VtM - WhiteWolf: Genealogy

VtM - Review: The Children of the Night
Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)
When I heard about this book, I was at first somewhat skeptical. I already had Children of the Inquisition
and Kindred's Most Wanted, I was worried that Children of the Night would just be a re-hash of the old
material. It wasn't.
Children of the Night is not simply old NPCs given a new book to sell, it is a collection of characters,
both new and old, from the setting. I have to warn you though, I was expecting a book of "Movers and
Shakers of Kindred society," but that's not what the book is. While it does contain many of the more
important figures in undead society (like the Seraphim of the Black Hand and the Justicars of the
Camarilla), not everyone presented is of either great importance of renown. While not necessarily bad, it
was not what I was expecting and so somewhat disappointing. I hear that every character in the book
does have an intended use later on, however, so I may just be jumping to conclusions.
The format of the book was quite nice, with one chapter each on the Sabbat, Camarilla, and Independents
(after an introduction by Justin Achilli on why the new book was done and on how to create an elder
character). Individual character entries start off with the history and story of the character, and then move
into a reasonably comprehensive list of traits. Aside from a few mistakes here and there (there is no
Death and the Soul Path rating for Unre, and both Karsh and Jalan-Aajav are on the Path of the Feral
Heart with Self-Control 5, to mention a few) the characters are well done. The sections are, for the most
part, short, sweet, and well done. With a few exceptions (Unre's history is terribly unclear on chronology,
very hard to decipher) most of the characters are interesting and hint at Larger Things. Art, other than the
full-page pictures done by Leif Jones (not his best stuff. I found them extremely lacking), was all
provided by the great Christopher Shy in small 1/6th-page head-shots. While the art was definitely not up
to Shy's usual standard, some of it was quite good. I think that there should have been more discussion
between Shy and the authors of the characters though, because while some illustrations fit perfectly and
serve only to enhance the character (like Justicars Maris Streck and Lucinde), some really did not fit at
all (the Sabbat Inquisitor Mercy). The proliferation of facial tattoos was annoying sometimes, but not
nearly as bad as I had expected from the reaction the book received on the net. For the most part, the art
was good, if not exceptional.
So just who is in the book? Well, to make a quick note of some of the more striking characters, Jalan-
Aaljav and Karsh are interesting, especially in relation to each other. Unre, the Keeper of Golgotha has
many, many interesting tidbits in her section, although the part mentioning how long she was behind the
Shroud with the other Harbingers (third paragraph in) is terribly unclear. It mentions two centuries to
"fall into madness" and three centuries of watching the Giovanni destroy the Cappadocians. Is that 200
years before the Giovanni purge and then watching for 300 years while the clan is slaughtered, or is it
something else? I'm all for mystery, but sometimes obscure writing makes more for annoyance than
mystery. All of the Black Hand Seraphim are beautifully done, and all provide loads of plot ideas. Tariq
the Silent is a surprise for those who read Kindred's Most Wanted. Francisco Dominga de Polonia is a
Lasombra Embraced with a horrid sunburn. The Cardinal of Canada is an idealistic Sabbat member with
some interesting plans. The new information on Archbishop Moncada is as interesting as ever. Cicatriz,
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