Can the Players Kill Luke Skywalker? Or The Evils of Metaplot

           

Tap for pain!

Metaplot.  Does any word draw more condemnation and frustration from the players of World of Darkness games than “metaplot?”  The mere mention of some of the metaplot from the Classic World of Darkness game line draws bile laced gagging from even the most fanatical of fans.  Decreed from on high by the almighty writers and developers of the system, metaplot is the unchangeable grand plot that infiltrates every book, every argument, and every game.  It is immutable, it is sacrosanct, and it is despised.  But why?  Both Star Wars and The Forgotten Realms campaign setting have an existing metaplot that does not bedevil gamers like the metaplot of Vampire:  The Masquerade or Werewolf:  The Apocalypse.  Is there something to be learned from those worlds, where metaplot is known as canon which can be applied to the World of Darkness?  More importantly, is having a metaplot anathema to a good game?  Is the metaplot only a hindrance to Storytellers and players or can it be used to add more depth to a game? 

            What is Metaplot?  A working definition of metaplot might be “the ongoing story in the published materials of a role playing game that creates and moves forward a story that changes elements of the setting and system or explains changes in the mechanics of the game.”  On its face, that definition is neutral, but the first issue of metaplot is that it lacks player agency.  The changes occur regardless of the efforts of the players and perhaps even happen despite the players’ efforts to change those events.  The metaplot is the “Word of God” demanding changes that may or may not be asked for by the players.  The metaplot explains changes to the setting, the inclusion of new options, the removal of other options, changes to well-known and loved character types and updates to the game system.  

            Critics and fans of Vampire:  The Masquerade often regard it as the biggest offender in terms of metaplot interference.  When Vampire:  The Masquerade changed from Second Edition to Revised Edition, a number of changes occurred.  Most notably an Assamite Methuselah, Ur-Shulgi, awakened from Topor and removed the curse that Tremere had afflicted upon the Children of Haqim.  Ur-Shulgi also decreed that Assamites must give up their devotion to other gods and worship only Haqim.  Long associated with the Middle East and Islam, Ur-Shulgi’s decree shocked many Assamites and created a rift in the clan.  Those loyal to Haqim and Ur-Shulgi killed those who refused to set aside their religious beliefs whether Islamic, Christian, or other.  Those who survived the purge fled to Europe and the Americas.  As Gehenna approached, the fleeing Assamites attempted to make peace with Camarilla and join its ranks.         

Tremere-antitribu

            The Tremere are at the heart of another metaplot change.  Tremere-antitribu, who had left behind their clan to join the Sabbat, were all inexplicably destroyed one evening.  During a ritual in which nearly every member of the Sabbat Tremere were in attendance, some force destroyed them all.  No one is sure exactly what happened, only that no more Tremere-antitribu exist.  That event must have been a shock to Tremere-antitribu players at the time.  Suddenly, their characters were gone and nothing could be done about it. 

            The most egregious metaplot changes came from Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand which described another faction of vampires known as the Tal’mahe’Ra or True Hand.  Suddenly the Tzimisce discipline Vicissitude was an extraplanar disease that infected the entire clan and slowly took over the bodies of the Tzimisice and other users of Vicissitude.  The True Hand was dedicated to defeating this other worldly menace and save the world.  Vicissitude no longer worked like other Disciplines and now had special rules that changed not only the cost for learning the Discipline but threatened players with the loss of their characters if they progressed in the Discipline. 

            Metaplot in and of itself is not a bad thing.  Many of the best RPGs have a metaplot to some degree.  Star Wars undoubtedly has the strictest metaplot.  Better known as the canon and released in a series of RPG supplements, books, movies, and TV shows, the Star Wars canon (or Extended Universe) sought to fill in every space of that distant galaxy.  West End Games, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics and dozens of writers have sought to define every aspect of Star Wars for good and ill.  Simple mistakes in the wording of a script have turned into entire novels, such as when Han states that the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.  Rather than letting a simple screw up slip by, writers defined the Kessel Run as a trip near a group of black holes known as the Maw Cluster.  Traveling closer to the Maw Cluster would decrease the travel time of a ship from Kessel to its destination but with the added risk of the starship becoming trapped in the gravitational pull of the black holes and being destroyed.  Later readers would learn that the Maw Cluster hid an Imperial Research installation where the engineers built and tested a prototype of the Death Star.  Later, some of these elements were retconned by the Prequels.  Role playing supplements had to offer stats and information on these regions or create new regions themselves such as the Corporate Sector which started as an element of a novel, “Han Solo at Star’s End,” which led to a West End Games supplement entitled “Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook” that built on the information from the novel. 

Heroes of the Realms

            The Forgotten Realms has undergone a variety of changes as Dungeons & Dragons has changed editions.  Unlike Vampire:  The Masquerade, the change in edition created a change in the setting.  When Dungeons & Dragons transitioned from 3.5 to 4^th Edition, the developers changed the magic system and included both Dragonborn and Tieflings as player races in the Player’s Handbook.   Although Forgotten Realms was not the core campaign setting of 4^th Edition, it was the campaign setting for Organized Play requiring the developers to explain how the magic system changed and the introduction of two new races into the setting.  Dragonborn were an incredibly popular race from the Eberron campaign setting, and due to their popularity and the popularity of Eberron, they were included in the Player’s Handbook (Update:  Dragonborn orignally appeared in Race of the Dragon and later were included in Eberron  I need to learn more about Eberron).  Introducing them into the Forgotten Realms required a bit more work though, The Spell Plague.   The Spell Plague and the death of Mystra reshaped the Weave, the source of magic in the Realms, and the merging of Abeir, Toril’s twin planet and Toril (Toril is the name of the planet on which Faerun is located.  Fareurn is the continent which is the primary setting for the Forgotten Realms.) brought with it the Dragonborn.  The Spell Plague changed entire regions, made magic items non functional, and brought the Dragonborn whose kingdom replaced the kingdom of Unther. 

            When Dungeons & Dragons changed editions once again, once more the Realms changed.  This event known as The Sundering explained how the magic system changed once again and of course, kept the popular Dragonborn in the setting.  A series of novels about the Realms explained the events of The Sundering in detail, much like previous shifts in editions, such as the Time of Troubles. 

            Another example of the developers pushed forward a metaplot can be found in D&D 3.0 and the novel series, The War of the Spider Queen and its accompanying adventure.  In this series of novels, Lolth, Goddess of the Drow, has effectively disappeared and her clerics, the leaders of the chaotic and evil Drow society, no longer receive spells from her.  Seeking answers to this dilemma and hoping to solve it before an uprising overthrows the priestess who lead the city, a group of Drow travel the Underdark, to the surface world, and eventually to the Demon Web Pits hoping to uncover the mystery behind Lolth’s disappearance.  Lolth has attained enough power finally to create her own realm separate from the Abyss, and she has cocooned herself at the center of the Demon Web Pits to complete her transformation not caring that her worshippers and priestesses suffer in her absence.  In the end, Lolth completes her transformation and creates her own plane which changes the cosmology of the Forgotten Realms.  

Cover to Dissolution from the War of the Spider Queen novel series

            If that whirl of information has left any readers confused, then the biggest problem with metaplot has become apparent:  information overload.  Only the most dedicated fans of a setting would be able to track the minutiae of those changes.  These game lines and settings have been growing and expanding for decades.  Star Wars released in 1977, for example, and novels began pouring out soon after and the damn finally broke in the 1990s with the release of “Heir to the Empire.”  Systems and universes soon bloated with all this material.  And when Vampire:  The Masquerade 20^th Anniversary Edition released, the developers promised a metaplot neutral game, meaning that players could pick and choose which elements of the metaplot they wanted to use and could ignore the rest. 

            Most experienced roleplayers already realize that the best way to deal with elements of a system or supplement that they don’t like is to modify it or ignore it.  That’s the solution that the developers of Vampire:  The Masquerade concluded as they revamped the game for its new release.  Of course, ignoring the metaplot was a pre-requisite for publishing the new edition as White Wolf had decreed that the entire Classic World of Darkness game line had ended with the publication of their end of the world books, Gehenna, the Apocalypse, etc.   

            Can a metaplot be completely ignored?  Or more specifically, can the players kill Luke Skywalker?  It’s an evocative question, and the kneejerk reaction of most players is going to be “No, absolutely not!”  Luke Skywalker is the lynchpin of Star Wars canon.  He destroyed the Death Star.  He redeemed Darth Vader and brought about the downfall of the Empire.  He brought back the Jedi Order. Luke Skywalker is Star Wars.   He has plot armor that no player character should be able to penetrate; yet, by acknowledging Luke Skywalker’s importance in the events of the original trilogy and the Extended Universe, the game master has decided that a metaplot exists and that players lack any agency in interacting with that storyline. 

Father/son elevator rides don't get more awkward!

            Luke Skywalker and his exploits are the reason why most Star Wars roleplaying games take place in distant corners of the galaxy.  The game master pushes the events of the original trilogy into the background and lays out new storylines that run tangentially to canonical events.  Player characters may interact with important figures like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, or Leia Organa.  They are much more likely to be given their orders by secondary figures like Mon Mothma and Admiral Piett.  Nevertheless, the players are hamstrung from the outset of the campaign because they are not the most important figures in the greater plot of Star Wars.  Luke Skywalker and his father Anakin are. 

            With that in mind, can players kill Drizzit Do’Urden?  Elminster Chosen of Mystra?  Can players stop the Spell Plague?  Do Dragonborn exist in Forgotten Realms?  Are the Assamites knocking at the doors of the Ivory Tower begging admittance to the Camarilla?   Each of these questions carries the same weight of metaplot as “Can the players kill Luke Skywalker?”  How many times have game masters, dungeon masters, and storytellers defended the metaplot from the brilliant and cunning plans of players? 

            My own experiences are entirely anecdotal, and I cannot speak for all roleplayers.  I have found that players enjoy re-writing the metaplot, making their own mark on a story considered inviolate.  It was a hard learned lesson and left many players completely disenchanted with me as game master.   I heard their criticism, but wasn’t preserving the story of Luke Skywalker more important?  I started roleplaying by running West End Games Star Wars Revised system and immediately railroaded players through events during the Battle of Hoth.  I couldn’t imagine a scenario where the players could actually affect the outcome of that momentous battle.  Just taking part in the battle should be exciting enough for the players, right? 

Who wouldn't want Leia in Cmdr. Shepherd's armor?

            Fast forward over a decade and I’m still running Star Wars although at this point it’s Wizards of the Coast’s Star Wars Saga Edition.   I finally learned my lesson in the last session of the campaign.  The players had been chasing after a rogue Jedi named Kensa Starwind who had become a kind of Old Republic Colonel Kurtz and saw through the false veneer of the Clone War.  She had realized that everything was the doings of Chancellor Palaptine, but the Jedi Council had sent the players to stop her.   My original idea was that the player characters would confront Kensa Starwind and stop her from murdering the “innocent” Chancellor only to be double-crossed by him.  Of course, that meant the players would have to put aside all out of character knowledge.  Instead of fighting Kensa, the player characters talked to her and believed her!  Together with Kensa, the players defeated Palpatine and Anakin/Darth Vader in an epic battle in the Chancellor’s office forever changing galactic history.  I don’t think that I have ever seen players happier or feeling more triumphant than when they thought they had saved the galaxy from the evils of the Empire.

            As the session ended, I added a quick epilogue for each character that showed how they had changed the universe.  It was altogether bleak.  Rather than transforming into the Empire, the Old Republic fractured into a myriad of small and warring states.  The remaining Jedi fought to maintain peace and bring the parts back together.  One of the players whose character had fallen to the Dark Side became a warlord of a region only to be double crossed by his apprentice.   Others had equally dark or heroic outcomes depending on their individual characters.  And this epilogue should have become the prologue for the next campaign that I ran! 

            The lesson that I learned from this campaign was not that I should allow players to do whatever they wanted.  Instead, I finally understood the purpose of metaplot.  Metaplot is not something that must be adhered to with the religious fervor of an extremist or ignored and discarded like an empty soda can.  Metaplot is a river that once the game begins players redirect its course by adding and subtracting elements.   The players’ influence can be subtle or dramatic depending on how their actions in the course of a campaign.  The challenge to storytellers is not to allow players to alter the course of the story to create a utopian state.  Change requires sacrifice and not all change is positive.  Those with the best intentions, such as the group that killed the Palpatine and stopped the rise of the Empire, may not create the best outcomes.  The unforeseen consequences of the players’ changes should lead to new opportunities for adventures and new stories.   Players, as well, must keep out of character knowledge separate and distinct otherwise roleplaying games can devolve into an endless series of killing off the key figures of a setting or random acts for the sake of being random. 

            Turning back to Vampire:  The Masquerade, many roleplayers have lamented the plots and setting updates that players cannot change.  The events happen in distant lands and involve powerful beings that the average player character just cannot fight against.  What can a Neonate in Atlanta do to stop Ur-Shulgi?  What can a San Francisco Anarch do to stop the destruction of the Tremere-antitribu?  Yet, the rise of Ur-Shulgi and the Assamite schism offers players a chance to affect the metaplot in new and vital ways.  Camarilla players can offer their voices in support of the Assamites joining the Camarilla or turn away the dangerous assassins.  Anarchs and Sabbat players can offer other options to those Assamite fleeing Ur-Shulgi.   Certainly, the Assamite-antitribu will be happy to welcome their old brothers into the Sabbat.  And who is to say that Ur-Shulgi actually speaks for Haqim or that this Methuselah cannot be killed?  

Paint a target on that guy's head!

            As for the Tremere-antitribu, why should the metaplot stand in the way of a player’s fun?  A surviving Tremere-antitribu is no less farfetched than surviving Salubri or Cappodoccians and offers many more story opportunities for both the player and storyteller.  As the last remaining member of his or her clan, the Tremere-antitribu would be desperate to hide from whatever power destroyed their clan and simultaneously seek to re-establish that clan by Embracing new members.  The Tremere-antitribu survivor is now the leader of that clan with new and potentially overwhelming responsibilities. 

            Both of these hypothetical scenarios assume that the storyteller and players agree to use the metaplot as written.  That doesn’t have to be the case either.  Ur-Shulgi does not have to rise from Torpor.  The Tremere-antitribu don’t have to be destroyed.   And none of the material in Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand needs to show up in anyone’s campaign. 

            Metaplot should not be the driving force of anyone’s campaign.  Rather, it is one more tool in a storyteller’s toolbox and in the players’ toolboxes to help them create the stories that they want to tell together.  And that book with the terrible metaplot about Tzimisce diseases and vampires traveling to the Deep Umbra is not the final arbiter of whether or not that information should appear in your campaign.  It is your book!  And like John Wick says, you can tear out pages and take a black sharpie to the pages and passages you hate and delete them forever.  It’s your book.   You bought it.  Use it how you like!             

            So, can your player characters kill Luke Skywalker?

Late Review: Ranking the Clanbooks

            Over the course of nearly two years, I have been reviewing the first/second edition clanbooks as part of my Late Reviews series.  Many of these clanbooks I had never read before, but others were some of my favorite RPG supplements.  One of the reasons that I always played Toreador was because of my affinity for their clanbook, and that’s one of the things that I’ve looked for when I read each of the clanbooks – whether or not I was interested in playing the clan after I finished reading it. 

            When writing a review, I have tried to stay as objective as possible which wasn’t always possible.  I have a lot of bad experiences with Assamite characters and that will always bias me against the clan, but the clanbook was one of my favorites.  On the other hand, I tried to balance my love for my favorite clans, the Toreador, the Tzimisce, and the Ventrue, by remaining as critical as possible of those books.  Regardless of how objective I try to be, my biases are going to slip through.  I disliked Clanbook Giovanni because of its misogynistic, racist narrator, and I hated Clanbook Tzimisce because it over-emphasized body horror and comic book villainy. 

            More important that my biases, however, is an understanding of the process of how these books came into being.  The problems associated with the art for Clanbook Malkavian and the use of stick figure drawings are well-known in the Classic World of Darkness fan community.  The order in which the books were issued is also important.  The earliest clanbooks suffered because the authors and editors were struggling to define what a Clanbook should have.  Clanbook Brujah was the first of the series and introduced under the First Edition ruleset, and sadly, it is also the worst of the series.  The last of the series was Clanbook Giovanni which was much better written but had its own problems.  Rather than offering a series of qualifications for each book, I have taken each book as it is, and while that may be unfair, I have no other way of assessing each book now. 

            When writing my reviews I have avoided any type of numerical rating system as I think those kinds of reviews distill the entire review and the book itself into a single number.  My goal has never been to grade the books in this series, but rather, my purpose has been to explore the quality of these books, their usefulness to current players, and for my own entertainment.  None of these clanbooks are perfect and none of them are awful.  Although I offer recommendations in the following condensed reviews, I am not the final arbiter of the quality of these books and I recommend that everyone re-read these books with fresh eyes.  There are some surprising things to be found in each of the books. 

            Reviewing this series has been a time consuming but rewarding process.  Reviewing the clanbooks was my primary reason for starting this blog.  On the horizon are the Revised editions of the clanbooks, but it will be sometime before I begin those reviews.  I will review them but probably not until 2015.  The Onyx Path development team is currently working on updated versions of the Clanbooks for Vampire:  The Masquerade 20^th Anniversary Edition, and  like many of you I can’t wait to read those books. 

            I have listed the clanbooks from best to worst and included a single paragraph summary of my review.  If you are interested in reading the full review, click on the book’s name. 

1.  Clanbook Lasombra

            Where other clanbooks only tell the history of the clan and offer some new game mechanics, Clanbook Lasombra acts as a textbook that provides both the clan’s history and uses that history to teach players how to role-play as a Lasombra.  Eschewing the typical portrayal of the Lasombra as tyrants who need to dominate all around them, the authors re-imagine the Lasombra as violent colonizers and the Sabbat as their conquistadors pushing into the domains of the Camarilla much as Cortez conquered the Aztecs.  More importantly, the introduction of Les Amies Noir and the Court of Blood reigns in the potential for intra-clan diablierie run amuck by offering a hierarchy and specific rules for feuds amongst clan members.  New mechanics are also included but the authors have integrated them into the narrative rather than setting them apart meaning that the information isn’t as well developed as it could have been.  Despite some small problems with the clichéd templates, Clanbook Lasombra is everything that a clanbook should be.  This is a must own for every Vampire:  The Masquerade player. 

2.  Clanbook Assamite

From the most cliché of stereotypes, evil Muslim assassins, comes a surprisingly intriguing look at a misunderstood clan.  Rather than glorifying the violence of the clan, Clanbook Assamite explores concepts of colonialism and post colonialism by re-imagining Caine as the first colonizer in the city of Enoch.  After he arrives, Caine establishes a ruling minority over a populace overwhelmed by his superior and alien powers.  The clan itself is expanded with the introduction of an entire hierarchy and roles in the clan beyond just assassin.  With a complete history, new Disciplines, new Abilities, a variety of artifacts, and even new mechanics, Clanbook Assamite redefines and expands this clan to a complete sect within its scant 66 pages.  It isn’t perfect, but it’s the most comprehensive of the original Clanbook series.    

3.  Clanbook Ravnos

            Narrated by a non-ethnic Rom (or Gypsy), Clanbook Ravnos offers an entirely new perspective on the Ravnos Clan that addresses both the persecution of the Rom and the Ravnos.  By setting the Introductory Story around the events of World War II, Clanbook Ravnos begins building the reader’s sympathy for the Ravnos and establishes the Ravnos as culturally distinct from either the European or American cultures through which they travel.  The stereotypes of the traveling con artist or thief are forgotten, and these itinerant Kindred are re-imagined as guerillas defending their people from mortal persecutions and vampire predations.  The thievery and tricks of this clan have become the tools that the Ravnos use to protect themselves.  The only negative aspect of this book is that it relies heavily upon references to World of Darkness:  Gypsies, a book known for its racist portrayal of Gypsies.   Regardless of a player’s previous bias towards the clan, this clanbook will inspire anyone to play a Ravnos. 

4.  Clanbook Toreador

With a mix of role playing advice, new mechanics, new Merits and Flaws, and new Disciplines, the Toreador have the most complete clanbook of the Camarilla Clans.  The author has given new depth to a clan usually considered superficial by creating two distinct groups:  the Artistes and the Poseurs.  Artistes are self explanatory, but the Poseurs are those Toreador who cannot create art or criticize other artists or spend their unlives partying or just look pretty.  These distinctions allow the Storyteller to create intra-clan conflicts and rivalries that explore the nature of the clan and the way it interacts with art.  This book has everything that a player needs to create and role-play a variety of Toreador characters from a horror writer to a martial artist to a televangelist.  Every Toreador player should own this book. 

5.  Clanbook Gangrel

            Unlike the other clans that nurture recently Embraced vampires before setting them loose on the world, the Gangrel prefer to leave their fledglings to fend for themselves before returning to explain what has happened.  Written as a guide for naïve neonates, Clanbook Gangrel explores what it means to be a member of a clan that eschews the safety of the city and travels through the wilderness.  The Gangrel claim that their Antediluvian was the daughter of Lilith who was raised by wolves making their progenitor also the first werewolf.  Although Clanbook Gangrel does reference some elements of Werewolf:  The Apocalypse, such as explaining how a Gangrel could associate with a pack of werewolves, readers don’t need to be familiar with that system to make use of this book.  The only serious complaint that I have about this clanbook is that it is narrated in parts by a Hunter S. Thompson proxy, known as Raoul King, but the writer chose not to imitate Thompson’s distinct style.  A Hunter S. Thompson proxy’s views on vampirism and the Jyhad would have been enlightening and entertaining.  Players who like playing Gangrel will want to own this book. 

6.  Clanbook Tremere

Although other clans consider the Tremere’s mastery of Thaumaturgy to be the clan’s greatest strength, in truth it’s the clan’s authoritarian hierarchy which is their greatest asset.  Clanbook Tremere explains this hierarchy in depth because it is fundamental to understanding this clan, and an example of how the higher echelons of the North American hierarchy are structured is included.  The Tremere, however, are not a monolithic structure and many of the secret orders that infest the Pyramid ostensibly working to improve the clan are described.  At the very bottom of the hierarchy are the Tremere’s servants, such as Gargoyles to protect a chantry and corpse minions to consult on research, but the book offers no mechanics for explaining how these beings are represented in the system.  A system for creating new Paths of Thaumaturgy is presented, but the explanation lacks a concrete example that would clarify these rules.  Nevertheless, Clanbook Tremere offers so many options that players and Storytellers can create entire Chronicles just focused on this clan. 

7.  Clanbook Nosferatu

            Because of their hideous appearance and deformities the Nosferatu are the pariahs of the Kindred; making their havens in the sewers of the great metropolises, they work as information brokers to the other clans.  Instead of shining a flashlight into the sewers and exposing some of the Nosferatu’s own secrets, Clanbook Nosferatu offers only enough information to frustrate readers.  The highlight of this clanbook is the Nosferatu’s retelling of the origin of vampires reinterpreting Caine and the Antediluvians as cave dwellers rather than the rulers of the first city. 

Despite this excellent start, Clanbook Nosferatu quickly devolves into a disappointing exploration of the archetypal Nosferatu warren that describes only three rooms. Discussions of subterranean horrors and giant fungi that don’t fit the tone of Vampire:  The Masquerade, and references to the Bat Boy from the Weekly World News further diminish the usefulness of this book.  Players and Storytellers who want to add more depth to their characterizations of Nosferatu should look elsewhere. 

8.  Clanbook Ventrue

The Ventrue consider themselves the masters of their domain, and in the paranoid world of the Jyhad they are the puppet masters.  But like the Nosferatu who fear the Niktuku, the Ventrue have their own bogey men, the Secret Masters, who could be pulling their own strings.  This may sound familiar as the Brujah also fear the true childer of their progenitor, the True Brujah.  While still maintaining the gothic sensibilities of the setting, Clanbook Ventrue’s interior art is a dramatic change from the art of other clanbooks and emphasizes the ancient warrior-king ideal of the Ventrue.  This clanbook, unfortunately, offers players no new Merits, Flaws, Disciplines or systems for players to use, this book relies on new and expanded information on the clan which is not only good but also useful for both Storytellers and players.  If you want a deeper understanding of the Ventrue, this is a great book, but without new mechanics it falls short in being a complete clanbook.

9.  Clanbook Giovanni

            The Giovanni are a clan of inbred, Italian necromancers and their clanbook is exactly as repulsive as their clan’s concept.  Although the book is well-written, it suffers from two problems:  a repulsive narrator and too many references to other supplements.  The narrator’s homophobic, racist, and misogynistic remarks are more distasteful than the Giovanni’s history of inbreeding.  The history of the Giovanni is bound to the Cappodocians and Lamia clans, and readers unfamiliar with Dark Ages:  Vampire will be confused by references to these groups.   Clanbook Giovanni introduces three new ghoul families to create some diversity amongst the clan but even with these new families, the clanbook presents this clan as more monolithic than the Tremere.  Although Clanbook Giovanni is not the worst of the series, it is the most disappointing, and other than the introductory story I do not recommend this book. 

10.  Clanbook Tzimisce

The Tzimisce are mishmash of old world vampire lore such as Dracula and the body horror of Brian Lumley’s Necromancer series, but their clanbook is a carnival freakshow of one-note cartoonish villainy.   With strikingly ugly art, the book attempts to shock the reader with images of body horror rather than explore the Tzimisce’s loss of Humanity and their transcendental need to be more than human, more than vampire.  This book represents a missed opportunity to explore a complex clan that holds tightly to traditions but is desperate to reinvent themselves.  Instead of exploring this dichotomy, the reader is given Nazi NPCs because Nazis are evil and the Tzimisce have to be evil.  So, a Nazi Tzimisce is the most evil thing possible right?  The Sabbat needs more depth and motivation than just being the black hats to the Camarilla’s white hats. 

11.  Clanbook Setites

Steeped in Egyptian mythology, the Setites claim that they are descendents of Set, the brother of Osiris, who was wronged by Ra, their grandfather.  Following in their progenitor’s footsteps, the Followers of Set rebel against the veneer of goodness that other Kindred claim reveling in corruption and corrupting others.  The Followers of Set proudly wear the mantle of the villain.  Their clanbook, however, adds no depth to their reasoning.  They are evil to be evil.  This clanbook offers very little for players or Storytellers except a section on Setite havens and temples which describes everything from a luxurious temple in the jungle to a poor Setite’s personal shrine in his studio apartment.  Aside from this, Clanbook Setite offers only the obvious information about the clan with no depth or breadth.  The only usefulness that a Storyteller will find from this book is the section on havens and some information on the conflicts between Mummies and Setites.  This book is only recommended for the most fanatical Setite player or a collector who needs every book. 

12.  Clanbook Malkavian

The clan of lunatics has the most frustrating Clanbook.  Clanbook Malkavian hides useful information, such as two pages on how to role play characters with derangements, between its covers with annoying layouts like the backwards page and stick figure art.  Even this helpful information is overshadowed by the forced connections to Changeling the Dreaming and Mage the Ascension.  The author chose to portray the Malkavians as enlightened lunatics with the goal of overturning static reality (maybe), but this portrayal depends more on the themes of Mage than Vampire the Masquerade.  Because of the history associated with Clanbook Malkavian, it’s almost a must have for any Classic World of Darkness gamer for their collection, but other than an historical artifact, this book doesn’t add much helpful information for playing a Malkavian. 

13.  Clanbook Brujah

Of all the original clanbooks, the Brujah have the most disappointing.  This book does nothing to expand the original concept of the Brujah as anarchists and street thugs.  Although some information is given on “academic Elder Brujah,” this separation is nothing more than a continuation of the Anarch/Elder themes from First and Second Edition, and adds no new depth to the clan.  The author’s attempt to contextualize the Brujah by connecting the clan to various historical revolutions, such as the War for American Independence, is too heavy handed and comes off as more comical than intriguing.  The only thing that stands out in this book is the introduction of Combo Disciplines, but these are poorly implemented and lack experience point costs making them perfect for abuse by power gamers.  Clanbook Brujah is recommended only for players who need to finish their collection. 

            Agree?  Disagree?  Please post your comments below.