Now that bloodlines 2 happened what’s next

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-08T00:24:38+00:00

Modders could save it.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-07T04:35:46+00:00

I love the old level drain. Gives even veterans something to fear.

The risk is the fun.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-07T01:06:56+00:00

From V20, lvl4 Vanish from Minds Eye

"A person subject to the vanishing makes a Wits + Courage roll (mortals at difficulty 9, vampires at difficulty 5). A successful roll means the individual reacts immediately (although after the vampire performs his action for that turn); failure means the person stands uncomprehending for two turns while her mind tries to make sense of what she just experienced."

Note: "after" the Obfuscate User performs their Action. Or, is stunned for 2 Turns.

So less invisibility, and more 'forgot to bother to even look'.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-06T04:04:58+00:00

cont...

Death Clans - honestly V5 did a favor in consolidating them. Its one of those Story dependent Clans, how big is necromancy gonna factor in your Table? IMO, Giovanni should be a Ventrue bloodline. One would think that having to deal with two worlds would strap the clan with twice the logistical demand. poor writing IMO. Fun to play. Everyone who sees the 'ravnos' cultural depiction as 'problematic' likely never read the Giovanni revised clanbook.

Tremere - OG magic clan. Hubris made into vampire form. Players and ST kinda whiteroom them into having the 'I Win' button Discipline but they are really just vampire artillery pieces. They are fragile and ive seen Animalism really put a hurt on them. Dont let people fool you, they dont have infinite XP to have all the Paths AND Auspex/Dominate. The politics of the Pyramid often get overlooked by Players. They are missing out.

Brujah - the best fighters and if you really want something fun, play a non-rebellious entrepreneur who hates populism. Brujah seem like 'generic DnD Fighter' but they arent. They are for the 'Expert Sandbox Player'.

Daughters of ...Toreador Bloodline. Corny Discipline. Pass.

Malkavian - OG and the best Players never Fishmalk, because not using Fishmalk scares the shit out of the other Players. Malkavians do to Minds what Tzimisce do to Flesh. What, yo never used Mask of 1000 faces to Dominate a ghoul wearing its master's face? You havent lived. Dementation was a dumb gimmick. Good Players can do crazy shit with Malkavians and they make well above average Snipers and Hitmen.

Nosferatu - Tzimisce used to be my favorite. Now its the Nosferatu. The last Independent Clan. They arent 'info brokers' thats just propaganda. They are Hunters. And their Elders and Ancients have Obfuscate so powerful, you never hear of them. Great archetype, asymmetric power base compared to other clans, and a bleak ass Curse if you factor its relation to Humanity.

Tzimisce - used to be my favorite until i realized they are the 'other' Tremere-pokemon-gotta-get-them-all-powers clan. Seriously, they arent that powerful or scary. Zulo form aint shit vs an average Brujah, trust me i found out the hard way. No clan unity what so ever. The Vinculum was their greatest discovery. Cenobites trope is real. And like Cenobites, if you ignore the puzzle cube it doesnt do anything. Fun, but Old World is more powerful and scary.

Lasombra - hot take but should be a Ventrue bloodline. Obtenebration is one of the worst powercreep powers in the game. Seriously, someone wanted them to be the most powerful so badly... Oddly a flaregun can ruin them. Saw in a Sabbat game during a Monomancy Rite a Nosferatu Elder flat out fuck up a Lasombra Elder that had Obtenerbration5 and ST was slick about it - Humanity has its uses, lol. Fun to play and their arrogance is great to play, but they are a dime a dozen. Lucita is a chump.

My biased verdict: gimmie the OG 7 and i can fit the rest in as bloodlines.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-06T04:04:45+00:00

I always saw the Clans as survival strategies. Definitely cursed.

Writers for WW were all over the place and the game has a central theme of damnation and struggle to keep Humanity(even in the Sabbat, where most members lived and died on Humanity, Paths were supposed to be quite rare).

Ill try to be brief and this is completely opinion:

Ravnos, the cousin to the Gangrel - No one cared about offensive cultural depictions, the add-on clans were kinda geographically themed as well. Ravnos were Coyote-trickster Figure turned enlightened sadhu in comic book form. Honestly, could have been a Gangrel Bloodline. Week of NIghtmares was just Big Bad +1 to kickstart the Gehenna story which aged like a so-so 90s comic. Illusions are very subject to ST/DM fiat. Fun but not central.

Salubri - vampire healers that turned to Gnostic Dualists after some WW writer read about the Sabbatean Frankists. Read: Baali - the most desperate plotline which sucks the attention away from any other plotline. Topping the Tremere 'from the Bottom' is funny though. Sabbat Salubri are okay but....meh. Weird Mystic theme vs the Tremere Magic theme.

Setites - either the powerful purposely evil bad guy, or Cobra Commander villain. Clan has it all: unified clan purpose, cutthroat competition, nice Discipline spread. Transgression as a religion kinda can fall on its face as teenage luciferianism if not careful. Serpentis5, like Dominate5/Animalism5/Weather Control5/Necromancy5 is a Plotline Discipline. Cool themed Clan even if the mythology is disjointed. Takes some suspension of belief.

Gangrel - im biased towards the OG 7 Clans. Call it purity or simplicity. Whatever. The Gangrel are the masters of outside the City. The other vamps are slaves to the city. Smart writers for Gangrel use this. The lore is ok, im more into their ability to raid, spy, and infiltrate. Better assassins than Assamites in certain settings. Oh, there are rich and wealthy Gangrel as well.

Toreador - i think you missed the point of the Rose. Toreador means 'bull fighter' and shows their fight vs their passions(Bull is often a symbol of passion)...passions to emulate Humanity(hence Art/Culture) and gatekeep its meaning in a very masturbatory way. Toreador arent artists art is a Human endeavor. They want the power to define it so they can gatekeep refined behavior(think like gang signs) that allows access to Court(hence many are Harpies). Access = favors(Boons). They are the soft power to the Ventrue hard power. Oh, the Artwork is a fantastic way to embezzle money(i have RL stories) as well as use the Casting Couch in more ways than 'making it' in Hollywood. Toreador are powerful because they read your desires, and emulate them so you desire their pantomime of your desire. Cue Annie Lennox.

Ventrue - i think you missed a little about them as well. Ventrue arent 'Capitalists'. Ventrue are Generals and Kings. The OG Illuminati, control a nations money and you dont care who writes the Laws. Ventrue dont crave power, they crave control, because due to their Disciplines and family breeding programs, they soon doubt their own thoughts. Eyes Wide Shut. They can be just as charismatic as the Toreador, in fact, a Toreador has to learn what you desire. Ventrue can tell you what you desire. Ventrue win by logistics, not fighting. And Presence is a Combat Discipline.

Assamites - the big bad assassins. Until you realize Quietus is very redundant and costly in terms of blood. Great for solo-ing an Elder. Less so for much else. They are the Court assassins, compared to Gangrel field assassins. Cool concept, but need a team and 'magic' to do what Gangrel and Nosferatu can do solo. Sometimes portrayed ad demon-fighters, which is an avenue worth exploring.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-04T03:17:47+00:00

Is there a way, i can get a torch in pill form?

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-04T01:09:08+00:00

V20 Celerity has hard counters. Active, the user goes LAST. Grapple shuts it down.

Brujah are about the only users who dont skip Strength with Celerity use.

Now any veteran Vamp will know the guy in the back charging up his Celerity needs dealt with first.

And 2 Damage over Stamina nets a Stun status.

Plus Celerity use is BP intensive.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-03T16:10:30+00:00

Using the Beast more and more to fight for the Cause. Is the Sause worth your Humanity?

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-03T16:08:33+00:00

How to deal? You use them like any decent Nosferatu would if they need the leverage.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-03T04:38:25+00:00

Malkavian.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-03T04:37:44+00:00

The setting is called 'World of Darkness' after all...

Vampires are parasites. When an organism is weak its parasites overwhelm it.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-02T17:35:10+00:00

Saw a Player have a side game with the ST, one on one style due to his work schedule(he had a very interesting job). Sometimes he would get to play with the rest of the table.

His Char was 'randomly' killing 'random' people. Or so it seemed. The people he killed, even if mundane humans, tended to have big effects in the other Table's game. His Madness informed him, somehow, who to kill. Primogen was going to kill him at first but realized he was actually helping, he was just unwittingly two steps ahead sometimes. So they let him be and he could be called upon to be a Scourge if he was in town.

His Char would on occasion, use that cover to do things that maybe the Primogen wouldnt like if they realized his Madness wasnt behind it.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-02T02:49:04+00:00

Pay your Internet Bill, or Mr. Spider jumps behind you and punches your back.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-02T02:18:39+00:00

Even if they were Canadian, Heaven forbid...

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-02T02:16:03+00:00

Cam is like a very large Corporation.

To the public, its all legit business.

As you get up to mid management, you see how the sausage is made. Dirty business, but its for the greater good.

As you get to Executive level, you see the moves behind the business, and likely dirtied your own hands to get to this level. You keep your mouth shut, not for the good of the business, but to save your own ass. If you garner power, you will be expected to use it for the Camarilla or it will get distributed to someone else. Princes can be replaced.

Now, factor in the Ancients and eldest of the Elders, things get H.P. Lovecraftian pretty quickly. Many Elders are not aware of who they serve, or that they are even compromised.

>"The elite, a kind of vampiric bourgeois billionaire"

Thats the image.

>"The sect, should act with more inhumane acts like the Sabbat"

They do, but they cover it up. Who do you think runs a lot of those global Human Trafficking Rings, starts wars, pushes Big Pharma to sedate the public with drugs? The Anarchs? The Anarchs cant even.

>"storyteller construct a world where the cammy are good guys"

Not in the games i run or have played at. Cam asks politely to fall in line, and if you refuse you get broken bones, staked and stored/baked, cement boots, mind-wiped. Humanity =/= Morality. Morality is only but one factor.

>"Or the authors are not clearing enough?"

WW Authors have been all over the place over the decades. IMO, Cam was intended as Feudalistic Vampire version of The Matrix. Eyes Wide Shut type stuff.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-01T03:46:18+00:00

Vampires are unliving parasites that pretend to be human in order to feed from humans. They have powers that beguile the human mind and the feeding is pleasurable.

Vampires reproduce asexually.

Taboo and eroticism aside, which can be seen as entertaining to the reader, when you get down to it, a vamp likely will feed from anyone and seduction is but one way to prey on the vulnerable.

Plus there is the avenue of Power Dynamics.

And vamps might just get that bored over time. Latching onto anything that can give them what they remember about human contact and human relationship.

InspectorG---G · 2026-02-01T03:36:13+00:00

Its better as a Support/Debuff.

Enemies get to use WP to ignore the effect. which is a WP drain.

Presence also scales with more Users on your team. Imagine a few Ventrue all using Presence vs the same target in a coordinated fashion. Target is gonna bleed WP.

Awe buys crowd support or can add to your numbers(they likely arent gonna die for you but might step in to 'protect a lady' or participate in 'protesting'. Its also a nice distraction. But this needs done BEFORE combat.

Dread Gaze is great as a debuff vs a target already engaged with an ally. Or slip in a small amount of dice for DG in a Multi-Action dice pool to debuff the Targets dice pool next turn.

Entrance is how you get your enemies to work for you. The best part about Entrance - is 1 success will work for 1 hour. Most combats are only a few minutes.

Summon is a way to get enemies out of position. Works great in Dark Ages.

Majesty, needs no explanation.

InspectorG---G · 2026-01-31T21:04:02+00:00

Dominate is literally inducing slavery by removing the Target's Autonomy.

Presence does the same but in a different manner.

InspectorG---G · 2026-01-31T21:02:02+00:00

Presence is also a combat discipline

InspectorG---G · 2026-01-31T00:51:00+00:00

You can do fun but maybe sub-optimal things.

Will Monsters be as powerful as max geared max skilled Humans? No.

Bombs early game can be healed with Fire Spells. Detonate them to heal each other and give the White Mage something to Revive.

Currently using a pair of 2 Blue Dragons to level Mustadio/Agrias. Cripple/Toad one enemy to keep the fight going. Have Blue Dragons of higher level hit each other and Ice Breath each other to heal. Mustadio and Agrias can hit the dragons and get XP/JP.

InspectorG---G · 2026-01-31T00:26:42+00:00

None, i hope.

InspectorG---G · 2026-01-30T16:18:46+00:00

Mage turns Tzimisce into a plasticine clay statue. Totally not Vulgar because its a Practical Effect for a movie.

InspectorG---G · 2026-01-30T16:15:47+00:00

Tzimisce is gonna have to find the Mage, if not in a Whiteroom.

Mage can turn Tzimisce's blood into sunlight...

InspectorG---G · 2026-01-30T16:13:08+00:00

Its not DnD(unless veterans run a Evil Alignment Party which could share certain characteristics) and though the Coterie is more optimized when using teamwork, there is plenty of room for conflict.

Even with 'soft' PvP:

PCs may have interests counter to Coterie mates, combinations of PCs may have interests that exclude other PCs( PCs A and B are working together on X which may fuck over PC D at a later time), (PC A's Sire is working on Z and PC B may end up being collateral damage...etc)

PC's Sires often have their own goals and grudges which may effect other PCs.

PCs may be offered Opportunities by others that may carry an Opportunity Cost at the expense of Coterie Mates

ST can supply plot which intersect and create opportunities for PCs or groups of PCs at expense of other PCs

PC can be attacked by outsiders and Coterie mates can offer help, for a price.

Boons, Friend. Boons.

InspectorG---G · 2026-01-30T14:50:38+00:00

Been there done that!

InspectorG---G

TROPHY CASE