Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle - Explore Vampire Domains Around the World and Face the Strix

Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle - A Review

If you are a fan of Vampire: The Requiem, or if you are looking for a fresh and exciting way to play a vampire in the World of Darkness, you might want to check out Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle. This is a standalone book that offers a complete guide to playing a vampire in the modern nights, with reimagined clans, covenants, and supernatural powers. It also introduces the Strix, the ancient and terrifying enemies of the Kindred, who have returned to haunt them in a global chronicle of horror and intrigue. In this article, I will give you an overview of what Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle is, what are its features, and how to get it.

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What is Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle?

Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle is a book that was released by Onyx Path Publishing in 2013 as a new edition of Vampire: The Requiem. It is not an update or a revision of the previous edition, but rather a standalone book that presents a new vision of the game. It is also fully compatible with The God-Machine Chronicle, another standalone book that updates the core rules of the World of Darkness.

A standalone book for Vampire: The Requiem

One of the advantages of Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle is that it does not require any other rulebooks to play. You don't need the World of Darkness corebook or The God-Machine Chronicle, although they can enhance your experience. You also don't need any of the previous Vampire: The Requiem books or supplements, as Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle contains everything you need to create and run a vampire chronicle.

A new take on the Kindred and the Strix

Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle offers a new take on the Kindred, the beautiful and the damned who hide behind our ordinary world. Driven by a hunger like fire, they struggle to maintain their humanity while immersed in a vicious society of monsters. But they are not alone in the shadows. They are haunted by the Strix, the grisly, demon-possessed corpses of folklore. They are the ancient enemies of the Kindred, who have slaughtered them throughout history. They are also their greatest mystery, as no one knows where they come from, what they want, or how to stop them.

A chronicle of horror and intrigue

Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle is not just a rulebook, but also a setting book that presents a global chronicle of horror and intrigue. It gives you a first-ever look at vampire domains around the world, from Tokyo to Berlin, each with its own history, culture, politics, and threats. It also introduces twenty unique Strix, each with its own agenda, personality, powers, and weaknesses. You can use them as antagonists, allies, or even player characters in your chronicle. You can also create your own Strix using the rules provided in the book.

What are the features of Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle?

Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle contains many features that make it a great book for playing a vampire in the World of Darkness. Here are some of them:

Reimagined clans, covenants, and disciplines

Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle reimagines the clans, covenants, and disciplines of Vampire: The Requiem, making them more flexible, diverse, and thematic. The clans are the five major bloodlines of the Kindred, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and culture. They are the Daeva, the sensual and passionate; the Gangrel, the savage and primal; the Mekhet, the secretive and cunning; the Nosferatu, the monstrous and grotesque; and the Ventrue, the regal and commanding. The covenants are the five major factions of the Kindred, each with its own ideology, agenda, and style. They are the Carthians, the revolutionaries and reformers; the Circle of the Crone, the pagans and mystics; the Invictus, the aristocrats and rulers; the Lancea et Sanctum, the zealots and crusaders; and the Ordo Dracul, the scholars and alchemists. The disciplines are the supernatural powers of the Kindred, each with its own theme and mechanics. They are Animalism, the power to communicate with and control beasts; Auspex, the power to perceive beyond the senses; Celerity, the power to move with superhuman speed; Dominate, the power to impose your will on others; Majesty, the power to inspire awe and love; Nightmare, the power to evoke fear and terror; Obfuscate, the power to hide from sight and mind; Protean, the power to change your form; Resilience, the power to endure pain and damage; and Vigor, the power to enhance your strength.

A complete guide to playing a vampire in the World of Darkness

Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle contains a complete guide to playing a vampire in the World of Darkness. It covers everything from character creation to chronicle development. It gives you tips on how to portray a vampire, how to deal with your hunger, how to balance your humanity and your beast, how to interact with other Kindred and other supernaturals, how to cope with your enemies and your allies, how to survive in a world that hates you. It also gives you rules for combat, social conflicts, investigations, chases, hacking, blood bonds, torpor, diablerie, bloodlines, devotions, merits, flaws, conditions, tilts, aspirations, beats, experience points.

A first-ever look at vampire domains around the world

Twenty unique Strix and rules for creating your own

Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle introduces twenty unique Strix, each with its own agenda, personality, powers, and weaknesses. You can use them as antagonists, allies, or even player characters in your chronicle. They are the Adroanzi, the African snake-spirits; the Alucinor, the dream-invaders; the Anubi, the Egyptian judges of the dead; the Aswang, the Filipino shape-shifters; the Cihuateteo, the Aztec women-ghosts; the Empusae, the Greek seductresses; the Eshmaki, the Indian shadow-eaters; the Gaki, the Japanese hungry ghosts; the Halaku, the Babylonian destroyers; the Huldufolk, the Icelandic hidden people; the Keres, the Greek death-spirits; the Mara, the Scandinavian nightmare-causers; the Moroi, the Romanian blood-drinkers; the Nachzehrer, the German corpse-devourers; the Nelapsi, the Slovakian plague-bringers; the Nosoi, the Greek disease-spirits; the Oni, the Japanese demons; the Striges, the Roman owl-monsters; the Vetala, the Indian corpse-possessors; and the Xotol, the Mayan bat-gods. You can also create your own Strix using the rules provided in the book. You can choose their origin, their appearance, their motivation, their behavior, their powers, and their weaknesses.

How to get Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle?

If you are interested in getting Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle, you have several options. Here are some of them:

PDF edition available at Flames Rising RPG Shop

The easiest and cheapest way to get Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle is to buy the PDF edition at Flames Rising RPG Shop. This is an online store that sells digital products for various role-playing games. You can download Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle for only $19.99. You can also browse other Vampire: The Requiem products and other World of Darkness products at Flames Rising RPG Shop.

Print and PDF+print combo coming soon

If you prefer to have a physical copy of Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle, you will have to wait a little longer. Onyx Path Publishing is planning to release a print edition of Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle soon. You will be able to order it from DriveThruRPG.com or from your local game store. You will also be able to get a PDF+print combo that will give you both a digital and a physical copy of Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle for a discounted price.

Other Vampire: The Requiem books and supplements

If you want to expand your Vampire: The Requiem experience beyond Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle, you can also check out other books and supplements that Onyx Path Publishing has released or will release soon. Some of them are:

• The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology: A collection of short stories that explore the themes and concepts of The God-Machine Chronicle.

• The Testament of Longinus: A revised edition of the book that reveals the secrets of Lancea et Sanctum.

• The Danse Macabre: A revised edition of the book that explores how to run a vampire chronicle in depth.

• The Blood: A revised edition of the book that details how blood works in Vampire: The Requiem.

• Secrets of the Covenants: A revised edition of the book that showcases each covenant in detail.

• Thousand Years of Night: A book that focuses on elder vampires and their role in Vampire: The Requiem.

Conclusion

Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle is a great book for playing a vampire in the World of Darkness. It offers a new take on Vampire: The Requiem that is more flexible, diverse, and thematic. It also introduces a new threat to the Kindred in the form of the Strix, the ancient and terrifying enemies of the vampires. It also provides a complete guide to playing a vampire in the modern nights, with reimagined clans, covenants, and disciplines, a global chronicle of horror and intrigue, and twenty unique Strix and rules for creating your own. You can get Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle as a PDF edition at Flames Rising RPG Shop, or wait for the print edition or the PDF+print combo that will be available soon. You can also check out other Vampire: The Requiem books and supplements that Onyx Path Publishing has released or will release soon. If you are a fan of Vampire: The Requiem, or if you are looking for a fresh and exciting way to play a vampire in the World of Darkness, you might want to check out Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle.

FAQs

• Q: What is the difference between Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle and Vampire: The Requiem Second Edition?

• A: Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle is the original name of the book that was released in 2013 as a new edition of Vampire: The Requiem. In 2014, Onyx Path Publishing changed the name of the book to Vampire: The Requiem Second Edition, to avoid confusion with another product called Blood and Smoke. The content of the book is the same, only the name has changed.

• Q: Do I need any other books to play Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle?

• A: No, you don't need any other books to play Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle. It is a standalone book that contains everything you need to create and run a vampire chronicle. However, you can enhance your experience with other books, such as the World of Darkness corebook, The God-Machine Chronicle, or other Vampire: The Requiem books and supplements.

• Q: What are the Strix?

• A: The Strix are the ancient and terrifying enemies of the Kindred, who have returned to haunt them in a global chronicle of horror and intrigue. They are the grisly, demon-possessed corpses of folklore, who can possess vampires, humans, animals, or even objects. They have various origins, appearances, motivations, behaviors, powers, and weaknesses. They are also a mystery, as no one knows where they come from, what they want, or how to stop them.

• Q: How do I create a Strix?

• A: You can create a Strix using the rules provided in Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle. You can choose their origin, their appearance, their motivation, their behavior, their powers, and their weaknesses. You can also use one of the twenty unique Strix presented in the book as a template or as inspiration.

• Q: How do I get Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle?

• A: You can get Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle as a PDF edition at Flames Rising RPG Shop for only $19.99. You can also wait for the print edition or the PDF+print combo that will be available soon from DriveThruRPG.com or from your local game store. You can also browse other Vampire: The Requiem products and other World of Darkness products at Flames Rising RPG Shop.

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