The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Well here is my third V:tDA review. I'll start right off.

Aftermath: This is the introductory story. It is..average. That is all I can really say is it's Average. It holds your interest, but it has no real ending. Maybe they intend to expand in a novel or something.

In Through the Lions Gate: This is the introduction of the book. It tells how things are in Jerusalem now, how to use the book, lexicon, and the all important recommendations for more on the subject. It is pretty good for an introduction.

The Holy City: This is the history of Jerusalem. Very very VERY well written. Unlike most histories, which I start to skip through, I read every word of it. Very well done if a bit religious. But since it's Jerusalem, it has to be religious.

Faith and Fervor: This is the section on the society and culture of Jerusalem. The majority of it is on Medieval Islam, which is very well written. It provides glimpses of the different factions of the three religions, and Muslim and Jew law about drinking blood, and ways for religious vampires to get around it. Seemingly well researched and written this entire section. Great applause to the authors.

The Streets of the Holy City: The Geography, obviously. It's researched nicely, but doesn't come across as much. No real good map, the only maps show where just a few things are, and neither of them show all the holy ground places that Vampires must avoid. At least the section names them, and goes further into how ambient Faith affects Vampires.

The Swarming Hosts: The Cainites. This is a huge section. The city is nearly busting to the seams with Cainites. It's worse then Modern Day Chicago (About the same amount of Vampires, but less amount of humans). But considering the city, it is very forgivable. This section I had a few problems with. The Secrets were different then I ever remember seeing. They were mild secrets (mostly mild anyways. a few chars had big ones) about the characters, instead of what the characters knew. Took some getting used to. And the Destinies...well, for the most part they were good. But too many of them had no finality, just disappearing from the pages of Cainite History. And the last nit pick is the Gargoyle, they gave it Visceratika, even though it did not exist back then. My only guess as to why is to show what powers it was granted by the Tremere who made it.

Builded Among These Dark Satanic Mills: This is for storytelling in Jerusalem, well written, telling what moods, themes, and even chronicle ideas. Even telling about the action/reaction in Jerusalem. Very very unbalanced, and realistic.

Two final notes: First, this is missing a story like most of the newer * by Night books. Though the reason for this is not because of some new policy, but because there was no room left. There will be a story released for JbN in October. When you read this book, you really realize there was no space left, and nothing they could have cut out.

The last note is I would have to give this a 4.5 for Substance, instead of a 4. I do not feel it is worth a 5, but at the same time this place doesn't allow a decimal point so I have to go with four.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Jerusalem by Night
Author: Jen Clodius, Todd Satogata, and James A. Moore Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Line: Vampire: The Dark Ages Cost: $17.95 Page count: 125 ISBN: 1-56504-299-9 SKU: WW2821 Capsule Review by Alan DeHaan on 07/02/99. Genre tags: Historical Horror Vampire Gothic	Well here is my third V:tDA review. I'll start right off. Aftermath: This is the introductory story. It is..average. That is all I can really say is it's Average. It holds your interest, but it has no real ending. Maybe they intend to expand in a novel or something. In Through the Lions Gate: This is the introduction of the book. It tells how things are in Jerusalem now, how to use the book, lexicon, and the all important recommendations for more on the subject. It is pretty good for an introduction. The Holy City: This is the history of Jerusalem. Very very VERY well written. Unlike most histories, which I start to skip through, I read every word of it. Very well done if a bit religious. But since it's Jerusalem, it has to be religious. Faith and Fervor: This is the section on the society and culture of Jerusalem. The majority of it is on Medieval Islam, which is very well written. It provides glimpses of the different factions of the three religions, and Muslim and Jew law about drinking blood, and ways for religious vampires to get around it. Seemingly well researched and written this entire section. Great applause to the authors. The Streets of the Holy City: The Geography, obviously. It's researched nicely, but doesn't come across as much. No real good map, the only maps show where just a few things are, and neither of them show all the holy ground places that Vampires must avoid. At least the section names them, and goes further into how ambient Faith affects Vampires. The Swarming Hosts: The Cainites. This is a huge section. The city is nearly busting to the seams with Cainites. It's worse then Modern Day Chicago (About the same amount of Vampires, but less amount of humans). But considering the city, it is very forgivable. This section I had a few problems with. The Secrets were different then I ever remember seeing. They were mild secrets (mostly mild anyways. a few chars had big ones) about the characters, instead of what the characters knew. Took some getting used to. And the Destinies...well, for the most part they were good. But too many of them had no finality, just disappearing from the pages of Cainite History. And the last nit pick is the Gargoyle, they gave it Visceratika, even though it did not exist back then. My only guess as to why is to show what powers it was granted by the Tremere who made it. Builded Among These Dark Satanic Mills: This is for storytelling in Jerusalem, well written, telling what moods, themes, and even chronicle ideas. Even telling about the action/reaction in Jerusalem. Very very unbalanced, and realistic. Two final notes: First, this is missing a story like most of the newer * by Night books. Though the reason for this is not because of some new policy, but because there was no room left. There will be a story released for JbN in October. When you read this book, you really realize there was no space left, and nothing they could have cut out. The last note is I would have to give this a 4.5 for Substance, instead of a 4. I do not feel it is worth a 5, but at the same time this place doesn't allow a decimal point so I have to go with four. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Jerusalem by Night