The Players Guide

The Players Guide, usually referred to properly as The Vampire Players Guide, is the Players Guide for the first edition of the Vampire: The Masquerade rules. The book introduced a number of new traits and systems that were later reused in other World of Darkness and Storyteller System games, notably them Merits and Flaws, Secondary Abilities, sub-splats (in this case, bloodlines), rules for traits above five dots, and an expanded and detailed list of equipment (chiefly weapons). Much of the content of the book was later adapted into the Vampire Players Guide Second Edition under the Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition rules.

Summary
From the White Wolf catalog:


 * "They drove me down, used me as their pawn. Never again, never more shall I be used by another. They through they had all the power, that they pulled all the strings, but now their strength is mine. Now, wit hthe new might coursing through my body, I will have vengeance"
 * &mdash;Juggler, No Apologies


 * The Players Guide
 * In the Gothic-Punk world of the Vampire, any advantage can mean the difference between survival and final, permanent death. Thus The Players Guide &mdash; 128 pages of new clans, archetypes, skills, abilities and equipment, Learn what it means to be one of the most powerful Elders, with Disciplines far surpassing those of the younger Kindred. Add Merits and Flaws to your character, balancing out mighty new powers with fascinating weaknesses. Learn new techniques for roleplaying in Vampire, written by some of the industries (sic) leading designers. Prepare yourself for a whole new role in the immortal Jyhad.

Chapter One: The World of the Kindred
An essay on the Kindred and their weaknesses, written from one vampire-hunter (likely an Inquisitor) to another.

Chapter Two: Character Creation
Character templates, and Merits and Flaws.

Chapter Three: The Expanded Character
Secondary Abilities; new Archetypes for characters' Nature and Demeanor; new Thaumaturgical paths and rituals; and Discipline powers of six to ten(!) dots.

Chapter Four: The Clans
Expanded information on Status; the social structures of the seven clans of the Camarilla, including the Clan Prestige Background; guidelines for using Prestation and boons; and four new independent clans and one clan-turned-bloodline (the Assamites, Followers of Set, Giovanni, Ravnos, and Salubri), each with their own unique Discipline.

Chapter Five: Roleplaying
A collection of essays by Graeme Davis, Stewart Wieck, Josh Timbrook, Daniel Greenberg, Andrew Greenberg, Sam Chupp and Mark Rein•Hagen.

Chapter Six: Equipment
Expanded rules for firearms, melee weapons, artillery, grenades, high explosives, vehicles, poisons and drugs, computers, haven security, animal ghouls, and other miscellaneous equipment.

Chapter Seven: Survival of the Fittest
A monologue delivered from an older vampire to a younger one, advising the neonate on how to avoid the pitfalls of Kindred existence.