Clanbook Giovanni

About this book

Clan Giovanni, Italian necromancers, businessmen, criminals and vampires, are the most well-documented of the independent clans of Vampire: The Masquerade, having been the subjects of a Clanbook and a Clan Novel by the game’s developer, and the villains of a long chronicle of critically-acclaimed scenarios. The Giovanni Chronicles give them a grand villainous plan, while the original Clanbook in particular casts a shadow over the new work.The original Clanbook Giovanni is among the best-regarded of the first series, and my personal favourite. Its author Justin Achilli was appointed as the line developer for Vampire: The Masquerade within months of its release, overseeing the Revised Edition and the Revised Clanbooks, so it is also an important book in the development of the game line. Therefore, it should not surprise anyone that of all the Revised Clanbooks it owes the most to the original book.While many of the new series take very different views of their subject groups, the new book on clan Giovanni provides more of the same. The original was essentially the prototype for the new line, after all, designed to open up the clan beyond their stereotypes and provide more playable options. The new book keeps up the good work.For example, the Giovanni have subsumed several other mortal families – not every Giovanni is a Giovanni. These secondary lines receive expanded writeups and some have their own signature abilities, but most receive little more information than in the previous edition. While the Ghiberti family of African necromancers gain a special power to track ghosts, the Putanesca line of low-rent criminals, Goodfellas to the clan’s Godfather-wannabes, get a few more lines than they did in the first book, which was 32 pages shorter than the new one.The main background additions Messrs. Stolze and Chambers bring to the new edition are in the clan’s history, both before their induction into the vampire species and after the last book concluded. The historical section actually explains why the clan includes necromancers, a question that has occasionally been asked but never previously answered. This deepens the background of Giovanni vampires, and would have been useful information at the publication of the Giovanni Chronicles series.Due to their interest in necromancy, the Giovanni have long been connected to Wraith: The Oblivion, a game which White Wolf discontinued in 1998, and whose conclusion featured a massive disruption of the setting which is still felt in the entire World of Darkness line. Necromancy after this disruption is addressed, as well as additional optional powers added to compensate for its general increase in difficulty.The chaos in the world of the dead also allows Stolze and Chambers to lessen the importance of the Giovanni’s grandiose scheme to collect a hundred million ghosts and use them in a grand ritual to destroy the ‘shroud’ separating that world from that of the living, thereby allowing the clan to take over the resulting world of the half-dead. The end of Wraith has given them more pressing concerns. While conquering reality was a fine evil scheme for heroic player characters to stop, it didn’t really help the characterisation of Giovanni PCs, so putting the plan on the back burner is a good move in my opinion.Furthermore, Stolze and Chambers create trouble within the clan as a result. They start an argument between the leaders of the clan over what to do about their failure. They have also worsened relations between the main Giovanni and the other families as a result of the leaders’ desperation. These new developments make the Giovanni less stable, more fractious, and this adds conflict and opportunities for drama.While the writers have concentrated on developing and updating the Giovanni, increasing the options for plot hooks, they have not changed the clan extensively. One of the ‘NPCs of note’ in the appendix reappears from the original, and all but one of the rest are namechecked. Sadly, the section on The Capuchin where the first letter of each paragraph spells out LAZARUS, an in-joke on one of the mysteries of the clan, does not reappear. The recurring signature character (the star of the Clan Novel) is joined by another vampire, a near-human ‘ghoul’ tomb robber and a ghost, examples of the clan’s other power groups. Other repeated elements include both the original Merits and Flaws, as well as the general outlines of the minor families which have not been expanded upon.Character templates, the sample PCs and NPCs included in all Clanbooks to give a cross-section of the clan in action, are not reprinted. Not that there was anything wrong with the originals, but the new examples are fine too. The most eye-opening inclusion here is the use of the “c-word” in the quote for one template, which I believe is a first for a mainstream gaming publisher. Aside from this, the selection includes entrepreneurs, diplomats and liaisons to the main organisation of vampires, behind-the-scenes workers, and surprisingly few necromancers (four out of ten, three of whom have only the first level of the power). All seem playable, although one character has a note that his vile attitude should not be an excuse for the player to misbehave, and none fit the gangster stereotype.In terms of style, the writing largely follows the original – an unreliable narrator with a foul mouth and cynical attitude. The section on views of other supernaturals is called “Everyone But Us Is Stupid” for example. The cooler heads of the clan are represented by a second narrator in this section, which helps to lessen the clan’s mobster image along with the businesslike character templates. I read the book quite quickly, which is a good indication of the writers’ style being accessible and often entertaining.Artistically, I found the book somewhat disappointing. Matt Mitchel’s sketchy frontispieces are not to my taste at all, especially compared to Vince Locke’s characteristic dark crosshatches. Leif Jones’s template illustrations are the most caricatured he has presented for the Revised Clanbook series, with elongated heads, massive eyes and other camera obscura distortions that he was known for in the past but has reined in recently. I was not an admirer of his previous work, so I find this return to an earlier style disappointing. Christopher Shy only provides two portraits of leading clan members here, as the Necromancy section leaves no room for a sample coterie of characters. These illustrations are as stylish as usual.In all, Clanbook Giovanni Revised expands on the original book rather than replacing and improving on it. While this is excellent for players and Storytellers unfamiliar with the previous edition, and as a fan of the original I approve of the continuity of the portrayal of the clan, the real question for those who have the old book is whether the new one contains enough new material to be of value. I feel that it does, on balance. The rating of 4 for substance is meant for those who do not have the original – those who do should consider it a 3. Certainly, if the advances in Vampire's arc plotline are important to your games and the Giovanni feature significantly, it is valuable, but even if not, the increased conflict and tension within the clan makes them more playable, and that makes the new edition worthwhile.