Court of the Dead: Mourners Call

Product Information

Sideshow is excited to present the Relic Ravlatch: Paladin of the Dead Premium Format™ Figure. Relic Ravlatch is a deliciously irreverent adventurer from Sideshow’s original dark fantasy horror property, the Court of the Dead. Alternately aided and thwarted by myriad otherworldly beings, Demithyle must navigate places of dark and eerie mysticism, of love and perilous wonder lain before him on his quest to reclaim his duty. All the while, within him an ever more intimate knowledge of mortalkind grows, shaping him toward spiritual contention with his father — Death, the Alltaker of souls. As a reviewer, one of the most important things is to understand the game completely. Having read the rules a couple of times, the mechanisms are very easy to understand but what was still missing was the theme. After reading the graphic novel—really a collection of short scenes how some Mourners came to being—the game’s mechanism and the intent made more sense, however, appreciation for the theme took a dramatic turn. The whole game presentation is very well done with art and components working well together. I did like the drafting of cards at the start of each round, however again I was only looking for cards that would grant me unity at the expense of all else. The artwork is utterly gorgeous on the cards, the mainboard, the character boards. Some of the card art I’d even want as art prints on a wall.

Death’s first creation, the spiritborn Gethsemoni, was fashioned from raw flesh, her mind coalesced from the collective subconscious of humanity, and as such, her form echoes the expectations of the living. Beautiful and flawless to behold, this resident of the shadow realm glimmers like a jewel in the darkness. But be warned – the Queen of the Dead’s countenance is naught but a distraction. Her mercurial mood and unfettered ambitions make her a dangerous and volatile player in Death’s Court, and leader of the Faction of Flesh. The book itself reads like a guidebook to the Underworld, the realm of Death, and the creatures who populate it. Apart from the guide, interjections by Malavaestro, a strange, jester-like being, add creep factor to the proceedings. The illustrations are mind-bogglingly detailed and beautifully rendered, even if the majority of the female characters parade around in nothing but a strategically placed bit of skeletal offcut. The Relic Knights are sturdy vessels for the most devoted of the soulborn. Thirteen forms, each harder to haunt than the last. No will was strong enough to haunt and inhabit the thirteenth form—until Robert Ravlatch came along. In life, Ravlatch had already resisted harvesting well beyond his mortal allowance. But when the Alltaker saw Ravlatch’s stubborn potential, he made a deal with him. If Ravlatch could inhabit the impossible thirteenth Relic Knight, he would become Death’s Paladin. And so began an epic partnership that could fill volumes. As a Relic Knight, Ravlatch is the eyes and ears for the Alltaker, questing to collect essential artifacts and uncover the secrets of the Celestial Realms. As Death struggles to overthrow the rule of Heaven and Hell and take supremacy for him/her/itself, the players operate as Mourners in a semi-competitive manner to elude Heaven and Hell and gain power from the various locations in the Underworld. The Mourner who gains the most Faction Points and also points for their Ulterior motive will win… and…. rule with Death? Never mind that it’s a bit unclear, just think area majority control with some faction abilities. As for player count, it’s best with 3 or 4 given the minimum 90 minute play time. Gameplay Overview: Court of the Dead: The Chronicle of the Underworld' by Tom Gilliland, Landry Q. Walker, Corrina Sara Bechko and Sideshow Collectibles is an imaginary tour through the Underworld with an official and unofficial tour guide.In the sprawling citadels of the Underworld, deep within the vast libraries of Voxxingard, a curator sits. Staring at an empty tome, he ponders the puzzle that has been laid out before him by his Master, the shepherd of souls known as Death — a question deceptive in its simplicity, “What is the purpose of the realm of the dead?” Court of the Dead Mourners Call is a board game brought about from the combined creative might of Project Raygun and Sideshow Collectibles. The game is based on the setting by Tom Gilliland and sees a blending of area control gameplay and beautiful components. Death, in this book is portrayed as a more tragic character. An entity that is more of a shepherd than a hunter. He is called the Alltaker because that is his divinely appointed task, to take all that lives and guide it toward its afterlife. Death knows of the great injustice that has being inflicted upon the essence of the departed and thusly, the Court of the Dead was born. While there are many stories to be had among the lands of the Underworld, but thus overarching story continues to be among the most compelling. It makes the reader yearn to dive in deeper. If this is truly the fate that awaits a soul that burns particularly bright, the Death’s Court does not seem like such a bad place to end up.

The overall game structure is one of indefinite game rounds with each divided into 8 phases. Every player participates in each phase at the same time. Those phases work as follows: A nameless shadow encroaches at the fringes of the Underworld. Beneath the citadel of Daer-Gholl, Death perceives.

So far the Court of the Dead collection has introduced a cast of extremely diverse characters. Following the debut of the first Reaper General, the Queen of the Dead and Red Death made a huge impact last summer at San Diego Comic-Con. They garnered further enthusiasm during Sideshow’s October Spooktacular event, and again at the Burbank horror-themed convention, Monsterpalooza, where visitors saw a gallery of new artwork and sculptures including Shieve, the Arbiter of Bone, Gallevarbe, Death’s Siren, and the Templar of Bone. During each round, players also draft Court Cards, which represent powerful characters. To draft, players draw a set amount of cards, chose one and pass the remainder to the next player, who in turn passes their remaining cards around. Each Court card has access to 2 powerful effects and to play them, players must choose between the effects during each round. Examples of effects are gaining influence or placing a powerful unique Guild Figure on the board. There is also a figure for Death himself, and the player playing the Death card is given the figure and can decide the result of a single tie at the end of the round. The Court of the Dead court cards represent powerful characters that can help you in game. I'd probably need another play through to make up my mind, so I can say I enjoyed it enough to at least consider doing that. Based on an all-original design by Sideshow, threezero are proud to introduce the 1/6 Demithyle fully articulated figure from Court of the Dead.

Something that Bookworm really likes is how death is portrayed in this book. Human beings fear death greatly and as a result, characters that embody death are more often than not the villains or antagonists. The Grim Reaper chasing the terrified soul through the wood, but this is not accurate… Let me begin by saying that this was not what I expected it to be. I wasn't aware of the Sideshow Collectibles figures and that this was an existing characterscape before I opened the book. Having said that, if you are a fan of the original character figures, this book will be a wonderful addition to your collection and serve to really fill out the world of the characters. When I first began reading this book I was sure that this was a companion piece to an RPG game, where they give more description so players can flesh out their gaming experience. A little reconnaissance shows that while there's no game, there is a line of figures by Sideshow Collectibles and apparently this book is a tie-in. This explains quite a bit, since I kept feeling like the book was a part of something else and not something on its own. Unbelieveable! Sideshow Collectibles augments their amazing statues with a story of "what is the purpose of the Underworld, the realm of the dead? Death himself has posed this question to the curator of this ream. The book is the recording of the history, purpose, design, court and characters of the Underworld. Also it provides a look at its purpose between Heaven and Hell and what Death hopes to achieve in striking a balance between the two divine realms. For, you see, Death has a plan. As Heaven and Hell fight their never-ending battle, Death and his queen plan to rise up with their minions and become victors over both. Ambitious and it seems, doable.The book has a few things to offer readers, namely its mythology and artwork. The writing here is interesting enough and for what it is (a guidebook to the Underworld and its occupants) it's pretty well detailed. If you did want to use this as the base for a RPG, you wouldn't be disappointed since all of the basics are covered. Readers are given just enough to know what's going on, although I'll say that the best portions come when the creepy court jester Malavestros inserts his own opinions and reflections that frequently contradict the narrator, an official Underworld historian. Among them rises a leader, Demithyle of the Mortis Knights, whose gift of inward sight presents him with whispers of wisdom gathered from many mortal lifetimes — if only he might learn to grasp them. But even as the Nameless drive the scourge of their bael reiver hordes ever closer to the city, devouring all in their path, Demithyle finds himself displaced from both the army that calls him captain and the city he has only begun to call home. If a highly interactive, but accessible, big centrepiece is needed for your games evening, then Court of the Dead is bang to rights.