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In Short
Night Horrors: The Wicked Dead offers a variety of different vampire options primarily as antagonists for Vampire: The Requiem. Most of these oddities are designed to be mysterious or horrific, possessed of a twisted vampire curse that has made them something different than the Kindred they encounter. Primarily a Storyteller resource, Wicked Dead does a good job of presenting a lot of neat plot hooks focused around this theme while avoiding the trap of offering powerful character options. The creatures here are interesting, balanced, and more geared towards disturbing encounters than play options.The Good: A large mix of ideas means that everyone will find something to enjoy. While I wouldn't use every idea here, I didn't find any concepts that were poorly executed which is impressive in itself considering the breadth of the concept. A few of the ideas are so cool that I'll be borrowing them for other campaigns.
The Bad: Because this is such a focused product many readers may not find a lot of use for it at the gaming table. The cost is a little high for the amount of content, no doubt due to the high production values.
The Physical Thing
At $32.99, this 160 page full color hardcover showcases excellent production values. Good writing, editing, formatting, and attractive artwork all come together to create a book that is enjoyable to read and well supported. While expensive in terms of cost to raw content, The Wicked Dead does make tasteful use of its art budget to produce supporting artwork that enhances the reading experience by being closely associated with the text and also evocative of a grim horror mood.Under the Cover
Wicked Dead offers a variety of different takes on vampirism, along with things connected to vampirism, with a goal of creating entities that are meant to be plot points rather than character build options. Meant for Storytellers possessed of an urge to add alternative types of vampires, this resource could work quite well for other World of Darkness titles (lookin' at you, Hunter) along with Vampire Storytellers interested in either a one shot or even a campaign based on investigating the stranger elements of the setting. Let's take a look at the first six, along with a few of my favorites, but first a note on a new mechanic.Some of the entries here feature Blood Potency 0. These entities can have a Blood Pool of 10, can heal Bashing and Lethal damage, react with fear to creatures with Potency 1 or higher, can augment Physical Attributes, may not use Blush of Life, can not create Vinculi, and can not sire Ghouls. This system is meant to reflect creatures that are vampire-like but which lack the awesome power available to the Kindred. These creatures are terrors in their own right, often so much so that they would rightly frighten Kindred, but they simply lack the supernatural potency of the standard World of Darkness vampire.
Aswang are Filipino entities similar to both vampires and werewolves. They drink blood (Potency 0) in horrible fashion, without the benefit of the kiss, and have the ability to transform themselves into hideous animal hybrids depending on their nature. As with many of the entries here, Aswang have a variety of different possible origin myths and their agenda tends to be individualistic, like a normal vampires, rather than an organized goal. Between their mystery and ease of hit and run tactics, Aswang could make excellent antagonists in a variety of games.
Baykosh is a spirit actively hunting survivors of war or violence. It has its own rules to the hunt and abandons the hunt if the victim can evade it until sunrise, but otherwise is an extremely effective and relentless pursuer. Baykosh are offered as a way to reflect on the nature of vampirism, as vampires are occasional targets, and using one to illustrate the horror of a creature compelled by its nature to hunt other living entities could be a wonderful storytelling tool.
Bhuta are ghosts who possess a body and gain essence by drinking blood. The tormented person still exists, though they have been largely hollowed out by the spirit, and the new entity's behavior strongly resembles that of an out of control vampire. The Cihuateteo, conversely, are humans who have acquired dark power and used it to transform themselves into something that borders life and death. With Blood Potency 0, these cultists learn Disciplines along with a unique form of Shapeshifting in order to continue to push their death cult forward and thrive in areas where humanity is least watched.
Parasites are a nice mix among everything else, and while I don't consider the Cymothoa Sanguinaria to be the best parasites found here they're not a bad addition. Basically they infest humans and take control of the nervous system, at first subtly influencing behavior but gradually hijacking the whole system until they've completely reproduced and are done with the cycle. They're especially horrific for players who are squeamish about bugs and such, though some groups may find them to be a little more on the disgusting and boring side of things depending on group taste. Definitely a nice option for an investigative game.
Formosae feed on human misery, becoming bloated creatures of fat and despair over time. Many of the blood mechanics of normal vampires are translated into a fat-like substance that fills the Formosae, and the feeding process focuses more on absorbing negative qualities leaving the victim unusually beautiful. The vampire's victims gain a clear benefit from being fed upon, and this may well lead to a Formosae creating a stable group of humans to feed from in the long term. An interesting story idea and potentially very powerful antagonist, the Formosae have a lot more in common with Kindred than most of the other entries here.
Those are the first six, and I think they offer a decent overview of the creativity and variety of content present in The Wicked Dead. Let me add in a little bit of discussion of some of my favorite creations. Mnemovores are little more than an idea, but they're an excellent idea. A vampire-like entity that feeds on memories, Mnemovores are beautiful because they're difficult to catch (since they feast on witness memories) and offer an interesting explanation for the fog of eternity that elder vampires suffer from. These could be an excellent element in any Vampire game, especially as a secret political tool used to keep opponents under control.
The Ragged Men are an excellent parasite option in that they exist solely to take advantage of a vampire's feeding cycle. Initially consumed by mortals through water, the parasite only becomes active after being taken into a vampire through normal feeding. From then it grows and changes, ultimately being forcefully expelled as a large entity from the vampire's mouth and attempting to consume the vampire before returning to a water source to begin the life cycle anew. What I particularly like about this entry is the level of detail the author provides, bringing the parasite to life through well thought out considerations. Definitely a frightening thing for any vampire to experience, this could be an excellent problem for a vampire scientist to be examine.
The book wraps up by presenting Dampyr as an option. These are the children of a union between a vampire and a mortal and they exist as a sort of punishment for vampires. Predominantly mortal, these entities radiate an aura that certain vampires find irresistible while also having poisoned blood and the ability to shrug off many vampiric powers. They could be worthwhile as an extremely rare, one time element or as a common part of a campaign setting where they're an organized, ongoing threat to vampires.
My Take
I found this book to be a surprising treat in terms of creativity and usefulness, exactly the sort of inspiring work I want in an already well developed line like Vampire: The Requiem. The ideas are interesting, well developed, and worthy of inclusion in a variety of different campaigns. They could be useful as one-off ideas, as recurring campaign elements in a long term game, or as plot points for other titles such as Hunter thanks to the adaptable nature of each of the ideas. If you're looking for a book full of interesting plot hooks and potential antagonists then The Wicked Dead delivers.Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
