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When I first heard about the plans to release an entire book just on archons and templars, I must admit that I was rather incredulous that there would be enough to make it worthwhile, especially a big this lage. “What else can you say other than ‘They are like the undead secret police’?” I though, and I asked for a review copy to see just what White Wolf would manage to squeeze into there to make a full book. If I had just thought about it a bit more, I would have remembered just how perfect both groups are for player groups. A group of powerful people formed into a task force and assigned to fulfill the wishes of a clearly defined superior? Sounds ready-made to be a more traditional group of PCs than a coterie of like-minded, backstabbing licks.

About the first half of the book is divided between expounding upon the archons that serve the Camarilla’s justicars and giving a clear picture of just what the Sabbat’s templars are (something that’s been kind of vague until now). Both of these chapters are done in the standard in-character mode, with all of the benefits and drawbacks of that. I found the Sabbat section to be excellent, and the conceit that it was framed as a one-on-one talk between a Camarilla defector and a Lasombra inquisitor grooming her to be a templar worked very well. The inclusion of a discussion about the Sabbat Inquisition surprised me, until it became apparent how similar inquisitors are to archons in their basic premise – find the bad guys in the sect and kill them. The chapter on the archons, however, I didn’t like so much, as it gave the impression that there is some sort of structured training for them, or that there is some kind of graduating class of archons. That just doesn’t fit their rarity or recruitment method. It does, however, get its point across, which is much more important.

After a nice little chapter providing advice, ideas and considerations in character creation, there is another nice and big chapter that looks at the archons, templars and inquisitors again, but this time from a frank and objective point of view. Much of the information that was provided in the earlier in-character discussions is again reinforced here, along with a number of other ideas, anecdotes and rumors. A lot is covered in this chapter, giving us a very thorough look at sect officials: pretty much everything from just what these groups do to the tactics they use to do them to other details like how to prove your rank in a society based on secrets. Having this blunt and straightforward chapter after the in-character ones is one of the books strengths, I think. It allows for the in-character sections to build a mood and atmosphere while delivering a minimum of essential information, and then the objective text reinforces that and fills in the details that would have been almost impossible to get across in-character, at least not without stretching the premise beyond breaking.

Before closing up with a chapter full of new Discipline powers and Thaumaturgical rituals, This is a chapter with advice on running chronicles focusing on or incorporating these sect officials. Broadly dividing possible stories into plot-driven, character-driven or “alternative”, I came away with a number of ideas for new games or scenes. It also has a list of a variety of things to keep in mind in various types of games, from how to pace an action chronicle to how not to be too mysterious in a mystery game. The chapter might have benefited from being a little bit longer and going into more detail about different genres, but that would have made it much less “on topic” for the specific subject matter of the book.

A 140-odd pages, Archons and Templars was a nice, big, hefty surprise for me. What I was expecting to be a worthless fluff piece turned out to be a truly useful resource for games focusing on archons, templars and even the Sabbat Inquisition. While not anywhere near essential to a “normal” Vampire: the Masquerade game (i.e. a Camarilla coterie of neonates), I would recommend this to anyone running a Sabbat game with any sort of significant involvement by the Sabbat Inquisition. The book not only provides a much clearer definition for just what a templar is, but also very clearly defined the official extent of the Inquisition’s power and their political balance with other powerful organizations within the sect, such as the ostensible rulers of the Sabbat and the Black Hand. That, along with the detail on the ritual nature of the Inquisition’s trials and tools, makes this very useful in Sabbat games.

Archons and Templars
Archons and Templars Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 26/08/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A surprisingly useful resource not only on the archons and templars of the title, but also for the Sabbat inquisitors. Product: Archons and Templars Author: Ari Marmell, Sarah Roark and Janet Trautvetter Category: RPG Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Line: Vampire: the Masquerade Cost: $19.95 Page count: 147 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 1-58846-224-2 SKU: WW2425 Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 26/08/02 Genre tags: Modern day Horror Espionage Vampire Gothic	When I first heard about the plans to release an entire book just on archons and templars, I must admit that I was rather incredulous that there would be enough to make it worthwhile, especially a big this lage. “What else can you say other than ‘They are like the undead secret police’?” I though, and I asked for a review copy to see just what White Wolf would manage to squeeze into there to make a full book. If I had just thought about it a bit more, I would have remembered just how perfect both groups are for player groups. A group of powerful people formed into a task force and assigned to fulfill the wishes of a clearly defined superior? Sounds ready-made to be a more traditional group of PCs than a coterie of like-minded, backstabbing licks. About the first half of the book is divided between expounding upon the archons that serve the Camarilla’s justicars and giving a clear picture of just what the Sabbat’s templars are (something that’s been kind of vague until now). Both of these chapters are done in the standard in-character mode, with all of the benefits and drawbacks of that. I found the Sabbat section to be excellent, and the conceit that it was framed as a one-on-one talk between a Camarilla defector and a Lasombra inquisitor grooming her to be a templar worked very well. The inclusion of a discussion about the Sabbat Inquisition surprised me, until it became apparent how similar inquisitors are to archons in their basic premise – find the bad guys in the sect and kill them. The chapter on the archons, however, I didn’t like so much, as it gave the impression that there is some sort of structured training for them, or that there is some kind of graduating class of archons. That just doesn’t fit their rarity or recruitment method. It does, however, get its point across, which is much more important. After a nice little chapter providing advice, ideas and considerations in character creation, there is another nice and big chapter that looks at the archons, templars and inquisitors again, but this time from a frank and objective point of view. Much of the information that was provided in the earlier in-character discussions is again reinforced here, along with a number of other ideas, anecdotes and rumors. A lot is covered in this chapter, giving us a very thorough look at sect officials: pretty much everything from just what these groups do to the tactics they use to do them to other details like how to prove your rank in a society based on secrets. Having this blunt and straightforward chapter after the in-character ones is one of the books strengths, I think. It allows for the in-character sections to build a mood and atmosphere while delivering a minimum of essential information, and then the objective text reinforces that and fills in the details that would have been almost impossible to get across in-character, at least not without stretching the premise beyond breaking. Before closing up with a chapter full of new Discipline powers and Thaumaturgical rituals, This is a chapter with advice on running chronicles focusing on or incorporating these sect officials. Broadly dividing possible stories into plot-driven, character-driven or “alternative”, I came away with a number of ideas for new games or scenes. It also has a list of a variety of things to keep in mind in various types of games, from how to pace an action chronicle to how not to be too mysterious in a mystery game. The chapter might have benefited from being a little bit longer and going into more detail about different genres, but that would have made it much less “on topic” for the specific subject matter of the book. A 140-odd pages, Archons and Templars was a nice, big, hefty surprise for me. What I was expecting to be a worthless fluff piece turned out to be a truly useful resource for games focusing on archons, templars and even the Sabbat Inquisition. While not anywhere near essential to a “normal” *Vampire: the Masquerade* game (i.e. a Camarilla coterie of neonates), I would recommend this to anyone running a Sabbat game with any sort of significant involvement by the Sabbat Inquisition. The book not only provides a much clearer definition for just what a templar is, but also very clearly defined the official extent of the Inquisition’s power and their political balance with other powerful organizations within the sect, such as the ostensible rulers of the Sabbat and the Black Hand. That, along with the detail on the ritual nature of the Inquisition’s trials and tools, makes this very useful in Sabbat games.