5 comments about *OP Kindred of the East (For Vampire, the Masquerade).

1. I think this is the best book that White Wolf has published so far. If you have any interest in "vampires" from Asia, this is the book to get, followed by The 1000 Hells. Even if you never actually play an eastern vampire, this book is a great read.



2. Gorgeous artwork. Fantastic new world. Great reinterpretations of things. Wonderful use of mixing history with the World of Darkness. They promised to deliver a vampire alien to the kindred of Caine, and they succeeded; the setting is exotic, interesting, and definitely recommended. I especially liked their take on lycanthropes. I didn't like the lack of information on India, which would have been a great setting and prime conflict ground with British vampires. The Russia/Mongolia/China boundaries could have been interesting as well. It's impossible to play without the original Vampire book, which irks me; a completely new setting could use a reexplanation, I think. Lastly, the nature/demeanor/dharma split isn't quite clear. It's obvious that some traits are connected to and sympathetic with others, but what this sympathy does in terms of the game is never well-explained.



3. I love this book even though I'm more of a Mage type player. I have played and ST'ed all but Wraith and this BUT! it would definately be my next choice.

   I think the KotE are some of the most defined characters a player can make. That said, the KotE are also some of the more complicated to play because the book KotE is not a stand alone game. It was produced to add more flair and versatility to VtM.

   There were only a few questions I had. Agravated damage was never covered.. or not that I saw. I read about them being able to do it with several of their powers but I could only find 2 ways that they could soak it. the lvl 2 or 3 bone shentai and the demon shentai with the armor. ohh well something else to e-mail WW about.

   Definatly a game for intermediant to advanced players. I'm not sure if I would suggest it as a starter though.




4. Hey, this book is pretty awesome. The art work is amazing, the concept is very intriguing, and the entire idea of a race of vampires in no way relate to the curse of caine is wonderful. But, my only problem is, i can't figure out the dang thing! I love the fact that there is more to worry about than blood, health, and willpower; but i can't figure out what the heck you do with the rest of it! P'o? Hun? Yin Chi? Yang Chi? Gee, one day i will figure it out, and then i will have a good ol' time. But until then, i'm gonna play with my new fav (Vampire: The Dark Ages) until the great day when the epiphany hits me, and it is all made clear.



5. This book is simply amazing.
   Even if you don't like vampires or the entire White Wolf line of monster rpg's this is a very interesting book. The subject matter is unique and it isn't just European vampires transplanted to Asia.
   Before this book came out I was skeptical that W.W. would do Asian "vampires" justice but they exceeded my wildest expectations.
   It mostly focuses on N-E cultures (China/Japan/Korea) but there is even a bit on Malaysian "vampires".
   W.W. has even done an excellent job of putting out supplements for the game.

3 comments about Mage Sanctum and Sigil (World of Darkness (White Wolf Hardcover)).

1. This supplement for Mage the Awakening is an excellent resource for understanding the dynamics of Concilium politics, the various roles and makeups of cabals, how Banisher cults work/what they do, and how some of the Seers of the Throne are organized.
   
   It gives quite a few suggestions for bonuses for cabal symbols and also suggests how you can decide what your sigil and name will be.
   
   However, you do have to sort of slog through this book. It's not very easy reading- the whole tone is very intellectual and a bit on the dry side, so you do have to sort of try to pay attention. Despite that, though, I highly recommend this book for either players or storytellers.



2. As the previous reviewer noted, SIGIL AND SANCTUM can be pretty dry. It is a supplement for MAGE: THE AWAKENING and deals with the laws and practices of Awakened society. At times it reads as interesting as the corporis jure of most countries. The main sections are on the rights and duties of cabals to Mages in general, Consilia laws, courtly etiquette, sanctum security, etc. It's hard to imagine getting much use out of this unless it's important to the ST to create an illusion that his/her NPC's have an historical, detailed tradition that the PCs must follow in order to fit in. Otherwise, it seems like overly involved information that either will never come up or could be invented on the fly as need arises. It's about as banal as finding out whether Mages prefer Wheaties or Cheerios for breakfast. Of course, some people will need precisely this kind of book for a specific scenario they have in mind. More power to ya, buddy, but it seems like an awfully small niche. Plus, you could choke on the number of specialized, narrow-use merits introduced. There's a merit for sanctum security, with dots distributed between locks, doors, walls, windows, etc.
   
   The most interesting part of the book is on the structure of Seers of the Throne pylons and Banisher cults. Now this is interesting, but it seemed unrelated to the rest of the theme. Very interesting stuff and very useful as potential antagonists. So even if you don't like the first part of the book, maybe you'll like the second.



3. This book is indispensible in understanding not only the place where Mages dwell (their sancti) but in understanding their political culture and society. It is written well and clearly and concisely to help you understand these two main topics.
   
   Prologue is the obligatory introductory fiction that describes the book. The book is then divided into 4 chapters. One covers Awakened politics; two covers sanctums and defenses for the places that Mages call home; three discusses cults and various antagonists including the Seers of the Throne and the Banishers. Finally chapter four is for storytellers to help them understand how to introduce Mage politics and sample cabals to help players model theirs.
   
   Overall this book is more a tool and reference book for Mage storytellers, its not ideally suited for players (look at Tome of Mysteries and Tome of the Watchtowers for that). However, it is ideal in helping to craft and fleshout a good story or chronicle that is set in awakened society. It is beautifully illustrated and the rules for helping build sancti are well done.

3 comments about City of the Damned: New Orleans (Vampire: the Requiem).

1. City of the Damned: New Orleans is a city sourcebook for Vampire: the Requiem, detailing vampiric politics in the Big Easy.
   
   This is not a popular book, and I don't understand why. I've seen reviews where people have complained about missing stats for Storyteller Characters (even though the developers have stated that the abbreviated stats are intentional), spelling errors and minor inconsitencies in flavour text, and based on that they have given the book poor ratings.
   
   Isn't the content more important than insignificant flaws like this?
   
   And City of the Damned offers solid content.
   It presents New Orleans as an exciting, deeply political city, with complex layers of intrigue that are nonetheless easy to understand and modular enough that the ST can include those parts of it he/she likes while happily ignoring the rest or letting it play out in the background.
   
   The three-way political struggle between Vidal, Savoy and Cimitere is just as complicated as the ST wants to make it, and there are sub-layers and smaller factions that can be involved if a more complex political atmospere is required to tell the stories the ST wants to tell.
   
   The book starts with one chapter detailing New Orleans history in deeper detail than the Appendix in teh core book does, and this chapter is littered with plot-hooks and story-seeds; enough to fuel several chronicles.
   Theres also a chapter about the city geography, which is somewhat lacking, as it requires a certain level of pre-famniliarity with New Orleans; nothing that can't be dug up easily enough on the internet or in the library though.
   There are three chapters devoted to the major Storyteller Characters in New Orleans: One for Elders, one for Ancillae and one for Neonates. This chapter gives stats, as well as deeper studies of the characters motivations and goals and some nice plot hooks that are easy to flesh out into stories.
   Then theres a chapter on Storytelling that focuses on helping Storytellers evoce the specific themes and moods most suited for New Orleans, as well as fleshing out the Storyteling hints provided in the core book and how they relate to New Orleans specificaly.
   
   Lastly, there is a pre-made story titled The Dead Travel Fast, which is designed to introduce the players to the three main movers and shakers of the Crescent City, Vidal, Savoy and Cimitere. This story is short and a little cheesy, but it gets the job done and finishes off with enough unanswered questions that it serves perfectly as an opener for a chronicle.
   
   All in all, I liked the book very much, and give it 4 out of 5. It doesn't quite reach to the greatest heights, but it's definately a very good city book, and if used correctly it can serve as teh basis for tons of interesting roleplaying.



2. I'm not very impressed by this book or it's content. After reading it I did not want to either play or story tell in this city. It contain what most of the city books from White Wolf does: History, Place Description, NPC and a Story. None of them was very good.
   
   The only nice thing I'm going to say is that it did not copy to much of the content in the Vampire: Requiem book, it supplemented it.



3. City of the Damned: New Orleans is the quintessential setting for Vampire the Requiem, a setting book for the New World of Darkness game. It is not essential to play either WoD or Vampire, but it does present a fully developed and fleshed out setting for both games.
   
   The opening fiction is entitled "The Coming Storm,". Written as though it were being spoken to a Kindred, it does a great job of establishing the mood for a city populated by vampires, their politics and their struggles.
   The introduction gives an overview of the book, as well as explaining to readers discrepancies found between this book, the V:tR demo, and the overview of New Orleans in the V:tR rulebook.
   
   "A Look Back at the Big Easy" is the first chapter of the book, and details the history of the Kindred in New Orleans. From the Choctaw vampire who first preyed on the mortals of the region (and who goes from being an elder vampire preying on the Choctaw to the Elder of the Choctaw Indians with no explanation later in the book) to the modern nights when Prince Vidal rules, there's a lot of detail here. It sets the social scene for the Kindred detailed later in the book, and provides several good adventure hooks for Storytellers to build upon.
   
   The second chapter, "Points of Entry," details modern New Orleans, covering its layout, points of interest, as well as detailing transportation and culture in the city. As in the last chapter, there are a few references to real-world things which readers will need knowledge of New Orleans from outside the book to understand. I really think this chapter is worth of praise for its (admittedly brief) description of the area around New Orleans--a lot of authors seem to forget that there are cities, towns, and other things within driving distance of New Orleans, and it was nice to see them remembered here.
   
   Some of the Kindred culture of New Orleans is covered here as well, with how the Prince handles crime and how the Lancea Sanctum of the area do things differently from their brethren.
   
   The third, fourth, and fifth chapters of the book are devoted to New Orleans' elders, ancillae, and neonates respectively. There's a lot of detail regarding their plots, interactions, and personalities, and aside from few minor quibbles (such as a racist American Kindred who seems to have a lot of respect and no problems following a foreign-born prince) the writing is good. Presented are sample NPC's that can be further detailed by individual storytellers.
   
   Chapter six of the book, entitled "Storytelling," in which tailoring of the setting is presented. Overall this chapter covers how to expand upon the setting and add depth to make individual chronicles more flavor.
   
   The final chapter of the book is a story to run your characters through. As it turns out, the opening fiction of the book was an introduction to the adventure, namely this one, and after reading it to your players/adapting it for a pre-game session this chapter continues the story.
   
   This book offers a lot of nice material that a Storyteller can use in his or her chronicle, but for them to do so they're going to have to do a lot of work on their own. For those expecting to have a setting handed to them without adding to it on their own may be disappointed. This book is a toolkit, dont expect to have a setting handed to you without YOU doing some work. Many of the new World of Darkness books are toolkits, they offer suggestions, ideas, story seeds and inspiration, NOT a monolithic book that TELLS YOU how to play. Overall this book is excellent if you plan on doing YOUR own work and developing the content therein to satisfy your chronicle and your players.

2 comments about Vampire Carthians (Vampire).

1. I actually feel like I went through a really cool political science course with nifty vampire powers after reading this book. What VII is to the Sabbat, Carthians is to the Anarchs. I'm not going to sit down and tell you all the bloodlines, cool powers, and factions--of which there are plenty. What I will tell you is this book does an impressive job of covering complex political diversity in a game session that is very interesting and entertaining. It covers political evolution, and how societies (kindred and mortal)change over time. I really can't praise the covenent books enough.
   
   Hobbie



2. Carthians presents extended information on one of the five major political factions presented in Vampire: The Requiem. A lengthy discussion of what Carthians are like, how their diverse political experiments function, and what happens when those experiments fail is presented. New game mechanics including Bloodlines, Disciplines, Devotions, and a covenant specific ability called Carthian Law are all included as well.
   
   If you like the idea of the Carthian Movement, an idea focused around taking the best of human thought and applying it to vampiric life, but wanted more information then this is the product for you. This product provides a full description of the movement including subfactions, major beliefs, and interrelationships with the rest of the vampiric world. While many new mechanics are added to support this group the vast majority of the book is a flavorful presentation of the Carthians that creates an interesting, believable organization.

5 comments about Vampire Invictus, The (Vampire).

1. I haven't been much of a fan of the Invictus since I started reading about and playing Requiem. So when I went to my local gaming store and started reading through this book, I was expecting to not be surprised at what was inside.
   
   However, this book ended up being one of the most pleasant surprises I've ever run across in gaming. Of course, the book mostly focuses on power structure, since that's the nature of the Invictus covenant. Yet there are also enormous details about the Invictus' relations in the World of Darkness, the history of the covenant, why and how one joins, what happens as time goes on, and bloodlines and factions- including the very interesting cyclical dynasties. There are also portions of the book that deal with the treatment of Ghouls, a few Ghoul Families created by the Invictus, and Blood Oaths.
   
   This book is fantastic! I can't recommend it enough. Even if you're not going to have any characters in the Invictus, it can be used for NPC creation, or for storyteller information. Get this book, it's worth it.



2. Presenting the vampire Covenant (political faction) known as the "First Estate," Invictus provides well thought out insights and clever plot hooks for the oldest and most powerful vampire Covenant. New Factions, Bloodlines, Disciplines, Devotions, Merits, and Ghoul Families are presented along with a substantial amount of descriptive setting material. In every instance the new game mechanics support organizations and ways of thinking within the Invictus, and provide more than just a list of new toys.



3. Recomended for any VTR players. It has a few blood lines that are kool.



4. I just finished reading this and I have to say Im sold. Vampire is one hell of an rpg setting. Of all the covenants in the new game this is the best one. It exemplifies the kindred like no other covenant and it has rules on how to expand on classic vampire merits like herd and status.
   
   I also love the rules on managing fog of eternity and how vampires live for hundreds and thousands of years to lay out their plans. I also like the rules for vampire dynasties where a group of vampires rules the estate of an elder who is in torpor to lower his blood potency. This rule makes it possible for players to have power early in the game, the potential for great storytelling is excellent.
   
   The book also gives details (foggy at best) regarding the origins of the covenant after the fall of the Camarilla which was the ruling body of vampires during the time of Rome. It also has rules for ghouls who serve this clan and a few bloodlines.
   
   I cannot wait to use this covenant in my games. Next to Ordo Dracul its my favorite. Great supplement!



5. I usually write detailed reviews of my gaming books, but the "Dazed Genoshan" already has a great detailed review of INVICTUS, so make sure that you read his review.
   
   As far as my own opinion, I definitely think that INVICTUS is the best of the line of covenant books:
   -First is its value; the Invictus are everywhere, and the PCs will most likely have to interact with them. So there needn't be Invictus PCs in your chronicle to get a lot of use from this book.
   -Second is its originality. I thought of the Invictus as filling the "political power" niche while other covenants got the "mystic power" niche. This is not completely true - the Invictus have blood oaths that carry occult force, while a house dynasty can create a mystic bond. I thought that giving the Invictus occult abilities would be cheesy, but it is pulled off well and really fits the flavor of the covenant.
   -Finally, it's just well written. I could have easily imagined a book written about "bad guys" or The Man holding people down. Instead of being described from such a simplistic point of view, the Invictus do what they do because it's safe, efficient, and produces results. It's the sort of dictatorship I could imagine lasting millenia.
   
   I think INVICTUS is one of those books that every VAMPIRE: REQUIEM player and storyteller should own.

1 comments about WoD Shadows of the United Kingdom (World of Darkness).

1. White Wolf's new and revised 'World of Darkness' game line has been full of creative and useful ideas, and this first book to highlight the 'World of Darkness' beyond the US is nothing short of brilliant. The authors, mostly Brits themselves, do a wonderful job mixing the nation's rich cultural heritage, folklore and myth with thematic material, mysteries and the outright bizarre.
   
   The first chapter gives a wonderful overview of the British Isles as they exist in the World of Darkness, paying full attention to Vampires, Mages and Werewolves (though there is a strong focus on werewolves), along with other stranger things like alien big cats, the owl man of cornwall, great lake worms, fox-spirits, djinn, ghosts and tantalizing hints of the fae. Things like the blood farm and 'the other city' of Glasgow are outright brilliant, but equally interesting are cultural changes that make British Vampires, Mages and Werewolves unique from their American counterparts. Notes are given on social changes, prominent individuals, rumors and even a few Bloodlines and Legacies, like the Pakistani Brothers of Sadr-Ud-Din and the 'chav' Tanners, though none are actually written up. As I said before, many of the writters on this book are Brits themselves, and it shows. Gone are many of the stereotypes that older books sometimes suffered from.
   
   Like I said, this book is really aimed at the Werewolf audience (though others will get use out if it too), and the second chapter highlights this. It focuses on the Uratha of the region, even goes as far as to make write-ups for each Tribe, mentioning things like how British Bone Shadows study human ghost lore and take tokens from fallen foes, or how the British Iron Masters have adapted to the cities. Several new Lodges are written up, like the Lodge of the Howling Death, who fight the Pure to the death over territory, and the Lodge of Scavengers, who are cunning urban survivors. A small number of lesser Lodges are also mentioned, but not written up, like the Lodge of the Baital, Bone Shadows who study Asian myth. There are also a number of British Totems, Fetishes and Rites given, even some cultural notes on Klaives.
   
   The third chapter gives some more setting information for Great Britain, including notes for American players, historical games, and bringing foreign characters into the UK. Once again, there is a strong focus on the setting for Werewolf, showing different cultural variations on typical foes such as the Beshilu (the idea of the Rat God thing is horribly creepy) and the Pure (such as inbred, aristocratic Ivory Talons who hunt two-legged prey on their estates, and Fire-Touched with a different fervor from their American brethern). Theres more ST material in the fourth chapter, which includes information on prominent NPCs and antagonists in the British Isles, and other useful crunch (like a new Cruac Ritual). All in all, theres alot of good stuff to throw at players, and for developing the United Kingdom as a unique supernatural landscape. But the creepiest stuff are the unexplained and bizarre things that have no real connection to other supernaturals. Things like the Drowned Men, who may or may not be the Fomori of Irish legend, and the hints about the Fae.
   
   Like I said before, the authors have a deep sense of what's 'British' and really draw on alot of obscure regional folklore - like the Green Children of Woolpit, alien big cats, ghost stories, and the like. They also do a good job making mention of material from other books that can be brought in - like the Bron and Melissidae from Bloodlines: the Legendary, or the Sodality of the Tor, Daksha and Pygmalian Society from Legacies: the Sublime (and Wood's signature character Lucy Sulphate even gets mentioned). I was a little disappointed we didn't get write-ups for the Tanner or the Brothers of Sadr-Ud-Din, but theres always room for me to make up my own stuff for that. The vague hints and allusions to the Fae are also a great tie in with the forthcoming Changeling game (if the ST is so inclined that is). So yeah, this is a great book, an essential for Americans planning on running a game set in the UK. Even so, Brits will still get a kick out of many of the things in this book too.

No comments about Time of Judgment (World of Darkness RPG).

5 comments about Mage Tome of Watchtowers (Mage).

1. This is essentially Mage the Awakening's answer to the question of "Where are my Path books?" It goes over the Paths, what their Supernal realms are like, sample sanctums, sample nimbii, their roles (generally) in each Order, and their relations (again, generally) to other Paths.
   
   Some people have a pretty big problem with this book's views on the Paths, that they're too stereotypical, which I agree with to a degree.... which is why I gave this only four stars instead of five. I also dropped the rating down one because the Legacies in the book aren't really that great- the Stormweavers or whatever the name of the Acanthus Legacy is comes to mind.
   
   Overall, though, I'd suggest this book, and if you were to buy supplements for Mage in order, this would be second after Sanctum and Sigil (absoultely essential.)



2. A very uneven book with each section written by a different person and of different quality and format. The Mastigos and Moros are very good, the Obrimos is alright, and the Thyrsus and Acanthus sections are lackluster. These better ones do an excellent job of giving cultural grounding for the Path, describing the Supernal Realm and its effects, and offering interesting practices and traditions. The worst offer only cliches, unbalanced effects, and limiting interpretations that offer more of a charicature than a creatively fleshed out portrait of the Path.



3. The purpose of this book is to expand on the descriptions of the Paths in the Mage: the Awakening rulebook. It gives their histories, expands their character concepts and oblations, and generally explains their outlook on life, their Supernal Realms, and other Mages. The history sections look at the real world and what areas would have been appropriate for the influence of a particular Path, or would have been a real setback for that Path. They are sometimes quite imaginative in how they fit things in, and make use of some intriguing real world examples, such as King Solomon's reputation for binding demons. The Acanthus and Mastigos chapters were the best for me. They really give one a deep feeling for what it can be like to be a Mage on one of these Paths, and they gave a lot of options and ideas for Mages that might depart quite a lot from the standard images of these Paths. The Moros and Obrimos are good and quite useful but not inspiring. In the Moros chapter, they were described as spending a lot of time thinking about how events shape the sympathy between the material world and Stygia, which did not make that much sense and really differentiated them from the other Paths. That said, it did describe how and why Moros Mages want to return to Stygia, whereas Mastigos for instance never want to return to Pandemonium and are extremely wary of its inhabitants. In the Obrimos section, there just wasn't enough information to see how an atheist, or even anyone not obsessively devout, would Awaken on that Path, or how they would follow it. That is somewhat surprising, as at one point it says that even the devout actually have their faith somewhat shaken by Awakening on this Path. Overall, well according to another reviewer each chapter was written by a different author, and they all made false assumptions about how and about what the others would right. It is amusing and doesn't hurt, but it doesn't add much either. On the editing, it is like the editing for every other World of Darkness book: hopeless. There are wrong words, missing words, hanging sentences and basic bad grammar.
   
   Then we come to the Thyrsus chapter. Here the writer just lost the plot. All the other chapters expand on the views and character ranges of their Paths. The Thyrsus here are actually even more one-dimensional than they are in the Mage rulebook. The best way to encapsulate it is to picture the 19 th Century attitude to women: incapable of logic or reason, creatures of impulse without thought. The Realm of the Primal Wild is not one of nature, it is one of predation, and somehow it supposedly turns those who Awaken to its Watchtower into beasts. NOT people that behave like animals. By that, I mean animals do not behave like that in relation to others of their type. This is the human fantasy of bestiality: to be free of all the constructs of human society, the social standards, the ethics, the morality, the capacity for pity, all the things that keep us from hurting and killing other human beings. The Mage presented in this chapter has nothing to do with any type of real-world Shaman that I have heard of. None of the Thyrsus characters presented in the Mage rulebook, the free demo, the two Legacy books, or Chicago act like this, except the Nemean of Boston, who is deliberately letting his Wisdom fall, and the cannibal from the demo. The cannibal is specifically used as an example of a deeply corrupted Mage, but apart from the flesh-eating, in this chapter he's pretty standard.
   
   I almost forgot about the Legacies. That says something in itself, as Legacies are one of my favourite things in Mage. The Mastigos Legacy seems quite noble and good, but way too restrictive of membership. The Moros Legacy is great but seriously Left-Handed. The Acanthus Legacy has attaintments too powerful and too vague, and the Obrimos Legacy is nothing special. The Thyrsus Legacy is only great in sort of summarising just how bad and useless the description of the Thyrsus is.
   
   For serious role-players, this is a great book. More casual types probably won't find much to interest them, there are few merits and no spells, and the Legacies are either too vague or too restricted. The example characters aren't good examples and the wrong types were chosen to be fully statted out. Finally, the Thyrsus chapter is a total write-off. This only gets three stars.



4. All the pentacle paths of the Mage the Awakening game are here: Obrimos, Thyrsus, Acanthus, Moros and Mastigos. Each of the supernal watchtowers are described along with their corresponding supernal Realms. Each path is given decent treatment and details the common practices, outlooks and perceptions of these mages. I use it regularly when I storytell my Mage games and have lent it to my players to detail and flesh out their characters. Also includes sample rotes and other pertinent rules, sample nimbi, magical tools and practices for the various magical paths and how each of the mage Orders views them.
   
   A very useful reference and players guide book to Mage!



5. Overall, Tome of the Watchtowers is a very good expansion on the basic concept of a Path and how they affect the magic of those who walk it. I was particularly interested in a broader range of examples for what a Nimbus could be. That said, I do agree with other reviewers who say that the material is 'uneven': each of the five sections were, in fact, written by five different people. While there are useful ideas in all five sections, the noticeable variances in terms of how much of what kind of material is present detracts from my enjoyment of the book. Still, I have my copy, and it does contain a wealth of ideas for characters and plots, so I do recommend it as one of the first supplements a new Mage player/Storyteller should pick up beyond the core rulebook.

2 comments about Victorian Age: Vampire.

1. V:tVA has been a long-awaited chapter in the World of Darkness story. It's a brilliant concept, but somewhat lacking in execution. Albeit, my opinion is biased, for I favor the older supplements rather than these newer ones. But it is a bias on the basis of product quality, of which the revised editions of thw World of Darkness games have begun to lack.

   The book itself is rather straightforward in its design and execution of Vampire in a Victorian setting. It is a sparse read, even if laced with provocative enough detail to encourage your own research forthwith. Still, for anyone with an interest in the Victorian age as a setting for Vampire, this is an excellent primer, especially with those with little time or inclination to engage in personal research. It is comprehensive, thorough, and provides a snapshot of the Kindred in an age past.

   When one stops considering its merits, a few flaws become obvious. The art, for one matter, is rather bland and even vague in places- witness one Guy Davis. His work summarily detracts from the piece, and the task of realizing the Dark Victorian age is thus thrust upon the remainder of the artistic staff. Otherwise, the art is excellent, if monotone (yet not entirely inappropriate, given the material and setting). The tone of the narrative is also somewhat pedantic in places (particularly, the in-character dialogue), demonstrating the 'gother-than-thou' attitude prevalent among the subculture.

   Congratulations, White Wolf, on another just-above-mediocre product. Were you to invest a little more time into writing a guide to literary and artistic achievement, instead of pandering to Azrael Abyss and his ilk, this would truly be a sourcebook 'for the ages.' A true classic has been tainted by commercialism, a sad testament to the American method of publication.




2. WW has for many years provided historical settings for its games. Namely, Dark Ages for vampire and other games, this setting takes vampire to its roots in the gothic genre. Of all the historical settings, the gothic era provides the most for the avid roleplaying enthusiast. This is not a setting for power gamers, rather it is a finely developed melieu for sophisticated storytelling and characterization. Of all the WW supplements (this book requires you to have the Vampire: the masquerade core rulebook), victorian age vampire will delight those players that can appreciate the gothic era and its influence on the vampire as metaphor.

1 comments about VII (Vampire: the Requiem).

1. Do you want paranoid players...or maybe a bloodthirsty killer running around your game, or how about a twisted family affair is dating back thousands of years? If so this is the book for you. You get three different versions of VII in this book to mix match or ignore as you see fit.
   
   The first grouping of VII is of biblical proportions. "Vampires" decended from the fallen city of Gommorha. They are very similar to the Assamites in the Old WOD. They we kill everyone they cannot convert to the "faith". Oh and did I mention the demon involved?
   
   The second group a weird Russian "family" that's been hunting vampires for centuries. Complete with several "seperate" clans, more like bloodlines but hey, each with their own idea of how best to rid the world of vampires.
   
   Lastly you have a paranoid's wet dream with the X-files inspired VII. Are you a sleeper or one of the awoken? If your answer is yes to either don't let anyone else know.