Gehenna

Rating:
Summary: "This is the way the world ends..."
Review: For those who don't know, this book is the final publication for White Wolf's flagship RPG "Vampire: The Masquerade". "Gehenna" ties together all the last loose ends of the plotline of the previous publications, tying together all the ancient myths and disparate legends regarding Gehenna, the vampiric apocalypse, in which (in short) Caine, father of all vampires, and his Grandchilder will rise up to consume the world. The depth is substancially greater than this, of course, but I would hate to spoil the depths of plot available.

Needless to say, it's difficult to custom-tailor such a story to a group, particularly one with different tastes, roles, histories and religious outlooks (the latter of which can seriously flavor any V:tM storyline). White Wolf has worked this through, providing several possible scenarios for Gehenna, all incorporating different elements of, and angles on, in-game history and metaplot. Possibilities are provided from divine and ultimate redemption in a "secret apocalypse" all the way up to the true and total end of the world. Though somewhat messily organized, even the most rigid of writers would have a difficult time getting a lasso around all this material, and Ari Marmell does a decent job of it. Though not all the plots will be to everyone's taste, and some might not enjoy any of them, all have at least -some- ideas that any Storyteller would be able to wring a great deal of personal horror out of. The amount of metaplot and canon knowledge required was surprisingly minimal, as I haven't shelled out an overwhelming amount of cash on peripheral materials. Whether you want the end to be a battered but optimistic upbeat or the orgiastic, carniverous, final irony of the human and Cainite races, this book should have something for you. Though at times messy, at others a bit tepid, and in most cases a bit unfortunately predictable, I still feel it would have been difficult to do a much better job. With a little Storyteller ingenuity, the end to all things could also become the story to end all stories.

Rating:
Summary: The End...
Review: This book is the final book for Vampire: the Masquerade and covers Gehenna, the end of the world for all intents and purposes. A novel new concept, this book provides multiple scenarios which you can tailor to your needs based on your own needs and likes. No canon, no specifics. Just suggestions, and its a VERY cool concept.

The book starts out with a great piece of fiction using the characters from Cairo by Night, and then gives some general info about Gehenna with stuff like the Red Star, the shattering of the Black Hand and how the sects react. The whereabouts of the Antedilluvians are given (though some are rather disappointing, others are what we've expected all along), though these can be changed to suit your needs. Then the book gives a whole chapter on general setting info for Gehenna. The prophecies and Antedilluvians are examined, including others beyond the 13 "known" ones (though these may or may not just be rumors). Also info on the Inconnu, Jyhad and last daughters of eve, some news clippings from around the world showing how the mortal world is affected and the system for the withering, a new weakness afflicting Cainites in the Final Nights. Info on other supernaturals is largely avoided, but it is mentioned that depending on how it ends it could be a huge spectacle to a quiet bang unnoticed by the mortal world.

The next chapters detail four possible scenarios (which you can adapt for your own use), which I have no intentions of spoiling for you. The first, Wormwood, seems to be the most popular and has God himself taking out his wrath on all vampires. Fair is Foul, probably my favorite, involves Lilith taking her revenge on Caine and his childer amidst the struggles of the Antedilluvians. The next scenario, Nightshade, involves the awakening of the Antedilluvians and may be the "canon" ending to the metaplot from what I've heard on forums. And the final scenario, the Crucible of God, shows what happens when vampires openly take control of human society. And it has a REALLY funny ending if you like ironic justice....

The book closes out with some more stuff, including a Storyteller's guide to running games set in the end times, Stats and profiles for some of the characters presented (which were nice, but some are already presented elsewhere and I guess the space could have been better used in other ways), and finally a last look at Caine himself. Overall, this is a very useful and innovative book. Definately worth running any one of the scenarios presented. The book largely accepts the Caine mythos and Abrahamic religious beliefs (sorry for all those Setites, Laibon, Bahari, Einherjar, etc) BUT makes a big point on how you can change it if you choose. In fact, one of the scenarios includes the Lilith Mythos as I mentioned, which I think is cool. Still, the game is based of the Biblical kinslayer, and it makes sense that the Jewish/Christian/Muslim view of God holds in the game. Overall, just get the book. You and your players will enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Glorious Gehenna
Review: This book's been 13 years in the making. From the first days of Vampire: the Masquerade, Gehenna has loomed over the gaming tables of storytellers, players and characters alike. The fabled apocalypse for the Vampires of the World of Darkness has come to collect.

The book contains "Toolkit" information for Storytellers that would like to tailor their Vampire chronicles for their own type of Gehenna as well as including four scenarios; each one detailing another way of approaching the elements that Gehenna will bring upon the characters.

The overall "Time of Judgment" campaign that White Wolf has brought upon the industry is not for everyone. Bringing the entire WoD to an end was recieved with emotions by fans. For this fan. The end couldn't be any sweeter.

Rating:
Summary: Vampire: The Masquerade's amazing final bow
Review: Vampire is an amazing game, and Gehenna is an amazing book to end it's run with. The authors do not stick with just one, canonical way to end the series, they give you four different options and let you decide which one best suits your campaign. The four scenarios are all very different and fit very different campaign styles and groups. I can't see anyone buying this book and not finding something they could use in it. It's great.

Rating:
Summary: And End to the Vampire Storyline
Review: Vampire The Masquerade was White Wolf's baby. It was their first game that started an amazing foray in to "The World of Darkness." Like all of White Wolf's storylines, information of the end has been present since the beginning. Whte Wolf is one of the few companies that followed their word. They said it would end and now it is. Vampire Gehenna is a great book for tying together some of the various plots in Vampire. I have played Vampire, but it is not my specialty. However, this book does what it was intended to do while giving you several options on how to end the story. The book consists of some informative chapters and four scenarios that can be used to bring the beginning to an end. It is well written and very interesting. If you are a White Wolf fan, this book is a must. I plan on buying all of the final books for the World of Darkness storylines.

Rating:
Summary: And End to the Vampire Storyline
Review: Vampire The Masquerade was White Wolf's baby. It was their first game that started an amazing foray in to "The World of Darkness." Like all of White Wolf's storylines, information of the end has been present since the beginning. Whte Wolf is one of the few companies that followed their word. They said it would end and now it is. Vampire Gehenna is a great book for tying together some of the various plots in Vampire. I have played Vampire, but it is not my specialty. However, this book does what it was intended to do while giving you several options on how to end the story. The book consists of some informative chapters and four scenarios that can be used to bring the beginning to an end. It is well written and very interesting. If you are a White Wolf fan, this book is a must. I plan on buying all of the final books for the World of Darkness storylines.

Rating:
Summary: And End to the Vampire Storyline
Review: Vampire The Masquerade was White Wolf's baby. It was their first game that started an amazing foray in to "The World of Darkness." Like all of White Wolf's storylines, information of the end has been present since the beginning. Whte Wolf is one of the few companies that followed their word. They said it would end and now it is. Vampire Gehenna is a great book for tying together some of the various plots in Vampire. I have played Vampire, but it is not my specialty. However, this book does what it was intended to do while giving you several options on how to end the story. The book consists of some informative chapters and four scenarios that can be used to bring the beginning to an end. It is well written and very interesting. If you are a White Wolf fan, this book is a must. I plan on buying all of the final books for the World of Darkness storylines.

Rating:
Summary: A worthy epitaph to a game that revolutionized RPG's
Review: vampire: gehenna is the final conclusion to the metaplot of a great horror rpg. I found the book offered many possible plot and thematic ideas on how to bring the vampire apocalypse to any campaign. It is also great for those troupes that want to run a gehenna scenario with pregenerated characters. The best part is that it gives the storyteller complete control and creativity in developing the climactic conclusion to her or his games. A must have for those long time fans, like myself, who have been collecting White Wolf games for years. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: A fitting end for a fantastic game.
Review: Vampire: the Masquerade was released in 1991 shaking the roleplaying community upside down with it's inovative take on horror gaming and storytelling in general. By putting more emphasis on character and story, and less on die rolling and rules systems WW forever changed the standard of the industry by pressing foward with mature concepts and shifting the resposibility of telling a story beyond that of just the dungeon master into the hands of all those involved; gamemasters and players both. For those well versed in Vampire; there is no further need for an introduction. This past August White Wolf Game Studio shocked the industry and fans alike by announcing that they would be ending the World of Darkness with their "Time of Judgment" campaign. Each WoD gameline has been working towards an individual end for 13 years now. WW has decided to pay up on this build up. The ToJ was recieved with mixed feelings. Fans were either happy or outraged by this turn of events; either way the Time of Judgment was in motion and that was the bottom line. The WoD would come to an end with several sourcebooks[rather, toolkits] to aid the Storyteller and players in telling their own tales of the end. This title, Gehenna, is the final book to be released for the game Vampire: the Masquerade. Gehenna is split up into a few different sections discussing various ways to bring your own Vampire chronicle to an end. There are a number of sections that can be described as "toolkits" for tailoring your own interpretation of Gehenna. There are also four stories[adventures if you will] which detail four possible endings for the gameline. Nothing is written in stone nor is anything claiming itself as canon[the dreaded word metaplot comes to mind; not really any of that here]Simply said Gehenna is a satisfying book that offers numerous possibilities for running a Gehenna themed game. As a fan for the last 11 years; I am happy with the end result; I am confident that many fans will also feel the same.

Rating:
Summary: Where Has White Wolf's Creativity Gone?
Review: You start reading this book hoping for some of the strengths from earlier White Wolf publications (depth of story, well thought out ideas, etc.), but the book lacks depth. After reading through the introductory parts of the book before coming to the 4 possible scenarios, you start to figure out that White Wolf really did not have a well thought out plan for the end of the Vampire line. Why end the line to re-release it as d20?

And once you read through this book, which is tough, you come to a realization that you could have thought of a much better ending yourself.

The book is okay, but I do not think it's worth the cover price. The novel is awesome. Save your money and buy the novel!

Oh, I would have given this book two stars, but having more then one possible ending changed my mind.