Black Furies starts off with a short story of two members of the tribe fighting very different foes. One battles the despair and anger that a single mother suffers due to a bane while another chronicles a group of misfits lead by a black fury battle against a wyrmspawn.
The book is broken up into four chapters. Chapter One, Avenging Claws, is a skewed look at the history of the World of Darkness from the Black Furies view. Most of the material focuses on ancient times with their version of how the world originally came into being and moves on from there. It breaks apart great chunks of history and shows how the black furies worked in those times. For example, some factions claim that it was the Black Furies that started the Impergium, the hunting of man.
In Biblical Times, it wasn’t God that destroyed Sodom, it was the Black Furies who were outraged by the rape of Lot’s daughters. It provides details on how the Black Furies interacted with the native tribes of North America when they first came here. Sometimes it borders on material that’s found in Chapter Two but overall, after reading this chapter, you’ll have a good idea of the events that have helped shape the worldview of these creatures. Some more modern events are still echoing into the future like the death of Baba Yaga and the rise of the elder vampire in Bangladesh.
Chapter Two, Pegasus’ Flight, is how the Black Furies fit into the campaign. How they get along with other tribes as well as other changing breeds. This information is passed on as knowledge from one newcomer to the Black Furies as three others provide her details. This is useful in that it sometimes provides three different points of view and shows that even among a close tribe like the Black Furies, that nothing is ever perfect. It covers the importance of Trinities, as well as how the Black Furies perceive The Wyld, The Weaver and the Wyrm. Lastly, the chapter provides GMs some ideas on how to incorporate this material into the World of Daknress by showing how these tribeswomen treat leeches, mages, and other members of the WoD.
Chapter Three, From Maiden To Crone, is all about customizing your character through background and traits, to new abilities. Among the new crunchy bits are new gifts like Kali’s Tongue, which prevents the target from using regeneration for a limited amount of time. Among the new Camp Gifts are the Blizzard of Arrows, a level four Gift that allows a single arrow fired to hit up to 20 enemies at a time. Each camp has it’s own gifts and occasionally some can cross over but never do these talents fall into non-Black Fury camps. Among the new rites, which include Caern ones, is Soothe The Scars, a rite that eases the pain of abuse from the hands of loved ones. For those who enjoy the Mind’s Eye Theatre, entries for using these new abilities is also included.
Chapter Four, Sisters, Mothers and Grandmothers, provides new characters, including pregenerated, legendary and modern characters. The pregenerated characters have a quick name to cue the reader into their purpose, like omega female, computer witch, modern-day atropos, oracle and soldier of our merciful mother. Each one has a quote, prelude, which is background, concept, roleplaying notes and equipment. Each is expertly illustrated and has a mini-character sheet which makes it perfect for Xeroxing. Among the legendary characters are Leukippes, a Scythian warrior of old times whose tales are still told for both historical and tactical purposes. For modern characters, Electra Stavrakis, Mari Cabrah and the Manslayer are presented. While it’s nice to see Electra and an updated Mari, the Manslayer was a bit of a generic monster with no stats that the GM can customize for his own group.
The book ends with a four-page character sheet.
Each chapter is broken up with a full-page illustration. The text is standard two columns with art breaking up the monotony of the text. The chapter headings should be familiar to most Werewolf fans as not too much has changed from one splatbook to the next.
Black Furies is an excellent tool for players of a Black Fury tribe and a useful resource for GMs looking to incorporate this tribe into their tales.
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