VtM - WhiteWolf: Genealogy

VtM - Review: The Anarch's Cookbook
defined, is an utter loss. Most of the information has appeared in numerous products, and that which
doesn't ought to be self evident. There are quick and dirty lists of allies, enemies, and how the Anarchs
are perceived in the WoD. Most of this is so cursorily gone over, it defies any attempt at freshness.
However, if one was going to play a sourcebook on Anarchs alone, and never buy another book, this one
had to contain this extraneous information to make it complete.
2: The Revolt: The first and last thirds of this chapter follow the first chapter in their pseudo-relevance
and lack of new information. What is worthwhile, however, is in the middle. Anarchs have always
existed. Since vampires were few and far between in the past, the rebellious nature never had to manifest.
However, in these modern times, with its "Better to burn out / Than to fade away," mantra, Anarchs stick
out like a sore thumb. They've already died once. What more can be lost in a second death? Thus,
discussion on Anarchs preparing for the long haul is interesting to say the least, since it tends to fight the
stereotype. Notes are made on avoiding blame, and redirecting the guilt on others, a decidedly unanarch
thing to do.
3: Weapons for the Fight: I bought this book based on this champter alone. It turned out to be the most
disappointing of the lot. Herein are cursory rules about firearms ("Automatic weapons are a standard
Anarch sidearm. In some places, guns are hard to get. In others they are not. Check your area for more
details" I paid $15.00 to be told THIS?!?!?), more references to the imcomprehensible and utterly useless
"blast power" system for explosives, and information that Anarchs like movies, and sometimes write
things. Wow. If I had only known.
What it DOES have is the much needed rules for Martial Arts. A friend of mine was going to write up his
rules, but was beat to the puch by this "product." Basically, Martial Arts takes a Brawl of 4 to get. Once
you have done that, you can buy, as a secondary skill, a form (karate, tae kwan do, and jujitsu are
examples of forms). All forms entitle you to do is use the form's special move. Wow. Hold me back,
guys. As you increase Brawl, you can get more forms, one at five, and so on. Yes indeed, 5 is no longer
the limit for ability ratings. All this is quite silly, and I'm only going to apply it for vampires who know
martial arts, for reasons that are, for now, mine own.
Also, it has a neat section about "anti-" rituals, rituals used to piss off that Thaumaturgist Elder. The three
given are very inventive, and a lot of fun. There are rules for traps, poisons and alchemy, and which ones
affect kindred through sheer trauma (poisons that affect blood WILL destroy vitae...a clever way to
induce frenzy in your worst enemy).
Now this is what I was referring to in my intro. There was SO much potential in this section, and largely
it went unrealized. A good ST can salvage it, (I'm going to give it the ol' college try), but for a new ST
trying to bring in the Anarchs, I imagine him stumbling over himself trying to comprehend the "hit
location" section, as his 13th gen anarch has just cleaved the head off the player's 7th gen ventrue, in
what was supposed to be a pushover.
4: War!: A Mass Combat System for Vampire. [Insert Primal Scream]. I'm going to try it next weekend,
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