Renegade Game Studios Vampire: The Masquerade 5 Edition Core Rulebook Roleplaying Game

I have very fond memories of role-playing during highschool, college and beyond, particularly White Wolf games. One thing that always bothered me about their books was the inconsistency of the art. I certainly don't mind a variety of artists with different styles, but they ranged from incredibly skillful to a few steps above Napoleon Dynamite's drawings. This art in this book is consistent in quality. I'm an old school VtM player. I had no interest in V20 and didn't care for the apocalyptic scenarios that closed out 2nd Ed, but I listened to a podcast where they played this and really dug the mechanics. I feel like the Beast is far more present and can't be gamed away in this version, and that struggle should always be there, looming over everything. The new mechanics are smooth, too, which is awesome, because I hate when dice-rolling brings role-playing to a halt. I also like the changes to who's in the Camarilla and why. The world feels like it developed organically from the WoD of 25 or 30 years ago. Some of the big things they tried to introduce back in the day seemed to be attempting to upset the game and shock people, but this feels more like early ASoIaF, where you read it and say, "Yep, that makes sense." You don't need the official dice, but I think they're cool and add to the fun, and they are very functional with the new mechanics, so I recommend those as an add-on.

First things first, this book is a nightmare to navigate. But I truly cannot find it in me to rate it lower than 5 stars when there's so much value for your dollar here compared to other TTRPG systems. For the same price as a single dnd book, get a MASSIVE book with ribbon bookmarks and twice as much art, which fully covers what a starter/players guide, dm's guide, and monster manual cover. It's heavy as heck and my little noodle nerd arms do struggle using it for long periods but I can't be mad at being given so much content for the same price as a third of that content from my previous system. I do recommend getting the player's guide too if you're running a fully new vtm table and don't wanna dig around online a bunch during character creation for the few clans not included in the corebook (also just to keep for your players to flip through since that book is easier to navigate) but it'll still cost you 2/3 of the cost of the 3 d&d startup books for what would equate to 4 d&d books. Protip: the index is before the appendices in the back!

This is the main guide to get started with Vampire The Masquerade, and it has everything you would need. It has a massive amount of storyline information, enemy descriptions, sample adventures, and other game information. It's like combining three Dungeons and Dragons books in one. Not to mention, the artwork is fantastic. If you've ever been interested in Vampire The Masquerade, from the video games or whatever, this is a great read.

Book is a must have for anyone playing V:tM. They changed the combat system up and it is so much easier. The character creation makes much more sense now, too, a new character doesn't feel so cookie cutter and it really feels like they're allowing a person to put an emphasis on who the character is with skills and the like. That being said, I think removing a lot of the extras that the other additions had kills some of the flavor of the characters and the overall plot is bleak and not very enticing unless you're into weird apocalypses stuff. I love the emphasis on social combat, however.

The binding broke the first time I opened it - the cover is basically falling off now after very light use. But I enjoy the game and there aren't any pages falling out so ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Wonderful game

Bought one, the binding fell apart (as so many other reviews have noted)... so I bought 2 more and upon ioening each of them, the binding broke. This coupled with the very shoddy editting of the material within (it literally feels like it was slapped together randomly) has forced me to create my own version and print it myself. What a joke of a book.

The made and the paper, and the cover, and everything is amazing with this book, I think is the longest role playing games book that I have.