Customer Reviews

Veil of Night (Vampire: The Dark Ages)

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Probably the best book for the Dark Ages setting thus far, this Year of the Scarab release focuses on the Islamic world in the context of Dark Ages: Vampire. After opening up with a short fiction of a vampire's meeting with Mohammad, and another short fiction focusing on a the lengths that ashipu (Middle Eastern vampire magicians) must go to, we get to an excellent introduction. The introduction explains what the book is an isn't, as well as giving us a lot of useful books, magazines and websites to visit concerning the real history of the Islamic world. Remember that while the west was in the "dark ages", the Islamic world was experiencing a golden age of science and learning. There is also a lexicon of Arabic and Islamic terms that are used in the book, and more specifically the context they hold in the game.
The first chapter covers the history of Islam, giving a biography of the Prophet Mohammad, as well as a historical account of the spread of Islam across the Middle East and North Africa. The second chapter continues by giving a look at Islamic beliefs and practices, both from mortal and vampiric perspectives. The most interesting part here is a description of the Ashirra sect, a brotherhood of Islamic vampires who seek to redeem themselves. Very good for Storytellers and players alike, as this section is almost essential for understanding how and why the Ashirra work.
The next section is a bit of IC stuff, written by an Assamite vizier as he travels from al-Andalus across north Africa to Arabia and the Holy Land, and from there to Baghdad, Persia and finally disappearing in the east, killed by some unknown force. Think something like the vampiric equivalent to ibn Batutta. At the end are a bunch of profiles of NPCs he met along the way. Almost all of the NPCs are interesting and unique, and can easily be placed in a chronicle. The next chapter covers the various clans (all called by their Arabic names) in the Middle East, and things are quite different. As would be expected, the Assamites and Setites are dominant, but the Brujah, Nosferatu, Gangrel, Ravnos and Lasombra are also quite influencial. Indeed, all western clans (save the Tzimisce and Tremere; the Ventrue are also rare being represented only by a small Arabian bloodline) are represented to some degree, along with three bloodlines: the Salubri, Baali and Laibon.
Some of the alternate takes on the various clans are quite interesting. For instance, the conflict between the animalistic hunters and monsters of clan Nosferatu (called Mutasharid) and the peaceful Nosferatu who have adopted Islam (known as the Hajj). Indeed, the Hajj are one of the leading groups in the Ashirra. Or the Lasombra, many of whom are devout Muslims and who are treated with respect and honor. All in all, its a pretty cool section. In the end, it also gives some descriptions of Paths followed by the Ashirr and how they differ from western paths. For instance, Path of the Bedouin becomes Tariq el-Bedouin, and is focused more on living a simple, nomadic lifestyle than becoming an animal. Special attention is paid to the Path of Blood (Tariq el-Haqim) given the prominence of the Assamites in these regions.
Following this is the juicy chapter, chock full of everything you need to know to run a Cainite in the region. Aside from information on the different cultures and groups (such as Berbers, Moors, Kurds and so forth) and Arabic naming conventions, there are also some sample concepts and such. Some new Merits and Flaws, specific to the setting are given, along with new Traits and even a new Animalism power (used many by vampires to create animal ghouls out of animals that drink from isolated desert oasis). There is a great deal of information on Sihr, faith based blood magic used by the Hajj. A couple paths and rituals and not much else. Given that its specific to the Hajj and maybe a few Assamite sorcerers, I guess not too much detail is needed. And theres also some systems for situations Ashirra are likely to get into as well.
And then there is the next chapter, Damascus by Night, which gives an entire ready-to-run plot focusing on the secret corrutpion in the city of Damascus. The chapter gives a pretty nice amount of information about the city of Damascus, as well as the Ashirra in the city and how many of them have been subverted by the Baali. Character profiles of major characters are also given, so everything is already set up for you to run it. This ties in nicely with the closing chapter, which focuses on various supernatural threats that Ashirra are likely to face in the night. Information on mortal dangers (like crusaders and the Knights Templar and Islamic monster hunters) is presented, alongside bits about jackal-blooded Lupines (and other shapeshifters), wizards (primarily Ahl-i-Batin and Taftani, but also Knights Templar, Hebrew qabbalists and tribal shaman), ghosts, mummies, djinn and even mysterious eastern "Kindred" from the White Tiger Court...
Over all, this is an excellent book. I strongly recommend it to anyone intending to run a Dark Ages game, or even a game set in the Mid-East in general. The Ashirra sect supposedly survives to the modern era, though little information is given on it outside brief references in a couple other books. More information on the future of the Ashirra sect would have been appreciated. Nonetheless, this is an excellent book and well worth buying.

This is a great historical geopolitical look at the Middle East of the Dark Ages for Vampire. White Wolf does a good job of showing us the Kindred of the Middle East who have been influneced by living in the geographic center of 3 major world religions. The impact of the faiths is obvious in all of the clans. White Wold has taken pains to accurately reflect the culture of the times and superimpose it onto the likely reactions of supernaturals. If you play Vampire: Dark Ages and wish to have a religious themed game or an exotic setting then this is the book for you.

This review is for Veil of Night, a book from the Vampire: the Dark Ages line of RPG products (the line preceding Dark Ages: Vampire and other Dark Ages titles to come out for the original World of Darkness by White Wolf).

Let me start by saying this book goes into detail on the foundations of Islam to an extent I didn't think it would cover. Now, that's not a bad thing, especially considering the influence of Islam on the vampires of the region in question. But I was really hoping for a more in-depth look at Middle East in it's total history, both pre- and post-Muslim. This was mostly because I wanted to see Kindred characters who were as yet uninfluenced by this or any other Abrahamic religion. But then, I suppose any good ST can consult a reference book and create a few appropriate NPCs for their own campaign, so one should rely on this or any other sourcebook to do all the work.

The section on the life and legacy of the Prophet Muhammad is very extensive, mixed in with the fiction of the WoD, of course. For these purposes, the Ashirra are included as a major sect, blending into the real world history presented in the book.

The section on roads is very brief indeed, and honestly comes off as being redundant. Even though this predates the system of Roads mixed with Paths, most of these "new" ones could simply have had a small write-up as opposed to a complete change out of their Hierarchies of Sins. Seriously, was there a real need for an "Arabian Road of Humanity?" Is a Muslim vampire going to follow that different a Road of Heaven than his or her Christian counterpart? I see no need for a complete revision of existing moralities. A similar note may be made for the Clans and Bloodlines section. The "original bloodline" styled presentation seems unnecessary. A different format would have presented room for much more material.

There are new Thaumaturgical paths included, mostly for Assamite blood magicians. But, like many new paths when presented prior to the revised Dark Ages rules, these seem overpowered. The concepts and prerequisites behind some of them (one such path requires a rating in the secondary Knowledge of Theology) are fascinating, but simply need to be scaled down somewhat. The new merits and flaws are fairly balanced, and for the most point avoid putting high point value to traits that don't have mechanics (of course, I'm of the thought that if it doesn't affect mechanics, it's not a character trait; it's a plot point).

The book comes with a setting included: Damascus. The sites therein are represented with as much historical accuracy as was possible, it seems. Alterations have to be made, of course (have to put the dens of supernatural corruption somewhere, after all). The addition of destinies for certain individuals and sites gave me ideas for modern day campaigns, and I honestly wish there had been more of these sidebars.

Fiction throughout the book is enjoyable, and often told from the point of view of a reserved Cainite. Illustrations aren't sparse or overpopulating the book. There are simply enough of them so as to give atmosphere without becoming a way to simply fill more pages.

Overall, Veil of Night comes off as a useful sourcebook for regional purposes. It's purpose could be matched and exceeded by using the relevant core books and a set of historical and geographical references. However, the book does a good job a taking and presenting the choicest bits of these in it's composition. It may be of more use to a modern day campaign, however, for any throwbacks to the early Nights of Arabia. Bits of the book later wound up in Dark Ages: Vampire (such as the Path of the Nomad, an offshoot of the Road of the Beast), so if you already collected the later edition, buy this book for the regional and historical information and otherwise stick to your existing materials.