Which oWoD Vampire the Masquerade Clan is your Favorite?

[Rain_Spider_08]

I know there are at least a few here on pen and paper that are familiar with the older WoD (but still great) game Vampire the Masquerade, and I can't help but be curious as to who prefers which clan...

Personally I'm a Nosferatu, Malkavian and Gangrel fan :p

[Ed Zachary]

Lasambra, either Sabbat or anticlan (Path of Inner Voice).

Followed by a renegade Tremere (Path of Death).

[Moritz]

How about the 'Blood sucking kind'?

I mean, uh, there are different types of vampires?

Is this just another example of some gamer geek having way too much time on his hands to sit around and come up with 50 different types of blood suckers to sell a product to some other unsuspecting gamer geek without an imagination to generate blood sucking variables?

[shilar]

No there were only a few. I liked gangrel and malkavian(acting crazy comes natually to me). Each clan represented a slightly different take on the old myths and stories about vampires.

[Ed Zachary]

I liked gangrel and malkavian (acting crazy comes naturally to me).

Complex plotting and scheming come natural to me, so that's why I chose the Lasombra and the Tremere.

I never played a Gangrel or a Malkavian, or a Brujah either, because I viewed them as dull and simple.

But that was the good thing about the game, there was a clan for almost everyone.

[Rain_Spider_08]

Complex plotting and scheming come natural to me, so that's why I chose the Lasombra and the Tremere.

I never played a Gangrel or a Malkavian, or a Brujah either, because I viewed them as dull and simple.

But that was the good thing about the game, there was a clan for almost everyone.

I never liked the Toreador, to me they were/are the "Anne Rice" vampires... The "Brujah" were better in the dark ages, they were usually scholars or warriors, not the hotheads they were in VtM, the Ventrue were better in the dark ages too in my opinion. The Giovanni just make me ill in general, as Gary said in VtM: bloodlines the PC game "That's the Giovanni, spagetti and corpses" not to mention incest... ugh

[Ed Zachary]

I never liked the Toreador, to me they were/are the "Anne Rice" vampires...

I agree, but I did play one once for one game night. I couldn't get into the character. They did have three very good clan disciplines though.

[Rain_Spider_08]

I agree, but I did play one once for one game night. I couldn't get into the character. They did have three very good clan disciplines though.

I know you don't like them but I always loved the Gangrels disciplines, as well as the Nosferatu's.

[Ed Zachary]

I never liked Fortitude (beyond one rank) or Potence, but I often brought up my Celerity to three. I was never a warrior vampire, so Protean didn't do anything for me. And I never saw a use for Animalism. The Nosferatu's Obfuscation was good, but to me nothing else.

The Lasombra had Obtenebration and Domination. The Tremere had Thaumaturgy, Domination and Auspex. I would've loved it if the Lasombra had Auspex or presence instead of Potence.

[Warp]

I find myself drawn to the Gangrel and Nosferatu time and time again. I think the concepts for the clans are a bit more .. "not stifling" .? :confused: Or so it felt.

I always felt like there was a great deal of precedent and form that informed characters from other clans. Or maybe I wasn't as comfortable with the associated precedent?

In the past, I've played with folks who did a great Malkavian (as well as those who - alas - did not.) I've never thought I was up to that flavor of a challenge, and feared the associated collateral damage that seems to follow members of the clan. :rolleyes:

[shilar]

Yes Malkavians tend to cause a few problems. But then again which vamps don't in their own way. A lot of players play Malkavs childer over the top, kind of like how a lot of kender are played in D&D. I'd rather have you guessing just how crazy I really am. The thing a lot of players don't know about the Malkavians is that they are not really crazy just on info overload. According to the Malkavian clanbook Malkav has ascended to some form of psychic energy being. Linking all of his progeny in a kind of mental internet. The problem is although vamps are more than human their brains aren't, so they can't handle all of the data. So something goes *sproing* and we get something a little nuts. I always played up this side of being Malkavian. Playing more of a world wary eccentric who seems to know more than he should, than a raving loony.

[Rain_Spider_08]

The thing a lot of players don't know about the Malkavians is that they are not really crazy just on info overload. According to the Malkavian clanbook Malkav has ascended to some form of psychic energy being. Linking all of his progeny in a kind of mental internet.

The Malkavian Madness Network, that's the official name of the "mental internet" you were thinking of. Malkavians don't have to be crazy crazy but they do have to have a derangement of some kind, personally I favor the power object fixation :D But true they aren't all complete wack-jobs just as intune with reality as they can be with a derangement and the Madness Network.

[Rain_Spider_08]

I find myself drawn to the Gangrel and Nosferatu time and time again. I think the concepts for the clans are a bit more .. "not stifling" .? :confused: Or so it felt.

I always felt like there was a great deal of precedent and form that informed characters from other clans. Or maybe I wasn't as comfortable with the associated precedent?

same here :D what I love the most about the gangrel and nosferatu (save the fact I just think they're amazing in general) is the fact that they both have a mutual respect for one another... the gangrel lose their emotion over time and the nosferatu lose their looks shortly after the embrace. They both suffer in the same yet different way.

[Warp]

A lot of players play Malkavs childer over the top, kind of like how a lot of kender are played in D&D. I'd rather have you guessing just how crazy I really am. ... So something goes *sproing* and we get something a little nuts. I always played up this side of being Malkavian. Playing more of a world wary eccentric who seems to know more than he should, than a raving loony.

And it's those well-played Malks that suggest to me that I simple don't *get* the Clan, and am stuck with a little less "sproing" :D in my character's step!
Gotta give credit where credit is due.

[MortonStromgal]

1. Nosferatu
2. Tremere
3. Cappadocian (ok its Dark Ages not Masquerade)

[Digital Arcanist]

Lasombra

[DetCord]

Malkavian.. each and every time. I like a little fruit with my loops see.......

[Dimthar]

Gangrel

[Webhead]

It's tough to pick a favorite clan, because it comes down more to the character concept for me than favoring one clan over another. But if I had to choose, I'd probably say Malkavian for a very "non-standard" reason.

There was a Malkavian character concept that I've always wanted to play (admittedly it would be much funnier in a LARP, if I still played them, than table top, but either way). In this case, the Malkavian's derrangement is that he believes himself to be the main character in a Noir film and "self-narrates" his actions aloud and doesn't realize that everyone else can hear him (yes, this idea was conceived years before the episode of Family Guy that did this).

:D

[boulet]

Yeah Malkavian all the way, both because I liked their clan disciplines, and because we had a comedy tone in our vision of WoD. Once we didn't dig the "creature of the night angst" theme anymore and our group turned to sth that felt like Dance of the Vampires (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061655/), obviously playing with the stereotypes was the name of the game... I was inspired by One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest too...

[SpiffyBananaFoot]

I'd say Ventrue for Masquerade and then Salubri warrior for DA.

[nobliss]

Giovanni, ventrue and assimite but ventrue are the best (power and all).

[trechriron]

I loved playing Toreador. Seconded by Ventrue.

For Villains I loved the Tzimisce and Lasombra.

[Talmek]

1. Malkavian
2. Brujah
3. Ventrue

I played a campaign with two other friends as a Brujah. Mitch Baker (I know, plain jane name...but he was AWESOME) wasn't your typical Brujah hothead, but once he got riled up he was literally a FORCE to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately he met his end in a mine under a Ventrue compound. He had temporarily allied with a Ventrue neonate and attempted to betray him and his matron by way of M4 carbine with attached grenade launcher.

It was a shame that the mine collapsed before he made it out...but man did we have fun with that.

[Thoth-Amon]

I know there are at least a few here on pen and paper that are familiar with the older WoD (but still great) game Vampire the Masquerade, and I can't help but be curious as to who prefers which clan...

Personally I'm a Nosferatu, Malkavian and Gangrel fan :p
I am aware that there are different editions to WOD. This is something, from everything i've heard, that i would love to play. This being said, which edition, through your (all of you on this thread) experience, would you recommended, and why?

My intention is not to thread-jack, but to gain some insight from WOD's fanbase.

Thanks for sharing your opinions in advance,

Thoth-Amon

[praksis]

To the edition question, there were 4 versions of vampire. Never played 1st, but I believe 1-3 were very similar, just tweaks along the way. 4th is a dramatic change to things that I also haven't played yet. Looks neat, but still love the first setting (1-3). As to why I pick that setting, simply it's what I'm used to. It's a great setting that's wonderfly setup to play a huge variety of character types in a wide variety of game styles. I think 4th would be similar, just haven't had the chance to see it in action yet.

Favorite clan depends on the character concept. Easier to say which I like less: Tzimisce - Viscisitude = real evil in the games I played, never liked that one much (old clan is a different story though, much fun)
Brujah - Rebel bruisers never apealed to me, though a philospher version would be fun
Malkavian - I suck at playing derangements, but they can be great characters in the right hands.
So yeah, even the ones I don't like come with qualifiers.

Some I've liked more recently:
Setite - Corrupting, conniving, manipulating everyone to do what you want while convincing them you're doing them a favor. What's not to love :)
Caitiff (15th gen) - When simply surviving learning what the hecks going on is an accomplishment, doing something about it becomes a huge amount of fun.
Old Clan Tzimisce - Even elders have problems when everyone and their brother would like to see you and all your kind fade to dust...preferably with a good shove into the sunlight.

[MortonStromgal]

For 1-3 (oWOD) vs 4 (nWOD)
http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Differences_Between_VtM_and_VtR

I think 2 was the best in the 1-3 lot because the rules were less complex that 3 and it had less metaplot than 3 IMHO

Overall the new one is better but for the old timers its very annoying to get used to and some of the changes never sit well with old players. Requiem for Rome made me finally appreciate the new metaplot and bloodlines somewhat. nWOD rules are far better than oWOD though (with exceptions of sword fights and brawls).

[michaeljearley]

Venture
Gangral
Lasombra

Played 3e, never upgraded. Despite it's mechinism flaws, Vampire is the only game I've ever played where we would just sometimes not get out the dice and not only did it not offend me (rules lawyer) but it was better.

[praksis]

Nice link, though I think many of the problems they saw with the evolution of the game would be more dependent on the storyteller, but that's the case with any game really. Whatever the system, it becomes what the GM & players make of it.

Though that said I think the main reason I like vampire so much is it lends very well to more interactive games of description rather than turns and turns of dice rolling. With the right group it's a huge amount of fun.

[MortonStromgal]

Nice link, though I think many of the problems they saw with the evolution of the game would be more dependent on the storyteller, but that's the case with any game really. Whatever the system, it becomes what the GM & players make of it.

Though that said I think the main reason I like vampire so much is it lends very well to more interactive games of description rather than turns and turns of dice rolling. With the right group it's a huge amount of fun.

I couldn't agree more about the storyteller & players, however requiem ventrue are not masquerade ventrue and requiem nosferatu are not masquerade nosferatu so for old timers its hard to dump that Cainite baggage (because the cain myth is gone to) On its own the new game is mostly better but I think there were several poor design decisions in the begining that every other book has had work with. (preditors taint, 5x5, to name two there are several more some of which I understand why they did it I just don't agree with the decision)

[Bearfoot_Adam]

I was always about hte Gangrel and Brujah since I was always about sticking it to the man. Though sometimes it was fun being the man so Ventrue was a good time as well.

[Zeneak]

Personally i love playing Malkavian. for the family, and for my own mental health i shall do what i can. such a disfunctional family the Malkavian clans are.

[praksis]

Dysfunctional or all together too functional? (ok, I fully agree the metaplot of oWoD is so much more fun) Some of the best & worst characters I've seen are Malks. Doubt I'll ever play one as I don't think I could do the clan proper justice, but for a great take on insanity made functional I'd recomend This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman. Great examples in there of how a psyche can be fractured...plus she's a great author (imo of course)

[Zeneak]

Oh god yes. i love playing malks though, all in all you have to remember that it is concept before derangement. make a solid and understandable back drop and then a fracturing of the mind. that way you have an interesting character even without the derangement.. some people spend too much time on the insanity that there is no character behind it. the best Malks i have seen are people.. who have broken minds.. they are believable and that is what makes them terrifying.

[death666life]

Gotta love the Assamites. Need someone or something takin care of they are the ones you go to. If im not a Assamite the I play as a Clanless just so I can give it my own little touch.

[Bearfoot_Adam]

Gotta love the Assamites. Need someone or something takin care of they are the ones you go to. If im not a Assamite the I play as a Clanless just so I can give it my own little touch.

Assamite were one of my least favorite clans. Sure they got the moves and that can't be denied. They even have a good history. I just don't think they should have been a playable clan. It seemed to take the mystery and the fear out of them when you see them all the time.

[Zeneak]

The vampire game i go to is a LARP with over 100 people and each time i go there is from 30-80 at game. depending on the time of year and all that jazz. they list out how many vampires of each clan there can be, so when you make a character you run it by the STs and they check a mark off for the clan, if you make a character that moves the clan into 'over population' the prince gets fidgety about said over population and either sends the newcomer away from the city.. or the scourge is sent to dispatch one.

[MuslixtheMighty]

Gangrel with Salubri taking a very close second.