Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom (Vampire: the Masquerade) [Hardcover]

Justin Achilli (Author), Voronica Whitney-Robinson (Author), Will Hindmarch (Author), Jason Feldstein (Author), Joddie Gray (Author), James Lowder (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 205 pages
• Publisher: White Wolf Publishing (April 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588462390
• ISBN-13: 978-1588462398
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,877,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Lowder has worked extensively on both sides of the editorial blotter. His credits include the bestselling novels Prince of Lies and Knight of the Black Rose, short fiction for such anthologies as Truth Until Paradox and Shadows Over Baker Street, and comic book scripts for DC, Devil's Due, Moonstone, and the city of Boston's First Night celebration. His work has been translated into more than ten languages, including Hungarian, Yiddish, and Russian. He's written hundreds of feature articles and book, film, and game reviews for such diverse publications as Dragon, Amazing Stories, Sci-Fi Universe, Milwaukee Magazine, and The New England Journal of History, and published role-playing game material for Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, Marvel Super Heroes, and various other systems. As an editor, he's directed book lines or series for TSR, Green Knight, and CDS Books, and has helmed a dozen critically acclaimed anthologies, including The Book of All Flesh, Hobby Games: The 100 Best, and Worlds of Their Own. He's been a finalist for the International Horror Guild Award and the Stoker Award, and has won five Origins Awards and a silver ENnie Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars World of Darkness in the Heart of Darkness, May 31, 2003

By 

Zekeriyah (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom (Vampire: the Masquerade) (Hardcover)

I have to admit, I was nervously looking forward to this book. WW has had a mixed history when doing "non-western" cultures (for instance, Mummy and Year of the Scarab did a good job covering Mid-Eastern culture, but then there were travesties like WoD: Gypsy). The outline that leaked out was good, and when the book final came in I was astonished. This book gives you everything you need to run an African Vampire game. Unlike Kindred of the East, which introduced a whole new supernatural being, this book focuses instead on African cainites known as Laibon. However, the spiritual and cultural beliefs of Africa have worked their own effects on the blood of Caine. The book introduces us to the Laibon's society, a series of Kingdoms ruled over by the Guruhi (one of the clans). There is no Camarilla, Sabbat or Anarchs. Either your with the Guruhi or against them. We also get to see other African "clans", like the shamanistic Shango, the mercenary Kinyonyi and the wise Akunanse. And, of course, the Setites are there as well. Each "clan" is descendant of a western Clan (look at their discipines and weakness to try and figure out if you want), but changed. The disciplines are also changed. Auspex deals more with spirits, Dur-An-Ki (Assamite Sorcery) replaces Thaumaturgy and Vicissitude is... ick. And instead of Humanity or Paths of Enlightenment, you have a whole new system more attuned to African religions.
This aside, theres a wealth of material on African society in general. The book focuses primarily on sub-Saharan Africa (for more on North African areas like Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and such, check out Veil of Night, Cairo by Night and the Assamite and Setite Clan Books) and provides a whole IC journey across West, Cenral and East Africa. Game wise, you also get some new traits, backgrounds and even magical items. Theres also a lot of rituals for incorporating Sangoma and Inyanga, African shaman and healers, along with guidelines for storytelling both in the Ebony Kingdoms and abroad. Stats in the back are also given for a vast array of wild animals, as well as shape-shifters (were-hyenas, jackals, crocodiles, spiders, sharks, etc), nature spirits, ghosts, zombies, African mages (shaman, witch-doctors, healers, witches, priests, etc) and such.
Over all, if you plan on using African material with vampire game, or even just running a general World of Darkness game set in Africa, you should definately check this book out. Its well worth your while. I've already run it in cross-overs with my Mummy game with good results.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very complex, maybe too much so, July 22, 2003

By 

TammyJo Eckhart "TammyJo Eckhart" (Bloomington, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom (Vampire: the Masquerade) (Hardcover)

I'm not looking to have an African story but I want to take my players there. For this sort of "vacation" into the continent, "The Ebony Kingdom" is a bit too complicated and too complex. Understanding the Kindred of the continent requires some shifting in how you understand Kindred at all. But if you and your players want to spend time (your players will need to spend hours reading and thinking before trying to create a character for this part of the world) it could be challenging and scary. It would also allow for some neat political and social commentaries. I really wish it had more sample characters included to help me figure things out a bit better -- also give storytellers who just want to visit a helping hand.

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect!, January 18, 2011

By 

Ursula White "game seeker" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom (Vampire: the Masquerade) (Hardcover)

My daughter is a collector of these books, they are not easy to find, certainly not in the condition I received this one in. Beautiful condition, slight page crease but otherwise like new. Totally happy with it and would buy again!