Which books of the new World of Darkness rpg have info on what happens to (the soul of) a person after/upon their death? (Please provide page numbers or at least chapter titles, if possible... or a summary, perhaps.)
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asked Jun 2, 2011 at 7:06
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2\$\begingroup\$ A shame I sold off my copy of Book of the Dead. I imagine it'd be a great help in this area. \$\endgroup\$– JadascCommented Jun 2, 2011 at 11:21
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3\$\begingroup\$ Book of the Dead for Geist would probably be your best bet or simply the core World of Darkness book. I'm swamped or I'd try and give you some page numbers (hence the comment and not an answer). \$\endgroup\$– mirv120Commented Jun 3, 2011 at 4:27
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Book of the Dead
As mentioned in the comments above, Book of the Dead is a supplement focused for Geist, but it is also applicable to other games. There are other books that talk about what happen to ghosts in the world of the living, but the very high level idea is that all ghosts go the the Underworld, and there are various different sections in the Underworld where different ghosts might end up.
To make sense of it, I suggest starting with the first chapter Introduction: Descent on pg. 10. There is a subsection called The Map which gives a good overview to the underworld and what sorts of ghosts might go there.
On pg. 12 there is also a section that talks about what happens after a ghost leaves the Underworld. So, apparently the Underworld is really just a staging area after someone dies. If a ghost finishes its business in the Underworld it is gone. "It has moved on to some unknown reward (which may be Heaven, Hell, or even a serene oblivion)"
Depending on your goal, you might also want to check out Chapter Four: The Autochthonous Depths on pg. 98 for a good summary of what things are like in the Underworld and also Chapter Five: The Dead Dominions on pg. 130 for several specific locales in the Underworld. If you want to show some a potential glimpse of the afterlife, or have PCs visit it, Chapter Five is a great resource for some very alien locations.
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\$\begingroup\$ This is a quite useful pointer, thank you. However, are ghosts from this book the equal of "souls" from Mage, for example? As far as I can remember Mage says that Death-specialists (Moros) consider ghosts to be "objects", like "clothes that have/are made of memories" that (real living) souls leave behind upon death. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jun 3, 2011 at 6:37
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1\$\begingroup\$ @OpaCitiZen: Yes. (It's an artifact of G:tSE being released years after Mage.) Spells like "Quicken Ghost" (Death •••••, 146) can transform one of the ghosts of the Fallen World into something more like a true ghost from the Underworld. \$\endgroup\$– JadascCommented Jun 3, 2011 at 11:32
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\$\begingroup\$ Geist kinda retains that distinction, several of the ghosts you encounter outside of the underworld fit the bill of the Mage example. Though some of them do not. Either way, all ghosts seem to have trouble keeping focus on the present, and tend to repeat the things they did in life... \$\endgroup\$– CthosCommented Jun 3, 2011 at 14:43