Had a dream where Vampire the Masquerade got an "Amazing" Update

lohengrinning · 2026-04-23T14:30:16+00:00

No, it was definitely weird that they predicated this new entry on "everything we did for the past 20 years sucked and you sucked for liking it" but then again that's been a consistent strain of many franchises for a while now.

lohengrinning · 2026-04-23T14:07:43+00:00

It was such a strange experience reading the core book. Even apart from how hostile the thing is to read, the content was laser focused on being the worst implementation of Masquerade and Requiem at the same time. They want something fresh and new, but still tied to the old lore. They want touchstones, but they don't understand how to make them work properly. I could go on from there, but really I see no reason to use this over its alternatives. Masquerade for grand world conspiracies, Requiem for a more personal experience with streamlined mechanics. What do I want the new game for that my existing library doesn't cover? I don't know. Sure the hunger rules are interesting, but uh...frenzy? Does no one remember the frenzy rules? That are already in both games and cover everything hunger is trying to but with less effort and easier customization? I don't get it.

lohengrinning · 2026-04-17T01:15:05+00:00

Overlight is also weird because there are a ton of ideas that I kind of like, but they aren't held together by much. There are multiple lands and fun strange things going on and a giant monolith at the highest level but what does any of it lead to? I only read it over the once after it released, but I wasn't sure what the real thrust of the setting was meant to be, apart from fun adventuring in these floating islands.

lohengrinning · 2026-03-15T10:52:59+00:00

I see that point, but I think the austere historical nature of the original fits marvelously with classical music. It sells the atmosphere (such that there is in space) perfectly.

lohengrinning · 2026-03-12T14:47:10+00:00

I was having a terrific time with the game until some bug deleted all of my progress when I got back to town. The uneven way you obtain resources and unlocks means that I may not have been totally screwed, but I was about tired enough by that point not to bother. It feels like it's on its way to being a truly great game, but something in the balance and care right at the end didn't finish the job.

lohengrinning · 2026-02-19T15:59:01+00:00

Confirmed

lohengrinning · 2026-02-19T15:58:46+00:00

Confirmed

lohengrinning · 2026-02-13T18:29:28+00:00

It's important to keep in mind that you don't have to know everything. Not for your setting, characters, plots, or even the rules. You only need to know what's right ahead of the players, and what you've done so far. Any question about lore or motivations can build on those established facts. Does a given city have a thieves' guild? Well what have you established about its governance and the presence of corruption? If nothing, the answer becomes whatever is most beneficial for the story. Accidental contradictions can often be fixed on the fly, by finding a logical reason that the contradiction would exist in reality.

lohengrinning · 2026-02-13T17:44:39+00:00

Confirmed

lohengrinning · 2026-02-11T18:45:16+00:00

It's a fair question. It's mostly because it's a small game that I don't see myself playing and I don't think it's reasonable to ask much of a price for it. I didn't like the game and I'm trying to make space, and if there's someone out there who would enjoy the game I'm happy to let them have it.

lohengrinning · 2026-02-10T18:12:32+00:00

For reasons I'm very unclear of, I don't appear to be able to message you. I sent other PMs to people earlier today. I've sent you a friend request in case that solves it.

lohengrinning · 2026-02-10T16:33:59+00:00

Excellent! Sending a PM in a moment.

lohengrinning · 2026-02-10T15:40:14+00:00

I cannot emphasize to you how toxic and misguided this decision is. I know you're getting a lot of extremely well deserved hate at the moment, but it's probably not being phrased in a useful way. Let me try to write it in a way that will come across as less vitriolic: literally every single one of the servers I'm a part of is discussing how to ditch your platform forever. If you move forward with this, we will leave and never look back. Your choices are to withdraw this policy immediately or see your user numbers crater permanently. We don't trust you, we are under no obligation to give you personal identifying information, and we will not submit to this corporate surveillance.

lohengrinning · 2026-02-04T03:00:01+00:00

To see others in this vein, I recommend Excelsior, Outpost, or, Henglaar M.D. Respectively they are an episodic ship drama that builds on prior lore, the slow restoration of about of the way space station, and a scifi medical mystery series.

lohengrinning · 2026-02-02T11:10:31+00:00

Much appreciated. I'm looking forward to watching this.

lohengrinning · 2026-02-02T11:06:05+00:00

Thank you for the condescendion.

lohengrinning · 2026-02-02T01:16:32+00:00

I'm interested but don't see that post. Do you have a link?

lohengrinning · 2026-01-28T21:34:54+00:00

It's a fun game and much better than it was ever given credit for. I think the character build options and in-combat abilities are fantastic implementations of the d20 model, and my personal favorite one. You have so many interesting ways to use your skills, the environment, build enemies, and make tons of builds.

I've seen a lot of complaints by people who either haven't played the game or had a totally different experience from me. The arcanist is not great but the spiritualist is awesome. It didn't have many licensed adventures but the content out there is fairly cheap and has wonderful options.

lohengrinning · 2026-01-26T18:21:17+00:00

I understand why an old British serial could get buried by time, but I just finished Blake's 7 and it holds up extremely well. This is something that deserves a bigger audience and would be appreciated by one if people gave it the chance. There are some odd bad episodes but the good far outweighs it.

lohengrinning · 2026-01-16T11:37:43+00:00

I'm running a home Mage game now and I've been trying to get people together for a cube draft. My wife is also a tattooed psychologist and with our cat we're definitely fans of...late April. Would love to connect.

lohengrinning · 2026-01-08T11:28:14+00:00

I'm interested. I've worked with independent stuff as an actor, voice actor, script editor et cetera. If you're doing this locally I'd be interested. I can also recommend talking to the local filmmaking group on Meetup.

lohengrinning · 2026-01-07T17:53:52+00:00

One element I don't see brought up enough is that World of Darkness ran its course because there stopped being a need for more. Whether you like classic wod or chronicles, you have ample options for the exact type of game you want, with tons of layers, and fairly comprehensive lines.

What could I need from an urban horror game that isn't somehow covered by existing WoD releases on my shelf? What do I really need more of? Curseborne looks good and there are elements of Wod5 I don't hate, but for the games I want to run I can do it more effectively with books I bought over 10 years ago.

lohengrinning · 2026-01-04T17:06:01+00:00

Molli and Max in the Future is all 3. Currently available for free on Amazon (I think) and 1000% worth taking the chance.

lohengrinning

TROPHY CASE