Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Vampire the Masquerade 20th - Print

The game that redefined games in the 90s and beyond is back in a new print version.

Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=94815&affiliate_id=10748



This is for the Print-on-demand product, and it is not cheap.
Granted it is also not a small book.  Nor is it just any book.

Very, very, very few games have had the impact on the public awareness as much as V:tM.  D&D being one, and maybe (just maybe) Call of Cthulhu.  But really it is just D&D and V:tM.

I think one of the reason the OSR has not latched on to VtM is that there seems to be a pretty clear divide between D&D players and WoD players.  Too bad really.  Both games are a lot of fun.

2 comments:

Ghola Scale said...

I was just looking an original used copy of this in a comic book store LAST NIGHT thinking, wow it's been a while since this came out.

velaran said...

Redefined gaming? Not that I saw. I mean, ya played in a fantasy modern day, rather than Ye Olde Europe(and White Guys version of 'the Orient') with vampires instead of elves, and killed lotsa cops/FBI/Special Forces, which seemed to stand in for goblinoids and such. V:tM power gaming looked a lot like D&D powergaming, in my experience. Emphasis on 'narrative'(generally railroading your way through some GM's high-school magnum opus[especially if they'd discovered Graves, Campbell, or Montagu]) was found throught the hobby in the 90's, starting around the time V:tM came out(mid '91?). It was the Vampire part rather than the Storytelling that made kids wanna play, imo.

It redefined 'gamer', maybe. Lots of angst, black, goth-y philosophy, and more chix with amulets... Or so the stereotype went, anyhow. They's good people, even if they do wear too much eyeliner. ;-D I've played with a few over the years, and I'd do so again. They played some mean Heroquest and B/X! ;-)

One thing V:tM accomplished that D&D didn't though: it got a decently faithful live action TV show on FOX(the over the air channel), produced by Aaron Spelling, no less. That's better than a cartoon that just barely resembles its subject matter, I'd say! Also, Gangrel in WWF! No D&D in wrestling, sad to say.(But there should be wrestling in D&D, done right!)

Old WoDers and OSR people(which are D&Ders mostly; old-school Rune Questers, Travellers, and T&Ters don't call themselves this generally, I've noted) are largely cut from the same cloth, ime. They never gave up their game(WW even used to discourage mentioning older games like Masquerade, until recently!)! And that's awesome. Much respect to the OWoDers from me.