The Inside Scoop on Gaming

For Storytellers who insist upon sticking to canon material, Nights of Prophecy is the sort of book that can prove very useful indeed. While I personally tend to throw the World of Darkness' metaplot out the window, it was nice to have all the updates in one place, and to run a troupe through some particularly significant events in the WoD.

I'll be frank: Vampire's generally not my bag. I find the mythology fascinating. It was the game that first drew me into the World of Darkness, and so I'll always have a soft spot for it because of that. I adore many of the concepts found within. But it's never been my favorite, and it's never even come close…until recently.

If you'll forgive a brief tangent, I never really liked Wraith, period. I kept it on my shelf because sometimes I'd bring aspects of it into other games and I needed the reference material. I bought Ends of Empire because it too affected the rest of the WoD, and that book totally changed my opinion of Wraith. (Rather ironic that it was the "end" of the line, no?) In the same way, Nights of Prophecy has renewed my interest in Vampire.

Let's start by looking at each chapter individually. The Introduction contains the standard summary of the book and some tips for Storytellers. It also explains the concept of the metaplot and offers pointers on how to use it, with two recent events used as examples – the liberation of the Assamites from the curse the Tremere had placed upon them and the fall of Ravnos. Following that, it deals with a variety of other events, including the Assamite schism (turns out they're not all as bloodthirsty as the first wave), various problems within the Sabbat, changes in the Camarilla, the Cam's reclamation of New York, the Cathayan invasion of San Francisco, and some…interesting revelations about the Tremere. "Story seeds" are provided with each entry. The chapter closes with a collection of letters to and from various movers and shakers in Vampire society.

I liked this chapter. As I said, it was nice to have all the updates in one place. The revelations found here were amusing and occasionally fascinating. One of the letters, for example, discussed the motives behind the Tremere's desire for exclusive access to the famed Mormon genealogical database – the knowledge of a person's ancestry can be substituted for their True Name (IF such ancestry isn't widely known), so the Mormons, in gathering genealogical data on everyone they can, have essentially uncovered the True Name of humanity as a whole. I wish I'd thought of that one.

Chapter One: The Return of the Succubus Club is more or less exactly that – a story featuring the club. Though the original was torn apart by werewolves, the Succubus Club has been resurrected as a traveling party. This particular story was non-linear and involved three main plotlines as well as a few minor subplots.

Non-linear adventures generally aren't my cup of tea, and this one was no different. Only one of the plots sounded vaguely interesting to me. I ran it anyway, and I think a reasonably good time was had by all, but my heart wasn't in it.

Chapter Two: Walking After Midnight was…long. This chapter deals with the Cathayan invasion; it contains information on the events leading up to it and a story dealing with the invasion itself. The story is very action-oriented and more or less all the pertinent rules are either presented in the text or simply cited if they're already in the main Vampire or Kindred of the East book. (Yes, the troupe can play Kindred, Kuei-jin or both, at the Storyteller's discretion.) I was especially amused by the systems for what can only be described as "stunt driving" – driving down staircases and so on. All in all an intriguing story.

Chapter Three: To Grandmother's House is a story dealing with the fate of Baba Yaga and her armies. The story is set in the late 90s, but I moved it to the present day, which was slightly more convenient for me. All in all, it was a great adventure, and my players seemed to enjoy it. One gripe, though: the map of Russia provided with the story is crap. For one thing, St. Petersburg is on a river – NOT the Baltic Sea as indicated on the map. This error is repeated in the text. Additionally, the small town of Verascagino, which is 50 miles away from the city of Perm according to the text, is at least TWO THOUSAND miles away according to the map. I have no idea who this "C.H. Venus" guy is, but I think White Wolf should start looking for a new cartographer.

Chapter Four: The Hunters Hunted is a story dealing with a bunch of hunters (as in Hunter: the Reckoning) who are trying to exterminate the Kindred of Las Vegas. It also contains some information on the WoD version of Vegas. I found both intriguing, and I actually ended up running the story twice. Both times I ran into the same problem: at the climax, the characters need to be in a certain place, but it's nigh-impossible to get them there without making the players feel like they're being herded. The author didn't think to provide advice on this matter. Pity. Otherwise, it's a pretty good story.

The fifth and final chapter, House of Lies, deals with the unveiling of a fragment of the Book of Nod in the Sabbat-occupied city of Montreal. There are appearances on the part of a variety of prominent Kindred (including Beckett and Vykos), as well as the Sabbat Inquisition, which I certainly wasn't expecting. This story is also rather long, and contains a very sexually charged scene of the sort I generally avoid. (Yes, yes, Vampire is a sexually charged game, I know, but like I said – I don't usually run it.) I modified House of Lies heavily, but the original story was still interesting.

So all in all, I think Nights of Prophecy is a pretty good book. Be prepared to make some trips down to your local library to double-check the facts, though, because the book's flaws can be whoppers.

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

Nights of Prophecy
Author: Justin Achilli, et al Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Line: Vampire: the Masquerade Cost: $19.95 Page count: 160 ISBN: 1-56504-229-8 Playtest Review by Spencer M. Lease on 08/31/00. Genre tags: Vampire Gothic	For Storytellers who insist upon sticking to canon material, Nights of Prophecy is the sort of book that can prove very useful indeed. While I personally tend to throw the World of Darkness' metaplot out the window, it was nice to have all the updates in one place, and to run a troupe through some particularly significant events in the WoD. I'll be frank: Vampire's generally not my bag. I find the mythology fascinating. It was the game that first drew me into the World of Darkness, and so I'll always have a soft spot for it because of that. I adore many of the concepts found within. But it's never been my favorite, and it's never even come close…until recently. If you'll forgive a brief tangent, I never really liked Wraith, period. I kept it on my shelf because sometimes I'd bring aspects of it into other games and I needed the reference material. I bought Ends of Empire because it too affected the rest of the WoD, and that book totally changed my opinion of Wraith. (Rather ironic that it was the "end" of the line, no?) In the same way, Nights of Prophecy has renewed my interest in Vampire. Let's start by looking at each chapter individually. The Introduction contains the standard summary of the book and some tips for Storytellers. It also explains the concept of the metaplot and offers pointers on how to use it, with two recent events used as examples – the liberation of the Assamites from the curse the Tremere had placed upon them and the fall of Ravnos. Following that, it deals with a variety of other events, including the Assamite schism (turns out they're not all as bloodthirsty as the first wave), various problems within the Sabbat, changes in the Camarilla, the Cam's reclamation of New York, the Cathayan invasion of San Francisco, and some…interesting revelations about the Tremere. "Story seeds" are provided with each entry. The chapter closes with a collection of letters to and from various movers and shakers in Vampire society. I liked this chapter. As I said, it was nice to have all the updates in one place. The revelations found here were amusing and occasionally fascinating. One of the letters, for example, discussed the motives behind the Tremere's desire for exclusive access to the famed Mormon genealogical database – the knowledge of a person's ancestry can be substituted for their True Name (IF such ancestry isn't widely known), so the Mormons, in gathering genealogical data on everyone they can, have essentially uncovered the True Name of humanity as a whole. I wish I'd thought of that one. Chapter One: The Return of the Succubus Club is more or less exactly that – a story featuring the club. Though the original was torn apart by werewolves, the Succubus Club has been resurrected as a traveling party. This particular story was non-linear and involved three main plotlines as well as a few minor subplots. Non-linear adventures generally aren't my cup of tea, and this one was no different. Only one of the plots sounded vaguely interesting to me. I ran it anyway, and I think a reasonably good time was had by all, but my heart wasn't in it. Chapter Two: Walking After Midnight was…long. This chapter deals with the Cathayan invasion; it contains information on the events leading up to it and a story dealing with the invasion itself. The story is very action-oriented and more or less all the pertinent rules are either presented in the text or simply cited if they're already in the main Vampire or Kindred of the East book. (Yes, the troupe can play Kindred, Kuei-jin or both, at the Storyteller's discretion.) I was especially amused by the systems for what can only be described as "stunt driving" – driving down staircases and so on. All in all an intriguing story. Chapter Three: To Grandmother's House is a story dealing with the fate of Baba Yaga and her armies. The story is set in the late 90s, but I moved it to the present day, which was slightly more convenient for me. All in all, it was a great adventure, and my players seemed to enjoy it. One gripe, though: the map of Russia provided with the story is crap. For one thing, St. Petersburg is on a river – NOT the Baltic Sea as indicated on the map. This error is repeated in the text. Additionally, the small town of Verascagino, which is 50 miles away from the city of Perm according to the text, is at least TWO THOUSAND miles away according to the map. I have no idea who this "C.H. Venus" guy is, but I think White Wolf should start looking for a new cartographer. Chapter Four: The Hunters Hunted is a story dealing with a bunch of hunters (as in Hunter: the Reckoning) who are trying to exterminate the Kindred of Las Vegas. It also contains some information on the WoD version of Vegas. I found both intriguing, and I actually ended up running the story twice. Both times I ran into the same problem: at the climax, the characters need to be in a certain place, but it's nigh-impossible to get them there without making the players feel like they're being herded. The author didn't think to provide advice on this matter. Pity. Otherwise, it's a pretty good story. The fifth and final chapter, House of Lies, deals with the unveiling of a fragment of the Book of Nod in the Sabbat-occupied city of Montreal. There are appearances on the part of a variety of prominent Kindred (including Beckett and Vykos), as well as the Sabbat Inquisition, which I certainly wasn't expecting. This story is also rather long, and contains a very sexually charged scene of the sort I generally avoid. (Yes, yes, Vampire is a sexually charged game, I know, but like I said – I don't usually run it.) I modified House of Lies heavily, but the original story was still interesting. So all in all, I think Nights of Prophecy is a pretty good book. Be prepared to make some trips down to your local library to double-check the facts, though, because the book's flaws can be whoppers. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)