Review – Bloodlines: the Chosen
Product Name: Bloodlines: the Chosen
Publisher: White Wolf Publishing/CCP Games
Authors: Roger Williams, William Barnes, Ty Bjarnason, Adriano Bompani, Ray Fawkes, Brian David Gibson, Misha James Handman, David Michael Hubbard, Paul Alexander Scokel, Sean Smith, Zachary Thomas Tyler, Randy Ulch
Developer: Ray Fawkes
Art Direction, Layout & Typesetting: Craig S. Grant
Page Count: 147
Price: $26.99/$16.19 (watermarked PDF)
From the Publisher
“They say we are inbred and perverse. They say we are amoral, evil. They are not wrong. But we are chosen.” - Benedetto, Sangiovanni Prodigy
These vampires shouldn’t exist. Arrogant, violent, and proud, their notorious bloodlines discolor the weave of Kindred society. They are feared and reviled, cursed and low – and almost every single one of them identifies as an extraordinary agent of vampire destiny. For better or worse, they may be right.
First Thoughts
This is a book that was written by fans of Vampire: the Requiem. The ten bloodlines presented were chosen from fan submissions in a year-long contest to develop one of eighteen bloodlines specified by the publisher. All of these bloodlines are mentioned in the core rulebook, but none are fleshed out (pun intended).
This book also contains rules and helpful information on creating bloodlines and using them as a central component of a Vampire: the Requiem chronicle. Each of the ten chapters after the introduction details a specific bloodline and the three appendices contain rules, mechanics and the aforementioned helpful information.
The Good
This book, like all of the new generation World of Darkness books, is well-organized. Each chapter details a specific bloodline. The appendices are organized by the type of information each contains. The exterior design is consistent with all of the Vampire: the Requiem products.
The interior art is some of the best interior art I’ve seen in a White Wolf supplement. The quality is fairly consistent throughout the book.
The content is extremely well-done. The authors (remember, they’re fans of the game) and editors have done a fantastic job bringing these ten bloodlines to unlife within the pages of this book. Fans of Vampire: the Masquerade can also find plenty of things to like here. Take the Sangiovanni bloodline, for example. This offshoot of the Mekhet clan, known as the Necromancers, is nearly a direct homage to their Vampire: the Masquerade predecessors, Clan Giovanni. There is also an excellent selection of new disciplines for these bloodlines.
This book is just a fascinating read from cover to cover. All ten entries are extremely well-done. The tone and quality of the writing is remarkably consistent throughout, especially when you consider the number of fans/authors who contributed.
The Bad
The worst thing I can say about this product is that, for an old guy like me anyway, the text does not contrast enough with the background of the page. While the rust-colored text fits well with the design aesthetic, it becomes hard on the eyes after a while, especially in the paragraphs that have designs underlaying them. There are also a few typesetting mistakes that have crept into the final product, but they are minor and usually not distracting.
The Ugly
Some of these bloodlines are just ugly. I mean that in a positive way. Some examples:
The Agonistes are a bloodline of backstabbing academics who value prolific excitement over factual accuracy.
The Baddacelli are blind, subterranean, and arguably OCD.
The solitary Noctuku are beasts with an insatiable hunger for both human and kindred flesh that make their parent Nosferatu clan seem tame by comparison.
The Rötgrafen are modern Vikings who terrorize the seas.
The Sangiovanni are insular necromancers and shrewd businessmen.
The California Xiao hide behind a disciplined religious facade for new blood.
The Yagnatia are like the Russian mob, but they’re… well, vampires.
That’s just a selection of the nastiness offered within this book. Fans surely do have devious and twisted minds.
The Play’s the Thing
The important thing here is that this gives players and storytellers a host of new options to add depth to their chronicle. I’m a big fan of giving players well-crafted options to set their characters apart from others, and this book, along with others in the line, does that quite well. I didn’t find anything that could detract from a game here, just solid options to add depth and flavor.
One of my favorite things about the book is that kindred can be inducted into bloodlines against their will. My devious mind starting running with a million ideas on how to use this in a chronicle, though it’s usually best to let players have a choice of their own bloodline. However, some of these bloodlines are phenomenal for some of a chronicle’s antagonists.
I want to thank my friend and fellow gamer, Bob “O’Guun” Hensley for helping me kick the tires on these bloodlines.
Final Thoughts
Bloodlines: the Chosen is another excellent supplement for Vampire: the Requiem. These fan submissions were polished into an excellent final product that is a welcome edition to V:tR chronicles. As with all other current generation White Wolf products, they are available in print on-demand or watermarked PDF format from Drive-Thru RPG.
Overall Rating
