Vampire the Masquerade, the pen and paper game

Alright, since it was so kindly asked... What's different between Bloodlines and the pen and paper game, actually ?


Blood
Yeah blooooooodd \o/

Jack's wrong ! Blood is just f.. blood.
Except for Ventrue Kindred, most vampires do not care if it's low gangsta blood of Einstein's blood. Except for the image (like eating organic, if you have a label organic it can taste better to you, but that's just in your mind). Ventrue can only drink blood from one kind of people (they smell it, they "feel" it). It can be blue eyes little boys, irish redheaded women, people with noblesse ancestry, descendants of Louis XIV, naked old ladies... whatever. It's a Clan Weakness, so it's quite restrictive.
Of course, vampires regulary feeding from animals can feel a little frustrated, it's like being on a diet, the Beast is angry and it makes you feel it.


Generation, blood pool and hierarchy
WtF ?
The Generation is what separates you from Caine. A 3rd generation is Caine's "Grand Childe".
Nowadays, a basic newborn vampire, a basic PC, begins generation 13th.
The Generation is your "potential" which basicly says how much points you can have on characteristics in the charactersheet, how much blood you can store in your body, and how most vampiric "psyché" powers will interact. You can never Dominate, Dementate... someone with a lower generation than yours (Presence is the only exception to this rule).
The lower the generation, the "more" blood you can store in your body (actually it's the same quantity, but a blood point is less amount of blood), and how much you can spend each turn for any action (a 13th Generation can only spend one blood point per turn, which means he can heal himself by one damage level, or boost his physical characteristics, or use a discipline)


FANGS !

In Bloodlines, all Kindred have "permanent" fangs.
In VTM pen and paper, this is a flaw. Most vampires do bear only their fangs when they feed (they grow and then they retract).

So let me add my 2 cents for the differences to the computer game.

Well, of course for everybody except a Ventrue, blood is blood. But in the computer game, they can't use the Ventrue's need for special blood the way it is in the p&p version. So they had to find something simple, that will make feeding for a Ventrue a little harder, and also be understandable for a casual player.
Well, for my personal taste, they should have made some difference for feeding on fresh blood or bloodbags.

But that's always the trouble wioth computer games based on some other gameworld: you have to make changes in the rules. Some for technical reasons (you can't implement everything), and some to make the game worth playing for people who don't know or care about the original background. (The programmers want to get paid, so the game must sell...)

Something similar is about generation, and all the things connected to it. If you look into the game files, you can find e.g. a table: bloodpool vs. generation. But it has been levelled out to 15 for every generation from 8th to 13th, the generations available for player characters in the p&p game. So I assume, originally Troika had intended to use the generation, but left it out for reasons like developing time (and costs), playability (here especially character creation for casual players), and ... well, I don't know what else.

Another obvious differenc is the handling of time. First, as has been discussed more than once on the forums, not only here, but also on PV, and Banshee, and probably other forums as well, there is no day/night cycle in the game. Then, the computer game is "real time", while in a p&p session, time is handled in turns. I don't know if there are different time rules for fast critical actions like combat, and "normal" time passing for things like communication, travelling, etc. Perhaps Claudia can tell something about this in her next post.

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One comment caught my eye in your (otherwise splendid) clarification of the differences between Bloodlines and PnP.

Claudia wrote:

Generation, blood pool and hierarchy
You can never Dominate, Dementate... someone with a lower generation than yours (Presence is the only exception to this rule).

This statement had me wondering if I'd had this wrong all these years. Looking up Dementation in the revised (3rd) edition rulebook, it makes no mention of one's Generation being a factor when using this discipline. Unlike Dominate, which specifically states that you can't Dominate a lower Generation Kindred. Granted, Presence states that it can affect lower generations, which can lead to some confusion, since the entry for Dementation is not as clear. But I never heard of Dementation being affected by Generation, other than the fact that older vampires usually have higher stats, and can resist some Dementation effects better than younger vamps.

Nobody I ever gamed with used any rules limiting the use of Dementation to equal or higher generations; and while most of my gaming experience has been under revised (3rd) edition, I don't remember this being in 2nd edition either. Is this to be a 'house rule', in the upcoming campaign?

Claudia wrote:

The lower the generation, the "more" blood you can store in your body (actually it's the same quantity, but a blood point is less amount of blood), and how much you can spend each turn for any action (a 13th Generation can only spend one blood point per turn, which means he can heal himself by one damage level, or boost his physical characteristics, or use a discipline)

A good way to put it is to say that the lower generation blood is more 'concentrated', so that less volume is actually required per blood point. Although the biggest advantage of lower generations is the ability to use more blood points per turn... higher generation blood is sluggish by comparison. Even caught by surprise, an elder vampire can quickly become too strong for those of weaker blood to handle, unless they spend a large amount of blood just before the battle.

I'm glad you guys are posting this information, I've read it all so far. It's interesting to learn about the differences and some of the P&P rules are giving me ideas on how we can make TFN more like P&P.

Actually, about Dementation, it's because Dementation "is" a twisted Dominate. Because it's basicly the same discipline, it's restrains are the same. It's an Errata from I don't remember which book (I know I read it on the white wolf webpage, but now the WoD is dead, it's not available anymore).

Claudia wrote:

Actually, about Dementation, it's because Dementation "is" a twisted Dominate. Because it's basicly the same discipline, it's restrains are the same. It's an Errata from I don't remember which book (I know I read it on the white wolf webpage, but now the WoD is dead, it's not available anymore).

Okay. Can't find any mention of it with Google, but if it's a rule, it's a rule.

Claudia wrote:

Actually, about Dementation, it's because Dementation "is" a twisted Dominate. Because it's basicly the same discipline, it's restrains are the same. It's an Errata from I don't remember which book (I know I read it on the white wolf webpage, but now the WoD is dead, it's not available anymore).

Proof please. Until then, I take it as false

It's an errata which dates back from the Revised Edition that was only published on the website, and when I had the books in hand to Narrate some sessions to new players back when Revised was first published, the guys who signed my contract told me to treat Dementation as it was Dominate, with the Generation restriction.

Dementation is Dominate ;
Serpentis is Protean ;
Necromancy is Thaumaturgy.

Again, Vampire doesn't want to be a system-dice-rolling game, it's a narrative game, and each narrator basicly does everything he likes, and pick and choses. Again, if the White Wolf guys who casted and hired me to be their narrator in Spanish confirmed what I read on white-wolf.com...

Jad.3 wrote:

Proof please. Until then, I take it as false

It's her game, so it's her prerogative. Granted, it doesn't matter to me much, since I don't plan on being Malkavian.

Well I wanted to give you basic "neutral" info on what the book said
For the TCI RP, I'll keep it simple (I don't even plan to use Dementation, I mean it's just a fancy dominate, malky do it to bend people to their will, that's crazy enough :p)

PGM1961 wrote:

Jad.3 wrote:

Proof please. Until then, I take it as false

It's her game, so it's her prerogative. Granted, it doesn't matter to me much, since I don't plan on being Malkavian.

Oh, it's her game we're talking about? Well ok then

The books also do have several comments on the quality of blood differing from person to person. Mostly along the lines of chemical compound - hormones, adrenaline, emotional state, drugs in the system affect the taste of the vitae. But you can't taste a qualification like Jack implies, obviously

8people wrote:

The books also do have several comments on the quality of blood differing from person to person. Mostly along the lines of chemical compound - hormones, adrenaline, emotional state, drugs in the system affect the taste of the vitae. But you can't taste a qualification like Jack implies, obviously

I believe Jack was refering to lifestyle. Blood (and skin) of a healthy strong man tastes better than blood of "a lowly bum". Yay, I got promoted to captain.

When do we start?

Alright, everything's ready !
I'll edit some posts to couple information, but everything everyone knows is out there

Everyone check out Claudia's video, in the Roleplaying section! A star is born!

I need to learn French, so I can go to France and flirt with French women, and listen to their sexy accents.

Edit. - Hey, I just noticed -- I'm an Antediluvian now. I feel... well, pretty much the same.

PGM1961 wrote:

I'm an Antediluvian now. I feel... well, pretty much the same.

Whuh? Oh, we can change that. *whistle* Neonates! Din-ner!

And yeah, I agree. Claudia - cool glasses. They're purple, aren't they? +50 Awesomeness, I'd bet. Which shopping center - uhh, boss did you raid for them?

April, 4th. Bordeaux, France. Extreme wind conditions. Hairdo: Perfect.
Naah, nevermind making fun of German commercials for a second, I can't wait to actually see Bordeaux someday. Prepare for a German invasion - and best put some cookies aside, for the invaders will be hungry. From the pictures you've shown us, it looks like a great place to go for a short holiday trip!

XD My glasses are grey-ish, because they get darker when there is sun outside. AND HELL TODAY THERE'S SUN !
I had terrible sight, so I'm always wearing glasses, and either Mexico City, Bordeaux, Montpellier and all cities I hang out in are very very sunny, so I asked my optician to put the "get dark when there's sun" feature on them... And on a bike and on rollers, if you have the sun in your eyes, that's just bad for your karma


I'll put some cookies aside, I promise, and don't worry about learning French anyone, my English sounds terrible but I understand it perfectly

Some more videos will be put online

Such a beautiful city you live in. We Americans are also perpetually exposed to equally ubiquitous architectural conventions, the vast majority of which coalesce in the most magnificent display of our cultural promises and collective priority. Goodness me, this is FANCY. Take that Bore-D'oh!

18thC and 19thC architecture is just awesome \o/
I've added pictures and everything

I've added a DL link to the VTM corebook, in a very good PDF quality and in English. I've also added the Book of Nod for the lulz.
I have edited the first post with the fangs thingy too, which is different in bloodlines than in the pen and paper

Claudia wrote:

I've added a DL link to the VTM corebook, in a very good PDF quality and in English. I've also added the Book of Nod for the lulz.
I have edited the first post with the fangs thingy too, which is different in bloodlines than in the pen and paper

Thanks i'm gratefull

which other World Of Darkness settings are compatible with the Vampire the MAsquerade anniversary edition? the one with still the Tremere in?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/deluxe-werewolf-the-apocalypse-20th-anniversary-ed?ref=users


Any Revised or Old/Classical World of Darkness books, but then again, I wouldn't call the World of Darkness games compatible with each other, to be honest, it's just a huge mess
I like the Tremere, but frankly, the New World of Darkness (Vampire the Requiem and all other games) are sooo much better....

Claudia wrote:

Any Revised or Old/Classical World of Darkness books, but then again, I wouldn't call the World of Darkness games compatible with each other, to be honest, it's just a huge mess
I like the Tremere, but frankly, the New World of Darkness (Vampire the Requiem and all other games) are sooo much better....

really? how can they be better without thaumaturgy ?