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Anyone play Vampire: The Masquerade?

I did. I did a lot and the center of our game was Chicago by Night 1st and 2nd Edition. Arguably the two greatest game supplements of all time. I am so excited they're doing a 3rd version of the city for 5th Edition. I loved the 5th Edition supplement and Beckett's Jyhad diary.

Who said tabletop roleplaying was dead?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/description

I'm already loving the previews which my backing the game has allowed me to see.

Critias, Damien, Sheriff, and others.

Plus it's going to have the Lasombra Clan detailed within.

I've heard rumors they'll do another Gary by Night supplement as a stretch goal too.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1062720Anyone play Vampire: The Masquerade?

I did. I did a lot and the center of our game was Chicago by Night 1st and 2nd Edition. Arguably the two greatest game supplements of all time. I am so excited they're doing a 3rd version of the city for 5th Edition. I loved the 5th Edition supplement and Beckett's Jyhad diary.

Who said tabletop roleplaying was dead?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/description

I'm already loving the previews which my backing the game has allowed me to see.

Critias, Damien, Sheriff, and others.

Plus it's going to have the Lasombra Clan detailed within.

I've heard rumors they'll do another Gary by Night supplement as a stretch goal too.

Ran a campaign earlier this year. I think it's still on Obsidian Portal.

I do like the new edition of Vampire, but I'm not much for too many kickstarters.

I'm not normally a big fan here but I actually appreciate the fact the developers are making it worth my time with the fact the book is done ahead of the funding and we'll get to see it as backers.

I'm tempted... Chicago by Night 1st edition is the greatest Vampire supplement regardless of edition ever..

The NPC's, the Political Situation, the sheer number of random encounters (Yes it had a random encounters chart, and it was fucking amazing!)

I don't know if they can catch that same lightening in a bottle again.... It was a setting with such interesting NPC's and plot things going on... You could literally have a session of your players just going to the Succubus Club to hang out and schmooze and it would be a great time.

One thing I love about 5th Edition is they're trying to bring back that 1st Edition feel.

The previews for CbN 5E really focus on character motivations, goals, and adventure hooks.

They may have overdone the Easter Eggs and references, though.

It's nice to have the money, it's better to have the product.  Lemme know when the book is out and printed.

I really like the write ups for Anita Wainwright and Edward Neally so far.

Edit:

Cool, it's already funded and has two stretch goals met.

ACHIEVED!! - CHICAGO FOLIO: THE CAMARILLA RECORD – A section will be added to the Chicago Folio, an in-character artifact book compiling diary entries, transcripts, emails, and other treasures to use in the course of a V5 chronicle, especially useful when utilizing the characters and plots from Chicago by Night. All backers receiving the Chicago By Night PDF will automatically have a PDF version of the Chicago Folio added to their rewards list.

ACHIEVED! - CHICAGO FOLIO: THE ANARCH ACCOUNTS – A second section will be added to the Chicago Folio, doubling its size.

I'm really hoping they reach the Milwaukee and Gary supplement goal.

At $65,000 in funding - LET THE STREETS RUN RED – The first chronicle, set in the throbbing heart and ruined suburbs of Chicago, will be added to Let the Streets Run Red, a PDF supplement set in and around the Chicago and Midwest area, incorporating characters absent from V5 Chicago by Night and exploring the activities of Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and the rural Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana areas. All backers receiving the Chicago By Night hardcover will automatically have a PDF version of Let the Streets Run Red added to their rewards list.

Are they doing an offset print run or is it PoD?

Quote from: CTPhipps;1062987All backers receiving the Chicago By Night hardcover will automatically have a PDF version of Let the Streets Run Red added to their rewards list.

This is where I get a bee in my bonnet. The Stretch Goal reward is only for those who order a hard copy...If you're in for the PDF, to bad.

Onxy Path has always been very stingy with their stretch goals though....

I love Chicago by Night!

If I had the money, I would back this!

Quote from: Orphan81;1063298This is where I get a bee in my bonnet. The Stretch Goal reward is only for those who order a hard copy...If you're in for the PDF, to bad.

Onxy Path has always been very stingy with their stretch goals though....

Well the Stretch Goal supplement PDFs will be for sale after Chicago by Night 5E's release so they're not exclusive gifts.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1063408Well the Stretch Goal supplement PDFs will be for sale after Chicago by Night 5E's release so they're not exclusive gifts.

Oh, I understand.. it's more, most other RPG companies like say, Pinnacle or John Wick Presents will throw in the additional unlocked PDFs for free with your buy in to the initial Kickstarter...

Onyx Path is one of the few companies I know of who makes stretch goals the right to buy additional products from them.... "With this new Stretch Goal at 50K we'll create another supplement you can buy from us!"

Quote from: Orphan81;1063420Oh, I understand.. it's more, most other RPG companies like say, Pinnacle or John Wick Presents will throw in the additional unlocked PDFs for free with your buy in to the initial Kickstarter...

Onyx Path is one of the few companies I know of who makes stretch goals the right to buy additional products from them.... "With this new Stretch Goal at 50K we'll create another supplement you can buy from us!"

Makes sense for a smaller company to operate that way.

Quote from: Lurtch;1063421Makes sense for a smaller company to operate that way.

I don't really consider Onyx Path to be a "Smaller" company compared to things like Pinnacle, John Wick (Though admittedly JW did have the run away success of the 7th Sea Kickstarter) Evil Hat, and Cam Banks.... I'd say they're probably all around even, with Onyx Path being bigger than some of the others I just mentioned too.

Edit:
Just as an example.... For 25 bucks in Savage Worlds current kickstarter of a new edition... you get everything in PDF that's been unlocked so far via stretch goals.... You're going to get the new book, the world builders guide, the fiction anthology, the old weird wars pdfs, Deadlands Noir pdfs, templates of all the power cards and a bunch of other things...

For the Vampire Chicago 5th edition Kickstarter you pay 25$ you get the pdf of the book.... that's it.
Want the older editions of Chicago? We unlocked it as a Stretch Goal.... that you can pay us 7 dollars for to get...

We unlocked another stretch goal, a brand new supplement! You want it? Guess what you can't have it at this level! You want a pdf version? Better cough up another 25$ plus shipping to get a physical version, then we'll give you a pdf supplement of this stretch goal.... Otherwise you wait until it's available at the market..

If anything, yes Onyx Path is much more stingy about their Kickstarters and I don't think it has anything to do with them being smaller... If anything, I think they do it because they know the demand is there. They charge more because they're saying, "It's vampire mother fucker, if you want it, you'll pay for it."

And chances are, I'll likely go in on Vampire Chicago because I *DO* want it... But I recognize Pinnacle is being much more consumer friendly to me.

I agree with Orphan81.  I've backed both, but one of them plainly looks like a better deal than the other.

Elsewhere, I have seen people express concern about the Savage Worlds Kickstarter.  "Can they actually deliver that many pdfs?"  

At $25, the Savage Worlds kickstarter is promising these digital goods.

The core book. (PDF)
The World Builder's Guide. (PDF)

Stretch Goal PDFs

• Combat & Chase Maneuvers Quick Reference Chart
• Mini Setting 1: Abyssal
• Savage Settings of Yesteryear: Evernight
• Mini Setting 2: The Lost City of Astla
• Power and Status cards in PDF
• Wendigo Tales Bundle (Four novels: two each set in two of their worlds)
• Savage Settings of Yesteryear: Tour of Darkness
• Deadlands Noir Bundle (Core rulebook, an e-book novel, and some music)
• Mini-Setting 3: Tesla Rangers
• Explorer issue #1
• Printable power effect templates for tabletop games
• Mini-Setting 3: Spirits of 1786
• Savage Tales of Horror #1
• Savage Worlds Map Pack

Music

• Music to Game With 1
• Music to Game With 2
• Music to Game With 3
• (The Deadlands Noir music mentioned above)

Jumpstarts (third party sample settings & demos)

• Super Genius Games: Strike Force 7 Savaged! (2nd Edition)
• Gun Metal Games: Interface Zero
• Up to Four Players: Crystal Heart
• Aegis Studios: Contagion
• Rocky Mountain Savages: SWAT: Spells, Weapons & Tactics
• GRAmel Books: Beasts & Barbarians
• Evil Beagle Games: Freedom Squadron Recruitment Manual
• Knight Errant Media: Titan Effect RPG for Savage Worlds
• Just Insert Imagination: Winter Eternal--Rise of the Ghost Machines
• Melior Via: Accursed
• High Level Games: Archons of Nikud: Anthropomorphic Heroes in an Age of Tumult
• Happy Monster Press: Legion of Liberty: Superheroes of 1776
• Amora Games: Art of War
• Kyoudai Games: Thunderscape: the World of Aden
• Utherwald Press: Frozen Skies
• Four-in-Hand Games: Steamscapes
• Blackwing Productions: Heroes of Terra
• Tri Tac Legacy & Longshot Productions: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic
• Obatron Productions: Tunse'al
• Atomic Ninja Studios: Dead End
• Aegis Studios: Choe Phoe Savage Edition ACE
• Dog House Rules: Trailer Park Shark Attack!
• GG Studio: Hope & Glory
• Fainting Goat Games: The After
• Applied Vectors: Sovereign Stone
• Blessed Machine: Secret Agents of CROSS
• Hardy Tales: Empire of Venom & Silk RPG
• Intellistories: Seven Worlds– A Realistic Science-Fiction Setting
• Savage Mojo: The Suzerain Universe: Home of the ENnie-winning Shanghai Vampocalypse, Shaintar, and many other realms!
• Mutha Oith: Low Life
• Misfit Studios and RPG Objects: Darwin's World, Nuclear Edition
• Triple Ace Games: Hellfrost
• Demon Skunk: Aether Adrift
• BPB Games: Savage Tokusatsu

Others
A generic set of "Virtual Table Top Accessories" to use evidently on any virtual table top we wish.

...and we get to watch some of the cool YouTubers play the game before they send the pdfs to backers.   Can't win 'em all.

I'm also  $25 deep into a PDF of Chicago by Night. That's their digital only tier.

• Chicago by Night PDF
• Chicago Folio.  Quote, "an in-character artifact book compiling diary entries, transcripts, emails, and other treasures to use in the course of a V5 chronicle"
  
• Early looks at the WIP material
• An offer to $7 for some old pdfs of Chicago, if you want. 6 older books divided into three pdf collections

The sample chronicle is pdf only, but goes to physical buyers only.

The sneak peek at setting information and fluffy part is one place where Chicago By Night is coming out ahead.  They get credit for leveraging their signature metaplot into added value.  

The Adventure Edition Kickstarter has also included playtest information with some of their new rules.

Pinnacle went way over the top.  That is a ridiculous amount of material to put in the low tier of a kickstarter bundle.  Yet it's ridiculous in favor of their customers.

Just for fun, too, I poked at the average amount per backer

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition: $101.88 average per backer, as of this writing.   Over $377k total.

Chicago By Night  $63.55 average per backer as of this writing.  $69,715 total.

I'm not going to complain.  There's just a giant contrast going on right now.  Even without what Pinnacle is doing, that pdf thing is weird.  The chronicle/adventure book is pdf only, but absoultely going to anyone who pledged at the digital level.

The big thing I'm excited about with this book isn't the book itself, though I'm exceptionally excited about that, but the fact that it is going to be a series of supplements that will make a few for Chicago. The Anarchs and Camarilla supplement, the Chronicles, and so on all mean this won't just be a "one and done" sort of deal.

I've done an interview with Matthew Dawkins and he mentions the ideal is they're going to do possibly up to four chronicles for LET THE STREETS RUN RED.

I'm hoping they'll reach the mark for that.

It'll make a whole Midwest sort of setting for 5E.

Yeah, no.  OPP has lost all KS support from me after backing Changeling 20th Anniversary and Wraith 20th Anniversary.  Changeling was a year late and now 6 more months past and backers still don't have everything promised.  Wraith is over 3 years late and it's still not done.  While I didn't back Exalted 3rd Edition, we know how that one went

Chicago By Night isn't supposed to deliver until this time next year in physical form.  I'll check back on it then assuming they maybe finally figured out how to actually stick to a schedule.

Quote from: rgalex;1063466Yeah, no.  OPP has lost all KS support from me after backing Changeling 20th Anniversary and Wraith 20th Anniversary.  Changeling was a year late and now 6 more months past and backers still don't have everything promised.  Wraith is over 3 years late and it's still not done.  While I didn't back Exalted 3rd Edition, we know how that one went

Chicago By Night isn't supposed to deliver until this time next year in physical form.  I'll check back on it then assuming they maybe finally figured out how to actually stick to a schedule.

I can't speak for the other lines but I've read the complete Chicago by Night manuscript and all the art is done too.

So hopefully that won't be the case.

https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2018/11/interview-with-matthew-davenport-about.html

An interview with Matthew Dawkins

1. What inspired making a 5th Edition of Chicago by Night?

Chicago was the iconic city for Vampire: The Masquerade for the longest time, so it made sense to revisit it, give it a facelift, a lot of new plots and characters, and bring it forward into fifth edition.

2. What was your thoughts on the original supplement?

I'm a big fan of a lot of the old city sourcebooks, with Chicago being in my top three. Chicago was the template that many books went on to follow, and my hope is that any city sourcebooks following this one will match or build on its design.

3. Do you have a favorite Chicago-area supplement to that period? (Diablerie: Mexico, Milwaukee by Night, Succubus Club, Under a Blood Red Moon, Ashes to Ashes, Blood Bond)

My favourite supplement for that period and location would be Milwaukee by Night, which still ranks as my #1 city sourcebook. I love it due to its simplicity. It has a lot of stereotypical characters in its pages, but I enjoy that, and consider it an excellent introductory book for anyone looking to get into Vampire.

4. Did you prefer 1st Edition or 2nd Edition?

I don't really have a preference between first and second edition Chicago by Night, as they both have a lot of strong elements. The thing I feel is missing in second edition are the chronicle hooks at the back of first edition, but it makes up for it with a more diverse, interesting cast of characters.

5. What can players expect from this supplement?

Players can expect rules for playing the Lasombra, lots of interesting Kindred with whom a character can form alliances or rivalries, benefits and drawbacks for operating out of certain parts of the city, and a beautiful campaign setting in which to grow a character.

6. What was the design philosophy for updating Chicago and its characters to the year 2018?

The core design philosophy was to ensure this book had the horror of the Beast, Humanity, and Hierarchy. Bleeding out from that we strived to introduce a diverse cast of characters with multiple interesting agendas, plentiful plots a Storyteller can introduce to their chronicle, and to make the book feel exactly as Chicago should.

7. Do you have a favorite character from the book?

My favourite character is a new Nosferatu named Adze. He's a lot of fun and teases the possibility of Chicago moving away from the Camarilla.
 
8. What sort of changes can we expect to the setting with the transition to 5th Edition?

There's a new Prince, some new Primogen, old foes might have fallen, new ones may have arisen. The changes to the Camarilla and Anarchs in fifth edition sends ripples across Chicago as well, meaning previously quiet clans receive prominent position while others, once powerful, sink into the shadows.

9. The Lasombra clan will be detailed in this book. Can you explain why they'll be included in this book, in or out of universe?

I pitched for the Lasombra to be included in this book for a few reasons: 1.) I wanted them playable in V5, 2.) There's a strong metaplot reason for them to be in the North American crown jewel of the Camarilla, and 3.) It adds an exciting plot vein to this book.

10. The Kickstarter lists some additional supplements that have already been unlocked. Can you tell us a bit about them?

The Chicago Dossiers will be books largely consisting of in-universe artifacts you can print and use for your chronicles, though there's the hope it will receive expansion so we can include some more characters and loresheets in there too. Let the Streets Run Red is a chronicles book a little like the Succubus Club sourcebook of old, with as many as four decent-sized chronicles, the first being set in Chicago, the last (if we reach it) going out as far as Milwaukee and Indianapolis.

11. How has your experience been on writing for 5E?

I've enjoyed my work on V5 a great deal. Certainly, it's had its stresses from time to time. That's natural for a new edition of a game, especially when a new team has been put together. It can also sometimes prove tricky to create something that exactly matches what the licence owner (White Wolf, in this case) would like to see. But all in all, I'm very pleased with how V5 has turned out, and especially how Chicago is looking.

12. You wrote about the Ministry (formerly the Followers of Set) for the Guide to the Anarchs, right? What can we expect to find out about them in that book?

The Ministry have gone through a bit of a re-brand, ostensibly accepting a plethora of non-Caine faiths into their ranks and re-embracing their polytheistic roots. They're the spiritual arm of the Anarch Movement, providing advice to fellow Anarchs on how to temper their Beast by working for a higher power, while of course profiteering from other vampires' spiritual corrosion. I've heard a lot of good things from fans of the Setites who were apprehensive about the Ministry, but enjoy the fresh coat of paint the clan's received.

13. What projects will you be working on after Chicago by Night?

They Came from Beneath the Sea!, the Contagion Chronicle, Book of Oblivion, Mummy: The Curse, and Shunned by the Moon are the big projects on my list right now. There's also the stretch goals following the Chicago by Night Kickstarter, but we won't get started on them until we know how big they're going to be.

Oh, BTW, Onyx Path gave an "apology FAQ" for previous Kickstarters.

QuoteThis is Onyx Path Publishing's 32nd Kickstarter, and the company has learned how to maintain focus during a campaign to maintain manageable projects and achievable goals. To read more about the knowledge that has been applied to this project, you can read the FAQ linked here: http://theonyxpath.com/about/faq/kickstarter/
Risks and challenges

Risk: This game isn't created at all even though the goal is reached.

Solution: We have successfully shipped many Kickstarter projects, and more are headed to completion as you read this. All those projects have taught us how the various pieces of the process work and we have increased our ability to judge the various stages of delivery better with each KS. The text for Chicago By Night is finished and initial interior artwork has been contracted, so the development process is well underway.

Risk: Shipping costs soak up pledges that were meant to enable the creation of the book.

Solution: Kickstarter shipping costs have continued to rise this last year, but we are aware of that and were able to find ways to work with shippers to bring down those costs -- unfortunately, only to some extent as we have also needed to up the shipping charges -- both methods allowing us to be sure that shipping doesn't eat up the pledge money supposed to go to printing.

Risk: The game will take a long time to produce and anger the backers.

Solution: We've learned many, many lessons with our previous Kickstarters and we're becoming much better at estimating the various pitfalls that will delay a KS project. We were able to deliver the PDFs for our last several KS projects several months before the estimate, and our recent campaigns have delivered rewards earlier than estimated.

That being said, backers need to be aware that they are enabling a process, and not a pre-order opportunity, and things do sometimes run slower than we want or anticipate with that process. We've found that an open flow of communication between us and the backer community is vital so once the project funds we will deliver updates on progress once a month (or more, as needed) via Kickstarter as well as in our regular, weekly, Monday Meeting Notes blog at //www.theonyxpath.com

ADDITIONAL TERMS & CONDITIONS

By backing this Kickstarter project, you have agreed to the following additional terms and conditions:

ARTWORK, DESIGN, MATERIAL & CONTENTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Onyx Path shares artwork, design, descriptions, and manuscript contents with the understanding that changes may occur in the creation of the final product based on further development, available resources and materials, and the nature of the creative process.

REWARDS REQUIRING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRE TIMELY RESPONSE. Some rewards, particularly limited Special Rewards such as art model descriptions, character names, and custom design work, require input from the reward backer. For these rewards, the backer must respond within 6 weeks of the information being requested (most likely by BackerKit pledge manager survey, occasionally by direct e-mail) in order to maintain the project development and manufacturing timeline. Onyx Path will make a strong effort to acquire this information, but should the backer not provide it in a timely fashion, all parties agree that Onyx Path can move forward on the project without the information or using an appropriate substitution and the respective backer will consider the reward obligation fulfilled in full for payment or donations pledged and collected on the part of Onyx Path. The simple fact is that we cannot delay the production of the product due to an unresponsive backer, that's just not fair to the others who have supported this project.

ADDRESS CONFIRMATION & DELIVERY OBLIGATIONS. If you confirm your pledge prior to final address confirmation and initiation of distribution notification via email, you agree that our responsibility to you is to ship your order as entered into our pledge manager system, that title and risk passes to you upon delivery to a common carrier for such shipment, and you are responsible for import duties or any other duties that may be payable to the relevant tax authorities, providing correct address information and ensuring this address is deliverable by normal methods. Failure to confirm mailing address prior to final request and distribution notification will be taken as agreement that all obligations have been met and no further action or effort is required on the part of Onyx Path. We will attempt to alert you via the methods provided by Kickstarter and/or BackerKit, primarily e-mail, prior to distribution of rewards to avoid any issue, but once we've made all reasonable efforts, we must move on with other business and will be unable to make exceptions.

DIGITAL REWARDS. You will be notified by BackerKit when digital rewards become available to you. Typically, these will be links to load PDF titles into your account library on DriveThruRPG.com. The links from BackerKit must be activated within 90 days to ensure the titles are added to your library, after which the links may expire and Onyx Path may not be able to provide replacements.

If you do not accept these terms, please do not pledge on this project but instead wait for the general release.

Damn all the contreversy from the books is hurting Chicago by Night's steam.

They still haven't broken 80K

I hope they do soon because I really want to see these two supplements get a third supplement. That requires them hitting 90K.

THE CHICAGO FOLIO - an in-character artifact book compiling diary entries, transcripts, emails, and other treasures to use in the course of a V5 chronicle, especially useful when utilizing the characters and plots from Chicago by Night. All backers receiving the Chicago By Night PDF will automatically have a PDF version of the Chicago Folio added to their rewards list. The Chicago Folio is being expanded via Stretch Goal achievements. So far, we've added:

*    The Camarilla Record
*    The Anarch Accounts

LET THE STREETS RUN RED - a PDF supplement set in and around the Chicago and Midwest area, incorporating characters absent from V5 Chicago by Night and exploring the activities of Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and the rural Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana areas. All backers receiving the Chicago By Night hardcover will automatically have a PDF version of Let the Streets Run Red added to their rewards list. Chronicles are being added via Stretch Goal achievements. So far, we've added:

*    The first chronicle, set in the throbbing heart and ruined suburbs of Chicago
*    A second chronicle, set in rural, weird Illinois

This point of a KS is always the lull and yes your outrage mob that you helped create is harmful and this is why we shouldn't feed the mob.

In any case, I'm hoping my interviews with Matthew Dawkins and Mark Rein Hagen will get some good attention to it.

This could be a supplement which really brings people back to V:TM.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1064526In any case, I'm hoping my interviews with Matthew Dawkins and Mark Rein Hagen will get some good attention to it.

This could be a supplement which really brings people back to V:TM.

I think it can help. I dont think they should be after lapsed players as much as new players. Vampire and WoD hasn't been a cultural powerhouse for like 20 years.

Have you posted your interview?

I've talked with the developers and in exchange for my donation, I've saved both Prince Maxwell from Final Death and am bringing back one of the Gary characters from obscurity.

Modius and Juggler are off limits but everyone else was fair game.

The trick now is figuring out whether to do Alicia or Evelyn Stephens.

:)

Quote from: Lurtch;1064529I dont think they should be after lapsed players as much as new players.

This right here has been my thought exactly.

I haven't gotten around to formally formulating any kind of review, but overall I like the new V5, and this is coming from a self-described lapsed player. I started playing with the first edition back in '91, but fell off the White Wolf wagon around '02 or so. I didn't get into V20, although I've heard good things about it and might still pick it up at some point.

As for V5, it feels like it's written for people who already know what the game and the back story are all about, and unfortunately I feel like that was a mistake on the new White Wolf's part. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about throwing in those easter eggs and whatnot for those people who have stuck with the line all these years, but their main focus should really have been about drawing in that new blood, so to speak. And unfortunately, it's just not written that way.

The book is written in kind of a haphazard fashion and it doesn't feel to me like there's a substantial enough "Setting" chapter to adequately explain the WoD or entice new players. It feels like a good game, though. I'm really liking the new mechanics. Some of the artwork and writing are questionable, in my opinion, but nothing objectively "bad" per se, more on the "eye rolling" side; but let's face it, even from it's very beginning, VtM has had its share of poor art and pretentious writing. None of it is a deal breaker, in my opinion. Maybe if you're a die hard SJW or a die hard anti-SJW, you might get triggered or pissed at some of it, but again let's face it: SJWs and anti-SJWs are just two sides of the same coin. Both sides are always looking for something to get pissed off at and they're going to find it no matter what. The rest of us are capable of simply rolling our eyes and moving on with our day.

Anyway, overall I think it's an attractive book and mechanically speaking it seems pretty sound. Superior, even, to previous editions. It makes me want to run a VtM game again, something I haven't thought about in a long time. I just feel like there isn't enough there to really grab a new player and make them go "whoa, this game looks awesome, I want to play in this world".

On an unrelated note, I'm sort of torn on the issue of my Kingdom Hearts/World of Darkness crossover fic.

On one hand, I have thought about doing Requiem and the New World of Darkness for the crossover, since I like early Requiem and feel it doesn't get enough love.

But on the other hand, I also love Masquerade and the early Classic World of Darkness, and if I use the stuff from Masquerade, I can include Chicago By Night and the Kindred of Gary, Chicago, and Milwaukee as characters in the story.

CT Phipps (and anyone else willing to weigh in on this), what should I do?

Quote from: Doc Sammy;1064675On an unrelated note, I'm sort of torn on the issue of my Kingdom Hearts/World of Darkness crossover fic.

On one hand, I have thought about doing Requiem and the New World of Darkness for the crossover, since I like early Requiem and feel it doesn't get enough love.

But on the other hand, I also love Masquerade and the early Classic World of Darkness, and if I use the stuff from Masquerade, I can include Chicago By Night and the Kindred of Gary, Chicago, and Milwaukee as characters in the story.

CT Phipps (and anyone else willing to weigh in on this), what should I do?

My general opinion and take this with a grain of salt is that the New World of Darkness/Requiem was absolutely awesome and superior in most respects to the Old World of Darkness. Gameplay, moodwise, and writing wise, it was consistently better all the way. However, it's barely a setting.  If I were to make a comparison, I believe that it's Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade is the Forgotten Realms. Requiem, is for me, more a set of rules and ideas than an actual world to play in. Even the solidly established facts like the Invictus, VII, and other groups have a lot of, "Well, maybe the group is LIKE this."

That has it's ups and downs.

Requiem doesn't need more love in terms of setting ideas as I believe everything learned can will be carried over to Masquerade with the two merging just fine, setting and rules wide.

Nothing aside from the already useless stats prevents you from doing a great Requiem game set in V:TM's Chicago. Indeed, I've done that myself with Requiem's rulebook being very useful for establishing, "Guys, do not make the Highlander. Make an actual vampire with issues."

Quote from: CTPhipps;1064677My general opinion and take this with a grain of salt is that the New World of Darkness/Requiem was absolutely awesome and superior in most respects to the Old World of Darkness. Gameplay, moodwise, and writing wise, it was consistently better all the way. However, it's barely a setting.  If I were to make a comparison, I believe that it's Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade is the Forgotten Realms. Requiem, is for me, more a set of rules and ideas than an actual world to play in. Even the solidly established facts like the Invictus, VII, and other groups have a lot of, "Well, maybe the group is LIKE this."

That has it's ups and downs.

Requiem doesn't need more love in terms of setting ideas as I believe everything learned can will be carried over to Masquerade with the two merging just fine, setting and rules wide.

Nothing aside from the already useless stats prevents you from doing a great Requiem game set in V:TM's Chicago. Indeed, I've done that myself with Requiem's rulebook being very useful for establishing, "Guys, do not make the Highlander. Make an actual vampire with issues."

True, but Requiem's deliberate vagueness can also be an advantage and make it easier to import over the homebrew and crossover stuff and not worry about metaplot purists complaining about the story not reflecting canon 100%

So either Requiem or Masquerade could easily work for the kind of story I want to tell.

For context, I started with Requiem before moving to Masquerade and the story itself is loosely inspired by my early experience with WoD and the story is set in 2005, when Requiem was still relatively fresh and the rest of the Chronicles of Darkness had yet to be fully fleshed out.

The premise being that Sora and his buddies are role-players playing a Requiem game with crossovers and homebrew material taken from other franchises and genres.

It's Vampire re-imagined by a group of hillbilly weeaboo mall ninjas (so basically me) and think of it like World of Darkness mixed with Soldier of Fortune and Black Belt Magazine.

And yes, it does venture into self-parody at times, in case you were curious.

I consider humor an essential part of Vampire: The Masquerade. I often lampshade the ridiculousness of Kindred in my games:

* Badly dated fashions (i.e. Flapper wear)
* Talking about fascinating new discoveries like television
* High Humanity Kindred frenzying and tearing apart stuffed animals
* Vampires watching vampire movies and critiquing them for accuracy

Fun stuff.

In any case, I've almost read the Complete Chicago by Night 5E by the Backers. So far, it's really really good.

Also leaps and bounds better than the V5 stuff and I say that as a fan of it.

It's also much-much more "traditional" Vampire. Some of the retcons I'm sure are going to tick people off, though.

I've backed Chicago by Night as well, but only at the $50 hardcover level. Haven't really read any of the backer material yet, but what little I have has me interested. Like most I'm sure, Chicago was the site of my first Chronicle way back in the day and it'll be fun to revisit it. And the artwork I've seen thus far looks great.

I'm in for $50 too. I like that they aren't bloating the pledge levels and basically all we can get are extra copies of the book at a lower price.

Quote from: WanderingMonster;1064699I've backed Chicago by Night as well, but only at the $50 hardcover level. Haven't really read any of the backer material yet, but what little I have has me interested. Like most I'm sure, Chicago was the site of my first Chronicle way back in the day and it'll be fun to revisit it. And the artwork I've seen thus far looks great.

The art is massively better than the V5 artwork style, IMHO.

The Kevin Jackson one says so much and so little.

Portia is gorgeous too.

Quote from: Lurtch;1064710I'm in for $50 too. I like that they aren't bloating the pledge levels and basically all we can get are extra copies of the book at a lower price.

I tried to get them to re-release the Gencon RUSTED VEINS (which was a Gary adventure) as a gift. Sadly, that seems caught up with the main company.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1064739The art is massively better than the V5 artwork style, IMHO.

I absolutely agree. Would've been nice if that's what they would've ran with in the first place, but oh well. V5 art isn't horrible. It's kind of bland and meh in some places, evocative in others; hopefully this is the art direction they take going forward.

Sure would've been nice if they could've got Tim Bradstreet to do V5, but alas.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1063467I can't speak for the other lines but I've read the complete Chicago by Night manuscript and all the art is done too.

So hopefully that won't be the case.

I can't speak for the others either, but my delivery of the leather/silver version of Dark Ages: Vampire was super-nice, and on-time AFAIR.

Oh, and as an aside, I like that they kept the whole "No one holds command over me... what is a claim of age for those who are immortal?" quote block on the back cover.

I find it interesting, however, that their new tagline is "A Storytelling game of personal and political horror."

personal and political horror.


Not quite sure how to interpret that, but I know how I would do it for my game (if I were to go that route at all) and I think it goes a long to way to explain some of the meta Anarch/Rudi/Chechnya/etc stuff that we've seen.

Quote from: WanderingMonster;1064751Oh, and as an aside, I like that they kept the whole "No one holds command over me... what is a claim of age for those who are immortal?" quote block on the back cover.

I find it interesting, however, that their new tagline is "A Storytelling game of personal and political horror."

personal and political horror.


Not quite sure how to interpret that, but I know how I would do it for my game (if I were to go that route at all) and I think it goes a long to way to explain some of the meta Anarch/Rudi/Chechnya/etc stuff that we've seen.

I'm hoping that just means they acknowledge that LARPS are primarily about Princes and Anarchs.

Edit:

As a note, they've said what they plan for the remainder of the stretch goals.

@Charles Phipps: I think we’ll add to the art budget, then CF part 4 and LTSRR part 4. Once we’ve got those, then we can create add on and pod options. But, for now, on the list: increase art budget (more awesome art!) and then 4th sections for the supplements. Those are the rough napkin notes.

I'm glad they finished the text of the book BEFORE they did a Kickstarter and that means the release of the book proper will be far sooner than the year that they have given as a cushion.

Edit Edit:

Thankfully this book won't be affected by the White Wolf collapse.

*reposted from Onyx Path forums*

https://unitedfederationofcharles.bl...ospective.html

I am the world's third greatest Vampire: The Masquerade fan. I say that despite the fact I don't belong to the larger RPG community, that I have supplements I don't own, and I was only tepidly involved in its come back after 20 years. However, it feels right of me to say that I am this because the setting had such an enormous effect on my life. I grew up in a fundamentalist household and I went the extra mile from my parents, becoming even more of a self-righteous jerk who missed the point of the religion I claimed to follow. However, I had one blind spot on my life and that was the World of Darkness. I loved vampires and playing them so much that I automatically shut down any contradiction between being a conservative Good Old Boy in the South and the edgy Gothic Punk sensibility of the setting.

The World of Darkness provided a much needed challenge to a lot of the views in my life that I had never really thought to question. Vampire: The Masquerade, particularly Chicago by Night, was published out of the counter-culture district of Atlanta and depicted a view of the world I hadn't really been familiar with. It was the first game to depict large numbers of non-stereotypical black characters (especially Ameicans), LGBT characters, and have a variety of cultural representation on display. It wasn't always a hit and sometimes the misses ended up hitting someone in the face (World of Darkness: Gypsies, the Ravnos, the treatment of mental illness by the Malkavians, and a few other things). However, for the most part, it was a net positive in my life which helped me to become a better more tolerant person.

Having discovered that there is a (at present still ongoing) Kickstarter for a 5th Edition update of Chicago by Night by Onyx Path Publishing, I'm going to do a short retrospective of the Chicago Chronicles of that game. BTW. That's a "setting within a setting" that is composed of all the adventure module and supplements around the Great Lakes area of the United States. If you're a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, think of it as all the material about Cormyr or Icewind Dale. Some of these books are fantastically good...others are not. I'm also going to talk about what I enjoyed about them and throw in my own personal little anecdotes.
I hope everyone enjoys.

FORGED IN STEEL - The Episode 0 of the Chicago Chronicles, Forged in Steel is the sample campaign setting in the back of the original two Vampire: The Masquerade editions. In simple terms, they represent the city of Gary, Indiana and how to run games there. Gary is a city with the dubious honor of being a modern day ghost town. After the collapse of the American Steel Industry, it fell into economic decay that eventually led to much of the city being reclaimed by the wilderness. Forged in Steel describes seven or so vampires that inhabit this location and their relationships to one another. It also provides a sample adventure called BAPTISM BY FIRE which has the player characters attend the New Year's Eve party of the insane Prince Modius. It's surprisingly good.

I say surprisingly because I don't think anyone actually expected player characters to play in a tiny run-down steel town (much like the kind I grew up in). However, the little chronicle is full of everything you might need to run many interesting adventures. In addition to information on how to capture the kind of post-industrial hellscape the city is famous for (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET had parts of it filmed here), it also provides a complex web of character relationships. There's a ludacrious but dangerously powerful Toreador Prince, an Anarch leader who fights authority for the fun of it, two beautiful Kindred women enslaved to foul elders, a Roman soldier turned crime lord, a mentally handicapped vampire, and a trio of vampire hunters that have varying takes on the undead.

If there's any flaws with Forged in Steel, it is the fact that it contains one of the worst cliffhanger cop-outs of all time. After you finish Baptism by Fire, your characters are invited to visit Prince Lodin (and by invited we mean ordered). Except Prince Lodin and the meeting aren't included. You have to go buy Ashes to Ashes in order to get that. Rating: 9/10

ASHES TO ASHES: Ashes to Ashes is an adventure module, which is something that always has issues of going on the rails. In this case, the short version is the player characters arrive in Chicago only to find that Prince Lodin has gone missing. They're promptly set up by Lodin's not-at-all-trustworthy lieutenants to take the fall for it. So, of course, the player characters have to rescue Lodin. It ends with fighting rats the size of dogs that can eat vampires (un)alive. This is a pretty rough adventure but it's actually one of the better ones the line would prove. I've never actually run it, though, because Lodin is not the sort of guy any player character really wants to help out. Still, I liked the fact it depicted your first encounter with organized vampire society as something ready to step on you. Rating: 6/10

CHICAGO BY NIGHT: 1ST EDITION: I genuinely believe this to be the all time greatest gaming supplement of all time. It's a setting which would go on to influence many other supplements as well as the Vampire: The Masquerade line itself. The book isn't flawless despite my awesome claims about it as the stats are more less useless. Kindred with powerful Obfuscate can't actually it because they don't have a Stealth core. Some characters are nothing but blocks of 5's and so superhuman they could fight a tank division. Still, what the book has more than anything else is personality.

The heart of the book is Prince Lodin, the often imitated and never surpassed archetypal Ventrue Prince. He remains one of the great RPG villains alongside Vecna, Strahd Von Zharovich, and Artemis Entreri. He's a greedy, charismatic, and vicious sociopath who is never so evil that you can't imagine occasionally siding with him to protect the Masquerade or preserve the city's stability. Most of my player characters eventually ended up killing Lodin but it was usually a slow build up that involved many confrontations beforehand.

The book is also filled with many other fascinating and memorable characters. There's Critias, the first gay RPG character I ever encountered who was also a philosopher in Ancient Greece. He's determined to prove he's smarter than anyone else alive and at 2500 years--he probably is. There's the seductive Annabelle who is old enough to do whatever she wants but has no real ambitions other than being the person everyone likes (or else). There's Khalid the Nosferatu who seeks redemption but in contrast to the usual vampire tropes--really really is bad at it (and should probably be killed for the safety of everyone). I fell in love with characters like Maldavis, Erichtho, Anita Wainwright, and Kathy Glen. Not every character is a hit and some NPCs are a bit generic but even those have their place. Rating: 10/10

BLOOD BOND: I really hate this module. It's got all the problems of being incredibly railroad-y to your player characters but it's even worse than most because you're not being forced along a specific plot for your actions but your character's development. Specifically, your characters are forced to fall in love. Yes, I said that correctly. A shallow underdeveloped prop of a female character is someone your character falls for. She's also the ball in the football match between two other vampires in the city. The module really feels like someone wanted to write a dark and steamy vampire romance/revenge story but forgot the player characters needed to be involved. The Sabbat are also depicted as the lesser evil in this, which makes no damned sense. The girl will always leave you for her psychopath lover too. Which, honestly, is the most interesting thing about her. Rating: 3/10

THE SUCCUBUS CLUB: A chronicle rather than an adventure module. Basically, it's a collection of adventures that I've gotten considerable use out of over the years. There's a blood plague, a human game of chess between elders, a quest to find Harry Houdini the renegade Tremere, and a Toreador party gone horribly wrong. The adventures are silly and not very good but they're all salvagable even though I think Annabelle's Party is incredibly low stakes (*rimshot*). It also gives a complete description of the Succubus Club, the greatest "inn your player characters meet at in order to get an adventure" of all time. The best part of the book is it's also filled with a hundred or so little tiny encounters that can spruce up a adventure. Rating: 8/10

UNDER A BLOOD RED MOON: A infamous but entertaining a hell adventure that introduced werewolf vampires ("Abominations!"), killed half the NPCs in Chicago by Night (but only the lame ones), and was supposedly able to be played by Werewolves, Camarilla, and Sabbat but breaks down if you're not playing something furry. Honestly, I can't hate this module because I've run it like six times so clearly I get something out of it.

The premise is simple: the Sabbat and Black Spiral Dancers (boo! hiss!) frame the Camarilla for screwing up a werewolf holy site as well as potentially bringing the Apocalypse several steps closer. As such, the werewolves decide to kill every vampire in Chicago. The werewolves can murder the vampires more or less with impunity if they can find them and get them to stand still for a fair fight but, well, they're vampires. The werewolves start with them on the back foot but by the end, the Garou just want to go home due to all the silver bullet sneak attacks as well as the National Guard coming to investigate. Rating: 7/10

CHICAGO BY NIGHT: SECOND EDITION: I'm skipping over Milwaukee by Night because it's really not related to Chicago save in the absolute loosest sense. Chicago by Night 2nd Edition was the post Under a Blood Red Moon depiction of the city. The book confirmwd as killed off a lot of characters who were actually some of CbN's more fun characters. Theodore Dooley, Hank Cave, and Garwood Marshall dying always felt like they left the setting a little less colorful. The new additions to the city were alright but I only think the Malkavians well and truly benefited from the revamp. The "hook" of Chicago by Night was that the Prince was dead so you could become Prince yourself if you wanted to. I don't think there was really room for that, though, given the power of all the candidates.

This was the end of Chicago in vampire until the revamp of the setting in V20. Rating: 9/10

DUST TO DUST: An "homage" adventure written for Vampire: The Masquerade's 20th anniversary and returns the setting to that of Gary, Indiana. I both love and loathe this adventure, sometimes switching from one feeling to the next within pages. It returns the player characters to a classic location and brings back three of my all-time favorite characters in Modius, Juggler, and Sullivan Dane. Unfortunately, the central conceit of the adventure is nothing any of the people do in the adventure matters. I mean that literally as Modius and Juggler are portrayed as fools fighting over real estate no one wants. Indeed, the expected way to end the story is the player characters abandoning them to their meaningless feud.

I regretted the fact that it didn't include updated version of Gary's other characters and no hint to their fate. On the other hand, I really liked Old Sullivan Dane who doesn't kill every vampire he encounters but works on going after the worst of their kind. Rating: 7/10

RUSTED VEINS: The 5th Edition Gencon adventure which is very similar to Rusted Veins. Prince Modius is dealing drugs and doing so badly, which results in a friend of yours getting scooped up. Juggler and Sullivan Dane are involved, making this feel like a much much darker version of DUST TO DUST. It lacks that book's humor, though, and still suffers from many of its flaws. It was a great peak into the changes for Chicago by Night 5E, though. Rating: 6/10

In any case, I'm looking forward to adding not only CHICAGO BY NIGHT 5E to my collection but also THE CHICAGO FOLIO and LET THE STREETS RUN RED.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ed/description

Onyx Path is going to be doing V:TM 5E from now on.

I wonder how this will effect CBN and its settings.

So has the recent announcement affected this?

Quote from: RPGPundit;1064981So has the recent announcement affected this?

Yes and no.

Onyx Path Publishing has been very quick to establish that this in no way shape or form will affect the Chicago by Night Kickstarter. Vampire: The Masquerade 5E as a license isn't going away and the book is already written. They have their license covered for a long time coming, in fact, and they have other planned World of Darkness books set for release over the next few years. This is in addition to the Stretch Goal supplements they have planned for CBN5E.

HOWEVER, it does significantly change the potential long-term relationship between Onyx Path Publishing and White-Wolf-Which-Is-Now-Just-A-Letterhead-For-Paradox-Games. The folding of White Wolf into their parent company means that an entire branch between them and the main company has disappeared. Not without reason, the Onyx Path Publishing developers I've spoken with have been playing it cool but more or less have given answers that reflect they expect to become the primary writers of the Vampire: The Masquerade setting from now on as they were for Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition.

They have a relatively solid reputation with the fanbase and have avoided the controversies that have damaged the brand and created international incidents. Given the primary goal of Paradox Games has been to create video games, create a new V:TM series (no word on that), and otherwise branch out into merchandise--this is no small thing. So, in a very real way, Chicago by Night has gone from being a 3rd party developer licensing a product for a very popular past setting to potentially being the setting book for VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE 5.5.

The start of a new interpretation of 5th Edition and what we can expect from it from now on.

Privately, I think their reaction is less cautious optimism about a sad development and more:

(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/p__/images/5/50/Snoopy_dancing_with_joy.png/revision/latest?cb=20160330005318&path-prefix=protagonist)

Which...who could blame them for?

Certainly, they're going to be the ones to do the Sabbat (Sourcebook) now that White Wolf isn't. They might even end up doing V:TM 5.5. if Paradox really wants to wash the taste out of events from people's minds.

Eh, I'd rather score an old copy than bother with that incestuous, bitter, Revised & CoD fanclub known as Onyx Path. Less hassle, likely less convoluted mechanics & tortured setting, and I don't feed the Greek Chorus of Perpetual Outrage. :) Let Storyteller die in peace after the anniversary editions. :)

Quote from: Opaopajr;1065002Eh, I'd rather score an old copy than bother with that incestuous, bitter, Revised & CoD fanclub known as Onyx Path. Less hassle, likely less convoluted mechanics & tortured setting, and I don't feed the Greek Chorus of Perpetual Outrage. :) Let Storyteller die in peace after the anniversary editions. :)

I'm sorry, I missed that. I was reading a new edition of Chicago by Night.

:)

Plus OPP can do their best to keep pesky conservatives and orthodox Christian's from their game. Good on them! They can continue gatekeeping their insignificant product to the point that Vampire doesn't matter in the market....

Oh! Wait! They've done that already.

Quote from: Opaopajr;1065002Eh, I'd rather score an old copy than bother with that incestuous, bitter, Revised & CoD fanclub known as Onyx Path. Less hassle, likely less convoluted mechanics & tortured setting, and I don't feed the Greek Chorus of Perpetual Outrage. :) Let Storyteller die in peace after the anniversary editions. :)

This guy gets it.

Quote from: Lurtch;1065006Plus OPP can do their best to keep pesky conservatives and orthodox Christian's from their game. Good on them! They can continue gatekeeping their insignificant product to the point that Vampire doesn't matter in the market....

Oh! Wait! They've done that already.

Speaking as a theist...

It's the World of Darkness. It's the place where you play a damned soul and a literal ecoterrorist living in worlds controlled by corrupt monstrous ancient evils.

It's not a very conservative sort of place/

Quote from: CTPhipps;1065025Speaking as a theist...

It's the World of Darkness. It's the place where you play a damned soul and a literal ecoterrorist living in worlds controlled by corrupt monstrous ancient evils.

It's not a very conservative sort of place/

That's great. Has nothing to do with OPP not wanting political conservatives in the club house. Having people around that disagree with them on tax policy is bad for diversity

Fair enough.

We've hit the 3rd tie for THE CHICAGO FOLIO. The next is 90K for a 3rd chronicle in LET THE STREETS RUN RED.

They have notes for 4 tiers for both.

I've also asked if it's possible to use my NPC purchases to get older characters updated like Allicia and Evelyn Stephens.

They're not adverse.

Quote from: Lurtch;1065006Plus OPP can do their best to keep pesky conservatives and orthodox Christian's from their game. Good on them! They can continue gatekeeping their insignificant product to the point that Vampire doesn't matter in the market....

Oh! Wait! They've done that already.

   Well, as Charles Phipps pointed out, WW has never been particularly welcoming to conservatives and orthodox believers. I've never minded, because I've never been very interested in their games anyway. :) But it does seem that the 'big names' in the hobby are, more and more, closing ranks in support of the Progressive Heresy.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1065074Well, as Charles Phipps pointed out, WW has never been particularly welcoming to conservatives and orthodox believers. I've never minded, because I've never been very interested in their games anyway. :) But it does seem that the 'big names' in the hobby are, more and more, closing ranks in support of the Progressive Heresy.

Well in order to make the hobby more diverse,  inclusive, and welcoming, we must purge all the nonbelievers.


You know where we never hear this nonsense out of? Palladium Books and Steve Jackson.

Quote from: Lurtch;1065079You know where we never hear this nonsense out of? Palladium Books and Steve Jackson.

   I haven't heard it from Pinnacle, either, or is that just wishful thinking?

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1065080I haven't heard it from Pinnacle, either, or is that just wishful thinking?

Sean Patrick Fannon was run out of town and he was the big tool over at PEG. I think the rest of the crew being here in Arizona makes it easier for them to know a diverse group of people and have friends from all backgrounds .

I remind you guys that in DEADLANDS, they had the Confederacy renounce all sexism and racism let alone slavery.

Even I found that ridiculous.

---

The stretch goals I'm looking forward to for Chicago by Night 5E are:

1. The Prince's Gambit card game

2. The 3rd section of Let the Streets Run Red

3. An art stretch goal for both Let the Streets Run Red and Chicago Folio

4. The 4th section of both Chicago Folio and Let the Streets Run Red

5. A possibility of getting them in stores.

Not sure how much the Kickstarter will have to raise to get that.

I figured people might actually like to discuss some of the previews everyone can view:

EDWARD NEALLY
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2330905

ANITA WAINWRIGHT
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2333196

Nikolas "Sweetie Pepper" White
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2335437

LESTER KNIFE
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2337658

BRONWYN
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2339673

CEDERICK CALHOUN
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2341862

NOAH "FLYBOY" GREHAL
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2343911

ANNABELLE
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2346030

FICTION

Red No. 5: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qQoeiRR-ek8ErwV8RLogxUBK3VbSYIuX

On the Road to the Second City:

1. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2334721
2. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2341061
3. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/posts/2347486

Quote from: CTPhipps;1065102I remind you guys that in DEADLANDS, they had the Confederacy renounce all sexism and racism let alone slavery.

Even I found that ridiculous.

  And that's one of the things that's earned them the ire of some vocal Progressives, by not making the Confederacy perpetual and universal Black Hats. I believe them when they say it was done for playability, but I may be naive.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1065183And that's one of the things that's earned them the ire of some vocal Progressives, by not making the Confederacy perpetual and universal Black Hats. I believe them when they say it was done for playability, but I may be naive.

I dunno, I'm a Southerner and have read the Confederacy's Constitution which is for the eternal preservation of the institution of slavery and white supremacy.

If it didn't exist as a motive, they'd be part of the Union.

But that's my .02.

86K

Will we hit 100K?

I hope so!

In any case, for those who might feel inclined to back the Kickstarter, Chicago by Night 5E is really awesome. I've gotten to read the manuscript (which any backer can since the book is complete, sans art)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/description

* The Lasombra clan getting detailed.
* Their new discipline of Oblivion.
* 40 NPCs for Chicago and its surrounding areas
* A adventure hook generator with other forty story seeds.
* The new system for detailing NPCs that include current plots and hooks and roleplaying methods.
* A full-chronicle detailing whether the PCs will help the Lasombra join the Camarilla or prevent it from happening.
* A coterie guide
* An actual write-up of Chicago by Chicago natives
* New Loresheets

That's in addition to the two stretch goals which have been met but could always use more padding.

* THE CHICAGO FOLIO - A supplement of in-universe documents, letters, e-mails, and transcripts of the various characters interacting. Plus a whole new collection of [=NPCs=] and plot hooks.

* LET THE STREETS RUN RED - Milwaukee, Indianopolis, Chicago's suburbs, and rural Illinois get detailed in 3 (at present) new chronicles showing the rest of the Rust Belt and how it relates to the Windy City.

Fans had the chance to insert their own NPCs into canon (within reason), be used as art models, and determine the fate of certain NPCs.

I bought Prince Maxwell, 3 NPCs (I've okayed it that I can use two to bring back Allicia and Evelyn from FORGED IN STEEL), and a piece of art I'm going to use for myself as an Anarch.

For those that don't own V5, what are Loresheets and how are they used?

Quote from: HappyDaze;1065703For those that don't own V5, what are Loresheets and how are they used?

They're basically a new kind of Merit and Flaw that's more like a non-consecutive background. They take an NPC or group of the setting like, say, Helena from Chicago by Night or the Succubus Club and you can buy a relationship to them.

A * in Succubus Club gives you knowledge and a reputation in the Succubus Club so you are viewed as a regular.

A **** in Succubus Club allows you to have your own franchise of it, with a Resources 3 coming in from it as well as all the accumulated mortals coming in to enjoy your drinks and dancing.

A * in Helena, for instance, might make you of Helena's line and slightly more prestigious among Toreador.

A ***** in Helena would allow you to call upon the Methuselah's influence once per adventure in some way because you're her favored pet or lover.

Their big benfit is a lot of fascinating information about characters and groups are placed in them.

For my V5 game I created a 1-3 lore sheet collection for Modius, Juggler, and "Gary Kindred."

Quote from: CTPhipps;1065705They're basically a new kind of Merit and Flaw that's more like a non-consecutive background. They take an NPC or group of the setting like, say, Helena from Chicago by Night or the Succubus Club and you can buy a relationship to them.

A * in Succubus Club gives you knowledge and a reputation in the Succubus Club so you are viewed as a regular.

A **** in Succubus Club allows you to have your own franchise of it, with a Resources 3 coming in from it as well as all the accumulated mortals coming in to enjoy your drinks and dancing.

A * in Helena, for instance, might make you of Helena's line and slightly more prestigious among Toreador.

A ***** in Helena would allow you to call upon the Methuselah's influence once per adventure in some way because you're her favored pet or lover.

Their big benfit is a lot of fascinating information about characters and groups are placed in them.

For my V5 game I created a 1-3 lore sheet collection for Modius, Juggler, and "Gary Kindred."

So it's a hybrid of Ally, Contacts, Status, Resources, and other backgrounds all tied to a single person/location/organization then?

Quote from: HappyDaze;1065713So it's a hybrid of Ally, Contacts, Status, Resources, and other backgrounds all tied to a single person/location/organization then?

Basically they say to be more flexible with points if it means your characters are better defined.

So yes.

Instead of Resources 5, you get a business described and the ST can maybe give you a few extra points here and there for it.

Same for your "Predatory Style" which is basically describing who and what you feed on every night. You're even capable of being given an extra discipline dot if it's really good and tied with it.

The latest update for Backers has explained why the Lasombra have joined the Camarilla.

It makes surprising sense.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1065777The latest update for Backers has explained why the Lasombra have joined the Camarilla.

It makes surprising sense.

Wow, awesome news, I have long wanted the Lasombra to be in the Camarilla :D

Quote from: CTPhipps;1065777The latest update for Backers has explained why the Lasombra have joined the Camarilla.

It makes surprising sense.

That's a one up from the rest of the 'clans'.

Quote from: ShieldWife;1065794Wow, awesome news, I have long wanted the Lasombra to be in the Camarilla :D

Yes, Chicago by Night is doing double-duty as a city sourcebook as well as the Lasombra Clanbook for 5E.

It will include loresheets for Clan Lasombra, the stats for Talley the Hound, an explanation of what the Sabbat have been up to during the Gehenna War, why it was a REALLY bad idea to go Antediluvian hunting, and their current status.

Oh and their new Discipline of Oblivion which combines shadow casting with access to the Underworld.

90K hit!

That means the next Chronicle update will be Gary, Indiana!

FINAL STRETCH GOALS ANNOUNCED!

They hit 90K today.

At $93,000 in funding -  ART BUDGET INCREASE – Additional funds will be allocated to the art budget for Chicago By Night, allowing Onyx Path to include even more awesome art in the city supplement.

At $95,000 in funding - CHICAGO-THEMED GAMING GEAR - Dog Might Games will make Chicago By Night-themed gaming gear available for order (including a Chicago skyline Screen and a Lasombra symbol sheath). Click HERE to see their current Vampire offerings.

AT $96,000 in funding - LET THE STREETS RUN RED – A fourth and final chronicle will be added to Let the Streets Run Red.

At $100,000 in funding -  NEW ADD-ON REWARD: VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE 5th Edition Core Book PDF - A new Add-On Reward will be created. For +$24.99, backers will receive a PDF version of the Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Core Book, the new edition that honors the deep story of the original, advancing the metaplot from where it left off and detailing exactly what has happened in the world of the Kindred up until tonight.

At $105,000 in funding - CHICAGO FOLIO: HERETICAL THREATS AND OBSERVATIONS – A fourth section will be added to the Chicago Folio, including the perspectives of the Church of Caine.

At $110,000 in funding - NEW ADD-ON REWARD: LET THE STREETS RUN RED - A new Add-On Reward will be created. For +$10, backers will receive the PDF version of Let the Streets Run Red. This Add On is available to Chicago By Night PDF Backers – Note: Chicago By Night hardcover backers will already have this reward automatically added to their rewards list.

Yeah, but how many of those people were expecting to pay for a new Woke WoD?

Quote from: RPGPundit;1066061Yeah, but how many of those people were expecting to pay for a new Woke WoD?

Yeah, that is my issue. When ever I hear something interesting about the new edition of Vampire, I have to remind myself that I don't want any of my money going to proselytize leftist ideology. The developers have said that they aren't interested in having me as a customer and I'll respect their wishes.

Now, if we could get a "red pilled" WoD rather than a "woke" one then I might be on board.

Quote from: ShieldWife;1066065Now, if we could get a "red pilled" WoD rather than a "woke" one then I might be on board.

Personally, I wouldn't want either.  Both are horrifically depressing and not all that fun or empowering to play in.

Quote from: ShieldWife;1066065Yeah, that is my issue. When ever I hear something interesting about the new edition of Vampire, I have to remind myself that I don't want any of my money going to proselytize leftist ideology. The developers have said that they aren't interested in having me as a customer and I'll respect their wishes.

Now, if we could get a "red pilled" WoD rather than a "woke" one then I might be on board.

You should never buy any product which you don't believe in. But I'm fairly sure Vampire: The Masquerade has always been Punk.

Which is the Man (Elders) vs. The Working Class (Anarchs) vs. Sabbat (Demon worshiping terrorists)

Vampires have always been black, white, gay, man, and women eating people while enjoying the excesses of being the secret masters of the world.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1066061Yeah, but how many of those people were expecting to pay for a new Woke WoD?

The World of Darkness has always been full of social satire.

I think part of the controversy is the fact the books refuse to conform to a fuzzy leftist ideology but are about cynical disdain of politicians, big money, and mind-control pf the masses no matter what claimed politic.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1066061Yeah, but how many of those people were expecting to pay for a new Woke WoD?

Hopefully less than just want a game supplement based on a successful early 90s property that most people remember fondly?

White Wolf was cynical, edgy, politically aware, and Gothic Punk.

But Chicago by Night is about its characters.

Having read Chicago by Night 5E as a backer, I know what the book is about.

The book is about playing vampires.

Only 48 hours left to donate!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/chicago-by-night-for-vampire-the-masquerade-5th-ed/description

Quote from: ShieldWife;1066065Now, if we could get a "red pilled" WoD rather than a "woke" one then I might be on board.

I cannot guarantee "red pilled", but I am working on "political free" WoD named The Weird Hack.  Basic rules is only a few pages so far and it uses a roll down d20 for most rolls.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1065829Yes, Chicago by Night is doing double-duty as a city sourcebook as well as the Lasombra Clanbook for 5E.

It will include loresheets for Clan Lasombra, the stats for Talley the Hound, an explanation of what the Sabbat have been up to during the Gehenna War, why it was a REALLY bad idea to go Antediluvian hunting, and their current status.

Oh and their new Discipline of Oblivion which combines shadow casting with access to the Underworld.

I'm sure replacing Obtenebration will piss off a lot of fans. I don't particularly care. I think it is odd that they are getting what is essentially necromancy given what I know about the WoD cosmology, but I'm not sure what I would do differently given that they are retconning the cosmology rather than simply continuing the metaplot.

What I actually dislike is the grossly incorrect use of the term "underworld" to refer to ghostly existence rather than the actual afterlife. In every religion with an afterlife, ghosts by definition do not enter it. They are trapped in the land of the living. (BTW, the WoD cosmology is generally confusing anyway and I was happy that CoD tried to simplify it before they made the idiotic decision to recreate the stupid onion cosmology.)

Quote from: ShieldWife;1066065Yeah, that is my issue. When ever I hear something interesting about the new edition of Vampire, I have to remind myself that I don't want any of my money going to proselytize leftist ideology. The developers have said that they aren't interested in having me as a customer and I'll respect their wishes.

Now, if we could get a "red pilled" WoD rather than a "woke" one then I might be on board.

White Wolf books were always politically progressive for years before it was fashionable on social media. IIRC, years ago one of the writers said on their blog that they shoehorn gay characters whenever they get the chance in order to make a political statement or something.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1066142I cannot guarantee "red pilled", but I am working on "political free" WoD named The Weird Hack.  Basic rules is only a few pages so far and it uses a roll down d20 for most rolls.

Given the way that things seem to be going now, you may not be the only person publishing a heartbreaker or retroclone in the next few years. Paradox clearly doesn't like the way that the PnP fractured the community and generally made a mess of the IP, but they clearly don't seem to care for maintaining the existing community either given that video games are way more profitable.

QuoteGiven the way that things seem to be going now, you may not be the only person publishing a heartbreaker or retroclone in the next few years. Paradox clearly doesn't like the way that the PnP fractured the community and generally made a mess of the IP, but they clearly don't seem to care for maintaining the existing community either given that video games are way more profitable.

Given they've given it over to Onyx Path, I think the blood flow is staunched.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1066142I cannot guarantee "red pilled", but I am working on "political free" WoD named The Weird Hack.  Basic rules is only a few pages so far and it uses a roll down d20 for most rolls.

That's nice and all but you can't do Gothic Punk without politics.

Rich vs. Poor vampires was what attracted me to the game in the first place.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1066157Given they've given it over to Onyx Path, I think the blood flow is staunched.

Onyx Path is incompetent at game design. They will inevitably undo all that V5 accomplished.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1066149I'm sure replacing Obtenebration will piss off a lot of fans. I don't particularly care.

Yes lets remove the one group of powers that actually made the clan interesting.  That is just puuuuuuuure genius.  Sarcasm at the side your once again correct BoxCrayonTales.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1066149White Wolf books were always politically progressive for years before it was fashionable on social media. IIRC, years ago one of the writers said on their blog that they shoehorn gay characters whenever they get the chance in order to make a political statement or something.

Which is the what I want to avoid.  People hate politics that is shoved down their throats.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1066149Given the way that things seem to be going now, you may not be the only person publishing a heartbreaker or retroclone in the next few years. Paradox clearly doesn't like the way that the PnP fractured the community and generally made a mess of the IP, but they clearly don't seem to care for maintaining the existing community either given that video games are way more profitable.

To be fair I don't like the World of Darkness community either.  Invite those people in and suddenly you have rpg.net all over again.

Now those who just want urban fantasy and trench coats with katanas are welcome.  Those who just want to game are most certainly welcome.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1066157That's nice and all but you can't do Gothic Punk without politics.

By political free I mean devoid of real life politics.  In game politics is one thing, but politics outside the game world need to fuck off.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1066170Yes lets remove the one group of powers that actually made the clan interesting.  That is just puuuuuuuure genius.  Sarcasm at the side your once again correct BoxCrayonTales.

I gave the wrong impression. It wasn't replaced so much as expanded to include necromancy or something. Based on the new name, I suspect Paradox is trying to tie the Lasombra into Oblivion from Wraith as part of their "one world of darkness" plan.

Onyx Path is going to screw things up unless Paradox maintains a lot of oversight.

Necromancy is a Givonni thing though.  Let Lasombra play with shadows and let the ghost business be handled by the Givonni.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1066174Necromancy is a Givonni thing though.  Let Lasombra play with shadows and let the ghost business be handled by the Givonni.

Why? I don't see a reason to agree with you on this.

In fact, I'm happy that Paradox has the balls to defy tradition like this. There will be so much manbaby tears.

Doesn't make the clan less unique?

Quote from: Snowman0147;1066184Doesn't make the clan less unique?

Disciplines work very differently in V5. They aren't going to bloat into a bazillion this time. We saw this when dementia was folded into domination.

Also, I really want to see the edition war get worse. I want to see everything go up in flames because that might end WoD's monopoly over the market. Monopolies are bad for customers.

They're going to break 100K tonight on the Kickstarter.

So, there will be three supplements for Chicago by Night.

1. The actual book
2. The Chicago Folio with in-universe documents plus some missing characters
3. Let the Streets Run Red with 4 adventures as well as details on Milwaukee and Indianpolis plus rural Indiana and Gary

It's hit 100K!

I forgot to say this before, but the decision to merge necromancy and obtenebration into oblivion seems to be pretty obviously based on the Mage: The Awakening's arcanum of death. In that system death includes things like giving physical substance to shadows, which in Ascension is placed under the sphere of forces even though it has pretty much nothing to deal with real physics and makes about as much sense as arguing forces could give physical substance to your reflection in the mirror. Quite honestly, the arcanum/sphere of prime makes the most sense to create shadow-stuff after applying the Awakening addition of it being able to create free-standing illusions... at lot like D&D's phantasmal magic, actually.

I still think the discipline system wasn't as refined as they could have made it. I get combining Majesty and Nightmare into Presence (then forcing learners to choose one) in the same way that other extraneous disciplines are being folded, but Nosferatu having powers over fear and nightmares and such makes them so much more evocative in my opinion. During my brief periods of trying to salvage and expand the bloodline concepts, I entertained giving the 1e/2e Gaki's nightmare world discipline to the Nosferatu or something along those lines. I entertained nightmare-flavored traits of all sorts, like nightmare servants and such.

Of course I found that this sort of creativity works better in a different system entirely.

http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-classic-world-of-darkness/vampire-the-masquerade/1271417-5e-chicago-by-night-manuscript-review?fbclid=IwAR0mME8pypuLix26caLLa0IDfQUuLahkGwLRDxxRnnF9WHPA0EKv0lISfKI

I thought I'd share this in the final hours of the Kickstarter because we've finally got a complete view of what the book's interior. We may not have the formatting or art and there will undoubtedly be some editing done but, overall, we know what Chicago by Night 5E is going to look like and what material it contains.

For those who don't know why Chicago by Night is important, the answer is that it was the first city-book for Vampire: The Masquerade and established a large part of what would become the "default" tone of how Vampire: The Masquerade would be played. If you ever wondered why Sheriffs exist, Deputies/Hounds, Harpies, and the default of a prickish Ventrue Prince determined to ruin your day then CBN is the reason. Much of what we love in Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines is a combination of Chicago by Night-esque gameplay with the heavier occult adventure-gaming style of later editions.

Chicago, despite being the Waterdeep of the World of Darkness, didn't get updated for 3rd Edition or Revised. It did get a short update for Beckett's Jyhad Diary where we saw the Primogen ruling the city as well as Helena exposed as a Methuselah. It also had a new status quo hinted at in Rusted Veins that made me excited about the possibility of 5th Edition update. The book hit some small controversy when it was revealed that the Lasombra Clan would be included in the book and that if you wanted to play them, you'd have to purchase a city book you might not normally be interested in--which is what's called good business in my view.

So, how is it?

It is very good. A real appeal of Chicago by Night 5E is that it manages to serve as a bridge between "classic" Vampire: The Masquerade and 5th Edition. There's the big changes like the fact the Tremere are answering to no one beyond the city level, the Second Inquisition is actively hunting people, and the Beckoning has claimed several Elders. However, for the most part, it's business as usual in the Second City and everything is from a street-vamp's perspective of the new world.

Kevin Jackson is the new prince of the city and perhaps one of the few characters who could match Lodin for being a potential ally as well as antagonist to the players. He's evolved past his gang roots and embraced modern technology as well as finance to be the youngest Prince in the Camarilla. However, the price for that is that he's cracking down massively on the Anarchs and murdering his fellow young Kindred by the dozens. It's Camarilla or bust and he has a very unexpected Sheriff.

The book centralizes its focus on the War of the Ages, which has always been central to Vampire: The Masquerade, and is one of the areas where 5E was criticized. In addition to the Elders who aren't Beckoned (Annabelle, Critias, and others) we have nasty Pro-Establishment Ancilla who have to be twice as conservative for half the respect. We also have a good contrast between the Anarchs with characters like Anita Wainwright, Gengis, Maldavis, Sweetie Pepper, and now Balthazar (?!) who represent the various shades of their cause.

Roughly half of the books' 40 NPCs are updates on classic characters. The other half are new, some having been in Chicago the entire time and the others being recent arrivals. We also get our first new Lasombra NPCs that are a contrast to the typical Sabbat shovelheads or psychotic religious fanatics. A Japanese hotel magnate, a deranged rabbi, and Talley the Hound are well done. We also get more stereotype-breaking Banu Haqim and Ministry characters. Indeed, it's a joke that the drug-dealing voodoo cult-running Marcel is considered a stereotype by the (former) Setites. My favorite new character may be Sun Che, who is a Wiccan good and love the Earth Tremere who may be a homcidal serial killer (or is just possessed).

The biggest benefit to the NPCs is the fact they are not just history and a personality description. Instead, each write-up contains "Plots", "Thralls", "Domains", and other vital information for fleshing them out as well as giving them information. They are also carefully selected to give us new information on things like the Second Inquisition and Beckoning without spoiling them. Helena has found a "cure" for the Beckoning in her view that is horrifying and yet appropriate for Gehenna. We also find out the Second Inquisition has a lot more fingers in the pies of vampire society than we ever expected with "Flyboy."

The city section of the book is effective for communicating how to run Chicago as a location as well as incorporating little bits of local flavor. They got Chicago natives to write this section and it shows, adding a level of authenticity to the entire proceeding. I also appreciate the focus on clubs for player characters to visit with Red No. 05, The Blue Velvet, and a return of the beloved Succubus Club. Do nerds like me wonder, "What happened to the Cave!?" Yes, yes we do but that's just me.

The depiction of the Lasombra was one of the things which readers were really looking forward to and the writers had an insurmountable task: why would the most fanatical leaders of the Sabbat leave the sect they rule? It's like the Ventrue defecting. Well, the answer surprisingly worked for me and incorporated the lore well enough that it not only seemed plausible but inevitable. Sabbat players can be content, though, that about half of them are leaving. I'm fond of the Lasombra's new discipline of Oblivion, which is mostly classic Obternation with the option of Necromantic rituals now. I think the Lasombra's weaknesses need to be tweaked, though, as some of it doesn't make much sense to me. I think at my table it'll just be, "you don't show up in mirrors and you show up as static on recording devices."

Kudos to Klara Horskjær Herbøl for writing the Chronicle "The Sacrifice" at the end, which is about the negotiations by the overeager Kevin Jackson (who just wants to show off for the Camarilla) to bring the Lasombra into the Camarilla. It incorporates just the right amount of Gothic Punk, canon characters, and twists to make it interesting. Plus, the player characters are a deciding factor in the future of the Camarilla. There's also a bunch of adventure hooks in the back of the book that are very easy to use if you don't have much prep time.

So, overall? I love this book. It's a blast from the past but also sets a nice tone for the future.

9.5/10

Quote from: CTPhipps;1066405I think the Lasombra's weaknesses need to be tweaked, though, as some of it doesn't make much sense to me. I think at my table it'll just be, "you don't show up in mirrors and you show up as static on recording devices."

What is their weakness/curse as of V5? It isn't possible to make sense of your critique without knowing the text.

The clan curse varies considerably across editions and even within the fluff. They may or may not be more sensitive to sunlight or fire, they don't cast a reflection or they cast a blurry/transparent reflection, they do or don't appear in recordings, they do or don't develop self-image issues, etc. Then there are the various obscure disciplines and flaws that add other stuff, like the "animate shadow" flaw that may be taken at character creation or inflicted by certain uses of shadow magic.

EDIT: How would you appear "static" in recordings? That doesn't make sense.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1066407What is their weakness/curse as of V5? It isn't possible to make sense of your critique without knowing the text.

The clan curse varies considerably across editions and even within the fluff. They may or may not be more sensitive to sunlight or fire, they don't cast a reflection or they cast a blurry/transparent reflection, they do or don't appear in recordings, they do or don't develop self-image issues, etc. Then there are the various obscure disciplines and flaws that add other stuff, like the "animate shadow" flaw that may be taken at character creation or inflicted by certain uses of shadow magic.

EDIT: How would you appear "static" in recordings? That doesn't make sense.

The new weakness is that you you appear as static and glitches in any recordings. You can't use cellphones or other modern communication technology either since you sound like blurs. Even a radio will result in a Lasombra sounding like, "vzzzzhh baaahhaaaaa sszzzzzt."

And I mean static in "white snow and glitches." not standing still.

Lasombra also suffer penalties after failures where they have psychological issues with losing, which feels like they have two Banes now.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1066447The new weakness is that you you appear as static and glitches in any recordings. You can't use cellphones or other modern communication technology either since you sound like blurs. Even a radio will result in a Lasombra sounding like, "vzzzzhh baaahhaaaaa sszzzzzt."

And I mean static in "white snow and glitches." not standing still.

Lasombra also suffer penalties after failures where they have psychological issues with losing, which feels like they have two Banes now.

OK, so Lasombra are behind the conspiracy of everyone abandoning making calls in favor of texting then?

Quote from: CTPhipps;1066447The new weakness is that you you appear as static and glitches in any recordings. You can't use cellphones or other modern communication technology either since you sound like blurs. Even a radio will result in a Lasombra sounding like, "vzzzzhh baaahhaaaaa sszzzzzt."

And I mean static in "white snow and glitches." not standing still.

Lasombra also suffer penalties after failures where they have psychological issues with losing, which feels like they have two Banes now.

I don't know if Ultraviolet was the first to depict that, but the Code Vs got around it by using text-to-speech programmes. :)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3069[/ATTACH]

Quote from: HappyDaze;1066476OK, so Lasombra are behind the conspiracy of everyone abandoning making calls in favor of texting then?

That is a very interesting question there.

But yes, it does seem like Ultraviolet was probably an inspiration.

Quote from: CTPhipps;1066447The new weakness is that you you appear as static and glitches in any recordings. You can't use cellphones or other modern communication technology either since you sound like blurs. Even a radio will result in a Lasombra sounding like, "vzzzzhh baaahhaaaaa sszzzzzt."

And I mean static in "white snow and glitches." not standing still.

Lasombra also suffer penalties after failures where they have psychological issues with losing, which feels like they have two Banes now.

It makes more sense for their psychological issues to be associated with their lack of image. Like, attacking mirrors or something along those lines.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1066559It makes more sense for their psychological issues to be associated with their lack of image. Like, attacking mirrors or something along those lines.

It seems like the rules attempting to tell me how to play my character.

Playing an unambitious lazy Lasombra who fails all the time may be inviting his clanmates to kill him but it's a concept that the player should be able to try.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1066164Onyx Path is incompetent at game design. They will inevitably undo all that V5 accomplished.

Did they really give it to Onyx Path? Seriously?!  

That's the absolute definition of insanity. These are the people who ran WoD into the ground, who took a potential middling-level game that had seen better days but could easily recover into a long-term standard viable mid-tier product, and instead reduced it to absolute bankruptcy.

Clearly either Paradox is caving in to SJWs which they had a history of doing, or Paradox doesn't care about tabletop rpgs.

As for Onyx Path...  It can die off in a ditch along with World of Darkness.  I am done with it and Requiem was my first rpg with 3.5 D&D being the second.  The system is shit and the purpose behind it is even worst.  

I only fell in love with it because of Bloodlines which was mystery trench coat and katana video game with interesting characters.  It was cyberpunk, but with supernatural gothic horror instead of cyberware.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1067095Did they really give it to Onyx Path? Seriously?!  

That's the absolute definition of insanity. These are the people who ran WoD into the ground, who took a potential middling-level game that had seen better days but could easily recover into a long-term standard viable mid-tier product, and instead reduced it to absolute bankruptcy.

They are strictly catering to their own niche audience. The games could be better if they actually supported different playstyles for different players instead of designers who want you to play the game a certain way. Cocky pricks too.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1067367Clearly either Paradox is caving in to SJWs which they had a history of doing, or Paradox doesn't care about tabletop rpgs.

As for Onyx Path...  It can die off in a ditch along with World of Darkness.  I am done with it and Requiem was my first rpg with 3.5 D&D being the second.  The system is shit and the purpose behind it is even worst.  

I only fell in love with it because of Bloodlines which was mystery trench coat and katana video game with interesting characters.  It was cyberpunk, but with supernatural gothic horror instead of cyberware.

If you love Bloodlines (so do I) and you want a Cthulhu-like detective horror game with a WoD-like urban fantasy setting then you could check out Zak Smith's Demon City (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1070557469/demon-city-the-ultimate-horror-rpg), which does that.

Quote from: jan paparazzi;1067410If you love Bloodlines (so do I) and you want a Cthulhu-like detective horror game with a WoD-like urban fantasy setting then you could check out Zak Smith's Demon City (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1070557469/demon-city-the-ultimate-horror-rpg), which does that.

Wait didn't he create a patreon to cover the cost of creating this book?  Why did he go for kickstarter too?

Quote from: jan paparazzi;1067408They are strictly catering to their own niche audience. The games could be better if they actually supported different playstyles for different players instead of designers who want you to play the game a certain way. Cocky pricks too.

There are already a number of indie games which do that. Monsterhearts deals with the "monster as metaphor for humanity", Urban Shadows deals with seedy paranormal underworld politics, Feed deals with "how does being a vampire feel?", and so forth.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales;1067466There are already a number of indie games which do that. Monsterhearts deals with the "monster as metaphor for humanity", Urban Shadows deals with seedy paranormal underworld politics, Feed deals with "how does being a vampire feel?", and so forth.

These are all games with very specific mechanics. These games are catering to an even more niche audience. I generally don't like these indie rpg's. Mechanics in weird places. I prefer a more oldschool approach.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1067413Wait didn't he create a patreon to cover the cost of creating this book?  Why did he go for kickstarter too?

More money? :D

Quote from: Snowman0147;1067367I only fell in love with it because of Bloodlines which was mystery trench coat and katana video game with interesting characters.  It was cyberpunk, but with supernatural gothic horror instead of cyberware.

You mean it was....Gothic Punk?

What it was described as being in the 1st Edition handbook?

Quote from: CTPhipps;1067862You mean it was....Gothic Punk?

What it was described as being in the 1st Edition handbook?

But done much better with a tighter focus than the original books promoted.