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I picked up this book not expecting that much. More of the Tribebooks left me unsatisfied. They were okay, almost never as bad as the early Clanbooks, but never really as good as the excellent Guildbooks either. Simply serviceable in most instances, I got disenchanted with them and now I only pick up a few here and there. I am glad I bought the Shadow Lords Tribebook when I had a chance.

Despite the annoying "Legend of the Garou" comic in the beginning, the book was excellent. The in-character writing was better than most splatbooks and quite enjoyable to read between the lines.

The history chapter had some excellent retellings of the official Garou party-line of the ancient world, when everything was right. The Silver Fangs and the Garou nation speak of peace and harmony, the Shadow Lords speak of might-makes-right rulership and rampant slavery. The Shadow Lords explain how they functioned as the facilitators and negotiators, ever willing to sacrifice their personal honor for the good of the Garou Nation, going so far as to "serve the Crown and not the King." The book also talks about their exile and move to Romania, and their trials there: their wars with the Tzimisce and the Silver Fangs, their alliance with Vlad Tepes, the monster who might have been savior. The tone of "fed up martyrs" comes across strongly and works surprisingly well. The Lords are fed up with the Silver Fangs repeated bungling of ruling and they will no longer bow their heads for the good of the Nation and sacrifice their own honor.

The culture chapter is also quite good, detailing totemic relationships and various camps and moots. Grandfather Thunder and his affects on the tribe are even addressed, a good touch that many Tribebooks have done. Some of the camps are also quite well done. The Bringers of Lights descend into darkness to do good, and they become expert spies to do so. The Lazarite Movement is made up of metis determined to prove their worth. The Hakken Shadow Lords are touched upon. Behavior in tribal moots and status among the Shadow Lords is also looked at, and how their strange honor affects renown is interesting.

The next two chapters about Shadow Lords worldwide and their relations as well as the their Gifts and Rites are also good, but they are not nearly so moving as the history and culture in getting a feel for the tribe.

The templates are like most templates, okay, but the art is above average, especially for the Wandering Swordsman. The notable Shadow Lords are all interesting (even Rasputin), but Septumus Dio and Alexandru ThunderRage were the best and most interesting.

Overall, definitely one of the best Tribebooks. The Shadow Lords Tribebook actually added another dimension to the tribe and passed the "Chupp test" by making me want to play one. Nicely done.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Shadow Lords Tribebook
Author: Brian Campbell Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Line: Werewolf: the Apocalypse Cost: $10.00 Page count: 72 ISBN: 1-56504-329-4 Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 06/14/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Horror Gothic	I picked up this book not expecting that much. More of the Tribebooks left me unsatisfied. They were okay, almost never as bad as the early Clanbooks, but never really as good as the excellent Guildbooks either. Simply serviceable in most instances, I got disenchanted with them and now I only pick up a few here and there. I am glad I bought the Shadow Lords Tribebook when I had a chance. Despite the annoying "Legend of the Garou" comic in the beginning, the book was excellent. The in-character writing was better than most splatbooks and quite enjoyable to read between the lines. The history chapter had some excellent retellings of the official Garou party-line of the ancient world, when everything was right. The Silver Fangs and the Garou nation speak of peace and harmony, the Shadow Lords speak of might-makes-right rulership and rampant slavery. The Shadow Lords explain how they functioned as the facilitators and negotiators, ever willing to sacrifice their personal honor for the good of the Garou Nation, going so far as to "serve the Crown and not the King." The book also talks about their exile and move to Romania, and their trials there: their wars with the Tzimisce and the Silver Fangs, their alliance with Vlad Tepes, the monster who might have been savior. The tone of "fed up martyrs" comes across strongly and works surprisingly well. The Lords are fed up with the Silver Fangs repeated bungling of ruling and they will no longer bow their heads for the good of the Nation and sacrifice their own honor. The culture chapter is also quite good, detailing totemic relationships and various camps and moots. Grandfather Thunder and his affects on the tribe are even addressed, a good touch that many Tribebooks have done. Some of the camps are also quite well done. The Bringers of Lights descend into darkness to do good, and they become expert spies to do so. The Lazarite Movement is made up of metis determined to prove their worth. The Hakken Shadow Lords are touched upon. Behavior in tribal moots and status among the Shadow Lords is also looked at, and how their strange honor affects renown is interesting. The next two chapters about Shadow Lords worldwide and their relations as well as the their Gifts and Rites are also good, but they are not nearly so moving as the history and culture in getting a feel for the tribe. The templates are like most templates, okay, but the art is above average, especially for the Wandering Swordsman. The notable Shadow Lords are all interesting (even Rasputin), but Septumus Dio and Alexandru ThunderRage were the best and most interesting. Overall, definitely one of the best Tribebooks. The Shadow Lords Tribebook actually added another dimension to the tribe and passed the "Chupp test" by making me want to play one. Nicely done. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)