"A beast I am, lest a beast I become."
-- Vampire: the Masquerade, 1st Edition

For those that haven't noticed yet, I'm a gamer geek. Specifically an RPG gamer geek. Even more specifically, a pen-and-paper RPG gamer geek (to the point that people that refer to the Computer RPG genre as though it were synonymous with "RPGs" actually make me scream a little inside).

And as a darkling kid of the '90s, my teenage angst hit its peak during the rise of the classic goth-y RPG Vampire: the Masquerade. I've owned every edition of the core rules down through the years: 1st edition, 2nd edition, Revised... even the much derided GURPS edition.

_So can you imagine my geeky delight when the Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition was announced?

Yep. That's right. I paid entirely too much for a special leather-bound edition of single RPG book. Holy hell, am I a geek.

The initial purported goal of this release was to kick out a single "complete" tome for the fans in celebration of the line's 20th anniversary. But, much to White Wolf's surprise, they sold so many pre-orders that they realized they had the rebirth of their phenom flagship line on their hands and it forced them to reconsider their initial abandoning of the classic.

Thus, they have launched a new line, referred to as the Classic World of Darkness (their print-on-demand versions of the original classic books plus the new 20th-anniversary edition corebooks) and the Onyx Path (publications of supplements that were either intended and never completed/released or, in some cases, entirely new material), intended to run alongside their already-planned and still extant nWoD publications.

Later this year, they're already planning to release a similar edition for Werewolf: the Apocalypse as well as a companion book for this new edition of V:tM. There's also talk of a Mage: the Ascension 20th anniversary edition as well, and more than a few oWoD fans are already hoping and clamoring for Wraith and Changeling to get the same treatment (I, for one, would love to see a "complete" Wraith: the Oblivion book... that line was a thing of dark and disturbing beauty).

Needless to say, it warms my cold, undead heart to see something I enjoyed so much revivified from the beyond as V20 (which is the general nickname for it among the RPG-playing set).

Appearance: Well, the special pre-order release is gorgeous, bound in leather and with gilt-edges and with two bookmark ribbons. Problem is, if you're reading this review, you probably missed the window on that version. That said, White Wolf has recently released their print-on-demand version in a couple different options at Drive-Thru RPG.

Besides that, the layout is fairly decent (very reminiscent of the old 2nd Edition book more than the Revised Edition) and a lot of the art is seriously amazing, bringing back classic V:tM artists like Tim Bradstreet (his pieces at the beginning of each chapter are fucking beautiful). My only complaint here is that the art accompanying each of the vampiric clans is fairly "bleh" in my opinion, which is sort of a let-down for a book that is otherwise just so gods-damned pretty. It's also a let down because I've seen better art from the artist in previous iterations of the game.

Setting: For those not familiar with the previous editions, the game is basically set in the modern age with a host of vampiric clans (mostly, but not entirely, split among two competing vampiric societies) dwelling in the shadows and pulling the strings of the mortal world. Constant oppression by older and more powerful undead, the threat of a looming vampiric apocalypse known as Gehenna, and dark "gothic-punk" thematics are the general assumptions, though these elements are easy enough to play with and tweak.

For those that are familiar with the old editions, V20 is basically a slight "resetting" from Revised. It's assumed to take place somewhere between the 2nd and Revised editions in the metaplot timeline, so some of the changes you saw back in Revised have already taken place and others haven't; for example, all Malkavians have Dementation now... but the Assamites still haven't broken their blood curse (it also means that the Gangrel are still part of the Camarilla). There are some mentions of these upcoming metaplot elements lying in the text, but they're left to the people running the game to decide if they want these changes to have happened or not.

Also, the original metaplot progression that was heavily pushed throughout the Revised line have been mostly dropped back down to "one potential future" status for the V20 line.

One of the things that White Wolf seems to have learned for the better from their Exalted and nWoD game lines is that the "Year 0" approach is the best way to not piss off (or on, depending upon who you ask) your customer-base - so, in theory, any upcoming Onyx Path publications in support of V:tM won't be assuming a forward progressing metaplot but presenting possible options for your "home" metaplot.

Yay for hard-won lessons!

Sections: Split into three "books", which are further subdivided into relevant chapters.

"Book One" basically features the intro chapter and a chapter that breaks down the sects and then the clans of the undead.

"Book Two" explains character creation, the vampiric Disciplines (cool vampire powers), the rules and systems on which the game operates, and an in-depth look into the Morality system (and the variant Paths involved) which factor fairly heavily into the game as written.

"Book Three" covers game-mastering suggestions, a chapter on "other forces" in the world (both supernatural and mortal), the variant lesser Bloodlines of the damned (both those still extant and those believed to be extinct), and an appendix mostly discussing Merits and Flaws (basically extra boosts and disadvantages a character can start the game with).

Systems: For those who haven't played the original Storyteller system: basically add a Stat and a Skill together, roll that many dice, and count successes (any die-roll equal to or higher than the Difficulty set by the Storyteller/GM). More successes equal more and better success. No successes and one or more dice showing up with "1" means a "botch" or "really bad failure."

Fairly simple, actually.

For those who know the system from previous iterations, the folks at White Wolf took the opportunity to clean up a few things and improve a bit in numerous areas. So a number of Disciplines have been slightly tweaked (most notably Celerity and Potence), some small Clan revisions (for instance, the hated Tremere now actually have a blood-borne flaw like the rest of the undead), and certain small system changes (such as how multiple actions work) have been implemented in this version.

Twenty years of experience provided lots of insight to play with.

Final Thoughts: All in all, I think the V20 edition of Vampire is an excellent and well-built book with amazing art and phenomenal amounts of data. Whether you're an old hand with the game, a newbie looking to understand what the big deal was when it came out, or just a collector wanting to complete your set - V20 represents the single most complete iteration of Vampire: the Masquerade ever written.

One could run a game entirely from just the stuff in this one edition and never, ever purchase another supplement thanks to the sheer amount of info contained therein.

On the other hand, it's completely compatible with all the old material being released (slowly but surely) by White Wolf on print-on-demand (and it's all already available in .pdf format), so you have the whole line almost ready-made to explore if you don't already have all the supplements. And, believe me... there's a lot of material for the game. I have two bookshelves straining with Vampire: the Masquerade stuff alone and I still don't have everything for the line.

So, if you're looking to get back into the original dark role-playing game of personal horror, I can't recommend it highly enough as your first step back into the Classic World of Darkness.

-- Mr. M.

"I’ve seen the sky just begin to fall
And you say, 'all things pass, into the night.'"
-- Q Lazzarus, "Goodbye Horses"

Yes, I quoted that song. Is it wrong to admit that Buffalo Bill is my favorite character in the entire series of Hannibal movies? If so, I'm not sure I want to be right. (I'm totally dancing naked in front of a mirror in my head right now...)

I got myself out to the first Dark Shadows of the year! Hooray!

The night got off to a slow start, but it eventually picked up. It got a tad crowded, but that's exactly the reason they're doing it twice a month now instead of once.

As usual, people were excellent! Got to see the ooh-la-la Lady Ariellah and the lovely DJ Femme Mystique again; so all-in-all, an awesome-sauce evening for me!

In other crazy news, there's a whole slew of awesome concerts coming up:

1) Jackalope and Left Spine Down at the DNA Lounge (1/22)
2) Emilie Autumn at Slim's (2/2)
3) GIGANTOUR!! with Megadeth and Motorhead at the San Jose State Event Center (2/23)
4) Adam Ant at the Regency Ballroom (2/24)
5) Stromkern at the DNA Lounge (3/18)
6) Everything Goes Cold and Chapter One at the DNA Lounge (3/20)
7) Faderhead and Savi0r at the DNA Lounge (3/21)
8) Aesthetic Perfection at the DNA Lounge (4/12) UPDATE: This show appears to have been CANCELLED.

Find further details and updates on the One-Time Events page!

Also, for all you Club Nocturne fans, Club Nocturne's next installment will be on 1/28 and, this is important, will be at the EZ5 Bar in San Francisco (no longer at the Vagabond in Oakland).

-- Mr. M.

"I'll catch you with my death bag."
-- Bob, Twin Peaks

So, it turns out that I'm a lying liar.

Okay... that might be a bit extreme. It turns out that my original obligations for the evening didn't manifest, so I was able to slip out to SF for the opening gala of Anti/Life.

And what an opening it was!

The music was excellent! The crowd was awesome! All of my favorite people were there! It was a perfect club night!

Well, mostly. You kids know me. I can't compliment anything without coming back with a few complaints.

First, the good:

The bar at Cafe du Nord is gorgeous and very classy looking. And the lounging areas were excellent (a little more seating would have been divine, but such is the case in most bars... and they certainly have more seating than DNA Lounge).

The music was pretty fucking awesome. Lots of industrial and techno body music goodness, so that's a win by me. Bravo to the DJs: Lexor, Keyz, and Unit 77.

There was absolutely no one there that looked like a tourist. This is a nice contrast to Death Guild (in fact, the tourist-factor is the only thing I don't care for about DG and DNA Lounge). Everyone was decked to the nines and looked beautiful!

All the Vixens I know on sight were in attendance, which was lovely. But instead of being the go-go dancers for the night, they just got to hang out on the dance floor and have a good time.

Now onto the "meh" - in this case, the complaints are purely venue-specific - not complaints about Anti/Life itself.

1) The dance-floor at the Cafe du Nord is really small. Considering that there was something in the vicinity of 150 people there last night (rough mental guesstimate, so I may be totally off - take with plenty of salt), you couldn't comfortably fit more than about 20 people at a time on the dance floor. This is something that probably can't be rectified in the downstairs space of the Cafe (which is a shame because the place has excellent atmosphere). But maybe make use of the large upstairs dance-floor space as well or instead?

2) The men's bathroom was fucking disgusting. Walking anywhere near the restroom door was malodorous and offensive, even when said door was closed. I can't convey this enough. I am a guy. I'm used to gross bathrooms. But in a joint that looks as classy as the Cafe du Nord, I'd expect the restrooms to not smell and look like an abattoir of shit and urine (piss on the floors, guys? Really?). This is something that the venue can absolutely change and/or fix. I hope that any future events (especially any future Anti/Life nights) insist on the venue management ensuring that this isn't a problem going forward. Really bad form, folks.

I have no idea as to what was going on in the Ladies' room. Hopefully nothing this foul.

Anyway - overall opinion: Anti/Life is excellent! Eric and Fushia had an amazing first night and I look forward to seeing how this newest addition to the scene grows going forward.

For those curious about the rest of the week:

• Strangelove's Vampire Ball is on Friday at the Cat Club.
  
• Disorder at Bar 355 in Oakland is on Saturday.
• PEERS' Victorian 12th Night Ball is also on Saturday, at the San Mateo Masonic Temple.
  

-- Mr. M.

My Thoughts: I first got the chance to hear Everything Goes Cold when they opened for Dismantled at the DNA Lounge back in August (link to that post here). I enjoyed them enough that I picked up their album from the vending table before leaving that night and have been listening off and on since then.

(An aside: Oddly enough, that was the same night I met Nero Bellum/Marshall Carnage, who actually co-founded Psyclon Nine alongside EGC's frontman Eric Gottesman... and a few days later, I met Josef Heresy - the other founding member of Psyclon Nine. I'd say: "Weird", but I get the feeling that it isn't really - the scene is close knit enough in the Bay Area that this is just sort of par for the course around here.)

What I like most about EGC is the intense sense of the absurd to many of their tracks. Songs about ex-girlfriends stealing time machines to erase your existence and buddies hawking each others' organs to finance a used van really play to a niche that I didn't even know ever existed - a kind of Industrial-Punk-Dysfunctional-Comedy, if you will.

Even the non-overtly funny songs seem to carry a strong sardonic streak, but don't let that fool you. EGC has somehow managed to still sneak a bit of pathos and social commentary into all that cynical humor.

Highlights: The entire "vs. General Failure" album is fairly solid, with a heavy industrial beat, an oft-grim humor, good sampling from unused sources (believe me... there's a growing overlap of samples these days), and a clean sound uncluttered with extra noise.

Among my particular favorites from this album -

"I’ve Sold Your Organs on the Black Market To Finance the Purchase of a Used Minivan" - Really, the name on the tin explains the subject matter quite clearly. But extra bits like the chorus of: "you're not worth enough to be sacred, all you're worth is my transportation!" and "I'll have room for seven and you'll be saving ten. I can help your girlfriend move with your help!" just hit it home if you weren't sure. A hard beat, heavy guitar, and Gottesman's sardonic vocals really give it all the edge it deserves.

"Ice Brigade" is pretty much a song for super-villains trying to rule the world. "The forces of good will descend and obey. They are the reason and we are the way!" It's like Darth Vader got his own band... and ditched the re-breather (I mean, I bet that breathing issue would fuck up someone's ability to sing. Maybe that's why he was so pissed off all the time? He couldn't sing about his feelings.). Lots of heavy synth, an military-march cadence to the beat, and the warcry of "ICE BRIGADE!!" truly characterize this song about world domination.

"Bitch Stole My Time Machine" is the sad but all-too-common tale of the end of a relationship and the resulting inevitable urge of one party to completely erase the existence of the other from the timeline. Really, who doesn't identify with this song (as either the aggressor or the victim)? A good taste of the guitar, strong symphonic elements, and Gottesman's strangely pathos-inducing lyrics combine amazingly well to convey a mythic tale of love-gone-paradox.

I also really immensely enjoy "Fail", "Don't Quit Your Day Job", and "Monsters of the Modern Age" - but I try to keep myself from raving about too many songs in one sitting. Better that you listen and hear the awesome for yourself.

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed EGC when I heard them in person. My appreciation of them has only increased as I've listened to and fully grokked their album.

It seems to turn up on my MP3 player much more often than odds should indicate with all the other stuff on there (Gottesman evil plan involving MP3-player-hacking music-viruses coming to fruition?); and yet I never skip to the next song.

As I mentioned above, it's not your regular industrial fare. But if you like your music a little comic-bookish, a little coldwave, a little humorous, and a lot awesome, Everything Goes Cold serves up an amazing sampler platter of their range with "vs. General Failure".

P.S. Before I go - Eric Gottesman is launching a new club-night at Cafe du Nord tonight- Anti-Life. I probably won't be able to make it, unfortunately (silly lack of planning on my part), but I suspect it might be fairly awesome and hope some of you other darklings can make it even if I can't.

-- Mr. M.