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Giovanni Chronicles IV

Author: Heather Grove and Matthew McFarlane
Category: game
Company/Publisher: White Wolf
Line: Black Dog
Cost: 19.95
Page count: 142
ISBN: 1-56504-252-2
Capsule Review by Andreas Monien on 06/13/99.
Genre tags: Vampire
Okay...

Here we go again to the Giovanni.

First thing to mention that this is the best and the worst in the chronicles about the Giovanni.

About the bad parts: This is a book written by completely different authors than the first three installments - and it shows.

Nearly no connection with the first three parts (YOU DO NOT EVEN GET TO USE THE SAME CHARACTERS, you have to play a Giovanni Kindred and you have to start a new character). And that after you played your old one for a game time of over 400 years. Shame on White Wolf for this really.

And if this is the climax for the story (and White Wolf claims so) then it is a little bit weak. The final confrontation, the solution of the fate the characters set out to find 500 years ago is weak and in the book almost added as an afterthought. You could make this a great ending, but not much help is given and it requires tremendous work on side of the storyteller. But alas it could work...

On to the good parts:

This is by far and away the best adventure/campaign I have ever seen for Vampire. Mood, characters, style, tone and action are all well placed. Storytelling is not just a word in here it is shown, demonstrated and brought alive. The storyline is complicated and complex, but it is logic. All dilemma inherent in Vampire are present and finally (thank you) somebody wrote an adventure that spans 90 years and finally Players are forced to play a Vampire and not a human with a bunch of supernatural powers.

This is a stand alone Giovanni Chronicle for all GM and Players who want to play Giovanni. As I know there are not much who care about this, this book would (with only minor adjustments) work well with any other clan and it presents in 142 pages a decade spanning adventure and hooks for more side adventures and expansions then I could possibly count.

My advice. Go get out and buy it (If you played the rest of the series it could be a fine ending, if not get the best campaign ever written for Vampire:tM)

Thanks to Heather and Matthew for this one

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

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