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Vampire: the Masquerade
Chaining the Beast (Vampire: the Masquerade) by White Wolf
Book by White Wolf, Achilli, Justin
Paperback
First published June 30, 2003
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December 19, 2019
Another book I missed the first time around.
The main struggle of Vampire: the Masquerade is, putatively, internal. It's the struggle of each individual vampire against their Beast, to maintain control against the inhuman urges to just give in and feed and run and kill. Many vampires try to maintain a human moral code and end up somewhere around the "unrepentant serial killer" level, but one of the most interesting parts of the game to me are the inhuman moral codes that the Cainites came up with as a way of avoiding the problem of a group of blood-drinking inhuman monsters trying to follow a moral system that accounts murder as one of worst sins.
Chaining the Beast is a collection of paths from all the other sourcebooks into a single place, with a couple extra paths added like the Path of Orion, about being the perfect hunter, and some roleplaying information about properly portraying a devotee of the path. A lot of people deride paths--you'll see quotes about the "Path of Kill Everyone In The Room" or the even-used-in-this-book "The Path of What I Was Going to Do Anyway"--but played well, there really is room for a lot of moral conflict. For a follower of the Path of Night, saying "I'm sorry" is as grievous a sin as a follower of Humanity committing casual murder. The worst possible sin for a follower of the Path of Death and the Soul is "preventing a death," with no allowance made for saving companions or childer. Dedicated followers of the Path of Blood have to hunt and kill other vampires. Just because a vampire is capable of killing human victims without remorse doesn't mean they'll have an easier time with their unlives, though it does mean that they might be harder to fit into the standard "coterie of vampires doing things together" game.
Most of the book is just reprinted info as I said, though there are some interesting bits within. It reveals that the Path of Caine is actually just a debased version of the Path of Blood, which explains why the Path of Caine is so keen on diablerie, one of the acts that Caine most strongly forbid his descendants. There's a "Path of Redemption" that's a mirror of the Path of Night--vampires are agents of G-d, but with the Path of Redemption the goal is to take on Caine's sins as one's own and repent for them as Caine will not. Mostly, however, this is all information available elsewhere, with a slight expansion on some of the particulars as a way of avoiding the Path of What I Was Going to Do Anyway. That's no mean thing, but it's not really necessary.
The main struggle of Vampire: the Masquerade is, putatively, internal. It's the struggle of each individual vampire against their Beast, to maintain control against the inhuman urges to just give in and feed and run and kill. Many vampires try to maintain a human moral code and end up somewhere around the "unrepentant serial killer" level, but one of the most interesting parts of the game to me are the inhuman moral codes that the Cainites came up with as a way of avoiding the problem of a group of blood-drinking inhuman monsters trying to follow a moral system that accounts murder as one of worst sins.
Chaining the Beast is a collection of paths from all the other sourcebooks into a single place, with a couple extra paths added like the Path of Orion, about being the perfect hunter, and some roleplaying information about properly portraying a devotee of the path. A lot of people deride paths--you'll see quotes about the "Path of Kill Everyone In The Room" or the even-used-in-this-book "The Path of What I Was Going to Do Anyway"--but played well, there really is room for a lot of moral conflict. For a follower of the Path of Night, saying "I'm sorry" is as grievous a sin as a follower of Humanity committing casual murder. The worst possible sin for a follower of the Path of Death and the Soul is "preventing a death," with no allowance made for saving companions or childer. Dedicated followers of the Path of Blood have to hunt and kill other vampires. Just because a vampire is capable of killing human victims without remorse doesn't mean they'll have an easier time with their unlives, though it does mean that they might be harder to fit into the standard "coterie of vampires doing things together" game.
Most of the book is just reprinted info as I said, though there are some interesting bits within. It reveals that the Path of Caine is actually just a debased version of the Path of Blood, which explains why the Path of Caine is so keen on diablerie, one of the acts that Caine most strongly forbid his descendants. There's a "Path of Redemption" that's a mirror of the Path of Night--vampires are agents of G-d, but with the Path of Redemption the goal is to take on Caine's sins as one's own and repent for them as Caine will not. Mostly, however, this is all information available elsewhere, with a slight expansion on some of the particulars as a way of avoiding the Path of What I Was Going to Do Anyway. That's no mean thing, but it's not really necessary.
Displaying 1 of 1 review