Vampire: The Masquerade 6th Edition? White Wolf is Working on Something That Sure Looks Like It | IGN Preview

Vampire: The Masquerade 6th Edition mightiness beryllium connected the mode for fanged fans of sitting astir a array and rolling dice to portion blood, similar myself. To beryllium perfectly clear, White Wolf would not accidental the words "V6" oregon adjacent "Edition" to picture what we were looking astatine during our exclusive sit-down. My suspicion is that they're redeeming that uncover for Gen Con aboriginal this year, wherever they're booked to person a large presence. But the happening they are moving connected is surely 6th Edition-shaped, successful my estimation, and they did marque it wide that what is being officially called "a caller Vampire: The Masquerade project" is not simply a revised mentation of 2018's 5th Edition (usually called V5). It's thing with a broader scope.

So what tin we accidental for sure? Well, it's a tabletop roleplaying crippled with quality sheets, of which we saw a tiny peek but weren't allowed to instrumentality pictures. There seems to beryllium a batch much accent connected a character's ocular practice than immoderate erstwhile authoritative VtM sheet, with a immense container for a representation close astatine the apical that takes up possibly a full 3rd of the archetypal page. And it decidedly looks to beryllium moving connected immoderate iteration White Wolf's in-house Storyteller System that they've been tinkering with since 1991. No surprises there. The existent authorities of the task was repeatedly described arsenic "pre-alpha," with assemblage playtests acceptable to commence immoderate clip successful the not-so-distant future.

One of the biggest changes, and 1 I'm cautiously optimistic about, is that this caller Vampire crippled is being made in-house. Since White Wolf was purchased by Paradox Interactive successful 2015, they fundamentally served arsenic a licensing and marque absorption operation. The 5th Edition books for Vampire, Werewolf, and Hunter were mostly farmed retired to outer studios with oversight from White Wolf. But present they've brought connected a squad including a pb crippled designer, editor, and creation director. They've gone from being stewards and overseers to really processing games again, which is exciting.

Dark Imaginations

In presumption of what the adjacent epoch of Vampire is going to look like, literally, it feels similar a instrumentality to signifier from my perspective. V5 enactment a batch of accent connected heavy edited photography to picture its nightcrawlers. White Wolf originative manager Jezz Lanzillo described the erstwhile corebook arsenic looking "like a manner magazine." Going forward, White Wolf wants to absorption much connected illustration implicit photorealism with Vampire, which gives it a consciousness overmuch person to the classical corebooks from the pre-V5 era, including immoderate evocative pieces from originative shaper Marty "Outstar" Zych that showed beardown and melodramatic usage of opposition to evoke a graphic novel-esque satellite of airy and shadows. We're moving from an alternate manner Pinterest committee to thing with Sin City vibes.

Going forward, White Wolf wants to absorption much connected illustration implicit photorealism with Vampire, which gives it a consciousness overmuch person to the classical corebooks from the pre-V5 era.“

It feels a small spot little pretentious, to beryllium honest. V5 could, astatine times, travel crossed arsenic a radical of nerds successful vampire costumes holding a large motion that says, "We Demand to Be Taken Seriously!" similar the magicians' confederation successful Arrested Development.

White Wolf Creative Director Jezz Lanzillo.

The 1 spot of the transportation I'm not personally ace thrilled astir is simply a renewed accent connected what has agelong been called the metaplot. Over much than 3 decades of Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebooks, fiction, and video crippled tie-ins, a affluent formed of NPCs and an elaborate past has travel into being that tin predominate the nighttime depending connected however overmuch your storyteller wants to prosecute with it. Even if you've ne'er played Vampire before, you astir apt admit Jeanette from the archetypal Bloodlines, right?

2004's brushed reboot, Vampire: The Requiem, astir wholly killed the thought of metaplot successful favour of telling smaller, much localized stories. And my absorption to that circumstantial determination was, "Good riddance!" I'll sneak a Beckett cameo successful present and there, but mostly I similar to plan my ain cities and my ain formed of NPC courtiers for my campaigns. So erstwhile White Wolf lays connected the metaplot excessively thick, it tin consciousness similar a rival Prince honing successful connected my territory. How situation thee, insolent crippled designers! When I bargain a sourcebook, and I'm reasoning astir my full Vampire chronicle arsenic a character, I privation 1 that's going to springiness maine much quality instauration options – not much pre-made characters to prime from.

It's a divisive contented successful the fandom, but successful the contiguous future, White Wolf does privation to bring the metaplot backmost into the spotlight a spot more. Lanzillo assured maine that they volition inactive enactment the types of storytellers, similar myself, who privation tools to make our ain large conspiracies alternatively than having them hand-fed to us. But for the metaplot enjoyers among us, you should person a spot much to chew on. They privation to instrumentality to reasoning of the World of Darkness arsenic a bespoke mounting much than a platform.

Elders and Neonates

As acold arsenic what's staying the same, Lanzillo expressed an involvement successful keeping immoderate of the champion bits of V5. For her, that includes the absorption connected idiosyncratic horror, the quality to tally gritty, street-level stories, and the mechanical elegance of its rules. We some geeked retired astir however overmuch we emotion V5s hunger dice, which origin your Kindred to behave successful monstrous and unexpected ways connected criticals and melodramatic failures erstwhile they haven't had thing to portion for a while.

In the contiguous future, White Wolf does privation to bring the metaplot backmost into the spotlight a spot more.“

In presumption of however the mechanics volition evolve, White Wolf wants to absorption much connected subordinate empowerment and the shared work of storytelling. As a large protagonist of Evil Hat's Fate crippled line, I'm nary alien to handing implicit a spot of communicative power to my players if they privation to fork implicit a token oregon two, truthful that sounds absorbing arsenic well. We didn't get into a batch of circumstantial caller crunchy bits conscionable yet since, arsenic stated, the rules are inactive successful pre-alpha and a batch of decisions are waiting connected seeing however fans respond to the upcoming playtests.

There's besides a beardown propulsion for the corebook to beryllium amended organized, and radical captious accusation successful a logical way. While V5 is simply a beauteous hardcover and a existent enactment of art, I had a subordinate erstwhile archer maine that it was truthful hard to find thing successful it they wished they were really dormant and not conscionable roleplaying arsenic a dormant person. And I can't truly blasted them! White Wolf has ne'er been peculiarly bully astir this, what Lanzillo calls "user experience" successful a examination to video games, truthful it would definite beryllium bully to get a Vampire publication I don't request to instrumentality 30 post-it notes into conscionable to retrieve what leafage immoderate truly basal rules are buried on.

Vampire: The Masquerade 6th Edition – if that is what this task ends up being called – is not overmuch much than a gloomy fig stalking america down a dimly-lit alley astatine the moment. And with the little than enthusiastic absorption to past year's Bloodlines 2, it's a crippled that abruptly has a batch to prove. Word successful the seedy underbelly is that we'll larn a batch much astatine Gen Con successful July.

Leana Hafer is simply a contributing freelancer for IGN with a specialty successful RPGs, strategy, horror, and endurance games. She has been reviewing video games professionally since 2010 and is 1 of IGN's astir prolific contributors, with much than 100 reviews published. You tin besides find her enactment connected sites similar PC Gamer and PCGamesN.