Product Review

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