Vampire: Bloodlines

[Morfiend]

The Ventrue are the Aristocrats/Business men/ Corporation owners.

If you go to the bloodlines main page you can view a description of each race. Sadly, I was right. No Lasambra, Giovanni or Assimite. Seems like they left out all the interesting clans. Also no Tzsmech. Blah.

The clans you can be are. Bruja (Warrior), Tremere (Mage), Malkavian (insane, priests maybe), Ventrue (Merchants with mind powers), Gangrel (Beast aspect), Nosveratu (Ugly Rogues), and Toreador (Art Fags).

I think I will probably play through it twice, once as Tremere and once as Grengral. Maybe as Malkavian to see how they pull off the insanity factor.

[sidereal]

No Lasambra, Giovanni or Assimite. Seems like they left out all the interesting clans. Also no Tzsmech. Blah.

Who are these people?  I took my leave of WoD right around Changeling, and I recognize all of the included clans and none of the ones you name, so there's obviously some kind of cutoff between the two that Troika is adhering to.

[Riggswolfe]

Assimite are assassins, really cool characters. They have a unique discipline that deals with stealthy killing

Giovanni are basically Mafia/necromancers

Lasombra I don't remember. I never dealt much with Sabbat clans.

I wouldn't call Ventrue merchants so much as Mafia-lite. After reading the manual I'm also considering Toreador.

[Lanei]

<geek type="white wolf">
Assamite, Lasombra and Giovanni are all Sabbat clans.  From the list of clans you can play in the game, it looks like you can play ONLY Camarilla clans.
</geek>

[Rodent]

<geek type="white wolf">
Assamite, Lasombra and Giovanni are all Sabbat clans.  From the list of clans you can play in the game, it looks like you can play ONLY Camarilla clans.
</geek>

Your inner geek is weak. Assamite is actually an independant clan.

[Soukyan]

I think I will probably play through it twice, once as Tremere and once as Grengral. Maybe as Malkavian to see how they pull off the insanity factor.

I started playing as a Malkavian and it's pretty damn fun so far. It's particularly gratifying to see characters you talk when they realize you're insane. Heh. Plus, I'm really digging their powers. Spread the love... and insanity. *muhaha*

[Cougar]

<geek type="white wolf">
Assamite, Lasombra and Giovanni are all Sabbat clans. From the list of clans you can play in the game, it looks like you can play ONLY Camarilla clans.
</geek>

Actually Assamite and Giovanni are both independants (the other two indies are Ravnos and Settite). Lasombra and Tzimiche are the only two true Sabbot clans, however there are the Sabbot versions of all the Camirilla clans which have a name that escapes me at the moment (Anti-Gangrels isn't it.. its something else).

[Soukyan]

Well, since the Sabbat are your "enemies" at the start (I'm not terribly far along in the game just yet), it only goes to figure that you wouldn't play as one. The inclusion of the independents and Sabbat clans as playable would have been neat, sure, but I think they have a nice range as is and each should provide a different experience. Also, there are 4 possible endings to the game, so all the more reason to replay and try out another clan.

[schild]

4 possible endings? Wouldn't there be.....7?

[Soukyan]

4 possible endings? Wouldn't there be.....7?

Well, 7 different ways to play, but IIRC there are 4 different endings based on with whom you decide to ally.

[Morfiend]

Lasombra I don't remember. I never dealt much with Sabbat clans.

Lasambra are the Shadowmancers. They have powers over shadows, and can use them as weapons, or armor or minions. They have always been my favorite clan.

[Rasix]

Lasombra I don't remember. I never dealt much with Sabbat clans.

Lasambra are the Shadowmancers. They have powers over shadows, and can use them as weapons, or armor or minions. They have always been my favorite clan.

They're also amoral sociopaths and head of the Sabbat.  You'd have a hard time I think putting them into the protagonist role of this game.  "Ohh no, I violated the Masquerade.  Do I care? Pass the police officer, hon."

Would have been cool to play one, but the fit wouldn't be a good one.  Anyhow, with 7 different clans to choose from, a good variety for gameplay is already there.

Edit: I know there are multiple way to flex your nerd muscle to somehow fit the non Camarilla clans into the setting.  Lets not go there.

[Paelos]

Seriously, wtf are you people talking about. There's nerdy and then there's scary.

[Rasix]

Seriously, wtf are you people talking about. There's nerdy and then there's scary.

I played a little V:TM in college. Ohh, it's nerdy and scary at the same time. It's also quite fun, if you can manage to not play with complete drama queens.  It's no worse than D&D, just a tad more roleplay than some may be used to.

The mythos and history in the game are impressive and incredibly well done.   I had a good time just reading the clan descriptions, politics, and so on.

[WayAbvPar]

Seriously, wtf are you people talking about. There's nerdy and then there's scary.

The mythos and history in the game are impressive and incredibly well done.   I had a good time just reading the clan descriptions, politics, and so on.

Agreed. I only played once or twice (at least I remember creating a couple of characters), but I had a blast reading the source books.

[Furiously]

I stayed as far from fat goth chicks with plastic vampire fangs as possible. Now what the heck are you all talking about?

[Morfiend]

I never played the pnp game. But I did read the 13 novels. While not very good, was not so bad for 'junk food reading'.

From what I heard of the game story, It doesnt really matter what clan you are, as your created by a rogue vampire and put under the leadership of a Ventrue anyway. So wouldnt just about any clan work?

Im going to try and get the game today, and if not today, then tomorrow for sure.

[Roac]

So wouldnt just about any clan work?

I would assume cost in developing the powers that each of those extra clans have.  Also the independant/Sabbat clans, while they have rogue members involved with the Camarilla, are not received with joy.  From a storyline pov, they would be radically different.

[Morfiend]

I guess. But I wanted to be a Lasambra. DAMNIT!

[Bunk]

Most of my knowledge of the setting comes from playing the CCG years ago.  Best CCG ever produced for multiplayer settings in my opinion. Too bad no one plays it.  I did a recent survey of card stores in my area - one single store an hour away plays once a week.  Ends up the store is owned by one of the guys I used to play the game with locally. Most of the other stores have never even heard of it.

So, Im hoping that Bloodlines will fill that nerdy little Vampire need buried deep in my psyche.

Now here is a very important game play question for those that have played it:

If I make a hot, female Torreador, will I be able to use my wiles on other chicks, or is the game strictly homophobic?  I am confident enough in my manhood to enjoy playing female characters in games, but Im not quite emotionally advanced enough to feel comfortable hitting on computer generated guys...

[Rodent]

I guess. But I wanted to be a Lasambra. DAMNIT!

Gah, you keep spelling it wrong. It's LasOmbra DAMMNIT!  =)

[Riggswolfe]

If I make a hot, female Torreador, will I be able to use my wiles on other chicks, or is the game strictly homophobic?  I am confident enough in my manhood to enjoy playing female characters in games, but Im not quite emotionally advanced enough to feel comfortable hitting on computer generated guys...

Well I am playing a Male Toreador and had the option to hit on a male thug at one point. That may just be because they're taking the art fag thing seriously though.

Gah the sound skipping thing is driving me crazy!

[Morfiend]

I guess. But I wanted to be a Lasambra. DAMNIT!

Gah, you keep spelling it wrong. It's LasOmbra DAMMNIT!  =)

I bow to you knowledge of Vampire: TM.

Also, I think its about time you learned what every one else here knows. I absolutly suck at spelling. (I guess thats what happens when you teach yourself to read and write).

[Rodent]

I bow to you knowledge of Vampire: TM.

Also, I think its about time you learned what every one else here knows. I absolutly suck at spelling. (I guess thats what happens when you teach yourself to read and write).

Yes... Yes, finally the bow I so deserve!

At first I figured it was a spelling-error. But since you continued to spell it lasambra for three post the inner-geek in me demanded that I act and act fast.

[Resvrgam]

Eh, linguistics makes named things a bit boring though: lasombra "the shadow" en espanol.  Kuei-Jin (Shadow men/people) in Mandarin. Nosferatu "the afflicted" in German.   I'm suprised there's no "Chupacabra" clan in this universe. :P

Whatever the case, we all knew what was being referred to: "I'm Azreal Abyss....and this is Goth Talk!"

I'm still a bit confused why this new punk-fashion of the 1990's is even referred to as "gothic" (ostragoth or visigoth?).

/end nerd rant

[Riggswolfe]

 I'm suprised there's no "Chupacabra" clan in this universe. :P

My spanish is rusty. Does this roughly translate to "He of the Hairy Chimachangas?"

As for your goth question, dunno, though I do know that thin girls dressed in goth fashion are cute for some reason. Though I don't like all the angst that goes with the fashion.

[Samwise]

I'm still a bit confused why this new punk-fashion of the 1990's is even referred to as "gothic" (ostragoth or visigoth?).

Either/both.  But very indirectly.

Googling "gothic etymology"...

http://www.sfgoth.com/primer/etymology.html

[schild]

The Chupacabra is the legendary Goatsucker. There's an X-Files episode about a...chupacabra man who is killing cattle or something.

It's basically the Mexican vampire. Needless to say - who gives a fuck. And if anyone did, I would quickly point out that there are no farm animals or that many mexicans (if any) in the game.

[Rasix]

AMD 2500+ (1.8ghz)
1 GIG PC3200 RAM
GF4 TI 4200 (128megs)

This game is bending my computer over.  Any dynamic lighting effects are just killing me (haunted house = SLIDESHOW). I'm afraid to even see if there's some way to measure my FSP.

But god, it kicks so much ass I can suffer through it (even if the combat sucks).

[Resvrgam]

Thanks for the head-up, Samwise.  The butchering of languages is always so entertaining-yet-confusing at times.

As for the way this game performs on my system: It's odd how HL2 (superior graphically) runs on my system as smooth as silk with ALL of the bells and whistles enabled while Vampire chugs through some rather awkward cinematics at times (the tutorial with Futurama's Bender [Jack] showed some odd "quirks" with the cutscenes: clothing appeared in the air and then dropped as each camera shot changed...and the spectral wolves mauling the Sabbats was pathetic...they fell after the wolves disappeared and it gave the appearence that the wolves were gnawing on their ankles).  There's a few other graphical issues in the cutscenes but the gameplay seems solid so far and the dialogue is some of the most impressive writing/voice-acting I've ever seen in a videogame.  

 After checking the manual for other well-known Voice-actors, I discovered Phil "Did you see a sign out front that said dead ****** storage?" La Marr (also from Futurama fame).

[Margalis]

Someone game me a V:TM rulebook for my birthday a long time ago, but I got scared off by the live action roleplay part. It seems to me that live action V:TM would be either the nerdiest thing in existence or a flimsy excuse to flirt shamelessly with terrible puns and then have sex.

[Soukyan]

...a flimsy excuse to flirt shamelessly with terrible puns and then have sex.

Yes.

[Rodent]

Someone game me a V:TM rulebook for my birthday a long time ago, but I got scared off by the live action roleplay part. It seems to me that live action V:TM would be either the nerdiest thing in existence or a flimsy excuse to flirt shamelessly with terrible puns and then have sex.

Or you could just play the P&P version. It can be a decent horror RPG for thoose nights when Call of Cthulhu is just too heavy to get in the mood for.

[Morfiend]

I got the game. The fist thing I can say is, i was totally underwhealmed.

In the first 20 minutes of play, almost every npc I encountered had some kid of graphics or sound glitch. Lots of clipping problems, and textures not lining up right.

I have also been struck with character indecision.

I played a bit more, and the game is pretty cool, except my sound is really fubared. All the sound comes out about .1 second slower from the left side speakers than the right one. Making it totally unplayable with headphones, and still a pain with my speakers.

My overall impression is the game lacks a LOT of polish, and lots of little graphics bugs. But is still pretty fun once you get sucked in.

[Riggswolfe]

I have had zero graphics glitches. However, I and alot of others have had stuttering sound. It's not to bad in Vampire anymore, but it makes Halflife almost impossible to play.

How does one make a ghoul? Is it a potential dialogue option?