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The book preps us with a brief history of Mexico stretching from the ancient indigenous empires to the European conquest to the final nights, much of it smoothing over or simply replacing previous material (such as The Chaos Factor’s history of Baali infestation). We get a bloody history of gods, monsters, subjugation and rebellion – all of which resonate strongly with the Sabbat. Perhaps even more important about this chapter, however, is the wealth of plot seeds and anecdotes. There are several passages or sidebars that could be quickly and easily cultivated into intriguing stories, as well as a handful of brief descriptions of various violent Sabbat games. The chapter ends setting the stage for the various central plot seeds and conspiracies presented later in the book.
The geography chapter that follows is one of the weakest sections of the book, largely because of the poor maps which do not include many of the very important locations described in the text. Instead they have notes and instructions scrawled upon them, presumably to make it feel like they are maps handed to some kind of agents on a mission in the city. Had this been a direct adventure supplement instead of a broad city resource, that may have worked. Instead it was distracting and frustrating as I tried to build a mental map of all the locations and groups mentioned. The difficulty in building a real sense of geography makes it all the more difficult to fully impart the feel of the city, but it is something that can be overcome with a little bit of research and some hand-made maps. This is not to say that the chapter is empty, however, far from it. Liberally scattered throughout it are plot threads, seeds and just simply cool scenery. It is that richness that creates the necessity for a good map to keep it all straight.
Most of the book is dedicated to the vampires of Mexico City, and the character chapter is extensive and detailed. In a welcome touch, it begins with descriptions of the most influential packs in the area before moving to the individual Cainites themselves. For some reason, the pack nature of the Sabbat is often easily forgotten and this reinforcement is a very useful reference for the city’s power structure. The next almost 50 pages details a number of residents of all shapes, sizes and power levels. Even more so than New York by Night, reading through the collection of vampires was like piecing together a half dozen puzzles as once as each presented a different side of a conspiracy, dark secret or simply a compelling story. While some are far harder to use that others, there were none that I would not have liked to work into a campaign, ensuring that any game set in Mexico City has a large and varied cast befitting its status in the undead world.
Perhaps the most directly and broadly useful sections in the book are the last two chapters, however. The last chapter (number “Fove” according to the footer) gives some advice for storytelling a Sabbat chronicle, from violence to symbolism, along with some new traits and rules, but chapter four is what lays the meat of the book bare for Storytellers to really pick at. Through this first three chapters, three major and several minor plot ideas are woven into the characters and the city itself. More than just a review of the information in the rest of the book, however, the chapter also suggests several ways to get the player character directly involved in the events described (some of them truly momentous, such as the mysteries surrounding the sect’s Regent) as well as some ideas on various possible resolutions. The utility of this cannot be understated, both for planning a chronicle using these ideas directly or simply painting them up as a backdrop to another storyline. Mexico City presents the tools of plot hooks and compelling characters, and then it tells us how we can use them.
With stories of hidden politics, warped religious fervor and ancient powers stirring in the night, Mexico City by Night manages to collect almost everything I love about Vampire (and the Sabbat in particular) into a single city ready to erupt into a grand chronicle. I would actually recommend this to Storytellers who haven’t considered setting a game in Mexico City, or anyone running a Sabbat chronicle. While invaluable as a resource for any game set there, it serves almost as well as an example of a domain of the Sword of Caine or a source of personalities and events to keep the sect evolving in an established campaign.
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