Vampire: Bloodlines Interview

RPGVault has conducted an interview with Troika’s Leonard Boyarsky, asking the developer three pages of questions about the conflict element in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. Here’s a snip to get you started:

Q: How does the clan element factor in? What kinds of bonuses and penalties do specific ones receive, and how much do they affect combat overall?

A: Clan selection affects your choice of Disciplines. For instance, the Gangrel’s Protean discipline is based on brawl (unarmed) attacks, so you could definitely say they have an advantage when it comes to brawling. The Disciplines for the most part, however, can be used with any conjunction of traits that you’ve pumped up. For instance, you can cast Nightmare on an opponent (if you’re a Malkavian) to immobilize them, and then you can choose to deal with them in any combat style you wish, or you can even feed on them.

As far as bonuses and penalties, an obvious example is the Brujah, who gets a bonus point in brawling, but loses two points on their frenzy check. The player has a possibility of frenzying whenever they take substantial amounts of damage, or their blood level is low. For those unfamiliar with the Vampire system, frenzying is when you lose control of your character and the “beast” takes over.