An analysis of a text

+Paul Stefko has put together a series of blog posts describing his reflections on reading the original Vampire the Masquerade book, now over 25 years old.

The first post can be found here.

At this time of writing this blog entry, he is up to the fourth installment and has basically finished the core text, with a promised post to reflect on the whole book, and where it basically went after that point.

It's one of those things I've tried to do a couple of times here, I can't remember if I actually completed it in any depth, but I know I've done a few cross comparisons of how different games are laid out. It's interesting to see so eone else's take on the subject matter. 

I never managed to get a copy of the first edition Vampire book, I have copies from second edition onward, and most of the other Storyteller Core Books from first edition. There was something fun about those early editions, where there was more scope for changing the game to suit a group's needs, and a lot of little jokes in the text, or elements that were simply removed from late editions of the game because they didn't fit the grim dark narrative of the setting. It's a bit like the Warhammer products from Games Workshop in that regard. This is an analysis of a book that was written as an experiment, before it gained critical acclaim and reshaped gaming for a generation of players. With all the OSR stuff that has been going on for the last decade or so, it might be interesting to see new products replicate the games of this era. The purchase White Wolf's intellectual properties by a new and enthusiatic game producer might see some of that revitalisation, but I doubt it.

Either way, it's an interesting read.