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The only downside I can think of is that most Storytellers will only use a small percentage of the product. If you want new powers (Devotions, Bloodlines, etc) you wont find any here. If you’re just playing Vampire this book is useless, as it’s entirely about how the Storyteller can tell more compelling stories and modify the core rules and concepts to shake things up and present Vampire in a different light. If you like Vampire but would prefer to tinker with it and try out something new then this is an excellent buy.
The Physical Thing
This 192 page black and white hardcover showcases below average production values. The art tends to be of Good quality and is logically connected with the discussion around it, though the art is somewhat infrequent. The paper stock is of a lower quality and feels somewhat papery. The formatting and presentation are excellent, leading to an easy to read product. A lack of index makes this toolkit more difficult to use. While the Introduction lays out the contents, it fails to lay them out in order making it very difficult for a reader to find what they’re looking for. On the other hand, a lot of the content of this product is meant to be read once or twice and does not require quick reference as a book full of powers might.The Ideas
This book was created with two goals in mind. First, it exists to assist the Storyteller. Suggestions on Storytelling, how to handle various aspects of the Requiem, and a plethora of prestatted NPCs exist to create a deeper, easier to run Chronicle. Second, it exists to provide lots of ideas for different types of Vampire games and the sorts of rules modifications that may be fun and/or appropriate. These range from a thoughtful but otherwise straightforward discussion of how solo play differs from group play to an interesting substitution of the Beast for the Other – a personal demon that lacks the fury of the Beast but possesses a sinister intelligence.Under the Cover
This book begins with a piece of setting fiction followed by an Introduction which explains the rest of the product.Chapter 1 Designing a Chronicle 10 pages.
This chapter presents practical advice on how to structure a Chronicle. Pacing, themes, ending, premise, motifs, and other concepts are each given several paragraphs to a full page worth of attention. It serves as an excellent starting point to get a Storyteller thinking about the structure of the game they want to run and encourages a moderate degree of forethought.
Chapter 2 Chronicles 146 pages.
Many different topics are discussed in this chapter, and most topics have at least one example Chronicle attached to them showing the Storyteller how to implement a given idea. Many of these ideas work really well together, and it’s easy for a reader to mix and match to get the sort of Chronicle they’re interested in.
Becoming a Vampire starts the reader off with a discussion of how the Embrace is handled, roleplay considerations, and mechanical tweaks to make those early nights ones of mystery and discovery. For instance, the author recommends vastly increasing the power of Disciplines and other vampiric abilities the first time they’re used to show the untapped potential a new vampire possesses.
Damnation presents an alternate take on Vampire where the characters are directly cursed by God or the Devil instead of being embraced by another vampire. Cain, Longinus, Dracula, Lilith – many other people in vampire mythology have received the direct attention of the divine and this scenario puts the characters in similar roles. What did the characters do to earn divine wrath? What will they do now? Do crosses strike fear into these vampires, reminding them of the absence of God/divinity and their tormented state? The example Chronicle here, Kali Yug, sets the characters up as representing the world and as they become more and more damned so does the rest of the world until Armageddon arrives.
Clanless discusses removing Clans from Vampire: the Requiem. Topics such as how to handle Weaknesses, the importance of Covenants, determining favored Disciplines, and how to implement Bloodlines are all discussed.
Vampire Familia assists Storytellers in telling a tale where the characters all share the same sire. This sire could be their friend, enemy, or even a mysterious figure that disappears after creating them. How to build a family tree, how the power level of the patron will change the Chronicle, and what sorts of stories are most appropriate for this type of setup are all discussed. Two Households presents an example Chronicle involving two feuding vampire houses and sets the characters up as members of one house or the other.
Generational involves players using several characters (one at a time) to tell a story through the ages. Presumably the player will have a progenitor vampire, no doubt a really powerful figure, under their control along with up to a half dozen or so vampires that are created over the centuries. How Merits change, what sorts of adversaries are appropriate to a game like this, and other considerations are all discussed here. The Rise and Fall of House Urzica presents a Chronicle setup where one House is battling against another over centuries, and each generation of vampires has new problems and capabilities to bring into the fight.
The Other presents one of the more interesting ways to modify the game. Instead of a violent Beast every vampire has an Other lurking inside. The other is calm, rational, and wholly focused on doing whatever it takes to survive. The ultimate goal of the Other is to possess the vampire’s body, and it works towards this goal by encouraging the vampire to perform horrific acts which slowly degrades their spirit and ultimately will make it easier for the Other to gain control. The Other offers advice, criticism, and generally acts as an ally to the character as much as an enemy. It’s like having Satan watch over the character’s shoulder all the time. This is an extremely cool variant that will likely appeal to a large number of groups.
Vampire Kings presents an opportunity to play the big movers and shakers instead of the standard “newly created vampire.” An alternate method of character creation is presented, which gives about 300+xp worth of abilities. This system assumes the characters are each playing Princes of their own cities or occupy some other equally important position. The system is a simple way to build powerful characters, and the following discussion addresses the sort of Chronicle that would involve characters of this sort of power.
The Political, The Personal discusses how to involve the characters in politics and how to make politics interesting within a Chronicle. The classic political web is presented, along with an example web, and it serves as an excellent tool to show Storytellers how to structure politics within their Chronicle.
Procedural shows how to run games about highly trained people going about their jobs, often investigative or police work. It offers really good advice on how to run a game like this, such as by allowing characters to have an ability like “I always succeed when I determine a corpse’s time of death.” This results in predictability for the Storyteller, formulaic stories similar to Law & Order and other such shows, and an opportunity for every character to show off during the procedural. In addition to mechanical suggestions, a discussion of how to structure and run the procedural is presented.
Operatic involves tragedy roleplay similar to an opera. It’s a unique and interesting take for the vampire, and the players are both playing their characters and performing before an audience of their peers at the same time. Characters take on appropriate additional roles such as the Protagonist, Lover, Rival, etc. The players then tell a tragic story through their characters, often culminating in the untimely death of one or more of them.
Espionage discusses intelligence gathering and black ops work as it applies to a Requiem Chronicle. A variety of suggestions are presented for running espionage games, from ways to make the players sweat to how Morality factors into everything. A sample scene putting these tips into play and showing how espionage works in an RPG like this is provided. A sample Chronicle setup, A Cuckoo in the Next involves espionage directed against the player characters and the steps they take to deal with it.
War Stories discusses, well, war stories. Hot wars, cold wars, global wars, and underworld wars are all presented alongside how these wars shake up vampire society. Feeding modifiers, child soldiers, death squads, and other concepts are briefly discussed to give the Storyteller plenty of ideas for a Chronicle in a war zone. War Stories: Mexican Snow is an example Chronicle set in Tijuana focusing on an underworld war.
Hunters Hunted presents a campaign involving vampires being hunted by something. Humans, other vampires, and stranger things are all suggested as potential antagonists. Humans, in particular, make excellent antagonists as they can be used to show the importance of the Masquerade. The chapter also discusses how to structure a Chronicle involving characters being hunted, what sorts of scenes to use, and how to resolve the scenario. An example Chronicle, Preying Kine, involves a Masquerade breach that leads to a group of vampire hunters coming after the characters.
Bottle Chronicle involves trapping the characters in a tight environment, likely a prison. Resource management, tactics, the horror of being controlled, and other elements/themes appear much more strongly in a Bottle Chronicle than they do in other types of games. A prison or dungeon containing vampires (perhaps something like the Initiative from Buffy) is the most likely option for a Bottle Chronicle.
Isolated assumes the characters are the only vampires around – perhaps the only vampires at all (especially if you combined it with Damned). Discovering their vampiric nature, carving out territory, and deciding what sort of a world they want to create are all themes central to an Isolated game. A alternate system for learning Disciplines is presented along with a sample scene that illustrates how an Isolated game works. Flee From the Monster is an example Chronicle involving the characters being sired and abandoned in a rural town.
Transcendence is about vampires who want to become human again. Characters constantly push themselves to overcome their vampiric limitations and generally act like humans. Staying up during the day, avoiding Discipline use, and avoiding Feeding are just a few examples of the sort of behavior these vampires engage in. How characters can become human and where to take the game if they do are both discussed.
Solo presents information on solo play. In most RPGs the characters can rely on one another as allies, and even in the harshest worlds every character has someone to turn to. This may not be the case in a solo game, and the section does a good job of discussing the sorts of unique problems and opportunities inherent in the solo game.
Monster Garage makes larger changes to the core system than any other variant. The idea here is to really play up the monstrous aspect of Kindred, and to do that Vices are used constantly. First, all Attributes are discarded and replaced with Power, Finesse, and Resistance. Second, all Abilities are discarded and replaced with the Vices from World of Darkness. So a roll to sweet talk a prostitute might be Finess + Lust in the new, simpler system. Disciplines are also made simple, and in general the World of Darkness system becomes very light on rules. The tweaks are meant to encourage immersive, horrific roleplay where the characters are firmly established as horrible creatures. An example Chronicle, Little Tyrants, puts this setup to work.
Claustrophobia presents an example Chronicle where the characters have been confined to a mall in punishment for criminal acts. Dracula, Prince of Paris involves Dracula returning from Torpor and embracing the characters to work as his servants. Requiem in Paradise involves the characters being the only vampires among the Hawaiian Islands, strongly contrasting the natural lushness and beauty found there. Violence presents a variety of major conflicts the characters could be involved in, with a focus on their individual moral beliefs. Finally, Rights of the Dead involves mixing up vampires with a zombie menace.
Chapter 3 Antagonists 24 pages.
A variety of generic Vampire NPCs are presented meant to take up a large number of roles so that the Storyteller can easily insert any of them into a given campaign.
My Take
This product does an excellent job of providing a variety of new and interesting ideas to stimulate the imagination of any Storyteller. There’s something here for everyone. I have also found this product to be extremely helpful for selling my group on Vampire, as it has helped me think up a larger variety of Chronicles for them to choose from. Because of this product my next Vampire game will likely use the Damned and Other variants. The game will involve mortals given over to the Devil, who constantly tempts and taunts them towards damnation.Unlike some products of the past, there is nothing here for players. The title really does mean Chronicler’s Guide. I consider the focus of the product to be an incredible boon, but if you are looking for more powers and abilities you wont find any here.
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