The Kindred of the World of Darkness live because of some strange power in their blood. This power makes them immortal, gives them unusual abilties and drives them to feed on the living. A select few have unlocked even greater power through what is now called Blood Sorcery.
Blood Sigils, out now from Renegade Game Studios, descends into this subculture within the monstrous subculture of Vampire: The Masquerade. The company sent a review copy for me to check out in advance of the release. The world of redworking has changed a lot since the 90’s.
What Is Blood Sorcery?
When Vampire: The Masquerade first came out in 1991, blood magic was the sole property of the Tremere clan. The clan decended from a house of medieval wizards and used their skills to turn their vampire blood into component of powerful rituals. Thaumaturgy, as they called it, was a powerful secret and a key to their rise in the m modern nights.
As players explored the history of the Kindred, they discovered that Blood Sorcery was not as unique to the Tremere as originally believed. Other clans, such as the Assamites and Tzimisce had their owm forms of this dark magic. Brutal battles were fought over the secrets of the blood.
A new form of Blood Sorcery appeared toward te end of the 20th century. Thin-blooded vampires discovered that they could unlock new properties of their blood by cooking it an alchemical process. This talen gave these weaker vampires unepxected leverage against the Kindred in power in their cities.
What’s Inside Vampite: The Masquerade Blood Sigils?
This new release details the current state of the redworking scene. The Tremer and Banu Haqim still have the most knowledge but large scale setbacks to their clans have opened it up considerably. Many blood sorcerers are using their powers for profit and influence.
The book includes several archetypes that Storytellers use to inspire characters. These range from masters of blood sorcery to those who might benefit from their skills and even a few vampires who want to bust things up. There are also dozens of new rituals, alchemical formulae, loresheets that connect to the history of Blood Sorcery and more mechanics players and Storytellers can use.
While the book speaks of the broad state of blood magic in the modern world, Blood Sigils provides the tools to customize things for each individual game. There’s a chapter that illustrates how to set up the scene in the player’s city and how that scene generates stories, characters and other elements that comes into conflict with characters. These mechanics are build for creating the redworking web but any Storyteller could use it to help define the conflicted loyalties and deadly ambitions of any setup that makes Vampire The Masquerade story shine.
The book also looks at blood as a broader part of vampire stories. Blood forgery is discussed as anytime there is something of value, someone will try to fake it a version to sell to the unwary. The book also include artifacts and spellbooks that give the Kindred even more things to battle over.
Blood Sigils is now available directly from Renegade Game Studios or through your local Friendly Local Game Store. It is available in both digital and physical copies.
