V20 Anarchs Unbound

Title: V20 Anarchs Unbound

Price: $14.99 (PDF), $42.99 (Premium Hardcover)

Publisher/Year: Onyx Path Publishing, 2014

Author(s): Justin Achilli, Alan Alexander, Jason Andrew, Bill Bodden, Sarah Roark, Matthew Sanderson

DriveThruRPG Link

Rating: 3.5/5

As one might guess from the title, Anarchs Unbound is dedicated to the Anarch Movement – it’s history, philosophy, reality, and technology. It was originally released through Kickstarter, but remains available on DriveThruRPG.

The usual more detailed stuff will follow, but the short review is that Anarchs Unbound is great. I can’t say that Anarchs Unbound is the best V20 supplement, because Beckett’s Jyhad Diary exists, but that seems like a really unfair comparison, given the massive size of the love-letter to the pre-V5 metaplot that was the Diary. So I’ll just say that Anarchs Unbound is the best ‘normal’ supplement for V20.

Anarchs Unbound opens with a ~15 history of the movement (from a strident Anarch point of view, of course). Maybe a third of this is the ‘ancient history’ part of the tale (the Anarch Revolt, the Convention of Thorns, and onto the relative disappointment of Anarch activity in the New World) one third on the 20th century up until about 1990 (the not-really-anarch Soviet vampires and the rise of the Anarch Free States), and then a third beyond that. The material in the modern era primarily focuses on some terrorism and technology-related matters – the effect of the security state after 9/11, the internet, the distribution of the digital manifesto Anarchs Unbound (“WHY DO YOU OBEY?”), and the use of economic warfare by the Red Question collective to force the Camarilla to call of their hounds. It’s a good presentation, with sharp writing and enough detail to weave an interesting tale without so much that it gets bogged down.

The second chapter, “The City Upon the Hill,” talks generally about how Anarch domains are run in modern nights – their aspirations and how they often fail to live up to them (as they quote from the Devil’s Dictionary, “REBEL, n. A proponent of a new misrule who has failed to establish it.”). It’s mostly told from the point of view of what passes for an older vampire among the anarchs, speaking to her childe. She knows that her childe hates her for being the sort of controlling “I know better than you” sort of vampire the anarchs are supposed to be against. And she believes that her childe is generally right in concluding this. Although at least, she thinks, she is aware of it and isn’t as far gone as most of the ‘anarchs’ who have been around for decades. Her commentary is entertaining and biting. The difficulties of supposedly treating mortals better and giving vampires freedom while still having to maintain the Masquerade. How to keep order in a society that reflexively objects to central authority. The failings of community voting and communal responsibility. How the way Anarchs cultivate favors and political goodwill is shaped by the need to avoid the appearance of elder-style prestation games. The general tendency of it all to fall into autocracy anyway. And, in my favorite bit in the book, a rather self-aware discussion of members of the various clans are seen in the Anarch Movement, despite the Movement’s supposedly post-clan ideology. That broad survey is followed by a rundown of particular territories either in the hands of the Movement, or with a significant presence – Boston, California, Madison, Saskatchewan, Venezuela, Krakow, Scandinavia, Liverpool/Manchester, Perth, and Mombasa.

Turning back to the Red Question and Anarchs Unbound, there’s a bit of a strategy guide for how to succeed as an Anarch (or is it all just a trap to prompt elders into overreaction in order to increase support for the Movement?). Strong, violent prince? Provoke them to overreact. Weak Prince? Set the Primogen (the real power) against each other. In Sabbat territory? Good luck with that. All with tongue planted very firmly in cheek. After this POV presentation, there is the usual switch to third-person, this time for a more detailed history of vampires and technology – iterating Shrecknet, Fangster/Fangbook (encoding Thaumaturgy rituals into software to let those with Auspex see vampires-only messages on social media), and then Bloodspot, which let used unknown magic to let any vampire create websites only vampires could read (all of this presumably blown away in the post-V5 metaplot).

Finally, there’s the usual crunch in the back. New backgrounds mostly include links to Anarch social structures, although there’s also one for always having guns on hand (isn’t that what Resources and/or Streetwise are for?). Similarly, the merits and flaws focus on having a good or bad reputation in the Anarchs, although you can also pick up a Sugar Daddy in another sect. More space, however, is dedicated to Disciplines, with 11 combination Disciplines and 6 Elder Disciplines (*insert snide comment about what kind of ST lets players run around as 7th generation ‘anarchs’*). I apparently like Combination Disciplines with witty names, as some of my favorites are Internet Famous (a combo Presence/Thaumaturgy power that issues commands to everyone who follows the vampire on social media) and Suck It Up (a combo Animalism/Protean power that allows the vampire to draw a pool of blood into themself without doing something so crass as crouching down to lick it off the ground).

In addition to the really fun contents, if you’re lucky you might still find around one of the deluxe versions, with ‘stickers’ (“my sire was at Thorns and all I got was this blood bond”) and blood spatter (“Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité ou la mort“) on the back. But the part I got the biggest kick out of was the bookmark which, instead of the usual satin ribbon affair, is a rope – keeping it real, Anarchs.

But whatever the details, I just really liked reading Anarchs Unbound. It had a great mix of hope and humor and pathos. It had characters and situations that were interesting and ideas that could readily spark ideas on how to use Anarchs in a game. I highly recommend it to anyone looking into V20.

V20 Beckett's Jyhad Diary

Title: V20 Beckett's Jyhad Diary

Price: $24.99 (PDF), $62.99 (Standard Hardcover)

Publisher/Year: Onyx Path Publishing, 2018

Author(s): Alan Alexander, Matthew Dawkins, Steffie de Vaan, Joshua Doetsch, Renee Knipe, Neall Raemonn Price, Myranda Sarro, Malcolm Sheppard, Monica Valentinelli

DriveThruRPG Link

Rating: 3.5/5

I have long expressed my love for the backstory/metaplot side of Vampire: the Masquerade, such as how the Book of Nod and Revelations of the Dark Mother are two of my favorite Vampire: the Masquerade books and The Fragile Path and The Erciyes Fragments are two of my favorite books from the rest of the World of Darkness. So you can imagine I was more than a little excited when I got around to reading the super-fancy deluxe version of Beckett’s World Tour and Metaplot Update Jyhad Diary, which has more pages (~550) of world-building than all four of those put together.

Unsurprisingly, Beckett’s Jyhad Diary is primarily told from Beckett’s perspective, as the Gangrel hops from country to country, first chasing down the Book of the Grave-War and then generally getting sucked into trouble (and, wow, does Beckett get in a lot of trouble … seriously, if he ever invites your character along, running in the other direction is almost certainly the safe thing to do). Other vampires who appear with some frequency (either directly appearing or making notes on Beckett’s writings) include old favorites Vykos (with the appreciated “they” replacing “it” as a pronoun), Lucita, Anatole, Jan Pieterzoon, Aisling Sturbridge, and Hesha Ruhadze.

Each chapter in the diary presents a variety of in-character snippets. The most common content is transcripts of Beckett’s audio recordings of his conversations, followed by more literal diary entries, and printed out emails and chat room logs (the book makes a long-running jest out of Beckett’s lack of understanding of electronic communications). This content includes a decent amount of ‘hand-written’ script material, but not as much as there might have been, because so much of the material is transcripts or emails. Out of that, there were only a couple of places that I had difficulty figuring out the contents of the script – for almost all of it the text was still sufficiently clear, had enough contrast, etc. so that I could read without problem (alas, these eyes are not always the best, and sometimes I have trouble when there’s something like overly-flowery black script on a grey background, as some of the White Wolf books have done over the years).

This is followed by a (much) briefer out-of-character presentation that presents a bit of a god’s-eye view on the situation, along with some suggested ways that a coterie could get involved. There’s also some alternative twists on the metaplot. The former mostly have a “this is stuff that actually happens” vibe, while the latter explicitly are not things that actually happen.

I’m not even going to try to summarize all of the updates (read the book!), but the various locations/plot elements visited include:

• Carna’s Rebellion/Milwaukee;
• Chicago/Helena/Menele/Xavier;
• Washington, D.C./the departure of Vykos and return of Marcus Vitel as an independent;
• The American South/Camarilla reconquest (and maybe losing New Orleans)/Banu Haqim start to join;
• London/Mithras-Coven;
• Jordan/France/The rise of Ur-Shulgi/fragmentation of the Banu Haqim;
• California/crumbling of the Anarch Free States;
• Thin Bloods (including V20 character creation rules, the only ‘crunch’ in the Diary);
• Mexico City/civil war and the general fracturing of the Sabbat/Blood Brothers;
• Montreal;
• Haiti/Egypt/Michigan/Followers of Set/Serpents of the Light/Clan of Death (Samedi, Cappadocians);
• Libertatia (note: not a real place)/East Africa;
• South Africa/Laibon (note: no real rules for playing Laibon, as the V20 Dark Ages-based suggestions don’t line up with Kindred of the Ebony Kingdoms);
• Transylvania/Dracula/Kapula;
• Russia/Death of Baba Yaga;
• Hong Kong/The Usual Tremere/Saulot Craziness/weakening of the Tremere;
• Carthage Must Be Destroyed/Tunisia/True Brujah/Brujah/Baali;
• Macau/India/Eye of Hazimel/Actual Hazimel/wow there are still a lot of Ravnos left;
• Switzerland/Romania/Italy/Giovanni Chronicles V (just pretend IV didn’t happen)/spirits of the Conspiracy of Isaac/Endless Night;
• Romania/Salubri/Golconda/Inconnu;
• New York City/Tzimisce (the Antediluvian, not the Clan)/Well of Souls;
• Jerusalem/Malkav;
• Germany/”The False Caine”/Dylan Bruce/Red Listers;
• Cayman Islands/Constantinople/The Dream;
• Italy/Egypt/Clan of Death (Giovanni/Cappadocians/Samedi/Harbingers of Skulls/Impundulu)/some Followers of Set to join the Camarilla (and we all know how well that will go);
• A Brief History of Beckett/A really, really awkward part where Beckett analyzes vampiric stages of life in terms of Freudian psychosexual development;
• South America/Rasputin/Drowned Legacies (like the Laibon, even more vampires who may or may not be related to the thirteen clans/Caine; note that there are no rules for them);
• Libya/France/Egypt/Italy/all of the bloodlines all at once at a big party/Keminitriri/Castle d’Ombro/Red List/True Black Hand.

In addition to the individual stops, there is a running them throughout the Jyhad Diary about Gehenna being cyclical – there isn’t one Gehenna, there are many, time after time. The overall quality was top-notch, with a decent narrative and good dialogue running through most of the book, but some of my favorite stops were the intertwining content about all of the aspects of the Clan of Death, Dracula, learning more about Carna, the revisiting of Chicago (even if not a lot has changed), the first trip to Mexico City and the crumbling of the Sabbat, and anything that touched on Tremere/Saulot/the Salubri (disclaimer: I pretty much always love anything about that stuff).

As you can tell from my commentary in the list, I thought that the weakest part of the Jyhad Diary (by far) was “A Brief History of Beckett.” It’s … not good. It’s mostly gibberish, in the way that one might expect when trying to apply a nonsensical real-world psychological theory to a bunch of fictional monsters. It also doesn’t seem to really contribute to the book – there isn’t really any history of Beckett, and the smidge about his childe Marie could have appeared in the prior chapter where she appeared. The other weak chapter was the immediately-following one on Rasputin and the Drowned Legacies … possibly because Rasputin isn’t interesting and I have zero need to introduce new, mysterious ‘they’ve been there all along but you just didn’t know it’ kinds of vampire for every continent. It almost felt like the main part of the book wrapped up, and then they added a few more chapters on.

Note that, while there is a table of contents, it isn’t always terribly helpful, because titles like “The Spark of Civil War” or “Azhi Dahaka” may not be useful unless you’ve already read the book and/or have really good recall of the existing metaplot.

Overall, the Jyhad Diary serves as something of a bridge from V20 to V5. It isn’t entirely a bridge, as there’s inconsistency between the Diary and V5 (beyond the usual ‘inconsistent narrator’ question). For example, Stanford Warwick is dead in the Jyhad Diary but seems to be referenced in the V5 Anarch supplement. While the Jyhad Diary’s section on London focuses on Mithras/Coven, that notion seems to have been blown up in V5. Hardestadt is missing, but Theo Bell is still an archon. There are there are big themes of V5 that don’t show up here (like the Second Inquisition and the new version of thin-bloods). I suspect that the Jyhad Diary will feel more connected as more V5 supplements come out, especially the Onyx Path ones (for example, the section in the Diary on the various Cappadocian variants seems to feed right into the Hecate for not-even-on-Kickstarter-yet Cults of the Blood Gods).

I was really happy with the Jyhad Diary. As noted above, there’s some bridging from V20 to V5, but there’s enough of a break that it isn’t really reliable as a guide to how things are now – oddly, we’ll have to see how the forthcoming Onyx Path and Modiphius books shape up before we can look back and see how ‘accurate’ the Diary is. But mostly I just enjoyed the whirlwind tour of all the familiar people, places, and concepts, with a bit of moving the metaplot forward. And I enjoyed it whether or not there ends up being a break in “continuity” with V5. I think it will be a good read for anyone who’s a long-time Vampire fan.

Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons: The Rise of Hellfire

Title: Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons: The Rise of Hellfire

ISBN: 9781506753188

Price: $19.99

Publisher/Year: Dark Horse, 2025

Artist: Diego Galindo

Writer: Jody Houser, Eric Campbell

Rating: 4.5/5

Stranger Things: The Rise of Hellfire is a fantastic expansion of the Stranger Things universe, offering fans a deeper look into one of the show's most charismatic side characters: Eddie Munson. This trade paperback delivers exactly what longtime viewers crave—heart, humor, and a dose of Hawkins-level darkness—while carving out its own identity as a sharply written, character-driven story.

What makes this book shine is how authentically it captures Eddie’s voice. His larger-than-life personality, love for metal, and outsider perspective are all front and center, but the story also dives into his vulnerabilities in a way the show only hinted at. The result is a surprisingly emotional origin tale that helps explain how the Hellfire Club became the safe haven it is, and why Eddie cares so deeply for the misfits who find their way into it.

The writing balances nostalgia with fresh storytelling, weaving in the series’ signature mix of supernatural intrigue and small-town anxiety without ever feeling like a retread. The artwork is another standout—dynamic, expressive, and full of visual nods to the Stranger Things world. Panels are packed with energy, making the tabletop gaming sequences feel as epic as any Upside Down showdown.

One memorable sequence: early in a campaign, Eddie’s character — a half-orc named Relgar — takes a brutal hit trying to protect a teammate from goblins. Then, with a critical hit (a “natural 20” roll), he turns the tide, wiping out the threat. That moment isn’t just about dice-luck — it’s framed as the moment Eddie realizes he’s found a place where he can belong, “a camaraderie of weirdos where he can be himself.” 

The book doesn’t shy away from social pressures in their (fictional) Hawkins High environment: rumors about Eddie’s reputation make some like Lucas worry that joining the Hellfire Club might hurt their standing — e.g., Lucas worries about his chances of making the basketball team if he’s seen associating with the “weird kids.” 

But when the dice roll poorly, when the stakes are high, Eddie’s true character “shines through.” He becomes less a social outcast or stereotype, and more the glue that holds the group together — proving that sometimes, friendship and loyalty are stronger than reputation or fears.

Whether you’re a dedicated Stranger Things fan or just enjoy well-crafted character stories, The Rise of Hellfire is a rewarding read. It enriches the lore, deepens a beloved character, and delivers a satisfying, heartfelt adventure that feels perfectly at home in the Stranger Things canon.

As a fan of both Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons, I absolutely loved this trade and feel that it's a wonderful read for anyone who has an interest in Dungeons & Dragons.

YouTube Recommendation - DnD Shorts

 

Another great "DungeonTuber" is DnD Shorts. I have been watching a lot of his videos to get motivated to finally putting actual work into my eventual D&D campaign. I really enjoy and appreciate his class ranking videos as it gives me a greater insight (from a different perspective) of what PC's and NPC's I could work with to meet the goals of my campaign.

I currently have a character concept in mind for a Rouge that eventually dips into Warlock. I've been going through the characters background in my mind for months, and have gone so far as to develop the characters retirement from adventuring. This actually leads into my idea for The Shady Lane.

As a lifetime role player, I have never really looked into the deeper aspects of D&D the way DnD Shorts does... and this is another reason I enjoy his content. The fact that he has also published his own TTRPG material makes me very envious and gives me a level to aspire to.

Predator Volume 1: Day of The Hunter

Title: Predator Volume 1: Day of The Hunter

ISBN: 9781302926199

Price: $19.99

Publisher/Year: Marvel, 2023

Artist: Kev Walker 

Writer: Ed Brisson 

Rating: 3.5/5

Theta Berwick is the sole survivor of a Predator attack on the planet Damara in 2041. Flash forward to 2056, and a grown Theta has over 20 Predator kills under her belt, except for the one that killed her mother and father. As she barely escapes a run in with other hostile aliens, her trusty ship crash-lands on the cold, snowy planet Tusket. She must find a way to repair the ship before she dies of hunger and exposure. When she comes across an Arstar outpost called Port Medway, she finds her hopes renewed with the equipment and food she needs…that is until she comes across deceased and headless service workers hanging upside down. A Predator has found her. Can she survive this latest encounter and get off Tusket before it’s too late? 

I remember reading the first issue of this series when it was released and it was a strategic maneuver on Marvel Comics’ part because the prequel Prey was released at almost the same exact time. There was even an ad for the movie inside the front cover of the comic. 

When I borrowed this from Hoopla, I read an issue each day until I got to the fifth and sixth issues because I wanted to see how the story concluded. I read them both in one sitting. The build of the story was good through the first five issues, but the ending was a bit anticlimactic for me. I’m not sure if it was because some of the plot elements were spoiled in volume two or because the final battle Theta takes part in was a bit underwhelming. 

I do like the direction the Predator franchise is going so far. It was recently announced that Wolverine would be facing off against the Predator in the Fall. There is a tidbit of information revealed in issue five where a scientist that has been studying the alien warriors reveals they have been traveling to Earth since the 1700s. I wouldn’t mind a prequel series set in colonial times, maybe a Predator lands on Earth during America’s War for Independence. That famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware? Maybe he was running from a Predator stalking him and his soldiers. The possibilities are endless with the direction these stories can go. 

The best part of the new runs of Alien and Predator is that it makes me want to go back and read some of the collected series released by Dark Horse. It’d be nice to see how those stories compare to the new ones. I am also in the mood to rewatch the Predator movies. It’s been a while since I have seen the original one and to be honest, I never got a chance to see the sequel with Danny Glover yet. 

How Do You Roll?

 

I have been role playing since 1984, and I'm not certain when I began my role as DM/GM/ST. In all those years, I have never had a DM/GM/ST make rolls for the players and I have never taken the opportunity to do it either.

I feel like I have experienced the worst case of DM/GM/ST burnout as I haven't actively taken that role in several years after being helping to run a multiple year chronicle for the classic World of Darkness. I think the last time I was actually in the position of the ST was pre-Covid pandemic.

I have been feeling the pull of wanting to again take the role of DM/GM/ST, but I keep getting stuck on several points that make me feel weary of taking that path:

• I have a large collection of books from a wide variety of TTRPGs and I'm not sure which one I would prefer to run. I have been adding a wide variety of new games to my collection from Kickstarter campaigns I support, but I am always on the lookout at used bookstores for books from older RPG's to continue to expand the options from games I already own.
• With regards to after the decision is made of exactly which TTRPG to run, it's then difficult to figure out what type of story to tell. For fantasy games like Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder, I have a collection of modules and adventure books to chose from.
• With how many videos I have watched of TTRPGs, I find myself feeling lacking in resources. While I have plenty of books, I don't have much in the way of miniatures or terrain. With regards specifically to running Dungeons & Dragons, I have gotten used to using D&D Beyond. The problem is that all the resources I currently have there are from a previous campaign and I do not have ownership of them. Additionally, I don't have a paid subscription so I have limited availability of creating characters. My players are in the same place and they actually share an account and have nearly maxed-out the number of characters they can have on there.
• Over the past few years, I have participated in a D&D game that utilized D&D Beyond, minis and digital maps. I have become used to these resources but feel overwhelmed and uncertain of my personal ability to be able to utilize these newer resources effectively. As mentioned before, I also don't have a large collecting of miniatures to use to help make whatever game I decide to run engaging in that regard.

I think the biggest issue that I need to overcome is my anxiety of getting back on the DM/GM/ST horse and I have been watching a lot of videos on YouTube to help inspire me. While I have viewed many that have accomplished that, I still have yet to get past these feelings.

The other day, I watched a video from YouTube channel Tabletop University about how the first D&D episode of the NBC comedy Community inspired him to run his games with the DM making the majority of the rolls for the players.

This got me thinking about how differently I would like to run my future game. I like the idea of certain rolls not being made in the open or allowing the players to know if they succeeded or not. I think I can make this work, but I know it will be an awkward but I feel it would be worth it.

I've heard of other people using this option with success and would love to hear of your experiences if you have tried this at your table. Also, if you have had burnout before, how did you overcome it. Please leave a comment below.

A Game of Thrones Vol 3

Title: A Game of Thrones Vol 3

ISBN: 9780007578580

Price: $26.00

Publisher/Year: Dynamite, 2014

Artist: Tommy Patterson

Writer: George R. R. Martin, Daniel Abraham

Collects: A Game of Thrones #13-18



Rating: 3.5/5

We’re now into the meat of this sprawling fantasy saga. The book opens with the recovery of Eddard Stark, appointed the King’s Hand, a post intended to combine counsel and protection, but despite being an old friend, the King prefers to plot his own course. The problem is not eased by court politics. The Stark family has no time for the equally influential Lannisters, and the Queen is from that family. Matters are further complicated by Eddard’s wife Catelyn holding another Lannister hostage. The cultivated Tywin understands the situation, while resolutely not guilty of the plotting for power endemic to his family, an innocence not believed by Catelyn.

Those used to A Game of Thrones from the TV show will find much here not seen on the screen, as the adaptation is of the original novel on which the series was based. Adaptor Daniel Abraham is able to include far more in the way of detail, and includes the flashback sequences that forged both the cast and their society.

Midway through the book there’s a demise that shifts the entire political scenario, tipping it in one direction, leaving other parties dangerously exposed. Elsewhere, a problem of adapting a novel of such density spread over several locales again emerges. Key player Daenerys Targaryen was barely seen until the conclusion of the previous book, and she’s once again forgotten until the midway point here. We see the staff of the Night’s Watch on the Wall far more frequently, as proof of sinister creatures is now explicit.

Artist Tommy Patterson, possibly for reasons of speed, is resorting more frequently to supplying his cast in cartoon style, but sporadically delivers some fine designs, such as his depiction of Aegon’s iron throne, constructed from the swords of enemies surrendered.

It’s taken some considerable while to move the cast where they need to be, but in this book the tension and intrigue steps up, and there’s barely a scene change that doesn’t tease. George R. R, Martin plots very deeply and diligently, and for those who already know what’s to come there’s a pleasure in seeing how well it’s set up. For those not familiar with the plot in any other form, this book concludes on quite the cliffhanger, to be picked up in volume four.