly (talismans, city-wide modifications from architecture or guildmasters) that they were hard to introduce to an ongoing game without a lot of awkwardness (oh... yeah, the temple of sutek ALWAYS doubled your life span.. what, you didn't notice?). I'd be happy if 2e compiles all of the ''need to know'' stuff into the core, shifts all the ''big dirty secrets mummies won't find out until memory 7+ endgame'' stuff into a supplement ... book of going westward maybe? a mechanical and fluff book to portray the judges' dirty secrets and flashbacks in Dust, with a chapter on Iremite history and settings? Yas pleeeease. It took me months to realize I shouldn't be doing pretty much any Irem flashbacks until higher memory kicks in, so having all the secrets and stuff in the core is a bit too tempting. So many other things need to be in the core more than details we won't need till tier 4 endgame anyway.

I do hope they hring some of the utterances up a notch. The ''life'' focused ones (golden ankh, notably) can be somewhat underwhelming. And while I do love the Guild utterances, they're fairly ''stereotypical'' and one-note, which meant many guildmasters seemed identical to one another. I wouldn't mind there being an easy way to track which Utterances get turned off at what Sekhem. But I don't want to see that mechanic lost.

Good gravy, please give shuanksen some love! With so few Bane Affinities ever given, that relies far too heavily on home brewing. The Bane Mummies are such compelling antagonists, and the concept of arisen being tainted by them is so juicy, that we NEED more bane affinities. I like amkhata as much as the next guy, but they got more overall love in the gameline than necessary, next to shuanksen. While they definitely made up for the Deceived in the end (more of my players side with them and prefer their storyline), shuanksen never got their own chapter of a book even. Bane mummies need love too, hehe.

Rather like shuanksen, there were lots of things that got a mention as if there would be more coming later (cosmic utterances, unison utterances). I don't need them in the core, but I'd love to see more of them later, especially unusual ones (non-guild unison, ammut-empowered cosmic , etc ). The corebook needs to have all the bases covered so that any and all supplements can reference them. Variety is the spice of life and all.

I can't think of much that I'd like to see changed, though, more just updated, reorganized, and streamlined. Mummies could benefit from promethean and vampire style undead body benefits, for example. It probably wouldn't need too much work, hopefully.

[Azahul]

I do hope they hring some of the utterances up a notch. The ''life'' focused ones (golden ankh, notably) can be somewhat underwhelming.

Seeds of Life and Waters of Life and Death were the problem Utterances for me. Golden Ankh got a lot of use from the player who took it.

Bane mummies need love too, hehe.

Hey, wait, I ran that game

[reseru]

And of course, in terms of the game's world and story I wouldn't change a thing. If Mummy gets a reworking on the same scale as, say, Changeling, I'm going to be real worried.

Yeah, to me it should be more like Promethean where it's essentially a systems update and not a setting overhaul like Werewolf. Here are some things I've thought about, though:

• A "Storyteller's Wall" was really unnecessary. For a section claiming to reveal all the secrets we still had to wait for, arguably, two or three future supplements to actually have those secrets revealed. More practically, they hid the relics in this section, too, which is really confounding given that those are clearly character sheet choices.
• We all know Integrity replaced Morality, but I still like the idea of mummies have dual traits that play into each other. Pretty much every game has its spin on traits and I think this is fine for Mummy, too.
• A lot of people want all the extra stuff from supplements in the core, but I think a lot of those rules are extra and don't need to be in the baseline core. However, Promethean did a good job of consolidating its 1e material into the new core so I guess it can happen here well.

I also think we need to see the Arisen as compelling characters. Shuankhsen are cool and the Deceived upstaged the rest, I think, so some re-focus would be nice. Book of Going Westward would do well to explore the Judges and their relationship with their servants.

And obligatory plea for a Night Horrors with ghostly horrors, strange mummy-like monsters created in mimicry of the Rite of Return, mortal sorcerers, cultists, Witnesses, and demons conjured out of Duat. This setting is up there with Mage and Werewolf for weird shit lurking around everywhere but I feel like that really wasn't explored as much as it could have been.

[atamajakki]

Generally cleaner rules (please make Sybaris a chain of Conditions, I beg you), some supplemental stuff rolled into core, and a chapter about troupe play for the new core with a spicy Night Horrors book would be a dream come true.

[schizoPOP]

I would like a considerably tighter ruleset, and drawing focus back enough allow people people to build meaningful mummy characters from broader archetypes (akin to most other supernaturals), while still supporting the Iremite paradigm as major force in mummy culture.

[Azahul]

I would like a considerably tighter ruleset, and drawing focus back enough allow people people to build meaningful mummy characters from broader archetypes (akin to most other supernaturals), while still supporting the Iremite paradigm as major force in mummy culture.

Yeah, I'm the opposite there. Any kind of emphasis on player non-Iremite characters and I'm out

Unease Sybaris, specifically, was pretty hard to implement (it really should have been a single status effect akin to Terror Sybaris, not this scaling thing which was hard to keep track of), but what are the other issues with the rules that people took exception to? Mummy surpasses every other game in the Chronicles of Darkness set that I've played in terms of solid mechanics and balance, beating Demon and Promethean handily.

[atamajakki]

I would like a considerably tighter ruleset, and drawing focus back enough allow people people to build meaningful mummy characters from broader archetypes (akin to most other supernaturals), while still supporting the Iremite paradigm as major force in mummy culture.

I would riot if this happened, as would most of the fanbase. Mummy is the story of Irem's heirs, and everyone should just accept that already.

[schizoPOP]

So absolutely zero possibility for some sort happy medium?

[Azahul]

So absolutely zero possibility for some sort happy medium?

I'm more than happy for non-Iremite Mummies to have their own, separate game? Maybe as something like Revenants?

But Mummy: The Curse isn't the place for them. The first edition provided two real easy ways to make non-Iremite Mummies, either as byproducts of the Blasphemous Depiction or as ghosts with the Revenant/Intruder Numen. That always felt like a good level for me.

[atamajakki]

So absolutely zero possibility for some sort happy medium?

It's been years. Promethean is still a game about becoming a human, Demon is still a techgnostic game, and Mummy is still about Irem. There's plenty of room for non-Iremite undead elsewhere.

[schizoPOP]

There are few reasons I'd rather modify Mummy (which is definitely going happen on some level, see every 2nd ed game thusfar), than create Lich: The Liching.

1. Its notable inconsistent with the approaches to most of the other gamelines. Mage has the pentacle front and center but its not about Atlantis and one can easily build a character without it. See also: covenants, courts, tribes. All of them have a particular culture that is dominant, but not all-consuming.

2. Allocation of resources: Anything that's effectively a spinoff is simply going to get less attention and end up a notably less cohesive and robust game. Even it gets to be a full gameline, it'd mean any Lich book is effort not going towards mummy and vice-versa.

3. Elegant Game Design: I think mummy has plenty of strong and meaningful themes and concepts that are perfectly capable of being evocative without having to rely on the Iremite Paradigm. However, having two separate "Ancient Undead Sorcerer-Priest with Multi-Faceted Soul and a Connection to Judgemental Otherworldy Beings" exist simultaneously is pretty ugly design. And since a lot of the Iremite Paradigm is based on IC beliefs and perceptions, its easier to slot it into a greater "This is how Mummies Be" than vice versa. (and even in 1st edition a lot of the "True History" of Irem is IC supposition that fails to take into account important things if you look at the Chronicles of Darkness as a whole. Possible mechanical discrepancies aside, expanding what means to be Mummy doesn't require changing the text of Dreams of Avarice in the slightest.)

[atamajakki]

Feel free to modify the game yourself. Just don't ask the text to understand the premise it has emphatically stated for years now.

[schizoPOP]

I'd rather have an professionally written and designed game that let's me tell the stories I want to tell with it, that doesn't prevent you from telling the stories you want to tell with it.

[atamajakki]

I'd rather have an professionally written and designed game that let's me tell the stories I want to tell with it, that doesn't prevent you from telling the stories you want to tell with it.

Again; this game has set out to tell a specific story. It's not going to change that with a new edition, no more than any other game would, and both the writers and the bulk of the player base wouldn't want it to anyway. You can want what you want however much you like, but Mummy: the Curse is about the Nameless Empire, the servants of it, and just maybe their hope of escaping the cycle of servitude.