Let me first open by saying that RPG.net sent me this to review and I cannot think of a better product for them to select for me. I used to study in Japan (Jyouchi Daigaku) and while i was there I had this goofy obsession with being able to identify the Yakuza while i was out and about Tokyo. This led to me spending what little money i had trying to find books about the yakuza and pestering my Japanese friends while we were in one of the downtowns. Not to say i am an expert on the yakuza in any way, only that it is sorta funny that this is the book I get to review.
Okay, enough self-serving background, on to the review.
Killing Streets is a quality book, and a worthy addition to the Kindred of the East line, of which i highly respect. Like the line as a whole though, there are a few flaws that keep me from giving it perfect scores in each category.
Killing Streets aims to introduce players and storytellers to the seemier side of life in the Middle Kingdom. It focuses on all the stuff that makes humanity look bad, from sex, to drugs, to violence and on... In this way it reminds me a lot of the Mage supplement _Destiny's Price_ but with a more streamlined regional feel.
The art is some of the best you are going to see from any supplement. The cover, by Christopher Shy leaves little doubt that the book is about crime and is one of the more active pieces i have seen the artist create. Inside, the artists Ellis, Hopper, Shy and White do an excellent job of portraying the text. While some of the pics seem to just be added for flavor and are not really attached to the text, it still is a nice break for the eyes. None of the pictures really seem to be out of place. While reading the book I was enchanted by Fred Hooper's work in particular. he adds pieces to Killing Streets that have a good deal of motion and intensity to them. Nice.
Now to the text. There are 6 chapters, with one being a fiction piece (the prelude) and the last being an appendix with new rules. If you are at all familiar with White Wolf, then you know the format. I must admit I skipped over the prelude- I just do not like to deal with mood setting pieces and prefer to get into the meat of the book.
The Introduction (I guess not really a chapter either) is pretty standard for a White Wolf book. In it we get an outline of Killing Streets, a list of sources and a lexicon. Nothing spectacular so far. However, this is really where the book sets the mood and premise for what is to come. There is a nice primer on "keeping it real" in which the authors stress how important a role humanity plays in the mean streets of Asia. This is important, for it showed to me that the authors tried to treat the subject of crime and corruption with as much respect as possible and shied away from making uber-mafioso. The perspective is from the street and that is where it stays. Kudos.
Chapter 1 "To Live and Die" is the real core of the book. It is here that the topics of the book are really dealt with. There is an honest attempt (it seems to me) to stay away from some of the worst cliche's that plague many Westerner's views of Asia. Overall, the chapter looks at history's fast pace within recent years in Asia. The problems modernization have presented for the Asian continent as a whole are continually stressed and revisitied as each dirty little tpic is discussed. This overall theme is woderful for maintaining the consitancy of the book's topics. A whole host of issues are discussed (some more than others), from Poverty, to Politics, to racism, to Sex, to Power, to Crime and on and on. In each case the lion's share of the text deals with the real world issue, ie: how it impacts daily human life in Asia. After we get an idea of how humanity deals with these issues, we get the Kuei-Jin perspective- a nice juxtaposition to humanity. This is where Killing Streets really shines.
Howver, it is also in Chpater 1 that the issue of organized crime is dealt with. To be honest, though the book says there is a focus on the Yakuza and Triads, I really do not see it. What information that is included is pretty brief and little more than one could get out of a library book. Nothing really new or innovative when it comnes to the Kuei-Jin is revealed. Few real specifics are given anywhere in the discussion of organized crime and especially glaring arereferences to specific rituals without any follow-up explanation of the ritual. Moreover, though Triads really are the dominant criminal force in Asia (especially with Kindred of the East's emphaisis on China) we get a good deal more information on the Yakuza. The Yakuza can be interesting and all, but i think this is a bit of a disservice to the topic.
Chapter 2 is an overview of some of the movers and shakers of Kuei-Jin society when it comes to the Killing Streets (including some from Canton and Xhanghai and over into Southeast Asia and Japan and on to Cali). This is your standard NPC parade. Don't get me wrong, there is a wealth of information and ideas to mine from here, I just think the space could have been a little better served dealing with something else than NPCs. In fact, when i ran a cuple of games of Kindred of the East to utulize some of what came out of Killing Streets i did not once use one of the NPCs in chapter 2. Your mileage may vary of course, and I am sure someone out there will find this section pretty useful.
One nice addition to Chpater 2 is the interoduction of the Wicked City- a creeping corruption of the real world by the Mikaboshi Yama King. This is a neat idea, not unlike the insidious corruption of the King in Yellow (see Call of Cthulhu). If nothing else, Chapter 2 is valuable for the couple of ideas about the spirtual corruption of the Wicked City and the possible adventures set therein.
Chapter 3 "Storytelling" is mostly geared from the Storyteller (surprise, surprise). I do not knowif there is much to say about this chapter, only that just about any GM or storyteller could benefit from a read-through. Parallels are drawn between Vampires and Criminals that really do a lot for setiing the right tempo and mood for a game. Killing Streets and the kind of games set therein will probably set a daunting task before a new Storyteller- but one that i think could be quite rewarding. Chapter 3 goes step by step through the process of creating a campaign that centers on the violent streets of Asia and does a good job of bringing up and discussing a lot of the pitfalls that such a campaign may present. Plus, this is where Hooper's art really is highlighted- Very Nice.
Mr. Boulle, if you are reading this... please, please, please give Mr Hooper more jobs. He is an asset.
The Final (sorta)Chapter is the Appendix, where new rules are presented. Here is where I was most worried and here is where i decided that Killing Streets really is a good book. Rather than go all out on new powers, the Appendix deals with exisiting abilities like Streetwise and Investigation and then also deals with useful backgrounds like Allies and Contacts. In each case the impact each ability or background can have on a game is dealt with- presenting a number of useful ideas on how to actually use them skillfully. There is also a discussion of Broken Mirrors a supernatural phenomena that links back to the Wicked City. There are a couple of neat ideas in there for an enterprising storyteller.
So, there you go. Killing Streets is a good book, especially if you want to deal with street level life in a Kindred of the East Campaign. I can also see where it would be useful in a campaign outside of the Asian continent where crime and corruption will play major factors (especially on the US West Coast). This is a good, solid book with only a few errors of omission. If you want something in depth on the Yakuza or Triads, you probably need to look somewhere else.
Incidentally, the topic and art of Killing Streets is not really for anyone that cannot get into a rated R movie. You have been warned.
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