Authors: White Wolf
Release Date: 2005-08-25
On Sale: Yes
Price: 34.99
ISBN: 1-58846-418-0
Product Type: Core Book
Product Style: Hardcover
Page Count: 396
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Review by: Steve J. Larson II
Rating: 9/10
The Core book to the reincarnation of Mage from the old WoD.
Outer Appearance: Spectacular. Pure and simple. The fusion of imagery with the greenish-blue coloring really makes a great first impression.
Prelude: An entertaining story, if somewhat stereotypical. Why do Goths always have to be involved in Mage? It does, however, do a good job at conveying the Awakening and that is the most important aspect of the prelude. But enough of the prelude, let's dig into the rest of this massive book.
Introduction: Quick, painless and precise. Just what I like in an intro. The brief overview of the setting and the themes that Mage: the Awakening examines offers what I believe to be a good measure of the book. If I was not familiar with this game or the Mage that had come before, I would probably buy the book based on the packaging and introduction alone. One thing I find informative is the Lexicon of a book if one is present. A good scan of the Lexicon can reveal lame concepts and rehashed ideas. The Lexicon of Mage: the Awakening is intriguing and inviting.
Chapter One: Arcanus Mundus (The Secret World): This is the mood and theme section. Here we find about Mage existence and all that is involved with being a Mage.
First there is the story of Atlantis and the beginnings of Mage culture. I have to be honest and say that I was somewhat skeptical when I read that the new Mage was to be based off some kind of Atlantean Diaspora. That could go wrong in so many ways. As I read the history/mythology of the origins of Mage society I was rather impressed. Although the book centers on the concept of Atlantean mysticism, it does not bind one to it. Almost every culture on Earth has myths of men and women of power who come from far away and the concept of Atlantis plays perfectly into that common cultural theme. Equally, they also employ the universal sins of hubris and the attempt of foolish mortals to become Gods. As usual, the potential Utopia falls to the corruptible nature of the human spirit. The battle between the Exarchs (those who wish to be Gods) and the Oracles (those who oppose their designs) brings down the Celestial Ladder and severs the tie between Creation and the Supernal Realms.
From the Fall of Atlantis we go to the establishment of the five Watchtowers. These are great props to use in the Awakening of the characters if the storyteller wishes to play them out or the players wish to stretch their writing talents to describe their Awakenings. A Mage gets his or her flavor of magic from the Watchtower they scribe their names into. It is an extremely important part of a Mage's development.
After the history lesson, we learn of the need for Mages to go underground and undercover. The universe is no longer their friend as the expansion of the Abyss creates a mystical backlash known as Paradox. No longer can Mages bring the masses of Sleepers under their control through sheer feats of magic. The Five Orders of the Atlantean Mages establish rules and laws governing the secrecy and use of mystical power in order to protect what is left of Atlantean lore. Not to mention the need to protect the lives of the Mages themselves.
Then comes an explanation of the Awakening and the theoretical mechanics of it. Not much different from the old Awakening except you always end up at one of the five Watchtowers. The one you end up at determines your Path.
Paths. These are the five groups that Mages divide themselves into according to Supernal Realm their Watchtower resides in. The Path determines what Arcana you begin with and to what level of power you can rise within those Arcana. If you wish to break those barriers and learn higher levels within restricted Arcana, you must get your character a teacher. I like this idea as it creates a very real reason for Mages to interact with, and become indebted to, each other. In the old Mage it seemed as though all mystical knowledge could be found within through one's Avatar. Now your character must seek out the teachings of others if you wish for them to be fluent in all the Arcana. A very welcomed change.
Orders. One change I am absolutely in favor of was the move away from a centralized command structure. Mage: the Awakening centers on the Cabal, the small group of like-minded Mages. Combine this with the concept of the Orders and you have a loosely controlled society of Willworkers. The Orders are ancient organizations that claim establishment in the mythic period of Atlantis. Each one has a central task and your character can choose to join one depending on their view of the world. Some Orders are militaristic (the Adamantine Arrow) and some are scholarly (the Mysterium). Each one has a set of precepts that bind their members to a common cause. Any of the Paths can join any of the Orders. Your Path is chosen at Awakening while you have to be initiated into an Order. Combine this with the Legacies and you can create an infinite variety of characters and NPCs. I think they did pretty well in with this idea although the Free Council struck me as a way of imposing a couple of the writer's liberal mindset onto the game. The Free Council struck me as sort of the Air America of Mage society. Oh well. On with the review...
The rest of Chapter One talks about the loose confederation of Mages and how they work with each other politically. As I said before, I like the minimized importance of the Consilium. The Storyteller can easily use the Consilium as much or as little as they wish to. Even the laws of Mage society, the Lex Magica, revolve around the greatest crime a Mage can perpetrate: exposing the existence of magic to Sleepers.
After Mage society and its governance, the rest of the chapter gives a brief explanation of magical landmarks. It’s the usual stuff about ley lines and demesnes. Nothing much new.
Chapter Two (Character): This is the Mage template to add to the character template found in the World of Darkness Corebook. Only three things need to be commented on: Gnosis, Mana, and Wisdom. The chapter also talks about the Paths and Merits but those are already spoken of or are self-explanatory.
Gnosis is a Mage's understanding of mystical theory. The more potent the Mage's Gnosis the more Mana he or she can hold in their pattern. Gnosis also determines the number of spells the Mage can have concurrent, how many spells they can combine, and how high their attributes can become. Gnosis also determines how easy the character can create their own Rotes. As all things, Gnosis has its downside. Mages of high Gnosis stand out amongst Sleepers and attract mightier backlashes from Paradox as a result. I am a fan of Gnosis for its good and bad points. The more potent a Mage becomes the more careful one must be in their magical dealings. Fireball throwers will never become Archmages. That is a bonus in my book.
Mana. Mana is the Quintessence and Tass of the old Mage. Mana is required to create certain effects (aggravated damage, pattern healing) or to make the casting of improvised effects easier. Mana in its crystallized form is Tass. Not much new with this concept.
Wisdom. Wisdom replaces Morality in the World of Darkness template. Mages are constantly at war with their own arrogance. When a Mage "sins" it is called an act of Hubris and a degeneration roll is made according to the degree of Hubris displayed.
Chapter Three (Magic): This is the nuts and bolts section of the magic system. Although I have not been able to play test these rules, I believe them to be better thought out than the old Mage system (which I loved). A great attempt was made to close the holes in the mechanics of the magic system and it shows. I must have read through them about ten times and I have even rolled out a few scenarios by myself to test the ease of use. Although the rules were daunting at first, they became easier as I used them more. If I ever table top a Mage game I will be sure to buy the Mage Storyteller's Screen or at least have a cheat sheet in front of me and one for each player. Like the old system, I am sure that it gets to be intuitive after a few sessions.
The only thing I don't know about is using experience points to purchase Rotes and the extremely difficult lengths a Mage needs to go through to create a Rote. Since I have not had the chance to play out this particular aspect of Mage I am uncertain how I feel about it. Shouldn't a Mage have the ability to create a Rote if they have some downtime and the skill to cast it? You can still cast on the fly but to cement the attempt, as a Rote will cost you. Jury is still out on this one.
The greater portion of Chapter Three is Rotes. Lots and lots of Rotes. This I like very much as it gives the players a sense of what each level of power in each Arcana is capable of as well as how a Rote is constructed. A very nice feature and one that would have saved a lot of explaining if it had been a part of the original Mage game. Bravo to the writers on this.
After the Rotes comes the Paradox system and how to manage it. This system is exact and explained in a satisfactory manner. They made Paradox something to fear for those players who like their characters. I know many of the old-school Mage players who scoffed at Paradox. I would like to ST them with this new system. It actually seems like punishment.
The rest of the chapter is an examination of the metaphysical nature of Mage reality (if it can be called that). The nature of the Soul, Resonance, Demesnes, the Duel Arcane, and the worlds beyond are discussed and explained.
There is fundamental difference between the old and the new here. The Soul is now the center of the Mage's power and the Avatar is left behind. The loss of one's Soul is magical death. The care, protection, and feeding of one's Soul becomes a genuine concern for a Mage, not to mention the mortals that live around a Mage. The Soul, if properly manipulated, can be used to create a Soulstone. The major use of a Soulstone is to create a Demesne. However, a Mage's Soulstone in the wrong hands can spell big trouble and potential servitude to the one who holds it. I like the concept of splintering your Soul as well as the concept of the Soul being the seat of magical power.
The information on the Realms Invisible is great as well. The concept and mechanics of moving to and from Astral Space, the Underworld, the Shadow World, and the Gauntlet have been trimmed down and streamlined. A good job at keeping it simple while allowing for great expansion. That was definitely one part of the old Mage system that needed an overhaul. Happy to say that the mission was accomplished.
Another simplification I am grateful for is the Duel Arcane. I read it once and understood it perfectly. If I played in a game I would definitely want to give it go. That is quite different from the years I played the old Mage and never played out a single duel. Once again a pat on the back to the writers.
The magic chapter ends with some helpful guidelines on how to create magical effects of your own. A nice guide for those unaccustomed to the free-form magical style portrayed in Mage games.
Chapter Four (Storytelling and Antagonists): This section goes into great detail about the concepts and issues that Mage deals with: power and its uses, hubris, freedom, etc. Beginning STs could stand to read this a couple of times before they whip out a Mage "Adventure". Not that there is anything wrong with High Adventure in Mage but the overall flavor of Mage is secrecy and its maintenance.
Once you get past the Storytelling tips you come to the Antagonists. Who do the Mages fear? Well, as usual, there is no end of those who oppose the designs of your Willworkers.
The Seers of the Throne. Agents of the Exarchs and their pawns in Reality. In the battle for Reality, these are a Mage's biggest threat. I like them somewhat.
Banishers. These guys I absolutely love. Mages who see their Awakening as a curse. Many turn against their own kind in order to cleanse Reality of their tampering. Awesome concept and great presentation. If I were to ST a game these guys would most likely be the player’s worst nightmare.
The Mad. These are Marauders 2.0 and the upgrade was welcomed. William Angle is a great representation of the Mad and would be fun to play.
After these Mage Antagonists is a brief example of familiars that quickly moves into Spirits. The creation of these beings is clearly outlined and defined. Although they can be easily used by themselves, if you combine the Mage Spirit section with the Werewolf: the Forsaken section on Spirits and you will have a pretty solid grasp of what Spirits are and how they act. I am a big fan on the World of Darkness's handling of Ghosts and Spirits. At the end of the Spirit section are some nice examples of Spirits in the World of Darkness.
The Acamoth. These Spirits are Cthulhu-esque beings that were spawned in the Abyss and are willing to traffic with Mages in return for passage back to the Abyss. Similar to an infernal pact, the Soul of the Mage is put on the auction block with a return of investments granted by the Acamoth.
The Goetia are a concept I find refreshing: the embodiment of your inner emotions as spiritual beings. I like the thought of a Mage attempting to control his inner demons by giving those emotions form.
Another interesting concept is Ghost Mages. Being quite a fan of the World of Darkness: Ghost Stories book I find this concept to be a good addition to a Mage's list of adversaries (or allies).
Temple Guardians are pretty standard fare. Spirit watchdogs.
Ananke. Now this is a great concept that can drive an entire story. They are the embodiment of prophecy and destiny created long ago by Atlantean Mages. Many are the attempts of Mages to influence future events or to prevent a certain event from happening. They will appear to a Mage and draw them into their designs whether they like it or not. Perhaps your character is the reborn Soul of a potent Archmage from the days of Atlantis who wishes to prevent his rivals Soul from attaining an Awakened state. The possibilities are endless for situations of this sort. Once again I must pat the writers on the back.
Genius Territorialis. Simply put: the Spirit of a place or location. The Spooky House. The Peaceful Glen. The Dark Alley. All of these places could possess a spirit that has a vested interest in keeping things the way they are. A good anchor for a story to be sure.
After the Spirits come the mortals. Thralls and Witch Hunters. Nothing new here.
A brief description of artifacts and cursed items follows. Very brief but not a problem since most STs I know prefer to create their own anyway.
The rest of the chapter deals with Verges and Cryptids. Verges are those places where the Gauntlet is weak and mortals can stumble into Spirits, Ghosts, or other nasty situations. Cryptids are your normal, everyday Sasquatch, Loch Ness Monster, or Jersey Devil. Nothing new but they put the idea out there.
Appendix One (Legacies): Legacies are a cool addition to the Paths of the Mages. By joining a Legacy a Mage commits himself to craft his Soul into an ideal. Through such devotion the Mage, at certain milestones, attains the ability to affect Reality without the conscious implementation of magic. This allows the ST to create any sub-Path they wish to see. The Ahl-i-Batin and the Akashics (Perfected Adepts) can be found amongst the Legacies. Included in the Legacies are the "Left-Handed" Legacies of the Tremere Liches and the Scelesti (Nephandi). These are outlawed legacies that the other Mages would destroy if given the chance. I am sure a WW book is in the works outlining several more Legacies.
Now I am going to step out on a limb here and proclaim the inclusion of the Tremere as certifiably lame. Let them go people! If we Mage fans let go of our beloved Technocracy, which I admit some have not, then we can let go of the Tremere. I for one will not be using them... ever.
Appendix Two (Boston): This is the description of the official Mage city. It gives a Storyteller, and player, a good idea of a well-constructed social setting for Mage stories. It was a good read although I will most certainly use a different city. I liked it because it shows a well-constructed base from which to launch a myriad of plotlines that seem to be generated in a Mage: The Awakening game.
Conclusion: After pouring over everything in the book I have given the Mage: the Awakening Core book a 9 out of a possible 10. The writing is clear for the most part and the concepts and structure solid. The book loses a perfect 10 due to some utterly disappointing artwork and some weakness in storylines. Not to mention the inclusion of the Tremere... Anyway, I think WW hit the ball out of the park with Mage: the Awakening and I would definitely say it rivals Werewolf: the Forsaken for the top spot in the nWoD.
Authors: Carl Bowen, Rick Jones, James Kiley, Matthew McFarland, Sean Riley and Adam Tinworth
Release Date: 2005-03-01
On Sale: Yes
Price: 34.95
ISBN: 1-58846-324-9
Product Type: Core Book
Product Style: Hardcover
Page Count: 320
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Review by: Prax
Rating: 9/10
A more then worthy successor to Werewolf: The Apocalypse.
What makes a good werewolf game? In my mind, it’s a game that makes being a werewolf mean something beyond a curse or the ability to transform oneself into a beast. That’s one of the many reasons I liked Werewolf: The Apocalypse. You weren’t simply a werewolf, you were one of the Garou, the Fangs of Gaia, a spirit-warrior dedicated to the preservation of the world and born into the final act of an epic already millennia old. Well, with Werewolf: The Forsaken the folks at White-Wolf have done it again and made being a werewolf truly means something. More then that they did it in a way that makes the game far more then a rehash of Apocalypse. It is truly a different game with its own themes and take upon the werewolf condition as well as what it means to be a creature half flesh and half spirit.
The book opens with Prologue: Fresh Meat, the first glimpse at the world of the Forsaken where we follow a pack of werewolves as they hunt down a young man who is about to undergo the First Change. If you’re familiar with Apocalypse you might find the scenario a familiar one until you see the fear in the pack’s eyes as they push their prey too far and the beast within is finally unleashed. Fresh Meat ends at that point and we move onto the Introduction, but I’m going to pause a moment here to dwell upon the illustration and text preceding the chapter. The wonderful illustration by Ron Spencer is of an individual undergoing the First Change and the accompanying page is a mental dialogue as the change occurs. I enjoyed both because I thought both did a better job then the opening fiction as far as setting the proper tone for the book illustrating that even though werewolves are born human the first change awakens within them something that is far more feral, something that will forever set them apart from the rest of humanity.
The Introduction is very well written. As usual it lays out the basic themes of the game and then it goes on to discuss what being a werewolf in the World of Darkness really means. It does this by addressing the myths and then presenting the “facts” as far as the World of Darkness is concerned. After this short werewolf primer we’re introduced to the primary theme of the game: The Hunt and the primary Mood of the game, which is two fold. Werewolf: The Forsaken is introduced as both a game of savage fury as well as one of dark tension where unnatural things lurk just out of sight. Following this we get a short rundown of each of the Chapters, a list of resources for inspiration and finally a large lexicon of terms. The lexicon is extremely useful providing both English terms and a list of terms in the First Tongue, the unique language of the spirits and by extension of werewolves. The First Tongue is not simply a bunch of borrowed words either, but a collection of distinct terms with its own linguistic flavor.
Chapter One: The World of the Forsaken is packed with information and just as the title would imply introduces us to the World of Darkness as its protagonists see it. We begin with a legend about the origins of werewolves in this new World of Darkness, or as they call themselves, the Uratha. We learn that they are the children of Mother Luna the fickle spirit of the Moon and Father Wolf the ultimate hunter of the dawn times. They are half-spirit and half-flesh because Luna bore the first of them while in human form. The first werewolves aided Father Wolf in his duties, keeping the things of the spirit and material world in check, so both could live in balance with one another. It was an idyllic age, if you were a werewolf or a hunter. However, as time passed Father Wolf grew weaker and his ability to keep the balance between spirit and flesh became impaired. In the end the Forsaken were forced to slay him so that they might take his place and continue to preserve the balance. With that act they were cursed by Luna and became reviled by the spirit world, which brings us to modern times when the Forsaken continue to uphold their ancient duties partially forgiven by Luna, still reviled by the majority of the spirit world and hunted by the descendents of those werewolves who refused to partake in the murder of Father Wolf. The Chapter goes on to discuss all of this in depth along with details about the First Change, the strange and alien Hosts, details about pack life, territory and the Uratha’s laws known as the Oath of the Moon.
It should be mentioned that Territory and the Pack receive a lot of attention in the book, because the game is far more focused on what the player’s Pack is doing to protect their own little section of the World of Darkness. This makes the game a lot more personal. There really is no grand cosmic war this time around, there’s just you, your packmates, your friends, your family and your territory. Beyond your territory is an alien and hostile place. Even if it’s just a few blocks down the street that place belongs to someone else, maybe even another pack of werewolves who don’t like you very much. Your primary concern is seeing that you and yours stay safe. Beyond the borders of your territory is generally someone else’s concern unless of course their problems begin to spill over onto your land.
Chapter Two: Character gets down to the systems. The Chapter is fairly straightforward with a rundown of the Werewolf Template and where it differs from the Mortal Character Creation rules presented in World of Darkness. There is a full walk through of the entire character creation process from beginning to end as well as a discussion of Packs and Prelude. You also get descriptions of all of the unique traits werewolves possess such as Auspice, Tribes, Primal Urge, Renown, Essence and Gifts. Each of the five Tribes, the werewolf societies that one can join, as well as the Tribeless werewolves known as Ghost Wolves get a three page write-up. All of which do a nice job of conveying the basic tenets of each society. Also presented are twenty-two unique Gift Lists, each containing five potent and quite varied supernatural powers. At the end of the Chapter the concept of Rituals is reintroduced from Werewolf: The Apocalypse with a few neat changes, such as treating them much like Gifts as far as learning them goes, but maintaining similar mechanics of length and ceremony required for their activation. They are definitely not simply another set of cool powers, but extremely useful powers and in many cases quite necessary to sustaining a pack’s territory.
Chapter Three: Special Rules and Systems addresses all the mechanical differences between a werewolf game and a mortals game. We get a run down on regeneration, silver, shape shifting, death rage (the dangerous frenzied state werewolves are prone to,) lunacy (the moon madness humans are prone to when they see a werewolf in a non-human form) and the superior senses werewolves possess. Additionally the chapter also has an in-depth discussion of Harmony, the werewolf equivalent of the Morality trait presented in World of Darkness, but with numerous differences. Harmony I think adds a lot to the game, emphasizing a moral system in which a character must find a balance between being human and animal without completely embracing either side. We also get a discussion of pack totems along with full mechanics and an explanation for how to build them. Unlike in Apocalypse there’s no big list of possible totems, instead a process is presented for building a Totem much like you would create a Werewolf character. Personally, I think this is one of the neater features of the book. Chapter Three also explains Renown, what it is, how it’s earned and what it means both to other werewolves and the spirits. The systems and even what each type of renown represents takes quite a departure from Apocalypse and forms a far more coherent and streamlined system. We follow that with a discussion of Lodges, elite societies found within each Tribe. It also provides write-ups for six of them, one for each Tribe and one Lodge open to anyone. I was not a fan of Camps, the equivalent of Lodges in Apocalypse, so I wasn’t thrilled when I heard about Lodges either, but I have to say after reading through the six example Lodges I have changed my mind. The Lodge of Crows and the Lodge of the Hunt in particular sparked ideas and showed me how Lodges can be used to add an interesting twist to any Chronicle. Finally, we end the Chapter with a list of example Fetishes, spirit empowered objects with special powers. Given the attention dedicated to Totems I would have liked a bit more detail on Fetish creation instead of general guidelines, but the example objects are enough to spark the imagination and provide templates for creative Storytellers.
Chapter Four: Storytelling and Antagonists expands upon the information presented in World of Darkness and addresses the unique concerns of storytelling a werewolf game such as the enhanced senses of werewolves, making the most out of shape shifting, spirituality and making a pack work together as a team rather then separate individuals. We also get an in-depth discussion of Territory and how a Storyteller can go about developing it and making it an important part of the Chronicle that actually means something to the players. I also liked that the chapter discusses horror with regards to werewolves. If you’re wondering how you can inspire fear in a bunch of monsters designed to be lethal shape-shifting warriors who are extremely difficult to kill without using silver every session, you’ll find your answers in this Chapter. All in all, this is a solid Chapter that even I, as a veteran werewolf Storyteller found useful. The chapter ends with ready to go templates for various opponents the characters might face during their Chronicle, from the perfectly mundane human hunter to antagonistic werewolves and dangerous spirits. At the end part of me wanted a few more antagonist templates, but really, that’s not the point of the book, which provides all the tools you need to make your own unique baddies. However, one thing I did miss was a magath template. Yeah, I know, you have no idea what that is, it’s not really that important, just something that would have been nice.
Appendix One: The Spirit World discusses the Shadow Realm and its inhabitants. This is a wonderful Chapter, but there is one glaring omission that bothers me. Nowhere in this Chapter are Ancestor Spirits addressed, not once, despite being mentioned several times previously in the book. From what I gather, they are the spirits of deceased werewolves, but different from Ghosts. They didn’t really need their own mechanics, but just a small paragraph on them like they provide for Nature Spirits, Elementals and Conceptual Spirits would have been nice. Aside from that any questions you might have about the shadowy spirit reflection of the material plane are discussed here. You even get a small write-up on Spirit Character Creation so you can quickly make up your own spirits of varying power levels from minor gafflings to greater jagglings. Unlike Apocalypse there is no discussion of vast other Realms. Things in the Shadow Realm of the Forsaken are more or less reflections of reality as it is, albeit most often seen through a mirror darkly and colored by the emotions and perceptions of the people on the other side of the gauntlet. Also important in this section is a discussion of the Gauntlet, the barrier between the physical world and the spirit world as well as a discussion of loci, wellsprings of spiritual energy that manifest in the physical world. Controlling loci is something important to every werewolf both to replenish their own stores of essence and because they serve as gateways that allow spirits to cross over into the material world and wreak havoc. The Chapter ends with a discussion of the Hithimu, the Spirit-Ridden. The things that result when a spirit merges with a mortal and becomes a thing half-flesh and half-spirit like a werewolf.
Appendix Two: The Rockies provides a ready to go basic setting for Werewolf: The Forsaken, the Denver Rockies. This Chapter details the history of the region, the various troubles plaguing it today and then provides write-ups for twelve important packs in the area, which display the breadth of variety that you can find among both Uratha and Packs. Included in the write-up for each pack are full stats for each of the 12 alphas. My favorite pack out of all the write-ups is the young Storm Lord pack the Black Moon Extremes and their alpha, Moriarty. They are what happens when a bunch of teenagers undergo the First Change and have watched Blade way too many times, literally. You really have to read about them yourselves even if you don’t pay attention to any of the other write-ups. All in all, there’s enough information in this Appendix that any Storyteller can whip together a starting Chronicle in about two hours or so and be ready to go.
The book ends with Epilogue: Skins returning to Michael, our young werewolf from the Prologue in the aftermath of his First Change. There is not a lot to say about this, it ends the book and it doesn’t end it on either a high or a low note. In that I like it, as Michael walks off to begin his new life as a werewolf you follow him and neither of you really know where you’re going to end up. However, it’s clear that wherever you’re going, the real world is being left far behind.
All in all, Werewolf: The Forsaken is a great book and I’d love to give it a 10, really I would. The artwork is fantastic and the new reinterpretation of werewolves has created a setting that I actually find even more enjoyable then the one in Apocalypse. If you’re a fan of Apocalypse you owe it to yourself to at least give the book a thorough read through and if you simply thought Apocalypse was lame, but enjoyed the World of Darkness as a whole, give this new spin on werewolves a chance, it may just be more to your liking, especially from what I’ve heard from a number of other converts. However, there are a few too many grammatical errors and mechanical problems in the Gifts section for me to honestly give out a 10 out of 10. So, for exceeding my expectations, taking the place of Apocalypse in my heart as my favorite game and in general being a wonderful book, I give Werewolf: The Forsaken a 9 out of 10. However, if all of the little problems ever get cleared up in later additions I’m amenable to bumping the score up by 1. Till then, happy hunting.
Authors: Rick Chillot, Matt Forbeck, Geoff Grabowski and Chuck Wendig
Release Date: 2004-11-11
On Sale: Yes
Price: 24.99
ISBN: 1-58846-483-0
Product Type: Core Book
Product Style: Hardcover
Page Count: 128
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Review by: Shannon W. Hennessy
Rating: 7/10
A quick and easy handbook, concerning the foundational mechanics of the classic ghost story, for use with either iteration of the World of Darkness.
Fear is the oldest emotion possessed by humanity. Death and what might or might not lie beyond the mortal coil is, quite possibly, the origin of fear in and of itself. As mortals, death is inevitable. We don't have the luxury of actually knowing what happens when we die, therefore we have two options where death is concerned; we accept it as a part of life, or we live in fear of it for the duration of our living days. In the World of Darkness, however, there is always a darker shade of gray to be found nestled betwixt black and white absolutes. At the very least, the World of Darkness is a haunted place where ghosts sift through the shadows and walk amongst our settings and characters. Sometimes the dead come back. They can't all be pleasant, as they are intense reflections of the situations surrounding their lives and subsequent deaths, and a lot of times they exist in spite of mortal belief as often as they exist being fueled by the passions of those who refuse to forget them.
World of Darkness: Ghost Stories is, in many ways, a textbook that looks at the anatomy of the ghost and of hauntings in component pieces. The ghost story, at least as we know it in modern times, is quite possibly the eldest form of dark fiction that exists in our world. The concept of something beyond the stasis of death - the afterlife, if you will - takes on as many different forms and functions as there are cultures of humanity. This being the case, what Ghost Stories attempts to tackle is the basic formula of the ghost for the purposes of storytelling. Telling a ghost story for the purposes of game play is a heck of a lot different in many cases than just sitting 'round the campfire sharing re-hashed urban legends. At the same time, following the same old same old of the vengeful ghost who was murdered and who has come back for revenge time after time is no small amount of predictable, if not dreadfully boring... and Ghost Stories does a good job of both telling as well as showing where using ghosts and haunts in the World of Darkness is concerned.
Written by Rick Chillot, Matt Forbeck, Geoff Grabowski, Matt McFarland, Adam Tinworth and Chuck Wendig with some exceptionally inspiring interior artwork provided by Sam Araya, Jim DiBartolo, Anthony Granato, August Hall, Michael William Kaluta, Josh Timbrook and Jamie Tolagsun, Ghost Stories serves as a companion source for use with the core World of Darkness rulebook. Presented as a resource specifically designed for mortal characters in the World of Darkness, Ghost Stories is intended as a primer or, if you will, a starting block for World of Darkness chronicles that start out sometime before the sunset in a world that comes alive sometime around midnight. The supernatural doesn't always have to be an in-your-face phenomenon, and some of the best chronicles that you can run are those where the World of Darkness embraces the player characters slowly into its caul over several sessions. Ghost Stories is the sort of book that lends perfectly to this sort of chronicle.
The Introduction of Ghost Stories serves as a breakdown of the ghost story into its most rudimentary parts. Covering the basics, such as why a ghost is a ghost, why a specific place or object might radiate with paranormal energy, how to plan out a ghost story of your own on paper or in your mind before the game begins, the first few pages serve to prime the Storyteller who might not have the slightest idea as to where to begin with a ghost story of her own. For more experienced Storytellers, the introduction provides a great model for an outline and for ensuring that all of an ST's organizational needs are kept in order. Sort of a logistical checklist, if you will. Stats and background information are also provided for a handful of ghostly types that an ST might utilize in her own story, or for on-the-fly antagonists or NPCs at a glance.
The bulk of the book after the Introduction offer a series of ghost stories written as examples as well as for utilization within a chronicle. There are many different types of ghosts, and for each type, there is most definitely a story. While the types are presented along with ready-to-use accessories, the stories are up to the tellers to create. Basic plots that are very easily modified to fit the needs of the ST are included in each chapter, as are NPCs and descriptions of locales, etc. to beef up or to inspire a ghost story of your own.
Chapter One: Dust to Dust covers not so much an individual who has died and returned to haunt the living as a place. In this set of tools, the ghost story outline is for a town. Chapter Two: The Terrifying Tale of James Magnus gives up its ghost in the form of a Legend of Hell House-esque scenario. Chapter Three: No Way Out covers the conceptualization of the horror and happenings that might come from a ghost that is a result of a suicide. Chapter Four: Roots and Branches takes a look at the classic concept of the "haunted forest" or the "sour grove" or what have you, and finally, Chapter Five: Holy Ghost provides the skeleton for a story that incorporates the vengeful ghost driven by a mission. None of the chapters are written from the standpoint that they are THE way that a ghost story should run, but rather resources provided by professional story tellers to give the amateur a leg to stand on and some ammunition for her own chronicle in her own World of Darkness.
One of the best aspects of Ghost Stories, in my opinion, is the fact that it is a book that works as well with the current incarnation of the World of Darkness as it does with game systems of yesterday such as Wraith: The Oblivion and Orpheus. There's a lot of exceptionally handy information within the covers of Ghost Stories, especially for anyone who might be new to utilizing ghosts in the World of Darkness. While veterans of Wraith: The Oblivion might not find the contents of Ghost Stories all that new and exciting, the manner with which the authors have presented their information - the step-by-step approach and the linear style to the information as provided within the chapters' scenarios - is sure to help in the construction of the ghost story, which goes towards the betterment of the story being told as a whole.
This is the first of the "World of Darkness 2.0" resources that I've picked up since the renewal of the World of Darkness as a whole by White Wolf. What I think that I like the best about this resource is the focus that, at least to me, seems to be placed on giving a Storyteller the best possible advice and guidance for becoming an even better Storyteller. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of interesting information and a lot of creativity inclusive with the scenarios, and some of the setting elements in and of themselves are downright fantastic (Chapter Two is one of the best examples of a Haunt - or the foundation for a Nihil - that I've ever read, as an example). The general gist of the book is not so much on things to throw into your chronicle - kewl powerz, as such - as it is on how to tell a story that can scare the socks right off of your players if executed with a little foresight and finesse.
Given the textbook presentation and how-to feel of the book coupled with the sheer quality of the skeleton scenarios as written, Ghost Stories is a resource that is more than a little useful to anyone who wants to tell an all-Mortal chronicle or, if not, to incorporate ghosts and haunted locales into their existing World of Darkness to shake things up a little.
Authors: Pamela Collins, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Jonathan McFarland and Morgan McLaughlin
Release Date: 2004-11-25
On Sale: Yes
Price: 24.99
ISBN: 1-58846-478-4
Product Type: Resource
Product Style: Hardcover
Page Count: 136
Click here for more info
Review by: Shannon W. Hennessy
Rating: 6/10
Any game or chronicle run in the World of Darkness can utilize this book, and entire chronicles can be run using the ideas within World of Darkness: Antagonists in and of itself
In most horror RPGs, the player characters are put in an abnormal situation; they are, for all intents and purposes, playing villains. Vampires, werewolves, and witches are the enemies of normalcy and, at least in traditional literature and media for the most part, of human decency. Granted, this doesn't apply to all horror RPGs. Roleplaying in the Buffyverse, for example, affords the player a lot of flexibility. A player can be a monster or a Slayer or a simply normal human being in a supernatural world. In Call of Cthulhu, the players are almost always bereft of supernatural abilities altogether and are forced to look behind the curtain of accepted reality into a world that exists in spite of them. In the World of Darkness, monsters are very real in a setting where monsters are hardly the worst thing lurking in the shadows of moth-swarmed streetlamps. There be monsters here... but the monsters have enemies. Granted, a human being can often times prove to be a more than formidible foil for a vampire, but in the World of Darkness there are other things that creep and stumble through the shadows and vie for the power afforded them through the fear of the dark. In the World of Darkness, these creatures that inspire fear in even a monster's heart are labelled "antagonist."
Written by Pamela Collins, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Jonathan McFarland and Morgan A. McLaughlin with artwork provided by Sam Araya, Durwin Talon, Avery Butterworth, Michael Gaydos, Travis Ingram and James Cole, <b>World of Darkness: Antagonists</b> is a sleek, thin hardcover that offers both players and Storytellers a good look at three "generic" types of foils - the walking dead, mortal hunters, and organized (or not so organized) religious threats - as well as a toolbox for the generation of home-cooked antagonists to fit the needs of any chronicle, limited entirely by the imagination of the ST. While World of Darkness: Antagonists is written in a voice that speaks very directly to the ST, the book is most certainly a boon for the player who wants to give their character a nice, solid history and "flesh out" some of their Merits... in the case that you've got an Ally out there who happens to be a freelance witch-hunter, that is... and therefore works out a place for itself on both ST and player bookshelves.
Chapter One: The Living Dead is probably my favorite chapter of the book if for nothing else than the sheer variety that it offers up for antagonistic baddies that are both disposable and challenging. The chapter covers three distinct categories of the living dead: zombies, imbued and revenants. Zombies, in and of themselves, have a couple of different subdivisions that are mentioned in the chapter. You can have the voodoo zombie that is created through ceremony and ritual, or you can have the classic, carnivorous shambler of the Romero movies, etc. Imbued antagonists, i.e. golems or possessed toys as examples, are created from once living parts of other things. Movies like the pseudo-cult classic May or, if you need something a little more freaky, the entirety of the Child's Play series lend some inspiration towards this sort of antagonist. Finally, there are revenants, that are essentially the undead that are possessed by their own spirit - ergo, Eric Draven from The Crow - or are possessed by a more malignant spirit, sort of like a post-mortem demon possession, if you will. This chapter is put together great and flows like water. If you need something to challenge your PCs, then throw them up against a would-be voodoun priestess who can summon a dozen or so zombies to her defense or to make her will manifest. If your players got a little crazy one night and took down a couple of way too innocent people who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, then bring one of them back as a revenant to haunt them for a little while and make them a little more concious of their Morality scores. There's a bunch of new Aspects, Weaknesses, Powers and a handful of really interesting NPCs ready to use towards the end of the chapter. Good stuff.
Chapter Two: A Need for Vengeance covers mortal hunters of the supernatural. As the chapter points out, these antagonists are the enemies that your characters have created. That being the truth, mortal hunters in the World of Darkness are by far and away some of the most potentially devastating antagonists that you can add into your chronicles. One of the things that I really like about this chapter of the book is the fact that these hunters are not at all the Hunter: The Reckoning hunters that left such a foul taste in my mouth a few years back. These hunters rely on grit, garlic and gunpowder to do their dirty work, and not a whole lot more, save courage. Also, it has pretty much everything necessary to run a hunters' game in the World of Darkness, with the exception of the core rules, and make for a really interesting set of games all their own. The Storyteller section offers up a ton of valuable information for this exact reason. A host of sample hunters are included in this chapter, and while it probably is not the only resource we're going to see covering this subject in the World of Darkness, it's a heck of a start.
Chapter Three: The Righteous and the Wicked takes a look at the threat posed by religious orders in the World of Darkness to the PCs of your chronicle. The chapter covers mainstream religion and its power within the soceities as per the World of Darkness, as well as the more sinister and potentially more dangerous threats represented by cults and cultists that follow darker paths of enlightenment. Imagine the threat that could be posed to a group of vampires by a cult that sees vampire blood as the opiate of the gods. What sort of problems could a fundamentalist cult of puritanical zealots cause a group of awakened mages in Boston? "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" takes on some pretty heavy inflection. In a world where there is vastly more shadow than light, religion is a powerful bastion of protection and hope for the average person. With the right motivation and under the charismatic sway of the right person, a religious sect can cause a whole world of hurt to fall down on any one of the three major supernatural factions within the World of Darkness. A handful of sample cultists and religous figures as well as a few examples of cults are provided. Persephone Unbound is one of the more interesting concepts in the chapter - just to pick one - representing a group that can serve as both an enemy as well as a group of potentially formidible allies that could potentially use the living dead AND hunters from the previous two chapters to assist them in their goals.
Chapter Four: Fear Given Form is kind of like part catch-all chapter and do-it-yourself toolbox for creating antagonists when the previous three chapters might not have offered you what you need, be you a player or a ST. This is the chapter for creating monsters to do battle with monsters. While vampires and mages may rule the cities of the World of Darkness, and werewolves hold their own territory with iron claws pretty much anywhere they like, the World of Darkness is a big place. Vampires and mages and werewolves are few. They aren't everywhere at all times, and there are places in the world where other things hold power and court, where other things rule and destroy all that attempt to cross them. The chapter offers up a few example monsters - some pretty goofy, while others interesting - and steers clear, for the most part, of things like the Jersey Devil or Sasquatch, (which I think is both good and bad, as we'll see what comes later) and affords them powers and stats for use in your games right away should you choose. I would have liked to see something a little more along the lines of a "monster generator" here with some conceptualization tools and maybe even a step-by-step guide that works in tandem with the core rulebook's character creation system. I think that something along those lines would have been a whole lot more useful than the writeups on "The Virus" or the prehistoric killer fish... but that's just me. All in all, I think that Chapter Four kind of weighs the book down a little when compared to the really interesting information and presentation of the first three chapters, and it kind of ends the book on a bit of a metiocre note, but again, that's simply my opinion.
As a whole, I think that World of Darkness: Antagonists does exactly what it sets out to do: present a book of resources and story seeds that can be used throughout the whole of the Storyteller game system as it stands right now without bias. There's a whole mess of valuable information and ready-to-use stuff, and realistically, with a copy of the World of Darkness core rules, you've got all you need to get started with a group of mortal vampire hunters, cultists searching for the elixir of immortal life, or a bunch of folks trapped in a mall by brain-hungry zombies. Not a must have book, but definitely handy for something different or to add a generic "big bad" to your own World of Darkness.
Authors: White Wolf
Release Date: 2005-06-05
On Sale: Yes
Price: 24.99
ISBN: 1-58846-485-7
Product Type: Setting
Product Style: Hardcover
Page Count: 128
Click here for more info
Review by: Shannon W. Hennessy
Rating: 9/10
A grandchild of books like Caerns: Places of Power, Freeholds & Hidden Glens, and Haunts that not only lives up to their legacy, but surpasses it and sets a new standard for a living, breathing World of Darkness.
When I was running my Mage: The Ascension games back in "the day," I used to describe Reality as a living, breathing organism. It was as alive and as vital as each and every player character and NPC in the chronicle. Reality was, in many cases, the biggest and baddest NPC there was. The tapestry of the world around our characters, the worlds we create for our players, is incredibly important to every single aspect of our game; mood and feeling are painted in words that we use to describe the world around our players' characters. Simply put, the stage is as every bit as important as the actors, and it should be treated as such.
The overwhelming majority of my tenure within the World of Darkness has been spent among werewolves. Players and Storytellers of Werewolf: The Forsaken and its predecessor, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, are pretty much expecting of a world where the ground walked upon is sacred and every object is, in some manner or other, alive to some degree. Places and things are as alive and as aware as people in a lot of Werewolf games... but why should that device be limited to a single line? Why should the "Living Reality" be relegated only to the philosophy of witches and warlocks? It shouldn't. I say this with confidence not just because I've always believed it personally as a Storyteller, but because of a book like World of Darkness: Mysterious Places.
Written by Kraig Blackwelder, Rick Chillot, Geoff Grabowski, James Kiley, Matt McFarland, Brett Rebischke-Smith and Chuck Wendig with interior artwork provided by Sam Araya, Greg Boychuk, Vince Locke, Chris Martinez, Mark Nelson, Jim Pavelek, Durwin Talon, Jaime Tolagson, Andrew Trabbold, and Cathy Wilkins, World of Darkness: Mysterious Places serves as both supernatural atlas as well as a solid storytelling resource for STs wanting to flesh out the locales of their own, private World of Darkness within their own chronicles. If you're a reader of science or dark-themed fiction, then there is no doubt that, at some point or other, you have experienced the hairs on the back of your neck rise with the creepily detailed description of a place or a thing that serves as a backdrop or, sometimes, as a focal point to a story. Lovecraft, Bradbury, Blackwood, Gaiman, Ellison, Kiernan... all of them have the uncanny ability to close the walls around us and corral us through the fences and across the beaten-dirt paths into THAT place. The wrong place. The place where things don't conform to the rules that the rest of the world around us are subject to. Sometimes these places are malicious. Sometimes these places are wonderous and terrible at the same time. Sometimes we don't belong anywhere near these places. Sometimes these places lie in wait for us to discover them, knowing that all it takes is a mere mortal (or a part of them) to set them free.
I mentioned a slew of authors in the above paragraph who have been able to paint weird and fantastic landscapes with their words and through their works over the years. The opening fiction of World of Darkness: Mysterious Places, a story entitled Residents, is one of the more interesting pieces of strange science-fiction that I've had the pleasure to read this year. A story of a man out of place in a place that is not quite in time with the rest of the world, Residents gets the book started off right and in the right mood. And don't ever believe anyone who tells you that good science-fiction and good horror are mutually exclusive. The opening fiction for World of Darkness: Mysterious Places blows that opinion right out of the lake.
What follows Residents is a collection of locales that could exist in varying degrees within anyone's interpretation of the World of Darkness:
The Swimming Hole represents the flooded remains of a limestone quarry somewhere in the world that has become a bit of a local legend. Some say that the unnatural pond is bottomless, like Dr. Suess' McElligot's Pool, and that if you wish on the water, your wish will come true. Legends are always based in some modicum of fact, even in the shadows of the World of Darkness, and wishes can indeed come true... for a price. Some of the people in the town near the pond have made wishes of their own, and have paid dire prices for them. The truth, as always, is to be known only to the Storyteller. Twisting the wishing well into a darker shadow and taking a cue from King's Needful Things or even Arabian Nights the swimming hole is a great concept that can fuel a ton of stories and, if you will, become the focal point for any group of supernatural beings in the World of Darkness. Perhaps the swimming hole's waters turn to blood under the full moon of a specific month with the incantations of a learned vampire? Maybe the pond is a scab pulled clean - an open sore - between the world of the physical and the spirit world? Perhaps if you dive deep enough into the hole's waters, you can swim clear to the shores of Stygia...?
The University is one of the most useful setting devices in the book. With a little thought and some imagination, any campus of any college anywhere in the world can be transformed into a cloistered hub of supernatural and weird activity. Echoes of Herbert West, Re-Animator and Frankenstein moan through this one, and the possibilities for its use are absolutely endless. There are some really great story seeds here, but if you're like me, about half-way through reading this section and your mind will run riot with ideas from secret societies to hidden libraries to mad scientists to government conspiracies. You want Miskatonic University in your World of Darkness? Here it is. Go 'Pods.
Swamp Indian Hollow takes a couple of pages of inspiration from the likes of film media such as Pumpkinhead, Tourist Trap, The Puppetmaster, Princess Mononoke, and some good 'ol southern voodoo folklore to offer up a place within the World of Darkness where the rules of death are malleable at best. This one is a real hoot, as not only does it present the phenomenon of the weird in the geography, but it also introduces a pretty interesting antagonist for use in play for a one-night game or, if you choose to use one or a couple of the variations provided, an entire chronicle.
The Village Secret is really a two-for-one setting. On the one hand, you have "the caverns" that lie just beyond the village that promise healing of any ailment, extended life span, and perhaps even the defeat of death itself. On the other, you have the inhabitants of the village that protects the caverns by any means necessary, as their entire way of life, everything that they believe and all that they hold dear is contained within the magic of the caverns. While the author suggests inspiration found in literature such as Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth, I would add Tom Piccirilli's novel November Mourns.
The Statue of Weeping Alice is a great twist on the whole "Mary in the toast" sort of thing we hear every now and again. An intricate mysterious place that has a whole lot of open-ended potential, the basic premise is that when someone commits suicide near the statue of a town martyr, the dying town begins to revive itself bit by bit and the statue of Alice begins to weep uncontrollably. Not long afterwards, a sort of cult develops among the townspeople regarding gifts and sacrifices made to the statue that borders on the religious. There are a whole lot of directions that this one can go, and in many ways, what works in The Village Secret as far as closed soceities, etc., also works in this one.
Hillcrest Center for Elder Living provides a great resource for the Storyteller in that it is packed full of potential Allies and Contacts for your players' characters. Some good, even more bad, all of them in the Winter of their lives looking for any number of things, including but not limited to redemption, revenge, power, answers, or even a second chance. While not a supernatural place in and of itself, The Hillcrest Center's residents - a good many of them - have been exposed to or have some knowledge of the supernatural and can, at a glance, offer a wealth of use to an ST's cast of NPCs.
The Whispering Wood is both the literal "haunted forest" as well as the spiritual and philosophical "dark wood" that everyone finds themselves lost in from time to time. Given flesh and thorn, the Whispering Wood is both real and unreal simultaneously, ergo, a supernatural pocket of badness that really does strike me as one hell of a place for you to trap a few PCs in dire need of finding themselves. I'm not too sure that the whole morality play would work all that great on supernaturals, but for mortal PCs, its great. This one takes inspiration from Dante's Divine Comedy, so expect to wear your mindfreak hat if you're going to employ this one or a variation on it.
The Junkyard is a massive, haunted junkyard in the World of Darkness complete with questionable superintendents, rats, cursed cars, and angry ghosts of the dead whose bodies have been hidden here. Go.
The Empty Room is, by the very nature of its Spartan simplicity, the creepiest of the Mysterious Places detailed in this book as well as, perhaps, the easiest to customize for yourself and pull off. It can exist anywhere in any locale at any time. It can pop up in any story with any type of character for any reason. It can even be used - probably to blistering effectiveness - in dream sequences that occur within a story or, if you will, within a character's personal development over the course of a chronicle.
Collected, the mysterious places that have been presented in this book are solid game stuff, thick with ST resource material. Even if you're a competent Storyteller that feels that the world of your imagination is the scariest thing that your players will ever encounter, World of Darkness: Mysterious Places affords a wealth of ideas that can be twisted, kneaded and sculpted by that imagination into something wonderful for your chronicles. A grandchild of books like Caerns: Places of Power, Freeholds & Hidden Glens, and Haunts that not only lives up to their legacy, but surpasses it and sets a new standard for a living, breathing World of Darkness.
Authors: Greg Stolze
Release Date: 2004-12-09
On Sale: Yes
Price: 24.99
ISBN: 1-58846-254-4
Product Type: Resource
Product Style: Hardcover
Page Count: 128
Click here for more info
Review by: Peter Lennox
Rating: 7/10
The tale of Dracula and his journey from the Impaler to something beyond vampirism all wrapped up and written in the style of the Book of Nod.
Throughout all the stories and legends related to the vampire myth few can be said to have endured or to have inspired as much speculation and imitation than that of Dracula.
With this in mind it should come as no surprise that White Wolf should add their own take on the undead Wallachian warrior for their game, Vampire: the Requiem.
As the founder of one of the communities, or Covenants, of Vampiric life Dracula represents a quasi-mythological figure that is both part monster and part dark saviour to the kindred who embrace the ideals he is said to champion.
And, as with any dark saviour the tale must be told of his exploits, his trials and tribulations. For his followers a holy book is required to steer them on the path towards their eventual goal.
Enter Rites of the Dragon.
Written for the most part in the first person as the words of the Dragon himself, Rites of the Dragon follows in the tradition of the Book of Nod and the Encyclopaedia Vampirica in its style and content. Designed as an in game resource it is as much for the characters as it is for the players and the book bears all the hallmarks of the older tomes.
Within and without the books provides a sense that what you are holding is an altogether different type of book. The cover is visually eye-catching, coloured in deep red and bright sliver, the emblem of the Ordo Dracul prominent on the front. Even the material encasing the book provides a sense of touch usually absent from the regular books of the game line.
Inside we are presented with a great deal of artwork that is expected of this kind of book. Most images depict an aspect of the Impaler’s sojourn through the hidden life of the undead and his progression from a soul damned into vampirism by God himself to the founder of the Coils of the Dragon. The depictions of Dracula in these pictures are varied. The artists utilise many different styles and present him with Norse, Mongolian and other influences to his aspect. While this may be regarded as inconsistent it would be better to view each picture in the spirit of the tale being told. If belief can be suspended for a moment, it can be imagined that these images to be the work of loyal Dragons enhancing their primary text rather than a game company hiring people to provide art for their new game book.
The story itself is broken down into four sections, each imparting a tale in the life of Dracula and his brides.
It begins with Prologue: Under Uncertain Stars.
Here we are given the words of Dracula as he prepares for Torpor. Set as a preface we are shown the Impaler in reflection. Like the dragon that devours its own tail the prologue is given to be the last of Dracula’s writings and presented first within the book. It speaks of a man fighting off the onslaught of torpor in order to put his affairs in order. Inside the words it is possible to see that Dracula merely sees the impending torpor as another facet of his existence that he may challenge and emerge from stronger than before.
Change is a central theme of the whole book and the attitudes forged by the character are evident here as he speaks of his childe’s belief that her present condition allows her stasis, or even the fear with which other elders behold their fading and distorted memories.
After the prologue we are presented with Book One: The Book of the Dead
Contained within are the earliest writings of Dracula. They recount the events leading up to his fall to vampirism and his quest for power and bloody vengeance. The whole of this section is filled with the thoughts of a man both confused and enraged by the injustices heaped upon him. The tale moves with the speed of believed righteous indignation and both words and images here are filled with violence. We see Tepes as a young neonate vampire, inexperienced in the blood and naïve to the power of fellow vampires around him.
Clashes with the Invictus, the discovery and application of blood bonding and the creation of his first childe, Mara, a wilful and animalistic former slave are all indications of a being obsessed with power and its acquisition.
This section provides a sound illustration of a neonate vampire and the problems and opportunities it brings. For role-playing terms it could be useful to read this and attempt to relate it to playing a young kindred of a chronicle, changing only slightly to take into account the differences in era and locale.
After this we are shown Book Two: The Book of Blood.
During this phase of his unlife Dracula has grow tired of the call of the temporal power he craved both as a mortal and a young kindred. Within the pages of his second book Dracula seeks a deeper meaning to his existence and sets out in search of this.
To this end Dracula discovers and joins both the Lancea Sanctum and the Circle of the Crone. Each offers their insight and shares their secrets with Tepes, but ultimately he finds neither to hold the answers he seeks.
The remainder of the book chronicles the rise of Dracula’s train of thought that will eventually become the Coils of the Dragon.
In the process of this creation Dracula seeks to understand the limitations of his condition and seek a remedy to these individually rather than all at once.
During this exploration of his condition Dracula tells the tale of three travellers to enter his castle in search of hidden wisdom. One of the travellers, Anoushka stays with the Count and eventually becomes one of his brides. It is notable here that it is Mara and not Dracula who embraces her, leaving Dracula himself in the role of teacher.
The tone of the second book is much quieter than that of the first. The artwork too has softer edges that the harsh and violent imagery of the first. The book seems to induce feelings of retrospection and deeper thought into the condition of vampirism. The book closes revealing the ultimate goal of Tepes’ search, a desire to be mortal once again.
The final instalment of this tale is Book Three: the Book of the Temple.
The book opens with the immediate derision of the final lines of the second book. With an exploration of Paris and the acquisition of both an ally, Fouchard of the Lancea Sanctum and a third childe, Lisette, Dracula no longer seeks to return to the state of humanity. Instead as his studies progress he seeks a state beyond that of both mortal and vampire.
The whole of the third book devotes itself to this ideal. Upon his return to castle Dracula the Dragon is confronted by all of his progeny. Each now exemplifies one of the aspects of Dracula’s journey through unlife; the bestial and violent Mara, the thoughtful and repentance seeking Anoushka and the transcendent Lisette.
The third book illustrates the formation of that which is used by the Ordo Dracul to the modern nights. The rules that govern each Dragon, the Orders which work within the Ordo and fulfil its functions and the titles with which members identify themselves.
Rites of the Dragon is a thoroughly enjoyable tale of the rise of one of the most prominent Covenants of the modern nights. It presents itself through the telling of the story of Dracula and his infamous progeny and the events that led to its inception and progression.
Though more useful as an in-game resource Greg Stoltze fills it with enough material to keep even the most unimaginative Vampire Storyteller stocked with ideas for games featuring the Ordo Dracul, be they allies, antagonists or merely a mystery for their players to unravel.
Rites of the Dragon gets a 7 out of 10 from me.
Authors: Brian Campbell, Patrick ODuffy and Greg Stolze
Release Date: 2004-12-09
On Sale: Yes
Price: 24.99
ISBN: 1-58846-252-8
Product Type: Resource
Product Style: Hardcover
Page Count: 128
Click here for more info
Review by: Sterling Jenson
Rating: 8/10
A useful addition to any Requiem collection.
Nomads starts out with the obligatory introductory story which details a rock band on tour, the Living Daylights, which is composed of a collection of vampires and ghouls. The layout of the story is written on posters promoting the band’s stops, but instead of details of the locations and times, details of the story are written on the posters. This layout can be difficult to read at first, but after a while, you get used to it. Overall, the story was a good start to the book as it details the problems of nomadic life as a nomad on the open road.
After a brief introduction, the book begins with a chapter entitled, “Call of the Road,” which details why vampires leave the safety of the cities to become a nomad. This chapter describes possible reason why members of each clan and covenant might have taken to the road. I liked how each of the write ups for the clan describes how a particular member of the clan might fit into a road coterie. This addition will help players create the basics of where the character fits into the group, should they have trouble during character creation. Next in the chapter are write ups for various covenants and how or why a member might become a nomad, including a list of official positions from each covenant which requires the character to travel from city to city. I personally hope that the covenant books remember to include these positions. At the time that I am writing this, only the Lancea Sanctum book has been released, and I have not been able to buy it to see if they retain Legate position. One thing that disappointed me about this section is the simple fact that the Unaligned were not given a write up in the covenant section. This might be a strange idea, but I would have liked to have seen a section describing how the unaligned are perceived when they enter a covenant’s domain. A section on the Unaligned would have been useful simply because I suspect that the majority of nomadic characters will be Unaligned.
The second chapter in the book, “Those Who Wander,” is broken up into two sections on various Nomad Archetypes and one on road coteries. Personally, I think that the archetypes might have better served in the first chapter so that players using the book would read about archetypes first, clans second, and covenants last, in the hope that they create the human aspect of the character first, the clan aspect next, and finish the character with details of the covenant which they join. Though this might not always work out since a vampire might choose to become a nomad were as if he was human, he would never have left the safety of the city. Despite this flaw, this section is well written and gives several ideas of what type of people become nomads rather than the ordinary badass biker vampire. Each archetype gives suggestions on areas to focus on during character creation as well as disciplines works that particular archetype. While I would suggest that players try create their own character, this section will be useful for creating the basics of a character, especially in conjunction with the first chapter, if a player is having difficulties creating a character. One of the flaws with the book can be seen in the fact that some of the sub-sections use different terms to describe the same thing. Normally this would not stand out, but since the majority of the sections use the term “Mechanics” seeing the term “Traits” for the madman section stood out. Though this is only a minor complaint as it is easy to understand what each section was describing. The second part of the chapter, describes how nomad coteries are set up, and the problems with maintaining such a coterie. The last four sub-sections, called “The Buddy System,” “The Fuck-Your-Buddy System,” “The Desert Island Itch,” and “Along for the Ride,” are practical suggestions for how such a group behaves and how ghouls are used by nomads. Each of these sections would be an excellent starting point for a session or a story.
“Surviving the Wild,” is the best chapter in the book, as far as I’m concerned. It does not matter if a character is a Mekhet occultist from the Ordo Dracul, a Ventrue Hermit with no ties to a covenant, or an Invictus Gangrel Hunter, if player characters cannot survive the nomadic lifestyle; they are piles of ash waiting to happen. This chapter gives players ideas on how to survive. In this chapter, the authors give solid suggestions on getting blood or finding shelters as well as the pros and cons of various transport options are presented. All of these sections are practical and potentially useful for player characters to use and exploit to create new ideas. The next section deals with various locations, from large cities to Death Valley, that a nomad could wander through and the hazards each location presents. The chapter ends with a section on Nomad rituals and devotions, some of those presented seem to be more useful than others, such as “Scent of the Beast” and “Bleeding the Tarantula.” All of the devotions and ritual presented are focused on survival, as they should be.
Chapter four gives the details the un-lives of a series of “Notable Nomads.” Each write up includes potential story hooks for including these notables as well as everything, including histories and stats. Either someone did not realize that the Gangrel curse was different in the Requiem or we should expect a Gangrel bloodline in the future that has the same Gangrel curse from Masquerade. Because of this, I was disappointed with the write up for the Unholy, but still even that NPC has some great story hooks.
The appendix is called “Route 666” and is a potential story for players to run about leaving New Orleans for Chicago. So not to spoil any secrets, I won’t go too much into details, but I think that it has the potential to be a great introduction to a Nomads game. One problem with the appendix was the unimaginative name, “Route 666.” But, a more important problem with this section is that one of the side bars “Rules of the Road,” felt like it should have gone into an earlier chapter and not one in a section intended for Storytellers only.
Overall, the book is a useful addition to any Requiem collection, especially one that focuses on the nomads. While people have complained about how few pages Nomads has in it, I liked how Nomads was straight to the point and how it did not try to limit players to a particular location. With a little research, a Nomads game could take place just about anywhere. That being said, I would have liked to have seen a chapter on how to be a nomadic vampire across the world, so that if I want to set the game in Turkey or in Europe, I could see suggestions on how to do so. For the majority of the artwork, I felt that the art was well done and in the spirit of the book; though I am not a big fan of the sketchy drawings that began each chapter. Overall, I rate this book as being an eight out of ten.
Authors: Clayton Oliver
Release Date: 1998-04-01
On Sale: Yes
Price: 14.95
ISBN: 1-56504-259-9
Product Type: Resource
Product Style: Softcover
Page Count: 67
Click here for more info
Review by: Loki
Rating: 8/10
This book sets out to be a source for Additional "meat", filling in information not provided in the main VRev on a few bloodlines and more details on secondary abilities, weaponry and other mechanics. Very solid.
I first bought my copy of this Companion and screen when I started buying Vampire books a little over a year ago. I was just buying the essentials, and it sounded like a good addition to my VRev setup. I was not disappointed. Some might think I gave this book far too high a rating given that it is less story intensive and doesnt have as much non-mechanical information as many other books. However, that was never the purpose of this book, it was to provide rules for a few bloodlines, their disciplines, the option of secondary abilities and the like, and also expanded selections on weaponry and equipment. It did all these things superbly well, with some good quality mechanics by Clayton Oliver.
The book has a brief introduction which basically states that this book is all the goodies that couldnt quite be crammed into the VRev main book, the extras some STs might want, and others not. It then jumps right into the heart of things, with little waste space. The layout is good, the art is good, and I can find no fault with it mechanically or stylistically. Now lets take a look at the book in a little more depth.
Chapter One: Bloodlines details several bloodlines that were not included in the main Vampire Revised main book, but have been in past 2nd ed. supplements (the Companion, IIRC). Here we see a treatment of the Daughters of Cacophony, the Salubri and the Samedi. They each get the standard 2-page clan/bloodline spread. Several interesting setting updates are revealed herein, such as the recent
"culling" of all male members of the Daughters of Cacophony bloodline, as well as a nice treatment of the Saulot myth in the Salubri write-up (which does a good job of not directly pinning Saulots diablerie on the Tremere, but "magi related to them"). These write-ups see some shifts from 2nd ed. versions, the Samedi no longer have the discipline of Necromancy in-clan, replacing it with Fortitude, for example. Overall the write-ups are very well done.
Chapter Two: Secondary Abilities contains detailed rules and skill descriptions for a variety of more specialized "Secondary Abilities", which are, in effect, sub-abilities of the main ones from the core rulebook. These are in essence cheaper to purchase but more limited in scope than standard abilities, and reflect a specialized knowledge of anything from style and grace to military demolitions. Several interesting and noteworthy abilities may be found here, such as Masquerade, the art of "faking" being a mortal. And of course, this book continues the time-honored tradition in RPGs that meditation cures all ills. <G> Solid section, once more.
Chapter Three: Disciplines details the unique disciplines of the Daughters of Cacophony, Salubri and Samedi (namely Melpominee, Obeah, and Thanatosis). Again, a well written section, with balanced revisions of the disciplines. Those familiar with the 2nd ed. versions will find a few minor changes, such as Melpominee 5 and six being switched in order, and Obeah gets a nice revision bringing its lower level powers more in line with those of V:tDA and with the Salubris role as healers several of the odder powers of the upper levels are now replaced with more commonsense ones. Good changes all. Some changes have also been made to the upper levels of Thanatosis, most of which seem to be good changes. Overall, Id rate this chapter very well.
Chapter Four: Equipment is a chapter where Clayton Olivers attention to detail shines. It gives one of the most realistic and reasonable treatments of weapons and equipment in the WoD I have seen to date, complete with gun calibers for you true realists, or those who just need to know all the nitty gritty on your firearms (such as myself). Full specs on Rate of fire, clip size, etc, as well as a host of accessories. Another nice feature is a concealability rating to rate just how absurdly hard it is for Bob the gangster to hide that over-accessorized SMG in his sports jacket. And I have to salute Clayton for a realistic portrayal of Japanese swords as something other than ginsu implements of ultimate death™. This section is rounded out with a good treatment of armor and explosives, as well as points about the unavailability of military grade firepower. Finally, the book closes with a (now standard) four-page character sheet.
Also included with the STs companion is a fairly nice little STs screen with just about all the main charts for Vampire built right into it, from wound penalties to weapon ranges to Aura Sight colors to the six traditions. A nice enough screen.
So, my final analysis: As a book that set out to be full of all manner of optional rules for three bloodlines, their Disciplines, new secondary Abilities, and a whole boatload of details on equipment and weapons, this book is superb. However, if youre looking for Storytellers hints and tips, Id direct you to the Camarilla and Sabbat Guides and the Storytellers Handbook.
