That Old Tree posted:

If they have sufficiently little care about the rules and no one pushes too hard on system mastery, it's possible the game will be fine by accidentally avoiding actually interacting with most of the rules, good or bad.

Fuzz posted:

Incorrect, and Parliament of Knives actually has a Nos that looks normal to kindred and seems unassuming, and then around actual mortals who aren't ghouls he's severely offputting and wrong.

Loomer posted:

IIRC there was a merit somewhere for Nosferatu allowing them to pass for nearly normal, but it was never really a Thing in classic VtM that I recall. The actual characters and artwork were very inconsistent, though - some of them just look like they've been in a bad accident as a kid or had an unfortunate skin condition while others are covered in fur or constantly seeping blisters.

That Old Tree posted:

God, I hated that art style.

Loomer posted:

Well good news, Kavak, that's not Araya - who has a much better version of the Smudgy Look - it's Christopher Shy.

Loomer posted:

I guess it was just part of the style at White Wolf for a while, since a couple of artists did it very similarly. Even Shy's other stuff is actually pretty good - like his work in Montreal by Night - because it's got a solid feeling to it. Let him do black and white inkwork and Shy'll give you this:

Get him to do photorealistic art without enough time or pay and, uh, you get this:

Loomer posted:

Get him to do photorealistic art without enough time or pay and, uh, you get this:

FirstAidKite posted:

Really stupid question about nosferatu.

Are all nosferatu specifically physically repulsive to look at and ugly in terms of conventional beauty or is the ugliness not necessarily a physical thing but more of an aura and that they just exude the idea and concept of being repulsive and ugly, for whatever definition of what that means being up to the player playing them?

quote:

Physical horror is the lot of the Nosferatu,
and their unsettling deformations are countless.
No two Nosferatu share the exact same malformation,
and the Clan is a freakshow of snarled limbs,
fanged protrusions, hellish countenances, serpentine
spines, ruined faces, spasmodic appendages, and
even features not usually seen on the mortal stock
from which the Nosferatu are drawn. The Sewer
Rats often hide these disfigurements under shapeless
robes and rags, but some exult in the discomfort
their presence causes, and don’t bother disguising
them. They may even emphasize them.

quote:

Hideous and vile, all Nosferatu
count as having the Repulsive
Flaw (-2) and can never increase
their rating in the Looks Merit. In
addition, any attempt to disguise
themselves as human incur a
penalty to your dice pool equal
to your character’s Bane Severity
(this includes the Obfuscate powers
Mask of a Thousand Faces and
Impostor’s Guise)

quote:

Weakness: All Nosferatu are repulsive or at the very least uncomfortable to be around.
The cause need not be a physical deformity. A palpable aura of menace, a charnel odor
or the undeniable manner of a predator is just as compelling as a twisted body. With
regard to dice pools based on Presence or Manipulation Attributes in social situations,
the 10-again rule does not apply. Additionally, any 1’s that come up on a roll are
subtracted from successes. (This latter part of the weakness does not affect dramatic failure
rules.) This weakness does not apply to dice pools that involve the Intimidation
Skill, or to the Composure Attribute.

quote:

Nosferatu: The Lonely Curse
Nosferatu embody fear, disgust, and all manner of
uncomfortable feelings. Some are inhumanly ugly. Some have
a gaze that makes a person feel violated. Every Nosferatu has
something that stands in the way of normal relationships. When
dealing with humans, treat the Nosferatu’s Humanity as two dots
lower for the purpose of Social penalties, and treat any Presence
and Manipulation failures as dramatic failures. This bane does not
apply to interactions with Touchstones or Kindred.

Warthur posted:

cool, evocative black and white art

Kurieg posted:

Defenestrategy posted:

Do you have the page description for this character? I would love to know more about "Mother Pasta"

quote:

Athens, Greece: a city with an ancient past now thrust into the modern age. A city torn between the Camarilla establishment and the Anarchs, where everyone owes your boss a favor, and that makes you an untouchable vampire in this nocturnal society where you and your fellow Kindred must conceal yourselves from mortal eyes--the Masquerade of the Kindred.

Rumors spread of an ancient vampire, Aristovoros, intent on bringing about a new world for the Kindred, an end to the Masquerade. Why hide from mortals when you can reign over them as gods?

Who will you use, who will you help, and who will you prey on? Will you topple the old Prince Peisistratos? Will you betray your boss when your lost sire returns? What miseries will you inflict to fight for a fairer, more humane world?

• Become Clan Tremere, Ventrue, Malkavian, Banu Haqim, or thin-blooded.
• Play as a man, a woman, or a non-binary person, femme, masc, or androgynous, and as gay, straight, bisexual, queer, or ace.
• Outlast a dark tale of corruption, power hunger, betrayal, and yearning for what you once were.
• Rise within the ranks of the Camarilla, stand with the Anarchs, or forge your own lonely way ahead.
• Unmask your true sire. Is it the Prince Peisistratos? One of the city's Primogen? Is it Aristovoros himself?

Which part will you play in this game of masks?

That Old Tree posted:

I'm not surprised if ancillary or incidental sources diverge, because lol White Wolf games, but every core book up to the 5th edition specifies physical deformity for Masquerade Nosferatu (and skimming the revised Clanbook, I don't see any disagreement). I don't recall there ever being "normal-looking but offputting" on the table throughout most of Masquerade, though, and I was fairly deep into it when it was at its height.

TheKingslayer posted:

Speaking of art in Vampire this is still one of my favorite pieces. Enough so I ended up getting the same t-shirt Lambach is wearing

Terratina posted:

So, what's the SA hive mind verdict on V20? I have a feeling my Storyteller is going to make a switch to that system.

Omnicrom posted:

Game is fine, lore is kind of poo poo even when it isn't causing International Incidents.

Kavak posted:

V5 was the shitshow, V20 is just Distilled Revised plus Beckett's Jyhad Diary.

Terratina posted:

So, what's the SA hive mind verdict on V20? I have a feeling my Storyteller is going to make a switch to that system.

That Old Tree posted:

If you like/tolerate (old) World of Darkness games, and Vampire in particular, it's probably the best or second-best single book for that. It is 100% a nostalgia celebration edition and knows it. Improvements over old material are minimal, but it's also written as well as can be and with familiar love, even in the supplements.

If you already dislike (old) World of Darkness, and Vampire in particular, it's probably the worst thing since it's that thing you hate but also 450 pages long (plus supplements!), stuffed to the brim with an expert curation of the accumulated cruft of 20 years of bizarre nonsense.

I love it, and I dearly regret not getting my hands on a tradprint copy when I could've.

EimiYoshikawa posted:

Lost first edition is a better game than Lost second edition,

TheKingslayer posted:

I think my favorite improvement from V20 is making celerity a little more balanced.