I'm not sure how to describe Havens of the Damned. From talking to people I had been given the impression that it was a sourcebook on constructing havens---neat tricks to put into it, how to handle situations relating to a home that only a vampire would have trouble with, that sort of thing. Upon receiving the book I found out it was nothing like that, instead being a collection of different havens and brief descriptions (with no stats) of their occupants. It reminded me of the old Book of Lairs series from TSR, which had little mini-adventures to drop into your game when you were at a loss as to where to go next in the game or just wanted to throw something different into the campaign. I'm sure some people might be offended by that comparison, but it's the best one I can come up with for this book. But like the Book of Lairs, I think this is something worth buying for your campaign.
Introduction Nothing really new or interesting is to be found here, save for some funny flavor text involving a Setite described later in the book. I was confused by the author both commenting that most players never give their havens a second thought, and the idea that Earth Melding on a regular basis is a bad way to bed down for the day. An optional background to rate the quality of your haven is introduced here, and we're told that the rest of the book is a sampling of random Kindred havens from across America (which, in one case, is not entirely true, being a ship on international waters), with some story ideas for each.
At this point I should note some points that hold for the remainder of the book, namely:
1. Each haven is written to be located in specific place. While many can be easily adapted to wherever your Chronicle is located, a few are very area-specific, which may make it nigh-impossible to easily work them into your campaign.
2. The story hooks for the majority of these havens are rather lame. Much like the fantasy RPG cliche of "an old man comes up to you in a tavern," there's plenty of "Your Elder has ordered you to do this," "You must help me to protect the Masquerade," or "This vampire calls and asks for your help." The last two are real sticking points with me, as when the former is used the vampire is usually engaged in some sort of activity that would make you stake him and turn him over to the Prince, and the latter tends to be used with vampires who would seem to have nothing to offer other vampires in return for their aid, and have unlives that probably wouldn't interact much with most player Kindred.
<3>3. Again with regards to the story hooks, I was amazed at which the authors seem to think Kindred can move about from city to city and state to state. It was always my understanding that Kindred stick to a single city, both because of habit and because of all the dangers that lay in traveling between cities. With the exception of the description of a Ravnos, all the other hooks make it out that it's easy for Kindred to tool about the country to wherever they feel like.
The Winchester Mystery House I've been told this haven is based on a real location in California, though I have vague recollections of watching a television program years ago on a similar home in the southern United States. Basically, on the advice of a medium a woman moves to California to construct a home so as to placate spirits who had cursed her families. However, the woman was being manipulated by a Malkavian to build his unique vision of a home, and he hasn't left the house in nearly a century.
I didn't like this haven. I didn't like the idea presented that the house may have an evil spirit in it accidentally trapped by the design of the house, the hinting of the use of long-lost magics that'll never be explained to build the house, or the odd need for blood rituals to invoke the Dementation discipline. Whatever the reason, I don't see this one as something I'll ever use in my game.
A Real Fixer-Upper As I skimmed through this book I was wary of this entry, having a Setite using a hotel as a haven. There are certain things that every story I've read involving vampires & hotels has had, and I was quite ecstatic to discover that the author not only avoided those cliches, but also those that are normally used for Setites as well.
What makes this Setite and his haven great (to the point of bringing a smile to my face) is just how bad off the Setite is. I've been reading White Wolf releases since first edition Vampire came out, and this is only the second time I've seen a Setite portrayed as anything other than influential, charismatic, and powerful. The representative vampire in this section is poor, rather dumb, and accomplishes his mental manipulations of mortals by using bottles of alcohol. I picture his grand effort to contribute to the corruption of humanity being bribing children to pee into swimming pools. His haven is in a bad part of town that would fit into a pulp novel with no trouble.
Despite attempts on the author's part to convince us the Setite could become a real threat, all I can get from his description was that introducing him into a campaign would be a refreshing bit of comic relief. I've already planned to add the lad and his pad into my next Chronicle session.
The Local A Sabbat haven in New Orleans is covered here, with the vampires lairing in a union hall for janitorial and maintenance workers. This chapter has a nice look at Sabbat infiltration of a city's kine workings, being a refreshing change from the hack and slash attitude that is usually used to portray the Sabbat. However, the remainder of the chapter was less-than-impressive, the haven description being nothing exceptional. Also, one of the story hooks for this section has the players being the ones infiltrating the Local and taking it over. Since the write-up of the Local is as though it's already been taken over (detailing what the NPC Sabbat have already done to it) using this story hook would make the information presented here nigh-worthless.
The Glass House A Toreador's lair is discussed here. While the Toreador himself wasn't all that interesting, and I was confused by some points (did you know that performing ordinary stage magic for mortals is a breach of the Masquerade? And what exactly is a Level 5 feat of Strength?) I was very impressed by the haven itself. The Toreador has made some very unique alterations to his house to protect himself (though some of the rules related text seemed contrary to what I knew of Obfuscate) which are fascinating and make sense in both a game world & real world perspective. Unlike the Winchester Mystery House, it would be easy to work these features into other parts of a Storyteller's game without losing their charm, or having players go "why can't I do that?"
Downstairs, Downtown Covering a Tremere's basement apartment in Massachusetts, I was a bit put off as I began to read the chapter, with the author seeming to feel that the majority of Kindred live in luxurious havens, and thus an apartment dwelling Kindred was some sort of amazing twist. Once I got past that, however, I found the section a good read, but not because the vampire detailed or his haven would make a nice addition to my Chronicle. Rather, the author does an excellent job detailing problems exclusive to the undead trying to operate in the world of the living and how to handle them. His answers to the problems are well thought out, and even cover some things I've always wondered about, but had the luck to never have crop up in my game. It's certainly worth a read for portraying vampires who still have to get their hands dirty getting tasks down.
The House of Storms Despite the fact that I have no idea what "biddable men" are, or whether the Keepers Clan is a typo or a Clan introduced in a supplement I've never read, I found this chapter a refreshing change, the vampire being covered not only being in charge of several businesses, but having a hands-on approach to each of them. The use of a strip mall as haven and feeding ground was also new to me, though why no mention is made of the threat of feeding so close to one's haven is beyond me, since in two other chapters of this book great pains are made to mention what a threat such behavior can be to a vampire.
I have to say that this was my first exposure to the overuse of brand names, famous bands, and other pop culture references in White Wolf books. I've heard fans of both Vampire and Mage complain of an overabundance of name dropping in releases in recent years, but I never encountered it before now: Twenty-one references in five pages was a bit much for me.
The Guardian Lakes Country Club I have to sat that this Gangrel haven has a lot of nice touches. While the Gangrel owns the land from long ago, he had to enter into a deal with a Ventrue to insure his continued ownership, resulting in his haven frequently being a place for Toreador & Ventrue events; not the kind of thing you'd expect at a Gangrel's home.
Of some confusion to me was the description of the Gangrel's sleeping habits, which seemed to make the idea of a Gangrel using Earth Meld to sleep out to be a very rare occurance. Also, the Gangrel has kept his ownership of the land a secret from the mortals running the country club, and it mentions that the vampire has in keeping the secret from the kine in charge. Why he does not simply Blood Bond the human if he has been such a problem, or even asking his Ventrue ally to Dominate or Presence him into submission, is beyond me.
The Elevator & The Arrow Detailing a Ravnos who travels the country in an RV while having a permanent haven in a grain elevator in Iowa, I have mixed feelings on this entry. I was pleased with it because (as I mentioned earlier) it details the difficulties Kindred have in traveling long distances, and the write-up of the elevator is very well-down and clever. Unfortunately, I can see a lot of problems with using the elevator in an established campaign, even if you move it around; most players I know would see farm country as prime Lupine territory, and would not risk venturing out to it, and several "by Night" books are set in areas without a rural farming area nearby.
Zatopek Farms I can't deny it: I loved this haven. Maybe it's because I've developed a fondness for the Tzimisce after playing one recently, or perhaps the thriving worm farm the Tzimisce uses as both source of income and haven brought back fond memories of the second job I ever had, or the working joe style of the farm was just so unique from what's usually found in Vampire books. Whatever the case I found this haven to be a real fun read, and can see that adding it into any Chronicle would add a unique touch I don't think players would forget for a while.
The Legend of Sensual Secrets This was the only chapter of the book I found boring. It's the tale of Brujah who has set up a bordello in Florida and enjoys watching her clients, trying to reconnect with the enjoyment of sex that she lost with her Embrace. There was nothing new or exciting here, and one paragraph so reeked of pretentiousness I was reminded of when I used to work at a game store & the Vampire LARP'ers who had trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality would stop in.
The Venetian An amusing, if odd, bit of work about a Giovanni makes up the Venetian. The title of the chapter comes from a massive hotel the Giovanni has built in Las Vegas, with dreams of turning it into a neutral meeting place for all factions of vampires. I enjoyed the little tie-ins between this chapter and previous WoD releases, though I had trouble with the reasoning behind why the Giovanni elders were willing to back the construction of the hotel.
The Gatekeeper's Hold This part of the book discusses a Nosferatu considered hideous even by the standards of his clan, who lairs in a water treatment plant, which he worked at both in his mortal days and in his unlife. I found this section well-written, as it showed the massive benefits a Nosferatu can reap from his plant by holding such a job, and his manipulation of the kine running the plant is well thought out & far less heavy handed than most depictions of vampire control of humans. The talk of Blood Bonding in this chapter left me a bit confused, as it seemed that the vampire's blood didn't seem to be anywhere near the strength such a control usually has.
The House That Fear Built I wasn't entertained by this Malkavian whose dementia turned her into the ultimate packrat. The writer of this section was inspired by two brothers whose packrat nature was the cause of their deaths (the author mentions the pair at the beginning of the section). I had read a book some time ago that went into great detail about the brothers' home, and the true story was far more interesting to me than this World of Darkness version. Plus, coming from a family of packrats, the idea of a home filled with teetering piles of items collected over decades with tiny passageways weaving through the clutter seemed perfectly normal to me. Your milage may vary with this one.
CVN 70, U.S.S. Carl Vinson I have to admit I was amused as I began to read this section. The Assamite player in my group is an ex-Navy man, so an Assamite aboard an aircraft carrier was funny to me. While the logic behind the Assamite's choice of havens is a good & novel one, I had some problems with this write-up. While I won't go into detail on my first problem, relating as it does to long OOP books that may no longer be in continuity in the WoD, the others I feel worthy of mention.
The big problem for me comes from the depiction of the sailors as ultra-efficent, ultra-alert humans, to the point that "even a single out-of-place leftover drop of blood" could bring the Assamite to the attention of the humans. While I admit freely that in such an enclosed the environment aberrations are more likely to be noticed, tales from the ex-Navy lad in my group show me Navy officers are just as fallable as everyone else, making me think the Assamite's attempts at stealth would not be quite as hard as portrayed here.
My other problem comes from the Assamite's limited contact with humanity, and the author's view of how it would affect his sanity. While I can agree that the isolation of the vampire could lead to madness, I disagree with the idea it would lead to a nigh-unavoidable Humanity loss.
The Chattanooga Recreational Center Quick: you're newly embraced, declared a Catiff since your Sire won't admit to making you, with no way to regain your former pleasant lifestyle, or even basics such as clothing. What do you do?
A) Use your newfound Disciplines to manipulate the mortal minions of all those Kindred who failed to help you as you adjusted to your newfound state of undeath?
B) Give up on your Humanity, and become a soulless killing machine that needs to be put down?
C) Team up with other estranged Kindred to overthrow the elder vampires of the city, taking their place and becoming as bad as they were?
D) Accept your fate and eke out a humble existence, enjoying what simple pleasures you can find?
If you answered "D" you're sure as hell not playing the typical manipulating, self-serving "humans are cattle" bloodsucker normally found in Vampire campaigns. You are, however, playing a character like the one described in this setting.
The vampire in this section has made a tiny life for himself in the world of the living, far removed from Kindred society. He has no plans for vengeance, no vast web of intrigue he casts over the city, no use of humans as toys or mental derangements or tragic love stories. He just gets by and tries to make the lives of those around him a little better. I'll be honest: I never thought I'd see such a well-adjusted and, well, nice vampire in a WoD book. It was very refreshing, and brought back fond memories of my first Vampire character, who was killed off by the Storyteller because "you're not allowed to play nice people in Vampire." I enjoyed seeing that someone else thinks that nice characters can exist in the World of Darkness.
I think Havens of the Damned would be a good purchase if you're looking to drop some new vampires into your campaign, or if you're looking for some one-night adventures. For those with tightly detailed Chronicles with all of a city's Kindred population accounted for and well-detailed, you can probably steer clear of this one.
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