*OP Transylvania Chron 1: Dark Tides (For Vampire, the Dark Ages)

The only major flaw of the series is that the storyteller may easily find himself in the situation that he know TOO LITTLE of the plot. Regarding the prophecy of Gehenna, for example, the first three books hint on the apocryphal signs of Gehenna. What these are, the players should not know until the end... but the storyteller? There are various times that you will find yourself not knowing the importance of the events you are playing, the role of major npcs in the story- you will have to improvise, and chances are, the next books in the series will make you have to adjust your earlier options heavily.

For people wishing to go into transylvania, take this campaign seriously. It needs a lot of play time to enjoy it. It took me more than 90 sessions to complete, and I enjoyed every one of them. If you can, buy all the books before starting the campaign - if not, book 4 is a must.


Execellent Start to a Long Journey   July 27, 2000
Josh Atzinger (Pittsburgh, PA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is an excellent book to start with if you are just starting out as a story teller. Has all possibliltes already planned out for you and has nasty little turn abouts in it to keep players on their toes. One thing it lacked was some tiny details about some characters that would have been useful.


A Perfect Primer   December 18, 1999
Jonathan Parker (Lakewood, CA USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Though I played in a Dark Ages chronicle, it was years ago and I wasn't running it. I wanted to see how the "pros" did it rather than learn on my own (the hard way), so I picked up this book.

A good story that will let you shape it to what you want it to be, I've found it the best way to get started in the Dark Ages (both from a Storytelling and a character creation standpoint).


Just Perfect   November 5, 1998
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Imagine my surprise when I find that the LARP chronicle that myself and four others had been planning had essentially just been published by White Wolf. This series is an incredible resource in material and mechanics. Now if only they could do a MET version...


Storytelling mysteries unravelled in Dark Tides!   July 12, 1998
Bryan Linder (braendt@brigadoon.com) (Margate, Florida)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

WOW! Transylvania Chronicles I: Dark Tides Rising is one of the BEST (if not THE best) campaign style modules I have ever read, and I have been playing RPGs since the Chainmail packet in 1976! The authors take you through at least 300 years of gaming in a flash, planning for just about all contingencies. Besides that, there are storyteller hints from how-to style through atmosphere, and they include dozens of (slightly altered for fantasy) historical incidents to throw in as filler throughout the game! All I can say is, since I am currently storytelling this game. In closing, if you are interested in Storytelling Vampire: The Dark Ages at all, this is DEFINITELY the book to pick up. Just be ready to switch to Vampire: The Masquerade at some point, since this 4 module series runs the transition between both games, and details over 800 years of Kindred history!