The Dark Ages Storyteller’s Companion is the second book in White Wolf’s new Dark Ages line. Made up of a pretty but only mildly useful screen and a book of secrets for the Storyteller that is both pretty and useful, it rounds out Dark Ages: Vampire by giving more specifically ST-related information.

The Book

The first part of the package is the Dark Ages Storyteller’s Companion. This 78-page book is packed full of information for Storytellers, giving them new bloodlines, disciplines, and rules to make running a chronicle easier. Set up and laid out the same way as the MRB, this book is very pretty and is slightly unusual for Companions in that it has prettier and more consistent art than the MRB. The cover is quite ugly, nearly enough to turn me off the whole, but the interior is very nicely done.

The Dark Ages Storyteller’s Companion contains 6 new bloodlines: Baali, Gargoyles, Laibon, Lamia, Lhiannan, and Salubri. These bloodlines are set up specifically to be antagonists to the general PC group, adding a bit of mystery and friction to the vampiric world. Despite their ST-focused nature, each bloodline gets notes about how they might be used as PCs. This was a nice touch, I thought, as it clearly lined up the bloodlines as being special, but gave STs tools to use them as they see fit.

Next we get six new minor paths, most related to specific bloodlines or clans, and thus not general enough to have been listed in the main book. Once again these bits are set up mainly for ST use, but can be easily adapted to player use if so desired. After the paths are six new Disciplines, tied to the six new bloodlines. The Disciplines are a bit odder and more esoteric than those in the MRB, which fits their nature as mostly NPC-based. Though they could be given to PCs, I’d honestly counsel against it, as they often sit at odd angles in power balance to the more standard vampiric powers.

The final section of the book is the “Storyteller’s Toolkit.” This section is full of optional rules, templates for mortals and ghouls, lists of names and titles in the medieval period, and systems for personalizing paths, backgrounds, and the maturation system. My favorite bit in the section, though I’ve not yet playtested it fully, is the Mass Combat system. This system allows for mass slaughter of mortals, cavalry charges, fortifications, and general mass brutality while still keeping the action focused on the PCs and their main rivals. If you want to recreate the scene that adorns the screen, you’ll want to use these rules.

The Screen

The second part of the package is the “Dark Ages: Storyteller’s Screen.” This ST’s screen has a very pretty front (the player side), showing a battle scene in which undead steppe hordes rush to battle with Western European knights and soldiers. While the screen may not get the “angst and despair” aspect of Vampire across, it is very pretty and does get the “Ashen Knights kicking ass” aspect across very well. If you’re running an intrigue and personal horror game, it may not work as a mood enhancer. If you’re running a game of beating the crap out of the dirty Tzimisce/Ventrue then it should work nicely.

The interior/back (ST side) of the screen is only mildly useful. While it does have a useful step-by-step combat chart, it makes some odd decisions for the rest of its content. Rather than having tables of armor or weapons, we get a list of the Traditions. Rather than a list of common attribute skill combos (such as those given in the rules section of the MRB) we get an experience point cost chart. While those charts are nice to have in the book, they are not the kind of thing that is generally urgent enough in play to warrant being on the screen. I’d like the screen to have all the information you tend to need in a rush – things like combat mods (which it does have, though laid out oddly), weapons and armor lists (doesn’t have), common rolls in action situations (doesn’t have), and common attack maneuvers (doesn’t have). Less info on social issues, especially those that can be easily and leisurely looked up, and more on the things that get hectic, would have made this a better product.

The End

The “Dark Ages: Storyteller’s Screen” gets a 3 in Style for being very pretty and showing an actual scene rather than a random collection of images. For having only moderately useful information it gets a 2 in Substance.

The Dark Ages Storyteller’s Companion gets a 4 in Style for being well laid out, pretty, and for having better and more consistent art than the main book. If it wasn’t for the ugly cover, it might have gotten a 5. For having useful baddies, bloodlines, and secrets for the Storyteller it gets a 4 in Substance.

The whole product thus averages a 4 in Style and 3 in Substance.