Vampire: The Masquerade - Help a New Player

[RogueJK]

I know there are quite a few Vampire players on these boards, and I could use some help.
(Note: I’d appreciate it if this didn’t turn into a V:TM bashing session...)

I’ve played a few sessions of Vampire before, and I really enjoyed it, plus I love the World of Darkness setting. Now I’m interested in getting more involved with Vampire: The Masquerade, but the sheer number of books is overwhelming. After doing some research online, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I will buy, but I thought I was ask for some suggestions. Please keep in mind that, as a Starving Student™, my funds are limited. While buying every Clanbook might certainly help me get caught up, it isn’t something that is economically feasible for me. Right now, I’m looking at buying the Revised Core Rulebook (duh ) and the Dark Ages Sourcebook, plus one or two others.

Well, on with the questions…
Which books do you think are the most helpful for a player?
I’m not completely new to the WoD setting, so which books are the best for getting me caught up with what is going on?
Which books should I avoid?
Is the Dark Ages book purely for Storytellers? Would the Dark Ages Companion be worth getting as well?
Should I buy the Revised Storyteller’s Handbook, even though I won’t be GMing?
Would the various background books help? I already have the Book of Nod, but there are two other books that seem similar: the Erciyes Fragments and Revelations of the Dark Mother.
What about the World of Darkness 2nd Edition book? I haven’t been able to find much about this online.
Any other advice that you'd like to share?

Thanks in advance for your help. I realize that these are a lot of questions. If you don’t feel like posting a long, drawn-out response, feel free to email me at jeremysk@bigfoot.com

 

[Darkness]

1. Go to White Wolf's official forums; they are the best place for these questions.
Link: http://206.65.59.245/forums/forums.html

2. Don't buy Dark Ages just yet; there's a new version of it due in May. (BTW, it's not a sourcebook but rather a stand-alone rulebook.)

3. In what time do you want to play? That is, modern-day or Dark Ages (i.e., around 1200)?
If it's modern-day, get the Vampire Revised core rulebook and, if your budget allows, the Guide to the Camarilla and Sabbat. Thereafter, buy whatever you think you need: About all Vampire Revised books are good, but not all are useful (depending on what kind of game you play).
If it's Dark Ages, wait 'til May, LOL.

4. Don't try to follow the metaplot of Vampire; it has driven too many good people into madness already. Use the "Golden Rule" (which is about the same as D&D's "Rule Zero") liberally and do what you want rather than what the books say.

 

[your_mother]

take me to the cabana

"buying the Revised Core Rulebook (duh ) and the Dark Ages Sourcebook, plus one or two others."

Make sure that the Dark Ages Sourcebook does not (as it originally did) contain all the rules you will need to run or play Vampire in the Dark Ages. This may save you some cash, as you will not need the Revised, Modern Day book to play in the Dark Ages.

"Which books do you think are the most helpful for a player?"

Either the Revised V:tM book ("Core" as you call it) or the Dark Ages (an veritable dupliacte set of "Core" rules, in the first printing). Additionally, the books on the Camarilla, Sabbat, and Anarchs are nice for flavor and additional ideas, but not necessary. Also, the Storyteller's Guide and Storyteller's Companions both contain additional bloodlines and combat information. The ST Guide answers a lot of questions, and is useful in that regard. Neither are necessary, however.


"I?m not completely new to the WoD setting, so which books are the best for getting me caught up with what is going on?"

Are you planning on using the WoD "as printed" and not doing any personalization, etc.? Because the current plotline is a bit irritating, encumbering, and too deep. To get "caught up" I would suggest checking out some of the clan novels. But none of it is necessary to run/play the game and have a good time.

"Which books should I avoid?"

That depends on who you ask. I suggest not getting into any of the "Crossover Games" at all. As they say where I work, 'keep it simple, stupid' and everything will be OK. If you do decide to pursue Werewolf, Mage, etc. then keep it seperate from your Vampire games as the genres do not mesh well together. Some may want to argue this point, I suggest ignoring them and experimenting with your own blend of herbs and spices in the crossover arena before taking any of them seriously.

"Is the Dark Ages book purely for Storytellers? Would the Dark Ages Companion be worth getting as well?"

The Dark Ages Companion contains a lot of unnecessary garbage. It details some bloodlines, magical rituals, and other garbage that you simply will not need. The closest thing to a "useful book" that I've seen for the Dark Ages was Liege Lord and Lackey, simply because it provides a perspective on the way that the mortals and vampires interact in daily life. Historical info, etc. can also be obtained--similar/the same info, mind you--on the Internet on sites about the Dark Ages, etc. So you could save cash that way as well, and be more historically accurate than the WoD suppliments to boot.

"Should I buy the Revised Storyteller?s Handbook, even though I won?t be GMing?"

It depends on what you want out of it. I suggest you look at the table of contents for the book and see whether it will help you or not. It's good information, a quality production. But it hasn't been of much use to me as a player or a Storyteller.

"Would the various background books help? I already have the Book of Nod, but there are two other books that seem similar: the Erciyes Fragments and Revelations of the Dark Mother."

Not unless you plan to incorporate them (and the mythology that accompanies them) in your games. The Book of Nod was a total waste of money for me, though I admit that a few of the proverbs were interesting and somewhat innovational for their time--they had not been touched upon in products prior to the Book of Nod. Fortunately, they have all been revisited in some form or another, in the new products.

"What about the World of Darkness 2nd Edition book? I haven?t been able to find much about this online."

I haven't seen that book. What, is it just about the World of Darkness? Or do you mean the World of Darkness: Combat book? Oh gads, that was a bad, bad book.

"Any other advice that you'd like to share?"

Ignore the competition. Stay away from extraneous rules and information that will only confuse and complicate things beyond reason. Try not to "Forrest Gump" in too many things as Vampire plots cross over into Mortal history. Have fun. Feel free to re-write anything that does not make sense to you as a Storyteller and urge whoever runs the games in which you play to do the same.

 

[Enforcer]

As an experienced Vampire player, I can tell you which books are worth getting. First, don't get any clanbooks that aren't revised--the new ones are much better than the old.

Don't get Dark Ages books unless you're sure you'll be playing in that time period. Also, there's supposed to be a revised Dark Ages rulebook coming out, so you might want to wait for that. I don't think they have any intention to revise the Dark Ages companion, but I was never very fond of it in the first place.

If playing in the modern nights, look into getting the Guide to the Camarilla and the Guide to the Sabbat. Both books give great information on these two vampiric societies.

The new Storyteller's Handbook really is for the GM, players won't find it very useful unless their GM allows them to play one of the crazy rare bloodlines (True Brujah, Nagarajah, and other nonsense).

The Book of Nod, Revelations of the Dark Mother and the Erciyes Fragments are all books of Cainite mythology. If you're into the origins of vampires as White Wolf describes them, then these books are for you. Personally, the Erciyes Fragments were far and away my favorite, while I didn't really care for the Dark Mother book.

I have the following revised Clanbooks at the moment (and I'll have the rest pretty soon):Brujah, Gangrel, Lasombra, Toreador, Tremere, and Ventrue. I like all of them, especially the Ventrue book, which really explains the organization and heritage of the clan. If only it had more about the Ventrue antitribu...

If you're starting what will be a lengthy campaign, I'd suggest at least leafing through your character's clanbook at Border's. And if you're playing a Tremere, I suggest Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy. There's also a new Thaumaturgy book (because the Discipline is so damn adaptable), which should be arriving in my hands soon.

Time of the Thin Blood is a must for really low-powered campaigns (14th and 15th generations), and it also has a great short story in the back that describes the demise of the Ravnos antediluvian (and dear God, it takes a lot to kill one of those puppies...I'd love to see a Vampire: the Masquerade vampire show up on Buffy, he'd rip her head off and drink from it before she could say, "But...but I'm the Slayer!").

Children of the Night is good for GMs who want to have some of the major players make an appearance in their campaigns.

Also, it's worth it to go read the Clan Novels, the story is pretty good.

Hope this helped!

Edit: About that metaplot, don't worry about incorporating it into the game, because most of it is hidden from 99% of vampires anyways. People always complain about how it's too confining or whatever, not realizing that most of the time it doesn't really affect your "average" vampire (whatever that means...). Even the demise of the Ravnos 3rd gen. doesn't really matter to anyone besides the Ravnos, unless your campaign takes place in Bangladesh. The fact is, most PCs will not be leaders of the Camarilla or Sabbat, and will be too busy trying to rise up in their city's political food chain to worry about how the Assamites broke free from their curse. And they surely won't know about the Tzimisce antediluvian living under New York, or most of the rest of the metaplot, as it's pretty hidden to everyone except a select few.

 

[Darkness]

Whoops - you said you won't be the Storyteller, but rather a player. :0

In that case, ask your Storyteller which books he thinks would be useful for the chronicle he's running.
Or tell me what chronicle it is, and what kind of character you'll be playing, and I'll try to come up with something.

 

[Voadam]

I've only played 1e and 2e vamp and I have not read the 3e book. However for background on the world, I would say the 3e core book and the 3e guide to the Camarilla and the guide to the sabbat are the ones to get.

As a player I only played in one campaign (it is still ongoing and started in the eighties) and have only played one character. I came into the game not knowing the setting or even having read beyond character creation. It made playing a neonate very interesting. Also, I had never read any of the anne rice books at that point so I was not a typical dark goth going in. Later I got the Brujah clan book and the Anarch's cookbook. We used the core book and the player's guide (correct title?) so we had the core stuff plus merits and flaws. Getting merits and flaws made big power differences in character construction and play.

As a player on a budget I would get the core book, maybe the appropriate sect book and a specific clanbook. If you are going to be playing multiple games and multiple clans, skip the clan book. I don't know if there is a player's guide for 3e but in 1 and 2e having the merits and flaws made a significant difference in constructing characters and they were only introduced in the player's guides not the core rules.

I would recommend not getting supplements on things you would not know. I read one page of Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand in a store and it spoiled something that was really cool going on in game to my character. More than most settings VtM's WoD seems to be one of neat discoveries to be found in character.

The book of nod only came up in game because my mentor was Critias and in the canon he's one of the foremost scholars on the book (he's quoted somewhere in there, maybe it was a footnote) but that type of stuff is generally storyteller background generally.

 

[RogueJK]

Re: take me to the cabana

[B"What about the World of Darkness 2nd Edition book? I haven?t been able to find much about this online."

I haven't seen that book. What, is it just about the World of Darkness? Or do you mean the World of Darkness: Combat book? Oh gads, that was a bad, bad book.[/B]

I'm not quite sure what it is. Here's a pic of the cover:

The description for it says:
"Do you dare to explore the hidden reaches of the World of
Darkness? Venture into those forbidden regions where even
vampires fear to tread. Glide through the elegant salons of
Europe's elders and trek through the depths of the Dark
Continent. Lose yourself in Peking's Forbidden City and find
what waits at the headwaters of the Amazon. A World of
Darkness Second Edition updates previously published
information and offers all-new details on the setting of all the
Storyteller games."

I was hoping somebody here would know more about it.

 

[your_mother]

World of Darkness

Ah yes, that World of Darkness book. I own it, and the original that it was based upon (revised).
It's a collection of information about locations in the world and things going on there. It would provide some "metaplot" (i.e. garbage) information. The First Edition of that book was the source of the Gaki bloodline (and the Bushi, yick), which were later 'upgraded' with the release of Kindred of the East.
If you want published information on Europe, Asia, Africa, etc. then that is the book for you. It also has some neat stuff on the Middle East as well. Though not much of it is useful for most Vampire games, as they are only distantly involved (if at all) with the locations covered there.
I believe it also contains some information about North America, though it was outdated the last I checked & compared it with White Wolf's current plotline.

 

[Akunin]

I'd avoid that one if you're on a budget.

As a player, if you have the Revised rulebook and the Guide to the Camarilla or Guide to the Sabbat (depending on the game setting), you're set.

The Clanbooks are hit or miss - some have really great background information, but lots of that isn't of much use if you're playing a recently-embraced Kindred. Many of the Disciplines are for Elder characters, as well. Some have a good set of Merits and Flaws, but ultimately the Clanbooks are very "optional".

 

[RogueJK]

(A quick bump to get any additional comments or advice...)