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Guide to the Night $14.99
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
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by Micha N. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 11/27/2018 08:26:07

When I picked up this book, I really didn't know too much about it, and other than my group is in the middle of playing a Vampire game right now and we were all for getting new books for it. I heard about the new social combat rules, and were interested in giving it a spin; Social Manuevering is rather limited in that regard. Sadly, this book didn't really do much for me.

The book starts off in the Introduction giving you roleplaying tips, how actors get into character, and more. Nothing really exciting; either it matches with how your table likes to play and have fun, or it doesn't, and isn't a big help. Different people have different playstyles, and this definitely favors a specific style over others.

Chapter 1 got into a big Mirror-shard like analysis of different games in different settings. Space, in the past, etc. Can be cool, but not really something that will help you with a regular modern day game, and we were already inside of a game. Not that helpful for something to add into our ongoing game. For some groups looking for new, far out ideas vastly different from a standard game, could be great. Some solid ideas that I think could have been fleshed out a bit more in detail like Dark Eras was, but a solid start for ideas if you're interested in exploring them.

So far, the book was hit or miss - either it matched your needs, or it missed. And, if it hit those needs, then it was great for them. Chapter 2 is where I felt the book's had its first major issue. This chapter started talking about clans and covenants in power, which is a fine topic to cover. The problem is that I have to wonder if the writers and I were playing the same game. As in, the book was confusing Requiem with Masquerade. The Daeva section read like something for the Toreador, constantly referencing art and french-nobility beauty. The Carthian blurb was all about how everyone hated them, and they're all bloody revolutionists, coming off more as Anarchs than the Movement. The Invictus reads like the arcane rules-bound Camarilla, and never once mentioning their self-imposed Keepers of the Masquerade. That's just a few examples, but I felt like each writeup was just a bit off from the Requiem I know. All in all, I felt like the writer didn't even read the Requiem core book, but relied on ideas from Masquerade. This is severely disappointing to me. Maybe, with everything going on with V20 and V5 going on, they got confused with similar material, but that's not okay.

Chapter 3 goes on to talk about different ways to shake up or group your cotorie together. And I actually feel that this part was solid. It was immediately relevant for just about any game, had a few different mechanics, such as the idea for Group Touchstones, to help bring a group together. This is full of ideas you can choose to incorporate, or not, into your game based on each table's preference. In short, its much like Chapter 1 in that its hit-or-miss depending on the group and personal play style, but it does work well for those who find the ideas intriguing. The second half of the chapter gives more ST advice, and how to build cotories that will matter to the PCs. Again, good if its something that matches your playstyle, ignorable if not.

Chapter 4 gives us some ideas on how to create and map out your chronicle. It had some decent ideas, good outline for writing stories for STs. All in all, this part actually reminded me quite a bit of Damnation City, but focusing on how to twist and tweak the game away from the core book like DC's later chapters. Again, great if you like doing that kind of thing at your table, but less if its not something that your group enjoys. The chapter wraps up with some sample chronicle ideas that might be good to browse through for ideas if you want them.

Chapter 5 finally reveals the new social-combat rules that I was looking forwards to seeing. This is probably the forth or fifth different variation on social-fu that Requiem has put out. The new Lingua Bellum (literally "language of war," a fancy way of saying social combat using latin) isn't meant to work alongside Social Maneuvering, but rather completely separate. Now, this is basically just taking the combat system, renaming things, associating different stats, and rolling like normal. You have Maneuvers (attack actions), Dominance (social health), Timing (initiative), Guile (defense), Ego (armor), and Audience/Stage Conditions (environmental and personal Tilts). The problem? No weapon damage equivalents; imagine two characters in tactical armor punching each other, and that's pretty much the default Lingua Bellum. Which is where I come to the second major problem I have - how do frenzy checks factor in? Ego makes resisting frenzy harder, but what happens if we do fail frenzy check? And what about Disciplines? Or pretty much every other vampire trait? The rules feel incomplete.

All in all, most of the book isn't bad. However, the good parts are only relevant for certain play styles, so its questionable if any buyer woiuld be able to use the material. Combine with the problematic parts, and this book becomes something I can't really recommend on the whole.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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Guide to the Night
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