VtM - WhiteWolf: Genealogy

VtM - Review: Nights of Prophecy
legendary Crone of Russia (whose death the Coterie witnesses and plays some small part in). It includes
everything from apocalyptic prophecy to talking with a Methuselah and witnessing said's destruction at
the hands of one of the dread Nictuku. The plot, however, can almost seem a little forced here and there,
possibly requiring some nose-leading on the part of the ST. Other than that, it is a pretty decent scenario,
and will likely leave the players with a lingering impression of just how small even the movers and
shakers of the WoD are, and how incredible the events they witness are. Still, some may find the
comparative lack of player's ability to influence the outcome of this scenario (since Baba Yaga is
supposed to die in cannon) somewhat irritating.
Chapter Four: The Hunters Hunted details the efforts of a small group of Hunters to rid a city of the
plague of vampires, all against the dual glitz and emptiness backdrop of Las Vegas. It servers to
introduce the new players in the WoD stage, the Hunters (as in those from Hunter: The Reckoning). This
scenario is one laced with a good dose of suspicion and paranoia, as the coterie will be left wondering
who the mysterious people are that seem to be watching them… This chapter left me with very mixed
feelings. While I'm all in favor of anything to put PC's on their toes, especially to drive them to paranoia
and fear, the setup for this seems a touch unrealistic in places. For example, I find it hard to believe that
the kindred would just roll over and take it as much as they do in this chapter, so to speak…little effort
seems made on the part of the NPC's of Vegas as writ to look into the appearance of mysterious golden
aura'ed mortals. Moreover, despite the disappearances and later deaths of numerous kindred, few seem to
put two plus two together and go after the mysterious watchers. Maybe I'm just vastly overestimating
Kindred in general, but I think more would have been done. The plot to this section is otherwise OK,
though it is my least favored section of the book.
Chapter Five: House of Lies deals with a lost fragment of the Book of Nod to be unveiled by the
Librarian pack of Montreal. I was particularly fond of this chapter, as it consisted of a blend of paranoia,
betrayal and intrigue neatly blended with a sense of looming danger from the fragment and its contents.
The coterie arrives in Montreal to investigate this fragment, and soon finds themselves hobnobbing with
renowned Noddist scholars from all over. They're soon thrust into the center of an investigation to find
the thief and the truth about the shroud, before the Sabbat inquisition starts executing all those involved
under suspicion of infernalism. This section balances a fair amount of social interaction with a good
amount of investigation, and the BoN fragment is one never before published in tabletop (though I
believe it was in the recent Laws of the Night MET guide) and quite interesting. This section was well
done overall.
In the end, this book is a good showcase of several different ways that vampire can be played, from
social negotiation to action to treacherous intrigue. The revelations herein are a good start to the Year of
the same name, though they certainly leave me thirsting for more. It deals with a diverse selection of
metaplot related issues, including how to use the metaplot in a chronicle. My only wish is that more were
explained, I can only hope this will be dealt with in future books. Overall, I'd say it's a solid book, despite
what I feel to be a rather unbelievable set of circumstances in one chapter and the occasional feeling of
being forced in others.
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