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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If You're Bored with Chaos and Skaven..., November 3, 2007
This review is from: Night's Dark Masters: A Guide to Vampires (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay) (Paperback)
Chaos--whether in the form of ravening beastmen or scheming cultists--is the "default" antagonist in WFRP. Skulking skaven are a close second. There are reasons for this; they're both iconic to the Warhammer World. Warhammer's vampires don't have quite the same cachet, but Night's Dark Masters goes quite a ways to fix that.
If you're familiar with the Green Ronin WFRP stuff, you'll know what to expect: "in character" fluff from various authorities, extensive background information, a variety of NPCs (nearly all vampires in this case), and adventure hooks. What's missing is a complete adventure. Personally, I've never been that impressed with the adventures they -do- include in their sourcebooks, and don't miss one here. Green Ronin's proofreading continues to improve, and there aren't nearly as many typos as we've gotten accustomed to.
There's information on all of the major bloodlines, from the Dracula-esque Von Carsteins to the bestial Strigoi. In addition to historical information and fully-statted NPCs, there are sketches of other prominent vampires of each bloodline. The basic tack is one "legendary" type vampire, suitable for an epic game, and one more moderately powered NPC suitable for less world-shaking adventures. It should be noted that pretty much any WFRP vampire is dangerous, and the authors stick to that conception.
There are a slew of magical items to power up vampires or the PCs that fight them. There's a career track for vampires, granting them access to a variety of powers (mostly based on their bloodline). There are also a number of careers for aspiring vampire hunters, including the very cool Raven Knight. Last but not least, are advanced necromancy and the various undead monsters it creates.
There is little of "general interest" in this book. It's really designed as the background for a vampire-oriented campaign. Assuming that's the book's goal, it succeeds admirably. The different bloodlines provide options for very different kinds of vampiric antagonists, and there's no need to restrict a vampire campaign to Sylvania. Just as important as the numerous bits of number-crunchiness are the bits of advice on how to use vampires as long-term enemies for your PCs. With the exception of Mannfred von Carstein, there aren't many vampire NPCs who'd be able to stand up to a party of third-career or better adventurers in a straight-up fight. The key, of course, is that vampires will do everything in their power to avoid that straight-up fight. Night's Dark Masters gives the GM plenty of strategies to delay the climactic confrontation, and plenty of dark fireworks to use when it finally happens.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good WHRPG sourcebook, May 17, 2008
This review is from: Night's Dark Masters: A Guide to Vampires (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay) (Paperback)
I purchased this book to learn more about vampires and the vampire hunters in the Warhammer FRP setting.
The book covers a lot of vampire history, clans, motivation and special characters. For GMs planning on introducing a vampire this is a must, and all players who either want to play a vampire or vampire hunter should know this information as well.
Some new hunter careers together with vampire careers, skills, spells and so on.
The negative issue I have with this book is how they have given a lot of the old vampires stats. These stats are way underpowered and looks designed so that playing parties have a chance killing them. von Carstein, a vampire who has defeated whole armies and is the most intelligent entity in the empire has a an int of 70%.
Also the book has little vampire hunter information, apart from a small chapter and some new careers.
So if you are tired of the old "defeat chaos" routine (Vampires are interestingly enough opposed to chaos) or cant take another "greenskin" attack get this book for ideas and material. All in all this book is good value.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Supplement for WFRP!, January 14, 2010
This review is from: Night's Dark Masters: A Guide to Vampires (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay) (Paperback)
As most of the products from Black Industries that I have read and used during actual gaming, this book does not dissapoint. From layout to artwork and the excellent flavor text excerpts everything in this book delivers. It's a great supplement that gives you a wealth of information on the major bloodlines of Vampires across the Empire: from the insidious machinations of the Von Carsteins, to the twisted honor-bound weaponmasters that are the Blood Knights, and more! It takes you down to each individual vampire's advance scheme (3 Stages of Advances!) and powers (from their Necromantic abilites to Walking in Sunlight!) all the way to creating your own vampire menaces to terrorize your gaming group with.
All in all, I highly recommend this book for any WFRP enthusiast (GM's in particular) that are looking for a new intelligent and highly-dangerous protagonist in a world already filled with them, then I say the Vampire Lords of Sylvania are what you are looking for!
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