Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition

Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition is the first major revision of the Vampire: The Masquerade game system. VtM Second Edition reuses and revises a large amount of text from the first edition of the Vampire: The Masquerade Rulebook, although much of the text is heavily edited and reorganized. The major changes from First to Second Edition are not in content but in form: VtM Second Edition was the core rulebook for any White Wolf book to be printed in hardcover and on glossy paper stock, and with that change came a greater emphasis on style and presentation, making the book more immediately accessible both for reference and for casual use.

Summary
From the back cover:
 * A Storytelling Game of Personal Horror
 * Second Edition


 * "No one holds command over me. No man. No god. No Prince. What is a claim of age for ones who are immortal? What is a claim of power for ones who defy death? Call your damnable hunt. We shall see who I drag screaming to hell with me.
 * &mdash;Günter Dörn, Das Ungeheuer Darin

Preface: The Damned
The beginning of the book is a letter written by V.T. to W.H explaining the nature of vampires from their strengths to their weaknesses. Though not specifically said it is implied that the author of the letter is Vlad Tepes (Count Dracula) speaking to William Harker.

Chapter One: Introduction
This is the introduction to the Storytelling system. It talks about what is Storytelling, role playing, the Storyteller and aids. It touches on different kinds of role playing by a brief paragraph about Live Action (LARP). The chapter concludes with a brief overview of becoming a Vampire, the Hunger of a Vampire, and the Beast.

Chapter Two: Setting
This chapter explains what the World of Darkness really is. It talks about the Gothic-Punk world, its look and its feel. The Chapters gives brief overviews of the Social Distinctions of the Vampire community, theTraditions and how they apply to the society, the three major political sects, the clans, and the antagonists.

Memorable Quotes
"Now, reader, I have told my dream to thee;  See if you canst interpret it to me  Or to thyself, or neighbor.  But take heed  Of misinterpreting; for that, instead  Of doing good, will but thyself abuse  By misinterpreting evil issues."

- John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress

Therefore with the same necessity with which the stone falls to earth; the hungry wolf buries its fangs in the flesh of its prey, without the possibility of the knowledge that it itself is the destroyed as well as the destroyer.

- Arthur Schopenhauer

Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies. Nobody that matters, that is.

- Edna St.Vincent Millay, Childhood is the Kingdom where Nobody Dies.

The dynamic principle of fantsy is play.

- C.G. Jung

I forget how to move  When my mouth is this dry  And my eyes are bursting hearts  In a bloodstained sky  Oh it was sweet and wild.

- The Cure, Homesick

I was early to finish, I was late to start I must be an adult - I'm a minor at heart.

- Minor Threat, Minor Threat

Stood by the gate at the foor of the garden watching them pass like clouds in the sky try to cry out in the heat of the moment possessed by a fury that burns from inside.

- Joy Division, The Eternal

I tell myself I will not go even as I drive there.

- Big Black, Bad Houses

And the Lord said unto him, "Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

- Genesis 4:15