Vampire: The Requiem

[Vampyrknight]

The New vs. Old, take (insert ridiculously high number here)

Every weekday, when I get online, one of the first things I check is the new World of Darkness preview. So far, I have mixed feelings, feelings a lot of the old school World of Darkness (particularly Vampire the Masquerade) players I know echo. To find there's a board, though, regarding comparisons with the new Storyteller system and the d20 system, this seems a bit on the comical side.

Some of the info coming down the pipe has made me happy, but most of that's rules mechanics. The biggest bonus to the new WoD is it has a set of core rules. No rumaging through all sorts of books to find out how a vampire fighting a werewolf works. A basic set of rules is always a plus. That soak is gone, that there's only one difficulty to beat in every roll, and the inclusion of merits as a standard (not sure if there are flaws, but I hope there are), I'll wait to pass judgment upon once I see the actual rules.

Most of the beef I have with the new WoD involves actual setting. I'm still trying to figure out why they had to utterly destroy the old WoD and not just convert them to the new system. I liked Vampire, Werewolf, Hunter, and Demon, and I'll miss those games as they were. The details on the new Vampire only upsets me more.

Sure, it might be less metaplot than the old one, but honestly, where's the fun in that? The metaplot set the tone, it helped to define the setting. Sure, the storyteller should be responsible for it, too, but if there's nothing to base it on, how can he convey the right tone, the right mood? This actually happened in a game of Demon I played in where the storyteller (new to Demon) just read the rules, not the stories or metaplot stuff. It was essentially boiled down to a hack-and-slash game.

So far, the similarities to the d20 system are simply an attempt (like most game publishers are doing these days) to make the rules easier to play. It cuts down on the time spent in books or arguing over rules and more time actually roleplaying. That was what the designers of D&D 3e did, that's what White Wolf is doing now.

 

[Werther von G]

Sure, it might be less metaplot than the old one, but honestly, where's the fun in that? The metaplot set the tone, it helped to define the setting. Sure, the storyteller should be responsible for it, too, but if there's nothing to base it on, how can he convey the right tone, the right mood?

I think I can answer this one.

From what I've seen, there will still be lots of flavor and description. Each city is likely to have its own feel -- a game set in New Orleans (which is the setting in the sample game) is going to feel a lot different from a game in Chicago or New York. There will still be lots of NPCs around, and you can use them to help craft the right tone.

What will be avoided is the tendency to make the games *about* those NPCs. Fewer chronicles that culminate in two hoary elders battling it out in front of your characters while you munch on bloodsoaked popcorn and try to avoid becoming... well, bloodsoaked popcorn.

 

[Wraith Form]

I thought Gehenna was supposed to be the end of all this gothic prancing about and acting cooler than everyone else and waxing poetic about blood and death and blood.

Oh, come on now. We don't prance (much).

We shamble. Sheesh, get it straight.

 

[Funksaw]

I saw the demo, and to tell the truth, I don't much like it.

Okay, yeah, the new organizations are cool, and I much prefer them to the Camarilla/Sabbat/Anarch dichotomy (One's only out to screw you, the other to get you to join their Nazi cult and the last one's the vampire equivelant of the Green Party...) But considering that some disciplines are being moved from clans to organizations, why keep the clans? I especially do not like the Ventrue weakness - the idea that a Ventrue character is so obsessed with power that he goes madder when he loses humanity... this procludes playing a Ventrue against type - essentially prohibiting the "laid back" Ventrue character because it dictates an aspect of thier personality - that they ARE indeed, power-hungry.

With the old Vampire, you at least had the idea that clan members tended to help each other out and screw each other over like an extended dysfunctional family. Clans meant something - whether that was a good or a bad thing was up to the individual player. Now, however, it seems like Clans have been downplayed - so I ask, why keep them at all? Why not lose them, throwing the function of "weakness" onto the organizations or - better still - onto the disciplines? After all, there's already a discipline/weakness link via Clan Weakness->clan->discplines. Why not eliminate the middle man?

Indeed, this doesn't seem too much like a "Vampire 2.0" so much as it seems like "Vampire Extended Dance Mix" - everything's still there, just in different places.

But considering that I'm not buying it till it shows up on the used market or WW changes it's DTRPG policies, this is all moot.

 

[Kesh]

The mechanics are okay, but the new clans and societies really got my attention. I've never been much of a vampire fan, but this got my attention.

 

[Funksaw]

The mechanics are okay, but the new clans and societies really got my attention. I've never been much of a vampire fan, but this got my attention.

I'd bet good money that the organizations were written by Greg Stolze and the clans were written by Justin Achilli. I wouldn't bet alot of money, but I'd be willing to bet it.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I don't like to that much. It simply lacks in comparison to d20. It is literally a pain in the ass to roll that many dice.

Must...not...make...bad...joke...

Personally, I love rolling huge handfuls of dice. Which, of course, can happen in D&D, too, with damage spells and powers and sneak attacks.

Brad

 

[Kaleon Moonshae]

Sure, it might be less metaplot than the old one, but honestly, where's the fun in that? The metaplot set the tone, it helped to define the setting. Sure, the storyteller should be responsible for it, too, but if there's nothing to base it on, how can he convey the right tone, the right mood? This actually happened in a game of Demon I played in where the storyteller (new to Demon) just read the rules, not the stories or metaplot stuff. It was essentially boiled down to a hack-and-slash game.

Well, for one thing it will stop us from having a decade long wait for gehenna which, when originally released, was supposed to be "right around the corner."

Also, while I liked the other game lines I *hated* having core books about them because you ended up with the "Monster at 7/11" syndrome. A normal guy in the big city takes a walk to the local 7/11... on the way he passes 4 vampires, 3 werewolves, 3 mages, a mummy, a demon, a dozen ghosts, 3 faeries and 2 hunters. I just hated the overpopulation issue it caused.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I'd bet good money that the organizations were written by Greg Stolze and the clans were written by Justin Achilli. I wouldn't bet alot of money, but I'd be willing to bet it.

How much would you bet? I could use some extra cash.

 

[Wormwood]

I've been eagerly following the WoD2.0 web previews, and I liked what I had seen thus far.

Then I read the intro booklet—which pretty much cured me of any desire to play.

I wish I could be more specific, but all I could think while reading the scenario was, "Is this the best they could come up with?"

Oh well, looks like this is only Vampire I'm buying after all.