New Bloodlines Sequel Teased?

[Mond_Blutgut]

"We are committed to making and keeping #bloodlines2 available across Steam, Paradox store, GOG and Epic and we will also be selling it on PS4 and Xbox One"

https://twitter.com/VtM_Bloodlines/status/1109625631636156416

[DarkProphet]

Maybe they'll take you to a cell, but make you pick the clan before you enter, and change the guy inside to fit the choice. Honestly, there are probably many ways, I just don't get why we start as a thin blood if they then change it. Feels like a big deal quickly changed to become inconsequential early on.

But then you just diablerize a glorified tickbox. There's no weight to it. Alternatively there might be a challenge to complete the game without turning into a full vampire? Like Deus Ex Zero Factory achievements? I'm having a hard time imagining it being possible with thin-blood having to potentially fight elder vampires and werewolves. (?! They are the "enemy" in the DLC, amirite?)

Yeah, a thin blood would have hell taking on the average werewolf unless the rules changed for V5 for default common werewolf stats (I dunno). Otherwise, we're gonna need a whole shitload of observatory doors to take these guys on!

[Barabbah]

Legends say, that players are already patching the game. 

<3 <3 <3 

[Radical21]

I miss Deb of night also 

[IanW]

But what happens if you meet a Camarilla vampire afterwards that can see the diablerie aura? Wouldn't they kill you or at least question you?

I can see a lot of ways around this.

If the Cam vampire is in non-Camarilla territory they don't have a lot of recourse if they want to enforce their laws.

You could also have a situation something like the Catholic church in the medieval-ish period: we'll forgive all your sins if you convert to Christianity. Hell, the Camarilla are opening their doors to the Lasombra (although they're not making it easy) when that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, so something like a little thin-blooded diablerie might not raise a lot of red flags.

Since many people still consider thin-bloods a dangerous harbinger of Gehenna, some might consider the crime of diablerie to be a lesser crime than just being a thin-blood. So, like, yes diablerie's bad, but congratulations on taking the initiative and escaping the thin-blooded condition.

Also what about the new disciplines you get in Bloodlines 2 at the start: fog, bat swarm and telekinesis. Have these any base in V5 and are they available to thin blood caitiff?

Yes! I'll quote something I said on RPGnet:

In Revised edition's "Time of Thin Blood," they went into a lot of detail about thin-bloods. One of the more curious things about them is that they were inceptors: Kindred able to create their own Disciplines. The term "inceptor" was typically reserved for Antediluvians, and many elders of course objected to or resented the idea that this term was being applied to the least among them.

In V5, this ability has been semi-retconned and takes the form of Thin Blood Alchemy, where -- rather than a traditional Discipline -- they muck around with their blood in weird ways to create powers. The result is generally the same, but the effect is more akin to Thaumaturgical rituals. Or, to jump game lines, it's more like the way a Hollow One cobbles together a magical effect.

So, for example "I made a mixture from vitae, eagle feathers, and crushed telescope lens glass and I'm going to drink it to gain telescopic vision" or whatever. The alchemist can choose a method that uses their own body as the "furnace," one that uses a human body (so you feed from them to gain the power), or a more traditional alchemical version with a physical kiln.

You can mimic many standard Disciplines powers or invent your own, but they don't last forever, and you'll either have to mix up another batch of the same formula, or come up with new ones for new powers.

So thin-bloods have always been able to make their own Disciplines, although exactly how they do that has changed over the years. That shot in the trailer of the guy squeezing a blood bag into a solo cup might be a scene where he's putting together a Discipline formula for you.

Mentalism, Chiropteran, and Nebulism sound like a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing how they work in Bloodlines 2.

[Barabbah]

It would be interesing if she'll become an actual NPC and not just a radio voice....

[DarkProphet]

It would be interesing if she'll become an actual NPC and not just a radio voice....

Could be fun, and it would be easy enough to get her into the game. I'm not writer, and even I could come up with something believable, like...say the regular Seattle late-night radio host actually lends credence to the rumors the "crazies" are calling in about creatures of the night, so the Prince has him "disappeared" and needs a new host.

Perhaps L.A.'s Deb of Night left her job 2-3 years ago (I mean it's been 15 years since Bloodlines 1), and the Prince wants someone who simultaneously gives the "nutjobs" calling in with their conspiracy theories an outlet to feel like they've been heard, while the host simultaneously dismisses them such that the general populace doesn't believe their claims. The Prince uses a ghoul who owns the Seattle radio station to reach out to Deb with moving expenses, a sign-on bonus, and a questionably high salary, and that would be all it takes to get her to Seattle.

As for her being an NPC, part of me would prefer she just be a voice on the radio, but if she were an NPC, we'd need quests, and I think that having her ask you to investigate one or two of the weird callers' stories that left her wondering it they might be true could be interesting. One turns out to be a silly hoax, while the other turns out to be of Kindred origin. Then you could choose various options to resolve the quest: "disappear" Deb because she knows too much, tell her that the hoax was true so that she is discredited, protect the Masquerade by covering up the Kindred story by claiming it was a hoax, or tell her the truth about the Kindred investigation and either convince her to stay quiet and play along to stay safe, or fail at convincing her and she goes on the air with the truth.

And that's just one idea that immediately came to talentless me. Someone with experience in writing could make something far better, no doubt.

[Signothorn]

https://twitter.com/ze_schwarzer/status/1109909873339314176

Florian Schwarzer's comment on the modding sdk.

[Porphyria]

I'm not a VtM lore expert, but on the face of it, this story reads like a very Sabbat type opening. Kinda makes me wonder why they didn't choose to go that way, considering the first game was from Camarilla perspective. I'd never even heard of a "mass embrace" on the Cam side until I read the new game description, but that kinda thing is just a typical night in the Sabbat ranks, as well as diablerie being commonplace. And that blood bond thingy I can't remember the name of. That would be a cool mechanic.

There must be reasons behind that decision, but I always thought Sabbat had just as many clans and things going on as Camarilla, they were just the "other" guys. They still have to follow the Masquerade. Just speculation, but maybe that wasn't chosen because that wouldn't be AS impactful as a story? Presumably thinbloods happen all the time in Sabbat and they just don't care about you? You are either cannon fodder for the cause or you diablerize your way into something more important?

To me, that would work great as a plot for an open-world game. Oh well.

[Saphrax]

I am sure the comments were a lot of nonsense or exaggerations, as it often happens, although the fact that one of the writers went on a long spiel as a journalist about the rape in hotline miami 2 is a bit worrisome about potential "neutering", as you put it (I am not saying that I DEMAND or NEED a rape scene in Bloodlines 2, of course, but the game always had a rather "adult" slant, it was part of the charm to me) . I think it's better to have artists try out stuff, even if it turns out a bit offensive at times, rather than the opposite.

To make a bad example, the only way to treat mental illness with "respect" in media... Is usally to not touch it at all, or you just go around preaching people how "not all people with condition x behave in y manner!" and so on. That's not a particularly interesting conversation, and one that takes time to do properly, all to get a rather mediocre payoff in character development (because, of course, if treated respectfully, the only thing that will come out of it is that the illness is not what defines that person). Effectively, we just wasted time to write a character with an issue, only to normalize him to make it "not-offensive". Maybe it works for some "feel-good" stories, but I don't think that would fit here.

Of course, it's not like I saw the script and I am making an assessment on the actual writing, all I am saying is that writing is more delicate than people give it credit for, and it's easy to fuck it up if you focus from the get go on stuff outside of it.

I agree. I don't think that trying to make the game too safe so it won't offend anyone will do it any good. I think one of the aspects VtMB was so good for example was the humor, as it really took a shot at everyone. Can you imagine characters like Officer Chunk, Ji Wen Ja or Fat Larry ('cause I know I have a weight problem, I just don't give a f*ck') could make it into Bloodlines 2? I don't think that anyone was offended or hurt over the portrayal of these stereotypical characters back then.

[J3ster]

Fat Larry has a very body-positive vibe though. I guess it just highlights the irony that people can be both welcoming of and offended by the same character.

[Wesp5]

I'm not a VtM lore expert, but on the face of it, this story reads like a very Sabbat type opening. Kinda makes me wonder why they didn't choose to go that way, considering the first game was from Camarilla perspective.

Who knows that they don't? From what I have seen the Camarilla is about to kill you when their meeting is disturbed. After that you are a Caitiff Thin Blood and can choose to go in whatever direction you want. Maybe it was a Sabbat mass embrace...

[mdqp]

Who knows that they don't? From what I have seen the Camarilla is about to kill you when their meeting is disturbed. After that you are a Caitiff Thin Blood and can choose to go in whatever direction you want. Maybe it was a Sabbat mass embrace...

Does anybody know what's the status/balance of power of Camarilla and Sabbat in the 5th edition? From what I know, the Sabbat are mostly out of the way, at least for now, but it's just stuff I read from the wiki. I assume the 5th edition is going to be used for the "background lore" of Bloodlines 2 (but of course, I could be wrong).

[Radical21]

The Sabbat don't care all that much about the masquerade on the global scale.  In past editions they were happy to use masquerade breach as a disruption tactic in Camarilla cities so who is to say that is not the same here.
After all , the hunters only go after the kindred that hide in plain sight so the Sabbat has nothing to lose really, they just need to sit back at the edge of the city and watch the fireworks.

[Barabbah]

Mark my words: lasombra will try to overthrow the ventrues from the camarilla leadership. And I bet they'll succeed.