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The Player’s Guide is one of the year-one supplements released for Vampire: The Masquerade. Subtitled “The complete sourcebook for players of Vampire™”, it does a lot to expand the first edition of the game, although it doesn’t exactly live up to its lofty promise, as you’ll see.
There’s not much to say about the art in this book. The Tim Bradstreet chapter opening pages are very nice and the rest are workable to underwhelming, but there’s a lot less of it than in other books, so it’s not a major factor in my enjoyment.
It begins with a preface, that explains that the book covers a lot of different playstyle options, not all of which you might want to use, and realistically probably won’t all go in the same game. I like that, it’s a nice change from the wrongbadfun approach that I’ve seen in some gamebooks, both WoD and otherwise. Following it is the standard White Wolf intro fiction. In this case, we’re going with a letter that the Camarilla has recovered from a hunter, explaining Kindred from an outsider’s perspective. Stuff like which demons correspond to which clans, how to kill them, etc. To be honest, it’s not very interesting. I see what they were going for, but it falls flat to me.
The second chapter is new character creation options. First, we get character templates- a generic example of each clan with a backstory, roleplaying hints, and a character sheet. It’s pretty standard stuff. A Brujah gangbanger, a Tremere occultist, a Gangrel park ranger. I find these of limited use, since most STs and players I know prefer to do their own, but I can see it if you’re just doing a oneshot or need a statted NPC in a hurry. Although the shown character sheets don’t have freebies distributed, either, and even for a onshot, you’re probably going to want to create custom PCs that fit the planned story better. Their best use would probably be as an example of what a “typical” member of a clan would be like.
The rest of the chapter is dedicated to the introduction of Merits and Flaws. Merits and Flaws were always one of my favorite parts of WoD character creation. Some were just little perks for a character (or led to you being able to purchase other perks). Others, like Medium, Thin-Blooded, or Loathsome Regnant, were things you could build an entire character around. In The Player’s Guide, we get a lot of things that’ll show up later, but also a lot more cruft. There’s a lot of Merits that duplicate Background traits (most of the mortal ties Merits can be duplicated with influence, contacts, or allies, as appropriate), are too similar to each other (Acute Sense has been split into five separate Merits, each with a description) and the balance is even worse than it will be later on. Still, the addition of this game feature was a good one, and most of the best and most interesting ones are already present in this first iteration.
Chapter three is titled “The Expanded Character” and brings more additional mechanical stuff to the table. I’m not entirely sure what the rationale was between which items went in chapter two and which ones here, but I think the idea was that this chapter expands on systems already presented, while chapter two introduced new things. Regardless, the first thing we get is secondary abilities. I never really liked secondary abilities and have never actually used them in a game. Most of them seem like XP sinks that are better done as specialties of other abilities. The few that are not are so unlikely to come up repeatedly in a typical chronicle that it doesn’t seem worth it- and on the off chance that you’re running a game in which your PCs skill (or lack thereof) at hypnotism or playing board games is a major factor, you should be able to figure it out and add it to the basic ability list. It’s not terrible, but it takes up more than twenty pages with information that’s not really all that useful.
New archetypes come next, including several of the staples for PCs I’ve played or played with, such as Autocrat and Competitor. I do, however, want to point out two of my least favorite archetypes printed in any WoD material. The first is Autist- it’s an archetype about not trusting people or revealing your real self, and you regain Willpower by making people fail to understand your personality, or when someone misunderstands who you are in a way that gives you an advantage. I see what they were going for here, but it’s… so much not how autism works and the description is so weird that as a chick on the spectrum, I’m actually kind of offended. It’s not the worst archetype apart from that, though, so a rename should make it perfectly fine.
The other one, Jobsworth, is only worth noting for how amazingly boring of a PC it would make. You like routines, and you regain WP from sticking to your routine at all costs and not evaluating situations on their individual merits. What on earth would you do with this sort of character?
Finally, we get elder-level disciplines. Some of these will be pretty familiar to players of later editions, such as the Obfuscate power Conceal, which allows users to hide non-living objects that they aren’t currently being worn or carried. Others are harder to find in later material, such as the Protein power Dual Form, which allows Gangrel elders to split themselves into two identical beings. Once again, these powers are basically not balanced at all. Not that elder Disciplines have ever been balanced, but these are especially crazy (see the aforementioned Dual Form). Also of note is the fact that in this book, Antidiluvian-level powers are actually specified, rather than being left at later editions’ “Plot Device”.
Chapter four covers clan status and structure- how to gain prestige within the various Camarilla clans, how and when they meet, rumors about them, and a few character ideas. It’s all really interesting information, although it seems to point towards a greater cohesiveness among some of the clans than was implied in later editions. It also includes a description of how boons work (VERY useful for new players who want to play the Camarilla social politics side of things) and what’s honestly the most important thing in the book for the future of the lore: the introduction of the four independent clans and the first bloodline.
The writeups are similar to the ones in the main corebook, with information about the clan and character creation suggestions. Added to this are short sections on the clan organization and how to gain prestige. The indie clans are pretty one-note at this stage. We have our Assamite assassins, Setite drug cultists, Giovanni necromancers, and Ravnos drifters. They’re also all pretty tied to their ethnic origins. That being said, there’s a lot more dimension to than I’d expected. The Assamites have a lot of focus on their blood-based vampiric religion, rather than “the Muslim clan” role that they’re relegated to in some other material and the Ravnos honor code is also interesting. I also like the Ravnos “evil aura” more than their later compulsion towards crime as a weakness. It’s a lot more balanced and avoids some of the unfortunate implications of the later developments.
The Salubri are also here, making them the first of the bloodlines introduced in lore. They’re noted as a very small group and it’s implied, although not stated outright, that it was the clan’s antediluvian Saulot’s, diablerie that created clan Tremere.
Moving on to chapter five, we get a selection of short essays from the game developers about roleplaying. Most of it is pretty generic stuff that’s not particularly useful or has been better expanded on elsewhere, but a few of them are interesting. In particular, the essay about exploring parts of yourself through roleplay was one I found interesting.
Chapter six is another long one, and focuses on equipment. This seems like a residual of the D&D mindset, where items, especially magic items, are a major component of many editions. Some of the lists might have some worth (the description of various poisons and drugs and their effects on kindred, statblocks for common animals), but it’s somewhat redundant and contains a lot of things that probably won’t ever be relevant. Do you really need stats for a boom mic or an Abrams tank?
Finishing out the book is a letter from an anarch named Juggler to a young vampire. This is an amazing resource for new players, covering how to feed without getting caught, where to wait out the day, and how to deal with Camarilla rules.
Overall, my verdict on The Player’s Guide is that it’s got some good stuff in it, but ultimately falls fairly flat as a supplement. Most of the good info has probably been reprinted elsewhere, and there’s too much material that just isn’t going to be helpful for most chronicles. If you’re running a first-edition chronicle, and want to use only 1e material? It’s indispensable. If not? You can probably skip it.
Next up: Chicago by Night 1e
For the sake of full disclosure, it might be a while until that happens. When I posted my 1e core review, I was already most of the way through The Players Guide. But I have my own life to live, with relationships, work, other hobbies, and attempting to actually play, so I'm limited by how fast I can read the books, as well as my budget- I've got a pretty big backlog built up after my local gaming store closed, but I'm sure it will run out eventually.
All this to say, I can't promise these reviews on any kind of schedule, but they are coming!
submitted by EternalLifeSentence to WhiteWolfRPG [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/fgexvt3q8tw31.png?width=503&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f0942d8deaff1eebfcba1c60e300e50d1b39e8e
The Player’s Guide is one of the year-one supplements released for Vampire: The Masquerade. Subtitled “The complete sourcebook for players of Vampire™”, it does a lot to expand the first edition of the game, although it doesn’t exactly live up to its lofty promise, as you’ll see.
There’s not much to say about the art in this book. The Tim Bradstreet chapter opening pages are very nice and the rest are workable to underwhelming, but there’s a lot less of it than in other books, so it’s not a major factor in my enjoyment.
It begins with a preface, that explains that the book covers a lot of different playstyle options, not all of which you might want to use, and realistically probably won’t all go in the same game. I like that, it’s a nice change from the wrongbadfun approach that I’ve seen in some gamebooks, both WoD and otherwise. Following it is the standard White Wolf intro fiction. In this case, we’re going with a letter that the Camarilla has recovered from a hunter, explaining Kindred from an outsider’s perspective. Stuff like which demons correspond to which clans, how to kill them, etc. To be honest, it’s not very interesting. I see what they were going for, but it falls flat to me.
The second chapter is new character creation options. First, we get character templates- a generic example of each clan with a backstory, roleplaying hints, and a character sheet. It’s pretty standard stuff. A Brujah gangbanger, a Tremere occultist, a Gangrel park ranger. I find these of limited use, since most STs and players I know prefer to do their own, but I can see it if you’re just doing a oneshot or need a statted NPC in a hurry. Although the shown character sheets don’t have freebies distributed, either, and even for a onshot, you’re probably going to want to create custom PCs that fit the planned story better. Their best use would probably be as an example of what a “typical” member of a clan would be like.
The rest of the chapter is dedicated to the introduction of Merits and Flaws. Merits and Flaws were always one of my favorite parts of WoD character creation. Some were just little perks for a character (or led to you being able to purchase other perks). Others, like Medium, Thin-Blooded, or Loathsome Regnant, were things you could build an entire character around. In The Player’s Guide, we get a lot of things that’ll show up later, but also a lot more cruft. There’s a lot of Merits that duplicate Background traits (most of the mortal ties Merits can be duplicated with influence, contacts, or allies, as appropriate), are too similar to each other (Acute Sense has been split into five separate Merits, each with a description) and the balance is even worse than it will be later on. Still, the addition of this game feature was a good one, and most of the best and most interesting ones are already present in this first iteration.
Chapter three is titled “The Expanded Character” and brings more additional mechanical stuff to the table. I’m not entirely sure what the rationale was between which items went in chapter two and which ones here, but I think the idea was that this chapter expands on systems already presented, while chapter two introduced new things. Regardless, the first thing we get is secondary abilities. I never really liked secondary abilities and have never actually used them in a game. Most of them seem like XP sinks that are better done as specialties of other abilities. The few that are not are so unlikely to come up repeatedly in a typical chronicle that it doesn’t seem worth it- and on the off chance that you’re running a game in which your PCs skill (or lack thereof) at hypnotism or playing board games is a major factor, you should be able to figure it out and add it to the basic ability list. It’s not terrible, but it takes up more than twenty pages with information that’s not really all that useful.
New archetypes come next, including several of the staples for PCs I’ve played or played with, such as Autocrat and Competitor. I do, however, want to point out two of my least favorite archetypes printed in any WoD material. The first is Autist- it’s an archetype about not trusting people or revealing your real self, and you regain Willpower by making people fail to understand your personality, or when someone misunderstands who you are in a way that gives you an advantage. I see what they were going for here, but it’s… so much not how autism works and the description is so weird that as a chick on the spectrum, I’m actually kind of offended. It’s not the worst archetype apart from that, though, so a rename should make it perfectly fine.
The other one, Jobsworth, is only worth noting for how amazingly boring of a PC it would make. You like routines, and you regain WP from sticking to your routine at all costs and not evaluating situations on their individual merits. What on earth would you do with this sort of character?
Finally, we get elder-level disciplines. Some of these will be pretty familiar to players of later editions, such as the Obfuscate power Conceal, which allows users to hide non-living objects that they aren’t currently being worn or carried. Others are harder to find in later material, such as the Protein power Dual Form, which allows Gangrel elders to split themselves into two identical beings. Once again, these powers are basically not balanced at all. Not that elder Disciplines have ever been balanced, but these are especially crazy (see the aforementioned Dual Form). Also of note is the fact that in this book, Antidiluvian-level powers are actually specified, rather than being left at later editions’ “Plot Device”.
Chapter four covers clan status and structure- how to gain prestige within the various Camarilla clans, how and when they meet, rumors about them, and a few character ideas. It’s all really interesting information, although it seems to point towards a greater cohesiveness among some of the clans than was implied in later editions. It also includes a description of how boons work (VERY useful for new players who want to play the Camarilla social politics side of things) and what’s honestly the most important thing in the book for the future of the lore: the introduction of the four independent clans and the first bloodline.
The writeups are similar to the ones in the main corebook, with information about the clan and character creation suggestions. Added to this are short sections on the clan organization and how to gain prestige. The indie clans are pretty one-note at this stage. We have our Assamite assassins, Setite drug cultists, Giovanni necromancers, and Ravnos drifters. They’re also all pretty tied to their ethnic origins. That being said, there’s a lot more dimension to than I’d expected. The Assamites have a lot of focus on their blood-based vampiric religion, rather than “the Muslim clan” role that they’re relegated to in some other material and the Ravnos honor code is also interesting. I also like the Ravnos “evil aura” more than their later compulsion towards crime as a weakness. It’s a lot more balanced and avoids some of the unfortunate implications of the later developments.
The Salubri are also here, making them the first of the bloodlines introduced in lore. They’re noted as a very small group and it’s implied, although not stated outright, that it was the clan’s antediluvian Saulot’s, diablerie that created clan Tremere.
Moving on to chapter five, we get a selection of short essays from the game developers about roleplaying. Most of it is pretty generic stuff that’s not particularly useful or has been better expanded on elsewhere, but a few of them are interesting. In particular, the essay about exploring parts of yourself through roleplay was one I found interesting.
Chapter six is another long one, and focuses on equipment. This seems like a residual of the D&D mindset, where items, especially magic items, are a major component of many editions. Some of the lists might have some worth (the description of various poisons and drugs and their effects on kindred, statblocks for common animals), but it’s somewhat redundant and contains a lot of things that probably won’t ever be relevant. Do you really need stats for a boom mic or an Abrams tank?
Finishing out the book is a letter from an anarch named Juggler to a young vampire. This is an amazing resource for new players, covering how to feed without getting caught, where to wait out the day, and how to deal with Camarilla rules.
Overall, my verdict on The Player’s Guide is that it’s got some good stuff in it, but ultimately falls fairly flat as a supplement. Most of the good info has probably been reprinted elsewhere, and there’s too much material that just isn’t going to be helpful for most chronicles. If you’re running a first-edition chronicle, and want to use only 1e material? It’s indispensable. If not? You can probably skip it.
Next up: Chicago by Night 1e
For the sake of full disclosure, it might be a while until that happens. When I posted my 1e core review, I was already most of the way through The Players Guide. But I have my own life to live, with relationships, work, other hobbies, and attempting to actually play, so I'm limited by how fast I can read the books, as well as my budget- I've got a pretty big backlog built up after my local gaming store closed, but I'm sure it will run out eventually.
All this to say, I can't promise these reviews on any kind of schedule, but they are coming!
