Reviewing The Vampire: The Masquerade Rule Books: Part 2–20th Anniversary Edition
Introduction
If you stumbled onto this blog thinking that this is a review about some weird mod/rerelease for ‘Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines’ (VtMB), then I am afraid you will be a tad disappointed. Yes, V20 is connected (sort of) to VtMB but not in that way. You can find a blog I wrote for VtMB below.
VtMB is based on the tabletop live-action role-playing (LARP) game ‘Vampire: The Masquerade’ (VtM). It was created by Mark Rein-Hagen and released in 1991 by White Wolf Publishing as the first of several games for its World of Darkness (WoD) setting. Other WoD stories include ‘Mage: The Ascension’ and ‘Werewolf: The Apocalypse’. Each of these games has large books for players to learn the rules, mechanic, setting and character creation.
There are many variations of VtM, such as ‘Victorian Age: Vampire’ and ‘Vampire: The Dark Ages’, but this blog will focus on ‘Vampire: The Masquerade-20th Anniversary Edition’ (V20), which was released in 2011 and is arguably the most popular iteration of this game.
In the previous blog in this series, I reviewed ‘Vampire: The Masquerade-Fifth Edition’ (see the link below) which is currently the most recent of these editions. I will be approaching this blog in a similar fashion to that of the previous one. I will explore the snippets of the lore, mechanics, rules etc., as well as the overall presentation of the book.
I will also be making comparisons to the V5 as well, as I would presume that new VtM players would purchase V20 with some lore in mind. If not, then I will do my best to keep things as simple as possible for those who have next to no knowledge of the game. Other versions won’t be mentioned in this blog, purely because I do not own other copies at this moment in time. When I do own them, I still won’t be adding them in this and the previous blog.
Note: VtM is a mature game for adults. By mature, I mean that can, and often explores drugs, murder etc. If you find these things disturbing, leave NOW. Consider this your warning folks!
The Blog Proper
Presentation
There are a few different versions of V20 that exist to my knowledge. A leather-bound version was available for a limited time, and would probably cost the player an arm and leg to purchase now.
The version that you are likely to obtain is the copy you see below, which is the ‘version’ I own. It’s a slightly squishing hardback, made out of some form of cardboard(?) which means it will mark easily. Mine has had a few minor indents, one of which is particularly noticeable that was like that when I received my copy.
Similarly, because I have used my copy a lot, one can see the bends in the plastic film that envelopes the cover, most notably across the spine of the book. I’m not fussed by this, but I know there are people out there who won’t like that.
The pages themselves are filled with a combination of artwork that has been used in older versions of VtM, and the popular revised clan books, which are novels focused around a particular member of a given clan (a clan being the ‘breed’ of vampire you will play).
The artwork and photos, which can take up an entire page, are either in black and white (like the copy I own) or in colour, depending on the version you want to buy. The colour version of the book is obviously more expensive than the black and white one. Finally, you can purchase a PDF version of the rulebook. That too is in colour.
The option for V20 to be in colour is a much larger deal than you would initially expect, as previous versions only existed in black and white. Tim Bradstreet did a lot of that original artwork and returns for V20 for colourised versions. Other artists do feature in this book and I get the feeling that some of the artwork was rushed. For example, the two pictures below.
The face of the gentleman on the right is just very weird when compared to how immaculately detailed the rest of it is. The woman has a very interesting boob size. Give how realistic the proportions are on other character illustrations (not that I have spent a long time staring!), I shall presume that was a careless error.
Artwork is not the only thing that has been rushed, as there are some minor typo, as well as certain headings not being consistent (ie, they are usually bold).
The pages, like the covers, are much lighter and thinner to that of V5, which of course means the V5 is lighter than V20, despite having 100 pages more than V5. I believe The leather-bound version of V20 has similar glossy pages to that of V5. The leather-bound V20 is also in colour.
The contents of the rulebook are nicely organised, as well as being easy to digest for all sorts of players, and this is coming from someone who is not as familiar with the VtM lore as he would like to be. This is a working progress!
Mechanics
For the uninitiated (or newly embraced, sticking to the vampire theme), there are a variety of vampire clans you can play as, each one has their own powers and weaknesses, meaning that no one clan is overpowered and all are fun to play as (except for Brujah, in my incredibly biased opinion).
There are (currently) 13 main clans that you can choose to play as. For the sake of the newer player, who may have come from the VtMB or/and ‘LA By Night’ trains, I will go through the original seven, as they are the most known to those whose VtM knowledge stems from VtMB.
They are:
- Brujah, who have a reputation as fierce warriors; their affinity for war is carried in their blood, causing them to frenzy (lose control basically) more frequently.
- Gangrel are similar to the Brujah but, their ferocity stems from their animalistic instinct and rage, rather than anarchic anger, with one of their powers being able to turn into a wolf, bats, or whatever animal species the player chooses (within reason).
- Toreador, whose clan has long been associated with art and socializing, which is incorporated into their weakness. They are the weakest fighters but the best talkers.
- Tremere are essentially blood mages. Lore wise, they are not liked very much by others, as they horde their secrets very tightly
- Ventrue are a class associated with nobility, aristocracy, company CEOs, wealthy individuals, politicians. They ruled as mortals, and rule as immortals and have powers that dictate such motives.
- Malkavian vampires, in the most stereotypical sense, are referred to as lunatics, for they are either a little bit strange or bat-shit crazy. They can be good shamans too, with the abilities to see into the future.
- Nosferatu vampires are disfigured and have a frightening appearance, thus looking like monsters. This means that they can only use sewers to traverse and can’t be seen by humans for reasons I will cover shortly. Playing as a Nosferatu means you will be playing stealthily throughout…if you choose to play by the rules that is…
Whether you wish to play as one of these clans or any other mentioned in V20, such as the Giovanni or Followers of Set, each clan if thoroughly explained on two pages, teasing the reader with enough of a clan’s lore to understand the basics but leaving the more enthusiastic players (such as myself) to learn more.
Other information included is:
- Nickname
- Sect (the faction in which they usually associate with)
- Appearance (which can be from clothes to physical features)
- Background (the sort of person they were when they were mortal and how their sire will embrace them, as clans choose certain types of people to embrace. This is not done on a whim in VtM)
- Character Creation (which attributes would be best to invest in that particular clan when you come to creating your character sheet)
- Clan Disciplines (their three starting powers)
- Weakness (For example, Ventrue’s can only eat a certain type of human (blond women, ginger teen etc.) and Nosferatu are grotesque monsters and can never increase their Appearance attribute)
- Organisation (how a Kindred (VtM term for vampire) will generally behave within the larger society and in their sect)
Also included are stereotypes that a particular clan will have over other clans, which can be very helpful when playing with other players within a session/story.
The example I will present to you is what the typical Tzimisce will think of the other clans and sects, which is above/left of this paragraph (depending on where you’re reading this blog).
When I purchased V20, I was one of those individuals who loved VtMB and ‘LA By Night’ and wanted more. I was confident with the seven I mentioned (plus the Tzimisce, Caitiff & Thin-Bloods), but the other six were hazy. I presumed that once I saw these clans, that was it.
I was very mistaken, and I glad I was.
Towards the back of the book (starting from page 393) are more clans known as ‘bloodlines’ for you to play as, such as the Baali, Salubri and even stone Gargoyles, each one usually has a unique discipline (which are also included in that chapter). They are referred to as bloodlines, for they are either endangered or extinct in modern times, but there is no reason for why you can play in a different period of time, or being the last member of a once presumed extinct clan.
Thin-bloods are not playable in V20, but there is no reason as to why you can’t incorporate the skills from V5 into your V20 chronicle.
Once you’ve decided on the clan, the immediate chapter sets the rules and foundations to enjoy V5 with other players. These include (but not limited to):
- How combat works
- How to spend experience points when creating a character
- How to give experience points if you are a storyteller (something that V5 misses out altogether)
- The nature and demeanour of your character (ie how they present themselves to the public and their true motives)
- How to carry out multiple actions (such as driving a car whilst shooting your pursuers) by dividing your dice pools, something that was not easily available to players up until that point.
Many actions in VtM are determined by the result of rolled 10-sided dice (d10). Successes and failures operate come from so many successes above a certain score (delivered by the storyteller).
For example, if you rolled 5 dice with the scores of 4, 3, 5, 6, 8 for a task with a difficulty of 6, you would have 2 successes.
2 scores of 10 are called a ‘critical success’, which equates to additional success. Using the above example, if 4, 3 were 10s, you would have 3 successes. Getting a critical success means you excel at a task, whilst 1 is seriously bad luck if you role a lot of them.
If you are not happy with a roll, you can spend a point of Willpower to reroll one die.
Lore
In modern times, most of the 13 clans have aligned themselves to one of three factions. Some individuals don’t wish to align with any of them, and the term Autarkis is used to describe such Kindred.
The stories you play in will feature at least two of these sects:
- The Camarilla began as a means as preserving the Masquerade, a veil Kindred pull over the eyes of mortals to make them believe vampires aren’t real. Nowadays, they preserve the power of Elder Vampires through secret societies to control businesses and politicians. It is the closest thing Kindred have to a government, and this one is more akin to The United Nations. A domain ruled the Camarilla is controlled by a Prince.
- The Anarchs have revolted against the Camarilla since the sect has existed. Their numbers multiply as more and more Kindred fail to see why they should have to listen to their sires/Elders. It is not as stroppy as I’ve made it sound, as there have been many instances of one group of people wanting to overthrow the monarchy. A domain ruled by The Anarchs is controlled by a Baron.
- Whilst both of these respect the masquerade, be it with a different opinion in politics, The Sabbat are often mistaken as mindless barbarians who want to bring Hell on Earth. They are just as proud as their vampiric traditions as the Camarilla is about blending into society. These Cainites (another term for a vampire, as they despise the term Kindred (Cainites coming from Cain, the first murderer, and first vampire in VtM lore)) embrace their inhumanity, join like-minded vampires and follow ‘The Code of Milan’ to achieve their goals, believing that each own vampire is their own master. A domain ruled by The Sabbat is controlled by an Archbishop.
Some of the clans aren’t aligned to these factions but have their own Independent faction. The Followers of Set believe they are part of something much older than the Camarilla and Sabbat, The Assamites (under the guise of the Children of Haqim) follow one of ‘The Paths of Enlightenment’, The Path of Blood, whilst the Ravnos are indifferent politics in general.
VtM has always been a social LARP, not afraid to tackle politics and the darker bellies of society, which why that appeals to me more than the more popular ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ (D&D). Each sect description also includes some cities where they rule, which is useful for players for choosing their character’s city of origin, as well as storytellers to not making a tit of themselves.
Coda
There is much I could cover under all of these headings, but I’m avoiding all of that for a very good reason.
I mentioned briefly that VtM has clan novels. It is these books that have provided most of the game’s story and clan information outside a particular rulebook. The most addicted of these players (and storytellers) who enjoyed the game’s setting and metaplot would previously have to purchase and have many of these books to hand. This, of course, would become increasingly difficult as newer games were released and the plot and mechanics would evolve (that, and VtM’s timeline is incredibly inconsistent).
You can see how some players may be overwhelmed and discouraged from playing a game they thought was just about vampires killing over vampires.
V20 provides a brilliantly clean slate for players who not only new to VtM, but to older players who are just confused with what’s going on. For example, it reinstates the Assamite clan having their blood curse lifted, but also provides the mechanics for the player who may want to play an Assamite with their blood curse. V20 presents many clan variants to address different lore points, such as Malkavians that had the Dominate discipline over Dementation.
This rule book will contain everything that any VtM will need without going to loads of detail, whilst presenting just the right amount for keen players to explore for more in other rulebooks or the clan novels. Just be mindful that none of these books are particularly cheap!
What do you think of V20? Yay, or nay? What’s your favourite clan/bloodline? Are you one of the lucky so-and-sos who own the limited edition, leather-bound version?
Let’s start a conversation, people!
