Just a quick update today thanks to a busy week at work, but given these posts are all about retro-covers, I thought that it was about time to break out some Vampire: The Masquerade.
As I've mentioned previously, White Wolf's Storyteller series was the big game in the mid and late nineties, which coincided with my roleplaying youth. Although Vampire wasn't my favourite of the series, it was the most popular and the one which defines the series from the very start. That's not to say I didn't like it, as I certainly did, and played it a lot in both the tabletop and live action form.
The clanbook series established the format of producing a splatbook for the different factions in the various different games. They were short (about 30-40 pages) and comparatively cheap, but as they were written by different authors, the quality was variable.
Clanbook: Tremere is an interesting example, as it was one of the better ones in my opinion. I mean, who wouldn't want to play a blood magic wielding vampire warlock? I haven't read it in years, but I remember it containing good information on Thaumaturgy and the byzantine organisation of the Tremere clan. It was certainly one of the best clanbook to build of cohesive vision of a clan, as opposed to a collection of stereotypes (looking at you, Clanbook: Brujah)
Part of its quality is due to the fact it was written by Keith 'Doc' Herber of Call of Cthulhu fame. Herber makes some less than subtle nods to this, including the Servants of the Worm, who own the Necronomicon and worship Cthulhu. In fact, it is Herber who does much in this work to build the tightly woven conspiracy that lies at the heart of clan Tremere.
Do the rest of you remember the original clanbooks? Do you have a favourite?
I had a few - my favourite was the Giovanni in the second wave of printing, and I remember being a little disappointed with the Brujah book.
ReplyDeleteYeah the Giovanni one was good. It was the last clanbook produced in the series, so by then they had refined things somewhat.
DeleteI think I only read Clanbook Venture, Lasombra and Gangrel. I have no lasting memories of the books though, just the PCs that relate to them.
ReplyDeleteI recently revisited Vampire with the 20th Anniversary Edition and I admit there is something very awesome in the RPGs set up. Its massive success was not just due to fortuitous timing or tapping an unsatisfied need in the hobby.
Glad to see you can post on here again!
DeleteI will always have a soft spot for those game, and quite apart from nostalgia, I think they are inherently good.
I traded all 13 Clanbooks for $1000 of 40k models in the end. I think i got a good deal
ReplyDelete