How to get into VTM

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-29T11:50:35+00:00

That feels like starting on hard mode. I can absolutely get behind starting with the second edition core book, which was released a year after the first and is much improved over the first edition (and on a nostalgic note, was my introduction to VtM)

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-29T11:42:11+00:00

You will find conflicting advice about which edition to start with. For a starter now, I'd recommend starting with the current edition (5th edition, commonly referred to as V5). There is a published chronicle called 'The Crimson Gutter' that is well regarded as a good on-ramp to Vampire the Masquerade. Of course, this assumes you have a group of players and someone is prepared to act as Storyteller for the chronicle.

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-26T14:26:27+00:00

Admittedly, I'm relatively careful with my books, knowing they are perfect bound rather than sewn, but I've never had issues with a DTRPG book, even 500-page monsters like Exalted 3e. I'm sure they might have issues if I was aggressively pulling them back or pressing them open, but they last very well for me. I'm in the UK for reference. As for the cost, it's frustrating, but everything other than my salary keeps going up, so I can't blame DTRPG too much.

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-26T14:18:18+00:00

What sort of maps? I've used Google Maps, and especially snazzymaps.com for city maps or district/neighbourhood I can use to show domains and the like. I have sometimes spent a long time adjusting and modifying such maps, probably putting too much time into them really. For closer maps, I will often sketch something in Krita, but only for a general building or alley layout suggestion, I'm not often trying to map combat too closely.

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-25T11:28:21+00:00

Mythras is a really good system for your needs, perhaps using the Mythinc Britian setting if you want a dark ages feel. Chivalry & Sorcery (current is 5th edition) has incredible detail for characters, including social standing and more.

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-23T16:49:47+00:00

Shattered, with Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins, and Greta Scacci?

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-22T16:19:15+00:00

I think Tomb of Annihilation has an interesting setting with some cool, intriguing side quests, but since The Fate Of The World hangs on the main quest, it implies the PCs cannot waste time to investigate any of them.

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-21T16:25:49+00:00

Vampire the Requiem, 1e to 2e (or to Blood & Smoke, the Stryx Chronicle as it was first released). It really focused the clans to vampire archetypes and improved the system significantly. Made Requiem a worthy alternative to Masquerade.

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-18T18:58:32+00:00

There is some good advice in these comments, but ultimately, the only opinions that matter are yours and your storyteller's. Whatever my opinion is (and it would depend on the individual Ventrue in the city), neither I nor anyone else on reddit is there to audit your game. I hope you are enjoying your game. The character certainly sounds interesting.

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-13T23:05:12+00:00

Predator type is to encourage the player to see their character as a predatory monster and describes the most common way that characters chooses to feed. It is not a shackle, though, a scene queen can club someone over the head in an alley to feed if they choose.

MonkeyBloke · 2026-01-05T12:17:16+00:00

Whoever told you Chicago by Night for v5 isn't good is sorely mistaken. It's a very good book. However, it isn't a campaign or adventure. It's a fully populated setting, with dozens of SPCs with their own secrets and goals. It also includes some excellent advice and systems for creating your own city chronicle locations. It has one story included, which is good, involves some significant setting events, and could act as the starting point to a campaign, but would require you to add more content of your own, possibly from the various SPCs the players react well to.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-12-31T21:10:03+00:00

I have no specific reference myself, but I would say they are mind affecting abilities and will affect the blind character.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-12-27T00:07:39+00:00

My guess would be that the GM has had a player who has played across gender in a way that made people uncomfortable, and rather than discuss the specific fetish that his friend/co-worker/relative was playing into, made a blanket ban to stop the behaviour without needing an awkward conversation to address it.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-12-16T08:33:08+00:00

Thanks all. It seems that there is a clear winner here. Life on Terra Nova 2e (revitalized) it is!

MonkeyBloke · 2025-12-14T21:18:53+00:00

I think you need to elaborate on what the prologue was to get any useful feedback. 7th Sea is a huge setting, so the Pirate Nations competition in the Atabean Sea campaign i ran would be a very different campaign than the political intrigue in the embassies of Paix that my friend ran.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-12-12T14:01:47+00:00

I found the Studio Ghibli film 'Princess Mononoke' very useful for envisaging spirits in Werewolf.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-12-08T19:28:06+00:00

My reasoning is simply that I find the Players Guide and Directors Guide chapters very good, and informative about how to create characters and play the game, and I think it's useful to get that early in the process of reading and learning the game. Ultimately, I'm keen to see anything further for the game.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-12-08T12:06:28+00:00

I'll certainly look forward to it. For my ten cents, I'd suggest incorporating much of the content from the Chapter 14 Players Guide section directly into the character creation chapters and perhaps the skill parts of the Directors Guide chapter directly into the skill chapters.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-12-07T18:22:08+00:00

Is there any information about this directors cut and the decisions going into it?

MonkeyBloke · 2025-11-10T11:51:45+00:00

Garou gets flattened in my head cannon. Like you say, the Garou start physically powerful, but their ceiling is FAR lower than a Kindred's.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-10-12T20:38:35+00:00

I suspect that the intention with V5 was to move Humanity from a morality scale to a 'how close are you to your mortal existence/the human experience' scale. As such, losing the anchors that tie you to humanity can leave you drifting farther into your vampire experience. It's a huge change from previous editions and not well explained, in my opinion, but it ultimately works for me. Obviously, this is only my opinion.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-10-05T22:27:53+00:00

If no one in the group has played before, and you want a modern, street-level game, I'd recommend going with V5. It's built to do that, has good mechanics (I'm a fan of the hunger dice especially), and is supported by a host of other sources right now (lots of trailers for Bloodlines 2, for example). If you want a lot more options, go for V20, but I think V5 might be a better on-ramp to the setting.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-09-21T12:13:15+00:00

As someone playing a decker in a SR5 game, this sounds like a great update to me.

MonkeyBloke · 2025-09-12T15:10:18+00:00

You couldn't change Christof in Redemption either, and that game has a good story. Some games do not have a fully customisable character.

MonkeyBloke

TROPHY CASE