Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Virtually Perfect, 11 Oct 2000
By A Customer
Hungarian history aside (and lets face it, for the sake of dramatic interest who amongst us aren't willing to put it aside) this is perhaps the best area sourcebook that white wolf have produced. For those who haven't read it, Transylvania by Night is not only an excellent resource for creating a Dark Ages chronicle, it is also the starting point for the popular Transylvania Chronicles series. This series is an epic journey through 800 years of history, and it all starts here. In the book the locales are superbly described and given a breadth of feeling absent in many other sourcebooks. I particuly enjoyed the description of life in one city, where the hustle and bustle of everyday activity is counterpointed by the discovery of a dead prisoner in a pillory box. There are also over thirty characters described, each one unique and by turns sympathetic and deplorable - yet all evoke some sort of emotional response. They are also all immiediately useable in your campaign, there is a notable absence of useless bit players that just take up space, a problem with some other sourcebooks. Downers? well some of the artwork is a bit ropey, but white wolf to tend to hang on to there bad'ens! Even this isn't too bad however as for a change the spectacularly awful John Cobb is given very little work to do. Perhaps they could give him a job, hanging around, drawing things, letting the other artists look at his work, therefore making them feel better in the knowledge that they could never be that bad. Also as usual the editing is not all that one would expect from a professional company, but then again thats also no surprise. Overall The authors have provides us with a suitably vast, gothic, ancient and sublime vision, that any half decent storyteller will be able to turn into a fantastic and memorable game.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice try..., 1 Feb 1999
By A Customer
It is really fascinating, how american people think about our region... I have to tell, that I have some wrong feelings about reading this book, but it is far better that I excepted. In the In-game terms everithing is all right. I find the story quite well. But there is some great problem with the history... If someone is interested in early Hungarian history, I gladly tell to him/her more about it, but just the core: 1) the so-called dako-roman continuity theory - whichis in the book, too - is laughable. The first sign of the "roman" really: vlach people is about the 13th.century in Transylvania. they were sheperds not serfs, and have quite wide liberties. 2) i know, that the ethnical struggle is because of dramatically purposes, but I waited for a short column, which said about the true problem: that there was no "race" "ethnicum" before the 18th. century. Nationalism in hungary was invented by that time. Before that there was a "Hungaro-mind": every people in the country regardless of nation(this word was not exsist), language, religion were the part of the Crown of Hungary. Rivalies were bethween nobles and peasants, or bethween nobles, or bethween different countries, but NOT in bethween "races". this is the inventment of the modern area, and sorrowly it affects most of the people of this region -today... But despite of this the book is really great!Ps.: If you want to make an other book, which contains hungarian names, please try to find somebody, who can write them right down.:)) Ps2.: Sorry for my wrong English - I know it far to be acceptable in high societies.
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0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
s, 14 Mar 1999
By A Customer
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