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Okay, this is my second review for this place, and i am hoping it comes out alright. Just for a bit of comments before I start off.
Vampire being my second game, I was quite intrigued with the Assamites. The idea of implementing Middle Eastern culture into a Clan was prety damned interesting. But after playing a few characters, the Clan began to bore me. They were just too damned limited. All they did was hunt htings down and kill them, and the fact taht they seem to be stuck on Path of Blood does not help much.
Then I looked through Libris Saguienes III: Wolves at the Door, and I changed my opinions about the Clan. With the introduction of the Vizier and Sorcerer castes, the group instantly became very interesting, and I was questioning thinking of them as my favourite Clan over the Followers of Set.
Well, Followers of Set was delayed when I went ot my dealer to see if I could get it (and Laws of Ascension, but that's for a different review), so I decided to snag Assamite, get the Independent Clans while I'm buying htese, right? Well, now I am I am very glad that I have gotten the book I must say.
Anyways, the review. I have not read the prior version of this book (though I intend to shortly) but I will try my best to work on this thing as I can. Now, for the break down:
The book starts off with an excerpt from the Treaty of Tyre, rather then any fiction. I thought it was rather interesting, and knda nice how they included the thing in the book, though I noticed a sliip of the finger when they were editing the book. Like many other books int eh Clanbook series, this one has rather nasty and big typos, probably due to the stress put on the editing team.
Chapter One: How Quickly We Forget begins wiht a history of the Assamites. It is a pamplet, written by a Schismatic Assamite, one of al-Ashrad's followers who have defected in teh recent event at Alamut surrounding ur-Shalgi's awakining. The pamplet is supposed to be used as a PR device, helping dispell the assassin-killer stereotype most Camarilla vampires may have about the Assamites.
The chapter details Haqim's Embrace, his relation to Arikel, the founder of the Toreador Clan. It sates that after his Embrace by Zilith, he actually crated a brood that was more closely akined to the Toreador then to the modern Assamites. The chapter would also tell of his role in becoming Judge of the Second City, his battles agains the Baali and the subsequent creation of the first Blood Magicians, and his soon exile from the Second City.
The thing about htis history is that it dispels the whole Haqim-Khayyin thing that the Path of Blood teaches, making edericts to this path look like a bunch of rabid fanatics, as it probably should be. Details are mentioned about the Children of Haqim's lives in the Middle East, their relations (or lack thereof) with other vampires in the region, and their thoughts of the rise of Islam. As it turn sout, though many members of the clan are Muslim, its not the basis of the Clan's existance, it just happens lots of the people who were Embraced Muslim, remain Muslim.
The chapter also details the subsequent reactions to the Baali Curse which would lead to the Warrior Caste's little problem with addiction to Vitae, and how it has spilled over here and there in Viziers and Sorcerers. The Anarch Revolt, and teh subsequent Tremere Curse are also described, and the unifying effect it had on the clan. Also descussed are the clan's sympathies to Germany during the Second World War. Also discussed is the awakening of ur-Shalgi, the breaking of the Curse, and the following Schism that now insues the clan. The chapter closes with a text box detail thing false numbers of killers for hire the clan was suppose to contain.
Overall, it is a very interesting hcapter, though I do have gripes One is the fact taht when the writer gets a bit to biased, another writer put sin some comments to clarify things. This is all well and that, but at first they are text boxes, but later, it becomes a very hard to read font within the text. Hurts one's eyes.
Also, certain events that would of sureely effected the clan, the Ottoman Empire in World War I, the Industrial Revoution, hell, maybe even some infromation on the current Middle East situation would of been nice. Also, the Breaking and the Schism are rather briefly went over, and there is little infromation on ur-Shalgi and al-Ashrad themselves, which is sort of dissappointing.
Chapter Two: Prayers ot a Broken Stone details with the Clan in the Modern nights. In this chapter are discussed things like the behavior of the clan as a whole, their holdings in countries otuside the Middle East, and other such things.
Next is discussed the clan's structure.. The section shows just how loose the clan truely is, with most of its members not even dealing with Alamut. The clan's positions, from the big guy on top, to the Du'at, and downward. The Council of Scrolls (which is horribly broken) is discussed, showing the clan's academic side, and overall it is a good section to show how individual the clan is, as well as showing how the clan is orginizing in the Final Nights.
The Castes are described in splat-form (Fatima gets the splat picture again, this time for the Warrior Caste) and they are detailed as iff they were clans. The difference between them, their structure, the general sect alligiance, and Diciplines affinity are all discussed. The things that seperate the Castes are described, as is the strange darkening, which causes the members of teh clan to become darker and darker in complection as time wears on.
Also listed are alternate weaknesses and character creation for the individual castes, followed by information on the Laws of Haqim and the their various interpretations. The four major factoins are discussed (Loyalists, those on Path of Blood still aligned with Alamut, Schismatics in teh Camarilla, antitribu, and dispossessed). This is then followed, in turn, but small orginizations such as the Leopards of Zion (a group of millitant Jewish Assamites), and the Web of Knives (the group primarily described in other texts, complete with teh seven years as a ghoul thing, and extra dots for character creation.)
The chapter closes with the higher levels of Quietus (some of them non combatent, some making you retch in the though of their use. Cool names though, Condem the Sins of the Fatehr comes to mind.) All of them are pretty good, and the discussion of the clan's other Diciplins, Auspex, Obfuscate and Celerity, were all good, as well as are the alternate powers for them.
Proceeding this is a section on Assamite Sorcery, the other Dicipline the clan expertise can be seen. The discussion on the distinction between the two powers, as well as learning other Blood Magics is very handy, and I intend to use some of those rules for those trying to learn out of clan magics. There is a text box detailing what Paths and Rituals are within the Assamite Paradigm (many of which were proprietary to Tremere, but now an Assamite ahs access to Path of Blood, Alchemy, Weather Control, and various others. Finally, the Tremere don't have a total monopoly on Thaumaturgy) A new Assamite-unique Path, Awakening of the Steel, may be a bit more martial, but is a nice touch.
This is followed by two new flaws, one dealing with needing drugs for Assamite Sorcery, the other, Unbroken, dealing with a weakened, but not eliminated, Blood Curse. Both are itneresting,a nd nice additions.
Chapter Three: Sons and Daughters of Haqim is the standerd foray fo Character templates. Though, I would admit, all the Templates are pretty good. Only two characters are on Paths of Enlightenment (one on Blood, the other an antitribu on Path of Caine), and all are goo dideas, though the Character Assassin is just as good a Toreador IMHO. Members of all three castes adn sects are also detailed. Particuelr favourites are the formentioned Character Assassin, the Cleaner, and the Wtich-Hunter.
After this we skip a sample coterie that other Clnabooks have, and go straight to the importatn Assamites of note. Fatima is discussed, as is the former head of the Vizier caste. Something odd is that they didn't include updated splats for ur-Shalgi and al-Ashrad, needed with the rules changes to Assamite Sorcery. They aren't even described. You will need Children of the Night for them it seems This is followed by the four-page sheet, which has teh correct weakness for Warriors written in.
Overall, it is a damned good book, though some editing could of been done better. There is the slip up int he Treaty of Tyre excerpt I mentioned, and the fact that the bottem of the pages in Chapter Three read Chapter One: How Quickly We Forget show a rushed job. Atleast the correct weakness is on the sheet, and the right symbol is on the spine.
The artwork in this book also ranges from very good work by Lief Jones for his art on the caste splats, and the Templates, to not so bood, to whoever did the full-page plates at the beginning of the chapters. The cover art by John Van Fleet, however, is one of my favourite for the clanbook so far.
Overall, Clanbook: Assamite helps make the Assamites into probably the most varied and interesting clan out there. The book details a great alternate history to the clan, and the introduction of so many non-martial aspects of teh clan makes them probably the most interesting one out there. Though not the msot entertaining, or easy to read, it has the merits of just plainb eing useful, and making the clan very much more dynamic. I highly recommend it.
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