Dangerous knowledge in a beautiful cover
The characteristics of the Sword of Cain are described in a 130-page A4 book. The hard cover, illustrations, and all other elements of the graphic design allude to other sources of information about children of the night. Thus, as in the case of previous works, here also a heavy and thrilling atmosphere overflows from the pages of the textbook. This time, however, unlike the rest of the line, the secret content of the Sabbath pages is written in two columns, not three. While this may seem like a cosmetic change, it makes the Black Hand very easy to learn . There was also a ribbon scarlet as blood, which additionally strengthens the comfort of communing with the book.
Trying to break the limits of the human shell
“From a Sabbath perspective, humanity is at best a burden and at worst a prison that holds vampires in the chains of a bygone identity. It is a waste of Blood to pretend that you are still mortal or that you have to be human too.
The Cainites, as they call themselves the followers of the Sabbath ideology, long ago decided to completely abandon the conventions and ridicule other vampires’ attempts to hide among humans. This is why they are so dangerous and unpredictable to the rest of their relatives. They don’t follow the masquerade, which is their strength on the one hand, but their weakness on the other. All their actions are marked by violence and brutality, and there is a clear, bloody trail behind their crimes. It is for this reason that they are relatively easy targets for the Inquisition and self-proclaimed vampire hunters, as well as the more determined coterie.
The Sabbath, while we collectively refer to all Beast-worshiping dissenters as such, is not a centralized organization with a clear hierarchy. These are groups, or rather packs, following the same philosophy and caring for their vampire nature with special care. The Black Hand is distinguished by the nature of its actions and the accompanying ruthlessness, but the methods by which they achieve their goals differ depending on the specific Path that a given community seems to follow. Thanks to this, the narrator of the story gains great freedom when introducing this element of chaos into his chronicle.
Distinct black in the gray world
The Sabbath: The Black Hand could quickly turn out to be one of the most coveted reference books for the 5th Edition of The Vampire: The Masquerade . The unequivocally evil enemy, disgusted by all other related groups, is perhaps a unique chance to ally the constantly fighting parties. After all, nothing connects stronger than a common enemy. The Kainites only play the role of clearly evil antagonists, which is very rare in the world of the Vampire , full of contradictions, ambiguities and plots. In addition, due to the lack of consistent leadership, the Sabbat groupsthey differ greatly, and the rules contained in the textbook allow for the creation of at least a dozen different packs of bloodsuckers wishing to wreak havoc and destruction. Here we find an extended list of the disciplines and blood powers specific to the Sword of Cain. What’s more, the authors also wrote down guidelines to facilitate embedding the Sabbath in one of the medieval cults, thanks to which the story about them can gain depth and credibility.
Therefore, the Game Master has a powerful and universal tool that can be used not only in every Vampire campaign , but also in all systems taking place in the Dark World, such as the upcoming Hunter or the Werewolf . The only question is the price of this product. On the Alis.Games website, it is available for PLN 179, which will probably make potential buyers seriously consider whether to spend an amount of 130 pages on a supplement that is sufficient to buy the main textbook, even for the most popular systems on the market.
