I may be one of the few people who finds V5 a much better game than V20 but my reasons are clear. I feel that V5 is more focussed game and has more evocative systems in play. The rejigging of the backstory to make the Camarilla vs Anarchs the central conflict rather than the problematic Sabbat who I think are too overtly monstrous to maintain any sense of there being a clandestine war of ages. I also think that the V20 art is a mixed affair and I never liked the Leif Jones illustrations of each Clan as they seem cartoonish. But all this is just me of course!
I'm sure there are plenty more folks who prefer V5, and I completely respect that :) For me, V20 (and Dark Ages V20) are just much richer in terms of character-building options, I don't much like the Hunger Dice and their ability to derail a session, and I have some issues with the new metaplot. Vampire: The Requiem already covers a more personal-horror-focussed, lower-powered, and metaplot-free Vampire experience, so V5 just feels a bit redundant to me in terms of the atmosphere it generates at the table. But having said that, as I think I said in the video I do own V5 and every hardcover supplement released thus far, and so I don't think it's a bad game! I just prefer V20/DAV20, and sometimes use V5 as a sort of 'on-ramp' to that, since it's easier to grasp for new role-players. If a good GM asked me to play V5 I'd jump in. I think it's much rarer to find people who prefer Werewolf 5th Edition to W20, but even there I've seen a few. That kind of boggles my mind, frankly, because pretty much everything about W5 is a huge disappointment to me, but that doesn't mean they're 'wrong'. All TTRPG experiences are going to be inherently subjective, so your preferences are just as valid as mine, or anyone else's for that matter :)
@@djthorsilver Thanks for the reply and I enjoy your reviews, regardless. I agree that it is entirely a subjective preference and also that the other ‘5th edition’ line of WoD games don’t really have the impact of V5. In the case of H5, it is really just a new edition of The Hunter’s Hunted supplement and doesn’t really have any great depth of setting material or mechanical innovation to it. On the other hand, you can still use both it and W5 as complimentary sources for V5 antagonists, still making them somewhat useful (although not as compelling as previous editions of each respective game). To be honest, I hope they don’t bother making Mage or any other follow on games and just stick with the three they have already. In terms of character building options, my own preference for playing Vampire specifically tends to focus much more on the goth-punk, Neonate level, rather than ancient Elders or similar, and I like the inclusion of Thin Bloods which emphasises this too. I’d also state that I really do like the Hunger Dice dynamic in game play, so that is a point of difference between us I think. The only other I’d note is the live action version of the V5 rules is due for imminent release, and it offers a more complete guide to the setting in my view (and ALL the Clans in one book).
I may be one of the few people who finds V5 a much better game than V20 but my reasons are clear.
I feel that V5 is more focussed game and has more evocative systems in play. The rejigging of the backstory to make the Camarilla vs Anarchs the central conflict rather than the problematic Sabbat who I think are too overtly monstrous to maintain any sense of there being a clandestine war of ages. I also think that the V20 art is a mixed affair and I never liked the Leif Jones illustrations of each Clan as they seem cartoonish.
But all this is just me of course!
I'm sure there are plenty more folks who prefer V5, and I completely respect that :) For me, V20 (and Dark Ages V20) are just much richer in terms of character-building options, I don't much like the Hunger Dice and their ability to derail a session, and I have some issues with the new metaplot. Vampire: The Requiem already covers a more personal-horror-focussed, lower-powered, and metaplot-free Vampire experience, so V5 just feels a bit redundant to me in terms of the atmosphere it generates at the table.
But having said that, as I think I said in the video I do own V5 and every hardcover supplement released thus far, and so I don't think it's a bad game! I just prefer V20/DAV20, and sometimes use V5 as a sort of 'on-ramp' to that, since it's easier to grasp for new role-players. If a good GM asked me to play V5 I'd jump in.
I think it's much rarer to find people who prefer Werewolf 5th Edition to W20, but even there I've seen a few. That kind of boggles my mind, frankly, because pretty much everything about W5 is a huge disappointment to me, but that doesn't mean they're 'wrong'. All TTRPG experiences are going to be inherently subjective, so your preferences are just as valid as mine, or anyone else's for that matter :)
@@djthorsilver Thanks for the reply and I enjoy your reviews, regardless.
I agree that it is entirely a subjective preference and also that the other ‘5th edition’ line of WoD games don’t really have the impact of V5. In the case of H5, it is really just a new edition of The Hunter’s Hunted supplement and doesn’t really have any great depth of setting material or mechanical innovation to it. On the other hand, you can still use both it and W5 as complimentary sources for V5 antagonists, still making them somewhat useful (although not as compelling as previous editions of each respective game). To be honest, I hope they don’t bother making Mage or any other follow on games and just stick with the three they have already.
In terms of character building options, my own preference for playing Vampire specifically tends to focus much more on the goth-punk, Neonate level, rather than ancient Elders or similar, and I like the inclusion of Thin Bloods which emphasises this too. I’d also state that I really do like the Hunger Dice dynamic in game play, so that is a point of difference between us I think.
The only other I’d note is the live action version of the V5 rules is due for imminent release, and it offers a more complete guide to the setting in my view (and ALL the Clans in one book).