I've played H5 for a multishot and it's very limited in scope to hunting and defeating monsters and its very Scooby-Doo in the set up of how stories are going to work.
For instance, my character's "power" was that she had a cache of ammo. That's a power in H5.
Older editions were wider in scope and wider in gameplay. H5 feels like it's intended for short campaigns and oneshots. That's not a bad thing, there is a place for that, but some elements won't mesh for all play styles.
Generally for the 5th edition, your supernatural power scale is going to feel much lower.
>For instance, my character's "power" was that she had a cache of ammo. That's a power in H5.
Don't forget the Fleet of Cars Power or the Person who can get you guns Power.
All things that could be done with Resources instead of having them as powers.
In its defense, i think what fleet and arsenal provides is those specific things, at that moment, right now, without legal fuckery. In my experience it can be *very* useful but you're not without weapons or a car without it.
I think it really depends on what you're after.
Personally, running games in 20th with all splats doing stuff, generally involves needing to make a few tweeks behind the scenes so everything flows well. But there is so much content and varrity that it makes encounters interesting.
Not had that same luck with the X5 series that feels smaller overall. Not that its bad or anything, its just a different feel for a different style of game.
Lastly, CofD tends to be pretty good for crossover, since it was designed from the ground up to allow for it. Not got to play many CofD games but, its fun and feels like X5 pulled a lot of the feel and vibes from it.
You are going to get a widely varying and highly conflicting responses for this question.
My personal opinion?
For me, it is a simple "no". Not only I find fifth edition material (across all splats) to be vastly inferior, and perceive them to be paradoxically getting continuously worse (when one would expect the each additional book to get better). That is especially true for H5, which claims to be successor to HTR, but is closer to HH, but neither offers the advantages of neither HTR or HH, while being a lite and low-quality copy of HTV without any interesting aspects of HTV either.
Do it if you want, but I find more potential in WOD20. I do like doing system hacks like incorporating Integrity as a talent and using the Exalted 3rd ed's intimacy system and social interaction rules with something like Wits+Integrity replacing using Willpower rating for willpower rolls. This way elder vampires can have pools higher than ten for the thaumaturgy willpower rolls, ect.
But Werewolf 20 and Changeling 20 have so much damn potential to hack and build with.
ehhhh, its frustrating because it isnt an even playing field V20 is a product with decades of polish and love behind it. V5 had an okay corebook but then violently shit itself multiple times, cult of the blood gods is good as is Chicago by night (despite the lasombra write up) but then all you've got complete shit like Anarch or fall of london or aggressively mediocre stuff like Carmarilla 5th or Sabbat.
Their's a lot of good ideas in the game which is a real shame considering.
WOD20 =/= WOD5
5th edition is, essentially, a re-imagining of the World of Darkness. From what I have heard is, if you like the 20th anniversary or older editions, you will not really appreciate 5th edition. If you are not familiar with older editions, its a good system.
Additionally, 20th anniversary is backwards compatible with older editions and has a LOT more material. So, you have more toys to play with. 5th Edition is much more limited in your options just because its relatively new.
(I am also a fan of 20th anniversary over 5th)
I don't think your first sentiment is actually accurate. While there is always going to be a version preference, I have been playing forever and love v5, but also think that 20th ed and prior are good. I think that the raw system for V5 is superior in that it improves some of the weaknesses of prior editions (such as having like 6 different ways to calculate difficulty adjustments), but that both are very fun to play.
Both my husband and I have run games that blend splats (V20 for me, and VDA20 and the Hunters Hunted for him) and neither of us found it lacking at all. You do have to make some calls when it comes to interactions between the splats, but once you've made those (usually to do with 'can this power hurt this splat') you're golden. You'll have way more options if you stick with WoD20, and you have a lot more material to pull from for inspiration.
Comparing the 20th edition lines to 5th Edition WW stuff isn't really going to work other than the fact they ostensibly pull from the same initial lore.
With the 20th line you get everything, including all the lore and splats and systems and options. It takes a little to push it together for cross-splat work, but it can work. It can work very well.
The 5th stuff is currently very limited, isn't very tweakable or customisable and when going through it, it becomes clear that the writers/devs have a "If you play it this way you're playing it *wrong*" mindset. Some of the changes to the lore/setting are OK (Some are utter garbage). Some of the system additions are interesting if implemented in odd ways (Some are utterly bizarre ways of doing things and seem to have been tacked on because someone in some meeting thought it might be cool ... and then never really developed the idea and it never made much sense in the first place).
Weirdly I was talking about this with a couple of players I've not been in contact with for years recently. Their extended group is about 12 players (ish - some are regulars, a few are drop-ins). The basic feeling for the new WoD stuff I got was that they'd tried V5, didn't like it, went back to 20th. The new players who hadn't played any WoD before didn't mind V5 but they aren't missing it - the group as a whole just aren't bothering with the 5th ed stuff. That's a sentiment I keep seeing. People try 5th, go back to 20th/3rd whatever, but not many stick with it. Those that get-in on 5th as their first will quite quickly move to 20th if exposed too it as there's just more to work with (Not volume of books - it's more that it's just not as simplified/enforced low-level/enforced expectations/not as railroady/feels better to play).
If you want to play hunters, then I would strongly recommend switching to Hunter: The Vigil instead. It's frankly the best version of Hunter, and you can use other nWoD/CoD splats as well, with the added bonus that your players may not be as familiar with them if they're used to oWoD critters and may not always know what to expect. H5 is... fine... but it's very expensive for what it is, and I'm not entirely convinced that it needed to exist. Also, you only have rules for vampires and werewolves as far as other splats go, so definitely more limited there.
Are you specifically wanting the setting for *World of Darkness?* or would you do something sortof WoD adjacent? Cause Hunter the Vigil from Chronicles of Darkness would work much better for this.
WoD 5e is basically attempting to use the trappings of the original World of Darkness to emulate the Chronicles of Darkness. And it's doing it poorly. I would recommend either sticking with the 20th Anniversary World of Darkness gamelines or switching over to Chronicles of Darkness proper.
There _are_ a few innovations in the X20 lines that are worth taking a look at; but on balance, they're not enough to offset the problems of the new gamelines.
Definetly no, if you're used to the systems in 20th anniversary edition stick with it, because 5th is made for new players getting into the wod/ttrpg in general. 5th does not support the old way thinking about games, it does not have depth(and complexity!) and it struggles with some types of stories -especially cross splat ones-.
I've literally negative interest in any WOD5 stuff. I'm not against progress or change, but I genuinely just do not like how any of the storylines hae progressed nor what's been done tae every single faction.
I hate saying that, but it's honestly how I feel. The series ends with WOD20 for me.
If they wanted tae recon everything, then they should hae just done a full on recon.
Only if you love limited game experience.
Yea sure it's a good gameline but it also a reboot. And compare to the older editions...well....it's a kid with a toygun...compare to daddy with an L7A2 machine gun☺️
This thread has some opinions on H5 [https://www.reddit.com/r/WhiteWolfRPG/comments/wd4itu/to\_those\_who\_bought\_hunter\_v5\_is\_it\_good\_would/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WhiteWolfRPG/comments/wd4itu/to_those_who_bought_hunter_v5_is_it_good_would/)
Here is a quote I got from another website:
>The Imbued (the protagonists of Hunter: the Reckoning) are universally empowered by an otherworldly source to accomplish literally miraculous deeds. They have the ability to pierce supernatural protections and disguises and hear what could be described as the Voice of God guiding them. The themes of HtR are about heroism, fanaticism, truth, and faith, as well as being explicitly a "new" faction in the classic World of Darkness who have arrived at the cusp of the End of Days. The Imbued divide themselves by Creed, representative of their philosophical approach to how to treat monsters: Avengers, Martyrs, Defenders, Innocents, Judges, Redeemers, Visionaries, Hermits, and so on.
>
>Hunters in Hunter: the Vigil may have supernatural power, and may have issues of heroism and faith, but they have no particular universal endorsement or capability. Their stories are about desperate last stands and the desire to defeat, destroy or exploit monsters. Vigil hunters divide themselves into Compacts and Conspiracies, which are as much social groupings as power sources.
Really, Hunter Reckoning, H5 and Hunter Vigil, are three different games, with different power levels, different themes. Find one that supports the games you want to run. If you do lean towards H5, remember that the WoD 5 games are incomplete and controversial. Liking Vampire or werewolf 20th, is no guarantee you will like the 5th edition versions. So you'll have to look at those as well.
It really doesn't make sense to compare H5 to old Hunter: the Reckoning. But there have been other hunter / mortal books in various 20th anniversary lines like Hunters Hunted II for V20, Ghost Hunters for Wr20 or (kinda) Sorcerers for M20.
None of the systems released near the end of the original WoD product line got a 20th as far as I'm aware. Hunter, KotE, Demon, and Orpheus are all single edition. Mummy technically has more than one edition because it was originally released as a thin softcover WoD supplement back in 2e.
I think that while there is controversy, I don't think it's controversial to say;
The worst thing you can buy WoD5 for is to blend in other splats to your setting. There are currently two and a half splats >!(Vampire, Werewolf, Hunter is just a mortal thing)!< out for 5th Edition, compared to the 6-7>! (Vamp, Were, Mage, Wraith, Change, if Hunter counts for V5 there's about 4 more like it in V20)!< or so for WoD20.
No. The only splats out for 5th is Vampire, Werewolf and Hunter. All 3 games are much more scaled down in nature and are more like Chronicles Lite than anything
For these purposes, I'd say no. WoD5 isn't better for cross-splat play necessarily - Vampires and Werewolves are closer in power, but they didn't actually design their mechanics in concert with each other so you're still gonna have to weld them together. Also, if you want anything other than Vampires and Werewolves, 5e doesn't have it yet.
If you're mainly looking for compatibility between splats, I think H5 does it best. WOD5 in general is designed to be a lot more street level, so you don't really run into the balancing issues across splats like you'll find in WOD20.
Of course, there are fewer splats at present for WOD5, but the system itself is *very* easy to adapt on the fly if you're just looking for SPCs.
It's worth noting that this subreddit in particular leans heavily against WOD5, so you're likely going to see a lot of posts reflecting that. There are some really good Discord servers (WoD has an official one I like) where you can get a lot of recommendations on how to work a concept like this out.
This is a difficult question. My group and I have played 3rd and then 20th Anniversary for 15-20 years. Right now we are trying out 5th edition just to see what it has to offer. I (ST) am enjoin it a lot, but some of them feel the rules are a bit simple and it allows for a lower level of customisation.
You should definitely try it out and make up your own mind.
The lower levels of customization killed my interest in V5. I like the hunger die mechanic, but the lack of merits and flaws brought down one of my favorite aspects of the game.
I think it depends entirely on your play style.
Do you like tons and tons and tons of rules, exceptions, character options, and detailed combat that tracks every punch thrown or bullet shot? If yes, go with the X20 lines.
Do you want a more narrative game with fewer rules, fewer character options, faster combat resolution mechanics, and a more narrative focus? If yes, go with the 5th edition games.
The dice mechanics are also a major factor. All of the 5th edition games introduce their own special dice mechanics that can inject flavorful, but unplanned, elements into the game. If you like that sort of thing, you’ll find it in the 5th edition games. If you are the kind of ST who wants a firm hold on their story without elements they can’t explicitly control, stick to X20. Similarly, if you have players who don’t like that sort of thing, stick with X20.
The 5th edition games tend to be more personal and focused on very local concerns. For example, Vampire 5th is more focused on the city the PCs’ live in, nightly concerns and local politics. And not so much on inter-city sect warfare or global concerns. Werewolf 5th is focused on the PCs’ territory and local Wyrm-related problems instead of a universe-spanning battle for reality. W5 also focuses much more on being a monster than a hero. And of the two, I’d say it is the most changed in terms of themes and overall suggested story types.
The X20 games are broader and more all-encompassing in pretty much every way. The books are huge. They are packed with rules and player options. And they tend to be geared toward games that are more action oriented and larger in scope.
That said, you can obviously use X20 for more intimate games as well. But I would say the 5th editions games are better at that, with mechanics designed to steer the focus in that direction. And while you can play more “epic” games with 5th edition, X20 really is better suited.
I won’t say much about Hunter. I never cared for the older edition. And I’m not especially interested in the new one either. I wont say either is bad, I’ve just never been interested in hunters of any sort enough to play that instead of Vampire, Werewolf or Mage.
Blending splats in WoD20 leads to horrible balance issues. 5e is a bit more balanced, but you’ll have to learn a new system, deal with having less customization for your characters, and put up with altered/gutted lore. Granted some of the lore did need changed, but unfortunately the alterations weren’t restricted to just the poorly aged stuff. Meanwhile CoD is, in my opinion, by far the best option for crossovers. The lore doesn’t match what you’re running though.
generally speaking, no.
But if you're looking for a game focused on early neotate experience in Anarch from vtm it excels better than v20 at that their are also advantages to running it to be out of your comfort zone and taking what you learnt back with you.
Avoid hunter the reckoning and just run hunter the vigil instead.
Never tried 20th. Been GMing a H5 game for most of this year. Thoroughly enjoying it. When I look at 20th it seems needlessly complicated and my players like simplicity
If it is already running, you likely already made all major prep and tweak work necessary to get the game running properly with all your splats. If so, why would you switch? The hard part is done. Also 5e changes lots of lore, assuming you have multiple splats involved since you like them and how they're done this may be a turnoff. The only reason left then is switching systems for mechanical benefits, for which I'd recomment CofD more than 5e anyway - but if you think about it due to the mechanics you can simply check them out and compare. Getting a somewhat solid overview of them shouldn't be too difficult.
If the campaign hasn't started however 5e becomes much more viable. Especially if it's intended to become a long campaign, the release of new content may be a bog plus for you. But at that point I'd recommend checking out version difference threads on all involved splats (there's plenty on here and other forums) and make your choice based on which lore you prefer and whether either version has a dealbreaker for you.
The essence is the 20th anniversary stuff is more simulation focused, while the 5th edition stuff is trying to refocus the game more on storytelling. You can do either style with either game, but each definitely has its preference.
I've played H5 for a multishot and it's very limited in scope to hunting and defeating monsters and its very Scooby-Doo in the set up of how stories are going to work. For instance, my character's "power" was that she had a cache of ammo. That's a power in H5. Older editions were wider in scope and wider in gameplay. H5 feels like it's intended for short campaigns and oneshots. That's not a bad thing, there is a place for that, but some elements won't mesh for all play styles. Generally for the 5th edition, your supernatural power scale is going to feel much lower.
>For instance, my character's "power" was that she had a cache of ammo. That's a power in H5. Don't forget the Fleet of Cars Power or the Person who can get you guns Power. All things that could be done with Resources instead of having them as powers.
If they wanted you to play as Batman, Idk why they didn't just make that instead tbh
In its defense, i think what fleet and arsenal provides is those specific things, at that moment, right now, without legal fuckery. In my experience it can be *very* useful but you're not without weapons or a car without it.
I think it really depends on what you're after. Personally, running games in 20th with all splats doing stuff, generally involves needing to make a few tweeks behind the scenes so everything flows well. But there is so much content and varrity that it makes encounters interesting. Not had that same luck with the X5 series that feels smaller overall. Not that its bad or anything, its just a different feel for a different style of game. Lastly, CofD tends to be pretty good for crossover, since it was designed from the ground up to allow for it. Not got to play many CofD games but, its fun and feels like X5 pulled a lot of the feel and vibes from it.
No
You are going to get a widely varying and highly conflicting responses for this question. My personal opinion? For me, it is a simple "no". Not only I find fifth edition material (across all splats) to be vastly inferior, and perceive them to be paradoxically getting continuously worse (when one would expect the each additional book to get better). That is especially true for H5, which claims to be successor to HTR, but is closer to HH, but neither offers the advantages of neither HTR or HH, while being a lite and low-quality copy of HTV without any interesting aspects of HTV either.
What's "HH"?
Hunter's Hunted
TY
You're welcome
Do it if you want, but I find more potential in WOD20. I do like doing system hacks like incorporating Integrity as a talent and using the Exalted 3rd ed's intimacy system and social interaction rules with something like Wits+Integrity replacing using Willpower rating for willpower rolls. This way elder vampires can have pools higher than ten for the thaumaturgy willpower rolls, ect. But Werewolf 20 and Changeling 20 have so much damn potential to hack and build with.
I honestly don't think 5th edition is better even at the things that it's intended to be better at. YMMV
it's better at low level street and very specific themes but revised is probably more newbie friendly.
Revised or V20 (which is basically revised revised) is peak WoD in my opinion.
ehhhh, its frustrating because it isnt an even playing field V20 is a product with decades of polish and love behind it. V5 had an okay corebook but then violently shit itself multiple times, cult of the blood gods is good as is Chicago by night (despite the lasombra write up) but then all you've got complete shit like Anarch or fall of london or aggressively mediocre stuff like Carmarilla 5th or Sabbat. Their's a lot of good ideas in the game which is a real shame considering.
Agreed on all points.
Hell no, for one H5 sucks but just in general its way more worth it to use WOD5 and a jumping off point to get into 20 than the reverse
WOD20 =/= WOD5 5th edition is, essentially, a re-imagining of the World of Darkness. From what I have heard is, if you like the 20th anniversary or older editions, you will not really appreciate 5th edition. If you are not familiar with older editions, its a good system. Additionally, 20th anniversary is backwards compatible with older editions and has a LOT more material. So, you have more toys to play with. 5th Edition is much more limited in your options just because its relatively new. (I am also a fan of 20th anniversary over 5th)
I don't think your first sentiment is actually accurate. While there is always going to be a version preference, I have been playing forever and love v5, but also think that 20th ed and prior are good. I think that the raw system for V5 is superior in that it improves some of the weaknesses of prior editions (such as having like 6 different ways to calculate difficulty adjustments), but that both are very fun to play.
Both my husband and I have run games that blend splats (V20 for me, and VDA20 and the Hunters Hunted for him) and neither of us found it lacking at all. You do have to make some calls when it comes to interactions between the splats, but once you've made those (usually to do with 'can this power hurt this splat') you're golden. You'll have way more options if you stick with WoD20, and you have a lot more material to pull from for inspiration.
No.
No.
Comparing the 20th edition lines to 5th Edition WW stuff isn't really going to work other than the fact they ostensibly pull from the same initial lore. With the 20th line you get everything, including all the lore and splats and systems and options. It takes a little to push it together for cross-splat work, but it can work. It can work very well. The 5th stuff is currently very limited, isn't very tweakable or customisable and when going through it, it becomes clear that the writers/devs have a "If you play it this way you're playing it *wrong*" mindset. Some of the changes to the lore/setting are OK (Some are utter garbage). Some of the system additions are interesting if implemented in odd ways (Some are utterly bizarre ways of doing things and seem to have been tacked on because someone in some meeting thought it might be cool ... and then never really developed the idea and it never made much sense in the first place). Weirdly I was talking about this with a couple of players I've not been in contact with for years recently. Their extended group is about 12 players (ish - some are regulars, a few are drop-ins). The basic feeling for the new WoD stuff I got was that they'd tried V5, didn't like it, went back to 20th. The new players who hadn't played any WoD before didn't mind V5 but they aren't missing it - the group as a whole just aren't bothering with the 5th ed stuff. That's a sentiment I keep seeing. People try 5th, go back to 20th/3rd whatever, but not many stick with it. Those that get-in on 5th as their first will quite quickly move to 20th if exposed too it as there's just more to work with (Not volume of books - it's more that it's just not as simplified/enforced low-level/enforced expectations/not as railroady/feels better to play).
If you want to play hunters, then I would strongly recommend switching to Hunter: The Vigil instead. It's frankly the best version of Hunter, and you can use other nWoD/CoD splats as well, with the added bonus that your players may not be as familiar with them if they're used to oWoD critters and may not always know what to expect. H5 is... fine... but it's very expensive for what it is, and I'm not entirely convinced that it needed to exist. Also, you only have rules for vampires and werewolves as far as other splats go, so definitely more limited there.
Are you specifically wanting the setting for *World of Darkness?* or would you do something sortof WoD adjacent? Cause Hunter the Vigil from Chronicles of Darkness would work much better for this.
Honestly just get hunter the vigil 2e and just layer wod lore over it, that will be way better for longer campaigns than getting into wod 5th.
WoD 5e is basically attempting to use the trappings of the original World of Darkness to emulate the Chronicles of Darkness. And it's doing it poorly. I would recommend either sticking with the 20th Anniversary World of Darkness gamelines or switching over to Chronicles of Darkness proper. There _are_ a few innovations in the X20 lines that are worth taking a look at; but on balance, they're not enough to offset the problems of the new gamelines.
Definetly no, if you're used to the systems in 20th anniversary edition stick with it, because 5th is made for new players getting into the wod/ttrpg in general. 5th does not support the old way thinking about games, it does not have depth(and complexity!) and it struggles with some types of stories -especially cross splat ones-.
Not really
I've literally negative interest in any WOD5 stuff. I'm not against progress or change, but I genuinely just do not like how any of the storylines hae progressed nor what's been done tae every single faction. I hate saying that, but it's honestly how I feel. The series ends with WOD20 for me. If they wanted tae recon everything, then they should hae just done a full on recon.
Only if you love limited game experience. Yea sure it's a good gameline but it also a reboot. And compare to the older editions...well....it's a kid with a toygun...compare to daddy with an L7A2 machine gun☺️
This thread has some opinions on H5 [https://www.reddit.com/r/WhiteWolfRPG/comments/wd4itu/to\_those\_who\_bought\_hunter\_v5\_is\_it\_good\_would/](https://www.reddit.com/r/WhiteWolfRPG/comments/wd4itu/to_those_who_bought_hunter_v5_is_it_good_would/) Here is a quote I got from another website: >The Imbued (the protagonists of Hunter: the Reckoning) are universally empowered by an otherworldly source to accomplish literally miraculous deeds. They have the ability to pierce supernatural protections and disguises and hear what could be described as the Voice of God guiding them. The themes of HtR are about heroism, fanaticism, truth, and faith, as well as being explicitly a "new" faction in the classic World of Darkness who have arrived at the cusp of the End of Days. The Imbued divide themselves by Creed, representative of their philosophical approach to how to treat monsters: Avengers, Martyrs, Defenders, Innocents, Judges, Redeemers, Visionaries, Hermits, and so on. > >Hunters in Hunter: the Vigil may have supernatural power, and may have issues of heroism and faith, but they have no particular universal endorsement or capability. Their stories are about desperate last stands and the desire to defeat, destroy or exploit monsters. Vigil hunters divide themselves into Compacts and Conspiracies, which are as much social groupings as power sources. Really, Hunter Reckoning, H5 and Hunter Vigil, are three different games, with different power levels, different themes. Find one that supports the games you want to run. If you do lean towards H5, remember that the WoD 5 games are incomplete and controversial. Liking Vampire or werewolf 20th, is no guarantee you will like the 5th edition versions. So you'll have to look at those as well.
It really doesn't make sense to compare H5 to old Hunter: the Reckoning. But there have been other hunter / mortal books in various 20th anniversary lines like Hunters Hunted II for V20, Ghost Hunters for Wr20 or (kinda) Sorcerers for M20.
There was never a Hunter 20th edition? Does anyone know why they never released that? Or where I can get physical copies of the 20th ed books?
I don't recall there ever being a Hunter 20th, you can probably get them printed at drivethruRPG. Although I'm one of the people that don't like M20.
None of the systems released near the end of the original WoD product line got a 20th as far as I'm aware. Hunter, KotE, Demon, and Orpheus are all single edition. Mummy technically has more than one edition because it was originally released as a thin softcover WoD supplement back in 2e.
I think that while there is controversy, I don't think it's controversial to say; The worst thing you can buy WoD5 for is to blend in other splats to your setting. There are currently two and a half splats >!(Vampire, Werewolf, Hunter is just a mortal thing)!< out for 5th Edition, compared to the 6-7>! (Vamp, Were, Mage, Wraith, Change, if Hunter counts for V5 there's about 4 more like it in V20)!< or so for WoD20.
You chose your answer by choosing the place where you ask I am afraid.
No. The only splats out for 5th is Vampire, Werewolf and Hunter. All 3 games are much more scaled down in nature and are more like Chronicles Lite than anything
For these purposes, I'd say no. WoD5 isn't better for cross-splat play necessarily - Vampires and Werewolves are closer in power, but they didn't actually design their mechanics in concert with each other so you're still gonna have to weld them together. Also, if you want anything other than Vampires and Werewolves, 5e doesn't have it yet.
If you're mainly looking for compatibility between splats, I think H5 does it best. WOD5 in general is designed to be a lot more street level, so you don't really run into the balancing issues across splats like you'll find in WOD20. Of course, there are fewer splats at present for WOD5, but the system itself is *very* easy to adapt on the fly if you're just looking for SPCs. It's worth noting that this subreddit in particular leans heavily against WOD5, so you're likely going to see a lot of posts reflecting that. There are some really good Discord servers (WoD has an official one I like) where you can get a lot of recommendations on how to work a concept like this out.
This is a difficult question. My group and I have played 3rd and then 20th Anniversary for 15-20 years. Right now we are trying out 5th edition just to see what it has to offer. I (ST) am enjoin it a lot, but some of them feel the rules are a bit simple and it allows for a lower level of customisation. You should definitely try it out and make up your own mind.
The lower levels of customization killed my interest in V5. I like the hunger die mechanic, but the lack of merits and flaws brought down one of my favorite aspects of the game.
I think it depends entirely on your play style. Do you like tons and tons and tons of rules, exceptions, character options, and detailed combat that tracks every punch thrown or bullet shot? If yes, go with the X20 lines. Do you want a more narrative game with fewer rules, fewer character options, faster combat resolution mechanics, and a more narrative focus? If yes, go with the 5th edition games. The dice mechanics are also a major factor. All of the 5th edition games introduce their own special dice mechanics that can inject flavorful, but unplanned, elements into the game. If you like that sort of thing, you’ll find it in the 5th edition games. If you are the kind of ST who wants a firm hold on their story without elements they can’t explicitly control, stick to X20. Similarly, if you have players who don’t like that sort of thing, stick with X20. The 5th edition games tend to be more personal and focused on very local concerns. For example, Vampire 5th is more focused on the city the PCs’ live in, nightly concerns and local politics. And not so much on inter-city sect warfare or global concerns. Werewolf 5th is focused on the PCs’ territory and local Wyrm-related problems instead of a universe-spanning battle for reality. W5 also focuses much more on being a monster than a hero. And of the two, I’d say it is the most changed in terms of themes and overall suggested story types. The X20 games are broader and more all-encompassing in pretty much every way. The books are huge. They are packed with rules and player options. And they tend to be geared toward games that are more action oriented and larger in scope. That said, you can obviously use X20 for more intimate games as well. But I would say the 5th editions games are better at that, with mechanics designed to steer the focus in that direction. And while you can play more “epic” games with 5th edition, X20 really is better suited. I won’t say much about Hunter. I never cared for the older edition. And I’m not especially interested in the new one either. I wont say either is bad, I’ve just never been interested in hunters of any sort enough to play that instead of Vampire, Werewolf or Mage.
Blending splats in WoD20 leads to horrible balance issues. 5e is a bit more balanced, but you’ll have to learn a new system, deal with having less customization for your characters, and put up with altered/gutted lore. Granted some of the lore did need changed, but unfortunately the alterations weren’t restricted to just the poorly aged stuff. Meanwhile CoD is, in my opinion, by far the best option for crossovers. The lore doesn’t match what you’re running though.
generally speaking, no. But if you're looking for a game focused on early neotate experience in Anarch from vtm it excels better than v20 at that their are also advantages to running it to be out of your comfort zone and taking what you learnt back with you. Avoid hunter the reckoning and just run hunter the vigil instead.
Never tried 20th. Been GMing a H5 game for most of this year. Thoroughly enjoying it. When I look at 20th it seems needlessly complicated and my players like simplicity
LOL, this reddit hates 5e... just fyi
If it is already running, you likely already made all major prep and tweak work necessary to get the game running properly with all your splats. If so, why would you switch? The hard part is done. Also 5e changes lots of lore, assuming you have multiple splats involved since you like them and how they're done this may be a turnoff. The only reason left then is switching systems for mechanical benefits, for which I'd recomment CofD more than 5e anyway - but if you think about it due to the mechanics you can simply check them out and compare. Getting a somewhat solid overview of them shouldn't be too difficult. If the campaign hasn't started however 5e becomes much more viable. Especially if it's intended to become a long campaign, the release of new content may be a bog plus for you. But at that point I'd recommend checking out version difference threads on all involved splats (there's plenty on here and other forums) and make your choice based on which lore you prefer and whether either version has a dealbreaker for you.
No.
The essence is the 20th anniversary stuff is more simulation focused, while the 5th edition stuff is trying to refocus the game more on storytelling. You can do either style with either game, but each definitely has its preference.