Crothian
First Post
The Pure
In the world of the Werewolf there is always something hunting you. Predator and prey is a common theme and the Pure are the werewolves that prey on all other werewolves. But it is not that simple. The Pure differ from the Forsaken in ideology. They are from Father Wolf and believe Mother Moon is the betrayer and this makes them a whole different beast. The Pure takes us into that world and to understand this other type of Werewolf.
The Pure is a supplement for Werewolf the Forsaking. It is a game about being a Werewolf and dealing with the tribes and trying to live with what you are and everything that comes with that. It is at its base a horror game. And there is much horror even if one is a powerful werewolf. The Pure is a hardbound book and it is under two hundred pages. The writing is excellent. The Layout is great and the art is fantastic. Whitewolf has always been able to make some great looking books. But the organization is a little off. There is no index and the table of contents just lists chapter titles. I have always had a hard time looking things up in a Whitewolf book. This is no different and sometimes it is a little frustrating trying to find a certain sidebar or something that I know is there.
The Pure is a book about the enemy. These Werewolf are more savage and unreasonable. They can be more like a force of nature then a human being. But they have just as much depth and reason as everyone else. What they appear to be on the surface is not the true definition of who they are. This book does a great job of showcasing that. These are just not the enmy and to be used that way. The Pure can also be seen as the good guys and a Pure centered chronicle in Werewolf will be very easy to do with this book.
The themes of this book are strong and come out very well through out the many pages. The Hate the Pure have for the other Werewolves is the most obvious. It is almost an obsession and it will be an obsession for some. The less obvious theme is that of Loss. The Pure have free will but their oaths to the spirits limits them more then the Forsaken. They have given up a lot and there is room for a Forsaken to see this and have it affect the story. It is a bit of an unexpected twist to the characters.
The Pure Society is all about Father Wolf. They are the hunters. They are the minority martyrs. But the reality is that they have become the majority though they have plenty of believes that this is not true. They can be a bit perplexing to understand because of that. At times the book does seem to make it a little easy for this to be believed. It seems the writers knew what they wanted the Pure to be like and at times shoehorned it all in there. The book does a nice job of showing the views and how the creation myth is looked at by the Pure. It does seem to suggest more often that they are the bad guys and I would have preferred a little less of that since the book is written to play these characters as well as have them as the protagonists. There is a lot of info on what goes into being a Pure. They do not have an easy time of things. They have a barbaric system of checks and balances. They all watch each other and keep things in line. Even whole packs are being watched and ready to be taken down a notch if they get to out of sorts. It can be brutal and unkind but I guess it works for them.
There are three Tribes presented here for the Pure. The first is the Fire Touched. It is the most populous of the tribes. It allows near complete freedom as long as one has unwavering and uncompromising faith. The rituals to be one are harsh and can be fatal. They exist in a place of pure honesty. They never tell lies nor can they hear them. They exist in a place of savage honesty and it can be cleansing but it can also drive them into madness. The fires symbolize the burning away of dishonesty and impurity.
The Ivory Claws are the purest of the Pure. They make sure only the most pure rises into ranks of authority within their tribe. They are also the most likely of the Pure to be part of human society.
The Predator Kings are the most brutal and the hunters of the Pure. They are the tribe that brings in many outcastes for they are the least strict in what they are. They are savagery pure and simple. They seem to be the most straight forward and possible the most commonly feared among the Forsaken. They though have as much depth and surprises as all the Pure tribes.
The book has rules for creating a Pure. It does not reprint all the material but it does go through and tell one how it is different and with Werewolf the Forsaken and World of Darkness it will be easy to create Pure characters. Silver is a lot more lethal to the Pure. This goes back to their hatred of Luna and it really fits in well with the way they are defined. The book does have a new merit and a new flaw as well as plenty of powers for the Pure Werewolves.
The book ends for storytelling for the Pure and a great setting for then in Santa Fe New Mexico. As with most White Wolf books I feel this is one of the strongest areas. They have a lot of great ideas and ways to really enhance one’s game play with them. The book makes it really easy to use the Pure and to make them absolutely come alive and be creatures to be greatly feared.
In the world of the Werewolf there is always something hunting you. Predator and prey is a common theme and the Pure are the werewolves that prey on all other werewolves. But it is not that simple. The Pure differ from the Forsaken in ideology. They are from Father Wolf and believe Mother Moon is the betrayer and this makes them a whole different beast. The Pure takes us into that world and to understand this other type of Werewolf.
The Pure is a supplement for Werewolf the Forsaking. It is a game about being a Werewolf and dealing with the tribes and trying to live with what you are and everything that comes with that. It is at its base a horror game. And there is much horror even if one is a powerful werewolf. The Pure is a hardbound book and it is under two hundred pages. The writing is excellent. The Layout is great and the art is fantastic. Whitewolf has always been able to make some great looking books. But the organization is a little off. There is no index and the table of contents just lists chapter titles. I have always had a hard time looking things up in a Whitewolf book. This is no different and sometimes it is a little frustrating trying to find a certain sidebar or something that I know is there.
The Pure is a book about the enemy. These Werewolf are more savage and unreasonable. They can be more like a force of nature then a human being. But they have just as much depth and reason as everyone else. What they appear to be on the surface is not the true definition of who they are. This book does a great job of showcasing that. These are just not the enmy and to be used that way. The Pure can also be seen as the good guys and a Pure centered chronicle in Werewolf will be very easy to do with this book.
The themes of this book are strong and come out very well through out the many pages. The Hate the Pure have for the other Werewolves is the most obvious. It is almost an obsession and it will be an obsession for some. The less obvious theme is that of Loss. The Pure have free will but their oaths to the spirits limits them more then the Forsaken. They have given up a lot and there is room for a Forsaken to see this and have it affect the story. It is a bit of an unexpected twist to the characters.
The Pure Society is all about Father Wolf. They are the hunters. They are the minority martyrs. But the reality is that they have become the majority though they have plenty of believes that this is not true. They can be a bit perplexing to understand because of that. At times the book does seem to make it a little easy for this to be believed. It seems the writers knew what they wanted the Pure to be like and at times shoehorned it all in there. The book does a nice job of showing the views and how the creation myth is looked at by the Pure. It does seem to suggest more often that they are the bad guys and I would have preferred a little less of that since the book is written to play these characters as well as have them as the protagonists. There is a lot of info on what goes into being a Pure. They do not have an easy time of things. They have a barbaric system of checks and balances. They all watch each other and keep things in line. Even whole packs are being watched and ready to be taken down a notch if they get to out of sorts. It can be brutal and unkind but I guess it works for them.
There are three Tribes presented here for the Pure. The first is the Fire Touched. It is the most populous of the tribes. It allows near complete freedom as long as one has unwavering and uncompromising faith. The rituals to be one are harsh and can be fatal. They exist in a place of pure honesty. They never tell lies nor can they hear them. They exist in a place of savage honesty and it can be cleansing but it can also drive them into madness. The fires symbolize the burning away of dishonesty and impurity.
The Ivory Claws are the purest of the Pure. They make sure only the most pure rises into ranks of authority within their tribe. They are also the most likely of the Pure to be part of human society.
The Predator Kings are the most brutal and the hunters of the Pure. They are the tribe that brings in many outcastes for they are the least strict in what they are. They are savagery pure and simple. They seem to be the most straight forward and possible the most commonly feared among the Forsaken. They though have as much depth and surprises as all the Pure tribes.
The book has rules for creating a Pure. It does not reprint all the material but it does go through and tell one how it is different and with Werewolf the Forsaken and World of Darkness it will be easy to create Pure characters. Silver is a lot more lethal to the Pure. This goes back to their hatred of Luna and it really fits in well with the way they are defined. The book does have a new merit and a new flaw as well as plenty of powers for the Pure Werewolves.
The book ends for storytelling for the Pure and a great setting for then in Santa Fe New Mexico. As with most White Wolf books I feel this is one of the strongest areas. They have a lot of great ideas and ways to really enhance one’s game play with them. The book makes it really easy to use the Pure and to make them absolutely come alive and be creatures to be greatly feared.
