Rating: 
Summary: Vampires as they should be.
Review: Vampires have always invoked mystery, romance, fear, many dark and often dangerous emotions in our hearts. Learn the Vampire's Secrets and live as one of the Undead in this masterful rendition of gothic roleplaying.
Rating:
Summary: Much needed revision
Review: I am a role-player of some 11+ years of experience and I have been playing Vampire since '93. Since then, more and more 'house-rules' have found their ways into my games and thus, it was with some exitement that I got ready for Vampire: Revised.
In my opinion, it's great. A much needed revision of rules, setting and mood, as well as an update of the world, so that people get the idea that things actually happen, even in teh stagnant world of the Kindred.
The rules-update is something like a 100% improvement over Second Edition. Those who didn't like the old rules aren't going to like the new, but fans of the game will not be disappointed.
For newcomers, I very much recommend this new edition, as it contains all clans, as well as info on both the Camarilla and the Sabbat.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the best
Review: This is quite possibly the best role-playing game in existence. It emphasizes role-playing, not ROLL-playing, the bane of mature gamers. The game is meant as a storytelling experience for both the gamemaster(known as a Storyteller) and his players. The players are forced with moral dilemas each night, as they must struggle to maintain their values. They also struggle to maintain anonymity from the humans. If they discovered them, they would surely by hunted to extinction. The vampires form groups for both mutual protection and to further their own manipulative goals. These two groups, the Camarilla and Sabbat, hold subtle wars over territory and resources to ensure their survival. There are also more secretive and sinister groups lurking in the shadows. If you're sick of relentless hack'n'slash and would like a genuinely good experience in the realm of gothic-punk-horror, V:tM is the best available choice.
Rating: 
Summary: Suburban fantasies meet teenage angst with ugly results.
Review: As the years have progressed I've watched most of my hobbies drift into obscurity, roleplaying especially. Despite the industry wide recession (and or death) White Wolf games the Canada based horror roleplaying publishers is always booming. Any trip to your local syndicated book store will probably yield a collection of roleplaying games almost exclusively made by white wolf. So finally I gave into pressure and purchased the flagshipt title (Werewolf, Changling, Wraith are some others)"Vampire" and took it home eager of the possiblities. The first couple pages almost sucked my will to live right out of me. The writing in this book is so full of angst and sadistic fantasies that I considered ligting it on fire almost instantly. Characters in Vampire play vampires, but not the kind of vampires your thinking of. Garlic, sunlight, holy water, crossess, stakes throught the heart . . . all are useless against these vampires. No no, the vampires of "VAMPIRE" are practically gods, walking around and killing mortals on whims and suffering no consequences. The fiction within the book also demonstrates the awesome power of the ubervampires in examples like; "He called me a gothic-freak so I smiled and toar his heart out and impaled his forhead with my claws, and then while he was still alive I ate his heart in front of him while splilling his intestines on the sidewalk." It becomes difficult to achieve any degree of suspense when the players can never be in any real danger, the whole game sounds like a bunch of 13 year olds sitting around pretending how "cool it would be to be VAMPIRE" swearing like sailors the whole time...
Rating: 
Summary: The Entrance to the World of Vampires
Review: The basic source for Vampire the Masquerade. Every player - newcomer or veteran - should have it. It provides an overview of the main Clans, Kindred history, the World of Darkness and more. It is easy to read and well-assorted. Already after a few pages you get an impression of life of the Undead. It is the best way to enter the world of vampires. --- The main insufficiency is the correlation between generation and age. Generation is determined by the number of ancestors between you and Cain, the first vampire. The book implies both to be virtually the same. But there is absolutely no clue to it. If Cain's grandchild "embraces" you tonight, you become a new-born Elder. While a vampire of the 14. Generation, embraced 4000 years ago, would still be an not respected "Thinblood". But both of you would have the same points for yours abilities. The whole system gets into trouble at this point and provides some difficulties for the character creation. The Elysium book, designed for Elders, does not solve this problem. --- Another inconvenience are the firearms-rules. First you have to roll to see if you hit. This can take ten dice or more. Then adding, subtracting and rerolling dices and points back and forth. Then the same again for the damage made. And last but not least the victim rolls in the same manner, to see if he can soak the bullet, that less or no damage is made. If you use two guns simultaneously it becomes really weird. Not to mention a submachine gun or a three-round-burst! --- Except for that and the index (it's semi-alphabetic chapter-based!) it is a good, substantial book.
Rating: 
Summary: Could be better still.
Review: Since I never used the original edition I can't compare this one to say whether it was an improvement or not. While the basics are all here, it would be nice to have a stronger index. Also the descriptions of how to use the dice, when and why, is confusing. Charts would be better than paragraphs to explain all of this I think. The art work is cool and the little mini-stories are a nice touch. It leaves some unanswered questions but perhaps the sysem is expanding more organically so the makers don't know all the answers -- the clan books suggest this as well as new abilities and disciplines and rules are created.
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Summary: A System For Everyone
Review: I understand how many of you must feel, reading my fellow roleplayer's reviews: either this book kills brain cells and attracts those that can't tell reality from fiction and who want to get revenge on the world, or it is played by a bunch of maladjusted people who run around in outfits that most of us can't relate to. You are wrong. Granted, I play the game, and I am not the best adjusted person in the world, but I think that I can give an accurate review. First of all, yes, the game is inhabited with thirteen clans that are fairly stereotypical, but what about a paladin in D&D? All of them are Lawful Good, and they all serve "Holy" intentions. Does that mean that they aren't good characters? No, it does not. It means that you will have to stretch your imagination to make them original (which is why we play in the first place, right?). Also, anyone who believes that the game designers demand that you do anything didn't read well enough; they make it abundantly clear that you should do what is fun for you. If that means Vampire RealPolitik(C), then go ahead. If you want to get revenge on stand-ins for all those people that made fun of you when you were little, well, that's okay too. Overall, I rate the book as a 4 out of 5, but the system is a 5 out of 5. I have only played 3 RPG's (table tops, anyway), and this is by far the best. You and your troupe can do anything that you want. There are no limits. Also, the "Vampire Apocalypse" some people whine about is only one dimension; there is far more to the game than that. This game allows for all kinds of mischief, and I think that anyone who is willing to read the book and think of a plot and actually roleplay, will immensely enjoy this book. Thank you Harkius p.s. Preview your posts! You have that option for a reason!
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Summary: A Must for the roleplayer or roleplayer wannabe
Review: Vampire the Masquerade is an excellent book and game. It has redefined how I look at roleplaying. With a system so flexible and yet so clear cut it easy to get engrossed without even playing! It is similar to looking at ingredients in a cupboard. There are a lot of things and some are confusing but once you go through them a couple times you discover the incredible results. With a huge web community and additional official resources Vampire can be as complex or as simple as you want. I have been inspired to consider writing roleplaying games because of this book. It opens the imagination and allows the readers and players to experience a fantastical new world. A world of darkness, despair, and hope. This game can be taken from so many angles it is simply mind blowing. The book states to use what rules you like and toss the ones you find daunting. Undeniably one of the best purchases I've made.
Rating:
Summary: Gangrel
Review: I own this book and it's the greatest book I ever read. I like it because of the wrestler known as Gangrel!!!!!!!
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Summary: More than a game
Review: Gothic Punk is oft the term used to describe the setting, thanks to the "Brew Jshaw" (I will forever mock that unforgivable mispronounciation) alot of people interpet this as being a "goth/punk" game...But there's so much more to this game than eighties fashion victimes with pink mohawks and eyebrow piercings, there's a clan for all walks of life. This is NOT a "Goth" game. This is a GOTHIC game, Gothic meaning dark themes. And Ventrue is pronouced as it's spelled!... More than a game, VTM is a statement about the fall of human society, and how humanity has lost it's humanity and become a beast, a statement about the struggle to maintain some semblance of sanity in a world that has gone to hell in a hand basket, a World of Darkness. Vampire is the focal point of WOD, and it is also the best of the series, a game that focuses on the thinning line between being human and becomming a beast. And while Goths might feel right at home in the anarchist arms of the Brujah, this game is NOt just for Goths. If you're a mature mind this game's for you, you're bound to find some clan or bloodline you can identify with. Daniel A. Moir Tooele Primogen of the Clan Toreador Viva Le Camarilla!
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