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Title: Vampire: The Dark Ages by Jennifer Hartshorn, Ethan Skemp, Mark Rein, Hagen Hassall, Kevin Hassall ISBN: 1-56504-275-1 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: March, 1996 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.71 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Definitely Dark
Comment: When I discovered Vampire: the Dark Ages, I wasn't sure what to expect. Vampire (like most White Wolf core games) is based upon our own society and a group of creatures which exist secretly beneath it.
This books is not like that. It takes the more traditional medieval time period, with a bloody twist. This is a fragile time; clan ties are stronger and clan stereotypes run rampant. History is twisted by the Lasombra and Ventrue, the Tremere are newly created and the Salubri still exist with reasonable numbers. The Cappadocians, now long forgotten (except as the oddly mysterious Harbingers of Skulls) are a powerful clan.
Why five stars? This is not a mock-up of Vampire: the Masquerade. It's something else, something different, something unique. It's a time of chaos in the world of the unliving, a struggle that predates the Camarilla. These are not the Kindred you think you know, they are Cainites to the core. They embrace their unique abilities and use them to command, to conquer, and to thrive.
Rating: 4
Summary: All stories have to start somewhere.
Comment: This is the core book, and it succeeds in its purpose wonderfully. It contains enough information for the tried-and-true Storyteller to dive right in and start running games with a more medieval flair. For the new Storyteller, there is a plethora of information available in the book. However, it did seem to lack the depth of knowledge that may sometimes be desired for games. There is enough to run a game, but some Storytellers may find that there is not enough information given on Cainite politics. This is, in fact, the time when Cainites ruled almost openly. There is no Masquerade, Camarilla, or Sabbat. The Dark Ages were a fine time for Cainites to live. I would highly recommend obtaining this and the Companion if you wish to run a Dark Ages game.
As with all game books, there is a section outlining each Discipline as it was. Many players will find that the Dark Ages may have been more deadly and open Cainite warfare raged all over, but their powers are not as violent as expected. While advanced players will try and find new ways to bend the rules, there are lovely counters included, such as Celerity costing far more blood than in modern times; so much for the whirling dervish attack! Along with the Disciplines, there are drastic changes in the clans themselves. Since there is no Camarilla - Sabbat division, all clans interact on a rather equal footing. This means players can use the fiendish Tzimisce right along side the artisan Toreador. Many games may find a Magister waging verbal battle with a Patrician. This book helps show that Cainite society has not always been the way it is under the Masquerade.
The only drawback to the book is that it does cover Cainite society and illuminates the rules for hand-to-hand medieval combat, there is very little on mortal society. It does cover their views and outlooks, but many details seemed to be lack (or I missed them!). A few pages to outline medieval currency and weapons broken down by time would be vastly helpful. After all, few people used rapiers in 966 CE, at least as far as I can tell.
In summary, this book is perfect as a starting point and fulfills its duty wonderfully. You will find the clans are well defined and the disciplines have been renamed and in some case restructured for a more primitive feeling. This review will hopefully show a bit more about the book. At least from a gamer's perspective, it is highly useful and one of my most used books.
Rating: 5
Summary: The time of Darkness has Desended
Comment: This is an OUTSTANDING addition to the Wod; VTM series...
For one thing it takes the main core rules of VTM and combines them with an age in time that already had horrors that we as modern men and women can not relate to..
it insures that it gives you enough advice to properly set a game based on a time that had Kings, Queens, Princes, princesses, Dukes, and well the list could go on.. It is also a time where it was not uncommon to find a "old" vampire running around within the confines of the church directing the slaughter of rival clans and humans.
if you are into the SCA and love VTM then you WANT to add this to your collection
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Title: Dark Ages: Vampire by White Wolf Staff, Bruce Baugh, Michael Butler, Chris Hartford, Jim Kiley, Adam Tinworth ISBN: 1588462765 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: The Book of Nod by Sam Chupp, David D. Gragert, Andrew Greenberg ISBN: 1565040783 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: January, 1996 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Vampire : The Masquerade (Revised Edition) by Justin Achilli, Andrew Bates, Phil Brucato, Richard E. Dansky, Ed Hall, Robert Hatch, Michael B. Lee ISBN: 1565042492 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: October, 1998 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Vampire Players Guide (Vampire) by White Wolf, Kraig Blackwelder, Carl Bowen, Anne Sullivan Braidwood ISBN: 1588462439 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Guide to the Sabbat (Vampire, the Masquerade) by Justin Achilli, W. H. Bourne, Anne Sullivan Braidwood, Joanne FitzRoy, Jess Heinig ISBN: 1565042638 Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc. Pub. Date: March, 1999 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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