User blog:SensibleCenobite/Product Review: Masters of Jade.

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'''WARNING: Suitable for all Acolytes and Mages. This is just fiction, duh. NOT FOR SLEEPERS. If my blog offends you at any point, you have the option to not read it. MONITOR YOUR SLEEPERS.'''

StrangerThings, this is going to be great. I know exactly how to tie in the Shih, Strike Force Zero, Jun and Sam from PTSD, Agelino and Vinz from Mutafukaz, and The Guild. I'll put the hooks down below in the comments. If anyone else in the Chantry has run sessions from Masters of Jade please tell us all about it.

Masters of Jade: Pg 10 says I can do a review, thank you very much White Wolf.

Minor Credits: His Majesty Mr. Russel Hammond for protecting my freedom of speech all the way from Brazil, IanWatson for creating the wiki, StrangerThings for the Kindred of the East Chronicle, the top contributors for the week [Ryanchaddock, Kraosdada, Ebakunin], FANDOM, and lastly my Chantry for liking the chromatic orbs.

Major Credits: Authors: Michael A. Goodwin, Eric Minton, John Mørke, Neall Raemonn Price, olden Shearer, Dean Shomshak, Charles H. Spaulding, and Robert Vance; Developer: John Mørke with olden Shearer; Editor: Stephen Lea Sheppard; Creative Director: Rich Thomas; Art Direction and Layout: Brian Glass; Artists: Tazio Bettin, Groundbreakers Studio and Melissa Uran; Cover Art: Melissa Uran

'''WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT. IF YOU ARE NOT A STORY TELLER THIS COULD RUIN SOME IMPORTANT SECRETS FOR YOU.'''

TheBeardedDragon's overall opinion of Masters of Jade: A+ pdf/B- soft copy, I liked The Guild and think it's easily the most vile organization mortals can be apart of. They use slavery like Kenan and Kel use chocolate. When I thought the Kumo were pieces of work, at least they have the excuse they're demonic Werespiders that serve the Wyrm. White Wolf's stream lined rules for creating, running, expanding, and bankrupting companies/organizations/city states is awesome. Check out "Worlds Apart" and "A Song of Fire and Ice" for great rules on commerce and community design.

INTRODUCTION pg 4: Simple introduction. Enough said.

CHAPTER ONE: THE GUILD pg 6: Our main story picks up after the The Contagion with an ambitious tradesman named Brem Marst. After The Contagion and the following wars, Brem saw economic opportunity ready to be tapped throughout creation. It wasn't just the money Brem was after though, it was a sense of control and a lust to be needed. If the Gods, Exalted, Fae, and every other creature in existence depended on The Guild, mortals would have equal footing for once. Goes over some notable deeds Brem achieved before his "death", like the introduction of the silver standard in addition to the jade standard. Finally, it discusses how The Guild is structured from the lowliest craftsman to the Hierarch.

CHAPTER TWO: POINTS OF THE COMPASS pg 17: This chapter covers all the major poles in the Exalted World; North [Think winter time in Russia], East [Spider web cities, huge forests, sugar plantations], South [Arabian desert with tons of mysticism, raiders, slaves], West [coastal cities and pirates]. On the far end of each direction is a "pole" where a Rakshas stronghold stands the tests of time to devour souls. There is a fifth Rakshas stronghold that travels around to random locations, trading, raping cattle, stampeding women/children, and causing chaos in general.

CHAPTER THREE: CHAINS OF NO IRON pg 32: The Guild will sell it's soul for money no matter how dangerous or irrational the venture is. As long as the all mighty Silver Dinar can be exchanged, ANYTHING goes. I mean anything, like selling your mother to a Demon Prince so you can get that latest gizmo to thwart off competitors. It covers The Guild's historical relations with the Rakshas [Fae], Sidereal Exalted, Malfeas, Underworld, and Lunar Exalted.

CHAPTER FOUR: A GAME OF MASKS pg 51: Every member at the top of The Guild has to deal with bribery, deceit, assassination, Proxies, and much worse. Goes over all the major players in The Guild and The Mask they wear to stay in power. It's like being a Shadowrunner that's on the top ten most wanted list.

APPENDIX: COUNTED AND WANTING NOT pg 67: White Wolf's system for creating, running, and growing various "companies". Companies can be as low scale as a herb shop to creation spanning organizations. Mortals don't get that high up the ladder, but they can still make governments that are pretty impressive. I like that no asset exists in the void and must be fleshed out and given purpose. This isn't going to be some game of Monopoly where you do money exchanges all the time, but a story about how your company supplies something that is demanded.

Final Grades and Opinions: I'm moving on to a simpler less silly grading system.

Reading [Was the book a fun read, clarity of text]: A+ pdf/C- soft copy, The book was a fun read and the quality of the text is great [I've had some fuzzy books off of DriveThru]. I had to give the soft copy a lower grade because I caught wind that the paper quality was much worse than similar titles. I bought the pdf version for $6 off of DriveThruRPG.com and it was fine.

Writing [Spelling errors, typography, Cohesion]: A+, I didn't spot any errors and it all flowed well form chapter to chapter.

Characters [Amount, quality, context, immersion]: A+, The characters in The Guild and all the Rakshas they deal with are very evil and interesting. The words soul, rape, and slave used by ALL characters throughout the book is insane. WOW!

Locations [Amount, quality, context, immersion]: A+, Plenty of kooky locations to work in any environment you can imagine.

Artwork [Context immersion, quality, length spent staring at pictures]: C-, The art was sharp and decent quality, but the pictures didn't drawn me into the world as much as other titles. Honestly some of it seemed out of place or down right dull.

Triangles are immutable. Hallelujah, Hail Cthulhu, Praise Evolution,

TheBeardedDragon