Summoning all things ttrpg. A curious collective dabbling in writing, design, tutorials, actual plays, interviews, and whatever else crosses through from the other side.
I'm super lucky that our players enjoy the big combat that comes up every 3-4 sessions. I feel like it easily becomes a slog mechanically though. We're not playing an action-focused game, but I may have to check this out.
Don't be too hard on the people who love the lore and metaplot. It isn't that we can't think for ourselves. Remember, back in the day there were entire series of novels published for the World of Darkness that people got invested in. Yes, it can be rather tedious when an ST or player treats it as some kind of inviolable canon. But not all of us are that way, or bring that kind of baggage to our games. I wasn't disappointed by Gehenna War because I don't expect big lore dumps from the RPG books anymore. That being said, when V5 was launched we were promised a big transmedia enterprise that has since fallen to the wayside. So there is a tad bit of disappointment with the WoD franchise in that there isn't a cohesive narrative to follow anymore. But that really has nothing to do with the RPG as far as I'm concerned. Tonally and mechanically, V5 is my favorite edition thus far.
I found this really useful to turn combat into something interesting and impactful even outside of an action-centric game. If combat is not the center of your game, it's still probably going to come up, and probably at climactic moments. You probably want it to be more than back-and-forth dice rolls if your players are finally facing their rivals, and this got me in the right mindset for how to make that happen.
A very through review, it sounds like this is something I can definitely use in the kind of Chronicle I'm running, so thank you for this! I was already kind of doing "Zones" on my Vampire games with vague floorpans whenever I knew combat was going to be likely, and to better orient my players if they have a way to survey the area first. On the new mechanics for Hunger and Frenzies, I kind of have been doing something similar to it for my Werewolf games, more so in the sense that if I have a player shapeshift and fail their Rage chacks, I would let them get through their scene first BEFORE having them Lose the Wolf. I feel like losing the wolf in the middle of shapeshifting because of bad rolls more often than not feels anticlimactic and gets in the way of players having fun, and I'd rather have them deal with the consequences after. Are you going to do a review for Scent of Decay and Shattered Nation as well? (I am going through the latter and I am enjoing what Im seeing so far, which is refreshing for one of the few people who wants to see more W5).
I made a combat doc for my players right before this book came out... I won't update it yet because they're not interested in combat anyway. Thanks for the review. I like hearing your opinions and summaries of each chapter.
I have to say that from all the cast of LA by Night Cynthia Marie was the biggest positive surprise (it was the first LARP that I watched), I never would have thought I'd care even a little bit for Nelly - but by season 2 I loved her. I wish her the best in the future with the "life situation" and hope for further positive updates. Speaking of, This interview was really good, in my opinion. I might have asked this before, but when / where will the things done at this show be released? Thank you and until the next one
What I'm more looking for is how many actions you get. Like in D&D you get a Main Action, Move Action, Bonus Action, Free Action. Is that explained somewhere in the book.
Question: will there be a followup on this? (the event itself or something) also: I am jealous because so far, all the nerds I've met here were very confused as to what this "Vampire the Masquerade" stuff is 😞
With Edition wars.. I tell people to run more games of their favourite edition, to show its benefits, rather than going online and trying to tell people your edition is better. I run vampire V5, people ask me to run 20th, I tell them I haven't got the rulebook, but why don't they run a game for me instead, often they go quiet at this point. I'm happy to play other editions but picked the edition I run for my personal style, time and preference.
anyway, darkness emergent was my first LARP, and it truly felt like we interacted and moved the story along. super fun! met lots of amazing people! can't go to las vegas, but i'm going to the next one!!
Nice video. I love B. Dave Walters! I really liked what he did in LA by Night. I wish I could experience LARPing with him someday. He's a really cool Ventrue :) I just wish we got to hear him talk more about the character he's playing for Darkness Emergent. It's still quite mysterious ^^
Thanks for the shoutout! Can confirm we did not pay this man. BUT, talking to you was definitely a highlight for us, too! Just having you ask questions, learn about our platform, and just generally making a new friend was fantastic! Stay in touch! And reach out any time (if we don't beat you to it!)!
Takes out adorable stickers "Whimsy never hurt anybody ....I've got a new water bottle and I need stickers on it but I can't use these because I need people to fear me in public"...but the whimsy...😢 Put them on it. At the very least, you'll be smiling and hydrated, my friend. Ps Orville Peck shirt 🤌 🤠 vlog style is good. Please do make more!!
Glad you had a great time, and I'm so envious that you got your hands on the discipline cards, got to read gehenna war, and own a copy of the laws of night book! I'm just getting started in WoD stuff and I've really enjoyed your videos. Keep up the great work, and thanks for all you've done!
We just made up characters (3 person Pack) last night. I've played most of the previous iterations so this looks familiar. Game is based in/around Detroit. Character is a Silver Fang, a Guerilla Gardener who set up in a 'lost' secret bunker in a county park. Ahroun and Moon-Riled. Person of Interest (Gardener), Secure and secret base. We all know each other from before we graduated from High School. It's several years later. Also a Child of Gaia Theurge, and a Silver Fang Wolf-Born Philodox. Fun stuff.
You all are killing it right from the beginning on this one. This could be a scripted scene in a movie. You're all really starting to portray these characters. Awesome game guys. I'm really enjoying this. By the way you are an amazing story teller. One of the best I've seen.
Ah!!! I completely forgot you took that photo of me with my knife!! (That was me playing Lucien, my emo Malkavian who wrote the shovelhead's story as a poem and as one of our group read it, the rest of us acted it out.) It was such an amazing, sometimes confusing night.
Omg! You two!!! I was playing Liv the Lasombra! Y’all seriously made my night and put my character down the path to the single most emotional roleplay scene I have ever seen nor done in my 20 years of Vampire! Thank y’all so much for playing your characters so brilliantly! Edit: Liv might still be in the market for a new line of work come the next game if y’all are there 🖤 I can tell you all about the rest of Liv’s night if you want. I looooved hearing about your night, it was incredible. So much fun!
madison here! i played siobhan, the irish ventrue and laura jean freeman!!! it was so awesome to meet y'all!! chicago was so fun. hope to see you again soon! hopefully at LA!
Thank you for the video, in particular the story about how things went on Saturday during the social experiment. I was on the Executive Board helping to run that little event, and I was so curious to know how a Caitiff managed to embarrass the Lasombra, Tremere and Nosferatu at the table. Well done!
If you dont already (im a new subscriber just getting into VTM) you should do more vids together, good energy bouncing between you both and is very engaging to listen to.
Hey there, I really respect your earnestness and passion for the game; I think you're too hard on yourself. You've done the community a service and I thank you for your efforts. All the best.
