Children of the Night: Vampires
 Cover | |
| Genre | Role-playing games |
|---|---|
| Publisher | TSR |
Publication date | 1996 |
Children of the Night: Vampires is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1996.
Contents
Vampires, the first in the Children of the Night series, introduced 13 vampire characters primarily for use in Ravenloft, each one detailed with appearance, stats, background, personality and combat descriptions, as well as a mini-adventure/encounter intended to show off each vampire's foibles, strengths and weaknesses.[1]
Reception
Trenton Webb reviewed Children of the Night: Vampires for Arcane magazine, rating it a 5 out of 10 overall.[1] He stated that "Vampires are skill, it's been proved! Since Bram's book and the first Nosferatu movie these creatures of the night have been the ultimate undead. In the mist-shrouded horror-world of Ravenloft vampires, under the guidance of Strahd, have even become a dominant power in the land."[1] Webb noted that the book "creates a host of bloodsuckers primarily for use in Ravenloft, but that will also function just fine in most other AD&D realms. Well, that's the aim - 13 ready-rolled princes (and princesses) of darkness who can drain your party at a moment's notice" and that Each of this Bloodsucker's dozen is dutifully detailed to death".[1] He added: "Yet for all the effort lavished on these monsters, their wildly different powers and complex personal histories, the devil doesn't dwell in the detail. Somehow they fail to spark the imagination quite the way they should. Some of the creations work, but the majority feel little more than premeditated twists on the 'standard' vampire types. And in the mould of Interview with the Vampire, too many are whinging vampire apologists who are suffering "an unbearable cursea", and who after each and every feeding "wail loudly"."[1] Webb concluded his review by saying, "The fearful Lady Adeline and darkly comic Jack Bequick are finely developed vampiric characters, but too many of the Children of the Night lack bite. Within a Ravenfoft setting there will be enough other horror cues, and players will be sufficiently used to dealing with 'different' vampires to run with the ball. But outsiders - who are used to caped counts with pointy teeth - may have some trouble."[1]