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In Short

However, while the game does an excellent job of realizing the type of stories it wants to tell it will not fulfill everyone’s desire for vampire storytelling. The powers are low key, game mechanics reinforce vampires as isolated from humanity, and the sort of vampire being depicted is narrowly focused. What’s more, a large amount of the content is vague and left up to an individual group (or later products) to flesh out. While this can be a strong advantage to some products, Vampire: The Requiem does it too often. The Clans, Covenants, and a lot of the setting material feel unrealized. Additionally, some mechanics, such as Frenzy, seem like they could cause difficulties as written. Greater attention to detail could have made for a sharper product.

This product requires the World of Darkness core book.

The Physical Thing

The Ideas

With mechanics for Frenzy (going berserk), the blood drinking, and the general horrific nature of the undead most vampires are far removed from humanity. Given that their own kind tends to plot and scheme to pass the decades, it leads to a very isolated existence. While the game is ultimately meant to be played as a group, there is strong motivation for politics, backstabbing, and out right player versus player conflict in this game. V:tR aims for maximum immersion into what it’s like to be a vampire, and while it does it better than any other game it may not be the most group friendly RPG. Those who disdain party conflict may still find that V:tR has a lot to offer them, but the game does tend to emphasize the individual.

Under the Cover

Introduction 6 pages.

This section provides a breakdown of the key concepts found in Vampire: The Requiem, as well as a Myths and Facts section. Vampires all hail from one of five Clans, and some come from specific Bloodlines within those clans. In addition there are five major factions, called Covenants, that a vampire may choose to belong to in the world. As the setting is in the World of Darkness everything about the world, which is our modern world, is much darker. Cops are more corrupt, more gangs roam the streets, businesses will do anything to make a buck, etc.

Vampires in this setting fear sunlight because it burns them (to death, very quickly), fear a wooden stake through the heart (it paralyzes them), are hidden from photographs and video recordings, are corpses that no longer change, and are unaffected by many of the less cool vampire weaknesses (such as garlic, running water, etc). In addition, vampires are locked in stasis at the moment of their death. They can no longer have new experiences, only remember old ones. Thus a vampire who feels angry may be angry, but that anger comes from some previous experience.

A young vampire who has simply never experienced a certain emotion lacks the ability to ever experience it. While experience points can be spent to buy new skills and abilities, the setting strongly suggests that vampires lack the ability to grow and change. This may rub some gamers the wrong way. If you are one of those people, however, there is a plus side. Significant amounts of the setting and nature of vampires could easily be changed or replaced with no need to change any game mechanics. There are even products available for doing just that.

The Introduction concludes with a list of inspirational material, including books, movies, and music, that will assist in getting players and Storytellers in the mood.

Chapter 1 Society of the Damned 70 pages.

This lengthy chapter explains how vampires come into existence, how they have organized their society, and what sorts of special concepts plague the vampire existence. The chapter begins with the actual process of the Embrace (making a vampire), why some vampires create new vampires, and how vampires deal with their affliction over time. The five Clans are introduced at this stage.

The Daeva are graceful, elegant, sensual, and for all intents and purposes reflect the height of vampiric beauty. The Gangrel are savage, animal like, and feral. They embody the animalistic aspects of vampires. The Mekhet are clever, secretive, and ancient. The Nosferatu are disfigured and horrific, and have taken on the role of spies and enforcers. The Ventrue are born aristocrats, with a commanding aura and the take charge attitude of a young corporate president. While each of the Clans seem interesting, they are more like vague stereotypes than anything else. Still, an imaginative Storyteller or player has a lot to work with here and later books flesh them out much more.

This chapter acknowledges that, by default, vampires are solitary creatures that prefer to be loners. However, they sometimes come together in the form of Coteries either because they are forced to or for some goal or another, often mutual protection. It is generally expected that the player characters make up a single Coterie.

The haunts and havens of vampiric society are presented as well. As a general matter vampires confine themselves to the city because more food can be found in the city and there is great protection against the sun. Because of that each city has its own vampiric government. This can range from a prince who rules over his vassals to a church hierarchy to a democratic council, depending upon which political groups comprise the city and who is ultimately in charge. A significant amount of the chapter discusses how vampires organize their politics, what their political traditions are, and what the important roles in a given city are likely to be.

Very little is presented in terms of vampiric history and mythology. This is because the game is meant to be vague enough to leave the door open for a Storyteller to do what they like. Each of the major political groups has its own beliefs about how vampires came to be, and due to the mechanical aspects of vampires (they sleep for centuries and tend to forget what they know) it is impossible to say for certain how vampires came to be.

This chapter also introduces the five major political groups, or Covenants, that exist in Vampire: The Requiem. The Carthian Movement represents new ideas and the march of progress. They embrace democracy, socialism, email lists, and all the other glorious new things that humanity has created. The Circle of the Crone worships a dark female creator, perhaps Morrigan, Baba Yaga, or Lilith. The group advocates that vampires are empowered, that undeath is a blessing, and that they should embrace their new existence instead of hiding from it.

The Invictus is something of an “old boys club.” Its focus is securing and maintaing power for its membership, largely elders who have a lot to lose. It tends to use older methods and techniques to do so, and in many ways is a very conservative organization. The Lancea Sanctum, often allied with the Invictus, is something of a dark Catholic church that believes vampires were created by God and they must serve His will on Earth. The Santcum believes vampires descend from Longinus, the centurion who penetrated Christ’s side with a spear. Finally, The Ordo Dracul claims descindence from Dracula, who was punished by God to walk the Earth and suffer for his wicked acts. This organization is something of a Masonic secret society that steeps itself in theology and philosophy, with its own unique traditions.

Each of the groups comes with rituals, political details, member titles, goals, initiations, and other such information that helps bring them to life. However, as interesting as some of the organizations are they are also vague. They are clearly meant to be built upon by a Storyteller, and it is unlikely that all five would be active in a given city (and probably a given Chronicle) to begin with.

The section on political groups concludes with information on a few other, secret organizations. The Unaligned are simply vampires that belong to no political group, Belial’s Brood is a group of anarchy loving Satanists, and VII is a mysterious group of vampires that hunts other vampires.

No matter what organization a Kindred belongs to they will have to respect the Three Traditions, meant to keep all vampires safe. The First is that the Masquerade must be preserved. The Masquerade is the illusion that there are no vampires, and by preserving it the Kindred do not need to fear humanity rising up against them.

The Second Tradition is that no vampire may create another vampire. This tradition is frequently violated, though most at least make certain that their choice is wise. The Third Tradition is that vampires may not commit diablerie, which is cannibalism of the soul. This protects vampires from one another and also ensures that they do not fall to barbarism.

Respect for elders, blood addiction, different types of hunting grounds, and a list of common terms rounds out this chapter. The addictive qualities of vampire blood can both create and destroy trust. A vampire or human who drinks vampire blood starts to like it, ultimately becoming hopelessly addicted. This puts them in the vampire donor’s thrall. When multiple vampires feed on one another this can create strange bonds of loyalty, but for the most part it just creates paranoia that one vampire will try to addict another.

Chapter 2 Character 68 pages.

As with all supernatural character creation, it begins by building a normal character. Once a normal World of Darkness character is built, the vampiric template is applied. This involves choosing a Clan, Covenant, starting Disciplines, converting Morality into Humanity, and adding on a few other vampire specific qualities.

Clans and Covenants, as discussed earlier, are the two major groups that all vampires hail from. A Clan gives a vampire their Favored Attributes (they get plus one dot in one of two attributes, depending on Clan), the Clan Disciplines (three Disciplines that are cheaper to increase than others), and a Clan weakness of some sort. In addition a player may choose a Bloodline – a sort of subclan – at this stage to gain different Disciplines and, typically, another weakness.

Covenants, the political factions, may be chosen next. A Covenant grants certain advantages, typically political in nature, to its members. If a vampire belongs to the Carthians, for example, they may purchase Allies at ½ the normal cost. A vampire does not have to choose a Covenant.

New Merits may be purchased, including Blood Potency (how powerful a vampire’s blood is), Haven (a safe house for the vampire), and Herd (mortals who come to the vampire to be fed from), Status (position in vampiric society). Blood Potency is a two way street, as a higher blood potency can result in other vampires wishing to feed from the vampire. It also limits what the vampire can feed from (animals to humans to other vampires). Further, blood potency determines how much Vitae (blood) may be spent in a round to power abilities, attribute and skill maximums, max blood pool, and gives benefits in certain social encounters.

Perhaps the lengthiest aspect of Vampire character creation is selecting Disciplines. At the start a player has three dots to spend on Disciplines, two of which must be spent on Clan Disciplines. A Discipline is a mystical vampire ability, often powered by blood, that is purchased in levels and represents many of the traditional stories of vampire abilities. While every vampire may heal their wounds or increase their physical attributes with blood, only certain ones may transform into mist or hypnotize their foes.

Disciplines tend to be lower key abilities. The most powerful might allow a vampire to affect, either by killing, controlling, or tricking, an entire room full of average people. Many of them are subtle, and enforce the low powered aspect of the setting. Vampires are stronger than mortals, but not by much, and even their mystical abilities require them to spend precious blood to use.

Morality becomes Humanity now, which represents a character’s fight against becoming a monster. Unfortunately, as a blood drinking creature of darkness this is an upward battle. A large part of the game involves dealing with the monstrous aspects of being a vampire. Particularly low Humanity scores inflict a number of penalties upon characters, including how easily they may rise, how long they remain in Torpor (a long term sleep like a coma), and how they view the world.

Chapter 3 Special Rules and Systems 42 pages.

This chapter is a lengthy list of special rules and qualities that apply to being a vampire. It kicks off with a discussion of blood. Blood can be used to raise physical attributes, heal wounds, and activate Disciplines. It can also be used to addict other vampires and, in the case of Diablerie (vampire soul cannibalism), to permanently increase ones own abilities.

In addition, blood serves as something of an I.D. tag in the game. If vampires are somewhat related to one another they can sense that when they encounter each other. In fact, just encountering another vampire can be a traumatic event. The monster, or Beast, inside a vampire recognizes the presence of another Beast which sets the vampire on edge. Particularly weary vampires may even Frenzy (go berserk) when this happens.

Rules for hunting and feeding, how mortals recover blood, and how Ghouls are made are also presented. Ghouls are mortals that regularly feed off of vampires. Because of this they stop aging and gain access to vampiric Disciplines, making them far more powerful than ordinary mortals. Since they develop a fanatical loyalty to their master, and can take care of the master’s interests during the daytime, they are a powerful but dangerous tool.

Frenzy, which means going berserk when the Beast takes over, is a frequent problem for vampires and one of the reasons they avoid humanity. Vampires typically frenzy in one of three ways. Fire, which is exceptionally likely to destroy a vampire, can cause a vampire to Frenzy. Meeting another vampire can cause the Beast to frenzy. Finally, smelling blood while hungry can cause a vampire to Frenzy.

Those who imagine the thought of berserk vampires slaying party members during every social encounter need not worry. To prevent Frenzy a vampire typically rolls Resolve + Composure. The number of successes staves off Frenzy that many rounds, then the roll is made again, Five total successes is typically enough to completely prevent Frenzy. Willpower is the friend of many vampires here, since it can provide additional success to further resist Frenzy. However, a mechanic is present in the game such that a bad roll can lead to a vampire attempting to butcher friends, break the Masquerade, and otherwise causing all manner of uncontrolled chaos. The book encourages Storytellers to take control away from players that can not roleplay a Frenzy appropriately.

Frenzy can also be caused by anger and fear, and this is the point where the game may have some problems. Being harassed by a panhandler is one example presented, requiring two successes to avoid. The very thought of a player character losing control and killing a panhandler in the world of darkness is somewhat silly. Being publicly insulted requires three successes to avoid Frenzy. The weird part is that being in social circumstances where the vampire knows it’s a bad thing to Frenzy gives them a bonus to the roll. This seems more like a metagame method to try and prevent chaos, and smacks of poor mechanics. If Frenzy is used as written, many PCs will be continually devoid of Willpower and often at risk of Frenzy for just stepping outside. While this may play up the isolationist aspect of the game, it makes it more difficult for the player characters to get involved with one another. This is, however, a narrowly focused game meant to tell specific stories about specific types of vampires. To that end the mechanics work well.

Rules of all sorts are provided for combat related damage and vampires. Bullets don’t hurt them as much, fire hurts them a lot, and as a general matter they’re a lot tougher than normal people. The chapter wraps up with sample derangements, a discussion of torpor (long vampiric sleep), and how Humanity should impact roleplay. Finally, Golconda (a perfect vampiric state) is mentioned in vague terms meant to provide ideas for a Storyteller.

Chapter 4 Storytelling and Antagonists 36 pages.

A lot of the material presented in this chapter is the standard sort of Storytelling advice most readers will have seen in many previous RPGs. Tips on adventure structure, drama, and other matters that affect a Storyteller are provided. The vampire specific information tends to focus on problems associated with travel and undead life generally.

How to build a Coterie, character hooks, example campaigns, how to set up a scene, and other such traditional Storyteller advice is presented. Fortunately this section also includes a number of sample antagonists including ghouled dogs and tentacled horrors. Unfortunately most of these antagonists seem out of place and don’t naturally relate to the sorts of problems and themes involved in Vampire: The Requiem.

Appendix 1 Bloodlines and Unique Disciplines 34 pages.

A number of example Bloodlines, sub-Clans that may be chosen during Character Creation, are presented here. Each has access to a unique Discipline, also included in this section, and suffers a more severe weakness in return.

The Bruja are a Gangrel Bloodline and generally represent a rebel biker gang. The Burakumin is a Nosferatu Bloodline that represents Buddhism and Shinto practicioners who work in unclean professions. The Malkovians are a Ventrue Bloodline afflicted with permanent madness. The Morbus are plague carriers who gain abilities that create more plague, descended from the Mekhet line. Finally, the Toreador are focused on a love for fine art and beauty. They belong to the Daeva.

Both the Burakumin and the Morbus seem very narrowly focused and difficult to incorporate into a campaign. While Bloodlines are and should be more narrowly focused than the Clans, these two strike me as being problematic. The Burakumin are just so far removed from the typical western setting that they seem like a strange inclusion. The Morbus, since they carry plague and have disease creating powers, make me question why other vampires would even allow them to exist. They strike me as a difficult Bloodline to use as anything but an NPC antagonist or plot focus.

Appendix 2 New Orleans 30 pages.

This is a fleshed out example setting, complete with information about local politics, events, and descriptions of major NPCs. That there are ready to use NPCs with full stat blocks makes this portion of the book useful even to Storytellers who have no desire to involve New Orleans.

My Take

Additionally, I find certain aspects to be problematic for my play style. That vampires no longer experience personal growth, and that their productions are devoid of soul and true artistic expression, is an incredible turn off. It limits character growth in some ways and focuses the game on telling such narrow stories that I have difficulty imagining the game play changing much from one campaign to another. The Frenzy rules involve incredibly common conditions, and may often result in berserker antics which likely disrupt game play.

Finally, both the mechanics and description often reinforce the isolationist and distrusting aspects of vampiric nature. This is the opposite of what I want, group focused storytelling, in an RPG. These problems are personal and easily house ruled away. By far the biggest thing this book has going against it is the mentioned vagueness of a lot of the organizations. They just lack feeling and direction.

Given the choice I would buy this one again. It’s a sharp product, but it could have used more focus and direction in terms of setting. For those who want to play vampires focused on exploring morality, the nature of existence, and what one will give for power then this is an excellent game. Those looking for more of an action fest can still find enjoyment here, but should be aware of the lower powered nature of this product as compared to the older Vampire: The Masquerade RPG.

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