Vampire The Masquerade Steps From The Shadows With A 5th Edition
Time to dig out your Cure records, black eyeliner, mesh shirts, and ten-sided dice. Because the Kindred are back, bringing with them all the scheming, conspiracies in the shadow, and smug haughty posturing between Camarilla and Sabbat that we know and love.
That’s right folks. Vampire: The Masquerade is back with a 5th Edition. V5, as they’re calling it, promises to bring the Vampire game up to date with modern rules and a slightly more narrative-focused blend of mechanics (which I guess is the trend for any game that releases a 5th Edition). Seriously though, reading through their press release they mention story, lore, backgrounds, deep stories, metaplots–you could make a bingo card, but I’ve told you the winning combo already. If you count the desaturated, vaguely-erotic piece of artwork ‘free space’ at the center of the bingo card.
I’ve linked the release below, but it sounds like White Wolf is doubling down on the most Vampire the Masquerade-y parts of Vampire the Masquerade, really wanting to play up the idea that your characters are one Vampire among a few dozen. Courts and coteries only really work with a decent number of people in them–and they have a “Hunger cycle” which promises to have rules for your allies and ways to more directly and concretely connect your character to the location of your campaign.
Presumably, it’s the standard <YOUR CITY NAME HERE> but with a backdrop of secret underworld magic people hanging around in clubs and weird bookstores. The edition ships in August and, you can pre-order on April 28th, which is this Saturday if you’re reading this before then. If not, well, time travel is your friend, my friend. Onto the press release.
via White Wolf/Modiphius
White Wolf Entertainment, creator of the World of Darkness and Vampire: The Masquerade, is partnering with Modiphius Entertainment to distribute Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition (V5) worldwide in English.
AdvertisementVampire: The Masquerade, the classic that changed role-playing games forever, returns in a fifth edition! V5 features a streamlined and modern rules design, beautiful new full-color art, and a rich story experience for new and returning players. Powered by the innovative Hunger cycle, the game also includes rules for creating system supported character coteries, Loresheets to directly involve players with their favorite parts of the setting, and Memoriam, a new way to bring the character’s detailed backgrounds and expand on them in-session.
V5 is a return to Vampire’s original vision, moving boldly into the 21sth century. While the rules have been redesigned, this new edition 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. The terror of the Second Inquisition, the conspiracies behind the Gehenna War, and the rekindling of the War of Ages: these are the building blocks of the modern V5 chronicle.
The ultimate roleplaying game of personal and political horror, Vampire: The Masquerade will see its fifth edition this year with the pre-order period starting midday GMT on Saturday the 28th of April. The V5 preorder will start shipping from August with the first release, the core book, available in stores from September. Two more V5 books will be released later in the Fall, the Camarilla and the Anarch setting books. V5 will also be available in other languages by the end of the year. Please visit the pre-order page for more details:
Visit the Vampire The Masquerade Pre-Order page
I am curious to see how relevant that formula still is. Vampire was very much a product of its time–and yes, it’s had some enduring popularity, but the game changed a lot with things like Mage the Awakening (hey what if the people playing Mages in our game actually cast spells) and Vampire: Requiem (what if playing a Vampire had some downsides on occasion?)–so it’ll be interesting to see how the old deeply rooted in 90’s angst story holds up. Modern rules and an increased narrative focus could make for some interesting new blood.
Which Vampire clan is second best? (Because we all know Mantis Clan Best Clan).
