Vampire the Requiem

Things I like:
Humanity. As a vampire loses humanity, they become more mentally disentegrated - i.e., insane. There is a definate need to remain humane because the negatives are more succinctly defined. With VtM, it seemed that humanity was a nuisance that simply got in the way of being able to do icky stuff. It was much easier to be a vampire without it, as long as you kept a point. Now, it's a real danger to everyone else if you aren't humane enough to keep it together. No more serial killer vampires. At least not for long - the derangement or the society will get them eventually.

Virtue/Vice versus Nature/Demeanor. Having a culled down list makes it much easier to remember for one. Seven and seven. The combinations of which can fit many of the motivators behind prior natures. Demeanors were a loss, anyway. The mask that's easily thrown away, with no real benefit to keeping it. It's also a nice jab that someone can pursue a vice and get a small burst of willpower for something that may cause them to become more inhumane. That virtues, which can be more difficult to pursue, replenish all willpower is a good touch.

Clans. I like that the politics are out of clans. It seemed a little too neat that every clan was so pushed into the same personality/political templates. Many people didn't want to play according to clan, anyway.

Covenants. Where politics should be. Philosophical/Cultural reasons. Secrets that they share among themselves. The ideas of the Camarilla, the Sabbat, the Anarchs and the Inconnu, all given more than a superficial brushing of rationale.

Combat. Streamlined. Faster. More realistic. For MET, more deadly, but more straightforward. Dodging bullets was always a little too superheroish.

The lack of Metaplot. I fell in love with Vampire for the stories, the character types, the mystery behind the writing. But having the 'truth' spelled out for me isn't something that I dig. Most of the stuff in Gehenna just wasn't easy to swallow. I still love the stories, the characters, the richness of the world, but it's more in my hands.

Power Level. Vampires controlled too much or too little of the old WoD. Or Mages did. Or Pentex did. Or..or..or. Now there's no world spanning Illuminati of kindred that has a yoke on humans. There's a bigger reason that the Masquerade must be maintained. Furthermore, vampires get grow and ebb over time. They can be very powerful, but eventually will need to sleep. Some disciplines were far too twinky to continue: Mask of 1000 Faces, to name one.

Ick. I love the Ick. Diablerie is bad not because it's evil. It's bad because it turns you into more of a blood junkie. Ghouls are realistic and nasty. Not in power, but in mindset. They're almost crack-fiends wanting to serve their Vampire master in order to get that next fix. Very Renfield. Vampires are very predatory - they know it and cannot deny it.

Balance. Supernaturals seem far more balanced. Rules work together instead of in spite of each other.

Justifications. It's hard to see how vampires in the oWoD haven't been found out and destroyed a hundred years previously. It's hard to see how vampires could be aware of each other enough to even HAVE wars among themseves. Now, vampires recognize each vampires, and science seems to want to ignore them.

Things I dislike:
Bloodlines. This seems to be too much of a drive to allow nifty new kewl powers in the game. I'd rather see more control. Furthermore, there seems much more of a political thing behind the bloodline concept, than necessary.

Power level. I liked some of the higher level disciplines made sense. Mind you, this is curtailed by the allowance of devotions, aka combo disciplines.


There's a lot more, but these are what's on top for me.