Hi, folks. Rose here. 🙂
Today at Gen Con, we announced something big: the second edition of the new World of Darkness. This is an exciting move for us, something we’ve wanted to do for years.
(UPDATE: The wrong draft of this post originally went up. We’ve now put up the correct draft, which clarifies a few things, and also added a little more on what’s changing and not changing in Vampire.)
Short version
New editions of Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Promethean, and Changeling are all on their way. We’ll also be releasing a new World of Darkness Rulebook, incorporating the rules updates from The God-Machine Chronicle.
Longer version
We’ve already been updating the new World of Darkness via the Chronicle series. The second edition plan replaces that, so rather than publish The Idigam Chronicle and The Fallen World Chronicle, we’re going to be publishing second editions of Werewolf: The Forsaken featuring the Idigam Chronicle and Mage: The Awakening featuring the Fallen World Chronicle. Everything we’ve said in the dev blogs about the Chronicle books holds true for the new editions.
Here are answers to some questions you may have.
Why second editions?
It’s been ten years since the new World of Darkness debuted at Gen Con 2004. With a decade of experience creating and running these games, we’re in a great position to improve them.
We started these improvements under the Chronicle banner because that was the best way to publish them at the time, but after a series of discussions with CCP, we’ve all decided that the new World of Darkness is best served by formal second editions.
(I’ve been using that phrase for a while, “formal second editions.” But how formal are they if Vampire is full of cursing?)
How does this affect the announced Chronicle books?
The announced Chronicles will be retitled on the schedule to second editions. After Blood and Smoke, the difference between the two was academic, and the success of that book proves there’s demand for updates. Calling them second editions now is both clearer and more accurate.
What’s going to happen to Blood and Smoke?
We’ll make a few cosmetic changes to Blood and Smoke and re-release it as Vampire: The Requiem, Second Edition. Players who bought the PDF or PDF + Print combos of Blood and Smoke from DriveThruRPG will receive a free PDF of Second Edition.
UPDATE: By “cosmetic,” we mean logo and title changes, changing one header that was white on white to white on red, two one word typo corrections, and a fix to the Greek grammar in the cities chapter. There may also be an addition to the Special Thanks. No rules or setting will change, and Blood and Smoke won’t be outdated. It’s unlikely that the page numbers things are on will even change.
Will the new World of Darkness Rulebook use the same rules as The God-Machine Chronicle, Blood and Smoke, and Demon: The Descent, or a newer revision?
The rules in the new rulebook will be the same as in those books. This is a second edition, not a third.
Will the second editions require the new World of Darkness Rulebook?
No, the second editions will be standalone, like Vampire/Blood and Smoke. The second edition of The World of Darkness Rulebook will be a canonical reference for the entire system, and include expanded options (like vehicle rules) not present in every game’s core book.
Will there be second editions of Hunter, Geist, or Mummy?
We don’t have an announced plan that far ahead.
Are there any “blue book” supplements planned for the second edition World of Darkness?
Yes. The first, Hurt Locker, will be entering open development on this blog soon. It will focus on violence and combat under the second edition rules.
Why does the Gen Con 2014 brochure refer to Chronicle books instead of second editions?
We hadn’t finalized plans for the second editions by the time the brochure had to go to press.
Will Dark Eras use the first or second edition rules?
Dark Eras will use second edition rules for Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, and Demon, and first edition rules for the other games. Dark Eras is not a rules-heavy book, so this shouldn’t present any problems.
I hope that answers your questions; if not, ask below, and we’ll try to answer once we’re back from the con. Thanks for all your support!
Oh, and if you’re at the show, please stop by and say hi at the Onyx Path booth! Map to the right.
I really liked the titles for the Chronicle books, but a second edition does build a lot of confidence for nWoD’s future, which is great.
Does that mean my current WOD books are obsolete? Will they be rereleased again? Or can one still use them?
Your books won’t be obsolete. Most prior supplements are still usable with the new rules. You can see for yourself what’s changing if you download the free God-Machine Chronicle Rules Update from DriveThru. (Sorry for not linking it in this comment; I’m posting from my phone.)
The main things that need adjustment are rules that connect to the combat system, like Fighting Styles.
Currently, we don’t plan to do new editions of the individual supplements, although there may be overlap. For example, we’re not doing new editions of the Vampire covenant books, but there’s new stuff for the covenants in Secrets of the Covenants.
So what about all the books prior to these 2nd ed. How will you make ST/Players feel justified in these without them feeling burned out that so many books they have will be outdated and unusable?
They’re not exactly being undone. Blood and Smoke actually makes reference in sidebars to things like Requiem for Rome and Sacraments and Blasphemies. If you want to use that material you’ll just have to tweak it a bit. Or you could probably leave it the same, for the most part.
Having dipped into the 1st edition Blue Books after reading over the God-Machine update, I actually found that most of them are pefectly usable with the new rules. As far as the individual lines go, I don’t see anything in Blood & Smoke which necessarily invalidates pre-B&S supplements – in fact, B&S specifically recommends the use of supplements like Damnation City.
In general I’ve found that the God-Machine update is quite clever at making extensive changes to the rules whilst not invalidating the terminology, so you can take the character stats of an individual and run them under the 1st edition and God-Machine Update/2nd edition rules and, whilst they’ll be have somewhat differently, you can still use the rules to make sense of the character stats and use them. I don’t think many things will become redundant at all.
Since RPGs were invented, there have been new editions which make older material outdated. If you’re objecting to the model that the industry has been using for 40 years… well, I really don’t know how to answer that.
However, if you’ve seen Blood and Smoke, then you are already aware that most material for first edition is still perfectly usable, with any necessary tweaks being minor at worst and largely able to be calculated on the fly.
I will also add that this is the longest period between editions for any White Wolf Vampire game (VTM 1e to 2e = 1 year, 2e to Rev = 6 years, VTR 1e to 2e = 9 years). Nine years of releases is certainly nothing to sneeze at. We’re not throwing away nine years of production history, and Requiem fans who decide to continue playing 1e will continue to have a substantial library to choose from.
it’s not as if the systems are all that incompatible, anyway. GMC isn’t profoundly different from NWoD1.0 in the way editions of D&D are completely mathematically unlike one another. a little faking and fudging and I’m sure it’ll all be usable.
personally, I’m super psyched. there’s a certain resonance about new editions, even if they were essentially what we were gonna get anyway.
Wonderful news 😀
Any chance there’s a tiny space available in Vampire 2nd ed for a few Kindred NPC’s? – perhaps who have titles in a city?
Or will it be purely cosmetic?
I think if it’s *not* purely cosmetic those who did spend money to get a print copy of B&S could legitimately get quite mad about it.
I say keep the contents as similar as possible bar for the title change, just for the sake of making page references easier – nobody wants the headache of having to specify different page numbers for stuff in B&S and VtR2E.
Will the future core rulebooks include the “Chronicle”-style adventure seed content? I think that stuff is really valuable, particularly for novice groups.
The current plan is that page numbers won’t change between B&S and 2e.
The adventure hook content will depend on the book, but B&S is the template for the new editions.
We won’t be adding or removing anything significant.
Love that it’s official that they’re second editions and that we’re getting a second edition core, hate that we’re losing such cool names as “Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle”, “Idigam Chronicle”, “Fallen World Chronicle”, “Firestorm Chronicle”, and “Huntsman Chronicle”.
Any real reason to not just keep calling them those titles with a little “X:the Y second edition” at the bottom?
I agree with Aspel, though I might just go with Vampire: the Requiem 2e ( Blood and Smoke) for example.
How much need will there be for those of us who bought the God Machine Chronicle to buy the new Core book? or maybe we can get the updated pdf for that too?
I see that you aren’t really able to talk about Hunter yet, but can we more or less expect the Rules updates in Mortal Remains to be stable? or is it just too soon to tell.
I almost think it’d be interesting to take the opportunity to revisit things like vampire clans, don’t destroy anything in blood and smoke, but I’d love to see some of the oWoD stuff brought back (Note: I haven’t actually had time to read much of B&S yet). This is a personal, I really would love to have the ever perceptivily mad Malkavians (I wasn’t happy with 1e bloodline), The flesh crafting Tzimisce, and the Mage Tremere. I would say that I’d totally be happy with a more powerful Malkavian bloodline, and rules for the Tremere to be mages that were turned by a embrace ritual (of sort), but still have any given vampire of the vampire clans. I’m not really sure what to say about flesh crafting other than that’d make a cool discipline/magic which is what I wanted in 1e. Basically I don’t actually care if they’re back as full clans, I’d just like to be able to have them in spirit. Again maybe these things exist in B&S and I didn’t catch them on the flip though.
I feel this way about the Lasombra. The Khaibit just don’t do them justice.
Eh. I’m quite content for Masquerade to stay in Masquerade. The Vampire Translation Guide is there if you want to put more Masquerade in your Requiem, but I’d much rather they focus on building out Requiem’s unique aspects than spending time and word count on porting concepts that’ve already been done and that aren’t that great of a match thematically or tonally.
I agree with Eolirin. The big success of B&S was how much it focused on Requiem was, rather than what Requiem *wasn’t*, which really helped to establish clear blue water between it and Masquerade. Given that the Classic WoD is now being actively supported in parallel to NWoD, it really doesn’t make any sense to try and cross the streams when both can develop in their own distinct direction.
Damn… will this update be just for the Core Books, or are you planning on releasing all the extra books again too? I was planning for a big buy of supplements, but if you guys are going to release this stuff with 2ed ruling… i might just wait D:
We won’t be redoing all of the supplements. You can see the new ones on our schedule.
Well so B&S will never be played by myself until the supplements come out. Why …because some of the changes have seriously impacted upon certain aspects. Example; huge changes to coils, changes to the way you learn non clan disciplines. Impact a character sworn to the mysteries cannot drink another kindreds blood…..bit of a disadvantage there eh!!!? Just to rise off the top of my head. Hence until I see what or if a new Ordo covenant book B&S will remain on the shelf. And if they are not forth coming I be sticking with systems that are add one with all they do is break the current setups.
Next book up for Requiem: VTR – Secrets of the Covenants: A clanbook-style investigation into the covenants, building on the rich setting introduced in the Strix Chronicle. Developer: Rose Bailey. 160 pages. PDF/PoD.
I have a an order for a current rulebook. Can that be cancelled or replaced with an order for a second ed rulebook?
You should contact DriveThruRPG if you want to cancel your order. I don’t think it can be swapped, since 2e is a few months out.
(And, as I said, the changes are cosmetic, so B&S won’t be outdated or anything.)
Exciting stuff. Great news as well about offering a free copy of the updated Vampire PDF to previous buyers. Hopefully a second edition for Hunter won’t be too far down the road as well.
Does this mean that the Forsaken and Mage books’ release dates will be pushed further back???
We’re not pushing anything back because of 2e. The release plan stays the same, although it may need adjustment for other reasons.
The impact of the change was a control-R to change “Fallen World Chronicle” to “Mage: The Awakening” in each file. The delay was less than a minute.
Great news, though I would agree with keeping the Chronicle names in some way would be the way to go.
Just a quick question, though – Obviously, with the Strix cast in the role as the Big Bad in B&S, there was no need to include Belial’s Brood as the default Antagonist w.r.t. to the B&S.
As B&S has now moved from “Alternative Chronicle Setting” to “Core Chronicle Setting” with the intended 2nd ed rebranding, does that mean the entire Covenant has been official purged from the setting, or will they return in some form later (possibly in/with a new Covenant book) ?
This was talked about shortly after the release of B&S. It’s not that Belial’s Brood don’t exist in the updated setting, it’s just that they didn’t have the wordcount to do them justice, and decided it would be better not to write about them in that book at all than to have their writeup be rushed and incomplete. They will have a full chapter dedicated to them in Secrets if the Covenants.
*Secrets OF the covenants. I hate my auto correct sometimes.
Actually, neither VII nor Belial’s Brood get a dedicated chapter in Secrets of the Covenants.
The Brood still exist in the setting, though. As you said, their absence in the new core book was wordcount.
This was talked about shortly after the release of B&S. It’s not that Belial’s Brood don’t exist in the updated setting, it’s just that they didn’t have the wordcount to do them justice, and decided it would be better not to write about them in that book at all than to have their writeup be rushed and incomplete. They will have a full chapter dedicated to them in Secrets of the Covenants.
Very excited about this, just hope the second additions of Werewolf and Mage do expand on the canon like the God Machine and Blood and Smoke did.
They will.
How will this impact the fiction anthologies announced? I’m assuming they’ll still go forward (Promethean REALLY needs some more fiction as great as in the main book) but with different titles?
The anthologies are still forthcoming. Their titles may or may not change.
> (Promethean REALLY needs some more fiction as great as in the main book)
Wholeheartedly agreed! Promethean needs more fiction so I can try to convince more people of how awesome this game is.
Hearing Eddy talk about his story for the Promethean anthology got me really excited, if the rest of the book is half as good it should be crazy amazing.
Very exciting news. Hopefully a 2nd Edition Hunter isn’t too far away : )
Why make more books that won’t be released to print. Unless we as consumers go to print on demand sites like drivethrurpg when will I be able to go to a store and buy my books again. I love white wolf games but this thing of print on demand only suxs badly, And whether it be chronical books or second edition books. Makes no difference, if to u write something cool and only a few have access. What about the next generation of gamers how will they experience the games.
As experience players we have no problem waiting three weeks for our books in the mail; we already had the experience of playing the better game but what about the new kid sitting with his birthday money looking at a shelf thinking this looks good but I will just go with pathfinder because I can have it now. We live in a “now” generation. Pathfinder and games still on the shelf are killing our future. Yeah sure it is good for the current but it is not sustainable. So stop it take the hit in profit so as to build the future profits and keep our game alive.stop worrying about books now one needs yet. Worry about the real problems. Just my opinion.
Taking a hit on profits isn’t the trade off. They barely make any profits as it is.
It’s PDF and Print On Demand + Kickstarter, or it’s no books at all.
And honestly? Pdfs on a tablet is where the industry is going to be headed anyway, especially among younger players. Not that many people go to book stores anymore.
While I hear and accept your comment about profitability, I do have to take exception to “this is where the industry is going to be headed anyway”. I own a bricks and mortar game store, and am well-connected to other retailers across North America and in Europe. In fact, print is quite alive and well. We sell huge quantities of hardcopy books including the new D&D, Pathfinder, the new Star Wars RPG, new Shadowrun, etc. (and, ironically, nWoD books, which are still available from distributors but are rapidly dwindling) and we sell these to players of all ages–younger players included. While there’s no shortage of publications on laptops, tablets and phones, there’s still a huge demand for hardcopies. Now, I’m certainly no Luddite–I’m a writer, in fact, and have material published in both print and electronic formats. There’s much debate about the extent to which e-media will actually replace hardcopy across the publishing world, not just regarding RPGs; the fact is, to ignore print is to lose a large piece of potential market share.
Again, I defer to your comments about your particular business model. You are not, after all, able to benefit from the economies of scale enjoyed by, say, Wizards of the Coast or Paizo. But to tacitly declare print as “dying” or even “dead” simply isn’t correct. In fact, if I could get a discount on DTPRG’s POD products, I could handily sell a lot of them. But DTRPG remains unable/unwilling to offer such wholesale discounts, so that market remains untapped. My own nWoD group (two 18 year olds, several 20-somethings and one player in early 30s) is now moving its game to other mechanics (mainly our own, but adapted from another system). Part of the reason is, in fact, because the products just aren’t readily available in hardcopy. I realize this is anecdotal and hardly representative, but it is what it is.
You won’t find many people around here that would not want the books in shops. However, there’s no denying that moving from print to PoD has given Onyx Path unparalleled creative liberty leading to an explosion of new titles and content. The current working model seems to have removed a great burden from all the creative team, allowing them to focus on what they do best (write amazing stories) without getting bogged down in the unpleasant realities of distribution, stock etc.
It is more difficult for a newcomer to realize all this wealth of content is out there compared to having books in brick and mortar shops, no doubt about that. But this issue can be solved by alternative promotion / publicity / advertisement moves instead of reverting back to a model that has proven troublesome and ultimately unsustainable for OP.
As for B2B PoD discounts, this has been talked about a lot in recent months, I remember Rich writing that it is something they are looking into with DTRPG. We can only remain confident that a good compromise crops up in the near future.
DriveThru are currently trialling a retailer system, where owners of stores get a discount on Print on Demand books intended for resale as stock in their stores. Get in touch with them and see if you can get on it.
It’s not the old business model – with no distributor involved, it turns it into a direct order process – but Rich has talked about it for the last year or more as the way to get our books into stores. My own FLGS is interested in it.
DTRPG is monopolizing the publishing of rpg books, its getting very hard to get some books. I would like to have the other onyx path books but I have only the books from KS. at least, the KS books doesnt charge $50 for shipping.
I believe the Retailer discount for PoD is 10% off of retail. That was the last news I got from them, unless that has changed. They could also make good money from simply licensing stores to do their own printing. Sell a store a master PDF and then take commission on sales. Sure it is trust, but not more or less trust that a buyer is not going to give copies of a PDF to their mates anyway.
Quote: Will there be second editions of Hunter, Geist, or Mummy?
We don’t have an announced plan that far ahead.
-I’m super excited about a 2nd Edition, but bummed that nobody at OP wants to address the other games in the NWoD line. They can at least say if they have plans to drop them from the new edition.
It’s too far out. I’d hazard to guess that they have no plans to drop them, but because a lot can change in 2 years, they do not want to commit to anything right now. So they can’t say anything besides that.
It’s not that they don’t want to talk about them – I’ve heard word of the writers looking to see who gets to do Geist. It’s that this is what’s confirmed, on the schedule, and they can talk about. Not sure they want to talk about anything CCP haven’t signed off on yet, which Hunter, Geist and Mummy would likely fall into.
That’s correct. We don’t plan to drop anything, but we can’t commit to specific books until they’re closer to being written.
I hope if they do Geist they change the way manifestations and Keys work; because right now it’s a redundant mess. I get what the original developers were going for, but it’s so redundant and inconsistent that it makes me sadface a lot, because it’s my favorite line.
In this case, it literally means they haven’t announced stuff that far out: Onyx Path works a year in advance on it’s schedule. It just means those games are all more than a year out at this point.
I think it’s more than a year in advance, only the further in the future something is, the more nebulous and hard to pinpoint it becomes.
As far as marketing goes, announcing a product release one year in advance is as safe as it gets, barring unexpected accidents down the development line.
My guess is that Beast has been in the works for at least 6 months to a year.
Honestly I am not so enthusiastic about the announcement.
I got the Premium Print on Demand version of Blood and Smoke just a while ago and feel kinda mocked.
The edition I’ll have will be outdated, hard to sell, and opposed to people who paid way less (for a PDF) who’ll get a nice nod / compensation … well there’s nothing.
Its very frustrating.
You do realize the only difference between the two will be the title on the cover, yes? And they’re going to offer free PDFs to everyone who bought the hardcover (I think, could be the PDF + hardcover combo)?
You have a collector’s item now, and can still use it! What’s not to love?
According to the entry the PDF will only be granted to those who bought either PoD + PDF or just the PDF. Which leaves the rest kinda out in the rain.
It also says that they’ll make “a few cosmetic changes to Blood and Smoke” which I read as that there will be changes apart from the cover and title which are obvious.
If it were just for the covers the “PDF present” wouldn’t make as much sense?
Yeah, but… They’re cosmetic changes. The rules will be the same, and according to Rose, page numbers will all remain the same, and nothing significant will be added or removed. Honestly, I’m guessing the only changes will be to the cover, the intro, and maybe a reference to the 1st edition books or the God-Machine Chronicle here or there.
I’ve updated the post with the expected changes. It’s really tiny, with rules and setting not changing at all.
Great to hear! Good to see life in nWoD and OPP in general. 🙂
When can we expect the 2E of WoD to be released? The new unified Blue Book?
Thanks!
Farewell, pretty Chronicle names. You will be missed.
I honestly don’t get it Rose. What is actually going to change? Just the names?
Name changes CAN be a big deal. I remember when Vampire: the Masquerade Revised Edition came out, and there were huge, mad arguments on the old White Wolf forum boards over whether it was a ‘proper third edition’ or just a revision of Second Edition rules. I didn’t get the venom on either side of that fight, but it meant something to someone.
Yeah, it’s gonna be name changes from chronicle books to [Rad Game] Second Edition. Not much of a change, but it’s gonna carry weight that a name like ‘Blood and Smoke’ apparently can’t carry.
A rose by any other name… Yeah, that’s how I feel about it.
I agree that names can definitely affect lots of things, from marketing to just explaining the game to friends (which is another form of marketing). It’ll be a lot easier to explain to my gaming buddies about WoD 2.0 than it would to explain that there’s the WoD rules, then the GMC updates, which aren’t -really- a second edition, buuut…
I would have some materiel for Geist… it would be great….
I’m glad to hear this and wish you guys had been able to do the 2nd edition in the first place. Can I ask what changed that allowed you to go ahead with the 2nd edition (CCP finally gave in?)? And what about the new core book, will it have the god machine chronicle stuff in it.
Seems a lot of questions here could be answered by people reading the “New World of Darkness: Jan-Aug 2015” blog.
I suppose I should be directing my annoyance at the people who brought it up rather than Onyx Path, but I was irritated to read about the idea of a second edition of Mummy when more than half the first edition isn’t published yet. I could wait for them to fill in all the background info left out of the corebook, but if they are going to be further delayed to blend in with a second edition corebook too, then forget it.
That’s almost certainly a ridiculous overreaction. But I have been so disappointed by previews of the GMC-update books so far, that I don’t want it to happen to Mummy too.
The 2nd Edition of Mummy is several years away. We have a fair number of other game lines to get to first.
This is fantastic news.
So glad the general rulebook will be unified! And please let Geist be the first somehow in the back three to get the 2.0 treatment. Onto the cWoD update!
Will the God Machine Chronicle book be revised to include the full rules rather than just the update? I was thinking of buying it with my PoD coupon from the Demon kickstarter.
I believe that this is a good move. I will be sure to invest.
I’m a little bit sad that the “cosmetic changes” won’t include a new cover (at least going by Rose’s summary). I’ve always found the cover to B&S to be really bland, and its never remotely screamed “Vampire” to me. That’s doubly the case with it being the cover of an official second edition. I’d far rather see it replaced with a more traditionally White Wolf-y cover.
So, if I’m reading this right it’s essentially just reprinting those titles with new covers? Seems like a waste of money. Plus, I really like the title “Fallen World Chronicles” and was looking forward to the book. Heck, everyone I know already knew these were second editions when God Machine and Blood and Smoke were announced, despite what was claimed. Because, that is exactly what they were and are.
It’s not a waste of any money because, since it’s print on demand, they’re not actually doing a ‘re-print’, just an adjustment to the print files.
Also, just because everyone you know assumed that GMC and B&S were second editions doesn’t mean that everyone else did
Not really, the nWoD 2nd Core book will be a combination of God Machine Chronicle and the first nWoD Core (the blue book). Vampire the Requiem 2nd Edition will be more of a cover change with a few tweaks to the text. Both Forsaken 2nd and Awakening 2nd we’re being created as if they were 2nd editions, so it’s really just a title change during the writing that’s happening now. Glad to hear you liked the Chronicle naming convention, those Chronicle names will be featured in the, and on the, 2nd Edition books. The value and reason for the Chronicles is still there- a default setting for players to get into. Having the books be true 2nd editions is what we always intended, and there are so many benefits to doing it that way that it remains the best way to go, ultimately.
So the nWoD 2nd edition and the revised God Machine Chronicle are one and the same? Nice. Will it be made available as a free update for people who already own the GMC?
Will the new releases be available in print through gaming stores, or only in PDF and through Drive Thru?
If the gaming stores choose to be part of our Retailer PoD beta program. Otherwise, there’s no reason to change our current business model for these 2nd Editions.
Hi Rich, I have filled in the form a couple of times about the Beta but had no follow up so far? Sent a direct email yesterday too, so hope to get a reply soonish. tks
So, any chance of these books having a an index? 😉
Yes, we were discussing this for the nWoD core just the other day.
YAY!
And btw, I am freak’n loving Blood & Smoke!
I just hope that they fix Prometheon in the second edition. The thing that turned me off to the game was the Disquiet. It’s like having my character have a delightful conversation with a beautiful lady, when all of a sudden, the woman screams, and proceeds to brain me with her brick-filled purse. Character interaction shouldn’t be nerfed in a RPG.
Since VtR players who purchased the B&S pdf will receive a free pdf of VtR 2nd Ed, will the folks who purchased the God-Machine Chronicles pdf receive a PDF of the 2nd Edition WoD pdf? Thanks
I honestly want them to redo Blood and Smoke if they are going to do an official second edition. The Strix are annoying as a antagonist group. They were an interesting thing in Requiem for Rome but was glad they disappeared until I saw they were a major focus in B&S. The Belial Brood book did a lot of fleshen out the Brood and was annoyed severely when they were not included in B&S book at all. And the VII are figments of bad guys ie so mysterious as to be unexplainable. For god sakes, the other venues have individualist bad guys, but at least we have an idea of who they are and what they want, ie Bale Hounds, Banishers, Slashers.
Vampire the Requiem as a whole lacks an united same genre based antagonist group. Of the NWoD lines, Requiem is my least favorite NWoD venue because of that, not even B&S smoke could change that and in fact pushed it further down.
I think disciplines and covenants can be saved but Requiem 2.0 needs a united vampire antagonist and ancient “owl” spirits-that become vampire like, are not it. The Belial Brood needs to be turned into a major anti-covenant organization, kind of like how the Brood book fleshed them out to be instead of anarchistic demon worshippers. Like how in Forsaken/Mage the Tribes/Orders are against the Pure/Seers of the Throne. The VII need to be finally killed off or say here is who and what they are finally. The Strix needs to be put down as a major antagonist. The Strix should be what the VII are. Mysterious, otherworldly, rare antagonists that strike without warning.
Honestly off all the NWoD games, Requiem still feels like its the only game where your major primary antagonist is the other player character groups.
I agree that Belial’s Brood and VII should be fleshed out as addition minor, but dangerous antagonist. However your views on the Strix are nothing more than an opinion of personal taste.
It would be way more helpful if you gave objective input on why we should do away with the Strix and why they are not a good Antagonist.
In any case Vampires are their own biggest antagonist!
I’m sure it’s not a priority at all, but I would totally love an Innocents 2nd Edition book. It’s probably been the favorite nWoD game with our group 😀
Given there are just ‘a few cosmetic changes to Blood and Smoke [to] re-release it as Vampire: The Requiem, Second Edition,’ will that be happening soon?
I don’t have Blood and Smoke, but want to get the PDF+POD bundle of VTR2e so am holding off until it’s available.
It will be soon. 🙂 I don’t have an exact date.
Thanks, I’ll be on the lookout for it!