I am a long time fan of the World of Darkness, especially the games and even the short lived TV Show.

I wanted to start getting into the books/role-playing game and wanted to ask which book to start off with from someone else who loves it but has already gotten into the books.

Will prolly check out the paperback since it is only $10, but can you also recommend some actual story book in the universe.

OK, first major question.

oWod, nWoD, or both?

I read the Masquerade of the Red Death Trilogy (which I found pretty entertaining at the time) and another set of books, but I don't remember what those were, and looking through the list of titles I don't see anything that sounds familiar, sorry.

For sourcebooks:

Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/94815/Vampire%3A-The-Masquerade-20th-Anniversary-Edition

Avoid Vampire: The Requiem and any New World of Darkness books.

For stories, I recall:

Midnight Blue: The Sonja Blue Collection
by Nancy A. Collins

being a decent read.

I would recommend to read the Vampire Clan saga,that is:

1. Fall of Atlanta
2.The Eye of Gehenna
3. Bloody September
4. End Games.

Its really a crime how badly Vampire/WoC is doing when compared to all that Twilight/Buffy etc silliness.

In part at least, it is their own fault. They pushed the various world-ending storylines in the revised/3rd editions and then tried to shove that "New World of Darkness" crap down our throats. They deserved to fail. Only recently with the 20th anniversary editions have they began to atone for their errors.

I'm eagerly awaiting Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition. One of the best games ever.

It seems I am the only person here who likes nWoD.

nWoD gets a lot of hate because it is not just a new version of WoD, it is a different thing and it depends what you want.

If you want a fixed world with a lot of lore, stories, characters, history and back story cWoD is for you.

If you want an open concept with lots of ideas and suggestions but no definitive answers then nWoD is for you.

Eitherway I find the nWoD mechanics to be very good, so from this stand point they are great. It is also easy to apply these mechanics in a great variety of ways as they are less tied to a specific lore.

Ultimately it is up to the gaming group what works, mostly the storyteller as they will either prefer to have the flexibility to make up/change lore to suit the story, or prefer to have everything documented.

You got me thinking about WoD fiction, and I started poking around a bit. Here are some lists that might be useful:

http://wiki.white-wolf.com/worldofdarkness/index.php?title=Novels

http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Classic_World_of_Darkness_fiction

http://www.gaslightbooks.com.au/4part/wod.htm

DriveThruRPG, the site that I linked to earlier regarding V20, has WoD fiction.

I am with Bruce, I REALLY like nWoD: not only mechanics are more polite and, basically, less dice-dependent, towards the end of oWoD I perceived the long shadow of the "metaplot", above any chronicle I wrote: were the consequences of the choices of characters enough to satisfy the players, but not enough to affect the fate of a world marked by so unstoppable forces? It was not easy to find a balance between these two needs.

Of course, the setting Vampire: the Requiem was pretty weak, but Werewolves? And even more, Mage? This handbook is one the best product of White Wolf that I remember.

In summary, if you care about the vampires in the specific undoubtedly head for Vampire: the Masquerade 20th edition - I have not read it, but even if it were simply an improved version of the original regulation it would be a remarkable rule- (and lore-) book

However, if you are interested in a more simple regulation (do not misunderstand me, even that of V: tM is simple compared to any D&D) that deals with horror in toto, though less detailed V: tM, do not be afraid to approach World of Darkness.

Thanks for the feedback guys, am gonna look through the links and see if there are any I wanna buy.

But if you know of some really goo ones you have read yourself let me know.

I would say both, since I haven't actually played the P&P game and haven't read any of the novels. I am sad to say that I have only had the pleasure to play the video games and watch the tv show which were all amazing which is why I made the thread, to ask for help on where to start for both the P&P game plus find out what the best novels are.

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Ok so I have found
Vampire: The Masquerade (Hardcover) for $9.95 plus shipping
Midnight Blue Sonja Blue Collection (Paperback) for $0.01 plus shipping

so roughly $14 for both.

I will how ever have to wait on
1. Fall of Atlanta
2.The Eye of Gehenna
3. Bloody September
4. End Games.

as they are quite a bit more expensive but look like a good read so I will definitely be getting them.

What you are familiar with is cWoD (/oWoD). If you want to run stories in the same world then get the 20th aniversary editions of the set(s) you are interested in.

If you want some more freedom to explore options involving horror themes and improved mechanics, look at nWoD. with nWoD you need the core book (humans) and then you add any supernatural books that you want.

Ah ok

Is this worth getting http://www.amazon.com/OP-Vampire-Revised-Edition/dp/1565042492 or should I wait and just get the 20th anniversary?