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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
FIRST OF THE VAMPIRE: REQUIEM COVENANT BOOKS, January 20, 2008
This review is from: Lancea Sanctum (Vampire: The Requiem) (Hardcover)
LANCEA SANCTUM is a sourcebook for the roleplaying game VAMPIRE: THE REQUIEM by White Wolf. It is meant for both players and storytellers, to provide information on the vampire covenant and religion, the Lancea Sanctum. The covenant is one of the most important groupings in VAMPIRE: THE REQUIEM, because membership reflects a philosophical choice by the characters rather than the vagaries of circumstance. Of all the covenants, the Lancea Sanctum maybe the most important because it will likely be the first the characters encounter and the most different from their initial impression.
Many, if not most, players will have played the introductory scenario "Mary's Childe" and the Lancea Sanctum is an integral part of that scenario. It is also likely to be misunderstood; the Lancea Sanctum borrows heavily from Catholic imagery and rituals, but demands that its adherents admit their damnation and act accordingly. It is a vampire religion, that worships God by putting the fear of Him into mankind. A book like LANCEA SANCTUM provides useful information to both players and storytellers on this misunderstood but pervasive group.
The introductory fiction for LANCEA SANCTUM is very interesting - the paper is very distinctive, meant to resemble vellum (I think), and the font is made to resemble illuminated script. It also does an excellent job of setting the mood for the covenant; religious fanaticism and monstrous power. The first chapter describes the history of the covenant, specifically its founding and spread throughout the world. Of course, it is written from the perspective of the covenant itself, which gives each covenant book its own flavor and allows competing history with no "canon" that must be followed.
The second chapter is a large one and deals with night-to-night unlife in the covenant. I felt that this is one of the most useful aspects of the VAMPIRE supplements. What motivates an undead monster? What do they do to fill their time? What do they believe in? Thinking about these questions seaprates the roleplaying of a vampire and roleplaying a superhero who gets bad sunburn. LANCEA SANCTUM dewcribes the contents of the vampire religion's holy book, "The Testament of Longinus", the different creeds that define denominations within the Lancea Sanctum, offices, titles, and positions within the covenant, and how each clan can serve within the covenant. It also lists rites, rituals, and holy days for the Lancea Sanctum (which if nothing else, give the PCs the sense that there is something going on in the world besides their personal issues).
The third chapter describes how vampires relate to each other within the covenant; how new vampires are recruited and inducted, and how neonates, ancillae, and elders serve the religion. The following chapters describe factions (which one might expect, given the splintering of real-world religions), bloodlines (which aren't spectacular), bloodline disciplines, Theban Sorcery rituals, and sample characters. The Theban Sorcery section is very interesting, as it suggests that new rituals are hidden throughout the world, and that understanding of the symbolism is provided when the need arises. It's an interesting interpretation.
Overall, I thought LANCEA SANCTUM to be the most useful of the covenant books, in that it described something that is difficult to generalize from human experience (vampire religion) but that has specific and well-known attributes (dogma, rituals, holy days, etc.) Every PC will probably encounter the Lancea Sanctum as a backdrop of midnight masses and vampire evangelists. PCs don't even have to belong to the covenant to go to a mass, which allows even greater exposure to the material in this book.
The only real downside to LANCEA SANCTUM is how closely it apes Christianity and historical development. Besides the main Lancea Sanctum denomination, which models Catholicism, there is an Anglican branch, a Baptist branch, and "Unitarian" branch, a Jewish branch, and an Islamic branch. Why not just have competing covenants based on Judaism and Islam, instead of shoehorning them into the "religious" covenant? Why would vampires reinvent Anglicanism? Also, the "Testament of Longinus" is clearly modeled after the New Testament, with gospels, apostolic acts, epistles, and an apocalypse. It comes across as parody rather than convergent evolution. However, these points don't detract too heavily from a great roleplaying supplement.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great breadth, slightly lacking in depth, July 2, 2010
This review is from: Lancea Sanctum (Vampire: The Requiem) (Hardcover)
Unlike other covenants, the Lancea Sanctum is primarily a religious (not political) organization. This book goes a long way toward filling in the culture and history of the covenant, but is a little lacking in the beliefs facet.
I found this to be one of the more interesting and helpful covenant books, having read all of them with the exception of VII. The variety of factions and creeds presented help in creating Sanctified characters who are differentiated, and keep the covenant from becoming the monolith/stereotype it might appear to be initially.
The first chapter gives a history that mirrors Christianity closely enough to warrant skipping, but short and creative enough that I found it worth the time. Chapter two gives a rough idea of the contents of the Testament of Longinus, the creeds of worship, and titles/positions in the covenant. The most interesting part, though, is a description of various rites and optional systems with mechanical bonuses to accompany them. The bloodlines and factions presented in chapter three are a highlight of the book as well, and the requisite chapter on Disciplines and Theban Sorcery is sufficient (26 pages). This roughly doubles the current number of available Theban Sorcery rituals and provides a bit of theological perspective on them.
As much as I like this book, however, I came out of my initial read with little sense of how the covenant's beliefs come into practice when dealing with mortals. I got all the same stuff from the core book: Yes, they believe damnation has purpose. Yeah, they want to be apex predators. But how is this all that different from Belial's Brood, then? Is it just a more self-flagellating version? This book didn't really answer those questions for me. It wasn't until I subsequently read the PDF-exclusive Testament of Longinus that I truly felt I understood this covenant.
All told, this was a good covenant book for fleshing out the Sanctum as a group of vampires, and the systems included in this volume are great. If you want to increase the presence and realism of the covenant in your chronicles, or need systems for a Sanctum coterie, this book fits the bill. But if you intend to get deep into the philosophical nuances that are part of the fun of playing Sanctified characters, I can't recommend the additional purchase of the Testament of Longinus PDF strongly enough.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lancea Sanctum adds too little., September 27, 2006
This review is from: Lancea Sanctum (Vampire: The Requiem) (Hardcover)
Lancea Sanctum presents the religious Covenant of vampires dedicated to preying on humanity and fulfilling the role God has chosen for them. A lot of detail is presented on the structure of the Lancea Sanctum, from the role a typical ancillae plays to how the Covenant relates to other World of Darkness entities. Factions, Bloodlines, Disciplines, and new Thebean Sorcery rituals are included to add mechanical support to this broad take on one of the oldest vampiric organizations.
Unfortunately, Lancea Sanctum speaks far too much in vague generalities and adds little new and interesting material to this Covenant. The rites, prayers, and roles observed by members are simplistic modifications of existing church roles that any Storyteller could easily invent. The history of the Covenant starts out interesting, but quickly degrades into a historical survey of questionable use. Finally, the new game mechanics (Bloodlines, Disciplines, etc.) are sparse and largely flavorless.
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