Legacy of The Blood: Review

[Tobias Blackburn]

Having finally borrowed my friends copy, I'm going to give a review to Legacy of the Blood. I'll review by chapters.

Introduction:
The introduction of the book gives the basic layout of how things are going to be presented. Each family gets a quick "in-character" fiction piece, followed by a bit of the family history. Next, comes an explaination as to how to fit in (or play) a character from that family and claim membership (certain feats they are likely to take, classes and pathes they draw to or avoid). Each family recieves a set of adjustments to their abilites, as well as some other special quality (skills, extra abilites, generally a curse or two). Feats specific for the family (and a constantly repeated "DM should consider carefully before allowing non-family members to take this feat) and prestiege classes follow. Finally comes Family Magic (which covers spells and items) and a list of adventure hooks.

It should be noticed that the book lists off all the other books in the line as reference material. This supplement doesn't require you own everything, but a few Prestiege classes (and at least one feat) require a few feats mentioned in Champions of Darkness and Heroes of Light. Nothing major, and most of those feats are very easy to subsitute or make up yourself.

Also, though the book never states it outright, this is a very human (and human descended races) centered supplement. A few lines would be very hard pressed to accept non-humans, but many would easily allow you to play as Half-elves, Half-vistani or calibans.

At the same time, it is very easy to slip a PC into the family tree, even as many direct children are not even detailed or given names, specifically to allow the DM and players to flesh them out. As such, do not expect the family trees they presented in older editions. I prefer this method, as allows the pages to be used on more useful material.

It also explains what it generally means to be nobility and suggests a few requirements that you may wish to follow. It states that no one must follow all of these requirements, but as a DM, I can see asking a player to adhere to one or two to be a fair trade for the status upgrade.

Boritsi

The framing fiction for the Boritsi is one of my favorite through the entire book, showing Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove after crossing Lady Ivana (and introducing a possible love interest for her). What follows next is a family history (which does reference back to Gazetters 1 and 4 in order to save space). It tells much of the family history and introduces the Boritsi to be a major trading company all over the Core, not just a Borcan noble family. A bastard line is mentioned, as well as the truth behind it, giving more than a few branches for a PC to hang off of. There are four feats, the 5 level PrC Courtier, 1 minor magic item, 1 exceptional magic item and 2 artifacts (Danzig's Icon of Ezra, which is minor, and The Deathstone, a major). There is one story hook, but its a dozy.

I loved the Deathstone and the Icon, which present themselves as vey useful plot points. Also, there's an item which could very well give Ivan lordship of the domain, and no one knows about it.

d"Honaire

This chapter begins with the writing of a letter between Celeste d'Honaire-Loverde, of the Dementlieu d'Honaires, and James Mousel, of the Mordentish branch. There are two distinct branches for the family (with the dread possibility of a third, depending on how you decide Dominic would approach a given situation). There are five feats and a new PrC, the Analyst, 10 levels for pc's who really want power over the minds of others and the ability to deal with fear, horror and madness. This chapter also brings back the Mesmerist's Pendulum. Finally there are two story hooks.

This chapter really brings the family back to its roots, and also added another facet to Dominic's curse. Just when you thought that being unable to deal with women was bad enough, he gets another kick.

Dilisnya

The fiction piece for this chapter is the smallest, more of a blurb than anything. The family has been framed as professional killers and thieves. Evil runs deep in their veins, and it has become a family tradition. There are three feats and the Deceiver PrC, 10 level. There is one spell, Deadly Feast, which was used at Sergi's wedding dinner, and one minor artifact Nicolai's Dagger. There are 3 story hooks.

This was my least favorite chapter, but only because I always saw the Dilisnyas as having over indulged in inbreeding. Just personal preference. As a family line though, its great. The material like the PrC is a very good one.

Drakov

This chapter begins with an example of how Vlad introduces himself to a child he is accepting. Because he has the right of First Night, he has kids EVERYWHERE. There are three feats and two PrCs (Hawkmaster, 5 level, and Raptor Knight, 5 level). There is one spell Hawk's Flight and two magic items. There are two plot hooks.

Drakov's family is the easiest to be part of, but not a good one for PC's. Acceptance into the family means remaining faithful to Vlad and the PrCs are evil. Of course, escaped children (or children of women who got out of the country after First Night) might find themselves dragged back. Also, Vlad's children also take First Night if the patriarch is not around or does not wish too.

Godefroy

We get to see more of Godefory and Gryphon House in the opening. There are four feats and two PrCs (Accomplished Medium (10 levels) who deals directly with spirits, and the Divine Exorcist (10 levels), who is a terror against not only possessing ghosts and demons, but against any who excert control on anothers mind. The two spells Dirge and Eternal Rest and five items. There is one story hook.

This was my favorite chapter, if only because I love Mordent and ghost stories. The Godefroy family lives on due to its intermarriage with other Mordentish families. It generally takes some event to awaken their connection with the blood, which focuses on spirits.

Hiregaard

This begins with Stepan, Captan of the Kantora Watch, writing a letter to his Grandfather Tristian, describing his disgust with many of the other nobles, and his chasing after Malken. The family suffers from madness, which is part of the curse characters inherit. It has one feat and one five level PrC People's Champion. There is one minor artifact, The Cat's Paw, and one story hook.

Oddly enough, this chapter suggests looking at Secrets of the Dread Realms for additional information, rather than Gaz V. I find this very odd, because Gaz V is mentioned in the introduction as a cross-reference source.

Mordenheim



The letter that begins this chapter is by another character who many are familiar with, but who has not been seen in many, many years. Descent from Victor comes from distant relatives, or from the letter writer, with a little work. There are 5 feats, and two 10 level PrCs, The Learned Physician and Scientist. There are 7 "magic" items, 4 of which have sub uses. There is one story hook.

This chapter is great. The addition of the Create Device feat allows the creation of "scientific" magical items and many of the pictures bring the Universal 1930's Henry Frankenstein to mind. The only problem I have is an odd desparity in time involving the introductuary letter writer. This is not very well explained, but can be put down to the Mists, much like Tatyana.

Renier

A letter from a human family member marks opens this chapter. It discusses the introduction of lycanthropy into the Renier line, starting with Jacques Renier's family in Mordent. This allows for three branches, Mordent, Darkon and Richemulot. It has one feat and two PrCs. The Recruiter is 10 levels and the Rumormonger is 3. There is one magic item and one spell, Rat Eyes. There is one story hook.

A very well done chapter. I especially liked the inclusion of the DuBois family as a sidebar. While they have no feats, spells, magic or PrCs, they do have a family trait which makes them very tempting player characters. Anyone who has read Scholar of Decay will notice a big gap between Jacques former and current behavior though, not that the change shouldn't have been expected.

Von Zaroviches

There is no intro to this section. The Von Zaroviches are also more spread out amongst the Core than one would realize. The family is usually ignored by Strahd, but he refuses to allow them to bring shame to the family name. Those that are unable to conduct themselves as a "proper" Von Zarovich will get about two warnings. Of course, there are those that do not realize their bloodline but suffer from the family curse They won't like the third. There are 5 feats and two 5 level PrC's (The Crimson Hound and Tyrant Mage). There are 4 magic items and one minor artifact, The Tome of Strahd. There are three story hooks.

Exactly how the Von Zarovich line continues is not really mentioned. If you know the back story, Strum Von Zarovich wasn't in the castle, so most living descendents come from him. I can see at least one bloodline coming from a Dhampir, though. At the same time, we are lead to understand that, after the Wedding Massacre, it was "Sturm" who lead the reprisals against the Dilisnyas. I think that makes a fair bit of sense, seeing as how Strahd I "died" along with Sergi.

Appendix

Each family is represented, with members running levels from 2nd to 16th. The art is done by the masterful Talon Dunning, which speaks for itself.

Boritsi: Bevel Boritsi

d'Honaire: James Mousel, Celeste d"Honaire-Loverde

Dilisnya: Andrei Palascu, Rodjan Dilisnya

Drakov: Sir Viktor Helsinger

Godefroy: Michael Jendalis

Hiregaard: Narana Hiregaard

Mordenheim: Artisa Juvenoth

Renier: Javier Renier, Louise Renier

Von Zarovich: Talena Von Zarovich, Andrez Weissritter

The characters are well fleshed out, and useful in any number of ways. Even better, There are a few who have begun to fall down the path of darkness. One has even reached the Embrace.

Also, Louise Renier not only furthers an excellent (and an under used) NPC, but shows us the depth to which her sisters monophobia falls.

Overall opinion:

This is a great book. Even if you don't want to let the PC's join the families, the presitege classes and feats are a welcome addition to any game. It also helps you understand the family dynamics incase you wish to create branches or use normal NPCs. A few of the chapters even push forward some good plot possibilities and additions to certain NPCs. By not describing an entire family tree (and often just giving numbers of children for major characters, without even names or gender), it is possible to play as the son or daughter of more than one darklord or even their furtherst relation.

At the same time, there were two points that annoyed me. Artisa Juvenoth's history is rather vague, considering that she does not quite fit into the current timeline as is. I see no problem fitting her into my campagin, it will just take a little rewording as to exactly what happened to her. She's too good to leave out.

The other problem is introduced in Louise Renier's biography. It says that her grandfather's chemical allergy was Camphor, while Gaz 3 says that it was common lye. An odd difference, but it can be explained if you believe that she got it wrong and her sister figured it out at the last minute. Not that it really matters, though. Claude is dead, so his chemical allergy is not really that important.

I love this book. It is useful in just about any domain and the art is pretty good. With about two minor oddities that caught my eye (and only one editing flaw in which they did not add a super-scripted C to mark a feat the second time they listed on a page).

In total, I give it 4 and a half severed digits.

[Steve Miller]

Thanks for the comprehensive review!

(For the record, the changes in J. Renier and the camphor reference were both intentional.)

[Tobias Blackburn]

Thanks for the comprehensive review!

(For the record, the changes in J. Renier and the camphor reference were both intentional.)

I liked how desperate Jacqueline gets, but why the change to camphor?

[Steve Miller]

I liked how desperate Jacqueline gets, but why the change to camphor?

Whoops!

I went and looked at my original turn-over. The stuff about Claude in Louise' bio... well, in one of my drafts, it was longer and more elaborate. In what I gave Arthaus, I'd cut it down to much briefer.

And I screwed up on the camphor part while trimming. *sigh*

In the end, that IS a mistake, plain and simple. (Your "Louise got it wrong, Jackie got it right" was basically what was going on there. In the longer version, J. poisoned the drink while having a sit-down with Claude about what do to about the evil little rat who'd been trying to slip him stinky camphor. The point was to illustrate that even while they were "working together" to get rid of Claude, Jackie was manipulating Louise--she was serving as a distraction while Jackie uncovered the REAL weakness. Louise doesn't know that she had the wrong poison.)

[Tobias Blackburn]

And I screwed up on the camphor part while trimming. *sigh*

Happens to everyone. I doubt anyone will try to kill you over it.

Um... Joel and ScS might try, but they're like me and stuck in Canada.

In the end, that IS a mistake, plain and simple. (Your "Louise got it wrong, Jackie got it right" was basically what was going on there. In the longer version, J. poisoned the drink while having a sit-down with Claude about what do to about the evil little rat who'd been trying to slip him stinky camphor. The point was to illustrate that even while they were "working together" to get rid of Claude, Jackie was manipulating Louise--she was serving as a distraction while Jackie uncovered the REAL weakness. Louise doesn't know that she had the wrong poison.)

Now that really fleshes that scene out. Damn space requirements, eating the cool stuff! Any other cool ideas you had to drop that you can mention Steve? As a side note, do you know who did the Mordenheims?

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

And Steve is definately safe from me, unless he comes to Wales lol.

[Tobias Blackburn]

And Steve is definately safe from me, unless he comes to Wales lol.

You know, I think we lose more friends to the death threats than anything else.

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

Man, I really got to get this book now. Thanks for the great review and here's hoping for a Legecies of Blood 2. (Hint, hint.) If they did make one, which families would you like to see them cover?

[Tobias Blackburn]

Man, I really got to get this book now. Thanks for the great review and here's hoping for a Legecies of Blood 2. (Hint, hint.) If they did make one, which families would you like to see them cover?

I'd love to see them cover the Wachters, and probably that family that Azalin has dealing with in King of the Dead and Lord of the Necropolis. If anything, the book gives you a very good idea about how to create family traits.

Perhaps we will see more families show up in a Quoth the Raven.

[Yaoi Huntress Earth]

[Perhaps we will see more families show up in a Quoth the Raven.

That is a good idea.

[Jester of the FoS]

OooOOoo a possible theme for #12...

[Steve Miller]

You know, I think we lose more friends to the death threats than anything else.

Now you know why I now longer do convention appearances. I'm afraid for my life!

[Steve Miller]

Any other cool ideas you had to drop that you can mention Steve? As a side note, do you know who did the Mordenheims?

I had to scale back on the Hala tie-in with the Mousels, and I had some more things revolving around Celeste. Nothing that I can't use somewhere, so I'm staying mum.

I THINK the Mordenheims were done by Penny Williams. I'll double-check that when I can get the files off my laptop.

[Jester of the FoS]

Question: Mangrum asked something over on the WotC boards (at the bottom of:
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.p ... 738&page=2
or so...). Roughly he was wondering about Sulo Boritsi who, according to GazIV, was in Borca but was potentially relocated retractively to Nova Vassa by LoB (ie moving Pre-Grand Conjunction).
Another fun continuity mess.

Anyone read anything about this?

[Steve Miller]

If the Sulo thing wasn't caught in editing, it's probably still that way.

When I *did* see the Gaz IV chapter--after I was done with the Boritsi and had moved onto another chapter--the Sulo discrepency didn't register. I was too busy trying to meet a very tight deadline.