Rating: 
Summary: a game of its own
Review: as you'll notice on it's cover it says that is a sourcebook for the masquerade. white wolf has outdone itself on KoE and made it a game of its own. the powers of the kindred are powerful and vast they are balanced by their own inner demons and their fight against self-destruction. while it may seem unbalanced to those who play western vampires, you are just seeing one side of the coin.
Rating: 
Summary: this book combines the best of vampire, wraith, and mage.
Review: better than the normal vampire game, this book gives the charaters a new world and a goal to work for. it combines the best aspect of other great white wolf games.
Rating:
Summary: A well-balanced and handy book for the World of Darkness
Review: Congratulations to White Wolf on this book. It offers a good view of a new type of supernatural to add to the World of Darkness (but, carefully.) I like the openness of the players moral decisions; they're much closer to Sabbat Paths than Humanity, yet they're not evil- they just have a different world view than the Western Kindred are used to. The book does a good job describing it and setting the feel for it. Contrary to the other reviews, I find the Eastern and Western Kindred to be fairly balanced power-wise. If you're interested in extending your World of Darkness setting into the East, this book is a must.
Rating:
Summary: Depths & Texture for Kindred in the Far East
Review: Definitely a fascinating entry for the WoD series, and in my mind, a candidate for its own 'line,' rather than just a supplement to V:tM's Western Kindred. Complex, yes -- but reflecting the complex patterns of history and society of the Far East and the philosophies animating these mysterious creatures. If you look at just dots and damage dice, indeed, it is easy to create formidable fighters from these creatures--but there are lots of other opportunities and paths to follow, if you're willing to open your mind to them. It's especially important to remember how crucial "setting" is to these creatures...just as a lone Ventrue stands little chance of surviving in the Middle Kingdoms, in the West, the Kuei-jin are still making inroads. On a sigular basis, the challenges the West presents should keep these powerful Kindred in check.
Rating:
Summary: Strangers in strange lands
Review: Gorgeous artwork. Fantastic new world. Great reinterpretations of things. Wonderful use of mixing history with the World of Darkness. They promised to deliver a vampire alien to the kindred of Caine, and they succeeded; the setting is exotic, interesting, and definitely recommended. I especially liked their take on lycanthropes. I didn't like the lack of information on India, which would have been a great setting and prime conflict ground with British vampires. The Russia/Mongolia/China boundaries could have been interesting as well. It's impossible to play without the original Vampire book, which irks me; a completely new setting could use a reexplanation, I think. Lastly, the nature/demeanor/dharma split isn't quite clear. It's obvious that some traits are connected to and sympathetic with others, but what this sympathy does in terms of the game is never well-explained.
Rating:
Summary: Hey, if you can figure it out...
Review: Hey, this book is pretty awesome. The art work is amazing, the concept is very intriguing, and the entire idea of a race of vampires in no way relate to the curse of caine is wonderful. But, my only problem is, i can't figure out the dang thing! I love the fact that there is more to worry about than blood, health, and willpower; but i can't figure out what the heck you do with the rest of it! P'o? Hun? Yin Chi? Yang Chi? Gee, one day i will figure it out, and then i will have a good ol' time. But until then, i'm gonna play with my new fav (Vampire: The Dark Ages) until the great day when the epiphany hits me, and it is all made clear.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I love this book even though I'm more of a Mage type player. I have played and ST'ed all but Wraith and this BUT! it would definately be my next choice.I think the KotE are some of the most defined characters a player can make. That said, the KotE are also some of the more complicated to play because the book KotE is not a stand alone game. It was produced to add more flair and versatility to VtM. There were only a few questions I had. Agravated damage was never covered.. or not that I saw. I read about them being able to do it with several of their powers but I could only find 2 ways that they could soak it. the lvl 2 or 3 bone shentai and the demon shentai with the armor. ohh well something else to e-mail WW about. Definatly a game for intermediant to advanced players. I'm not sure if I would suggest it as a starter though.
Rating:
Summary: Strangers in strange lands
Review: I think this is the best book that White Wolf has published so far. If you have any interest in "vampires" from Asia, this is the book to get, followed by The 1000 Hells. Even if you never actually play an eastern vampire, this book is a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book
Review: I think this is the best book that White Wolf has published so far. If you have any interest in "vampires" from Asia, this is the book to get, followed by The 1000 Hells. Even if you never actually play an eastern vampire, this book is a great read.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books from White Wolf
Review: I thought that KoE was one of the best books that I have read from White Wolf. It takes and enforces the original intention of Vampire: the Masquerade, the struggle between keeping your Humanity and succumbing to your Beast. It is designed to keep players from becoming ungodly strong power characters really quickly and simply ignoring the enlightenment part. In my opinion that alone makes it a very worthwhile game since it focuses on roleplaying more than how much power you can grab. And yes the Kuei-jin are strong, but they also have disadvantages that equal them out so they have no more of an advantage than any other group does. All in all, an extremely excellent book.
|
