" Now your players will no longer give you that, 'Good lord you're a moron' look when you're running your games. …Okay, maybe they will, but it'll happen less frequently, I'm sure. "

      Title: Werewolf the Apocalypse: Storyteller's Handbook by White Wolf

      Format: Source book for, well, Werewolf. Duh.

      Reviewing Monkey: Chimpan-A

      The Hype: Have you been running your werewolf games by the seat of your pants? Just wingin' it? Throwin' out Nexus crawlers willy-nilly? Giving out Renown like they were D&D experience points? Well then this is the book for you. Now your players will no longer give you that, 'Good lord you're a moron' look when you're running your games. …Okay, maybe they will, but it'll happen less frequently, I'm sure.

      What This Monkey Thought...

      Story and Drama: There's really not much story in this book. It's just the facts, my monkeys. Certainly there are a lot of facts, but that's it. Folks used to White Wolf's story laden books may find this to be a bit weird, but this is really just a rules book, and doesn't need the story elements. 2 out of 5 (just because it doesn't need them doesn't mean it gets a high score)

      Layout and Presentation: The book is laid out relatively well. It starts out with information on Stargazers, the Werewolves who turned over to the Asian Beast Courts. Not many of them are left in the western world. It progresses through all the bete, and moves through Caern information, and on into varies miscellany. The information that you're likely going to be looking for in this book is fairly easily found. The artwork is good to passing, although Mitch Byrd seems to have a thing for…bulky…womenfolk (read: women the approximate shape of a pumpkin. A fat pumpkin). 4 out of 5

      Playability: The very first words in this book, and I mean after the copyright info, are: "As already stated…" I have a problem with any book that starts out that way, especially a roleplaying supplement, because you know they're copping out. Now granted, it makes a certain amount of sense in this case as this book really is not meant to be used without the supplementation of the core books, but it still means lean times. This is more like an appendix to the core books really. It gives detailed information for the storyteller to use to bring certain things to life. As such, it's eminently playable. You just have to have the core books to do it. 4 out of 5

      Desired Content: The book essentially gathers information from a variety of other sources and compiles them into one source for the storyteller. The plus side is that all that information is here. The down side is that it's mostly information easily found in other sources. And if you already have those sources, this book becomes far less worth the asking price. Luckily the chances that you're going to have all the books that come together here are fairly slim (unless you're a real fanatic). Even if you do have all the information, the expanded Renown tables alone make this a fairly valuable purchase. 3.5 out of 5

      The Verdict:

This is a pretty useful source book, even if it is mostly recycled material. It gives the storyteller the info he needs to run the game properly. Just make sure that you've also got the core books to refer to. And if you plan on going really in depth on anything, you're probably going to want to get that corresponding book. This book's a good resource nonetheless.

      The Good: A good collection of Werewolf information

      The Bad: Definitely not a stand alone book

      The Overall Ugly: If you're the one running the Werewolf chronicle, get it. Otherwise, there are plenty of other books to buy.

      What it's Worth: Market Price