The Mailman Loves Me

So, tonight I was going to make a nice long post about one of the two games I mentioned wanting to run in my last post, and possibly start doing the setting brainstorming out loud. However, a package I've been waiting for for months finally arrived in the post today, and so I'm going to talk about that instead. What is it I'm talking about, exactly?

Why, none other than my copy of the Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition RPG.

Vampire was first published back in 1991 by White Wolf, and the line lasted until 2004, during which time it saw three editions, dozens upon dozens of sourcebooks, a live-action version, a card game, two video games, a TV series, several novels, and even a comic series. Needless to say, it was a big deal in it's day, and profoundly affected an entire generation of roleplayers. So it's not really surprising that White Wolf decided to print an Anniversary Edition.

For anyone who's never played Vampire, it's very much a product of the 90s. There are certainly elements of Nosferatu and Dracula in the game, but the overwhelming feel is The Vampire Lestat, or perhaps The Lost Boys. Vampires are sensual, monstrous parasites, controlling the cities of the world from the shadows and constantly engaged in intrigues against one another. Predators glide through nightclubs, scanning the crowd for suitable prey, and lurk in the shadowed alleys, dragging poor unfortunates to their death. Goth soundtrack not necessary, but it makes it so much more fun.

The book is gorgeous. The cover is faux-leather, with stitched edges and an embossed elements on the front and spine. (The ankh with roses is one of the big symbols of the line. Amusingly, I have such an ankh, decorated with roses, in my desk drawer. I don't know where it came from.) The interior pages are shiny, high-quality paper with gilded edges, and several of the illustrations are full color. I'm almost reluctant to flip through the book. Fortunately, I recieved a PDF edition as well with my pre-order.

As far as things go game-wise, it's all VtM revised edition mechanics. They've made a few changes for the sake of balance, but most of it is unchanged. They have entries for all 13 Clans in the main part of the book, and 17 two-page spreads on bloodlines in the appendix, as well as a section discussing variations within clans. All of the Disciplines, barring those from the spinoff lines, and over a dozen paths for Thaumaturgy and Necromancy are in the book. Merits and Flaws are in an appendix, as are rules on making ghouls. There's a nice antagonists section, covering a little of everything the World of Darkness had to offer, and a wonderful GM advice section. Overall, the book clocks in at upwards of 500 pages, and it exactly what they set out to make, a definitive copy of Vampire.