I'm not touching Vampire - I only read the oWoD books for NPC creation and could never wrap my head around the angst of that game. Werewolf? I personally prefer the new one. It's a more in-depth game that rather forcibly reminds that there's more to a werewolf than "Here's some funky powers, go out and kill things". Plus it's nice to see that "We Won The Wars Of Rage" arrogance taken out, and I liked what they did with the 'Don't mate with other shifters' thing.
Awakening, on the other hand, I think is fine if you don't look at it as Replacement Ascension. Haven't played or run it yet, and that's the sure-fire test, but the mistake I made at first was thinking of Awakening as a new version of Ascension instead of just a new game in its own right. Once I divorced it from the Ascension I know and love, I actually quite enjoyed the concepts in Awakening and look forward to playing it when my mad Ascension campaign is done.
Changeling is definitely a challenging game, and Pooka as a kith a really hard thing to play. I think most people's problems with the Pooka revolve around the fact that most players are not as conscientious and frankly as good as you at playing them, and therefore wind up playing this stereotyped overcute liar that gets on everybody's nerves reeeeeeally fast. It's like Malkavians; it's so rare to find someone who gives good Malk because they're all hung up on Teh Crazy. I agree with you on the happy-go-lucky, though. That's why I come up with things like overperky Toreadors with Humanity 8, the Eats Food merit and a serious sweet tooth.
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Awakening, on the other hand, I think is fine if you don't look at it as Replacement Ascension. Haven't played or run it yet, and that's the sure-fire test, but the mistake I made at first was thinking of Awakening as a new version of Ascension instead of just a new game in its own right. Once I divorced it from the Ascension I know and love, I actually quite enjoyed the concepts in Awakening and look forward to playing it when my mad Ascension campaign is done.
Changeling is definitely a challenging game, and Pooka as a kith a really hard thing to play. I think most people's problems with the Pooka revolve around the fact that most players are not as conscientious and frankly as good as you at playing them, and therefore wind up playing this stereotyped overcute liar that gets on everybody's nerves reeeeeeally fast. It's like Malkavians; it's so rare to find someone who gives good Malk because they're all hung up on Teh Crazy. I agree with you on the happy-go-lucky, though. That's why I come up with things like overperky Toreadors with Humanity 8, the Eats Food merit and a serious sweet tooth.