For example, some Lasombra believe that God created vampires to serve Him by tormenting mortal sinners; these vampires believe they are carrying out God's will by inflicting pain and suffering. Other Keepers seek to discern the secrets of the Abyss, the primordial essence of darkness. Some few even see themselves as the driving force behind mankind- the shepherds that keep the mortal sheep in line and productively occupied (from a Cainite point of view, that is).

New Lasombra secrets are also divulged in this book. Several variants of the Path of Night are given, and the mystical importance of the Abyss is detailed. Further, the book looks at the Lasombra clan Disciplines from the Keepers' perspective, and explores the uses and significance of Obtenebration. A detailed history of the Lasombra clan is given, from the ancient legacy of the Antediluvian to the modern nights.

All told, this is an outstanding piece of work. Before reading this book, I knew next to nothing about the Lasombra clan. Their brief write-up in the core rulebook portrays them as little more than generic masters of EEEE-vil, and I always thought the Lasombra were rather dull. That changed when I read the new Clanbook: Lasombra. The writing is excellent- in particular, I loved the narrative history of the clan- and there's something in this book for everyone.


Be Afraid of the Dark!!!   March 6, 2001
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

The new CLANBOOK LASOMBRA offers wonderfully details- clan factions (including antitribu), Lasombra skepticism of origin legends, Chinese bloodlines, Embrace traditions, how the Occult rating relates to Obtenebration, and a better sense of Montano and Gratiano. It has many standard series features- MET statistics, character templates, merits and flaws, a discussion of clan disciplines, a sample pack (Lasombra computer hackers!), and noted Lasombra (less basic but more multicultural than the original).

It's also the first new CLANBOOK on the Sabbat. It emphasizes Humanity over Paths of Enlightenment but gives extensive treatment to the distinctively Lasombra Path of Night. (Other VtM books assign important Lasombra to the Path of Power and the Inner Voice- not even mentioned here, unfortunately.) It describes Path of Night variations (the Path isn't written out here so you must refer back to VtM's basic rules) and introduces Abyss Mysticism, a practice by which Lasombra merge with darkness.

An improvement in the new CLANBOOK: LASOMBRA is the emphasis on young Lasombra instead of elders, making the clan seem less cartoonishly pompous. It features Asian, African and Northern European Lasombra not the usual Spanish Lasombra. Rather than being traditionalistic, the Lasombra seem cut off from their own history because so many elders died during the Anarch Revolt.

A minor problem is that there's almost too much introduced for atmosphere and basic themes to fully develop and not enough follow-up on earlier material- characters like Medina and Lopez, for example. Also, the original CLANBOOK series was more interesting visually than the new one. The original LASOMBRA featured white type on (appropriately) black pages. (LIBELLUS SANGUINIS I's Lasombra chapter also does this in places.) Darkness oozed over the page from the pictures illustrating Obtenebration. The new CLANBOOK: LASOMBRA uses only conventional white pages and the art loses impact because of this.


FEEL THE DARKNESS....   January 12, 2001
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is a great clanbook ,when I finally got it I expected some of the flaws the other clanbooks had,but MAN....this is GREAT!! there is a lot of info about the lasombra antediluvian after the second city and even speculations about his strange final death ,some tips about the antitribu and even a description about clan relations whith the other sabbat members. The art is great (shy and trabbold are fantastic man.)even if I would like to have the traits of moncada and lucita on the book,but at least they appear,some mayor disciplines could have been added too ,but y'know...it's white wolf man (I had written another review abut this book but amazon did'nt printed it,I wonder why dude???)


Entertaining   May 5, 2003
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Upside
- The prelude is pretty entertaining and exemplifies the general attitude of many young Lasombra
- The clan's history is delivered in sessions narrated by various Lasombra (concluded by a Lasombra antitribu's suicide note, strangely enough)
- Details how the majority of Lasombra go about observing, testing and training recruits
- Briefly desribes Lasombra culture and its many, many unofficial "factions" as well as official ones and the supposedly non-existant Lasombra antitribu
- The basic break-down of procedures for dealing with the Courts of Blood is rather helpful
- The Lasombra's comments on the Sabbat bloodlines and the other clans are more informed than average (but, perhaps unsurprisingly, there's nothing of consenquence said about the Kiasyd)
- Takes a closer look at the basic Obtenebration powers and provides more advanced ones as well as interesting suggestions of ways to approach peculiarities of a Lasombra's manifestation of Obtenebration
- Explains a little about the occult and Abyss mysticism
- There are actually a few appealing Merits and Flaws (Controllable Night Sight, Death's Reflection)
- There are several pseudo-templates of variations of the Path of Night as it's presented in the core rulebook and some of them look like they'd be very interesting to adopt
- There are some great character templates (the Accuser, Angry Young Man, Successful Mass-Embracee, Harpy, Student of the Abyss)
- The sample brood of mentally-unbalanced Lasombra computer hackers is quite interesting

Downside
- There's relatively not that many notable Lasombra mentioned
- The book's formatting oversights do not make finding specific entries any easier


Solid Resource   May 4, 2003
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I developed an interest in the Lasombra clan from reading about them in various works of fiction by White Wolf authors. This book was wonderful in providing more background on the beginnings, history, and beliefs of the clan known as 'The Keepers'. It is a good resource for getting into the mindset of a Lasombra character. I am not a role-player, but if I were I would recommend this book based on the many templates provided. They start with mortals from all walks of life and give you something substantial with which to begin to build your character as it enters the World of Darkness. The material is interesting, the artwork supports the material, and overall - it's easy to understand. If you want to learn more about the clan, then this is a book you will want to add to your library of resources.