Splatbook
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A Splatbook is a book covering a splat, that is, one of the factional divisions in a White Wolf game, such as a clan.
Splatbooks are historically thin (64-96 pp) and relatively inexpensive. Most splatbooks will contain 3-5 chapters: a history of the splat, a description of the splat as it exists in the current setting, relations between the splat and other splats, game rules covering new splat abilities, a selection of sample starting characters for the splat, and notable examples of the splat. Most splatbooks had an introduction written in a consistent style across the splat (i.e., Werewolf intros were always comics, while Wraith intros were all segments of a larger story). More specific details are given below:
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[edit] Vampire: The Masquerade
First and 2nd edition Vampire used the same clan books, with a new set of revised clanbooks coming out after the revised editions. The Vampire clanbooks are as close to a generic splat as possible.
[edit] Old World of Darkness
Between the first editions of Vampire and Werewolf, the first edition of World of Darkness: Mummy was released; this sub-line, arguably the ancestor of all fatsplats, underwent another revision (adapting afterlife rules to fit with Wraith) before being superseded by the hardcover fatsplat Mummy: The Resurrection.
Additionally, Kindred of the East was meant primarily to work with Vampire, but was quite capable of meshing with other oWOD core rulebooks, as was the Middle Kingdom fatsplat Demon Hunter X.
[edit] Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Werewolf had two classes of splatbooks over its history. There were Tribe books for each of the 13 Garou tribes, following the same release pattern as Vampire. In addition, Werewolf had a series of Breed books, which covered the rest of the Fera. The breedbooks were generally thicker and more detailed than the tribebooks.
[edit] Mage: The Ascension
Mage published Tradition books in the same fashion as Vampire and Werewolf. In addition, a set of Convention books were published for first and second edition. These Convention books were unique among splat books in that they had no playable characters. Following the publication of the Guide to the Technocracy, a revised Iteration X convention book was released, but no further Convention books were revised before the game line was ended in 2004.
[edit] Wraith: The Oblivion
Wraith published an incomplete line of Guild books through its history. These guildbooks were initially published as single guild books, but later releases were thicker, two-guild books. The guildbook line ended before covering all guilds, with the Mnemoi and Ferrymen covered in Ends of Empire.
The Alchemists, Chanteurs, Harbingers, Monitors, Proctors, Solicitors, and Usurers never had Guildbooks published.
[edit] Changeling: The Dreaming
For Changeling there were seven Kithbooks released, covering seven from nine Kiths. Kith Sidhe was detailed in other series of splats, three Books of Houses, each covering a set different of Noble Houses. Missing Kithbook: Boggans was never released.
There were also a few more softcover fatsplats for Changeling, including Autumn People, Enchanted and Inanimae.
[edit] Kindred of the East
Kindred of the East published five Dharma books, and a supplement covering the heretical dharmas called Heresies of the Way.
[edit] Hunter: The Reckoning
Hunter did a series of hunter books covering the various creeds (including the "lost" creeds of Deviance and Isolation introduced in the Hunter Players Guide). There was also a series of enemy books covering the various monsters of the world from an Imbued perspective.
[edit] Vampire: The Dark Ages
Vampire: The Dark Ages produced three clanbooks: Salubri, Cappadocian and Baali. In addition, four super-splats called Libellus Sanguinis covered the other 12 clans and their history up to the 12th century.
Dark Ages: Vampire didn't publish clan-specific splatbooks (clans were covered in the player's guides to the High and Low Clans), but did publish a set of Road specific splatbooks. Dark Ages Vampire also introduced the first fatsplats with the Dark Ages: Inquisitor, Dark Ages: Fae, Dark Ages: Werewolf and Dark Ages: Mage supplements.
[edit] Exalted
Exalted had two splatbook lines, the Caste books covering the various castes of Solar Exalted and the Aspect books covering the Dragon Blooded. The Aspect books are distinctive for having a sequence of unusually potent Dragon-Blooded fully detailed in the characters section (as opposed to just having starting characters). These Dragon-Blooded were intended to be used in advanced campaigns or as antagonists in a Solar-centered campaign.
Exalted also issued fatsplats for each of the major types of Exalted and the Fair Folk. Given the highly limited (and novel) nature of some of the Exalted in the setting, splatbooks may not be appropriate for them.
[edit] Trinity
The splatbook-equivalents for Trinity were sourcebooks, each covering a given psi order and the region of the Trinity Universe in which it has its base of operations (America Offline, for instance, covered Orgotek and the FSA).
[edit] Aberrant
Several supplements for Aberrant discussed the various allegiances a nova might take, running the gamut from Project Utopia to the Teragen to the XWF.
[edit] New World of Darkness
None of the first three games set in the new WOD has "splatbooks" in the classical sense. The supplements covering the covenants of Vampire: The Requiem are hardcovers (like all nWOD books), each about 200 pages long, and include in their content what it means for members of each clan to pass their Requiems in the covenant. Presumably, the supplements on the orders of Mage: The Awakening will be of similar structure, detailing what it means to follow a given Path as a member of a particular order. (As yet, no tribebooks for Werewolf: The Forsaken have been announced.
It is perhaps worth mentioning, however, that each of the three games has (in the case of VTR), or will have (in the other two cases), a series of anthology supplements on examples of the smallest subsplat in the game: bloodlines for nVampire, lodges for nWerewolf and legacies for nMage.
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