Art:
I'm not really the best person to review art, but it seems to be expected in
reviews so I'll give it a shot. The artwork here is basically par for the
course. None of it really struck me as exceptional. Although I do wonder why
there are so many sketchy people with no faces, and Richard Kane's over the top
chapter intros are not my thing at all. The Leif Jones template pictures are
all nice though, they actually match the text.
Aftermath of Independence:
Like practically every White Wolf book this opens with a piece of fiction to
help set the mood for the rest of the book. The story isn't anything
ground-breaking, but it's fairly nice for gaming fiction. It shows a little bit
about how a Gangrel might go about night to night existence, as well as the
tension caused by the recent split in the clan. My only real complaint about it
is that it's written in a hard to read handwriting-style font. This has been a
bad habit of White Wolf for so long that it's tradition now, I just wish they'd
lay off the hard to read fonts.
Chapter One: Stone, Steppe, and Sea: A history of the Gangrel Clan:
Like most White Wolf SplatBooks, the first chapter after the fiction is a
history chapter. This one is written from the perspective of a Gangrel who has
been collecting as much about Gangrel history as he can. It's kind of nice in
that for the oldest stuff there are multiple possibilities presented, much of
it in a skeptical light. Over all this was a nicely written chapter, with lots
of flavor and potential plot hooks, and that's about all you can really ask for
in a history chapter.
Chapter Two: Inside the Gangrel:
This chapter is the real meat of the book. Insight into the mentality of the
clan, how many members go about their business, info on bloodlines and the
crunchy bits of new rules are all here... supposedly. The first two are
provided in a fairly limited fashion. Mostly it's just short bits on Gangrel by
continent and sect, as well as the obligatory clan stereotypes section. While
these sections are done decently, there just doesn't seem to be enough. I find
the omission of detail on "things" and "Allthings" (a type of Gangrel gathering
with a silly name), especially since they are mentioned in passing in previous
sections without describing what they are. There is one nice section about
Lupines (subtitled "How to keep Werewolves from Killing You") which is well
written and dispels some of the silly ideas from earlier edition supplements
about Gangrel tricking werewolves into thinking they're one of them, learning
Garou Rites and other such wackiness. The section on the Clan flaw is also a
welcome addition, giving some ideas about how to play it. Many of the sample
flaws seemed a bit silly, but then again I've never really thought much of the
Gangrel weakness. And rounding out the chapter we have new Discipline powers
(as well as revisions of some of the older ones). These really are a mixed bag
in terms of quality. Some seem a bit overpowered, others are rather nicely done
and several are simply forgettable. In particular I really liked the Protean
"Animal Swarm" form, and the "Flesh Wound" combo power is fun (it's an
obfuscate, fortitude combo that makes you look invincible even when you?re
hurting like hell).
Chapter Three: Beasts Among Men:
The last chapter of the book contains templates and NPCs of note. The templates
aren't really anything special. A few are somewhat interesting, but most are
fairly predictable and uninspired. The NPCs also struck me as fairly standard;
like many other parts of the book, they are well written but not really
anything that grabbed me.
Conclusion:
Overall the book is well written, but isn't really anything special. It's not a
bad book by any means, it's just nothing to write home about. I could only
really recommend it to hard core Gangrel fans and completists. But I would
recommend taking a brief look yourself to see if it's more fitting of your
style than it is of mine.
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