Goto [ Index ]

Middle of the 1990s. Vampire the Masquerade had been an enormous hit, the World of Darkness was the coolest setting ever, and many companies tried to release similar products: the Everlasting series, Witchcraft, Fading Suns, Rapture the Second Coming... even TSR included many of the WoD concepts in their wonderful Planescape.

Nightbane was Palladium's answer to the new gaming trend. It was developed by C.J. Carella, who later created Witchcraft and many other fine books. The line was short-lived, with only four supplements: Between the Shadows, Nightlands, Through the Glass Darkly and Shadows of Light. A future sourcebook is constantly announced, but it's uncertain if it will be released.

There's been a trend in these last years to dismiss anything that comes from Palladium Books. We all know Kevin Siembieda's personality, his conflicts with many authors and his publishing decisions. But when reviewing one of his books it's necessary to forget everything and concentrate on the game itself.

So my questions are: is Nightbane a mere Vampire clone with the Palladium system? Or has it something more? And more importantly: is it a good game in 2007?

The setting

Dark times

Nightbane takes place in an alternate present. In 1997 Earth was surrounded by complete darkness for one full day, and nothing has been the same since then. Monster sightings are becoming more and more common, as are strange disappearances, massacres and supernatural phenomena. Moreover, the US are governed by the populist Preserver Party, which has greatly limited the civil rights.

The explanation behind Dark Day is the existence of the Nightlands, a kind of Earth's dark mirror. It's a twilight world with the same cities and places, but where everything is twisted. The mirror metaphor is really adequate, since the best way to access it is... through a reflecting glass.

The Nightlords, or Ba'al, rule the Nightlands. They are evil beings of enormous power, whose goal is to dominate and enslave humanity. And the Dark Day is the prelude to their secret invasion. Now they are infiltrating governments and corporations, starting with the President himself.

The Nightlords have many minions, including the dopplegangers, who look like specific humans on Earth; the Hounds, magical humanoids which act as shock troops; the Ashmedai, their worm-like servants; and the Namtar, tiny insects that use humans as walking cocoons. Fortunately for humanity, the Nightlords have also one important disadvantage: they are always fighting each other instead of focusing completely in the invasion.

An, obviously, they are opposed by the Nightbane.

The Nightbane

The Nightbane are “normal” people, usually orphans or adopted children, who one day (called the Becoming) shapeshift into a terrible monster and discover their supernatural nature. This transformation is reversible at will, but obviously their life changes forever.

Being a Nightbane has good things: you have supernatural senses, several immunities, powerful abilities called talents, you can access the Nightlands through a mirror and you have an alternate form (the Morphus). There are also very serious drawbacks, including being treated as a monster and hunted by the Nightlords followers.

The Nightbane organize themselves in groups called Factions, which have different goals and methods. Some of them even include humans and other supernatural beings. The most important factions are:

The Resistance: The largest one, actively fighting the Nightlords everywhere.

The Nocturnes: And old faction with many supernatural members, specialized in vampire hunting before the Nightlord threat.

The Underground Railroad: The oldest organization, usually providing protection and hiding places to the fellow Nightbane, but now considered a bunch of cowards.

The Warlords: A huge street gang whose goal is the protection of their territories.

The Seekers: Academics and explorers who try to uncover as many secrets as possible.

The Lightbringers: A faction related to the mysterious Guardians (see below).

The Spook Squad: A group which includes former members of the CIA and FBI, now outlawed by the Preserver Party. They are the most intolerant faction

Other supernatural beings

Vampires are an important part of Nightbane. Like in all Palladium games they are beings from another plane of reality, part of a collective mind, and are hunted by Nightlords and Nightbane alike. Some of them, called wampyrs (?), can get free and become renegades, opposing their evil cousins. The vampires are the impredictable variable in the night war.

The Guardians are mysterious beings of unknown origin. They look like short albino humans, but they are extremely powerful. Some people regard them as angels, but others really mistrust them.

And finally, some humans can become sorcerers. They have become more common since the Dark Day, and their power cannot be neglected. Some of them work for the Nightlords, while others are in the good side.

The rules

Nightbane obviously uses the Palladium system created by Kevin Siembieda. Many people consider that it's old fashioned and clunky, and while it's clear that it needs many home rules, when I played the game I discovered that it works quite well.

The reason is that Nightbane is much less powered than other Palladium lines. No Mega-Damage, no extra-huge-weapons, no ultra-gargantuan-monsters. At least not in the core book. And through avoiding the usual Rifts' power escalating, the system becomes much more stable.

Where the game truly shines is in the Nightbane creation system. No two Morphus are identical, and the book provides a great number of tables with infinite options. The players are allowed to choose the parameters they want, but I'm sure rolling it's incredibly more funny. After all, the human who becomes a Nightbane has no control about the monster he becomes... I can't avoid pointing at some table names: Unearthly Beauty (yes, the Morphus it's not necessarily an horrendous monster), Canine Form, Stigmata, Alien Shape, Biomechanical traits...

The talents are innate supernatural powers the Nightbane can use. They gain one for free at levels one, four, seven, ten and twelve, although they can buy more expending permanent P.P.E. (Potential Psychic Energy). The talents can be common or elite, the latter with prerequisites. For example, only Morphus with biomechanical characteristics can use Deus Ex Machina (technological control).

Not all players must take the role of Nightbanes. There are other options available with GM permission: sorcerers, mystics, wampyrs and guardians. The book also includes the usual R.C.C. and O.C.C. for the antagonists, including Nightlords and their minions, several monsters from the Nightlands, dark priests and vampires.

The book

I'm sure everyone knows how Palladium books are: sturdy and with the simple two-column layout. I don't think the interior art is specially interesting, but some people may like it.

Another typical feature from Palladium books is also present in Nightbane: the strange organization. After presenting the setting, the book moves into the main rules, reprinted from other core books. This means that the character creation section is many pages away from the Nightbane creation, and that psionic powers (which play a minor role in the setting) come before the talents and the magic, which are much more important.

And about the writing, no complains here to Mr. Carella. He uses sometimes the usual Palladium tone (“Millions of people in Earth have an exact double living in the Nightlands! The Nightlords can manipulate matter, energy and the mind at will!”), but in a much lower percentage, and the descriptions are adequate to set the insane mood.

Conclusions

While Palladium Books is known for their multiverses with endless possibilities (and races and weapons and classes and monsters and...), Nightbane is amazingly self-contained. The game offers a chessboard, two if you count the Nightlands, and a few pieces: Humanity, the Nightbane, the Nightlords with their minions, the vampires and the Guardians. The relations with other games (Rifts, Beyond the Supernatural) are hinted but in no way are mandatory. And much better this way.

I really like how the different actors are linked, and the “bad guys” are somewhat complex. The vampiric infestation is a great touch: the unpredictable factor which becomes a danger for both factions alike. And then several players are really ambiguous. Are the Nocturnes manipulated by a vampire entity? Which are the Guardians true goals?

Another good think is that the game can be played in many different ways, and the “I'm incredibly powerful - let's kill everything” it's not the obvious one. The fight against the Nightlords will necessarily be subtle, and exploring the Nightlands can be a really horrific experience.

I'm not a Palladium fan. I don't specially like Palladium Fantasy or Beyond the Supernatural, although I have a great respect for Rifts (a true magnus opus) and the Anvil Galaxy setting.

But Nightbane is a very good product, and not just a "Vampire plus Rifts" clone. The rules are just OK, but it provides a very interesting setting and many opportunities. And if you have prejudices through Palladium Books, forget them and try Nightbane: maybe you'll even like it.

Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.