Reviews for Vampire: the Requiem

The average rating for Vampire: the Requiem based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-03-27 00:00:00 Todd Kovilaritch As an avid, rabid fan of Vampire: the Masquerade when I was in high school, I had more than a few misgivings about the "New" World of Darkness and how much of a money-grubbing gimmick re-releasing tweaked version of everything was going to turn out to be. So wrong. Serve my words up and I'll eat them with or without a fork. Basically, Vampire: the Requiem nailed personal horror while making these vampires stunning predators who are caught between mourning their humanity and reveling in damnation. As before, these vampires have characteristics, powers and weakness that fuel all the familiar myths but - true to White Wolf - that's never the full story. I personally love all the tweaks and twists added to this incarnation of vampire - it sounds like a bitch to get by as a vampire with facets of the existence invoking a true feel of unease imagining how you would function if you became one. It's basically like White Wolf kept everything that worked wonders for VtM, streamlined it, and brought in some vicious, bitter stuff to make sure players can't help but get a little messed up. It really emphasizes what a supernatural cesspool Chicago is with vampires running the show and characters are almost certain to be victimized time and again if they hope to thrive - or just survive.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-04-06 00:00:00 George Rhodes Okay this is mine. *scuff toes*. It was a present from H who is entertained by my adolescent fondness for Vampire: The Masquerade. What can I say about this? It's a White Wolf game so its systems are built around the assumption that your players are dickheads who want to derail, interfere with and generally disrespect your storytelling genioos. As such, when it's fun, it's fun in spite of itself. Combat is slightly more streamlined than Masquerade but you still get the feeling you are somehow Letting the Side Down by engaging in it. Because this is a STORYTELLING game, not a game for, y'know, enjoying. It's also still got that thing where your vampire powers are dependent on semi-arbitrary stats and skills so in order to be even semi-competent at anything you basically have to choose your skills to fit your disciplines rather than, say, your character. And most sessions are spent going "sorry, what's my second obfuscate power again, and what do I roll?" and then flicking frantically going the the book "I think it allows you conceal small objects about your person, oh no, wait, that's the one that lets you be invisible and you need to roll dexterity plus ... horse riding." But, hey, that's tabletop gaming for you. Ten minutes of fun crammed into four hours of play. Also it has the on-going Vampire problem of critical failures being hilariously difficult to articulate. Here is a sample of actual play: W: Okay, so ... I have this power that lets me talk to animals, I think? I think? Me: *thumbing frantically through rule book* Uh, yes. Feral Whispers: You can communicate with and control animals, individually or in groups. W: Great, so there's bound to be animals around. We can ask if they know anything about this murder. D: Sounds like a plan. W: Uh, how do I do that? Me: *thumbing frantically through rule book* Manipulation plus animal ken plus animalism. W: Manipulation? I don't have any manipulation. Why the fuck would I take manipulation? I'm supposed to be this bestial monster savager guy. Me: Just ... like ... roll what you have? W: Okay, what animals are around? Me: Um, in Oxford at night? I guess there's pigeons maybe? W: I'm not talking to pigeons. That's undignified. Me: Beetles? W: No. Me: Squirrels? W: Fine, squirrels. I'll try to talk to the squirrels about the murder. *rolls* Okay, I've critically failed. Me: Right, so the squirrels won't talk to you. W: I've been snubbed by squirrels. H: Wasn't that a botch though? Me: You mean, it has to be worse than that? Look, I honestly have no idea what a spectacular failure to talk to squirrels would look like. I guess they're pissed off. Your name is black-listed among the Oxfordshire squirrel population. Whenever they see you coming they throw nuts at you. And there you have it. A storytelling game of personal horror.