Does the game have romance mechanics?

[FredmundDana]

[Esteem]

Maybe not for the player character.
But Juno and Agathon were acting like love-sick puppies, and D'Angelo seemed to have something for Valerie.
Sophie is capable of arousing our character, even mentioning blood going to our genitals.

[Vosoros]

Romance? I didn't see that on my playthrough given my choices. However, there was a brief lustful moment with Sophie...

[wei270]

Romance for vampires in the world of darkness has it own secret rules for the table top role playing game. this secret mechanics is unlikely to appear here

[Xantherous]

Someone mentioned "Red Embrace: Hollywood". Yes, it has "romance elements", but I'd add that whole Visual Novel is phycological horror-- and dare I say it-- darker than this VN.

Twice Reborn is another OELVN vampire VN coming out on Steam in late 2020. Although that one doesn't look as dark as this or the RE:H. It's planned to be in English, Spanish and Russian (since so many here are asking for Russian).

I really enjoyed Coteries of NY and I think it's what we needed in the Visual Novel reading world. More serious VNs that aren't "dating sims". They really make you read in this one. The strength in this imo are those backgrounds. The little touches and the great art make the difference!

[Unholy Witch]

I think toreadors can reinvigorate their sex drive if I’m not mistaken due to their affinity to humans and humanity. I don’t think that there’s an option in the game though.

[jack_of_tears]

Originally posted by LibertyBell:

Someone mentioned "Red Embrace: Hollywood". Yes, it has "romance elements", but I'd add that whole Visual Novel is phycological horror-- and dare I say it-- darker than this VN.

The impression I got was that the only romance interests in 'Red Embrace' are men, is that accurate?

Originally posted by LibertyBell:

I really enjoyed Coteries of NY and I think it's what we needed in the Visual Novel reading world. More serious VNs that aren't "dating sims".

I agree, I've been asking for more serious VNs for awhile. There are some excellent anime visual novels out there but I would also really like to see more games like this.

[SyntheticCorpse]

Originally posted by jack_of_tears:

Originally posted by LibertyBell:

Someone mentioned "Red Embrace: Hollywood". Yes, it has "romance elements", but I'd add that whole Visual Novel is phycological horror-- and dare I say it-- darker than this VN.

The impression I got was that the only romance interests in 'Red Embrace' are men, is that accurate?

Originally posted by LibertyBell:

I really enjoyed Coteries of NY and I think it's what we needed in the Visual Novel reading world. More serious VNs that aren't "dating sims".

I agree, I've been asking for more serious VNs for awhile. There are some excellent anime visual novels out there but I would also really like to see more games like this.

Yes in RE:H you have three Romance Options with three dare I say very different men. :D
I do like RE:H very much, it is a good game.

And I agree with the whole more serious Visual Novel thing. Hope there will be more too..

[GrandMajora]

Originally posted by jack_of_tears:

The impression I got was that the only romance interests in 'Red Embrace' are men, is that accurate?

Yes, and they were added in as options at the last moment. The creator of the game actually hated the idea of romance paths, because they feel like the only reason people are buying their game is for the smut.

The goal of RE:H is to provide us with a story first, and porn last. And even then, it's soft core stuff that doesn't show anything explicit.

[Sayoringo]

There is actually. Its underdeveloped (like everything in this game honestly) and doesn't go past making out in bed, but the intent is clear and promise for future development is literal (and optional). To say without spoilers its a "stalker" plotline, if you re willing to go with it of course.

[Bloodartist]

Originally posted by FredmundDana:

Vampires and sex have always belonged together[tvtropes.org]. ever since "Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu in 1872 (which was the first depiction of a lesbian relationship that managed to slip under the radar btw).

Sure, in world of darkness setting the priorities are different (blood > sex), but its still possible.

ps. romance and sex are two different things..

[3lives]

So this is an unsexy visual novel?
Without the Masquerade name from a sexy rpg it wouldn't have generated any buzz, would it?

[captrench]

Originally posted by DragonByDegrees:

Originally posted by GrandMajora:

Of course we're going to be fresh, the game openly advertises as much. But that doesn't matter in terms of humanity, because the average HUMAN only has a score of around 6 or 7. Anybody who actually has 8 or higher is described as being "saintly" in behavior.

Alright Grandmajora, let's check V5 because you don't know what you're talking about, which is the edition this is based on (store page: "Coteries of New York is set in a fully licensed universe of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition!"), in the Chicago by Night book. Most of us on places like Reddit and Discord who play V5 already have a copy of the PDF as we backed the book, but you might not. If so, sorry, but CbN is the one with the longest NPC list in this version so far, so that's what I'm using. If there was a New York By Night V5, I'd be using that.

*Aicha Rana, Humanity 8, Embraced 2014
*Anita Wainwright, Humanity 8, Embraced 1968
*Carol Davis, Humanity 8, Embraced 1980
*Nerissa Blackwater, Humanity 8, no freaking idea but she's a 4th Gen equivalent with BP6 who has some years on her!
*Sylvia Roanhorse, Humanity 8, Embraced 2017
*Kathy Glens, the only Toreador on this list, Humanity 8, Embraced 1971
*Tracy Graves, Humanity 8, Embraced 1897 (that date is correct)

There are a TON of 7s in there, but you specifically called out 8s, so those are what I'm listing. As to the dates of Embrace, there are vamps Embraced more recently than some on this list who have Humanity 3, and vamps Embraced before Christ was even born who are sitting at 6.

As I said, there's a range from near-human to fiend-in-a-person-suit. Unlife takes all kinds.

8 is not "saintly" in behavior. Core book, page 237 "You still feel pain for the hurts you and your kind inflict. Your human guise remains passable; the memories remain fresh, or new instincts for community spring up like green shoots from your long-dead soul." Now, the word saintly DOES come up in the Humanity section, under Humanity 10, the highest Humanity rating. You don't know what you're talking about.

The context was about romance, which can involve sex or not. Sex is possible and enjoyable with these Humanity ratings. Romance is possible and enjoyable with lower Humanity ratings. Sex doesn't need romance, romance doesn't need sex, but as you can see, Rules as Written, both are an option not just for newbloods, but also for vamps Embraced over a century ago.

WoD absolutely has broody vamps and soapy scenes. See: the Toreadors you view with contempt, as well as many other clans. This is well established in the lore, so my advice would be to crack a book or watch some LA by Night, which is (again) official. You don't know what you're talking about.

Your comment about vamps always being focused on personal advancement and goals is also wrong, because there are plenty of Anarch and Autarkis vamps who have supportive communities whose only goal is to enjoy their unlife together. This involves vamp lovers, mortal lovers, ghouls, children (not as lovers, for clarification), and so on. They often have to contend with pricks who want to tell them what being a vampire IS and MUST be (and these vamps are, ya know, *wrong*, because their version is not the only possibility) and those forceful pricks are often fed their own fangs and sent suntanning.

Many of the older vamps you're talking about hide in their ivory towers not because they're some master manipulator who has outgrown the need for alliances, but because they're of a low enough Gen that they risk being the target of diablerie if they poke their pale faces out.

Or being shot to death. Just ask Hardestat how that went for him. Or ask Theo Bell instead, because Hardestat isn't very talkative as of late.

The TRULY powerful vamps who don't "need" coteries... are the first few gens, just now waking up out of torpor, ready to devour the world. They're super rare, and can be counted on what, two hands now?

"Romance tends to fail!" Who gives a toss? The question was "Is romance an option". That's like saying people tend to die, so don't bother having kids. It's more about the shared experience than the destination, and people who get divorced in real life often go on and get hitched AGAIN, because most thinking beings enjoy company of a certain sort.

How's that for "cherry picking?"

inb4 "Well the book doesn't matter" or "That's not what I meant" or "This edition is somehow invalid" or "I prefer an older edition so nothing here counts, even though it's canon!" or some other variation of "No, it must be EVERYONE ELSE who's wrong!" or some deliberate missing of the point that we all see far too often from the members of the VtM community who, frankly, the community would be better off without.

The reason I even started addressing your posts in the first place was because you responsed to a simple question post with "Unless you're a worthless Toreador, "romance" will be the absolute furthest thing from your companion's minds. Vampires are by their very fundamental nature solitary predators, guided only by their own selfish ambitions.The World of Darkness is a game about gothic horror, not a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ dating sim!" which is just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ toxic gatekeeping garbage.

In the VtM community, there's a specfic flavor of That Guy that we call Edgelord McGrimdark, Keeper of the Gate, and what That Guy does is that he comes in on any topic that even slightly deviates from his view of what WoD IS AND MUST BE and just ♥♥♥♥♥ all over it with stuff like your original post. So, what *that* does, is it makes people new to the VtM community, many of them coming in from V5 or the Coteries announcement or seeing something at PAX, think "Man, this fandom is full of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, and I want nothing to do with it". Your "All dark, no time for romance!" garbage only serves to push away people new to a community that, until just recently, was steadily dwindling in population and popularity due to issues with WW and previous editions.

We should be welcoming to new blood, not acting like you are now, and have been in this whole thread.

To people reading this: If this game has romance options, which it probably will, enjoy them! Or don't. They're likely not going to be mandatory if they're included, and (as is true for the World of Darkness as a whole), you're free to just use the elements you want and ignore the rest.

The companies handling the tabletop game have even suggested doing that, in *several* books now.

So, Grandmajora, in summary, you don't know what you're talking about. You can post more toxicity, or accept that some people like things you don't and that that's okay, or really anything in between. I don't personally care, because I'll be putting you on ignore. You're the mods' problem now, not mine.

To everyone else: The game launches in just a few days, and I'm sure many of you are looking forward to it just as much as I am, and possibly more! I look forward to reading your threads in the next few weeks and hope we all have some serious fun in the World of Darkness... because it doesn't always have to be serious :)

As for me, I have a game session coming up in about an hour, so I need to get my ass in gear!

+1
Damn fine post. Thank you for representing reason and inclusion, not overcompensating, wannabee blowhards.

[DragonByDegrees]

Originally posted by captrench:

+1
Damn fine post. Thank you for representing reason and inclusion, not overcompensating, wannabee blowhards.

Anytime! I just wish the game had been better ;(

[IronPlum]

Originally posted by GrandMajora:

Originally posted by DragonByDegrees:

This is the relevant bit, and your own words. Any gatekeeping like "The World of Darkness is a game about gothic horror, not a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ dating sim!" is unwelcome and unfounded, because it can be both.

Yes, it's relevant, but you cherry picked the one part of my reply that you felt supported your stance on it. Instead of all the perfectly valid reasons I gave for why the romance is inevitably doomed to failure, regardless if it exists or not.

Have you even played the game in which tread you in? =) They rise the topic there of plenty =) i mean. lol dude.

[Wan Yao]

Originally posted by DragonByDegrees:

In the VtM community, there's a specfic flavor of That Guy that we call Edgelord McGrimdark, Keeper of the Gate, and what That Guy does is that he comes in on any topic that even slightly deviates from his view of what WoD IS AND MUST BE and just ♥♥♥♥♥ all over it with stuff like your original post. So, what *that* does, is it makes people new to the VtM community, many of them coming in from V5 or the Coteries announcement or seeing something at PAX, think "Man, this fandom is full of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, and I want nothing to do with it". Your "All dark, no time for romance!" garbage only serves to push away people new to a community that, until just recently, was steadily dwindling in population and popularity due to issues with WW and previous editions.

Quoting. Just because.

V:tM does seem to attract more than its share of alt right and gamergate weirdos... I'm honestly not even sure what attracted these alt right types to the World of Darkness in the first place. This game was NEVER for them, it was designed by and for the very people they hate and try to oppress.

They probably all got rejected by a goth girl in high school and have never moved on.