THE INVISIBLE WAR
Immortal 1st Edition Materials and Support

Here we present materials to support and enhance your enjoyment of Immortal The Invisible War.  Yes, above you sits only one of the 4 different logos used for Immortal 1st Edition.  It does not look like the original logo used on the main 1st Edition Rules book (which was the only place that logo was ever used).  Please select from the menus and links below to retrieve whatever you need.  In this section you'll find various pieces of update information about the Prides, the Stratagem, and a few templates to do things like make up your own needed Callings information, etc.   Below the menu you can read up on some of the issues facing 1st Edition versus 2nd Edition.

Most of what appears from the above menu is work in progress that was transmuted into 2nd Edition material.  Some of these concepts appear (or will appear) in 2nd Edition material possibly.  You can get a look at some of the more ancient history of the Prides as they recall their roots at the teachings of their Abzulim masters.  Hopefully the material here can give you much insight.  Some sections are simply not finished yet, and hopefully we will have time to add to them for the 1st Edition fans when time permits.

"Yeah, it's dead.  But since you really wanted proof, here are the remains"
Pride Slayer Maxim

Many of you are asking what was the Invisible War all about?   What, why and where did 1st Edition go?  There was a 1st Edition?  This section of the website tries to answer those questions, as well as help 1st Edition players make the jump over to 2nd Edition.

1st Edition was set in a time of the Prides.  Where once the Immortals grouped by together by their animal type, the Age of Myth brought about the power of the Courts, were ideology and how an Immortal felt him or herself connected to reality were the driving force.  Before the Age of Myth these Immortal groupings were called Prides.  And after the Age of Myth ended, the greatest of the Pantheons, the Norse, the Greek, the Egyptian, etc., once again took the name of Prides and plyed their own twisted, warped version of the Stratagem.  Those poor unfortunates who awoke to their Immortality in the last many centuries were found by these great Pantheons, twisted and changed over the many years.  They were never told the truth about the Courts and what lay beyond.

The Prides themselves began to believe their own lies and soon the vast majority of a fairly young generation of Immortals had no knowledge of the wonders of the Age of Myth, or the truths behind it.  Until 1998 (two years ago) when the great Pantheon of the Orient, the Dracul, fell to what would become known as the Great Betrayal.  Over two years, the greatest of the Pantheons, nothing like they once were, all fell to the powers of the Progeny, betrayed by some unknown agent.  The few survivors were gathered together by the Courts, and the truth was finally given to them.

The Prides - Anopheles, Banjax, Dracul, Eremite, Magdalen, Morrigan, Nimrod, Peri, Phoenix, Roane, Tautha, and Terat.  Even the Gentry that followed them, all disbanded themselves back into the Courts to hopefully reform their great and might pantheons once again someday.  1st Edition is their story.

Below we present the web based support from Precedence for 1st Edition, known as Immortal:  The Invisible War.  This is all there is, there are no other answers.  This area will not remain up forever, but at least for the forseeable future.  We hope you can take this area and use it to answer what final questions you have, and then take the conversion information and use it to jump yourself into 2nd Edition.  We do not want you to think that 1st Edition was forgotten, but simply put the game was redesigned to make it easier to play and understand, as well as lend itself to LARP.  1st Edition was not forgotten.  Much was meant to be revealed, but unfortunately, due to what we all call real life, some things just could not come to be.  2nd Edition is where things were headed, and it was decided that some things could be smoothed out and fixed along the way.

Immortal, like many games that are coming out today, is story-based.  It has a developing overall plotline, that is supported and tailored, based on the players out there.  It continues on, with some of our favorite characters and groups leaving, and new ones coming in.  The storyline and the timeline must progress, so please don't feel that this was done to "get rid" of 1st Edition.  Much of 1st Edition (as it was progressing) appears in 2nd Edition if you look closely enough.

But enough of that for now, please, if you need the resources we provide here for you, make use of them!  Please note that we do not have copies of the 1st Edition books reprinted here, these are extra resources to clarify and enhance what you will find in the 1st Edition books.

The following is an open letter that Ran Ackels wrote to an Immortal fan, that is being reposted here to answer some of your questions concerning why a 2nd Edition.  It was written shortly after GenCon 1998.  Though some of the things have changed in the last year plus since this was written, it gives a nice insight into the mind of a brilliant artist at work.

I have found the discussion about Immortal to be very interesting, from the standpoint of the creator. I feel like some sort of empath who is getting all of these different perspectives about what Immortal is, and what Immortal is trying to say. Certainly there is a great deal of philosophy in Immortal, just as philosophy is the binding glue to this entity we call religion (or for religion that has fallen out of vogue, mythology). Immortal is not about the struggle between good and evil. None of us mere mortals can be defined by either of these poles, so how could a race as illimitable as the immortals be?

We are all shaped by belief. It's inevitable. Some will believe in Christ, some in a divine force that welcomes all into a friendly embrace, no matter what their crimes on earth. Some believe that life and self-awareness ends with their last breath, and that there is nothing beyond. Life is only an electro-chemical process animating animal tissue and the soul is an invention of those afraid of oblivion. I suspect the Many (if not openly then in their heart) are simply waiting to see what happens. Even in not believing in anything, they are believers waiting to happen. Immortal explores belief, in all the shades of gray it exists within. That was my intention from the start, and that has not changed. In working on the second edition, my goal is two-fold: To solidify the universe out of my head and to strike a chord that exists in everyone. To this end, there will be changes. These changes are not transformations of the old into the new, but the digging deeper into the old. First Edition Immortal gave us the perspective of the relatively young immortals. How they percieved the Stratagem and those reigning above them. Life in the Perpetual Society.

Second Edition allows us to look through the eyes of the old ones. To get at the core of what mythology is and how it was created, to explore the symbiosis between mortals and immortals, and to step into the new age when the Sanguinary rises from its old prison. There is a sense of urgency here, and some might construe it to be the end of the universe, a great big armageddon that will be played out.

No.

Mythology (Religion) is a circle. It is endless. It spirals through us like so much DNA. As long as there is sentient life on our world, there will be mythology. Even the immortals, who have masqueraded as gods for most of human history feel the weight of their deception and look at those who have achieved Eidos as the only true gods. It should surprise no one that the immortals
worship those who have passed into transcendence.

Immortal is eternal, but it is also so vast that many many people simply can't fathom it. If you could read the mail I have recieved. People have read the book, been blown away by its depth, and prompty shelved it. Most don't even try to get through it. When creating the game, I tried to put too much of what was in my head into one book. The result: most people can't access the essential premise of the game. Too much jargon, too many ideas not well explained. Second Edition's design is to change that. To present the ideas that are Immortal in very clear concepts that people can absorb. This makes the game simpler, but the depth will still be there.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Will the Immortal timeline change?

Timelines are written by the victorious. There is an overall immortal timeline that arks over the entire 65 million years. Most people would drop into ennui before getting through a tenth of it. There will be an established continuity in the timeline from the perspective of the old immortals, not the young ones still obsessed with emulating humanity and it's means of documenting time.

What are some of the changes?

The prides as you know them are really only vogue terms for much older organizations, the Courts. The Courts are powerful and ancient. They have survived the turmoil created by the transition of the immortals from animals to people. The Courts are simple in their identity. The Court of War, for example, is dedicated to war, in all of its applications. The Peri are only part of this ancient organization. The Anopheles are only part of the much deeper Court of Desire. To identify the courts in the Second Edition does a couple things. First, new players can instantly understand and identify with a particular group without trying to keep the lingo straight. Secondly, we see the immortals as primal powers. Ares, Mars, Set, Athena, Thor---we see all these gods of war set against the backdrop of the many cultures who revere them and realize their brotherhood goes beyond cultural identity.

System: The Immortal system will be as streamlined as possible, making it as elegant as possible and lending itself to live-action rules as well. Anyone who has ever played a serious game with me will find that the live-action element has always been a core component of Immortal. I wish I could tell you more about the system, but that material is still being devoloped. Why add confusion? More callings are being detailed and character creation will be a joy.

The Setting: Immortal is being set perpetually a few years into the future during which the Invisible War is becoming visible. I have always planned this. Conspiracy gaming is nice, but everyone is doing it and I rather like an evolving universe rather than a stagnant one. With the second edition you will understand the nature of the enemy (the Droves) and see the return of the Abzulim to reclaim their lost empire here. And caught between the immortal triangle of Perpetual, Drove and Abzulim---the human race which has almost become a soulless entity under the will of the Sanguinary. You will see the Jury, representatives of the Transcendants responsible for the Sanguinary's defeat change its tactics as the final battle nears. As a result, the Strategem changes with them.

Other Products Planned

Along with the Second Edition, I plan to have a book on the immortal's adversaries (The Droves, Abzulim, etc), a cool setting book, a single book with all the Courts detailed (rather than the singular sourcebooks for each one as with the Dracul Sourcedbook). Also planned is a novel, which is in the works even now. We want to make certain to support Second Edition well, with regular releases rather than the sporadic release schedule we have had so far. We are also planning a good amount of advertisement to get people's attention.   In about a couple weeks, my personal page will be up and accessible. It will add to this information, as well as provide info on the Peri. As soon as it is up, I will post the address to the list.

GENCON

Essentially Gencon this year was about Babylon 5 CCG for Precedence. We promoted our game with a guest appearance from Claudia Christian, the actress many of you know as Ivanova on the television series. I was very happy to see a core of loyal Immortal players running demos throughout the con, and had the good fortune to be part of a game run by Rick Don. Thanks to all of you at that game (that means you too Jeff!) I had a total blast.

I had a question/answer panel which stated a lot of the above. Introduced in that panel was Paul Beakly, a freelance writer I have chosen to help make the Second Edition happen. He's very talented and I have full confidence in his ability to write the Second Edition. Our collaboration thus far has been smooth and will only benefit the game.

That all for now. I hope this isn't too long for all of you. Thanks again for your support and I look forward to more interesting discussion on the mail list.

Ran Ackels,
Creator, Immortal