Man i had every single core book back then. I miss those books

Figured I'd throw the ad here as well, since there aren't any WoD or PbP communities on lemmy yet. Feel free to remove if this is rulebreaking or not fitting.

Ok. I finished reading the material and I finished watching the video.

He’s right.

I must say that I’m more optimistic than him, but I can’t argue with what he says.

I’m not worried about the diablerie thing, because it’s extremely easy to fix. I’m personally more worried about vitae being both blood and health. As a player (who never jumped on the V5 bus), I’ve been stripped of the ability to choose whether to stay bruised or risking hunger. And that’s hard to fix, because it permeates everything else: the cost of activating powers, combat, the success target on the dice, etc.

Well… I haven’t finished reading the playtest books, and I haven’t yet watched the video. But I do have opinions already 😅. So far, I think they’re trying to… I’m not gonna say “dumb it down”, but rather… making it more comfortable for players used to D&D 5E and more narrative games like most of the PbtA family.

I definitely think he's gotten way too worked up about the intricacies of diablerie. I suspect that's just an edge case that they didn't consider, which is the whole point of this sort of alpha playtest.

But damn. Nearly every other substantial point he makes in this video feels really bad. I don't know what the wider community is saying about V6, but if it's even a fraction as scathing as this, White Wolf is heading down a very dangerous path.

Like I said, I'm not completely clear on why it's controversial. I've never even looked at other editions, and have done no more than look at V5 and watch one AP—without participating in any community surrounding either.

That said, the sense I get is that there's a mixture of dislike for aspects of the mechanics and changes to the lore & metaplot. I don't think it's the core mechanics like how the dice pool and hunger work too much (though it very well could be) as it is the mechanics surrounding clans and powers, along with the lore implications thereof.

Edit: oh I should probably also at least mention the Nazi stuff. At least one of the writers in the book turned out to be a neonazi, and some far-right content was snuck into the first printing of the core book. There was at least a perception that the problems were systemic enough to need major change. So Paradox disbanded White Wolf shortly after V5 released and took further development to its own skeleton crew in house plus a lot of reliance on external contractors. How the community reacted to all this I'm not sure.

I imagine it pissed off some small percentage of right wingers who somehow missed the franchise's proud queerness. Some of the rest might have been upset it even got to that point in the first place. Not sure if the reliance on contractors created any sense of cheapness or anything like that.

Controversial mechanics wise? I've heard about a bit excessive sexualisation in promo but I haven't heard about problems with mechanics

I cannot speak for the Vampire V5, but the Werewolf V5 was about half baked in systems, and less than that in story.

I was really hoping V6 would see a return to White Wolf rules with a progressed story line.

The FAQ has a good very broad summary of the core mechanic changes. Here is the part of the FAQ that I thought worth reading, though there are more questions on there:

What’s Drama?

Storytellers now have a resource called “Drama” that they can spend to complicate the PCs’ circumstances or introduce new twists into the Story.

What’s Quickening?

Quickening is a new mechanic that rewards players for rolling well, giving them a resource they can spend to improve their chances in future situations.

Will I be able to use my V5 dice at the table?

No, V6 uses a different system to count successes and failures, so we use regular D10 dice. We’ve also made changes to the Hunger system, so the Hunger dice are not relevant to V6.

Where did my Health and Blood Points go?

Health and Blood Points have been combined into a single resource called Vitae.

What’s the Humanity Scale?

The Humanity tracker has been updated to the Humanity Scale, which tracks the inner struggle between your monstrous and humane sides, as they constantly press their urges onto you.

How does physical and social conflict work now?

Physical and social conflict share a unified procedure, making both equally important and supported by the rules.

How will the Discipline powers change?

Each Discipline will have multiple powers, and many Discipline powers now scale with you, growing in power as you gain dots. The alpha playtest shows off many of these new powers, and the final book will include powers for each Discipline up to 5 dots.

How many clans will be in the final book?

There will be 14 clans total in the book; the alpha playtest includes 7 so far (Brujah, Gangrel, Lasombra, Ministry, Nosferatu, Toreador, and Ventrue).

Can I play as the different stages of Vampirism?

Yes, the final book will include rules for playing a ghoul, a duskborn, a neonate, an ancilla, a caitiff, or an elder.

What about playing as Sabbat or other sects?

In V6 you will be able to align with the Camarilla, the Anarchs, the Sabbat, Independents or The Unbound.

Is there a release date yet?

No, not yet. We are still in the alpha phase of development and want to ensure we can polish the material and implement the valuable feedback we’re receiving before we announce specifics like a release date or cost.

Putting the Sabbat back in the core books seems like a serious nod to classic fans of the franchise. I'm curious about "independents" and "unbound". How do these differ from each other? And isn't the point of the Anarchs supposed to be independence?

I haven't seen what the actual core mechanic is yet, but I really liked the dice pool system (in theory; I've not actually played the game to have firsthand experience). I hope the basic sense of forming a dice pool and having some chance for equivalents to Messy Criticals and Bestial Failures are still represented.

I know V5 has been rather controversial among some fans, though I'm not really sure why/in what way. I don't know anything about older versions, and I've never actually played V5 either (just read the core rulebook and watched LA By Night). But I really liked the look of the game and wanted to play it. I haven't had a look through the new rules at all yet, but I'm curious to see how much they've changed, and what form those changes take.

I tried “buying” the whole bundle at DTRPG but I can’t see anything added to Roll20 nor Demiplane.

Anyone else experiencing this? Maybe it just takes some time?

I do have the proper accounts linked.

Huh? Has there been something wrong with 5? It needed some fixes?

Why would a caste based society of superior beings operating on basic might makes right principles that operates shadow governments to control the kine appeal to fascists?

The question is why would playing as a character oppressed by a caste based society of superior beings operating on basic might makes right principles that operates shadow governments to control the kine appeal to fascists?

Oh, right, bootlicking fetish...

Why would a caste based society of superior beings operating on basic might makes right principles that operates shadow governments to control the kine appeal to fascists?

Thank you, my bad forgetting to credit her. Great artist!

Yeah they usually are

(just kidding, it's Bella Bergolts)

Artist?

Might be a little too on the wacky side, but it'll be good for a laugh!

No, SR is d6 pools. At least the editions I know

As for Rifts, while I get what's cool in such setting, I'm always wondering how with time it does not turn into Planescape/Faerun planes/Avengers' timelines

Both games are a D10 system. :D I haven't played Shadowrun in about 25 years, but I did love it. Rifts was really exceptional as well.

As for VtM itself I've only played the first Bloodlines cRPG. But I've found that bits and pieces from VtM can be used for vampire societies in Shadowrun, so I'm lurking here. Fishing for inspirations ;)

Oooo! I haven't had a good hickey in a very long time!

Despite my initial misgivings, I'm actually pretty hype about this coming out. Gonna wait for the player reviews as preordering is a scam, bit I just might get it.

I really enjoyed this video for what it was, though what it was was a far cry from what I expected, given the title. I wanted more detail about how current-night politics is in different parts of the world. Instead we got about 5 minutes tacked on at the end of "this place is mostly Camarilla, that place has a bit more Anarch, and the Sabbat still has a foothold here". Instead this was more about how the different sects are structured internally, and then about how clans relate to sects.