''The Book of Nod'' is an

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

written by

Sam Chupp Sam Chupp is a tabletop game designer from the United States. Career Sam Chupp is the co-creator of the roleplaying games '' Wraith: the Oblivion'' (1994) and '' Changeling: The Dreaming'' (1995). Chupp was the Special Guest at the Marmalade Dog G ...

and

Andrew Greenberg Andrew Greenberg is a game designer of tabletop role-playing games and role-playing video games. Career Greenberg was one of White Wolf Publishing's original developers on '' Vampire: The Masquerade'' (1991). He was the line editor for ''Vamp ...

, published by

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Publishing was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant

in 1993. Based on the

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...

'' Vampire: The Masquerade'' and the ''

World of Darkness ''World of Darkness'' is a series of tabletop role-playing games, originally created by Mark Rein-Hagen for White Wolf Publishing. It began as an annual line of five games in 1991–1995, with '' Vampire: The Masquerade'', '' Werewolf: The Apoca ...

'' series, it tells the

creation myth A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...

of vampires, following Caine, the first vampire and the biblical first murderer.

Overview

The book is divided into three main sections: *The Chronicle of Caine: Outlining the events of Caine's exile, through to the great flood of the Bible. These events include the murder of his brother, defiance of God's angels, encounters with

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, Wiktionary:לילית, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian Mythology, Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. ...

, siring of other vampires, and the founding of the first city. *The Chronicle of Shadows: A collection of various noddist lore, offering advice and commandments, some attributed to Caine, others to the Clan founders. Unlike The Chronicle of Caine, these fragments do not form a cohesive story. *The Chronicle of Secrets: This section offers various portents and omens of the coming end times, known to vampires as

Gehenna The Valley of Hinnom ( he, , lit=Valley of the son of Hinnom, translit=Gēʾ ḇen-Hīnnōm) is a historic valley surrounding Ancient Jerusalem, Ancient Jerusalem from the west and southwest. The valley is also known by the name Gehinnom ( ...

. While the signs of the end of days are conflicting, several strong themes come through, the most important being the final generations of vampires, shortage of blood due to overcrowding of hunting grounds, and the awakening of the

Antediluvian The antediluvian (alternatively pre-diluvian or pre-flood) period is the time period chronicled in the Bible between the fall of man and the Genesis flood narrative in biblical cosmology. The term was coined by Thomas Browne. The narrative take ...

s, the most ancient of vampires. The ''Book of Nod'' came with commentary by several Kindred scholars, including the

Malkavian ''Vampire: The Masquerade'' is a tabletop role-playing game (tabletop RPG) created by Mark Rein-Hagen and released in 1991 by White Wolf Publishing as the first of several Storyteller System games for its World of Darkness setting line. It i ...

Aristotle de Laurent and his childe, Beckett. Supposedly the book was not meant to be widely distributed, but was stolen by a competing scholar Ayisha, who wished it available to all.

Noddism

In the World of Darkness studying and searching on the Book of Nod is known as Noddism, with the Scholars being called Noddists. Officially the

Camarilla A camarilla is a group of courtiers or favourites who surround a king or ruler. Usually, they do not hold any office or have any official authority at the royal court but influence their ruler behind the scenes. Consequently, they also escape havi ...

denies the existence of the ancients, believing them long extinct, its

Archon ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...

s hunting and destroying Noddist lore. Unofficially many Camarilla elders fear and prepare for the coming armageddon. In contrast, the

Sabbat The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by many modern pagans, consisting of the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them. While names for each festival vary among dive ...

actively seeks Noddist lore in hopes of forestalling the return of the Antediluvians, viewing itself as an army set against them. A complete version of the book is unknown, though parts of it in various languages are known to exist. Fragments are widely distributed and well protected, as the secrets they contain may provide clues to the origin and fate of the kindred. Finding a complete version of the Book of Nod is comparable to finding the

Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a Rosetta Stone decree, decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle te ...

or the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...

Release

The book is planned to be re-printed by

Renegade Game Studios Renegade Game Studios is an American game company based in Escondido, California that creates and publishes board games, card games and role-playing games. In 2020, they also began producing jigsaw puzzles using art from their games. History In ...

in October 2022, both in a standard release and a "deluxe artifact edition," which consists of replica scrolls and a tablet.

Related works

* White Wolf released several books containing supposed scripture from the Book of Nod. '' The Erciyes Fragments'' was included for the '' Vampire: The Dark Ages'', along with a backstory detailing the Fragments' discovery and passing into the hands of the

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

. * ''Revelations of the Dark Mother'' depicted the story of the first vampires from the point of view of

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

's first wife. She was mentioned in the first book as the being who first awakened Caine to his true potential. *These books were produced with the intention that individual Storytellers could provide information from them to their players, as the stories required. * Several other ''Vampire: The Masquerade'' books contained passages of the Book of Nod. These often conflicted with each other and Storytellers were encouraged to add to the chaos, simulating the problems the Noddist scholars must face. * Within the fiction of ''Vampire: The Masquerade'', ''The Book of Nod'' was allegedly the inspiration that led the Byzantine priest Procopius to write the ''Book of the Shining Blood'', the main scripture of the Cainite Heresy.

Reviews

*'' Envoyer'' #7

References

*Justin Achilli, ''Vampire: The Masquerade (Revised Edition)'' (White Wolf Game Studio, 1998, ) *

and Andrew Greenberg, ''The Book of Nod'' (White Wolf Game Studio, 1994, ) * * * {{World of Darkness Fictional books Vampire: The Masquerade