VtM - WhiteWolf: Genealogy

VtM - Review: The Ashen Knight
Chapter Five: Knightly Things is the character creation chapter of this book and provides many helpful
notes on how to develop and adequately equip a Knightly Cainite concept, male or female. Included are
notes on Concept, Attributes, and general standards of Knightly knowledge as well as other issues such
as training, religion, role models, and the general mechanics involved in getting yourself knighted such
as the vigil and the unanswered blow from one's liege. New Traits, Backgrounds, Merits & Flaws, and a
highly useful revisitation of the Road of Chivalry and notes for adapting it to non-Christian (such as
Tzimisce) ideals appear. Also appearing is an extremely useful section on female knights in combat, and
sections on arms, equipment, maintenance and how knightly appearances can draw attention both desired
and otherwise.
Appendix: Ill-Made Knights contains the ubiquitous Templates (four in this case--three male, one
female) and a selection of Cainite Knights from various Clans, as well as the AK character sheet. The
utility of this section will vary from group to group, I have no doubt.
MY NOT SO HUMBLE OPINIONS:
THE GOOD: This whole book is good. I cannot say it loudly enough. Go buy it right now, even if you
don't play Dark Ages, it has intense utility with regards to the Road of Chivalry's bastard offspring, the
Path of Honorable Accord. Of particular stand-out excellence are the historical sections and their look at
both the romance and the reality of Chivalry throughout Dark Midieval Europe. The Of Wenches and
Wedding Nights sidebar on pg. 25 is of particular interest given recent debates about the use of
maintaining some degree of historical accuracy in a VtDA game. Ulrich von Lichtenstein, Queen of the
Desert, made me laugh myself into an asthma attack. The Battle of Hattin, 1187, was extremely sweet
and concise and made me wish history professors could sum things up so compactly. I still love the
Lazarene Nosferatu.
THE BAD: This book was obviously intensively researched, and at some points it shows that earnest
intensity by reading very dryly. The general information density and high readability tends to counteract
this particular complaint, howeve. I have a personal gripe with placing the Tzimisce among the Clans
Without Chivalry (given their canonical stance on personal honor and the fact that their Voivode of
Voivodes, Vladimir Rustovitch, follows the Path of Chivalry). I would also have liked more detail on
non-Christian followers of the Path of Chivalry for similar reasons.
THE UGLY: The font used for Simon ben-Yaakov's letter. I know it's space-saving but, jeez, talk about
eyestrain....
ADDITIONS:
To the list of Chivalric resources I'd like to add:
NONFICTION:
http://vampirerpg.free.fr/Books/2826.php3 (3 of 4) [6/1/2002 12:19:57 AM]