Product Description

The Dragon coils in preparation for its strike. It is fearsome and strong, but not so much as it is wise. With each lesson it learns it becomes better prepared and its coils tighten still further. One night - perhaps not far off - the Dragon will learn its final lesson and strike and break the bonds of our dead bodies. It will lunge out of the prison of blood and we will follow its tail to Heaven and the freedom of our souls.
--Aldous Godolphin, Invisible Philosopher of the Subtle Terror

Beyond Undeath

Visionaries among the Damned, members of the Ordo Dracul seek to transcend the curse of vampirism. Devoting themselves to hoary experiments and the philosophies of their leader, Dracula, the Dragons of this covenant seek to discover what lies beyond the Requiem.

A Covenant Guide for Vampire: The Requiem

* Details the history, hierarchy and goals of the Ordo Dracul (one of Vampire's core factions), and serves as an invaluable guide to the world of the Kindred from the covenant's unique viewpoint

* The Ordo Dracul - the covenant founded by Dracula himself - has proven to be the most popular faction in Vampire: The Requiem

* Features new bloodlines and Disciplines unique to the Ordo Dracul, including a new Coil of the Dragon (the covenant's unique power), making it a sure draw to players

* Provides settings, antagonists and story seeds for Storytellers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #139207 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 228 pages

Customer Reviews

Chase The Dragon
When Vampire Requiem first came out I was dissapointed with the core book because I felt that it lacked depth that had been developed in the Masquerade over the years. After picking up this book and bloodlines, my enthusiasm for this new game was rejuvenated. The Ordo Dracul details the history of this covenant, but does not bog you down in the past. Instead, it focuses on what the Order is. The book goes into detail on what it is the order does, other than creating or studying coils. It also covers: a secret code hidden in the titles of the dragons, new coils, new bloodlines, new devotions, and society organizations. If you like the Ordo Dracul and are either a storyteller or player--get this book!

An wonderful exploration of an extremely interesting Covenant.
Ordo Dracul provides a detailed presentation of the Covenant of the same name. The Ordo Dracul is similar to a cross between hermetic mages, philosophers, researchers, and Masons all rolled together into one large organization focused on understanding and mastering the vampiric condition. An overview of the history of the Covenant, its beliefs, traditions, factions, government, and other similar information is provided. New Bloodlines, Disciplines, Devotions, and Coils are logically connected to new and existing groups within the Covenant.

The best thing this product has going for it is that the Ordo is interesting. The internal government is unique and fun, the actual ways Covenant members go about studying vampirism are clever (and at times unusual, embracing weird and ancient science), and the factions lurking on the periphery are such that many players will find something of interest. On the downside, the focus on the extremely inhuman deeds that Dragons regularly perform may turn some players off to the product and otherwise shift a campaign's focus away from Humanity and on to vampiric society and science. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, but the Covenant does tend towards murder (in order to engage in social science) and extreme self mutilation (in order to create a new mental state).

One of the best Covenant books so far
The Ordo Dracul, I have to be honest, is my least favorite covenant. Its position as a hermetically sealed organization causes me to cringe, and the thought of spending centuries in Slave status, serving undead monsters who look down on you, is terrifying.

However, that's also some of the appeal of this book. It deliniates the structure of the Ordo Dracul, its purposes, some bloodlines and factions within the covenant, and shows just what makes the Dragons tick.

The terror that a reader of this book SHOULD feel is ever-present as you search through the pages, touching on the various practices of the Dragons, and looking into the eerie bloodlines that the Order has created over the centuries.

This is a great book, well-planned and thorough. I highly recommend it, especially for those who have an interest in the Order itself.