Maybe he means for it to be a dark comedy? Like, he thinks dead babies are funny if they're treated lightly?
From what I've seen of Paulie's arguments, what he wants is a Vampire game with all the dark and uncomfortable bits stripped out, not a Vampire game where all the dark and uncomfortable bits are played for laughs.

I mean, maybe I've misread him?

EDIT: No, didn't misread him at all, he just literally does not get that the 'Humanity' meter is meant as a mechanical deterrence from breaking into an orphanage and turning all of the babies into vampires in order to create a distraction.
 
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It's this brand of thematic purism that has made me so bitter and angry over WoD in the first place. I want to like the setting and enjoy it, but the themes and the purists who defend them keep getting in the way.

I can't give up and just play "Some Other Game" because then the purists win.

Why can't they just be happy with enjoying the game their way and letting me enjoy the game my way? To each their own.

*scratches head*
I mean, I don't really mind if you play VtM as superheroes with fangs, but, like, you don't have to preface everything with how much you hate the theme and purist and whatnot and so on, you know?
 
*scratches head*
I mean, I don't really mind if you play VtM as superheroes with fangs, but, like, you don't have to preface everything with how much you hate the theme and purist and whatnot and so on, you know?

Point taken. It's just that WoD has a reputation for having a very toxic and elitist fandom, and the thematic purists are a big reason for why that reputation exists.

So forgive me if I am a little pissed that a loud vocal minority has ruined the reputation of one of my favorite RPG settings.
 
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Really?

I thought we had a reputation for being that fandom that pretends to be vampires in order to seduce Twighlight fans.

I guess it depends on where you are. In my neck of the woods, most gamers won't touch WoD because they think it's
pretentious misery tourism. Or because they associate it with Twilight for some damn reason.

Plus, I have had the misfortune of LARP ST's using the Humanity meter as a means of enforcing thematic purity rather than for what Mark Rein-Hagen had originally intended it to be used for.
 
Point taken. It's just that WoD has a reputation for having a very toxic and elitist fandom, and the thematic purists are a big reason for why that reputation exists.
WoD's reputation for elitist fans goes all the way back to first edition.

WoDer to D&Der: "Hey look, our game doesn't have character classes, so ner."
D&Der: *flips through rulebook for five minutes*
D&Der: "Gee, these {character classification terminology for the game} look an awful lot like character classes, only with, y'know, a built-in personality stereotype."
 
I've had a lot of bad experiences with the WoD fandom both in real life and online, so there is a reason why I preface my posts with my thematic preferences. That way we know where I stand and what kind of game I'm envisioning.

I'm sorry if I get a little jumpy and full of anger, I've just been kicked down too many times by the purists.

Plus, I dislike the metaplot and I like the early WoD setting instead, and seeing NuWW resume the metaplot has also gotten me pissed too. I feel that Revised Edition was a mistake. A good system in terms of mechanics, but the nadir for the setting.
 
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Uhh, Uhh... when will Mage 2e finally release their second book! It's been long enough?

(I'm going to try to write some homebrew tomorrow to post here to clear the taste out of everyone's mouth, though I'm not sure if the reception of my homebrew is that great. But eh.)
Dave has been busy with Deviant but is supposedly free enough now to start working on mage stuff again. So i'd guess sometime in the latter half of next year.
 
I've honestly never heard masquerade seriously described as anything other than superheroes with fangs.

And yet the purists on Onyx Path Forums and other places bitch and moan at how horrible of an idea "Superheroes with Fangs" is and that you should feel bad for liking such an idea because "Superheroes With Fangs" is playing the game wrong or something.

It really becomes grating after a while, and I have become angry and bitter because of it. I am sorry if it comes across as taking it out on you guys because that is not my intent.
 
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Dave has been busy with Deviant but is supposedly free enough now to start working on mage stuff again. So i'd guess sometime in the latter half of next year.

Have they been previewing Deviant at all? Like, just curious about where it's going?

(Also, tonight or tomorrow I might try my hand at Changeling homebrew again since it was actually surprisingly fun. We'll see if I'm too burnt out with other writing or not.)
 
Have they been previewing Deviant at all? Like, just curious about where it's going?

(Also, tonight or tomorrow I might try my hand at Changeling homebrew again since it was actually surprisingly fun. We'll see if I'm too burnt out with other writing or not.)

If you are too burnt out to homebrew, don't do it. Just relax and don't stress yourself over how you're going to try and "shout me down", as you put it.

To each their own, dude. Just calm down and relax, enjoy life.

On another note, would anyone want to play a game of Mage: The Ascension 2e or Senshi: The Merchandising? Neither of the games have as much of a problem with angst and personal horror as Vampire does, and maybe if I played in or ST'd a game of Mage or Senshi, it could help calm me down.

Keep in mind that I only play Ascension 1e and 2e, as Revised and M20 both made too many drastic setting changes for my tastes.
 
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If you are too burnt out to homebrew, don't do it. Just relax and don't stress yourself over how you're going to try and "shout me down", as you put it.

To each their own, dude. Just calm down and relax, enjoy life.

...do you seriously have to have every other post for the periods where you're in this thread? I'm trying to converse with someone else, and there's no rule/etc against you talking to me or anything, but it's like: okay.
 
...do you seriously have to have every other post for the periods where you're in this thread? I'm trying to converse with someone else, and there's no rule/etc against you talking to me or anything, but it's like: okay.

I wasn't trying to have every other post. I literally thought you were making a post directed at me. I am very sorry and I didn't know you were conversing with someone else. My bad.

Continue with your conversation and forget I said anything. Once again, sorry for the interruption.
 
Um, I'm a guy, actually.

Look at the context. It was referring to @open_sketchbook

I could modify the Humanity meter to be less stringent, or maybe even offer a mechanic to increase your Humanity through role-play and doing heroic deeds. That could work, actually. Give me a little bit of time and I will cook something up to fix the Humanity meter.

Yes, do this, Refluffing the humanity meter to something more suited to adventuring is both not counterproductive like removing Humanity entirely and much, much less work than reworking everything else.
 
Yes. You're not wanted. Just stop doing this. It's old, and unappreciated. Go find a different website or make a different thread for people you haven't consistently insulted and talked down to about your ideas if you actually even care about doing this, and not just feeling like a martry by picking fights with a community that disagrees with you.

One, I do care about seeing my project to completion.

Two, I will stop insulting but you must realize the reason why I get so agitated is because I've been consistently attacked first. How about I change my tune and you accept that?

Three, I don't care if I am not wanted, I'm not leaving until my project is completed. As far as I know, I have not broken any rules this time around, and I do sincerely apologize if anyone was hurt by my statements on the thematic purists. I am just tired of being bullied and picked on over my opinions regarding WoD, it makes me super-defensive and that only exacerbates the situation. It's a vicious cycle and while I am more than willing to end the cycle, I am not going to leave this forum or this thread just because you want me to.

I can change for the better and I will change. All I ask is that you respect my differences and I will respect yours. That was my intent from the beginning. I do sincerely apologize for any pain I have caused by perpetuating this vicious cycle.

All I ask for is to not be belittled because my ideas aren't the default theme. If you like personal horror, that's perfectly fine with me. You are entitled to your preferences, just like I am entitled to mine.

It's just a game, nothing more. No play style is more valid than another so long as everyone's having fun.
 
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One, I do care about seeing my project to completion.

Two, I will stop insulting but you must realize the reason why I get so agitated is because I've been consistently attacked first. How about I change my tune and you accept that?

Three, I don't care if I am not wanted, I'm not leaving until my project is completed. As far as I know, I have not broken any rules this time around, and I do sincerely apologize if anyone was hurt by my statements on the thematic purists. I am just tired of being bullied and picked on over my opinions regarding WoD, it makes me super-defensive and that only exacerbates the situation. It's a vicious cycle and while I am more than willing to end the cycle, I am not going to leave this forum or this thread just because you want me to.

I can change for the better and I will change. All I ask is that you respect my differences and I will respect yours. That was my intent from the beginning. I do sincerely apologize for any pain I have caused by perpetuating this vicious cycle.

All I ask for is to not be belittled because my ideas aren't the default theme.
No, the only one who owes an apology is me. I was far too harsh, and have deleted the post. You have my apologies.
 
EDIT: No, didn't misread him at all, he just literally does not get that the 'Humanity' meter is meant as a mechanical deterrence from breaking into an orphanage and turning all of the babies into vampires in order to create a distraction.

Well, played completely RAW, without storyteller rule zeroing it, humanity makes it really difficult to do superheroes with fangs, because there are no exigent circumstances, self-defence/defense of others or do evil until evil exceptions.

Lets say that you hear about a Sabbat pack that just invaded your territory and are planning to mass embrace an orphanage, so you premeptively raid their safehouse to stop them.

First, you have to break open the locked door, that's a Humanity 5 sin (intentional property damage). Then you open up on the giant Tzimisce rape monster who just raped someone to death with her 10-foot long spiked penis-hands with your dragonfire auto-shotgun. Tzimisce rape monster dies, and that's a Humanity 3 sin (Planned violation, outright murder).

By the time you've cleared out this den of horror populated entirely entirely by sadistic fleshshapers that don't even resemble humans anymore and their unfortunate victims who no longer have minds of their own and can't be helped except by putting them out of their misery, your coterie has made around 20 degeneration rolls, most for premeditated murder, since that's what you came there to do, and have all accumulated at least one derangement.

This is okay if you're going to play the "I've seen shit" sort of burned out cop, but it doesn't work for moral paragon heroes.

Superheroes with fangs works a heck of a lot better if you don't adhere tightly to the humanity scale. Humanity posits an absolute morality, where punching people is never okay. But superheroics rely on situational morality, where it is okay to punch people if they're robbing a bank.
 
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Lets say that you hear about a Sabbat pack that just invaded your territory and are planning to mass embrace an orphanage, so you premeptively raid their safehouse to stop them.

Just going to stop you here, and point out that that's one of the big reasons that Requiem, which is a substantially better game than Masquerade, got rid entirely of the bullshit Paths.

The Paths fuck everything up, and are awful in basically every way. They were originally made for NPC Sabbat so they could be puppy-raping evil, and that's just fucking awful in a "Goddamnit WW, goddamn 90s" way. Force everyone to use Humanity and there's no one getting away with a morality system of "what I was going to do anyway".

Get rid of the Paths, and no, you don't have a Sabbat that does stupid EDGY things like that for the lulz. In fact, just make all Tzimisce into Old Clan and get rid of Vicissitude entirely. It's an awful athematic power that is only there because of the Necroscope books, and they were written by Brian "I invented Kthnaid, Cthulhu's good shiny golden brother" Lumley.
 
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