Prince's Primer

Vampire: the Masquerade

by Allen Tower

Gathered here for your edification and study are the thoughts on ruling of a half-dozen of the finest political minds the kindred have to offer. It is a dignified, reasoned collection of essays and notes intended to instruct ambitious Kindred in the tactics and techniques of successful, peaceful dominion.

"My only payment for the secrets I give you is your success, for it means that some traitor I knew five centuries gone has seen his last sunset."

Then again, maybe not.

The Prince's Primer is a resource for Vampire: the Masquerade and Mind's Eye Theatre. It contains:
* Thoughts from princes, anarchs and others on how to rule a city successfully
* The infamous "A Manifesto on Becoming Prince"
* Conclave reports, Tremere treatises, anarch memos and more!

Genres: Role Playing Games, World Of Darkness

125 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable for people who like Vampire: The Masquerade, either the tabletop or live action game. Version-agnostic, so you can get as much out of it with the most recent edition as you can going all the way back to the 90s. If you're interested in the more political aspects of the game, you practically need to get your hands on this: it's all about seizing and holding power in the world of the Kindred within the World of Darkness.

If your interest in the game, or its setting, does not run to the sort of back-room politicking this book focuses on, then you're fine to miss it in favor of something like "The Book of Nod" or "Vampire Diary: The Embrace". It's certainly not required to play the game at all, but White Wolf was always king when it came to the flavor text, and they nailed it here. My only gripe (and it's a minor one) is that I'd have loved to see more info on some of the various Princes present within the game. The smattering we get at the end are good, but that just left me wanting for more. I know a lot of this kind of content was reserved for the various Clanbooks and other sources, but still, in a book all about Princes and their jobs within the Camarilla, it would have been nice to see more examples, especially of the non-Ventrue variety since they're such a rarity (although I do love that the book gives an exceptionally good run-down of the reasons why they're so uncommon).

Whether you're a fan from way back when, or a newly-Embraced lick looking for more ways to expand your world than what 5E currently has on offer, this is well worth a read. Flip through it, and begin consolidating your power base today. Who knows, maybe in a few years you'll be running the show.

[Dan Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this game supplement, it's just full of ways to flesh out your setting design and make a city more of a character in the game. Also it gives you 1001 game hooks, things to putter with in the setting. Characters of importance you might not have thought of in that place.

[Peter Brichs · Rating 3 out of 5]

En sød, lille bog om at blive, beholde magten som, manipulere med og slippe af med prinsen i din by i Vampire.

Meget få dele, jeg følte, jeg ville kunne bruge til noget selv - men generelt velskrevet med meget forskellige "stemmer" undervejs.

At forsøge at genskabe håndskrift ved at bruge en "kursiv" font burde medføre dødsstraf, dog...

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think of this book as Machiavelli for Camarilla Kindred, albeit a bit more direct. Overall, it's a good in-game prop with a very good section on the Traditions.