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Post by sovereigncitizenkane on Apr 27, 2017 11:08:10 GMT -8
So I picked up Lore of the Bloodlines yesterday and started reading through it. I'll give my first impressions and feel free to ask me questions about it if you haven't picked it up or want to know more about it before picking it up yourself.
First Impressions Decent size book. around 100 pages total, covering 9 Bloodlines in 10 chapters, including the intro chapter. Lots of material to work with.
The focus is on completely (mostly, looking at you True Brujah) separate bloodlines, rather than any antribu or variants like City Gangrel or Mariners
the 9 Bloodlines are: Baali Daughters of Cacophony Gargoyles Harbingers of the Skull Kiasyd Nagaraja Salibru Samedi True Brujah
I've read through Baali and Samedi so far, working on Gargoyle. I'm torn between Harbingers or Nagaraja to read after. Daughters of Cacophony will likely come last as I have never had that much interest in them. Also not big on Salibru or True Brujah, and I feel like Kiasyd should have stayed as NPCs, so I'll get through them soon enough.
Art There's not a lot of art I've seen so far, but I like most of it. I'm not much of an artist so forgive me if I don't get the terminology right. Most of it looks new. I don't remember seeing any of the pictures before, and each chapter starts in a style that resembles realistic photographs rather than obvious drawings. The two that really stood out for me were Nagaraja, and Gargoyle. Nagaraja has this lanky Leatherface looking fellow that really caught my attention. The Gargoyle was this beautiful demonic looking individual that seemed like he fit Demon the Fallen more than Vampire. There's various other artwork that's fairly interesting, but nothing quite catches my attention as much as those two, so far.
The Samedi opening artwork was really disappointing. It honestly didn't look like how I see a Samedi, and in fact the rest of the artwork for that chapter fits much closer to the image of a rotting animated corpse, rather than that first image which looks like some guy painted up as the Baron and have a few small open wounds. Samedi is my favorite Bloodline and it feels like they dropped the ball there.
Chapter Contents
I'll like do a post for each individual chapter, but overall, it's pretty similar to Lore of the Clans. You get the history of the clan, an explanation of their place in the modern nights and a little extra about their connection to other clans. Then you move into the crunch. Like LoC it starts with character concepts, then you get merits and combination, alternative, and Elder disciplines. This runs the gamut on how much you'll get. Samedi got way more than Baali. Most of it is a rehash of older editions, though some seems new or at least altered enough. Wish there was more for higher generation characters rather than elder disciplines as they're more likely to see play than the Elder ones.
That's it so far. Like I said, I'll talk about each chapter individually. Feel free to ask questions and I'll answer them as I can.
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Post by Wakefield on Apr 27, 2017 16:45:18 GMT -8
Thanks as always for your review, man! I got an e-mail about the new product and was considering picking it up. That's a shame about the book not including more stuff for higher-gen Kindred. It makes it more likely that those bloodlines will stay NPCs. Still, do you feel like it was a good value?
(P.S. - Does anyone else call them Trujah?)
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Post by sovereigncitizenkane on Apr 27, 2017 22:49:45 GMT -8
The Baali
"Everything you’re about to hear is the truth, unless it’s a lie. Only I know which is which, unless I was also lied to. Then we’re both up a creek."
That's honestly a perfect opening to the Baali chapter for me. It sums them up so well, and gave me a good chuckle as well. I think the discussion session of the Baali chapter was incredibly well done. Like the other chapters of Lore of the Bloodlines and Lore of the Clans the chapter is from the point of view of a member of the Bloodline. The history of the Baali has changed a bit. Where there was three progenitors before, there's now two. It also seems to be pulling more away from Umbral Demons of previous editions and focusing more on The Earthbound from Demon the Fallen. I like this change simply because I'm a big fan of Fallen.
The Crunch
The crunch for the Baali is a bit underwhelming. None of the concepts are "wow, I hadn't thought of this". There are two Merits and three Flaws, none of which are all that interesting to me except Carrion Presence. There are two Disciplines, one combination and one alternative elder disciplines.
I actually really like Command the Swarm which is the combination discipline. It only requires Daimoinon 2 and Animalism 1, so fairly accessible and has some interesting applications. Specifically, it allows Feral Whispers to be used on insects, and insects and vermin can be commanded without eye contact. The Re-Embrace is not so great in my opinion. Not because of the system or application, but because, like Malkavian Madness Network in previous editions, It's a very high level discipline that is supposed to be something that's part and parcel of the Clan/Bloodline. Something they're well known for. At Daimoinon 7 you have to be well past the Generation most players will be. More forgivable as Baali really shouldn't be playable in my opinion, but that means for it to be a threat, the players are going to have to be dealing with Elder Baali. Considering what else can be done with Daimoinon, most groups might be in over their heads.
That's pretty much it. Not a lot to this chapter.
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Post by sovereigncitizenkane on Apr 27, 2017 22:59:44 GMT -8
Thanks as always for your review, man! I got an e-mail about the new product and was considering picking it up. That's a shame about the book not including more stuff for higher-gen Kindred. It makes it more likely that those bloodlines will stay NPCs. Still, do you feel like it was a good value? (P.S. - Does anyone else call them Trujah?) I like doing reviews as it keeps me writing, which I am out of practice in, as my grammar would indicate. I'd say that, for the $10 PDF I got, I'm happy with it so far, with the exception of the Samedi art. It's nothing grand, but adds some options. Less so if, like me, you still have most of your 1st, 2nd, and Revised collection, but it's good to have it more bundled so I'm not looking between a ton of books to find information. I wouldn't get a print copy though. I think it was around $23 for a soft cover Black & White which is too much for my blood. I can't see getting a ton of use out of it for players, but definitely has some NPC potential. I knew some Grognards that called them Trujah. They passed on their disdain for the Bloodline to me.
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Post by sovereigncitizenkane on Apr 28, 2017 18:52:00 GMT -8
Samedi
I'm not going to spend too much time on Samedi history, not because I don't like it, but because it's a lot of, "who knows?" They choose to focus on the Samedi and Giovanni activities in Cuba, during the Cuban Revolution. I'm glad they chose to say that the Cuban Revolution wasn't an Anarch counter move against the Camarilla, even though storywise, they're being blamed for it. I was getting annoyed with the new trend of WW/OP blaming vampires for most of the ills of the world. Baali for the Black Plague, Anarchs for Housing Market Crash, etc. It just wasn't something I was interested in. The rest focuses on the Samedi connection to Giovanni, Harbingers, organized crime, and their love/hate issues with Nosferatu.
The Crunch Concepts are kind of interesting. The one that stood out was Speaker of the Crossroads, which focused on helping Kindred speak with the ghosts of their victims. Interesting method of therapy. I like the idea of being the Crystal Ball Psychic for the Kindred Community. Body Double is also kind of fun.
Disciplines were okay. The interesting one was Grisly Gris-Gris, which allows a Samedi to share their dots in Fortitude with someone for a few hours, at the price that their body rots while they have the Gris-Gris inside. The rest of the combination disciplines were okay, and would be useful in certain situations. The Elder Discipline Marrow Sucker allows the Samedi to draw Vitae from bone. Seems useful. Unfortunately, it's Thanatosis 6. I think they could have easily made it a level 5 discipline. Still takes time to acquire, but also going to be useful to players.
Of the Merits & Flaws, only Stitcher stand out as something I might look into using. It allows you to sew back on body parts if they've been severed, but only for the person with the Merit.
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Post by sovereigncitizenkane on May 21, 2017 14:40:30 GMT -8
Sorry about not having this completed already. Some personal stuff came up and this took a back burner.
Gargoyles
There's not a huge amount to talk about in the fluff of Gargoyles. Their history has always been short and fairly well known. Virstania, a Tremere, creates them and then later helps them revolt against the Tremere. Nothing really stands out as new or interesting. They're apparently becoming more prominent in the Camarilla because the fluff says so other than any real organic reason.
The Crunch Not sure about some of the combination disciplines such as Falconer's Dive which seems like something that should be able to be done without a discipline. Other's are fairly interesting just for their utility.
There's also Gargoyle variations included; Scout, Sentinel, and Warrior. These three don't have access to Visceratika as an in clan discipline. I don't remember if these variations have been in earlier editions. One of the groups I've played with have decided we might have a game inspired by the Gargoyles show.
The Merits and Flaws are decent enough. They can bring a little life to Gargoyles. It also brings up that it's possible to use Enchant Talisman on Gargoyles and make those enchantment permanent. I just love Gargoyles. Finally, there's a ritual that allows for Gargoyles to turn to stone in Sunlight, and it can protect one other Vampire from sunlight so long as the Gargoyle has wings to cover them. Honestly, I would have this ritual as default.
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Post by sovereigncitizenkane on May 22, 2017 9:23:35 GMT -8
Nagaraja
So I ended up going with the Nagaraja for the fourth bloodline I read through and I must say, it’s a bit of a disappointment. I was a bit taken in by the initial artwork of the chapter. This lanky Leatherface in a hoodie with his flesh mask and chainsaw. It really evoked that creepy/cool factor that got me excited. What followed was mostly disappointing. Most of the interesting parts of their history are gone. It follows the same basic structure, but it’s light on details. They were necromancers, they turned to vampires that had to eat flesh, they hate Setites (but don’t elaborate on why), etc. The art work, aside from the opening page, is also underwhelming.
Another big issue I have is that, like the Core book, they mention things they can do in the fluff, but nothing in their powers matches that, or, at least without having to look high and low.
The Crunch
From the Core the Nihilis discipline is gone. It got folded into Necromancy under the Vitreous Path, with the powers shifted around in levels. This made some of the signature abilities of the Nagaraja become harder to access as they’re shifted higher and make Necromancy an XP sink because while the Nagaraja have always been known for being able to feed on ghosts as part of Nihilis, it has shifted from the level 2 power of that to the third level of Vitreous, which, unlike three other paths of Necromancy, doesn’t actually allow you to see ghosts. You’d have to pick up another path just for that.
Part of this is probably petty whining on my part, but I think signature abilities should be more available to clans/bloodlines. I’ll move on.
There’s still no sign of the ritual mentioned in the Core book for preserving bodies so they can be snacked on later. Seems like a big omission on their part. Other than that, there’s not all that much crunch to this chapter. Most of the Merits revolve around the Nagaraja’s unique dentistry, and the two Combination Disciplines are decent enough but honestly could have been rituals instead of Combination if you really get down to it.
Final Thoughts
I’ve always had a love hate relationship with the Nagaraja. I’ve never really thought they should be a playable Bloodline. They’re serial killers out of necessity being that they must consume flesh rather than blood to survive, but as supporting characters or antagonists, I love the hell out of them.
V20 hasn’t really helped them shine. It doesn’t really talk about how it would be impossible for the Nagaraja to follow the Path of Humanity. With Path of Death and the Soul gone, I assume they default to Path of Bones, though you wouldn’t know if from the books. Yet another reason why they don’t make great PCs. Path of Bones allows for killing for learning or out of necessity, and punishes those that spare lives. Nagaraja must consume flesh nightly to maintain themselves and a mortal only lasts for about ten units of flesh for a Nagaraja. Also, this flesh is converted to blood pool so on a bad night, two to three humans are going to disappear. Any wonder why the Camarilla don’t want them around? Sure they can consume ghosts with enough xp spent on Necromancy, but that certainly seems to go against the Path of Bones ideals.
I’ve ranted long enough. It’s a bit of a disappointing chapter for such an interesting Bloodline.
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