I'd also like to point out that, in order to get the right enviroment for a lot of these games, you might want to pick up some (if not all!) of the CDs the reccomend. It's good music, too.

As to the complaints that all WoD games are stand-alone: you storyteller can fix that. Get on their case about it. I know mine did.

"Awesome RPG, Great Book"
Vampire: the Masquerade is an amazing game to play with your friends. In stark contrast to RPGs like AD&D and Shadowrun, where your player attempts to be the coolest (and you live out a dream of, "if only I were my character"), V:tM dooms your character from the beginning. You are a vampire, cursed to prey upon the living, cursed to lose your friends, living out a solitary existence. Vampire emphasizes true drama--either comic or tragic, the game MOVES you.

If you have read this far, DO NOT TAKE THE SOFTCOVER VERSION. The �softcover edition� that Amazon.com advertises is a GURPS adaptation (GURPS stands for Generic Universal RolePlaying System). It tells you how to turn Vampire characters into GURPS characters, and how to run a GURPS campaign with Vampires engaged in the Masquerade. It is loosely a rulebook for the game, but its rules make much less sense if you�ve never played GURPS.

Now, on to the rest of the game�

The storyteller has the best time with the game. She runs the chronicle with the pride of a playwright, knowing that she touches her audience. She has all the power; she also has all he responsibility. The storyteller has to invent the chronicle, plotting out each week�s saga for the rest of you to endure. While the most rewarding, it�s also the hardest job in V:tM. And somebody has to do it.

You�ll probably notice the oddness of the feminine pronoun (She runs, she has, etc.). The writers of this manual have distributed the pronouns in the book to be roughly 51% female and 49% male, to accompany the national division of the sexes. If you�re a male, it�s a reminder of the alienation that female scholastics must endure. This book pulls that off flawlessly.

I have two complaints. The first is dice. Most pen-and-paper roleplaying games use dice, with the exception of Amber. AD&D uses seven different types of dice, and three to five of each. Shadowrun and V:tM are each more forgiving; they just use one. This is nice. Shadowrun dice are your normal 6-sided dice, which is awesome. In Vampire, the die is ten-sided, which is much harder to come by. This means no buying in bulk; I�ve simply found it impossible to get a package of 10-sided dice without extra AD&D dice added on.

My second complaint is that the book has almost no structure. I�d recommend putting post-its in as tabs for the sections that you want to have quick reference to; character generation alone involves swapping between different parts of the book 5-6 times. God forbid you have a rule conflict in a game; my group partitioned the book into sections to skim through whenever people were uncertain about a rule.

Once you�ve read the rulebook, though, you don�t need it in the game. The most I�ve ever done is have the lexicon open so that I have my terms straight; you get a feel for what each level of each vampiric power does, and you don�t have to look up Natures and Demeanors all the time. (Natures and Demeanors are personalities that you�re required to take. There is a list of 30 and you take different ones for nature or demeanor).

Overall, this game is splendid. It has advanced over other RPGs to give true entertainment. Focused, fast-paced, and fantastically horrid, some gaming might give you nightmares, depending on who your storyteller is. Some gaming will be a lot of jokes and mudslinging at authority. Either way, you�ll scare yourself with how casually you say, �I suck down all the human�s blood and kill him.� At some level, the horror of catching yourself saying that phrase is what the game is all about.

"Vampire: The Kool-Aid"
Despite all the good reviews, this game is pathetic. Here are the reasons:

Horrible Stereotypes: If you're a Brujah character, you'll be like every other Brujah in existence. It's just that simple, if you want Celerity and Potence you play Brujah, if you want Presence you play Ventrue (those who've read the book understand the last sentence). The only good way to get a nice mix is to make a Clanless (Munchkin Alert!) or make up your own Clan (which Vamp players hate, because it forces them to think)

LARPs: I've chased LARP groups out of the graveyard near my house more than once. I hate them only because they don't respect the dead (or those that work during the day and SLEEP at night). You all don't have to LARP to play the game, I read the book. Sit around a table and eat pretzels like all other RPGers. Don't be afraid, it might develop your character and imagination to not run around at midnight and annoy all your neighbors and people who think you're in a dark section of the SCA.

Too expensive: For a book with no color whatsoever (and barely a system), it's as much as all the other RPGs on the market. Did I miss something? No color is stylish? That costs Extra?

Munchkin Factor 3: You'll have at least 3 munchkins in your group if you play with 4-6 characters. These munchkins usually have goth tendencies. No offense to goths, but y'all force normal people to hate you.

Game Mechanics are weak like a wet paper towel: the Soak die rules leave much to be desired, as two combatants could pound on eachother forever (I believe I had combat with 2 combatants last 3 hours once). The skills system is dumb, making a weak character able to do great things if he has enough of the skill.

Uncompatibility: All the WOD games CANNOT be played with one another. Mages are more powerful than Werewolves are more powerful than Vampires are more powerful than Hunters. Have fun you amalgamers!

We're Roleplayers!: The pompusness of Vamp players is quite annoying, since the system roleplays for them. Anyone could game Vampire. It's the same reason d20 has no respect with the game community elders (at least in my mind).

Finally, Suggestions: Don't play Vampire the Masquerade. If you really want a vampire game, upgrade to Vampire: the Requiem. It's done much better than this trash

"About Roleplaying Rather Than Rollplaying"
I picked up this book after playing the Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption computer game (which I liked well enough) just to see what the pen and paper game was like... Now I'm pretty much hooked on the gameline. The Storyteller system is appealing for its simplicity and its current incarnation is relatively familiar since I am also into Werewolf: The Apocalypse and had most of fundamental first edition WTA sourcebooks. I've never owned any of the first / second / whatever edition VTM sourcebooks, but from what I hear from long-time Storytellers and players, VTM revised edition is a major (or perhaps just much-needed) improvement. (I *have* seen a list of Abilities in VTM's earlier edition sourcebooks and some of Abilities were so redundant, obscure or arbitrary that they made me blush. I have also seen The Kindred's Most Wanted (an earlier edition VTM supplement) and, frankly, the particulars of most of the characters on the Red List made me really sad. I hope - no, pray (ha ha) - that there are no major appearances of Ferox, the renegade gargoyle with True Faith 9, in VTM canon.)

On the side, this book is rather Camarilla-centric, but that's what the Sabbat guide is for, and this *is* a game about masquerading as vampires, something the Sabbat would never admit to actually practicing (albeit to a lesser degree). It just seems like a huge jump from this book to the Guide to the Sabbat that I suspect I probably should've gotten the Camarilla guide (or even the Anarch guide) before the Sabbat guide. Certain clans (i.e., Assamite, Setite, Gangrel, Malkavian, Ravnos, Toreador) are just barely touched upon in this book that you only see a few (very narrow) sides to them, but that's due to the more major clan events happening after this book was written, and can't be helped. Of what the writers did manage to stuff in this book, they did a pretty good job. (However, if you want advanced Disciplines (ranks 6-9), you might want to get the Camarilla guide and the Sabbat guide.)

Anyway, VTM is great, and to have more than an inkling of what it's like, it's helpful to own this book. The other VTM books I've found extremely helpful (other than the Camarilla guide and the Sabbat guide) are just about every one of the revised edition clanbooks (although a person who's only interested in one clan only really needs one clanbook, certain clanbooks are actually what got me interested in those clans I previously disregarded or disliked. Of course, Storytellers should also have the Storyteller's Handbook).

"GURPS VtM vs. White Wolf VtM: The Comparison"
For some reason the reviews for the GURPS version of Vampire the Masquerade here are reviews for the original White Wolf product. The two games use completely different rule systems and are, well, completely different.

The White Wolf version of VtM is stand alone, you buy the book, some 10 sided dice (from a hobby store or White Wolf's website)and you're ready to play. The "Storyteller" rule system is pretty simple and has been revised and improved. There are many other White Wolf products that use the same Storyteller system (Werewolf, Demon, Mage and so on) so your World of Darkness can grow and expand. White Wolf's emphasis on Role Playing instead of dice rolling and complex rules probably make this a great choice for someone new to RPGs. Be warned however, White Wolf's products and website can be very, very dark and profane. Probably not a good choice for children in my opinion. The game itself is very original, imaginitive and popular.

GURPS (Generic Universal Roleplaying System) by Steve Jackson Games is a fairly detailed RPG system. The GURPS version of VtM is NOT a stand alone product. You must first own a copy of "GURPS Basic Set" (availabe here at Amazon.com) to play GURPS VtM. One difference is that GURPS uses 6 sided dice which are readily available (bonus). The GURPS system was developed as sort of an answer to everything thing that was annoying about the grandaddy of RPGs, Dungeons and Dragons. D&D was an immense rules system that spaned many tomes and modules, required many types of dice and was stuck in sword and sorcery mode. GURPS allows you to play any type of character, in any type of setting imaginable all from one book (GURPS Basic Set and some six sided dice). The GURPS rules system is going to be a larger investment in time to master than Storyteller, but it is detailed and logical. I personally like it.

Two last thoughts, you don't necessarily have to play a Vampire character in the GURPS version of VtM. You could play a Psychic or Combat Specialist who gradually learns about the Vampires and begin to unwravel the Masquerade. Eventually the characters could be embraced by Sabbat Vampires or attacked by the Camarillan Vampires. You could play a Vampire who goes into Torpor for a few centuries and wakes up in a post apocalypse future. Only the Game Master would be allowed to use the Vampire book as a source, and the game would run from the Basic Set. The players would gradually be drawn into the shadowy, secretive World of Darkness. Also the GURPS version is toned down a bit and is more appropriate for young people.