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V20 Anarchs Unbound $14.99
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V20 Anarchs Unbound
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 06/23/2016 08:44:17

Some vampires have no time for the traditions that have built up night by night amongst their kind. Some do not want to wait to gain seniority and status within vampire society but want to grab it now, even if to others it seems that they haven't earned it yet. These are the Anarchs, who can be summed up as being more like the kine on which they feed than like the kindred to which they belong. They are the agents of change, who see vampire society as stagnant and lost in its past and seek to incorporate new ideas and new tools as they drag it into the present day. No wonder older vampires hate them!

Yet their rebellion often does no more than replace one tyrant with another, their demands that their ideas be heard fade into stoney silence if anyone else wishes to express a contrary concept. Are they actually any better than that which they seek to replace? This book seeks to enable you to portray them warts and all, with background and setting details for those who want to play Anarchs and Storytellers who want to make use of them in their chronicles.

Beginning with Chapter 1: The History of the Anarch Movement - a look at the history of the Anarchs, nowhere as 'new' as they'd like to think that they are. Elder vampire look back and wonder if they could have stopped this pesky cult long before it erupted, but it's embedded in strands that go so far back that it would have been well-nigh impossible. It all goes back to the fall of Carthage - which of course had vampiric involvement, it wasn't just a political struggle led by Roman senators trying to ensure that no other power would get big enough to threaten the might of Rome. Brujah there had tried to build a life in some measure of harmony with the kind, and Roman Ventrue were having none of it, laying the foundations for the elder-dominated traditional vampire society we know tonight. This was reinforced by the development of the Camarilla and the Masquerade in the 14th century as a response to Church-led attacks on vampires... but many young vampires saw it as a blatent attempt by their elders to enforce control over them and organise vampire society at their expense - and revolt ensued, with neonates no longer slavishly following orders. And when those orders left them at the mercy of the Inquisition whilst their elders escaped, who can blame them? And so it continues to this very night, weaving through real-world history in a compelling account that encompasses exploration of the Americans, Soviet Russia right up to contemporary nights. Plenty of ideas here as to where (and why) Anarchs might fit into whatever is going on in your game.

Next, Chapter 2: The City Upon a Hill looks at how they organise their domains and the sorts of structures and internal politics that they have. Presented as a fascinating, if a bit rambling, diatribe, there's a wealth of information here, including notes on particular hot-beds of Anarch activity and plenty more of use to anyone wishing to construct or inhabit an Anarch domain. In keeping with their modern nature, there is even a virtual domain lurking in the Deep Web.

Chapter 3: Spreading the Movement is the 'cookbook' of ideas, showing how they destablise and attempt to destroy other vampire organisations. Whichever side your coterie finds itself on, they should find things of use here from traditional dissent and violence to cunning manipulations of the World Wide Web. A heady mix of anecdote, fiction and discourse conveys the information.

Then, Chapter 4: Characters and Traits provides what you need to create Anarch characters. Of particular use if you want to play them, a Storyteller can of course produce detailed NPCs by the same method. New archtypes, backgrounds and traits suited to Anarchs are provided. Chapter 5: Anarch Disciplines then follows on with new Disciplines and powers which in some way draw upon Anarch ideology, although they are in the main not confined to Anarchs alone. Some are strange indeed, mixing coding with magic to operate across the Internet!

Finally, Chapter 6: The Storyteller's Toolbox is just what it says, aimed at Storytellers and providing ideas for those wishing to add an Anarch flavour to their game. It's quite different to adding other sects or clans, for Anarchs define themselves by what they stand for, not where they are in relation to anyone else. Their central tenet is equality of opportunity for all vampires, but they do not espouse any particular outcome, let the chips fall where they may provided everyone gets a fair chance.

The Appendix: Antagonists and Allies also mainly for the Storyteller, covering useful NPCs with historical documents in Appendix II: The Anarch Accords. Yep, even Anarchs keep some records.

This work gives a fascinating glimpse into the Anarchs and how their history has been interwoven with that of oher vampires through the nights from the earliest to the present... as background invaluable, if you want to play Anarchs or involve their machinations in your game, priceless.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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V20 Anarchs Unbound
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Darryl J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/01/2015 18:07:04

This is a very well put together book, full of interesting bits, however in 20+ years I have never been part of a group where any info on Anarchs was needed. This book adds more information to a group we need nothing from.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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V20 Anarchs Unbound
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by greg m. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/13/2015 09:19:54

A fairly narrow tome, this book is solid for what it has,and it does a good job of moving the Anarch Movement forward into the 21st century. The artwork is interesting and thematic with whatever is being discussed on the page. The short stories and fluff text are nice reads, but I feel the book was cut short.

There is a refresher course section that is brief history lesson from the Anarch perspective, Then it dives into how Anarchs deal with the Camarilla, Sabbat, and the Independents. There is also a blurb about how the Anarchs deal with the Tremere's most dangerous tool, Thaumaturgy, and even more briefly discusses the Anarch's own brand of gutter magic.

There is also a nice shakedown of how the Anarchs are using their (lack of) age and modern tech to their advantage.

Another chapter dives into various Anarch Baronies around the world, and discusses the different models of government these fiefdoms use. So you have the gangland model of L.A., the communist model in Russia, and a whole spectrum in between.The last section are some ready made NPC's, followed by the Kickstarter backers for the project.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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V20 Anarchs Unbound
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by P. B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/17/2014 11:55:47

Don't get me wrong; I like this book. I really do, but...

The thing with the Anarchs in Vampire is that they have received a LOT of words, but they haven't ever fully received the ATTENTION they deserve. This book continues that trend, and for every piece of brilliance in here, there is a hint that ought to had more done AND a lie that needed a bigger implication attached. Sure, the history, the mechanics, the notion of how technology has changed the very core of the Movement, these remain interesting if not brilliant, but the book adds very little to the 'sect' that I didn't see in previous edition books like Anarchs Cookbook, LA by Night, or the Guide to the Anarchs. We don't get any bombshells like we found in Rites of the Blood, and we don't get anything shiny new like we did in The Hunters Hunted II. We get updates and great presentation for sure, but I wanted more.

Okay, I fully admit that this is my opinion, and mileage varies and all that. However, I'd hoped that for V20, we'd see a text for a complete sect. There IS a lot of wonderful in here, but things like the Red Question, the technological innovations, the very IDEA of the Anarchs' agenda(s) beyond the here and now, none of those came with as much possibility as they had in straight up reporting. My take is simply this: Buy the book for what's in it, but don't expect to have it spin a lot of mad ideas that go beyond what's between the covers.

P.S. Oh, but DEFINITELY check out the 'Kickstarter Backers' pages in back! I think that it ALMOST makes it to a full FIVE star rating with that wonderful, wonderful presentation!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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V20 Anarchs Unbound
Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
by Tom D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/09/2014 12:25:50

nice reads wel en is nice to play !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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