Some reasons why Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition is a good book
…I played Vampire: The Masquerade when it first came out, and I do remember the first manual talking about group cooperation and comfort zones. But it was in more vague terms, simpler advice for a simpler time. To see these things explicitly stated in an RPG resource book is absolutely fantastic, and shows a great deal of sensitivity and support for various types of players and various types of playing styles.
And yes, I do mean what they did is supportive even for that last snippet. It takes a great deal of strength to turn away from the seductive allure of empowerment through cruelty toward others. Support doesn’t always mean “wearing kid gloves when handling someone” or avoiding a confrontation for a much-needed discussion.
Roleplaying, like writing, is all about the fiction. The make-believe. The “let’s pretend!” Roleplaying is group cooperative storytelling wherein each person is invited, and meant, to contribute to the story as a whole. To make the story better for everyone, more enjoyable.
Unfortunately, things like fascism and supremacy/nationalism movements aren’t fiction. They are things that create real-world evils with real-world people being severely harmed by them, these days. It’s not a game, it’s not funny, and it’s neither conducive to group cooperativeness nor good storytelling. It’s not heroic.
People who do these things are not the heroes of the story, and they never will be. Not in real life. Not ever.
Pretending otherwise is a bigger piece of fiction–and a more poorly written one!–than anything any professional author has ever published. Even the worst piece of literary drek that has ever gone viral isn’t as bad as that sheer level of lying to yourself.
So do put down the roleplaying book, and go call someone you trust who isn’t involved with whatever Dark Side of the Force hole you’ve descended into, to help get you back out again. We want you to actually be heroic in real life…and not someone who is basically nothing more than a wanna-be murderer.
Real life isn’t a story.
Real life isn’t a game.
Real life has consequences.
Mad props to Vampire: The Masquerade, for acknowledging this, & being supportive enough to be blunt about their creation not being meant for the kinds of people who think that creating horrors in the real world is “acceptable behavior.”
It never was, and it never will be.
Oh hey, this is my writing! Getting notes! On the Tumblr! I’m really glad people liked my safety notes and essays in V5. I’m super proud of them.
And yes, you can check, “Jacqueline Bryk” is listed as an author in the PDF version that has these essays.
If you’d like to follow me for more safety-conscious games and horror stories, check out my Itchio, my DriveThruRPG author page, and my Twitter. I almost never post on Tumblr any more.
