I realize this game’s a few years old, but seeing as there are a few Vampire fans in the community, I thought I might ask about it. I have an opportunity to pick it up quite cheaply, and I want some opinions.
Has anybody here played it? Is it any good? I’ve read a couple reviews; one likes it, the other screams “I can’t control my characters!”
How does the vaunted “complete control over multiplayer” work out? Does anybody still play it?
Thanks.
Are you talking about the Tabletop pen & paper RPG, or the computer video game?
I played the tabletop game for a good year or so, and it was a lot of fun. Like all roleplaying games, though, it’s only as good as your GM. We were all new to it and putsing around, so our characters got way too strong and eventually the game began to wear thin trying to find hard stuff for us to do, but then again, we were making it a lot more action oriented than it should be. Again, the joys of making up your own game.
It’s fun if you’ve got the imagination for it and can find a good group to join you. Of course, my group consisted of my roomates, and they got a little TOO into it, so some days I’d just have to avoid going home to stay away from Vampire-land, but the mythology and whatnot of it are pretty neat, so they’re a fun read even if you don’t play the games. Give it a shot, if you can get the books cheap, and see what you think. You may love it, you may hate it…just stay away from the LARPS…those people just ain’t right.
You betcha this is a winner!
I’ve played over the years Shadowrun, D&D, and Amber, (as well as at least one that was Battletec based buit be billydammed if I can remember the name of ) and White Wolf’s World of Darkness is by far the best. Although I’m not too fond of Wraith and Changling.
as El Elvis says, it’s only as good as the Story Teller. (and Elvis, if you’re nearby you’re more than welcome to come to our yearly “Not Rightness” known as BAS*HCon at the University of Toledo :DI’ll be the one trying to * save * the Panders)
In my experience, the politics weighs the game down a bit. What vampire is controlling what part of Human society and whatnot. Most of my players could have given a hoohaa about the inside politics of being a vampire. Believe me I gave them plenty to worry about. (I am not God, I tell him what to do)
I say if they’re cheap, get them! Find a group and give it a go. Please don’t over do it with the Experience points (hence, El’s problem above) and keep your players on thier toes. Give them a little info at a time about thier world. Oh, ignorance…it’s a wonderfull plot driver.
If you get a Q or yourself in a spot, you can Email me. Same name at Yahoo. Just be sure you put something about RPing on the header or I’ll delete you without reading!
Watch them Malkavians!
I played it for years but Werewolf is my favorite of the White Wolf games. Or it was until they released Mummy as a stand alone game and not just a supplement. I don’t play Vampire anymore (and am selling off all my books, in fact). They lost me with Third Edition. The higher disciplines are laughably comic-book like.
My one major complaint with the system is the combat. It takes for freaking forever to get through a damn fight scene.
Just in case you’re talking about the computer game, don’t bother. They took the most role-playing intensive, character-oriented RPG on the market and turned it into a Diablo-style hack’n’slash. Mystifyingly stupid.
I think he’s asking about the PC game, not the RPG.
The game is hack n slash, but if you get the collector’s edition, it comes with a hardcover copy of “The Book of NOD”, which is pretty sweet if you play the RPG.
Tha game itself is HacknSlash, and the create a world interface is clunky, which is really too bad. I was hoping for a “Sims: The Masquerade Online” capabilities, but it was just too complicated to use easily.
Pas on the game dude.
If you like the World Of Darkness game mechanics, look at Trinity. It’s a game produced by White Wolf and I am in love with it. It’s a sci-fi game where the players are psionics, and can at high levels, turn into a dragon or call down fire from the sun. It is a richly detailed futuristic game where the players are somewhat like superheroes. They are the last line of defence against the Abberants, who are psions who have become tainted and evil.
The space station Esperanza was destroyed and fell on Europe, turning it into a gigantic crater.
An Abberant immolated himself in the middle of the grain belt in America, halting food production when the titanic explosion destroyed the Midwest. America is reeling, and the only real populations are near the coasts.
Brazil and China are the new superpowers.
I love this game because of the huge paradigm shift in what country is holding power. Sadly, it was discontinued. However, that can work for you. The rulebooks are very cheap on Ebay. Remember to look up Aeon, which was the name of the game before Viacom got angry on account of Aeon Flux.
Oh, yeah. The PC game was a huge disappointment.
I have also played all three. In my opinion, the live action game is the most fun, you get to dress up and really get into the character. The table-top is good but I agree that combat situations are extremely daunting, besides, I prefer MAGE, it gives way to much more imagination.
If you are talking about the PC game, I would pass on it as well, it took me about four or five hours of game play to finish it and it was nothing to write home about.
I love the RPG. The PC game left out much of what makes VTM so enjoyable.
It forces the player into the plot. At various points you are offered choices. If you choose one that conflicts with the game’s plotline, it is ignored. Eg
Do you want to go battle in the mines tommorow or wait a month to recover?
Pick tommorow and the bishop says fine. Pick wait a month and the bishop tells you that you're a coward and you're going to the mines tomorrow.
You heard right about the AI for controlling allies. I made sure to set it up so that my allies would not use disciplines which required spending blood. They kept doing it anyway. If you are unfamiliar with VTM, this is like setting the AI so that your allies use knives instead of wasting ammo.
During battle, you can attempt to feed from an enemy. This is a good thing. However, if you accidentally click on a friend, both of you stop fighting.
BTW-
White Wolf had planned a Werewolf The Apocalypse game but it was never released. Sadly, their Hunter The Reckoning game was
(HTG is just an attempt to make money off any Buffy fans who don’t already play VTM. Humanity already had folks who were supposed to defend it from the supernatural- Magi. Instead of defending them, the Technocracy decided to conquer them.)
H:tG is just an attempt to make money, period. It’s a fact of the tabletop RPG industry, that Core Rulebooks sell much better than supplements.
Their most recent offering, Demon: the Fallen, actually feels like there was a little bit of love behind it, instead of just being a book cranked out to satisfy the business model. Maybe they figured because it was bound to be so controversial, it should actually be good, too.
Why would DTF be any more controversial than In Nomine?
Thanks for replies. I was indeed referring to the computer game in the OP, but I was a bit confused on the title - I had thought the p&p’s name was simply Vampire, and the computer game’s name was thus the subtitle “The Masquerade: Redemption.” I see I’m wrong there, so I apologize for the confusion.
Because White Wolf’s got a higher profile, more visibility in the public eye. They’re one of the few RPG publishers that has had a television show developed based on one of their games.
Then there was the guy on “Real Stories of the Highway Patrol”.
And the “Vampire Murders” in Florida.
With White Wolf being the second bigest company in the industry, more people are likely to hear about D:tF than did about In Nomine.