This book isn't going to break any molds as far as what a tribe book covers. It starts off with Legends of the Garou, a short story called Culling the Herd. See, unlike most other tribes, the Red Talons are all born from wolves and kinda, no, not kinda, do hate humans and usually kill or cull them. Not just evil ones, not just the ones raping the earth, but all of 'em. This short story is a good illustration of that fact.
The book then starts, broken up into Four Chapters. Chapter One, Blood, covers the history of the tribe from their perspective. Chapter Two, Flesh, covers the Society, actually told by another member of a different tribe. This makes it an interesting contrast as we see how the other tribes view them. Chapter Three, Bones, covers character creation and provides all sorts of little details and additions to augment your standard Red Talon. Chapter Four, Spirit, well, pregenerated characters and NPCs are listed here.
Chapter One, Blood, really gave me something to thing about. Normally I can brush off the material written in these sections as mere prejudice on the tribes part but here, it made me think of things a little differently. For example, it starts off with the premises that humans are prey and that only through the truth of the Wyrm are they able to turn that around and become predators. Not being true predators however, they aren't gifted with the Weaver's gift of patience and throw things out of balance. Now the whole concept of humans not being prey is something I never though of. The whole thing that humans as a race are corrupt is an interesting one that can be added to any campaign and provides the tribes something to really rage about.
Other bits that were helpful include how the tribe's mark was originated, as an attack against a fellow wolf that left three bloody marks on his chest. Now that's an original way to craft glyphs eh? Of course other events, like the War of Rage are covered and in the Talons opinion, it's best to say that they really didn't seem to have a clue about what was going on at first and seemed reluctant to join this fray, as opposed to some of the other evil they've done like wiping out another community of shape changers.
Flesh, Chapter Two, provides some nice ideas about how the Red Talons use different things. For example, while they're not highly technical or at home in the city, they are the true wolf and are most comfortable in their lupus form. How they get along with other tribes is explained, not in great detail, but enough to provide a player a quick guide on how his people tend to react to the other members and generally, why.
Other details about how they get along with other strangeness in the WoD like Vampires, Hunters, and Mages is provided but once again, it's more for the sack of completeness than truly detailed information. Want to know what the Red Talons think of the laws of the Litany and why? Want some quick details on the totems? How about their feelings of the Triad? All covered.
Those more interested in how Talons start off may find it interesting to note that there are few tribes of pure red talons left as they're basically a dying breed. This doesn't stop them from having their own secrets though like the Winter Packs, Red Talons who've been raised away from humans with but one thing in mind, killing humans.
Those wondering what the Red Talons do across the world get some information as well. The big WoD event in Russia is covered and brief snippets about Australia, Africa and the Umbra are added so that players can have some models on which to base their characters knowledge or even background in.
Bones provides all the game mechanics to tie it all together. What backgrounds are appropriate and what modifications do they need are covered. For example, under Allies, they usually have wolves, not people, but these cost more points. New Gifts are covered in both Storyteller terms and MET terms. One example is Purify Meat, a level one gift, that allows Red Talons to cure human meat of the impurities in it. Want to change the campaign in a big way? Introduce the Rite of Gaia's Rebirth, a level five rite that sacrifices Gnosis and perhaps life in order to undo the defilement done to the land. It's not just making things cleaner, but can restore trees through steel, cover cars with vines and moss, and in general, be a huge boon to the Wolves if used as a weapon.
Spirit provides some interesting pregenerated characters for consideration. It covers the broad strokes you might think of with Red Talons. You've got the Human's Friend who doesn't think that all humans are bad and then you've got the Provider for Gaia, a flesh eater. You've got the Spy, seeking to kill humans and goad others into killing them, as well as the Autumn Wolf, a being who doesn't want to war on humans at all but return to her destroyed forest. The last pregenerated character is the disgrace, a fallen alpha whose encounter with a pack of Black Spiral Dancers shattered his confidence.
On the Notable side, the NPC's without statistics, we get Stains-Glass, Wyrmbaiter and Storm-Eye among others. Each has some background but not a lot, just enough to let the GM know what these characters are for and generally how powerful they are without putting it into game terms.
Anyone whose owned a tribe book knows that the last few pages are a customized character sheet for the tribe being written about and this book is no different, ending with a four page character sheet.
The art is generally good with some great illustrations. The writing is fairly crisp and easy to follow, not relying on tons of fiction to relay the goods. Format is standard two column layout with full page spreads between the chapters.
Overall, Red Talons does what it sets out to. It provides the GM with lots of story ideas and seeds while providing players with new toys and abilities to add to their Red Talons characters. At 104 pages, it's very reasonably priced at $15.95. The MET rules, while meaningless to me, don't take up a lot of room and probably make those Mind's Eye Theatre readers happy. Another positive notch in White Wolf's belt as far as I'm concerned.
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