I want to be a society vampire, you see. –F. Scott Fitzgerald First, news around the non-existent office. The Exalted <Kickstarter> cleared its goal in an amazing 18 minutes, then quadrupled it within twenty-four hours. Huge congratulations to John, Geoff, and Holden, as well as their writers and everyone involved on the art and production side. Our players … Read more
I promised that even though the open playtest was over, we’d still be posting previews from Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle. I’d intended to do it sooner, but I stepped up and became Onyx Path’s new Development Producer, so blogging’s been a little delayed. Recently, the forums started discussing Humanity, and, since redlines on that section … Read more
Happy GM’s Day! I’m not sure whether it’s appropriate or mean that I set a deadline for today. Seems like every week I say it’s been a busy week in the Vampire office. Lately, though, it’s always true. Just over the weekend, I worked on Blood and Smoke and Demon drafts, plus a minor product … Read more
Nightmare’s not about fear. Fear is rational, fear is understandable. Nightmare is about terror. Blind, stinking, rabbit-fleeing-from the wolves terror. Oh, sure, it starts out innocent enough. The guy a little too creepy to talk to, the little old lady you somehow feel compelled to give a wide berth. But then the little glitches start … Read more
Predators recognize each other. By sight, by smell, by touch. And with that recognition comes a whole host of complications. Rivalry, fear, lust. In Vampire: The Requiem, this knowing and its consequences are modeled by the predatory aura. In Blood and Smoke, this aura replaces the predator’s taint from the core book. It fills a similar … Read more
I’m annoyingly sick this week (101 degree fever for several days running), so we don’t have a full dev blog. However, writer David Hill has been posting Merits from Blood and Smoke on the forums, and I wanted to share a few of the social ones. The Merits in the original Vampire book were some of … Read more
Update: Clarifications and fixes were made on 1/19. — Busy week for Vampire again. I’ve been working with the writers on the last of the Disciplines, and getting together reprinted material for the anthology. We posted a second draft of Protean earlier today. And there are lots of contracts and practical matters to square away! Plus, … Read more
Diehard GameFAN has named Blood Sorcery (link) their 2012 sourcebook of the year (link). We’re in good company, alongside Shadows of Esteren and Cthulhu By Gaslight, among others. I can honestly say without hesitation that Blood Sorcery is the best Vampire: The Requiem book I’ve read in a very long time (perhaps even since the inception of the line) and it really gives … Read more
Update 1/17/2013: We’ve uploaded a second version of Protean, based on feedback here and on our forums. Full animal form moves down to the third dot. The fourth dot power, Unnatural Change power gives vampires traits that go beyond the merely bestial, and into the truly abominable. Click here to check it out. — The final … Read more
Time for another round of playtesting for Blood and Smoke: The Strix Chronicle, this summer’s big Vampire book. Tonight, we’re rounding out the Daeva Discipline spread by introducing Majesty. Majesty follows the pattern of many other Disciplines in that each power expands on others. You’ll notice Conditions and Beats, two concepts being introduced in The God Machine … Read more